Title: Moonscapes
Author: Jenn
E-mail: [email protected]
Category: SR
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None outright, but Biogenisis never happened, so the
agents can have a happy summer vacation.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong to
Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and FOX television and are brought to
life by the lovely Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. They are
used without permission, but not for profit, so don't sue me cause I
have no money.
Summary: Back to Highroad for love and shmoopy romance.
Dedication: I would like to dedicate this piece to lisa, who has
given me feedback on every piece I've ever posted, and to all of
those people who responded so kindly to "Starscapes" (my first fanfic
ever). You have given me the confidence to write more than I ever
thought I would. I can't thank you enough!
Moonscapes
by Jenn
1:02 p.m.
Highroad Program Center
"Everything seems different in the daylight," Dana commented as she
got out of the car.
"Well, for one thing, we're in a different part of camp than we were
before, but you're right: it does look different," Mulder replied
while locking the car. The gravel parking lot was crowded and he
considered himself lucky to find a place to park. While Dana could
see only the aged buildings and broken fences, Mulder saw everything
through the same eyes he had as a 12-year-old boy. Each new sight
brought back memories of a happy childhood when the biggest stress
was memorizing all the choreography for the musical.
Dana watched Mulder carefully as he took in the sights and sounds of
his old camp. It had been several months since she had visited this
place--it had been far too long. She wasn't sure what it was about
this place, but everytime she came here, she got goosebumps. After
their star-gazing experience, Dana thought that she truly loved
Mulder, but she wasn't sure. How he felt about her was an even more
clouded issue. He hadn't mentioned that night again, content to go
about business as usual. He had continued to flirt with her, but
she figured it was more for continuity than anything else.
Yesterday, out of the blue, he had mentioned Highroad's summer open
house and had asked her if she wanted to go with him. Confused, but
optimistic, she had agreed, hoping they would be able to rediscover
each other and perhaps find their true feelings.
"Scully? You ready?" Mulder interrupted her reflection, holding his
hand, ready to lead her through the camp.
"Yeah, Mulder, let's go!" Dana replied, placing her hand in his.
Hands intertwined, Dana and Mulder set off toward main camp.
Pointing at the rotting wooden fence they were walking around,
Mulder explained, "I'm surprised that fence is still standing. We
all used to jump over it after meals, even though the counselors
told us not to. They didn't really care, but one year a kid got
hurt, so they had to say that. It's hard to believe I'm now twice
the age that the counselors were then. They always seemed so old,
but I guess everything's relative."
The pair moved out the gravel parking lot into a small grass field
surrounded by buildings. To the left, Mulder pointed out the camp
store, which was frequented at least once a week the whole time one
was at camp. On the right, he pointed out the nurse's cabin and the
dining hall. "The nurse's cabin was very important to all of us at
music camp because it has the only bathroom in main camp. Otherwise
you'd have to walk back up to Oak Lodge or down to the pool house,
which you *really* have to go is a *long* walk."
"How was the dining hall food?" Dana asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"Horrible. It was camp food. I remember one night we had chicken
nuggets. When I went to dip it in the ketchup on my metal plate, it
made a *noise*!" Mulder's face wrinkled up in disgust at the memory.
"I always lost weight when I went to camp. I guess it made me
appreciate my mother's mediocre cooking when I got home."
They wandered the main camp grounds for a while. Mulder kept Dana
laughing, with anecdotes from his years as a Highroad camper. He
told her about the time all the counselors started fighting with each
other and the director started yelling at them in front of the kids,
telling them they were worse than the kids. He relayed stories of
food fights, although he claimed he was never apart of them. They
made their way toward another gravel path. Mulder stopped short.
"Down that gravel path is the pool and the entrance to the ropes
course area. It's a long way in, but there's a surprised if you can
make it that far."
Scully saw the glint in Mulder's eye and decided to take him up on
the challenge.
* * * * * *
5:10 p.m.
At the end of a long, winding walk through the woods, Dana found
herself in front of a ladder and a long line. Mulder had shown her
almost all of the ropes course, like the spider web and the barrel
roll. Mulder had recounted to Dana how he had loved the ropes
course because it meant he had gotten to cop a feel while lifting
the girls over certain apparatus. Dana had rolled her eyes--boys
will be boys, even at music camp.
