Title: Happiness - Public Displays of Affection
Author: shawntaw
Category: MSR, AU
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The X-files folks aren't EVEN mine, doo dah, doo 
dah....Don't sue me and we'll be just fine...all the doo dah day...

Summary: Mulder wants to go public.  How does Scully feel?

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

Mulder was floating on air.  

*I don't know why we hid it.  Who cares?*

He and Scully were back at work after lunch, walking down the halls 
of the J. Edgar Hoover building on their way to the elevators, and 
then their basement office.

Mulder reached out to take Scully's hand.  

To his astonishment, she pulled away and gave him a warning look.

The two entered the elevator.

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

Scully felt her face redden as Mulder's fingers touched hers as they 
walked in the hallway.

*What is he doing? People will see!*

Instinctively, she jerked her hand away and was startled to see his 
hurt look.

*It wasn't just an act for Diana.  He means it all the way.*

She realized he fully intended to physically acknowledge their 
relationship in public as well as in private.

Was she ready for that?

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

The elevator doors closed on two very contemplative agents.

Mulder was looking at her with big, watery, soft, hazel eyes.

Scully was studiously NOT looking back and trying to collect her 
thoughts.

She studied the elevator buttons.

"Scully, why did you-" Mulder began.

She held up her hand, "Not now, Mulder.  I mean, it was one thing to 
kiss me in front of Diana, but are we really ready for the 'Mr. and 
Mrs. Spooky' jokes? The innuendos every time we take a case out of 
town?  The rumors about what we're doing in the basement?  Are you 
really ready for it?"

"We get all of that anyway."

"Yeah, but this time it'll be based in truth," Scully shifted 
uncomfortably.

Mulder regarded her for a moment.

"So," he said moving subtly closer, breathing ever so softly on her 
ear, "I guess it wouldn't be alright for me to do this."

Scully shivered. "Muullllder.." she warned.

He reached out and, very gently, moved her hair to one side as he 
bent and brushed his lips across the back of her neck.

"Or this," he said breathily.

Goosebumps stood up on Scully's skin.

"I-I mean it, Mulder," she tried to say sternly.

His fingertips trailed around from the back of her neck and traced a 
feather-light path along the top of her blouse. 

Against her will, her eyes closed and she leaned into his touch.

The elevator dinged.

Mulder reluctantly moved a step back.  She could hear him trying to 
control his breathing as the doors opened.

Scully felt slightly out of sorts and wondered if the flush was 
evident on her face.

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

When the last person stepped from the elevator, the doors closed to 
silence.

The two did not speak or move.

Scully could hear his steady breathing behind her.

She felt him move forward as the doors opened on the basement.
 
He put his hand to the small of her back and guided her to their 
office.

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

Mulder didn't bring it up again.  From the time in the elevator to 
now-

*What time is it? 4:30? Nearly time to go home..*

-he hadn't said a word.

But he kept touching her.  And it was driving her mad.

He touched her arm when they talked.  Her hand.

Brushed her hair back from her face.  Gazed at her lovingly.  

Longingly.

"Here's my part of the field notes from the last case," he said, 
suddenly in her field of vision.

He handed her the folder...and brushed his fingers across hers very 
deliberately.

*That's it!*

She slammed the folder down, and stood up.

Mulder was already almost back to his desk.  He turned.

"What's wrong?" His eyes were wide and ignorant.

*Right. Whatever.*

She strode swiftly up to him, invading his personal space.  His chin 
was practically on his chest trying to look down at her.

"Scully?"

"Is THIS what you want, Mulder?" Scully said and grabbed his tye.  
She yanked him down to her and kissed him, hard.

"Well?" she said to a very stunned Mulder.

She pushed against his chest and the back of his knees 
bumped his desk, causing him to sit on it abruptly.

Several teetering stacks of papers fell in a heap to the floor.

She stood between his knees.  Now the partners were eye to eye.

Still holding his tye, she leaned forward and kissed him again.

"Is this what you were hoping for?" 

Mulder swallowed and nodded, twining his hands around her waist.

She smiled and kissed him again, slowly, with her fingers buried in 
his hair on either side of his head.


"Um, I really should start knocking.  I can see that now."


Scully jumped from Mulder as though electrified. Mulder stood quickly 
from his desk.

"Or maybe wear a bell?" Skinner raised an eyebrow at them both.

Mulder's hair stood straight out on either side of his head where 
Scully's hands had been clasped and his tye was loose and lopped 
crookedly to one side. 

He took out his hankerchief and wiped his mouth several times.

Scully was blushing profusely but trying not to act embarrassed.

"Sir? May we help you?"

*must remember to lock the door...must remember to lock the door...*

"Actually, I just wanted to see if you'd taken a look at the file I 
dropped off earlier this week." 

He smiled slightly, "But I can see your minds have been on more 
important things."

