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Title: Anabelle 06. Girl Talk Summary: Mulder has to go out of town for a conference and Anabelle stays with Scully. It's girls' night out... Hey everyone! It's the latest installment in the Anabelle series, and this time I'm collaborating with a two very good friends for this lovely little story all about two women having fun. What else could be more fun? From Lucy: I'm just glad that Liz finally got around to finishing this part..I've been waiting for a while ;o) and i had fun helping to write it...and you're all gonna love the rest of the story (i'm very evil) :o) hehe Archive: Wherever, Gossamer and Spookys especially, anyone else just ask me. Feedback: Please? The three of us would love it. Elizabeth's addy is RhiaRamsay@aol.com, Lucy's addy is pinhead_thatsme_scully2@yahoo.com, Lee's addy is lee1013xf@yahoo.com Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine, Anabelle Mulder belongs to me, Mulder, and Scully. Oh, and Lucy and Lill? Please forgive my latest Harry Potter obsession *grin*. Thursday, March 24, 1998 "Why do you have to go?" Anabelle Mulder whined as she perched herself on the empty bedframe that was set up in the master bedroom. The mattress was unfortunately sacrificed in a slide down the metal stairs and into a puddle. Fox Mulder straightened up from where he was putting a suit into the garment bag to look at his daughter. "I told you before Belle they requested me to speak at the conference about some profiles I did a while back. I can't back out of it." Anabelle winced and slid onto the floor. "I know that, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Mulder went over to the closet and pulled out another suit. "I know you don't like it but I guess it had to happen sometime. My schedule's been pretty clear the last month, but soon I'm going to be getting out of town cases again." "Where am I going to stay then? At least this time?" Anabelle asked. Mulder shrugged as he zipped up the garment bag. "Well the Gunmen always have an extra couch...." he trailed off, looking up to see Anabelle's suddenly ashen face. His face broke out into a grin. "I'm just kidding you Belle, this time you're staying with Scully." "Oh, thank God," she sighed. "But don't rule out the possibility of staying with the Gunmen," he smirked, barely ducking the rolled up socks she threw at him after that comment. March 25, 1998 Anabelle sat outside on the stone steps to Kensington Academy, stretching her legs out. She stared down at today's ensemble, which she tossed on because she was being lazy, but which (along with the rainbow painted hair) earned yet another 'ungrateful punk' comment from Mrs. Lorenzo. She had on a short plaid kilt which was actually a school uniform she'd picked up at a uniform store and cut down to a shorter length. Though, admittedly, she was so small and had absolutely no figure that she still fit into a child's size 14. The detachable straps were currently sitting on top of a box at home. Over the skirt she had on an old T-shirt emblazoned with the coat of arms of some obscure Oxford pub. She couldn't remember who she stole it from, but whose ever it was it fit perfectly. To top it off she had another pair of knee high, chunky heeled boots. She looked around at the rest of the people lounging around on the stairs, jokingly called 'The Breakfast Club' by Lucy. Josh was there slouched down next to Anabelle, almost asleep. So was Lucy, along with Lee Das, a girl Lucy had introduced her too. Another new friend was there, Lill Nolan, the daughter of a British business woman who was currently working out of Washington D.C. And lastly there was Harry Cardiff, who Anabelle liked to call Harry Potter because he reminded her of the book character. It was great getting to know them, they were all wonderful people, but today they were slouched around on the front steps waiting for their various rides home. Lee straightened up, resting her back against the wall and pushing her curly brown hair out of the way. "Hey, don't we have a test in English on Monday?" she said. "Test? What test?" Anabelle yelped, the panic evident in her voice. "Relax," Harry said. "It's stuff we've been going over for the past three weeks. Anyway, it was announced during one of your frequent guidance visits." "Why're you spending so much time there anyway?" Lill asked Anabelle winced. It seemed to be school policy to dig into the backgrounds of every new student that came their way, and Anabelle wasn't too comfortable with people digging into the darker corners of her family and her psyche. "Just more digging into my dysfunctional family, that's all." "Why does it seem that most families these days are dysfunctional?" Lucy muttered. "Josh's isn't," Lill pointed out. Josh woke from his light doze at the sound of his name. "Whaaa...?" he said blearily. "Your family," Harry said, "it's not that dysfunctional." Josh snorted. "No, we're just weird." His eyes closed again and his head lolled to the side to land on Anabelle's shoulder. She looked down at him with a smirk and wiggled her shoulder. "You think you're weird you haven't met my father yet," she grinned. He didn't budge. "That must be where you get it from," he muttered. Lucy and Lee stood up at the arrival of a van at the curb. "That's our ride," Lucy said. "I'll see you later and Anabelle I'll call you over the weekend." "Wait!" Anabelle cried, leaning over and almost sending Josh to the pavement. "I'm not going to be at home this weekend, but you can reach me here." She grabbed Lucy's hand and scribbled Scully's number on there. "Okay," Lucy said, walking sideways down the stairs. "I'll talk to you then." "See ya on Monday!" Lee said as she pulled the car door open. Soon they were driving away and the other four were still slouched on the stairs. "So why are you staying somewhere else this weekend?" Lill asked, stretching her neck to see if someone was coming up the drive to pick her up. "My dad has to go out of town for a conference, so I get to go stay with a good friend of his," Anabelle said, trying to rearrange Josh who was asleep again and beginning to slowly slide down her arm. "You don't have any family in the area?" Harry questioned. Anabelle grimaced. "Nope, no family around here and besides I don't get along with most of my family, Potter." "Will you please stop calling me that," Harry seethed. "My last name is Cardiff, not Potter!" Lill laughed. "C'mon, it's a cute nickname." "It's a damn book character," he growled. "And I'm quite familiar with the book," Lill said calmly. "You should be honored," she smirked. "It's a great book." "Then how come I've never heard of it?" Harry retorted with a smug look. "Because it's only published in England so far. I know though from a friend of Mum's it'll be published here in the fall," Lill said with confidence. Anabelle laughed at the back and forth bickering. "Hey Lill," she said through her giggles, "d'you know if there's going to be a second book?" "Yeah, my mum's going to get me a copy as soon as it's published." Anabelle leaned forward, sent Josh slumping across her back and jostling him awake. "Please, please get me a copy! I'll pay double for it, I want to find out what happens!" she pleaded. "I'll try," Lill said as Josh picked himself up and shook his head to clear it. "Guess I shouldn't have left that essay til the night before," he mumbled. "Got that right," Anabelle smirked. Another car came up the drive and four heads looked up to see who was the lucky one who was going home next. 