Not What You Think
By virtue_fluttering
lemonbaby67@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998
Not What You Think
Summary: Scully receives an unexpected and long
overdue call while working undercover
a racy phone line.
Rated: I guess this would be an R story for the
situation it revolves around (namely the
where and why of Scully's "assignment").
But as the story says, it's 'not what you
think!' Other than that, I believe you'll
find I stayed well within the limits of
good taste (so much as was possible!).
Disclaimer: The X-Files and most of the characters
either present or mentioned in this story
belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Prod.
and Fox Broadcasting, and are being used
without permission (sorry guys! Please
don't sue me!). Agent Danielle Cartwright,
although she remains tragically colourless
in this story (I promise to fix that in my
next one), is a creation of my own,although
she is a semi-inspiration from a character
in this season's fabulously fun "moth-men"
episode (you know, the blonde chick with
the name I can't pronounce).
This story is my first attempt fanfiction and I hope all my
friends out there in cyberspace (HI Missy!)
find it to their liking. All my thanks go out to my
parents, Theresa Karasek, Lindsey Oliver, Jenny Sparks,
and Derek Greco, my best and most trusted critics.I love you guys.
****************************************************
Dana Scully was certain that in all of her years at
the Bureau, she'd never been happier that an assignment
was over. After five years of investigating UFO's,
government conspiracies, genetic anomalies, serial
killers, paranormal and even supernatural phenomena,
she wasn't sure anything had prepared her for the
quite sickening and rather disturbing ordeal she had
been forced to go along with.
Forced? Sure Dana, somebody handcuffed you, tied you
around the ankles, dragged you here and forced you to
participate in phone sex.
Gosh, it's over.., don't even think about that.
Hey girl, a voice told her to relax, it was for a
friend. Anyway, it had been very brief.
"I really appreciate you helping me with this Dana,"
Agent Cartwright shouldered the leather camera-bag and
staggered up from her switchboard,"of all the under-
cover assignments I've needed help on, I didn't see how
I was ever going to get through this one by myself. And
I'm really sorry about some of those calls..."
"Hey don't worry about it," Scully grabbed the large
case with the surveilance equipment and tossed here
coat over the crook of her arm,"it doesn't matter. What
does matter is that Markham won't be plaguing the city
of Washington D.C. anymore."
"No kidding. Lord knows the cops working on this case deserve a
medal for their lead."
Scully smiled to herself. It certainly was one for the books.
Especially since it had been uncovered so
simply. Strahd Markham had been ruling a sizable piece
of D.C.'s crime world with an iron fist ever since the
Nixon administration. "Digging up the roses in the
President's own backyard" one reporter had referred to
Markham's dynasty as such. For years, the police had
tried and tried to uncover his hideout without any luck. Finally, an
anonymous tip suggested that they
re-examine the arrest of one Tammy Blackburn, a bottle-
blonde prostitute from New York, six months before. Her arrest was
pretty much standard procedure. She was
picked up, her prints were taken, her bail was posted
and she was released. Nothing out of the ordinary,
except the man who had posted her bail, in cash, and
bore a rather striking resemblance to Strahd Markham.
Surprisingly enough, Tammy still resided in D.C. and
the police were on her doorstep faster that Markham
could snap her g-string. With the promise of F.B.I.
protection, she informed them that Markham still called
her at least once a week, usually around one or two in
the morning, to "relieve his nervous tension", mostly
on Saturdays at her work: Washington's Babies 555-BABY.
By now, Tammy was on a one-way plane to Anywhere,USA, Markham had
been caught, and Scully was
finished with her minor part in the case. She'd done
enough anyway. Sitting through two straight hours of
at least a dozen different men, some sounded relatively
young, others sounded way past the age limit of
excitement, grunting and moaning, slobbering all over
the phone was enough to make her become disgustingly
nauseas.
But it didn't matter now. Markham'd been apprehended
and it was all over. Now, the only time she had to even
think about telephone erotica would be whenever she checked Mulder's
answering machine.