Skinner cleared his throat and the smile diminished, "Seriously, 
Agents - you need to keep this new...involvement..discrete.  Kim told 
me you got the e-mail?"

The two of them nodded.

"I would hate to see your newfound happiness disturbed by the 
shutting down of the X-files," Skinner warned, "and I'm sure 'they' 
would love the excuse to do it."

Skinner started back toward the door.

He turned, "Mulder, comb your hair and straighten up and you and 
Agent Scully meet me in my office in an hour.  We've yet to go over 
your expenses on that last case.  See you then, Agents."

He left.

Mulder and Scully looked at one another - the room filled with 
silence for a few seconds -  and began laughing.

"It - It isn't funny, Mulder," Scully tried to say, but fell into 
another fit of laughter.

"The hell it isn't," Mulder responded from his perch, sitting back 
atop his desk.  He was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

He'd been doing that a lot lately.

*This.  This is what it is like to be happy.*

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

"So, what do you want for dinner tonight?  Wanna go out or stay in?"

Mulder asked casually as he and Scully got their morning cup of 
coffee in the cafeteria of the J. Edgar Hoover building.

Two agents in line behind them looked up, stunned, and then one 
pulled the other to the side, half-smiling and shaking her head.

Scully heard muttering from where the two paused to huddle as they 
moved away.

"..someone's gonna win the pool.."

She clenched her jaw.

"Mulder, do you have to ask that here?"

Mulder blinked innocently.  He had decided last night - while lying 
in bed in the wee hours, watching her sleep and listening to his fish 
tank gurgling in the other room - that he wasn't going to let the 
F.B.I. ruin his budding romantic relationship with Scully.

No secrets.  That was his new policy.

But he knew Scully was extremely uneasy about their relationship.  He 
wondered if she doubted his commitment.

He glanced down and saw that she wore the ring on her right hand 
again instead of on the left where he had moved it impulsively during 
the confrontation with Diana.

"What's with the ring?" he asked in his normal tone of voice.

Scully face flooded red as she and Mulder made their way through the 
morning crowd toward the elevators.

"Mulder, we can talk about this later-"

He stopped walking and, in the middle of a sea of milling agents, 
secretaries and other employees of the F.B.I., stated in a normal, 
unabashed tone of voice, 
"No, I want to know why you moved it?"

Only a few people paused in their walk to look; after all no one knew 
what the two "Spooky's" were discussing...yet.

Scully knew she only had a few minutes before the whole bureau was 
privy to she and Mulder's personal life.

"I know what your doing, AGENT Mulder, and I won't be bullied."

He paused.  By calling him 'Agent,' she was warning him. 

*You're on thin ice, Mulder.*

But it had been several weeks since the incident with Diana and he 
was getting sick of all the cloak and dagger crap.

They did enough of that at work.

Scully was the consumate professional at work, but was lovey-dovey as 
soon as they were away from the office at the end of the day.

At first this had seemed exciting, but he was past that now.  He 
wanted the world to know.  He wanted to be able to express his love 
for his fiancee' like a normal person.

When did 'normal' become unattainable to them?

He'd had it with her insecurity and he was going to make her see she 
had nothing to be insecure about.

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

"You know what, Scully, I think this is the PERFECT place to discuss 
this."

Mulder stood his ground.  Still only a few people paused on their was 
to and from the coffee urns.

Scully was infuriated. 

*How could he do this to me? To us? Isn't HE supposed to be the 
paranoid one? We could lose our partnership...the X-files..." *

She moved closer to him, dodging a man with a swinging briefcase as 
she did.

"Excuse me, " the man muttered as he strode around her.

Scully stood right up next to him as was their custom when discussing 
serious matters.  Athough it usually involved a case, not their love 
life.

"Mulder," she said softly, "do you want them to separate us? Don't 
you know I couldn't bear it if I had to go to work everyday and know 
that you wouldn't be there at my side?"

Her eyes darted around.  Only a few people were watching them 
curiously, but they were too far away to have heard.

Mulder's eyes showed his relief.  She wasn't embarrassed by their 
relationship.  She wasn't insecure about his feelings.  She simply 
didn't want to be apart from him.

Scully read his eyes and hers widened.

"I don't care if the world knows, Mulder," she whispered to him, "so 
long as it doesn't change the fact we're partners.  I just want to be 
with you."

He had the sudden urge to grab her and kiss her.  

Scully saw it and gave him a little half-smile, took his hand and 
pulled him down for a chaste kiss on the cheek.

She could feel the onlookers' shock from here.

As well as Mulder's.

"My, how demonstrative of you, Agent Scully," he said in a fake, loud 
voice.

She fought the urge to laugh.

"You are right, Agent Mulder.  Consorting is not allowed between 
partners.  I will try to restrain myself."

The onlookers sighed and shook their heads.  Some rolled their eyes.  
The 'Spookys' were obviously playing a practical joke on them.