'Standard, bureau issue Taurus, red hair at the wheel,' she noted. "I believe that's my ride folks." She stood up, scooped up her bags and jacket and strolled down the stairs. "See ya on Monday!" She walked over to the passenger side and pulled open the front door. She slid in with a sight, her head rolling back against the headrest. "Long day?" Dana Scully asked from the driver's seat as she put the car back into gear and steered it away from the school. "Long day, long week, long month, long life," Anabelle muttered. "I miss being able to sleep in." "From this point of view it's not much better," Scully said. "I miss being able to sleep in too." Anabelle sat up straighter when she realized what road they were driving down. "Hey, don't you have to go back to work?" she asked. "No, I took the rest of today off. There's not much to do at work anyway. I'll save the cases until Mulder comes back," Scully said. "That's smart," she sighed. "So where are we headed now?" One blue eye strayed from the road to look over at her. "Don't you need some clothes while you're staying with me? I mean, unless you want to walk those miles every time you need to get changed." "All right, all right, I get the point," she muttered. Soon they arrived at the apartment, a shorter trip than before because Scully actually knew the side streets. They hiked up the metal stairs and Anabelle unlocked the door for them. They stepped into the apartment and suddenly a streak of grey launched itself at Anabelle's boots. "Hey, Grimma," she said as she bent down to pick the cat called Grimalkin up. "Grimma's coming too, right? I've already got her stuff packed up." Scully noted the bag and spare litter box on the counter. "Just make yourself at home for a little bit. I shouldn't take too long." Scully wandered around the place as Anabelle headed upstairs with Grimalkin in her arms. The last time she was here was Monday, she'd have thought they would have done more moving in, but the living room was still relatively bare. Just Mulder's couch, a folding table in the kitchen area, plenty of boxes scattered around, and a television was pretty much the extent of the furnishings at that time. 'That shopping trip doesn't sound like that bad an idea now,' she thought. She strolled over to the fridge and pulled it open out of sheer curiosity. It was also close to bare. She guessed the food-shopping trip from earlier that week wasn't as successful as Mulder had led her to believe. She had to give them credit for trying though. It was a startlingly new situation they were in and they were adapting as best as they could. Even if that meant take-out five days out of seven. Soon Anabelle came back down the stairs carrying a duffel bag bulging with things and Grimalkin following her. "I think this is everything," she said, moving to scoop up Grimalkin's things. "But just in case I'll take the house key with me." "Let's get going then," Scully said. They walked out and closed the place up, careful not to shut the door on the cat's tail, who was strangely following them obediently. Shortly they were on their way to the short drive to Scully's place. Scully led Anabelle into her place, escorting her and Grimalkin through the front door. Anabelle nodded appreciatively as she stared around the place. "Nice," she said. "Think we can get some of this style to rub off onto our place?" she grinned. Scully laughed, remembering the condition of Mulder's apartment. "Come on, I'll show you the guest room where you can put your things." "Thanks," Anabelle said as they walked to the room. Once there Anabelle slung her duffel not so delicately at the foot of the bed. She sighed and flopped down on it. Scully stood in the doorway a little awkwardly. "Uh, I'm not quite sure what I should do next," she said, try not to let the nervousness seep into her voice. "The kids I've watched before have all been under the age of five." "Well, I'm real easy to take care of, just water, a little food and I need to be walked twice a day," Anabelle joked. "But seriously, I've got some homework to do so that'll cover me for a few hours until dinner so I'm set." "Okay," Scully said. "I've got some paperwork that I took home from work I can take care of. It's probably just as much a pain as homework." So for the next few hours they sat, Scully at her desk and Anabelle plunked down on the couch with the television on, each doing their respective work. At around six Anabelle sighed with relief and tossed her binder down. "Finished. Finally. I hate homework," she grumbled, a very familiar complaint to her. Scully shut down the computer program she was using and turned to Anabelle. "Do you want anything special for dinner? I was just thinking of ordering a pizza." Anabelle shrugged. "That's fine with me." She went silent, wrinkling her brow thoughtfully. "Hey, how about we do a girls night out sort of thing? Y'know, along with the pizza rent a few videos, pick up a few cartons of Ben and Jerry's, something like that?" "Sounds good," Scully said, although she was a little puzzled at the sudden and unexpected request. Anabelle suddenly giggled. "Cool. Remember I told you a while back that I had a whole load of embarrassing stories from the college years? I figure that this is the perfect time to tell them, with no chance of him listening in." "You have a very strange sense of humor," Scully sighed as she got out of the computer chair. "I'm going to get changed into some more comfortable clothes. The number for the pizza place is by the phone. Order please for us?" "Okay," Anabelle agreed. "Is there anything special you want on there?" she called after her. "No anchovies or pineapple," Scully called back as she walked into the bedroom. Within five minutes the pizza was ordered, Scully was attired in casual jeans and a sweater and they were ready to go. As they walked out to the car Scully made plans. "Okay, first stop, Blockbuster Video, then the supermarket to get ice cream, and then we get the pizza." "Sounds good to me," Anabelle said as she slid into the car, readjusting her skirt around her legs. "I've got some extra cash, I can help with some of it." "Any idea what you want to rent?" Scully asked her. Anabelle shrugged. "Something sappy I guess. I'm not in the mood for any angst tonight." Shortly they reached Blockbuster and Scully and Anabelle began prowling through the aisles. "Where the hell's that video?" Anabelle muttered. "I thought these were all built the same way, but no, they're not and I can't find the damned video." "What are you looking for?" Scully asked as she looked at a copy of 'Return of the Jedi'. "'The Princess Bride'. It's one of my favorite movies, but the copy I have at home is terrible, that was the day my old VCR decided to crap out," she grumbled. Scully's eyes caught a flash of something a little ways down the aisle. She went over to it and picked it up. She walked back to Anabelle, who was still stalking the aisles and muttering angrily under her breath. "Is this what you were looking for?" she asked, tapping Anabelle on the shoulder. Anabelle whirled around at the suddenness of someone coming up behind her. "Oh, thank you!" she cried, taking the video from her. "What do you want to get?" "I don't know. We'll find something." The two wandered the aisles, browsing the cases lined up on the shelves. Anabelle