Since it was the open house of the entire camp for the summer, the
camp director had decided to open the zip wire for the visitors.
Dana had never heard of the zip wire, but the mischievous glint in
Mulder's eye made her very nervous. She had enjoyed her afternoon
thus far. She really loved the way this place made Mulder reminisce
and become a happier person. He really opened up to her about his
feelings and experiences as a child. She felt so privileged to be
the one that Mulder could talk to.
Dana noticed that they seemed to be climbing a hill. It was pretty
high, and although she wasn't afraid of heights, it still made her
uneasy. She heard strange noises coming from behind her, but Mulder
wouldn't stop talking. Dana began to think that he was trying to
distract with his stories as the line moved higher and higher up the
hill.
At the top, Dana saw several cables covered with garden hoses. The
cables all seemed to lead to a wooden platform about 50 feet in the
air attached to a tree. "Mulder, what is this?"
"It's the zip wire. The culmination of all the teamwork BS the
ropes course--the reason everyone participates--is the zip wire. A
freefall of sorts through the woods--it's the biggest thrill
Highroad has to offer. You're going to love it!" Mulder smiled
broadly as he propelled her forward to where two staff members were
waiting with harnesses for the two of them.
The staff members strapped Mulder and Dana into harnesses made from
seatbelt material that fit snugly around their legs and hips. The
zip instructor explained the safety of the zip and that the
approaches were made with aircraft cable able to withstand five
tons. Walking was difficult as the zip instructor showed Dana the
different approaches and how to use them. Mulder, a pro at the zip,
began his journey to the platform on an approach called the "heebee-
jeebee". The "heebee-jeebee" was the most advanced way to get to
the platform and it involved many different cables. Transferring
from one cable to the next provided the challenge. Dana chose the
easiest approach, a single cable, and started out shaky, gripping the
top wire for dear life while sliding her feet very slowly along the
bottom cable.
Dana and Mulder reached the platform almost at the same time. The
zip instructor on the middle platform disconnected their harnesses
and attached them to the safety harnesses connected to the tree. It
was then that Dana realized exactly what the zip wire was. The
teenage boy in front of her was being attached to a safety line,
similar to the one she had been attached to on the trip out to the
platform. He took a deep breath and stepped off the platform. The
wire sagged under his weight as he flew through the trees over the
crowd waiting for their turn. Dana turned to Mulder, "That's the zip
wire?! I have to do that?!"
"Well, you don't *have* to jump off and have the ride of your life.
You can go back the way you came," Mulder said as he pointed to the
cable extending from where they were standing back to the hill.
Dana turned back to the drop. The zip instructor was looking at her
expectantly. "I'm going to do it." stated firmly.
She was then attached to the zip line. The instructor coiled a rope
over her shoulder, which he told her to drop when she went backwards
past the ladder. Dana moved to the edge. Mulder stood behind her,
holding on to her waist as she stared down the distance to the
ground. He whispered in her ear, "All you have to do let go." She
squeezed his hands and then gripped the rails on either side of her.
Mulder let go of her waist and stepped back. She turned back to
him, with a questioning look. He smiled at her encouragingly. She
turned toward the drop and stepped off the platform.
Suddenly, she was flying through the air. The trees moved passed her
in a blur and the wind whipped around her face. Then she was moving
backwards, her surroundings still a blur, although becoming more
clear as she slowed down. Soon she was being stopped by the guy who
had gone before her when she threw down the rope from her shoulder.
The next thing she knew, Dana was climbing down the ladder and being
helped out of her harness. The ladder was taken down, the rope run
back to the platform by a short brunette. Once the rope made it to
the zip instructor he shouted, "Clear?!" and the young man replied,
"Clear!"
She watched Mulder fly past her shouting with glee, arms and legs
flailing. She turned around to get instructions from a volunteer
about how to fold her harness. After several tries, she finally got
it right and walked up a step to drop it in the crate. She stood
facing the trees for a moment, reflecting on the adrenaline rush she
had just experienced.
Mulder climbed down the ladder quickly, eager to remove the binding
harness. He knew it was necessary, but it squeezed things he would
much rather not have squeezed, at least not for long periods of
time. He swiftly unharnessed himself and rolled it up the way he
had been taught many years ago. He looked through the crowd of
people for Scully and found her with her back to him, staring at the
trees on the hill. Sneaking up behind her, he snaked his arms around
her waist and hugged her tightly to him. He chuckled when she gasped.
