Happiness: Diamonds And Dynamite Come In Small Packages Author: shawntaw Category: MSR, Au Rating: PG Disclaimer: I didn't create these amazing characters, so no one's paying me. Also, I made up Carver, Kentucky. If such a place really exists, I don't know about it.:) Any characters that aren't Scully, Mulder, or Diana in this story are my own creation. The title is a quote I read in a Star Trek (which I also don't own) novel forever ago and it stuck with me, since I am also a small female. Summary: "What are you doing in my room, Agent Scully?" "I think you know, Agent Fowley," Scully responded, secretly thrilled to be the mysterious all-knowing figure in the shadows for a change. She held all the cards and, for once, Diana held none. Feedback makes me very happy at shawntaw@hotmail.com :) TO DANI WHO HAS MADE A WEBSITE OF MY STORIES: www.geocities.com/corran_14776/shawntaw.html Thank you.:) Note: I forgot to mention in the disclaimer for "Appearances Can Be Deceiving" that I do not own the Empire State Building. But I'm sure you knew that.:) ********************************************************************** ****** Diana and Mulder pulled up to the motel just as the sun was setting. "Well, give me about half and hour to get ready and then we can go to dinner. Alright, Fox?" Diana strolled sensuously to her door, hips rocking back and forth, not waiting for an answer. Her door clicked in place, leaving Mulder to stand open-mouthed beside their car. He shook his head vigorously. "Geez, I've had enough of her crap," he took his cellphone out of his pocket, "I should have called Scully on Thursday night when I first got here. Hell, I shouldn't have lied to her in the first place." He pushed the code to speed-dial Scully's phone. It came up with an unfamiliar number and Mulder disconnected as it began to ring. ********************************************************************** ****** Somewhere in the United States, CSM picked up his telephone. "Hello? Hello? Fine," he slammed it back down, lit another cigarette, and went back to his beer and his World War II movie. ********************************************************************** ****** Back in Carver, Mulder stared at the cellphone in his hand. It was obviously not his. He ran to Diana's room and knocked firmly on the door. She opened it dressed in only a slip. "Yeesss?" she leaned on the doorframe and gave him a smoky look. "Oh, for Goodness' sake Diana," he shoved past her, "Where's your cellphone?" "My cellphone? Why?" She turned to see him rummaging in her discarded jacket pockets. "Aha!" He yelled triumphantly and held it up. He pushed some buttons and read the speed-dial list aloud. "Number one - Dana Scully. This IS mine; I knew it! What the hell is going on here, Diana? I assume this is yours?" He threw the other phone in her direction and she automatically caught it. Diana made a great show of checking out her phone as well. "Yes, it seems to be. We must have got them switched last night when we-" "Answer me. What. the. HELL. is. going. on. here?" He emphasized each word through gritted teeth, "Is this some sort of ploy to seduce me or something? To keep me from Scully?" Diana's mind whirled. Ok, she'd failed at the seduction, but he obviously had no idea of her larger motive. She decided half a failure was better than a whole one. Besides, this way she could seemingly accept defeat and then regroup. Try again later. "I miss you, Fox. We once had a very intense relationship. Does your Scully know that?" "Did you invent this entire case in order to get me to Carver alone? Are you the e-mail informant?" Mulder's face was turning red he was so angry. "I didn't invent the case - you saw the newspaper - but I did use it to my advantage," she met his eyes unwaveringly. No guilt or hesitance about what she'd done. She knew how to play him like a violin. "What does it say about you, FOX, that I was able to convince you to lie to your fiancee' so easily? I didn't do that. You did." *Bingo* She watched the guilt flare up in his eyes. "How do you think she's going to react to THAT when we get back?" Diana crossed slowly to Mulder, placing her hand on his chest as his eyes narrowed. "Get your hand off me, Diana. I mean it. I'm not playing your game." "I'll tell you how she'll feel," Diana continued as if he hadn't spoken, "Betrayed. Deserted." Diana took her hand from Mulder's chest and strode to the connecting door. She unlocked it and flung it open. "The exact way I felt when you did the same to me, all those years ago. The exact same way I felt when I decided that I couldn't trust you to need me or want me and LEFT you for good," Diana watched her words stab into Mulder's heart as he realized their implication. *Would Scully do the same?