stopped at one of them. "Hey, how about Braveheart?" she said, holding up the double case. Scully wrinkled her brow and took the case. "I thought you said you didn't want any angst tonight." Anabelle smirked. "I know. But it's got some great costumes. Besides," she taunted Scully, "it's got Mel Gibson's ass in it." Scully glared at her. "You have a really strange sense of humor," she repeated, but nevertheless took the video up to the cashier. The next stop was the local supermarket to pick up the ice cream. "All right, we have to get a carton of cookie dough," Scully said, pulling open the door to the freezer where the Ben and Jerry's was stored. "You've got no complaints from me," Anabelle said as she reached in to get a pint of Heath Bar Crunch. "Ooh, and pick up Phish Food. It's got those little chocolate fishies in it." She tossed the Phish Food to Anabelle and picked up a carton of Cherry Garcia. "You think four is enough?" "I hope so." After that they picked up the pizza and headed back to Scully's place. Anabelle put the ice cream in the freezer (which she noticed was a lot less frosted over than Mulder's) and Scully got the paper plates (because she really didn't feel like doing dishes). "Can we put 'The Princess Bride' in first?" Anabelle asked. "Sure," Scully said, flipping open the pizza box that now sat on the coffee table. She sniffed appreciatively at the smell of the pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, and green peppers on top. She pulled the slices apart and took one for herself and set aside another for Anabelle. Anabelle sat down on the couch, tucking her stocking feet under her and picked up her slice. "Yum," she mumbled as she took the first bite. She then reached for the remote and started the movie. Scully sat back and watched the opening credits of 'The Princess Bride', the tinkling video game music deceptive of the actual plot. She finished her first slice of pizza and as she reached for another one she began to ask a question of Anabelle. "So what exactly happened at Oxford?" Anabelle giggled, almost choking on a string of cheese. "Hmm, where to begin? Well, I guess....you know how they say that the quiet ones are always the worst? I think that's the best way to describe it. Most of it wasn't in classes though. If I remember correctly, and this was over ten years ago so I could be wrong, the way students at Oxford are taught are that once a week they meet with a tutor for each class they've got and attend a few seminars. "But there are other things around there, a lot of sports teams, although no baseball, but more British sports. I remember, uh, sometime in the last year I was there, I guess around '85 or '86 I was a soccer match with Mulder and two of his friends." "The same two he always mentions from that time?" Scully asked. "Yeah. Nick Slider's actually one of his oldest friends from here actually. And Cecily Duncan was in a study group of his. She's an inspector at Scotland Yard now. Nick was actually on the soccer team but he was out that day because of a pulled muscle. "Anyway, I was sitting in the stands with Sess, and Mulder and Nick said they were going to get us drinks. Now that normally doesn't take too long, but they were gone for over fifteen minutes. So picture this, we're sitting there waiting for the game to start, Sess is pretty much steaming at this point because she knows that if she leaves them alone for more than five minutes they'll get into trouble--" "That sounds familiar," Scully smirked, recalling countless times she had to Mulder's ass out of the fire. Anabelle laughed. "Yeah, really. After that one of the teammates comes up to Sess and starts talking to her. After a minute or so Sess asks if he's seen either one of them and...ah, I can't remember his name, the soccer player gets this really innocent look on his face. Coincidentally, this was the same soccer player who was at the flat the day before helping Mulder and Nick carry an extraordinarily large box of powdered dish-washing soap." "Oh, God," Scully said, her chest shaking with barely restrained laughter. "They said that the soap, and there was pounds of it, was for a science project. Now what the hell would a psych and a business major be doing with a 'science project'? "But right then Mulder and Nick come back, with the drinks surprisingly, and they've both got these real innocent 'Who, me?' looks on both their faces." "I hope you didn't buy it," Scully said, putting her plate down on the table. "Sess didn't, and she was going on about how it couldn't possibly take twenty minutes to get a few sodas. But all Mulder says is 'There was traffic'. That didn't go over too well, and Sess looked liable to just clobber him one right there. She was like the mother figure of the group, trying to keep the other two out of trouble. "Suddenly though there was a scream coming from the parking lot where the other team's bus was. Naturally, being very nosy, nearly the whole crowd rushes over to see what's going on. I think that was when Mulder picked me up so I wouldn't get trampled. "In the lot was the other team's bus, which now had piles and piles of bubbles inside it. I mean, there had to have been at least four feet of suds in there." Scully couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing, falling back into the pillows of the couch. "And Nick and Mulder are just standing there with these slightly amused looks on their faces, and Nick just says: 'Huh, odd.' As it turns out the other team's equipment and uniforms were still in the bus and now totally waterlogged, and so the game was called off due to waterlogging. Which is exactly what the team wanted. "See, Nick was already out for a few weeks because of his injury, and a few of the team's best players were currently in jail because of starting a drunken brawl at a pub. And that day they were playing their arch rivals. But with some people out there was no way in hell they'd win. So they come up with the idea to distract the rivals to the point that the game was called off and they didn't have to forfeit. Naturally, they go to Nick, who was probably the bigger troublemaker out of the two. "By the way did I mention that they never caught the people who did the little prank? Although Sess did have a damned good idea who did it and spent the rest of the day chasing the two of them around with a cricket bat," Anabelle finished, laughing herself. "You can't be serious," Scully said, gasping between laughs and clutching a pillow to her stomach. "Totally serious," she giggled. "They did do some really good things to an ex-girlfriend of Mulder's." "Was that Phoebe?" Scully asked, hoping the bitch got what she deserved. "Uh-huh," Anabelle said, her lips twisting into a grimace. "I only hope you never have to meet her." "I have before," Scully sighed. "She came here once to 'help' on a case." "Let me guess, she was also trying to get her claws back into Mulder." "Exactly. But that plan ended when he caught her in a compromising position with the same person she was supposed to be protecting," Scully grinned evilly. Anabelle laughed. "Serves the bitch right!" she howled. She looked over at the pizza now long forgotten sitting on the table. "You want the ice cream now?" "Okay." Anabelle hopped up and disappeared into the kitchen. She came back shortly precariously balancing the four cartons and two spoons. She dropped the cartons onto the coffee table. "You wanted cookie