TITLE: THE RIDE AUTHOR: Bone Tree RATING: PG (that may be an overstatement) CATEGORY: Vignette SPOILERS: None SUMMARY: Scully contemplates, yet again, her life with Mulder. FEEDBACK: of course DISCLAIMER: The following is a work of fiction. The characters of Mulder and Scully are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox Television. No copyright infringement is intended, and no profit is being made from the creation of this story. AUTHOR'S NOTES: At end. Thanks to Shari for her help with the site and to the good supportive folks at XScenes. ************ GEORGETOWN 9:03 p.m. Dana Scully sliced off another thin circle from the mini-salami, placed it haphazardly on a Ritz cracker and reached for the can of Cheese Whiz that sat before her on the coffee table. Placing a perfect flower of the unearthly orange at the center of the mottled piece of meat, she replaced the can next to the glass of wine she’d been drinking and daintily bit into it, savoring the memory the taste brought her. This had been her and her roommate’s guilty pleasure, eaten late at night cramming for some exam or another. A simpler time. How she wished for them now. She leaned back, taking another bite as her hand went automatically to the channel changer, sending the darkened room into a strobe as she went from channel to channel. She finally settled on a scene of two women, guns drawn, chasing after a thin man on a busy city street. <> she remembered automatically. Another guilty pleasure from her past -- this one from high school. She wondered if she’d liked this show out of some premonition for what she would become. Even then she was drawn to the image of a woman with a gun, she mused, sullen. She finished the cracker, settled down to watch, though she’d had yet to turn the sound up. It was just too much input for her right now, and she was in a foul mood. Another fight with Mulder, and a familiar one at that. She could still see his face, excited like a boy at an amusement park, as he burst into the office, holding two plane tickets and babbling something about the face of a dead Baptist preacher appearing on the side of a barn in Montana. She’d been packing up to leave for the day and stopped listening to him once he got that out. “Mulder, no,” she’d said firmly. “It’s five o’clock, I’m tired, and I’m not getting on a plane tonight, not for all the apparitions in the world.” She said it with more annoyance than she’d intended, something in her wincing at how his face fell a bit. “But Scully--” he’d started, and she cut him off with a raised hand. “I said no. Not this time.” She’d grabbed for her purse, her annoyance growing even more as he moved to block her exit from the room. “This is so typical of you lately,” he said sharply, his face and tone petulant. “How do you expect us to solve anything if we’re running on your precious nine to five schedule? For Christ’s sake.” Her mouth had hung open at that. “Let me get this straight...” she began quietly, angrily. “I won’t get on a plane in the middle of the night to go to East Pigknuckle, Montana and suddenly I’m jeopardizing our solve rate? Can’t this wait at least until tomorrow? Especially since it’s probably one of your wild goose chases and we’ll be back on the plane in two hours anyway.” Now she’d done it. It was how she felt, but she usually didn’t say it aloud. She usually indulged him. But not tonight. They’d just gotten off an embarrassing bit of travel expense to Georgia for a supposed alien visitation that had turned out to have about as much credence as the daily Elvis sightings. She was sick of it for this week. At *least*. “Fine.” He’d stuffed the plane tickets in his pocket, made a grab for his coat, nearly bumping into her as he did so. “Go home to your LIFE,” the last of it said with just enough sarcasm to sting. Then he’d huffed out, slamming the door behind him, leaving her standing there speechless. Now, as she sat watching the images flash by on the television, the glass of wine in her hand and half drained, she understood why he’d reacted the way he did. It was the difference in their approach to failure. When the cases washed up, she moved as far away as possible, afraid of failing again. With Mulder, it was different. He wanted to get right on to the next one, as if to prove some invisible judge wrong in finding him guilty of being a fool. Maybe she was that judge, she thought, feeling a bitter tinge of guilt wash over her. His last words echoed back to her as she leaned her head back, exhausted, staring up at the ceiling. Yes, this was her life, wasn’t it? Sitting in the dark eating salami and cheese whiz and sharing a bottle of wine with No One. She sighed, the fight going out of her. She was so tired. She’d just close her eyes for a few minutes and it would all go away.... And suddenly she was with Mulder, sitting beside him in the first seat of an empty roller coaster that was rachetting itself up to the first big drop of the ride. Mulder had his arms up, his tie fluttering in a stiff breeze. “Come on, Scully, put your arms up! It’s better this way!” But her hands remained locked on the bar in front of her, grimacing as she looked down at the enormous height they’d attained. “No way,” she replied through clenched teeth. “It’s too high. We’re going to go too fast when we reach the top.” Beside her, Mulder laughed, reached over and tried to pry her hands off the padded bar across her lap. “Sculleee....trust me on this. It’s better this way.” The car reached the top of the rise and she stared down at the tiny track that dropped off nearly to the ground, four stories below her. He’d succeeded at getting one of her hands up and held it, his arms going over his head and his mouth opening on a delighted howl as the car began to dip over the side. She closed her eyes against the sight, the sudden feel of weightlessness, and they plummeted, Mulder squeezing her hand to keep her from jerking it away. As they picked up speed, the thunderous sound of the wheels on the rickety track roaring in her ears, she opened her eyes, watching the world stream by in a blur of colors, the car shaking around them, Mulder screaming encouragements beside her. The drop hadn’t been so bad after all. It was, in fact, made more thrilling because her hand up above her head. And she laughed, realized he was right. It WAS better this way. She pulled her other hand up as they rocketed up the next rise, her hand still clutching Mulder’s tightly.... Then suddenly they were on the ground, still at the amusement park. Mulder sat next to her on a bench, the roller coaster, still empty, rising and falling behind them. Mulder had a chili dog in his hand, the red liquid from it running down onto his dress white shirt. “Here Scully,” he said, still excited from the ride. “Have some.” He pushed the dripping mass up, feeding it to her. She opened her mouth... And jerked suddenly awake on the sofa, her neck aching as she pulled her head up, staring wide-eyed at her surroundings. The glass of wine had spilled onto the sofa beside her, forgotten. The television was still on, now showing a black and white episode of “Perry Mason,” who was pleading his case before a stern looking judge. She sighed, checked the time. Close to 10. Without even thinking, she picked up the cellphone off the coffee table, pressed speed dial one. She wondered if he’d left already or if he was sitting alone in the dark like she was. She had a good idea which it would be. He hardly ever went anywhere without her anymore. He picked up on the third ring. “Mulder.” She could tell he was still a little angry. He knew who it would be at this late hour. “Mulder, it’s me,” she started. She took a breath, swallowed her pride. “I was just wondering...is there still time to catch that flight out?” After a stunned bit of silence, he replied that yes, there was still time. As he spoke, she looked around her dark apartment, seeming hollow and empty around her. Too quiet. And she smiled, the thought from her dream coming back to her again. He was right. It was better this way. END NOTE: This was written for the XScenes Improv, and contains the following required elements: Mulder and Scully sharing a chili dog, a roller coaster, Scully watching an episode of “Cagney and Lacey,” a salami, and Cheese Whiz.