Scully laughed aloud at the thought and the memory it provoked:
Whatever video you found in that machine, it isn't
mine, even through his dead-pan stare, Mulder couldn't
hide the sheepishness in his eyes.
Good, because I put it back in the drawer with all those other
videos that aren't yours, she had retorted
gently swaying in his chair.
Where was Mulder anyway? Probably out and about
somewhere having a ball. It seemed everytime Skinner
gave them some time off, a week this time, he could laze about and do
what he wanted to and she ended up working.
Of course, you really couldn't call what she'd been
doing at one-thirty in the morning 'work.'
"Oh well, Danielle what time is it?" Scully hoisted
the case up to bounce on her hip and fingered her
canvas bag.
"It's about ten to two. Man, I'm going to sleep like
a roc-.."
Danielle's words were suddenly cut off by something
that caught her eye.
"What is it Danielle?" Scully followed the path of her stare and
spotted the object of Danielle's fatigued
fixation:
a light was flashing on her switchboard.
"Who calls a phone sex line at two in the morning?" Scully felt a
mixture of irritation and incredulity bubbling at the back of her
throat.
"I don't know, but I really don't want to take that
call," Danielle sounded almost in near-tears with
fatigue.
"Then don't take the call. Just let it ring and leave."
"I can't. I promised that Tammy-woman I would take
all of her calls and add them to her ledger, so she'd get a full
week's pay."
Scully looked from the just-past green agent's upset
face to the switchboard and finally to her own watch,
encased in the black coat she'd just put on. She sighed
heavily.
"I'll take it, don't worry."
"Oh, you don't have to do that."
"It's okay, I survived over two hours of sick, peverted creeps
looking for a voluptuous, pernicious
ex-hooker to slowly seduce them over the phone with
her cool, appraising voice. I can live another five
minutes."
"Well..., if you're sure."
"I'll be fine."
"Really?"
"Go on."
"Thanks Dana, I owe you one."
Sure.
Scully watched as Danielle readjusted the weight of
the bags, turned the doorknob, and let it shut behind
her as she left.
She sighed heavily again, set down the canvas bag
she'd brought along with her and removed her coat.
What a way to spend your time off Dana.
She sat herself down in the swiveled chair and glanced at the light.
Still flashing.
Gosh, this guy must have a hard-on the size of Texas.
She grabbed the receiver and picked it up, making sure to place the
voice box over the mouth of it before speaking.
"Hi, I'm Bunny, what's your name?" Scully turned on
the sexy, whispery tone she must have used a dozen times that night.
"Marty."
Dana thought she felt the floor drop out from underneath her as her
throat passages closed off and the room began to spin. The voice on
the other end may have been unable to recognise her voice due to the
voice-alteration device on the receiver, but she knew that voice on
the other end of the connection better than anyone else's.
That voice belonged to Fox Mulder.
*******************************************************
A sharp silence fell around Scully's head and she thought she heard
her heart pounding in her ears. She
had to stop this and fast.
"What can I do for you Marty?" she propped her feet
up on top of the table.
She heard Mulder let go one of his dry, sardonic,
hopelessly-attractive laughs.
"You know, it's funny. I thought I knew when I called, now I'm not
so sure."
"Well, most people call a phone sex line for a specific reason,"
Scully fought to bite back the trace of bitterness in her voice.
Sometimes, for some reason she couldn't pinpoint, Mulder's penchant
for erotica made her insane.
"I know, believe me, nobody knows that more than I do," it sounded
more like a resignation than a flirtation, "you know, I'm not even
sure why I called.
I mean, it's two fricking o' clock in the morning.., I
guess.., I'm.., I'm..just..not into it. I'm sorry."
Scully was not quite sure she understood what he meant, but the
bitterness was still rushing through her and the words spat out faster
than she could catch them.
"So what are you saying? You can't get it up or what?"