dough, right?" she asked, handing Scully the carton and a spoon. "Yes," Scully said, taking the carton and cracking it open. Here Anabelle continued speaking, slowly working towards her plan of subtle matchmaking (because, she figured, if they didn't have some help speeding the long, albeit romantic, courtship up in ten years they'd still be 'just friends'). "Seriously though, it seems like Mulder has the worst luck when it comes to women. Let's see, there was Jennifer Fairchild, who obviously had mental problems. Phoebe is... Phoebe..." she trailed off here, waiting to see what Scully knew about the next person on the list, and if she didn't, Anabelle wouldn't bring it up. Scully took a spoonful of the cookie dough. "He also mentioned something about an ex-wife once, a long while back." Anabelle breathed an internal sigh of relief, thanking the Gods and Goddesses that Mulder had told her something. She grimaced. "Yeah, another real winner. Die-ana Fowl-ey," she sneered, emphasizing the words. "My opinion?" She took her spoon out of the open tub of Phish Food and pretended to gag herself with it. "I pride myself on having tripped her down the stairs once." "I was guessing from the look of distaste on his face when he mentioned her it wasn't too pleasant," Scully agreed. "Unpleasant is too mild a word for that fowl one," Anabelle growled. Suddenly she got a thought, and an evil grin came to her face. "But now he has you, and you can protect him from the evil bitch if she ever comes back." She arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think I wouldn't leave him there if he deserved it?" Anabelle arched an eyebrow right back. "You really expect me to believe that? C'mon, you would do anything for the man you loved, right?" Scully sighed, and launched into the argument she'd been using to herself for years (although there would be those brief moments of clarity where she would admit that she was in love with him, but they would be pushed back). "Anabelle, Mulder and I are just friends. He's my best friend and I love him as that, but nothing more." She noted that her internal arguments were getting weaker and weaker. Anabelle feigned surprise (which luckily Scully didn't pick up on). "I never said anything about romantic love. I know it's possible for two people to love each other as friends." In her head though was a whole 'nother train of thought: 'Quick, pre-fabricated response, insistence upon "just friends" ...Oh yeah, she's in major league denial, they both are. I've got my work cut out for me.' "Okay," Scully said, a little sheepishly. "It's just that people often mistake us for more than what we are, you know?" 'Gee, I wonder why?' Anabelle thought, trying not to let the grin come to her face. On the exterior though she nodded sympathetically. "I understand," she said. At that moment the carton of Phish Food decided to slip from her fingers and land on Anabelle's shirt. "Great," Anabelle muttered, pulling the carton up. "Well, at least it didn't get on the couch," she sighed. "D'you mind if I go soak this in the bathroom?" "Sure, go right ahead," Scully said. As Anabelle went into the bathroom Scully decided she might as well wrap up the rest of the pizza. "Hey, Dana," Anabelle called from the bathroom, "can you get me a shirt out of my bag? I forgot to bring one in here." "Okay," Scully said, shutting the door to the fridge. She made her way to the guest bedroom and pulled a shirt out of her bag. Then she went over to the closed bathroom door and knocked lightly on it. At the sudden pressure the door swung open, having not shut properly. Anabelle stood hunched over the sink, scrubbing viciously at her shirt, but that wasn't what got Scully's attention. What got her attention was the set of thick white scars running down Anabelle's back, divided halfway through by her bra, in a slight V-shape. The violence needed to create such a large and clear scar made her gasp. Anabelle's head turned at the sudden noise to see Scully standing there. She followed her gaze as far as she could until she realized she was looking at the 'angel wings' scars. She blushed, the red standing out sharply on her fair skin. Scully hesitantly spoke. "Uh, Mulder had told me that you had been attacked a while ago. Is that where the scars are from?" she asked, choosing the words carefully. Turning around and leaning against the sink, Anabelle nodded. "Yeah, they were from Jennifer." She shuddered at the memory and wrapped her arms around her bare stomach. Scully crossed the room quickly and handed her the T-shirt. "Thanks," Anabelle mumbled and pulled it over her head. She shuddered again and ran a hand over her face. "Cassie says I'm supposed to talk about it, that it'll help exsorcize the memories." Scully wrapped an arm comfortingly around the younger girl's shoulders. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." "But you want to know, don't you?" Anabelle said, turning to look at her. Scully didn't answer, but they both knew she wanted to hear it. Anabelle sniffed once, the memories were getting hard for her to handle. "Can we go back into the living room?" she asked. "Sure," Scully said. Once they were settled back in, with Anabelle huddled in one corner of the couch, her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped around them, she began her story. "Okay. Um...when Mulder, Nick, and Sess were in college, they all pitched in and bought a house in a small town in Cornwall as I guess a summer place, because none of them really wanted to go home during the breaks. A lot of times I went with them, because Aunt Kate was always so busy with her dig and Uncle David was hardly ever there, he worked back in the states. I don't think they minded having me there though, we always had fun. Even after college the four of us would always manage to get there for at least one week a year, usually during the summer. It was usually just the four of us, and after Sess's kids were born they came too. Thank God her ex-husband didn't come though, he was a real creep. "It was in 1991, uh, over the summer. Mulder had gotten injured through work again so we had about a month vacation time. Nick was down there, and so was Sess with her oldest boy Noah, who was two at the time. About two and a half weeks into the trip Mulder and I were in the local foodstore and we ran into Jennifer there. Mulder wasn't too pleased to see her, guessing by the look on his face. Anyway after some small talk she invites us over to dinner at the apartment she'd rented there for a short vacation and tells us we can't refuse. I'm pretty sure thinking about it now that by that time she'd figured out who I was, even though Mulder had introduced me as his cousin. "Then, later that night when we're walking to her apartment Mulder tells me something strange: to be careful around Jennifer and not to let my guard down. I didn't know why but I agreed anyway. I also noticed that he had his gun holstered at his side under his shirt, which was really strange because for the rest of the trip it had been locked in a box in his bedroom. "The dinner was...cold I guess would be the best word to describe it. Jennifer kept shooting me these evil glances and Mulder was glaring at her for doing that and I just tried to make myself invisible. Jennifer was also drinking an awful lot. At first I thought it was water but later on I found out it was vodka. "The thing couldn't have been over soon enough. Somewhere near