* "Now, get out. You obviously don't want to rekindle our relationship and all I was interested in any way was a little torrid affair. A little heat. Passion," Diana shrugged, nonchalantly, "Oh well, your loss, FOX." She smiled cruelly. "Maybe in more ways than one," she finished, twisting the knife in Mulder's heart. He felt all the blood rush to his face. His ears rang. He was going to slap her. He felt his fist clench and the surprise spread across his face. No. He was going to flat out punch her. Diana's slightly shocked expression gave away that she could see the message his body sent as well. Only the fact that Diana was female saved her. He took a deep breath and crossed through the connecting door she held open. Mulder stopped in the doorway, practically nose to nose with her as he warned her. "I'm leaving on the first flight out tomorrow. I want you to stay out of our lives, Diana. I mean it. Next time you may not be so lucky." ********************************************************************** *** Scully arrived in her rental car some hours later, having flown into the metro airport a couple of hours away. She had decided not to take the small airplane to the tiny Carver airport. She paled just thinking about it. Large planes were bad enough; she didn't have the stomach just now for the lurching flight of a small plane. Butterflys were loose in her gut. Tonight she confronted Diana once and for all about the subtle jabs and not so subtle efforts to undermine she and Mulder's relationship. No more tip-toeing around the truth. Once and for all. She headed for the one of the two local motels to start her hunt for Diana and Mulder. She didn't want to inquire with the local authorities and give her presence away. As her headlights played off the empty road ahead, she contemplated. Scully had an uneasy feeling that Diana's motives were more than simple jealousy. It seemed that she had first shown up to disrupt their lives and the X-files when they'd been close to a breakthrough. What sort of breakthrough, who knew, but it certainly seemed as though the puzzle pieces were falling into place. Aliens? Colonization? Abductions? Military involvement? Government cover-up? The F.B.I. compromised from within? All these questions swam in Scully's head. But, no, her and Mulder's trust had been stretched and weakened by Diana's presence when they needed to trust one another the most. They had ceased to dig as deeply or as stubbornly for a while so they could tend to their own relationship. It could have easily broken them apart, but instead had forced their hand. The proposal. Scully smiled as she remembered Mulder standing half-dressed in his crinkled tux, hair still dripping from his shower, practicing proposing marriage to her in the dresser mirror. She folded her thumb to touch the ring on her finger reassuringly. But now, when they were finally back on stable ground with one another, here Diana was again. Why? To distract them from the truth one again? Why? Scully didn't believe that Diana's only motivation was Mulder, although she knew that Diana probably considered him her 'bonus.' All she wanted to do was use him like it seemed so many people did in his life. Scully sighed. So many questions and so little information. She pulled into the motel parking lot and forced her mind to the problem at hand. ********************************************************************** ***8 Diana decided to grab a late dinner herself. Obviously, this plan had fallen through, but it didn't mean she was through in her efforts to destroy the X-files and get back in with the powers that be. It only meant she'd failed to seduce Mulder back into her bed. *Oh well* Diana shrugged, trying not to care that this sidebar to her original goals had failed. It was a personal failure and would not affect the greater plan; she would not let it. She got dressed and grabbed her purse. *Didn't I see a diner by the station?* Her thoughts were on her stomach as she took the rental car and drove away. ********************************************************************** ****** Mulder lay on the bed in his room, munching sunflower seeds angrily. There was a small, damp pile of shells teetering on the night table as he clicked the channels with the bolted down remote control. *Great. Nothing on.* He finally decided to order a pizza. Mulder had already tried calling Scully's cellphone three times. Either she'd turned it off *because she doesn't want to speak to you anymore* or she'd let the battery go dead, as she did sometimes when she forgot to recharge it. He had tried her home number and got her answering machine. He left no message, not knowing what to say. "Hi, it's me Mulder. I'm a big fat liar and ditched you to come to Carver to investigate ghosts because an anonymous informant e-mailed me and told me not to bring you. Oh, and by the way, Diana's here trying to seduce me in her underwear. But I wanted to let you know that I told her no and that I'll never do this again. Love you, Scully. See you Monday." Yeah. Right. That would work. She'd probably shoot him again. ********************************************************************** ***** Scully pulled into the second motel parking lot and decided that if she didn't find them here, she would check in for the night anyway and get some rest. There wasn't any place else they could be, unless they were staying in someone's home or had already headed back to D.C. ********************************************************************** ****** Scully