"Mulder! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She turned around to
face him. His arms slackened some, but she was still in his grasp.
"I had the perfect opportunity, so I took it. So...what did you
think? Isn't the zip a blast?!"
Dana grinned at him. "Oh yeah! It was great! I felt like I was
flying!"
"See I told you! Why don't you try it?!"
Dana looked to her right where the young man who had gone before her
was standing with the small brunette girl who had run the rope back.
The young woman put her hands on her hips and stated exasperatedly,
"Don't even start with me. We've been coming here since third grade
and I've never gone. Just accept the fact that I'm not going to go
on the zip and move on!"
The young man looked frustrated for a moment and then sighed,
"Whatever."
Dana looked at Mulder and they burst out laughing. "Are you ready
for some dinner?" Mulder asked. "I heard they're having a campfire
cook-out."
"Sure, let's go!"
* * * * * *
7:27 p.m.
The sun had begun to set as Dana and Mulder waited with about twenty
other people up at Oak Lodge, the place of the star-gazing event.
They were holding hands again, and though neither of them mentioned
it, they both were very aware of it.
"It's so beautiful up here. I'm starting to understand why you loved
coming here so much." Dana said as she took in her surroundings.
"Yeah, it's pretty country, but that isn't why I loved it so much."
"Why?"
"I guess I loved Highroad and music camp so much because I could get
away from everything and just be me. I could just be a kid and run
and play and get dirty. Music camp was its own little universe
where I was someone important. The younger kids looked up to me. I
guess I felt safe here. I always hated going home. I always wanted
to come back and be a counselor when I got to high school, but then
Sam disappear and my parents got divorced. Money was tight and I
never could come back. I had to get a paying job and Mom didn't want
me going so far away from home."
"Sounds like a nice life here at camp. It means a lot to me that
you're sharing all this with me. Moving around so much, I didn't
really have a place to go to every summer to just be a kid. We
usually spent summers packing and moving, so we wouldn't miss any
school. Yeah, my summers were spent in the station wagen between
Charles and Melissa, trying to sleep while they fought. Not exactly
idyllic, but I guess I learned patience." Dana smiled up at Mulder.
"So tell me about this hayride."
"Uh uh uh...you have to wait and see."
"Why is everything a mystery with you?"
"Not everything's a mystery." Mulder said as he stroked her hand
with his thumb. Before she could ask him what he meant by that, the
sound of a tractor motor silenced all the conversations around her.
A single headlight bounced toward the crowd as the haywagon pulled
to a stop in front of them.
People started clambering into the wagon, ignoring the driver's pleas
to quiet down and listen to the safety rules. Mulder hung back to
let the mad rush slow before gently leading Dana into line with him.
In front of them, Dana recognized the petite brunette and the medium
build young man from the zip line. They were laughing and teasing
like a young couple in love. Dana wondered how long they had been
together and if she and Mulder looked like that. Then she stopped
herself. You and Mulder aren't a couple. You're just friends
hanging out on a Saturday. Yeah, right, her inner voice argued.
You want him and you know it.
"Scully, you coming?"
Dana looked up to see that she was the last person who needed to get
in the wagon. Smiling sheepishly, she pulled herself up and onto
the hay. The haycart was very full. Mulder had snagged a corner
seat and was sitting with his legs slightly spread. He bent his
knees, so the other people didn't complain. She nestled herself in
the corner between them, leaning on his chest. The wagon lurched
forward as the tractor began to move. She stretched her legs,
thankful she had short ones so that she could do so. Instinctively,
his arms wrapped around her as she wiggled, trying to get
comfortable. She noticed the short brunette doing the same thing.
"What's the matter, Lynn?" the medium build guy asked.
"There's hay in my shorts and it's really uncomfortable, Patrick."
"Well, that wouldn't happen if you weren't wearing such short
shorts."
"Thanks for the tip."
"Oh, don't get mad. I'm kidding, you know that." Patrick put his
arm around her and pulled her to him until she was in the same
position as Dana. "We're supposed to be having fun, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Dana stopped watching Lynn and Patrick, feeling like an outsider,
and glanced up at Mulder. He hadn't said a word since they started
moving. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Hmm?"