the end Mulder had spilled something on his shirt and Jennifer practically kicked him into the bathroom to get cleaned up. She demanded he go get cleaned up. While he was out I had gotten up out of my seat to bring my plate up to the sink, and I hear a clanking sound behind me. I turned around and I saw Jennifer behind me holding up a vodka bottle. "The first shot hit my head and it broke the bottle." Anabelle pushed back her red and orange bangs to reveal her right temple and right near the hairline was a think, jagged scar that Scully could barely make out. She looked over at Anabelle who looked even paler than before. Scully scooted over on the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, Belle," she soothed, using Mulder's name for her. "You don't have to do this." "Yeah, I do," Anabelle said in a voice stronger than she felt. "Uh...that first whack to the head knocked me onto the floor, but it didn't knock me out. Then she started hitting me on the back with the broken bottle. I didn't know what the hell was going on, just that my head hurt, my back hurt, and I could feel it bleeding. It took me about ten seconds to realize that I could scream for help. "As soon as I screamed Mulder came running back down the hall. I saw out of the corner of my eye, the one that didn't have blood dripping into it, that he'd pulled his gun and was yelling 'get the fuck off of her!'. I think that then Jennifer dropped the bottle because I remember it hitting my back really hard, and then hearing her running and a door locking. "Then Mulder was hovering over me and I think he was putting some dishtowels on my back to stop the blood and using some others to try and hold them on there. And then there was a towel that he was pressing to my forehead but it wasn't really helping. From there I guess Mulder had managed to carry me back to the house and then we'd all piled into the car because the only doctor available that time of night was a few towns over at the hospital in St. Austell. "I don't remember much of the car ride, just Mulder holding me and cursing out Jennifer, Nick driving like a madman, and Sess holding Noah and trying to keep me awake even though I was in such pain and wanted to go to sleep. "After a while we got the hospital and they rushed me into surgery to stitch me up because my back was such a mess, but they couldn't put me under for it because I had a concussion. Umm...oh, yeah, when Mulder told the doctor what had happened the doctor called the local Constable who came down to take statements from Mulder and me. That wasn't fun because the Constable had stormed past the nurses while I was in surgery and got our statements then (they let Mulder in there to hold my hand because even with the locals it still hurt) and I had a gauze pad taped to my head and the doctor was stitching my back up like a damned rag doll. "Later on I was in a hospital bed, but I had to lay on my stomach to keep everything off my back. Kinda embarrassing with nothing else on but a hospital gown and panties. Everyone else was in the room, when suddenly the Constable comes in. Him and Mulder leave the room but then Mulder's back a minute later telling me that he has to go help the police and that he'll be right back and if I needed anything to just ask Sess or Nick. "I found out that the Constable had told Mulder that when they got to Jennifer's place they found her dead on the kitchen floor. There were no apparent causes of death (all the blood on the scene was mine), but the suicide note and the three empty vodka bottles found on the counter next to her gave them a clue. Anyway they wanted Mulder to identify the body down at the morgue just to assure that it was really her. He even sat in for the autopsy, and it turns out that the deliberately high amount of alcohol in her system was what killed her." Anabelle finished with a sigh and slumped, resting her head on Scully's shoulder. Scully wrapped her other arm around Anabelle and hugged her tightly. Things like that no one should have to go through, especially at such a young age. It did give her a better understanding of where her PTSD came from. Imagine getting violently attacked by someone you never met, but then finding out that the person who attacked you was really your birth mother? It was enough to harm anyone. Scully shuddered sympathetically and hugged her tighter. Anabelle sniffled and ran her hand over her face, brushing away a few stray tears that straggled out of her eyes. "Sorry about that," she mumbled. "It's okay," Scully said, rubbing her back comfortingly. "I don't blame you one bit." "Okay," Anabelle whispered. "I know." Suddenly she straightened up and looked at the screen, grinning slightly. "I love this scene." And they sat back and watched Miracle Max lecture Inigo Montoya and Fezzik about how mostly dead was slightly alive and that true love was the greatest thing in the world....except for a nice M.L.T. 10:30 p.m. Scully and Anabelle lounged at opposite ends of the couch, each still digging through a carton of ice cream and watching a battle scene from Braveheart. Grimalkin was lounging on the back of the couch near Anabelle's head. But Anabelle's mind was busier than her body looked. After spilling her whole sob story to Scully she felt closer to her, which was a good thing. She was worried that her presence there would make Scully jealous of her, that she was taking Mulder away from her. The same thing had happened to a friend of hers, whose new step-mother had tried to take all of the father's attention away from her. That was not Anabelle's intention, in fact, she was trying to push the two together. Push, kick, shove the two together until they finally acknowledged what everyone else knew. At that moment the phone rang close to Anabelle's ear. She winced and was tempted to throw her pillow at it except that it would require actual movement. "Get that for me, please?" Scully asked from her end of the couch. "Okay." She reached an arm over her head and felt around for the portable. After the third ring she found it and clicked it on. "City Morgue, you stab 'em, we slab 'em," she quipped, mostly because she was expecting it to be Mulder. Scully shot her a look, one she was finally experiencing first hand after many of Mulder's descriptions, and she grinned impishly back. "Who is this?" a voice on the other end asked roughly. "Uh, who are you looking for?" Anabelle asked. "Dana Scully. Who are you?" the man repeated. "Hold on," Anabelle said, and covered the mouthpiece. "I think it's for you," she told Scully, "though whoever it is doesn't sound to nice." Scully took the phone. "Hello?" "Who was that, Dana?" She winced at the sound of her brother Bill's voice coming over the wires. Ever since Christmas they hadn't been on good terms (for all obvious reasons) and their conversations had been strained since then. "Just a friend, Bill," she said hastily, not willing to tell him who exactly Anabelle was. The shit would really hit the fan then. "What are you calling about?" Bill went off on some tirade about meaningless things, and Scully came to the conclusion that he was just checking up to make sure Mulder wasn't there. 