"NO! I mean yes. I mean, of course I can. It's just, that's not
what I *need* right now."
An extensive silence fell between the two of them. Scully felt she
could almost see Mulder. He was sitting
on his couch in his T-shirt and boxers, his legs out
straight in front of him, a bag of sunflower seeds on the coffee
table, of course. Then, she could see his face, just form the tone in
his voice, disturbed, dejected, upset about something. She didn't know
what to do. She knew she should stop this right now, get off the phone
and go home.
"Well.., Marty.., do you want to talk?" Scully shifted slightly in
the chair and listened for his response.
"Do you mind?" his voice lowered a bit.
"No, not at all, what's on your mind?"
"Um..., nothing really.."
"Well *that's* pretty obvious."
Mulder let go another laugh.
"What's also pretty obvious," she continued in her now less-sexy,
more-whispery voice, "is that you're
troubled about something."
"Am I?"
"Mm-hmmm. I talk to a lot of guys everyday Marty. I can tell when
something's wrong. Now let's have it out," Scully felt the words
escape her mouth even before they reached her head.
"You're very straight-forward, aren't you?"
"Well, I've always been that way. Now come on, quit
being coy and tell me what's wrong."
She heard him sigh a heavy resignation.
"Okay Bunny, you want the truth?"
Scully thought about that for a second. Did she?
"Yeah.., why not?"
"Listen closely, it's a 'secret.'"
Scully sat up a little, keeping her feet firmly stationed at the
table as Mulder whispered into the phone.
"I'm not upset, I'm *bored*."
Scully felt like hanging up. Even when Mulder didn't know he was
talking to her, he *still* didn't tell her anything.
"Uh-*huh*."
"Yeah. Okay, this is the thing. I work up to eleven months out of
the year. I rarely get any time off, I rarely *ask* for time off. I'm
very dedicated to my work...I'm very dedicated to the people I work
with.."
Scully listened intently as he went on.
"And I guess," he continued, his voice straining to find the
words,when I'm not around h-..*them*< I really don't have a lot..to
do. Or anybody to talk to for that matter."
Scully felt incredibly and inexplicably affected by Mulder's words.
Both deep down and on the surface, she knew he was talking about her.
Not *everybody* he worked with. Not just anybody. *Her*. Another
memory resurfaced, one that had taken seed not long ago. They'd both
taken the weekend off and she'd gone to Maine, leaving Mulder behind
in D.C. She hadn't even been gone twenty-four hours when he'd called
her on her cell-phone. And less than twenty-four hours later, he'd
called again. If he ever someone to talk to, needed her, he could call
her. He could always call her.
"Hey, uh, Marty?" Scully threaded her index and middle fingers into
the phone cord.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"Why'd you call me?" she gently swayed in the swiveled chair.
Mulder paused, confused.
"Excuse me?"
"You really don't sound like any of the slimeballs I've talked to
tonight. I mean, you sound like a perfectly nice guy. What are you
calling a phone sex line at two in the morning for?"
For almost a full minute, there was nothing but dead air at the end
of the line, with the exception of a faint tapping on a surface. He
was tapping his thumb on the coffee table. She'd seen him do it
several times on the steering wheel while he was driving, while he was
deep in thought, or nervous about something.
"Marty?" Scully threaded her fingers further and further into the
phone cord.
"You want an answer?" his voice was a raspy whisper,almost as
though his breathing was low.
"Well.., why not?"
She heard him deeply sigh, the sound sent a chill down her spine.
"Well, the truth is.., since I work alot.., I really don't have a
lot of women in my life. And the few that there are.., or have
been..well.."
Several names drifted over Scully's head: Phoebe Greene, Bambi
Berrenbaum, Angela White, each one more stomach-turning than the last.
But what offension she did feel, she choked ot down.
"But you do have women in your life." she leaned back in the chair.
"Yeah," a faint rustle in the background indicated that he was
changing positions, possibly lying back and propping his feet up on
the coffee table.
"Tell me about them."