"Mulder, you haven't said a word since we got on the hayride. So,
what are you thinking about?"
"The man in the moon."
"What?"
"The man in the moon. When I was in sixth grade, I sat right here
next to Emily Delaware, the girl I had a crush that year at camp.
All the kids were horsing around and the counselors weren't paying
much attention to this side of the wagon. I saw it as an
opportunity to make my move. I asked her if she had ever seen the
man in the moon. She said no. I pretended to point it out to her
and when she looked at me, I kissed her. She looked at me kinda
weird, screamed, and then wiped her mouth. I guess she didn't like
the way I kissed. She wouldn't talk to me for the rest of camp. I
wonder what happened to her..."
Mulder's voice trailed off as Dana processed all this information.
She smirked and burst out laughing when she thought of preteen
Mulder trying to put the moves on a girl in a hayride and then being
rejected. When her laughter subsided, she could feel Mulder's mood
turn serious.
"Hey Dana?"
"Yeah?"
"You ever seen the man in the moon?"
Before Dana could answer, Mulder's lips descended upon hers. It was
the sweetest kiss Dana had ever felt. Almost as soon as it began,
he pulled back and smiled at her. "You're not screaming."
"I guess I like the way you kiss."
"Does that mean you're not going stop speaking to me?"
"You're not that lucky. You're stuck with me for a very long time,"
Dana replied with a mischievous smile.
"Just the way I planned it."
"You planned this whole thing?!"
"Well, not all of it, but I was hoping to kiss you today. Who knew
you'd be so easy?"
Dana tried to look shocked, but she laughed in spite of herself. She
swatted him on the arm. "I knew; you just never asked."
The End
That's it. I never thought I'd write a sequel, but there it is. I
hope it lives up to the first one. The cameos of Lynn and Patrick
were an afterthought when I was planning this piece. Lynn
represents me and Patrick represents my best friend. We often get
mistaken for a couple (we've never dated or even thought of it), so
I thought it would be fun for Scully to see other people act like she
and Mulder do and jump to conclusions about their relationship the
way other people do to her and Mulder. A kind of role reversal I
guess. Well, let me know what you think as always:
[email protected]
Author: Jenn
E-mail: [email protected]
Category: SR
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None outright, but Biogenisis never happened, so the
agents can have a happy summer vacation.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong to
Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and FOX television and are brought to
life by the lovely Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. They are
used without permission, but not for profit, so don't sue me cause I
have no money.
Summary: Back to Highroad for love and shmoopy romance.
Dedication: I would like to dedicate this piece to lisa, who has
given me feedback on every piece I've ever posted, and to all of
those people who responded so kindly to "Starscapes" (my first fanfic
ever). You have given me the confidence to write more than I ever
thought I would. I can't thank you enough!
Moonscapes
by Jenn
1:02 p.m.
Highroad Program Center
"Everything seems different in the daylight," Dana commented as she
got out of the car.
"Well, for one thing, we're in a different part of camp than we were
before, but you're right: it does look different," Mulder replied
while locking the car. The gravel parking lot was crowded and he
considered himself lucky to find a place to park. While Dana could
see only the aged buildings and broken fences, Mulder saw everything
through the same eyes he had as a 12-year-old boy. Each new sight
brought back memories of a happy childhood when the biggest stress
was memorizing all the choreography for the musical.
Dana watched Mulder carefully as he took in the sights and sounds of
his old camp. It had been several months since she had visited this
place--it had been far too long. She wasn't sure what it was about
this place, but everytime she came here, she got goosebumps. After
their star-gazing experience, Dana thought that she truly loved
Mulder, but she wasn't sure. How he felt about her was an even more
clouded issue. He hadn't mentioned that night again, content to go
about business as usual. He had continued to flirt with her, but
she figured it was more for continuity than anything else.
Yesterday, out of the blue, he had mentioned Highroad's summer open
house and had asked her if she wanted to go with him. Confused, but
optimistic, she had agreed, hoping they would be able to rediscover
each other and perhaps find their true feelings.
"Scully? You ready?" Mulder interrupted her reflection, holding his
hand, ready to lead her through the camp.
"Yeah, Mulder, let's go!" Dana replied, placing her hand in his.
Hands intertwined, Dana and Mulder set off toward main camp.