'This is getting annoying,' she thought. Finally he hung up, and Scully sighed and tossed the phone onto the coffee table. "God, I hate my family sometimes," she muttered. "You too?" Anabelle joked. "Though I sometimes think my family redefined the term 'dysfunctional'." She arched an eyebrow. "You mean Mulder's not the only one?" she asked. She also figured that learning a little of Mulder's background might help her understand him a little better. Even though she probably knew him better than anyone, there were some things she still couldn't puzzle out. "Hell no, I don't know much about his father's side, but his mother's side is pretty off their rocker. The grandparents, my great-grandparents are somewhat normal, but after that it heads down hill. The first one born was Mulder's mom I think somewhere over in Europe (her dad was Scottish and her mother Dutch) but when she was two the family came here. Let's just say she didn't like her dad too much because when she was 18 she changed her name from Valentena MacKinnell to Tena Kuipers, which was her mom's maiden name, and went off to do her own thing. "Then there's the second child, my Aunt Mary. She's the only one who turned out relatively normal. Married, settled down, took over the family business, has the good kids in the family. "Last was the unexpected ones, the twins Katelyn, Aunt Kate, and Brigid. I think there's a thing for twins in this family because both them and two of Mary's kids are twins also. Kate was the one who went into archeology, which my grandmother didn't like, feeling it wasn't a safe job for her to have for more than one reason. But she sort of made up for it when she married Uncle David, because he was one of those 'good boys' in her opinion. "Brigid's a real flake though. She got into the whole hippie thing in the '60's and never really got out of it. Which is actually good if you want a first hand account of what the original Woodstock was really like. Otherwise, she's not all there. She doesn't really have a home, well, she has an apartment but the most she does there is dust it out every few months or so. Most of the time she travels and sells some artwork she does so she's got money. She also has a daughter out of wedlock, the father is....I really don't remember who but one day she shows up back home with a baby, which would have been shocking except for the fact I showed up two months before, making them somewhat experienced with the situation." "It could be worse," Scully said when Anabelle finished. "All in all they sound like good people, even for all their quirks. There are many worse people you could have ended up with." "Like Jennifer," Anabelle nodded. The phone rang again. "This time I'll let you get it," Anabelle said. "I bet this time it's Mulder," Scully said as she reached for the phone. "Hello?" -Hey Scully,- Mulder's voice echoed through the earpiece. "Hey," she said, a smile spreading over her face. Anabelle saw the smile and knew immediately who it was. 'Why don't they see it?!?' she screamed in her head. 'They make such a cute couple.' She then buried her face in a throw pillow to hide the wide, stupid grin spreading across her face from envisioning the two of them at a wedding, preferably their own. -How's the day been?- Mulder asked. "Okay. I did manage to get that paperwork done that you've been putting off for months." -Remind me to give you a very big payback when I get home.- "I won't let you forget," she grinned. -Did everything go okay with Anabelle?- "Yeah, she's fine. She's...well it looks like she's suffocating herself with a pillow." "I am not!" Anabelle retorted, jerking her head up and smoothing her rainbow hair back into place. "She did tell me some stories from your college years though." -Really?- Mulder's voice took on a nervous tone. "Yes. They were interesting, to say the least." -Let me talk to her for a second, please.- "Sure," she handed the phone to Anabelle. "Hi, Mulder!" Anabelle said cheerfully. -What did you tell her?- Mulder asked. Anabelle shrugged. "Oh, nothing big. Just little, day in the life things." She got an evil grin on her face, which luckily Mulder couldn't see. Mulder sighed, realizing he wouldn't get an honest answer from her and would have to watch to see what Scully knew from now on. -How are you holding up? Everything okay there?- "Everything's fine. Don't worry about us." -Right,- Mulder said, both knowing full well he'd worry. -Well, I'll call again tomorrow.- "I wouldn't expect anything less," Anabelle said. "Talk to you then." She heard the phone over on Mulder's side click off and she hung up herself. "That's just the daily phone call. I'm surprised he didn't call earlier." "Will he call again tomorrow?" Scully asked, trying to keep the hopeful tone out of her voice. "Yes," Anabelle said. "Do you really think he wouldn't?" she smirked. Scully smiled, and once more they settled back to watch the movie. That night Scully found herself in the middle of a dream. She was running like mad, as if someone was chasing her. She couldn't see though, it was black. Then some feeling began to come back to her, and she felt her arm stretched out in front of her, with a warm hand holding tightly to hers, practically pulling her along. Her vision came next. She, or rather they because there was someone pulling her along, ran down a long hallway with steel grey walls that weren't very well lit. Scattered along the walls were windows peeking into various rooms. Hearing returned. She heard her own footsteps along with the person's, who looked male, in front of her. Other than that the hall was eerily silent, as if they were trying to keep secret. Suddenly the man in front of her stopped and she felt herself crash into him. The man turned around and she saw that it was Mulder. But he was young, no more than twenty years old. He looked over her head back down the hall. Then he pulled her into a small alcove, dark and almost totally blocked off by boxes. Mulder slid in first and she slid in after him and they stood, her back to his front. His arm curled around her waist and his hand rested protectively against her stomach. She looked around the alcove silently and spotted another window there. She stared at her reflection. She could have sworn she was staring at her high school graduation picture, she looked exactly as she did at seventeen. Very odd, but it was a dream, and anything could happen, right? Scully backed up further against Mulder, when she heard the sound of fast determined footsteps coming down the hall closer to them. Across the small opening left by the boxes a bunch of older looking men dressed in suits passed by. "I'm pretty sure they went this way," one of them said, and she just knew that they were looking for them. Soon the men walked back in the opposite direction, saying something about checking other hallways for them. Mulder leaned out to check if there was anyone coming, and then when the coast was clear he pushed her out of it and followed. In the hallway he grabbed her hand once more and they continued running. They stopped at an intersection of hallways and Mulder whispered to her, "I think there's an exit this way." He led her down a short hallway, and at the end of that was a door, one that would have not been taken for an exit because the words 'storage closet' were emblazoned across it. He pushed it open, and they exited into the night. Scully was surprised that she didn't hear any alarms going off, but Mulder kept pulling her along and she didn't have time to think about it. She looked around and saw that they were in a forest, thick with trees. It felt like summer, it was warm and humid out. Through the leaves of the trees moonlight flickered in. After