Title: It's Been. . . 2 Author: RocketMan >lbontger@wmcstations.com< Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is intended. One Week belongs to Barenaked Ladies. Sequel to It's Been. . . . ~~~~~ It's Been. . . .2 ~~~~~ Part One: Smile ~~~~~ "Can I help if I think you're funny when you're mad? Trying hard not to smile, though I feel bad." ~~~~~ Dana Scully watched him through the window of the physical therapist's office, her forehead pushed against the glass. He glanced up quickly, flashed her a smile laced with an aching pain, then continued in his exercises as the woman manipulated his shoulders. Her eyes strayed to his bare stomach, where his muscles rippled tightly as he began slowly to do sit-ups, rebuilding the shredded tissue from the bullet's entry three months before. He looked to be in pain, but he took it well, never complaining, never whining. She sighed. His silence meant it hurt all the more. With Mulder, minor injury meant one annnoying patient. Major injury meant white-faced dogged determination not to utter a single word. He looked up again, waved her inside with a trembling hand and said something to the therapist. She nodded and Scully came in, threading her way through mats and bars and weights to Mulder's side. He squeezed her offered hand and she dragged him upright, then hugged him quickly as the therapist offered her a progress report. "He's doing great. You shouldn't have any trouble in Florida as long as he rests and stays away from strenuous activity." Mulder poked Scully in the side, but remained straight faced, merely nodding and acting serious. Scully thanked the woman and led Mulder to the receptionist's desk to pay for the treatment. "Remember Mulder. . . not too strenuous." Mulder shook his head and brushed her ear with his lips. "She didn't have to tell me that. She should be talking to you." Scully wrote out the check for co-pay and herded Mulder to the outpatient hospital doors, rolling her eyes as he continued to make comments. As they seperated at her car, Mulder reached down and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then stroked her cheek with a heavy hand. She frowned at him, at the weary look in his eyes. "Are you sure you're up to this Mulder? We've waited a month now, we can always postpone the honeymoon another month, let you-" He shook his head and then brushed his thumb across her lips, silencing her. "We need this, Scully. Besides, I owe you, remember?" She watched gentleness and a smile displace the weariness, and stood on tiptoes to brush his mouth with her own. "Yes, we do need this." He was grinning at her. "Race you home." he said and dashed to his car. Scully jumped in her own and gunned the engine. ~~~~~ Part Two: Understand ~~~~~ "I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral, Can't understand what I mean, well you soon will." ~~~~~ The flight was at night, and they seemd to coast through the black velvet like swans through crystal lakes, with the stars still high above and making the airplane seem even more insignificant. She had the window seat, meaning Mulder crowded her to look out and gaze at the stars, even though she caught him most times gazing at her instead of the view. His chin came to rest on her shoulder as they looked out, his breath tickling her ear and stirring her hair, and head titled into hers. "There are a lot." he said distractedly. "Stars?" "Yeah. Sort of odd." "How's that?" she asked, shifting to see his reflection in the window. He sighed dramatically and she knew he wasn't going to be serious. "All those stars, all the many different potential suns to, let's say an average of nine planets, less if you want, say five, and even with all of those billions, quadrillions of chances, you don't think there's intelligent life out there." She laughed with the unexpected nature of his complaint, the tired voice and patented pained expression on his face making it all the more humerous. As she laughed, she realized that it was healing, that this laughter was mending things inside of her, and so she didn't stop. She let it continue, let the healing and the repair on her heart, her personality begin. Mulder was helping to loosen her up, let her finally be who she was all the time. And everything inside was saying laughter was something she needed. He had pulled back, watching her, head tilted at her sudden display, lips cocked into a smile, eyes enjoying the sight. Mulder was sitting perfectly still when she finally wiped tears from her eyes and stilled her quaking stomach. He looked pleased with himself, pleased and something else. Maybe awed. Maybe he hadn't thought she could be like that, or maybe it was something he thought would take more time. She leaned back into him, letting his arms tighten around her, letting the delicious taste of the moment of laughter linger on her lips and roll on her tongue. "Enjoying yourself, Mrs. Mulder?" She smiled. "Scully. You agreed." "Yeah, but that's just your stage name," he said, tickling her ear again with his breath. "You wish," she said and threaded her fingers through his. "Naw. I got everything I need. Who cares about a name? Besides, we couldn't both call each other Mulder. That would be a little silly." "And far be it from us to be a little silly, right Mulder?" "Exactly." They had a moment of silence, watching the ocassional grey cloud stream past the wing. She took in a tight breath, letting her eyes slip shut. She wanted to be serious with him for a moment, to tell him the things they really hadn't gotten a chance to actually say. With his therapy and arranging their wedding and simply trying to dodge the obstacles that came with their engagement, the struggle to keep the X-Files open and both of them still working on it, partnered, they hadn't had much time to sit down and talk. The marriage always seemed to come into context with a joke, or one of his off-color remarks, or in regards to plans. It made her nervous that they hadn't talked. She knew he understood, knew he was secure in it, otherwise he wouldn't have been so comfortable, so self assured and amused all the time. Whenever she did something now, whenever he got a look into her at-home