Pointing at the rotting wooden fence they were walking around,
Mulder explained, "I'm surprised that fence is still standing. We
all used to jump over it after meals, even though the counselors
told us not to. They didn't really care, but one year a kid got
hurt, so they had to say that. It's hard to believe I'm now twice
the age that the counselors were then. They always seemed so old,
but I guess everything's relative."
The pair moved out the gravel parking lot into a small grass field
surrounded by buildings. To the left, Mulder pointed out the camp
store, which was frequented at least once a week the whole time one
was at camp. On the right, he pointed out the nurse's cabin and the
dining hall. "The nurse's cabin was very important to all of us at
music camp because it has the only bathroom in main camp. Otherwise
you'd have to walk back up to Oak Lodge or down to the pool house,
which you *really* have to go is a *long* walk."
"How was the dining hall food?" Dana asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"Horrible. It was camp food. I remember one night we had chicken
nuggets. When I went to dip it in the ketchup on my metal plate, it
made a *noise*!" Mulder's face wrinkled up in disgust at the memory.
"I always lost weight when I went to camp. I guess it made me
appreciate my mother's mediocre cooking when I got home."
They wandered the main camp grounds for a while. Mulder kept Dana
laughing, with anecdotes from his years as a Highroad camper. He
told her about the time all the counselors started fighting with each
other and the director started yelling at them in front of the kids,
telling them they were worse than the kids. He relayed stories of
food fights, although he claimed he was never apart of them. They
made their way toward another gravel path. Mulder stopped short.
"Down that gravel path is the pool and the entrance to the ropes
course area. It's a long way in, but there's a surprised if you can
make it that far."
Scully saw the glint in Mulder's eye and decided to take him up on
the challenge.
* * * * * *
5:10 p.m.
At the end of a long, winding walk through the woods, Dana found
herself in front of a ladder and a long line. Mulder had shown her
almost all of the ropes course, like the spider web and the barrel
roll. Mulder had recounted to Dana how he had loved the ropes
course because it meant he had gotten to cop a feel while lifting
the girls over certain apparatus. Dana had rolled her eyes--boys
will be boys, even at music camp.
Since it was the open house of the entire camp for the summer, the
camp director had decided to open the zip wire for the visitors.
Dana had never heard of the zip wire, but the mischievous glint in
Mulder's eye made her very nervous. She had enjoyed her afternoon
thus far. She really loved the way this place made Mulder reminisce
and become a happier person. He really opened up to her about his
feelings and experiences as a child. She felt so privileged to be
the one that Mulder could talk to.
Dana noticed that they seemed to be climbing a hill. It was pretty
high, and although she wasn't afraid of heights, it still made her
uneasy. She heard strange noises coming from behind her, but Mulder
wouldn't stop talking. Dana began to think that he was trying to
distract with his stories as the line moved higher and higher up the
hill.
At the top, Dana saw several cables covered with garden hoses. The
cables all seemed to lead to a wooden platform about 50 feet in the
air attached to a tree. "Mulder, what is this?"
"It's the zip wire. The culmination of all the teamwork BS the
ropes course--the reason everyone participates--is the zip wire. A
freefall of sorts through the woods--it's the biggest thrill
Highroad has to offer. You're going to love it!" Mulder smiled
broadly as he propelled her forward to where two staff members were
waiting with harnesses for the two of them.
The staff members strapped Mulder and Dana into harnesses made from
seatbelt material that fit snugly around their legs and hips. The
zip instructor explained the safety of the zip and that the
approaches were made with aircraft cable able to withstand five
tons. Walking was difficult as the zip instructor showed Dana the
different approaches and how to use them. Mulder, a pro at the zip,
began his journey to the platform on an approach called the "heebee-
jeebee". The "heebee-jeebee" was the most advanced way to get to
the platform and it involved many different cables. Transferring
from one cable to the next provided the challenge. Dana chose the
easiest approach, a single cable, and started out shaky, gripping the
top wire for dear life while sliding her feet very slowly along the
bottom cable.
Dana and Mulder reached the platform almost at the same time. The
zip instructor on the middle platform disconnected their harnesses
and attached them to the safety harnesses connected to the tree. It
was then that Dana realized exactly what the zip wire was. The
teenage boy in front of her was being attached to a safety line,
similar to the one she had been attached to on the trip out to the
platform. He took a deep breath and stepped off the platform. The
wire sagged under his weight as he flew through the trees over the
crowd waiting for their turn. Dana turned to Mulder, "That's the zip
wire?! I have to do that?!"