Dana, what are you doing?
"Well.., there's my mom, sort of.. she's not really
talking to me right now...There's Samantha, my sister.
And Scully, of course.."
"Scully? Another sister?"
Mulder laughed again, in an almost reflexive fashion she'd heard
several times. She sighed as the memory of the first time she'd heard
that laugh bubbled to the surface:
Fox...
*Haah*. She looked over at him as he looked away, then back to her.
I even made my parents call me Mulder..Mulder...
Hang up, Dana. Before this goes too far, hang up.
"Tell me about her."
There was another extensive pause between them. The silence was
unreadable. Finally, he spoke.
"Scully is...m-my friend. She's my partner."
"Partner in *what*?" Scully purposefully turned on her most
mischieveous tone of voice.
"Not what *you* think," he returned the wicked tone, but soon
turned rather serious.
"No, Scully is...somebody really important in my life..She's
*always* been there for me. She's been there for me more than anyone
else...she's just a big part of my life."
Scully felt herself sink back in the chair.
"You work with this woman?" she was baiting herself, she knew that.
Yet, she couldn't help it.
"She's my partner, up where I-uh..work. Yeah."
"Do you work well with her?"
"She's..she's my best friend..Yeah, yeah we work well together...I
guess that's because... I trust her,
more than anybody. And not only that, she trusts *me*. When nobody
else would, she did. Even when I was acting like an asshole to her,
and..and ranting like an idiot, she always trusted me...I mean,..she's
just wonderful, and honest, and beautiful and.., she's always there
when I need her to be.."
Mulder's voice slowly trailed off and Scully felt herself sink
further and further back in the chair.
Beautiful. He thinks I'm beautiful.
"Bunny?"
"Yeah?"
"'You okay?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"Marty, can I ask you a question?"
"Another one?"
There was that laugh again.
"If this woman is so good to you, why are you talking to *me* right
now?"
More silence. Again, she could see his face before her eyes.
Quizzical.
"Well-uh, I-uh.."
"I'm not trying to put you on the spot here. All I'm saying is, if
this woman is all that you say she is, if she's truly, truly
wonderful, why don't you call her?"
"Haaaa. We're on vacation, she doesn't want to hear from me."
What planet are you on Mulder?
"How do you know?"
"It's two-thirty in the morning.."
"How do you know she's not up?"
"There's no way."
"Look Marty, I may be stepping over the line a little here. But you
said you didn't have anything to do at home during your time off. So,
why don't you save on your phone bills, and call her and ask her to do
something?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Ask her out for coffee or to a movie or something."
"I-I'm not even sure that she'd go."
"How do you know she won't?"
"Well..um,..um.."
"Call her."
Please.
A brief pause forged a gap between the two of them and Mulder came
to close it.
"Okay.., I will. And I want to thank you for taking the time to
talk with me and give me advice. I mean.., you've been so nice and you
could've been really pissy about this. You know, me calling up at
near-dawn, then not even wanting to do anything, I must've sounded
like an absolute lout. You must have an awful lot of patience to have
dealt with me for so long."
Scully felt her stomach slowly fall back between her shoulders at
that last line. A sudden thought crossed her mind.
"Bunny?"
"Shhhhh..," she hushed him and slowly began in an even lower tone
of voice than when she had started talking to him, "you're sitting on
your couch, dark circles under your eyes, your hair slightly tousled.
You look like the "metamorphis", a cross between a vulnerable little
boy and a strong-willed man. I'm climbing on to the couch beside you.
For a minute, I don't say anything, I just stare at you. A few locks
of your bangs have fallen loose on your forehead. My left hand reaches
up to brush them away while my right hand settles on your shoulder.
Your skin is so warm. My free hand slowly follows a path downward to
cradle your cheek. I can't resist. It's too much. My face draws closer
to yours and my lips gently make contact with the are just around your
jawbone....You feel that?"
Mulder realized he had stopped breathing, he struggled to recompose
himself...