Scully and Mulder laughed as they strode away to the elevators.

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

"You know who we haven't told that we actually SHOULD tell?" Mulder 
said as he threw a pencil to stick in the ceiling above his desk.

"Who?" Scully glanced up at him from her computer where she was 
finishing a report.

"The guys."

"You haven't told Byers, Frohike, and Langley yet?"

Mulder looked sheepish.

"Well, they're sorta the only family I've got, so I thought we could, 
you know, tell them together."

Scully's eyebrow shot up.  

*He thinks of the Gunmen as family?*

Mulder always knew how to surprise her.

"I knew they were good friends of yours, but-"

He interrupted her, "Yeah, well, they've stuck with me through some 
pretty hairy times."

"I guess that means they're my family too," she smiled at him.

"We'll tell them tonight."

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

Frohike unlatched the many locks securing the doors at
The Lone Gunmen's lair.

"Hey man, long time, no see," he said to Mulder.  

Giving Scully the once-over and leering slightly, he added, "And we 
haven't had the pleasure of your company in even longer."

Scully smiled back and sighed.  Frohike's leer hid a soft heart, she 
knew, but she still wished he'd tone it down a little sometimes.

Langley entered the main area with a piece of computer hardware in 
his hand.  He paused, "Hey, dude!" and nodded at Scully.

They he crawled under one of the computer stations and continued to 
work.

Mulder started to say something to Frohike when Byers suddenly 
appeared.

"Frohike, something smells like its burning.  Are you cooking?"

"Damn!" Frohike ran out of the room as Byers shook his head and 
stepped forward with his hand out.

Mulder and Scully both shook the man's hand.

"So, what can we do for you, Mulder? Scully?"

She smiled at being included in his inquiry.  Not too long ago, the 
three hadn't been sure whether or not to trust their friend's new 
partner.

"Actully," Mulder said, "we want to take you three OUT to dinner."

"Out?" Langley piped up from under a desk, "We don't do OUT; you know 
that."

"He means dinner at my place," Scully amended, "My treat. Tomorrow 
night?"

Mulder looked at her.  She didn't have to do that.  He smiled at her 
and reached over to squeeze her hand.

Byers watched the interchange and raised a brow.

"What's the occasion, Agent Scully?"

He watched her blush.  "Does there have to be an occasion?"

Frohike entered the room. "For what?"

"We're eating at Scully's place tomorrow night, Fro.  Big 
announcement or something." Langley said from where he worked.

"Who said there was a big announcement or something?" Mulder 
protested.

Langley pushed himself from under the station, looked at Mulder's 
face and snickered.  "Whatever, dude."

Mulder looked at Byers.  Byers nodded.

"Am I that obvious?" Mulder's shoulders slumped, defeated.

"Maybe I should've come alone to invite them.  They haven't known me 
as long as you," Scully joked.

Frohike was drying his hands on a dishtowel.

"So, you gonna tell us or make us wait until tomorrow night?  Some 
new world-wide conspiracy brewing?"

Mulder shook his head and looked at Scully.  She shrugged, "Why not?" 
and smiled.

"I, uh, I asked Scully to marry me," Mulder choked out. 

Suddenly his throat felt very tight.  He hadn't had to actually TELL 
anyone yet.  When had he become nervous?  Hadn't he wanted to TELL 
the world?

Frohike's hands froze.  Byers mouth fell open.  Langley dropped a 
tool with a loud clatter and sat up to stare at them.

The three men turned to look at Scully.

"And I said 'yes'," she finished for Mulder.

Mulder cleared his throat in the silence.  "I told Scully that you 
guys, well, you guys are the only family I've got left, so...well, we 
wanted to tell you over dinner."

He laughed shortly.  "I guess that plan's blown."

Frohike broke the silence first.

"Geez, man, I mean we knew you had a thing for the delectable Agent 
Scully, but, man!"  He was shaking Mulder's hand in congratulations 
and grinning ear to ear.

Byers was hugging Scully.  "Wonderful, just wonderful," he was saying 
as he caught sight of her ring.

"Is that the ring?"

She nodded as Langley also approached to have a look.

"I'm wearing it on my right hand so the Bureau doesn't get 
suspicious.  Although, that plan's not working out as well as I had 
hoped," she explained as Frohike joined his friends in ogling the 
ring.

"Not bad, Mulder," Langley patted his shoulder.

Byers just smiled affectionately at Mulder, "She's just the one to 
straighten you out."  The other two Gunmen nodded.

"Gee, thanks, guys.  I'm touched, " Mulder said sarcastically, but he 
felt his heart swell.

There was a pause as the new motley 'family' regarded one another.

"So, when do we eat?" Langley said.

Scully grinned. "Tomorrow night.  7pm."

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

Next: "Happiness - Family Dinner".....*G*