running for what felt like forever Mulder stopped and turned around. She crashed into his chest and felt his arms go around her waist. His head bent down to hers and he whispered, "Are you all right?" Scully looked up at him, seeing the moonlight reflect off his eyes. "Yeah," she said breathlessly. Suddenly she felt the wind kick up around her, and then a bright light. Scully opened her eyes and realized the light was sunlight coming through her bedroom and hitting her eyes. She groaned and rubbed her hand over her eyes. That was one of the odder dreams she'd had. Since she'd started working on the X-Files she'd had her share of weird dreams, but that one was just strange. She supposed that seeing a young Mulder there came from the stories Anabelle had told her about his college years. The way he'd looked in her dream was about the same he would have looked while he was there, maybe around the time Anabelle herself was born. She sighed and pushed the dream to the back of her head, chalking it up to the stories and the too much ice cream she'd had the night before. Scully looked over at the clock on her nighttable and was surprised to see how late she'd slept in. She figured the dream was what had kept her asleep until 10:30 a.m. She pushed the covers back and got out of bed. Scully pulled her dressing gown on and walked out into the living room. She saw that Anabelle was already awake and now lounging on her couch dressed in her pajamas still with Saturday Morning cartoons on the television and talking on the phone. Scully went to make some coffee, and by the time it was finished Anabelle was joining her in there. "Morning, Dana," Anabelle said. She paused uneasily and then spoke again. "Hey, Dana, how would you feel about going to the mall later on?" Scully arched an eyebrow at her. "Really? It's my observation that kids your age hate going to the mall with someone even remotely resembling a parent or guardian." Anabelle flushed. "Okay, I just want to go meet some friends there from school. It'll only be for an hour, and then after that I can treat you to lunch. Please?" Anabelle begged. Scully bit her lip thoughtfully. It wasn't that hard a decision, spending an hour wandering a mall would be worth it to see Anabelle happy. "What the hell," Scully said. "And I'll pick where we go to lunch." Anabelle smiled brightly and hugged her. "Thank you so much, Dana." Scully grinned and hugged her back. "You're very welcome." "What mall are we going to?" Scully asked Anabelle as she pulled her knee-high boots back on. Anabelle straightened up and smoothed down her blue slipdress, one she had designed herself. "Ummm, I think she said it was the one right on the other side of D.C." Scully nodded. "I know which one you're talking about." "That's good because I still don't know anything about this area." Anabelle grabbed a loose black sweater and slid it on over the dress. They headed out to the car and soon they made their way easily towards the mall, which was probably due to the fact that Scully had a better sense of direction than Mulder and Anabelle combined. Soon they were there, and heading towards the entrance. "So what's the plan?" Scully asked as she pushed open the entrance to the mall. Immediately the atmosphere of the mall assaulted senses, the crowds, the various stores clamoring for attention. She really couldn't understand how this appealed to the teenage mind. "Well, I'll only be about an hour," Anabelle said as they walked, blending into the crowd. "I guess we can meet up somewhere when that's up." Suddenly the steady flow of people came to an abrupt halt. "What now?" Scully sighed as she saw the people ahead of them slow down and stop. Anabelle stretched her head up, using her platform boots to their best advantage, adding a few inches to her height. "Ah...I can't really tell....wait a sec, there's a security guard. They're probably just rubbernecking." "Great," Scully said, thinking of another reason why malls weren't her favorite places. Something must have been going on ahead of them because people were craning and clamoring to get a better look. Scully and Anabelle moved back out of the main stream of people, almost bumping into a store window. They turned around to see the bright pink and gold that is characteristic of Victoria's Secret. In the display window was a selection of silk nightgowns, varying between long and short, some sheer and others thick silk that couldn't be seen through. They were in vivid solid colors, and patterns of paisley and leopard print and flowers. Scully looked at them, wondering how they came up with so many different variations on a theme. The short, leopard print one was very nice though, she had to admit. From beside her Anabelle snorted. "Maybe you should buy one and wear it for Mulder," she smirked. Scully sighed and shot Anabelle a look. "I know, I know," Anabelle said, trying not to laugh at the total falseness of what she was about to say. "Just friends, that's all." She took a look at her watch. "Oh, what the hell," she muttered. "I'm going to bust my way through this crowd. How about I meet you by the exit where we came in? In front of Lord and Taylor's." "Fine with me," Scully said, looking morosely around at the crowd still rubbernecking at the commotion. "Great," Anabelle said, hitching her purse up higher on her shoulder. "I'll see you then," she said, and disappeared into the crowd. Scully looked around at the crowd once more, realizing that they weren't going anywhere soon. in her wait she found herself staring back at the leopard print nightgown. The thoughts of what Mulder's reaction of seeing her in the nightgown came unbidden to her mind, but she pushed them away, reciting the 'just friends' mantra once more. But her mind just wouldn't drop it, and eventually she gave up. "What the hell," she said, and slipped inside the store to get a better look. Anabelle wandered through the mall, trying to find her way to the food court where she was supposed to meet Lucy and Lee. Unfortunately her off-balance sense of direction led her in circles and it took her an extra five minutes to find them, waiting for her on a bench. "Took you long enough," Lucy joked as she came near to the bench. "Hey, I've never been here before, and my sense of direction is weak as it is," Anabelle responded. "Guess what?" Lee said, holding out a little card. "You lucky little..." Anabelle muttered as she took the brand new driver's license. "You can get licenses at 16 here," Lee informed her. "That's good, because my birthday's next week," Anabelle said, handing back the card. "What day?" Lucy asked as they began to mill aimlessly around the mall. Anabelle grimaced. "Friday. April first." "Ah," Lucy said. "That and Christmas are like the two worst days to have as a birthday." "Yup," Anabelle said. "So where to first?" "Uh," Lee said, "how about we head for the south section? There's a CD I need to get." "Fine with me," Lucy said. "Lead the way," Anabelle replied. Soon the three found themselves browsing through countless aisles of CD's. "It's got to be here," Lee said, her eyes scanning the racks for what she was looking for. "It is a pretty new CD," Lucy pointed out, "maybe they didn't stock it here yet." "No, it said in the magazine that they had it here," Lee said. "I'm with Lee here, I saw the same ad," Anabelle said. "Oooh," Lucy said, moving over to pull a CD out of the bin. "Now this is a good CD," she said. "There