"Well, you don't *have* to jump off and have the ride of your life.
You can go back the way you came," Mulder said as he pointed to the
cable extending from where they were standing back to the hill.
Dana turned back to the drop. The zip instructor was looking at her
expectantly. "I'm going to do it." stated firmly.
She was then attached to the zip line. The instructor coiled a rope
over her shoulder, which he told her to drop when she went backwards
past the ladder. Dana moved to the edge. Mulder stood behind her,
holding on to her waist as she stared down the distance to the
ground. He whispered in her ear, "All you have to do let go." She
squeezed his hands and then gripped the rails on either side of her.
Mulder let go of her waist and stepped back. She turned back to
him, with a questioning look. He smiled at her encouragingly. She
turned toward the drop and stepped off the platform.
Suddenly, she was flying through the air. The trees moved passed her
in a blur and the wind whipped around her face. Then she was moving
backwards, her surroundings still a blur, although becoming more
clear as she slowed down. Soon she was being stopped by the guy who
had gone before her when she threw down the rope from her shoulder.
The next thing she knew, Dana was climbing down the ladder and being
helped out of her harness. The ladder was taken down, the rope run
back to the platform by a short brunette. Once the rope made it to
the zip instructor he shouted, "Clear?!" and the young man replied,
"Clear!"
She watched Mulder fly past her shouting with glee, arms and legs
flailing. She turned around to get instructions from a volunteer
about how to fold her harness. After several tries, she finally got
it right and walked up a step to drop it in the crate. She stood
facing the trees for a moment, reflecting on the adrenaline rush she
had just experienced.
Mulder climbed down the ladder quickly, eager to remove the binding
harness. He knew it was necessary, but it squeezed things he would
much rather not have squeezed, at least not for long periods of
time. He swiftly unharnessed himself and rolled it up the way he
had been taught many years ago. He looked through the crowd of
people for Scully and found her with her back to him, staring at the
trees on the hill. Sneaking up behind her, he snaked his arms around
her waist and hugged her tightly to him. He chuckled when she gasped.
"Mulder! Don't sneak up on me like that!" She turned around to
face him. His arms slackened some, but she was still in his grasp.
"I had the perfect opportunity, so I took it. So...what did you
think? Isn't the zip a blast?!"
Dana grinned at him. "Oh yeah! It was great! I felt like I was
flying!"
"See I told you! Why don't you try it?!"
Dana looked to her right where the young man who had gone before her
was standing with the small brunette girl who had run the rope back.
The young woman put her hands on her hips and stated exasperatedly,
"Don't even start with me. We've been coming here since third grade
and I've never gone. Just accept the fact that I'm not going to go
on the zip and move on!"
The young man looked frustrated for a moment and then sighed,
"Whatever."
Dana looked at Mulder and they burst out laughing. "Are you ready
for some dinner?" Mulder asked. "I heard they're having a campfire
cook-out."
"Sure, let's go!"
* * * * * *
7:27 p.m.
The sun had begun to set as Dana and Mulder waited with about twenty
other people up at Oak Lodge, the place of the star-gazing event.
They were holding hands again, and though neither of them mentioned
it, they both were very aware of it.
"It's so beautiful up here. I'm starting to understand why you loved
coming here so much." Dana said as she took in her surroundings.
"Yeah, it's pretty country, but that isn't why I loved it so much."
"Why?"
"I guess I loved Highroad and music camp so much because I could get
away from everything and just be me. I could just be a kid and run
and play and get dirty. Music camp was its own little universe
where I was someone important. The younger kids looked up to me. I
guess I felt safe here. I always hated going home. I always wanted
to come back and be a counselor when I got to high school, but then
Sam disappear and my parents got divorced. Money was tight and I
never could come back. I had to get a paying job and Mom didn't want
me going so far away from home."
"Sounds like a nice life here at camp. It means a lot to me that
you're sharing all this with me. Moving around so much, I didn't
really have a place to go to every summer to just be a kid. We
usually spent summers packing and moving, so we wouldn't miss any
school. Yeah, my summers were spent in the station wagen between
Charles and Melissa, trying to sleep while they fought. Not exactly
idyllic, but I guess I learned patience." Dana smiled up at Mulder.