kind of living, he seemed tickled by it. Amused. It was amazing that such a man would be able to let go of so much for what they had. She wanted maybe to reassure herself in this, maybe to reassure him. "Mulder. . ." "Uh-oh. What did I do?" he said, drawing his arms a bit tighter around her middle. "Nothing. I just. . .I'm glad we got a chance to leave for awhile. This will give us time to talk. We never really talked much about this, you know? It kind of just happened." "Yes. But we never really talked much anyway, right?" "It's not that it's a bad thing. We never did talk much like that, but I feel that I know you better than . . . than I even know myself sometimes." "Wow. That's amazing. *You're* still a complete mystery to me." She glanced back at him, saw the glint in his eyes, knew he was teasing her. She sighed then, shaking her head and feeling like laughing again. "You're good for me, Mulder. You know that? You make me come alive." He was suddenly very still. Very serious. His breath rattled once, then sort of fell off. He drew her even tighter against him, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his forehead into the back of her neck. "That's . . ." He paused, regaining control of his voice. "I don't know what to say to that." Scully tangled her hand through his hair, rubbing his neck and turning to place a kiss on his head. Finally words came to him. "If I can do that for you. . .then I must be doing something right." She felt the choked sensation in her throat and swallowed rapidly, refusing to let tears fall for something like this, something they spoke with such undying honesty. She turned into him, curled tightly into his arms and tried to forget how she used to be, put away the parts of her that had been in control for so long. In this window away from the world, in their little moment, she would be simply a wife. Simply a wife. ~~~~~ Part Three: Tendencies ~~~~~ "I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve. I have a history of loosing my shirt. It's been...." ~~~~~ Scully lay on the beach, half asleep and half day dreaming, her chair positioned so that her feet touched the wet sand, and the surf came washing over her legs with silky fingers. Mulder had gone walking up the boardwalk after lathering her with sunblock and hadn't been back since that morning. She hardly realized so much time had gone by until her stomach growled and she glanced up at the sun. It shone fiercely above her and she shaded her eyes and peered down the beach. No Mulder. Sighing, she gathered up her stuff and traipsed back to the beachfront condo that her mother time-shared with another couple. She let her things fall in a heap on the porch and went to unlock the sliding door with her key but it gave way and so she pushed in amid the long strips of the blinds. She moved effortlessly around the kitchen, making herself and Mulder a turkey sandwich, switching on the radio idly, then sitting down to her lunch. She had been flipping through a magazine when a noise made her jump, then freeze to quiet. She heard it again - like it was coming from the bathroom. Slipping through the master bedroom, she noticed that Mulder's shoes were just inside the door. Her heart flipped and she scrambled for the bathroom, yanking open the door with fear lacing her vision. She stopped cold at the sight. Mulder lay sprawled in the floor, bleeding from a cut lip, a swollen eye, and profusely from his newly healed wounds. She wanted to throw up. He was coming back around, moving his head slightly and moaning as she crouched next to him, gently supporting his head. "Oh, Mulder. . ." His eyes snapped open and he groaned. "Couldn't react fast enough." She let her eyes stray to the rest of his body, making a keening noise in her throat as she saw the damage to his stomach. Pulling him against her chest, she supported his weight while pressing a towel to staunch the flow of blood. He licked his lips. "I forgot to lock it. They waited. . .glad you didn't come in before me." "Who did this, Mulder?" she sighed, closing her eyes because somehow, she knew it was a threat, a warning that they better not ever again get too comfortable. "Didn't see faces. But they were hired . . . professionals." He let his eyes close again. "I coulda taken 'em any other time. Too slow to move fast and they knew it." She leaned forward and pressed her lips into his forehead, closing her eyes. "We have a tendency to get in trouble, you know that Mulder?" "Yeah. But it's we. Us. Never alone again." She smiled into his hair and squeezed shut her eyes. "Us." she repeated, the strange sense of comfort falling back into place for her again. He hauled himself up to a sitting position, then gingerly stood, gaining support from her as she helped him to his feet. He walked slowly into the bedroom, then closed his eyes and let her lay him on the bed. She put fresh bandages over the bleeding areas, thankful to see that it hadn't been ripped too badly, only a little tearing of the scar tissue. The bleeding would stop and he'd be aching for awhile, but nothing serious. The swollen eye was blue and puffy and she collected ice and placed it in a Ziplock, then wrapped a washcloth around that and made him hold it to his puffed lid. Then she sat on the bed beside him and stroked his cheek, reminding herself of his touch and finding comfort in it. Mulder snaked his arm around her waist and played with the belt loop on her jean shorts. "I already feel better, doc." His hand traveled up her side and his thumb smoothed along the bare skin of her back, revealed by the swimsuit. "Not that good, Mulder." He sighed and tugged on her bathing suit strap, letting his fingers dip down her skin. "Mulder." "I'll be good." he muttered, but let his fingers continue their exploration, being his eyes while the ice covered over his vision. Fighting off the thrills coursing through her, she slipped away from his prowling touch and laid down next to him. He resigned to the contact and simply splayed his hand on her back, rubbing softly. "You think this counts as strenuous, or can we try again?" ~~~~~ end adios RM thanks to all who wrote and asked for Florida. I guess I owed you!