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Title: Anabelle 08. Chances and Coincidences Summary: How far back does Mulder and Scully's connection go? I will be the first to admit that this is a short piece. Its almost sole purpose is to set up another story in the series (My thanks to Joe unknowingly giving me the idea for this). It is shippy though, almost all M&S. :) Also, I definitely recommend reading the other stories in the series because you will be pretty lost. You can find them at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/7124/index.html Feedback: feed me. *g* RhiaRamsay@aol.com Archive: Wherever, Gossamer, Xemplary, and Spookys especially Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine, we all know that. However, Anabelle and Grimalkin are mine. Anabelle 08-Chances and Coincidences Elizabeth L. Iacono Saturday, May 3, 1998 Fox Mulder ran an arm across his brow as he dug through the cardboard box. He and Anabelle had finally done a major bout of shopping, complete with a whole new bedroom set for Anabelle, who was glad to be sleeping in a bed again. The apartment was now starting to look like a home. With the arrival of the new furniture meant unpacking all the things from his old place that were still bundled up in boxes. And that was why he was spending a glorious Saturday inside digging through all his old stuff. Finally the box he was working on was all emptied. He folded that box up and tossed it to the side. Mulder moved to the next box, but paused when he saw Anabelle's cat Grimalkin sitting on top of it. The cat stared at him with unblinking golden eyes, and it's sleek grey fur rippled with every movement of its tail. "Come one, move it," Mulder sighed, wanting to spend as little time as necessary knee deep in boxes. Grimalkin twitched her tail again, staring straight at Mulder. After a long moment she pushed herself to her feet and gracefully hopped down off the box and strolled out of the bedroom. Mulder shook his head and pried open the box the cat had just hopped off of. This box was filled with a bunch of old things that were formerly buried in his old bedroom. There was a baseball mitt, and some thick textbooks left over from his college years. There were a couple of records, and the list went on. At the very bottom of the box was an old photo album, dark covered and probably over twenty years old. Mulder, deciding it was the perfect time for a break, sat back and began to look through the old album. From the outset it was obvious that the album was from after Samantha had disappeared. The gloomy look to the pictures testified to that fact. As he paged through it he couldn't find one picture in which he was smiling. He finally found one picture in which he was smiling though. It looked like he was at one of those government picnics his dad always dragged him to in order to give others the weak impression that the family was still normal. The picture was of him and another kid. He was about to flip the page when he got a better look at the other kid in the picture with him. 'It can't be,' he thought. But he wasn't sure that it wasn't. The other kid in the picture with him was a girl, maybe a couple of years younger than he was. They were sitting next to each other under an old tree, their sides pressed close to each other. It wasn't their closeness that startled him, but the familiarity of the girl and who she strongly resembled. Mulder stood up, taking the photo album with him. The questions running through his mind had to be answered as soon as possible, and he knew where to find the answers. He walked into the hallway and popped his head into Anabelle's room, where she was unpacking her own set of boxes. "Belle, I'm going out for a little while, but I should be back soon. If you need me for anything I'll have my cellphone on." "'Kay," Anabelle said, almost falling face first into a box in order to find something. On that note he turned around and walked downstairs, getting ready to go out. Mulder pulled the car up to the curb and killed the engine. Before he got out he sat there for a few minutes, wondering about chances, coincidences, and past events. Eventually he got up enough muster to push himself out of the car and up the stairs into the apartment building. He found the door he was looking for and knocked on it, feeling nervousness build in his stomach. Soon the door opened and the face he wanted to see popped out. "Mulder? Is everything all right?" Dana Scully asked with a puzzled tone in her voice. "Yeah," he said, shoving the hand that wasn't holding the photo album into his pocket. "Uh, can I come in?" "Sure," she said, holding the door open wider and inviting him in. "Make yourself comfortable." Mulder sat down on the couch and laid the book in his lap. Scully sat down next to him, folding her legs up under her. "So is everything okay?" she asked him, a slight bit of nervousness beginning to creep up on her. "Yeah, everything is okay." He decided the small talk wasn't worth it, that his head wouldn't let him rest until he asked the questions. "Scully, did your dad ever take you to one of those government sponsored picnics as a kid?" Scully nodded. "Yeah, a few times. Why do you ask?" Mulder didn't answer, but he flipped open the album, turning to the page that had surprised him so much before. When he found the page he silently handed her the album. Scully took it and looked over the page. He could tell the exact moment she spotted the picture because her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "Oh, my God," she said, turning wide eyes to him. Mulder just nodded, knowing the depth of what she had just realized. "Is that what I think it is?" Scully asked in a hushed voice. "I think so, if you think it's the same thing I think it is," Mulder said, realizing that he a tendency not to make sense when he was nervous. Scully bit her lip and looked down at the photo album again. "I think that it's a picture of us from when we were kids," she finally said. "That's what I think too." "But why don't I remember it?" Scully said, resting her hands on top of the album. "I mean, I think I would remember meeting you of all people." "I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted," Mulder grinned at her, teasing her just a little. She shot him a look, understanding the feeling behind his playful teasing. "You know what I mean. I just feel that I would remember the first time I met you." "If it makes you feel any better I don't remember either. I would have never even known if I hadn't stopped to look through the photo album," he said, leaning towards her. Scully shook her head and rested her right arm along the back of the couch. "This is just too...too..." "Spooky?" Mulder suggested with an ironic grin, and she smiled a little. "Yeah, it is." He shrugged. "Maybe we're just drawn to things like that. These strange coincidental meetings that you don't even remember. It makes me wonder what else is in my head that I don't remember." That last statement got a strange look from Scully. "I just wish I could remember what happened that day." "I want to remember how we met that time," Mulder said, "what would have drawn us to each other at that time and place." Scully looked down at her hands, her mind thinking back to the many picnics her father had taken her on. "Well I know that I was usually bored at those things. The women would be sitting around gossiping and have their daughters right beside them. And the boys were so chauvinistic and never let the girls join in the sports games they were organizing." "You weren't the only one who was bored. Even back then people seemed to stay away from me, like they were afraid that all the bad things that had happened to me and my family would rub off onto them," he said, feeling a blush come to his cheeks at what he had just admitted. Scully's face grew sad and sympathetic and she reached over to take his hand in hers. "Maybe that's how we met," she said, "two kids bored out of their minds at the close-mindedness of the day." "Two kids who knew they had a kindred spirit in the other," Mulder continued, holding her hand tighter. They didn't way anything after that, both sensing that it was one of those moments that didn't require words. The connection seemed to flow around them, making each one feel more complete than they had in years. Soon though the moment broke, and the connection seemed to slide into the background once more. "I should get going," Mulder finally said. "I told Belle that I'd be back soon." "Yeah," Scully said. On a sudden whim Mulder lifted Scully's hand that he was still holding and brushed a light kiss over her knuckles, a move that surprised and thrilled them both. After that he gently put her hand down and let himself out. Scully sat back into the couch cushions, rubbing her hand thoughtfully and wondering what this new development would mean in their lives.
End Coming next time--The Big Part. This is where it all happens (Lucy know what I'm talking about ;).
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