"So tell me about this hayride."
"Uh uh uh...you have to wait and see."
"Why is everything a mystery with you?"
"Not everything's a mystery." Mulder said as he stroked her hand
with his thumb. Before she could ask him what he meant by that, the
sound of a tractor motor silenced all the conversations around her.
A single headlight bounced toward the crowd as the haywagon pulled
to a stop in front of them.
People started clambering into the wagon, ignoring the driver's pleas
to quiet down and listen to the safety rules. Mulder hung back to
let the mad rush slow before gently leading Dana into line with him.
In front of them, Dana recognized the petite brunette and the medium
build young man from the zip line. They were laughing and teasing
like a young couple in love. Dana wondered how long they had been
together and if she and Mulder looked like that. Then she stopped
herself. You and Mulder aren't a couple. You're just friends
hanging out on a Saturday. Yeah, right, her inner voice argued.
You want him and you know it.
"Scully, you coming?"
Dana looked up to see that she was the last person who needed to get
in the wagon. Smiling sheepishly, she pulled herself up and onto
the hay. The haycart was very full. Mulder had snagged a corner
seat and was sitting with his legs slightly spread. He bent his
knees, so the other people didn't complain. She nestled herself in
the corner between them, leaning on his chest. The wagon lurched
forward as the tractor began to move. She stretched her legs,
thankful she had short ones so that she could do so. Instinctively,
his arms wrapped around her as she wiggled, trying to get
comfortable. She noticed the short brunette doing the same thing.
"What's the matter, Lynn?" the medium build guy asked.
"There's hay in my shorts and it's really uncomfortable, Patrick."
"Well, that wouldn't happen if you weren't wearing such short
shorts."
"Thanks for the tip."
"Oh, don't get mad. I'm kidding, you know that." Patrick put his
arm around her and pulled her to him until she was in the same
position as Dana. "We're supposed to be having fun, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Dana stopped watching Lynn and Patrick, feeling like an outsider,
and glanced up at Mulder. He hadn't said a word since they started
moving. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Hmm?"
"Mulder, you haven't said a word since we got on the hayride. So,
what are you thinking about?"
"The man in the moon."
"What?"
"The man in the moon. When I was in sixth grade, I sat right here
next to Emily Delaware, the girl I had a crush that year at camp.
All the kids were horsing around and the counselors weren't paying
much attention to this side of the wagon. I saw it as an
opportunity to make my move. I asked her if she had ever seen the
man in the moon. She said no. I pretended to point it out to her
and when she looked at me, I kissed her. She looked at me kinda
weird, screamed, and then wiped her mouth. I guess she didn't like
the way I kissed. She wouldn't talk to me for the rest of camp. I
wonder what happened to her..."
Mulder's voice trailed off as Dana processed all this information.
She smirked and burst out laughing when she thought of preteen
Mulder trying to put the moves on a girl in a hayride and then being
rejected. When her laughter subsided, she could feel Mulder's mood
turn serious.
"Hey Dana?"
"Yeah?"
"You ever seen the man in the moon?"
Before Dana could answer, Mulder's lips descended upon hers. It was
the sweetest kiss Dana had ever felt. Almost as soon as it began,
he pulled back and smiled at her. "You're not screaming."
"I guess I like the way you kiss."
"Does that mean you're not going stop speaking to me?"
"You're not that lucky. You're stuck with me for a very long time,"
Dana replied with a mischievous smile.
"Just the way I planned it."
"You planned this whole thing?!"
"Well, not all of it, but I was hoping to kiss you today. Who knew
you'd be so easy?"
Dana tried to look shocked, but she laughed in spite of herself. She
swatted him on the arm. "I knew; you just never asked."
The End
That's it. I never thought I'd write a sequel, but there it is. I
hope it lives up to the first one. The cameos of Lynn and Patrick
were an afterthought when I was planning this piece. Lynn
represents me and Patrick represents my best friend. We often get
mistaken for a couple (we've never dated or even thought of it), so
I thought it would be fun for Scully to see other people act like she
and Mulder do and jump to conclusions about their relationship the
way other people do to her and Mulder. A kind of role reversal I
guess. Well, let me know what you think as always:
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