From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:46:00 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Ghost in the Machine (BTC) by Becki Hodgson
Source: direct

Reply To: beforethegoodbye@hotmail.co.uk

Title: Ghost in the machine (BTC)
Author: Becki
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Missing scene from GITM, written for Bad
Touch challenge.
Spoilers: GITM, but general character background 
spoilers
Disclaimer: Sadly Mulder and Scully don't belong to me but they do  
belong to 1013 and Fox. I just use them for creative outlet!


Scully kept her focus on Jerry as he walked out the room, although her mind 
had been elsewhere through most of his presentation and their previous 
conversation. Why hadn't Mulder wanted to admit that they had been 
partners? He must have been stupid if he didn't think she hadn't picked up 
the look he gave her when Jerry corrected him. They had only been 
working together a matter of weeks and although a bridge of trust had 
slowly been built over that time period. Was it strong enough to question 
something that was personal? Although they had touched on their lives 
outside on work, she still didn't really know him, she was sure the feeling 
was mutual.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since Jerry left the room but she was 
still sat at the desk, not really moving other than to play with her pencil 
and breathing. She could feel Mulder's gaze on her, as if he wasn't sure 
who should speak first. He seemed apprehensive about the one to break 
the silence but he also seemed unsure about her saying anything. 

"You want a coffee?" Raising her eyebrow at him, although they both survived 
on coffee, she was typically the one that went to get it, mostly to get out of 
the confines of their, his, office. 

"Why did you lie to me?" The silence mostly carried on for a few seconds, 
Mulder looking uncomfortable and she could see his eyes moving from the 
door out to the other chair in the room. Fight or flight, basic human response, 
it reacted to more than just a life or death situation. "About you being partners. 
There's no reason to lie, that's in the past. I know you worked with violent 
crimes before the x files so of course you had a partner."

She was sure you could hear a pin drop in the office, Mulder was rarely 
silent; sprouting out random ideas and talking well past the point of when 
Scully started to lose interest and her attention started to go on an expense 
report. 

"Did you think I would be jealous?"

That was the only reason she could think of why he would keep it quiet from 
here. Or did he like her to think that he had always worked alone, that way it 
was easy to get rid of her if she couldn't keep up with him. Complain to those 
above them that he worked perfectly fine by himself and Scully would believe 
it was true rather than her weaknesses compared to Mulder. Although if 
that happened, she would be annoyed, she had put in hours that would be 
seen as illegal just to catch up to the level that Mulder was.

The silence was driving her insane, she had never really seen him like this. 
Even on their first case together, when they were in that motel room, she felt 
like he couldn't keep quiet. Although that could have been to scare her away.

Standing up from her chair, she walked over to Mulder and tipped her head up 
so she could actually look at him. Scully watched as his eyes tried to settle on 
anywhere but her, his eyes seemly picking a spot just behind her left ear.

"We just... we've never talked about partners before and you mostly worked 
at Quantico before you were transferred here." Scully had a feeling that this 
was as close to the truth that she was going to get out of him. 

"Mulder, I know there's partners before more and they'll more than likely 
be partners after me." There was this sudden darkness that came over his 
eyes, she hadn't really asked or looked into his previous partners, and didn't 
know if there were others than Jerry.

"They weren't interesting anyway. They were just people that I was forced 
to work with by the assistant directors." Now he was looking her in the eye, 
there was something else that he wasn't telling her. Another partner that he 
didn't want to talk about? The one previous to her who worked with him on the 
x files but she was lead to believe there had been no one else working with 
Mulder on these.

"You sure? Nothing you want to..." Her mind stopped thinking when she felt 
his lips against hers and his hands cupping her cheeks. 

Scully needed to stop this; he basically ticked all the boxes of the men that 
had been in her life. Her superior, tall, dark and at least 3 or more years older 
than she was. Although he was obvious younger than a certain ex-professor 
from a few years ago.

Before her mind went into autopilot, she pulled away from his lips and 
grabbed what little paperwork they had on the 'case'.

"We need to get going if we're actually going to do this Mulder." Without 
saying another word, she grabbed her things and left the office. If he followed 
her, they were obviously going to go with what information was left for them. 
And if not, she was going to get a coffee and the biggest piece of chocolate cake 
she could find in the city.

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