"*Yeah*..um.."
...failing.
Scully smiled a hopelessly complacent smile to
herself.
"Thanks for talking with me," he strained to get the words out,
"goodnight."
"'Night Mulder."
Now Scully was *certain* she felt the floor drop out from under her
as the realization of what she'd just done hit her *hard*.
"Huh? Who is this?"
Scully's eyes widened with terror as she bolted up in the chair. In
one swift motion, she ripped the mouth-piece off the phone and slammed
the receiver down in its cradle.
Oh no. Oh no!
She jumped up from the chair, accidentally knocking over her canvas
bag, dumping out all of its contents.
Scully got down on her hands and knees and slowly began to repack her
keys, her glasses, her appointment book, her worn out copy of "From
Outer Space", all the while trying to calm herself down.
Relax Dana, relax. Settle down.
She couldn't help it. She thought she would have felt less
humiliated if she had simply danced around their office topless with a
mask over her face. But slowly, the panic began to fade as she packed.
He doesn't even know it was you. Why are you so freaked out? He
doesn't know *anything*. There's no way he could possibly figure out
it was...
*Brrrriiiiiiinnng!*
Scully felt every muscle in her body instantly freeze. Her cell
phone was a little more than a foot away under another table. She
could see the small green light flash as it rang again.
Nobody ever calls me on my cell phone.
Nobody but Mulder,
*Brrrrriiiiiiiinnnng!*
If you don't answer it, he'll be suspicious.
Right then, a far more frightening thought crossed Scully's mind.
*Brrrrrrriiiiiiiinnng!*
Does he know?
*Brrrrrrrrriiiiiiiing!*
Answer it!
Scully somehow found the strength and crawled her way to the phone.
"Scully," she managed weakly, her voice almost cracking in
terrified anticipation.
"Hey Scully, it's me." Mulder's voice flowed through the phone with
a slightly brighter sound than it had a moment earlier.
"*Oh*. Hi Mulder." Scully strained to gain control of her voice,
"h-how are you enjoying your time off? Are you getting enough rest?"
"I'm fine Scully, what are you doing up? It's almost two-thirty in
the morning."
She hesitated, then came back with mock enthusiasm.
"Well, what are *you* doing up at two-thirty in the morning? That's
quite a record Mulder, even for you."
"'Couldn't sleep. Your turn."
"Same thing."
"Really? Whatcha doing?"
"*Oh*, nothing really. 'Just watching a movie on T.V., having a cup
of tea, you know."
"Oh, well if nothing's going on, can I come over..?"
"*NO*." Scully caught herself and changed to calmer tones, "uh-no,
Mulder, you really shouldn't..."
"Why not?"
"W-well, I'm...I'm.."
"What?"
"I-uh...I'm..," Scully stumbled over word after word, racking her
brain for an excuse, finding none.
"I-uh think I'd better come over Scully."
"Mulder-*wait*. Mulder!"
Too late. The low, piercing buzz of a dial-tone filled her ear and
the receiver slipped from her hand.
Oh God.
He was coming to her house.
If he gets there, and I'm not there...
Oh my gosh.
Scully grabbed her coat and canvas bag and bolted for the door.
Oh God Oh God Oh God...
* * * * * * *
Scully was positive she hadn't stripped the gears like that since
high school. Fortunetly, traffic was nil at this time in the morning,
otherwise she would've had to explain herself to Mulder, and Assistant
Director Skinner, form a hospital bed.
She sprinted down the hallway to her front door and fished around
for the keys in her pocket.
The door was still locked.
Scully breathed a sigh of relief as she let the door to her empty,
Mulder-less apartment shut behind her. She crossed to the coffee
table, picked up the remote from the table, and flipped on the
television. She'd told Mulder she was watching a movie. She needed
some time to regain her demeanor before he go--
*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*
"Scully, it's me."
Oh my gosh.
Scully took a deep breath and got up to answer the door.
"I'm coming," she called out in a wan voice.