are so many romantic songs on here." "Romantic?" Anabelle repeated, the word triggering so many things that had been on her mind lately. Coincidentally most of them had been plotting on how to get Mulder and Dana to finally admit what everyone else saw. She moved to look at the CD over Lucy's shoulder. "Yeah," Lucy sighed. "Some of the songs are so sweet. It's so easy to picture them writing about real life couples." Anabelle smirked. "Some real life couples though aren't as sweet as songs though. They fight, bicker, whine, all those lovely things." She then got another idea. "And then, of course, there's the couples who don't even know they're in love." "Why does that sound like something from a soap opera?" Lee said, still looking for her CD. "Would you believe that I know people who are exactly like that?" Anabelle grinned, thinking of two prime examples bearing the names Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. "I'd say you watch way too much television," Lee grinned at her. "Seriously," Anabelle said. "I know two people who have known each other for," she paused a second to count, "six years, have been through nearly every situation possible, have gone to the ends of the earth so to speak for each other, are both too intelligent for their own good, and have shown a strong attraction to each other. And still, nothing!" she ranted. "Maybe he's gay," Lucy shrugged. "Maybe she's gay," Lee added. "No, no, no," Anabelle shook her head. "Trust me, neither one of them is gay. They're just stupid! How is it that everyone else sees what they have between them, and yet they're as blind as bats?" "Well, there's something I heard once that I believe is frighetningly true," Lucy said, leaning against a rack. "I heard someone say that when people are in love, and I mean really in love, not just that little puppy love that happened to us in junior high, that they start to act a little stupid." "So stupid that they don't even realize that they're in love," Anabelle said. "Looking at those two I can believe that's the case. Now I just have to get them to see that," she mused. "Are you sure you should meddle in their lives?" Lucy questioned. "If I don't meddle ten years is going to pass nd they'll still be 'just friends'," Anabelle said, making quotes with her fingers as she said 'just friends'. "Found it!" Lee cried, pulling a CD from the rack. "Okay, let me go pay for this and we'll blow his joint." They headed for the register, and Lee paid for her CD. As Lee came back to the other two who were standing in front of the window to the music place she waved a hand at the reflection of the three of them. "Look at us. One brunette, one blonde--" "And Rainbow Brite," Anabelle grinned, cutting her off. The three of them suddenly burst into laughter and somehow managed to stumble out of the store and back into the mall. ** Anabelle ran through the mall as fast as her boots would allow. Her time was up and now she had to find her way back to Lord and Taylor's where Dana would be waiting. From what she observed and going by what Mulder had told her, Dana Scully seemed to be the type who would be very punctual and on time. Unlike Anabelle, who combined with a faulty sense of direction and a tendency for procrastination was late more often then she could count. Soon Lord and Taylor's loomed in front of her, and she spotted Dana leaning against the wall right outside it. "I'm here," she said, coming to a halt in front of her. "Have a good time?" Scully asked as they walked through the department store to the parking lot. "Yeah," Anabelle said. "I'm not the greatest at making friends initially, but I think I'm getting to know some really great people here." "I can understand that," Scully said. "My father was in the Navy so we were always moving around. It gets hard to make and keep friends that way." As Scully talked Anabelle caught a flash of pink out of the corner of her eye. She glanced down and looked into Scully's pocketbook, which was strangely open. Peeking out of the top of it was the characteristic Victoria's Secret pink. Anabelle grinned to herself, making a guess as to what was in there. 'This is going to be fun,' she mused, thinking about the future. The rest of Anabelle's stay at Scully's passed quickly, although not without its moments. One of the more interesting ones was when Scully took Anabelle to Church with her on Sunday, which Anabelle, coming from a background where the only religion was whatever God or Goddess her Aunt Brigid was praying to at the time, found a little unnerving. Wednesday, the day Mulder came home, came quicker than either one of them thought. That Wednesday Anabelle decided to make dinner as a sort of welcome home gift to Mulder. Which found Anabelle and Scully in the sparsely furnished kitchen in Mulder's apartment trying to toss together a meal consisting of fresh garlic bread, spaghetti with shrimp, and a tossed salad. Anabelle had Scully making the salad, wanting to tackle the tougher job of the shrimp herself. "I hate cooking," she grumbled as she turned up the burner under the pan of shrimp. "I don't know how the hell I came up with this stunningly bright idea." "Calm down," Scully said as she set the table for the three of them. "You're working out of a cookbook, you'll be fine." "Yes, but home ec was never my forte. I was always more interested in calling up for take out Thai rather than making my own," Anabelle said, adding a pesto sauce to the shrimp. In twenty minutes and four panic attacks later dinner was finished, set out nicely on the table and waiting. Anabelle slouched on the couch stroking Grimalkin who was sitting on her stomach, and Scully sat in a chair, flipping through channels on the television. Suddenly the lock on the door clicked open and Anabelle sat up abruptly, nearly falling off the couch. A tired looking Mulder walked through the door and dumped his bags and coat on the floor almost immediately. He looked around the room, his eyes pausing on the dinner on the table. "Did the kitchen explode?" he asked. "No," Anabelle grinned, going up to kiss him on the cheek hello. "I made dinner." Mulder looked over at Scully who was walking towards him. "I'm hoping you supervised this," he said to her. "She's not the greatest in the kitchen." "Come on, all I did this time was set the first batch of garlic bread on fire," Anabelle said, moving over to the table to dish out dinner. Mulder turned fully to Scully. "I hope she wasn't too much of a problem," he said. Scully smiled up at him. "It was no problem," she said. "She's a great girl." At this time one of those moments passed between them, where they were staring into each others eyes as if there was no one else in the world except for them. But as right as it felt, the moment was not meant to be carried to its fullest extent because they were interrupted by Anabelle (who if she was looking at them would not have interrupted) speaking. "Okay, dinner's ready!" They moved to the table and sat down. Mulder looked over the meal and grinned. "I can't believe it, she did something right in the kitchen." "Well I can't say I didn't have help," Anabelle grinned, and Mulder's eyes looking gratefully over at Scully. "So let's eat," a smiling Scully said. And they did. The end I hope that everyone liked this story, it was my first collaboration work with two of my best friends. You guys are the greatest!
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