picked the lock efficently, having been told by the guy at the front desk that the "other F.B.I. lady" had asked him for directions to a local diner about fifteen minutes before and had headed off in that direction. She hadn't asked the man to open the door for her. It wouldn't look right for the F.B.I. for one agent to be seen searching another agent's room. She'd do this herself. She wanted to know what was going on. What had Diana done to convince Mulder to lie to her, ditch her and come to Carver with his ex? Scully wanted to know this information before she flew off the handle at Mulder. On the other hand, she hoped to have the opportunity to fly off the handle at Diana. She entered the dark room, closed the door behind her and clicked on her flashlight. No need to alert anyone with the lights. Scully shined the beam around the room, stopping on the connecting door. She was willing to bet that Mulder was on the other side of that door. All the more reason to be quiet. Scully rummaged through Diana's luggage finding nothing until she decided to feel along the lining. She felt a small square lump and, ripping the lining slightly - *Why be subtle? THEY never are* - pulled out a computer disc. She grinned widely in the darkness. Diana wouldn't have hidden it if it wasn't important. Scully shone her light about the room and came to rest on Diana's laptop. She carefully stepped up to the small table and opened the laptop. Time for some answers. ********************************************************************** *** Scully sat stunned some time later. *The woman is warped.* The disc had contained Diana's journal and was more than Scully needed to know. Not only did it detail her plans for getting back in good with the CSM, but was a rambling hate-fest against Scully. Diana had plans for distrupting the X-files, breaking up their partnership and relationship, seducing Mulder, and then turning him over to her superiors to do with as they pleased. Scully sat absolutely stunned. Not only was the woman evil and delusional, but now Scully thought of her for the first time as stupid for writing it all in her personal journal. The sound of keys and the door rattling brought Scully back to her senses. She ran to the connecting door and, kneeling down, slid the disc quietly underneath into what she prayed was indeed Mulder's room. The disc safe, Scully crossed back to one of the chairs and sat to wait, turning off her flashlight to bath the room in darkness. ********************************************************************** ****** Diana entered her room with a sigh. The food at the diner hadn't been very good and now she had a slightly upset stomach to go with her wonderful day. She reached up and flicked on the light. Toeing off her shoes, she started toward her luggage and nightclothes before she saw her sitting there. "Hi," Scully said as though she'd just run into Diana on the street. "Hi," Diana responded, for a moment at a loss what to say. "What are you doing in my room, Agent Scully?" "I think you know, Agent Fowley," Scully responded, secretly thrilled to be the mysterious all-knowing figure in the shadows for a change. She held all the cards and, for once, Diana held none. "Are you here to protect your precious Fox?" Diana snickered, "Don't worry, he refused my affections, as I am sure he will tell you when he throws himself at your feet to be forgiven for lying to you and leaving you behind." She strolled to her suitcase and continued to undress and get ready for bed as though Scully were not in the room. Scully smiled, she had expected exactly this tactic. Diana was startled when she turned from putting on her nightgown to see the ease in Scully's expression. "You're becoming predictable in your OLD AGE, Diana. I'm not here about Mulder. I'm here about you and your...plans." Diana straightened her gown and turned to face Scully. Removing her shoes had been a big mistake. Standing in her bare feet and Scully standing there in her three inch heels, Diana wasn't tall enough to attempt to intimidate Scully with her height. It also made it nearly impossible to look down her nose with disdain at the smaller woman, although Diana gave it a shot anyway. "Other plans?" she inquired coolly. "Plans to destroy the X-files, our partnership, take revenge on certain people within the F.B.I., and get in good with Spender again. Shall I go on?" Diana felt reality sway. She swallowed her reaction. "Agent Scully, who has been telling you these lies?!" she said, affronted, "I demand you tell me right now!" Scully still smiled her enigmatic smile. "Diana," she said, pacing to stand in her face, "in the near future you will discover just how I came across this information. I want you to remember when that moment comes that I have the power to absolutely destroy you if need be." Scully stepped away from Diana's steely, insulted glare and walked calmly to the front door. "Don't forget it," she said and smiled sweetly as she exited the room and shut the door. ********************************************************************** ***** Hee-Hee...:) More on the way...