She turned the knob and opened the door.
"Hey," she greeted him half-smiling.
"Scully, you have your coat on," Mulder's eyes stared at hers and
slowly made their way down her body to her feet before making their
way back up to meet her
eyes again.
"Well, that's an awfully nice way to greet someone. Good to see you
too, Mulder."
Mulder dryly laughed.
Will you stop that?!
"I'm soory Scully. Thanks for letting me come over. I know it's
really late and this was such short notice.."
"It's no problem."
"Now seriously Scully, why do you have your coat on?"
Scully looked down. Sure enough, she hadn't even been home long
enough to remove her coat. But she couldn't let Mulder know that.
"I'm *cold*."
"Yeah, but you're in the house though."
"I can be cold in the house."
"Okay, well let's go warm up on the couch then," he moved past her
and flopped down on her sofa.
Although Mulder seemed perfectly oblivious to the provocativeness
of what he'd just said, Scully wasn't.
She sank down next to him on the sofa.
"I thought you were watching a movie." he picked up the remote and
began flipping through the channels.
"Not really,..just...you know, channel-surfing."
Mulder settled on an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000".
"All right. I *love* these guys!"
Scully smiled, momentarily reassured he didn't know she was the
woman he'd talked to on the phone.
"So what were you doing up at two-thirty in the morning?"
Mulder's smile faded slightly.
"Oh.., nothing much, watching T.V., talking on the phone..."
Scully looked away.
Oh God.
"Oh,..sounds.."
"Boring?"
"I wasn't going to say that."
There's that laugh again.
"Well it was *boring*"
Mulder muted the television and turned over on his side to face her.
"I got to tell you Scully, for me, everything's been boring since
we got time off. How's it been treating you?"
Scully shrugged.
"I don't know.. I suppose it's been a tad uneventful."
Mulder stared intensely at her for a second, sending a chill
throughout her body.
"Scully, are you doing anything tomorrow?"
Oh my gosh.
"Um, no why?"
"Well I was thinking, if neither of us are doing anything tomorrow,
would you like to go to a movie or something?"
Oh my gosh.
Scully stared at him in surprise, but still managed to remember
herself.
"Sure, that sounds nice."
Mulder smiled widely.
"Great.., well I guess I'd better get going Scully," he stood up,
straightening his coat,"I'll call you tomorrow when I know what movie
and what time it starts."
"You know Mulder," Scully looked at her watch underneath her coat
sleeve, "it's almost a quarter to three. Why don't you just stay here?"
"Here?" Mulder gestured at the apartment with a turn of his head.
"Why not? You can sleep in the guest room."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure. Go ahead."
Mulder fixed her with a soft look.
"Thanks Scully."
"Don't mention it. Now you look tired, why don't you go in there
now and get some sleep?"
"Okay," Scully watched as he removed his coat, placed it over a
chair, and gently kneeled down on the floor beside her, "here's
goodnight."
She thought she felt her heart leap out of her chest when Mulder's
right hand settled on her left shoulder while his left curved around
to cup her right cheek as he leaned in to brush a soft, delicate kiss
on the area beneath her ear and above her jaw.
Oh my God. He knows.
For a brief moment after the kiss, Mulder just stayed there in
silence with Scully's face gently supporting the weight of his own
against it. Then he stood up slowly and started for the back wall with
the two bedrooms. Scully felt herself release a sigh of relief.
He doesn't know. If he knew, he would've said some-
"See you in the morning *Bunny*," he called from inside the door.
She stopped short, momentarily mortified, she couldn't even glance
back at the door though he was inside it. Then she smiled with a
sensation of relief she hadn't felt in a *long* time.
"Sleep tight *Marty*," she called back.
Scully smiled to herself, shut off the television, and headed for
her bedroom.
******************************************************
> Well there we are! There goes my most graceful swan dive into the
world of fanfiction. Let me know how you like it. I welcome all readers!
lemonbaby67@yahoo.com