TITLE: "Wishful Thinking"
AUTHORS: Jen and Lauren
EMAIL: JenR13@aol.com (Jen) and JRDG1013@aol.com (Lauren)
SPOILERS: A mention of Die Hand Die Verletzt and (very) small
mentions of
episodes up to and including Detour (if you would like a timeline
of this
story, assume it takes place before "The End" in Season
5)
RATING: PG-13
CLASSIFICATION: XA (Yes, it has a plot
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully UST, Muldertorture
ARCHIVE: Sure, why not? :-)
SUMMARY: Wishes can’t come true, or can they?
DISCLAIMER: Well, we have all heard it a million times, but here
goes:
Don’t worry Chris, we only _borrowed_ your toys, and our
mommies taught that
borrowing means _you have to give them back_. So, although Mulder
is bit
damaged (but Chris, when is he not?
your hands.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Happy 2nd story to us! :-) This is the second
story that we
have written together, but certainly not the last! :-) And as it
has to be
said, if you find some minor mistakes, please don’t write us
countless letters
about them, because we already know they exist :-). We, like the
rest of the
whole world, are not perfect, especially when it comes to
proofreading 158
pages!
"Wishful Thinking”
By Jen and Lauren
©1998
Part 01a/11
The crowd cheered as 14-year-old Sarah Martin finished her piano
piece.
Another perfect one. What else would she play? her sister,
Katie, thought
sarcastically as her sister stood up for another bow. Another
piano recital
down. Only about 6 million left to live through. And Katie
was only 12.
Only 6 more years to go through, I hope.
Katie watched her sister Sarah get congratulated by her family,
friends, and
her piano teacher. Why does my sister have to be so perfect?
Besides
Sarah's piano skills, she also had a 4.0 GPA. Katie always heard
her parents
say: "Why can't you more like your sister?" God, she
hated that. So, what if
she didn't have the best grades or fantastic music skills? So
what if she
wasn't as pretty or popular? So what if she didn't turn the
heads? I'm
special, she thought In some way. I just haven't found
what way that is
yet. She turned back to her sister. Her parents came up to
her.
"Katie, aren't you proud of your sister?" her mother
asked.
Katie smiled. "Of course, Mom. Of course." But Katie
was thinking the
opposite. I wish she was dead she thought in the same way
every kid thought
of their over-achieving sister. But this time it was different.
Katie watched
her smiling sister walk toward her. Sarah suddenly stumbled and
fell to the
floor. People started running toward her.
"She's not breathing!! Someone call an ambulance!!"
Katie watched the scene unfold before her eyes. She half heard
the cries
behind her. She was only focused on one thing in the room: her
sister.
"I didn't mean it," she whispered, tears falling from
her eyes. "I didn't
mean it."
J. Edgar Hoover Building
Washington, D.C.
8:30 a.m.
"Earth to Mulder."
Fox Mulder jumped and looked up from the file he was reading. His
partner,
Dana Scully, stood in front of his desk.
"I've been calling your name for the last three minutes.
What has you so
involved?" she asked, walking around the desk to get a
better look at the
folder.
"This." Mulder handed the folder up over his shoulders
to Scully. She walked
around to the front of the desk again, flipping through it as she
walked.
After a minute she shut it.
"Why don't we save time and you tell what is in here,"
she said, indicating
the folder.
"Thought you would never ask." Mulder picked up a
picture off of his desk and
held it up. "This is 14-year-old Sarah Martin. A resident of
a little town in
New Jersey called Rutherford. Not far from the Meadowlands Sports
complex," he
said with a smile. "Pretty little girl. Quite a piano
player, too."
Scully took the photo from Mulder's hand and took a closer look
at it. The
girl in the photo was pretty, with brown hair and brown eyes.
"And?. . . ."
"And she was a happy, healthy, active teenager until two
days ago. Now she's
a corpse. Collapsed shortly after playing in her piano recital.
In front of
200 people. The cause of death, well, that why this file made it
way down to
the basement, Scully."
"And the cause of death would be?. . . ."
Mulder got up, walked over to Scully, and opened the folder in
her hands. "I
believe you will find it on page 9."
Scully raised her eyebrows and looked at the folder.
"Strangulation?"
"Yep. With the signs of it around her neck. Sarah,
apparently, fell to the
floor, at her recital, in front of 200 people remember, gasping
for air. She
was dead by the time the ambulance arrived. Not one of the people
there saw
anyone close to Sarah in those seconds before she collapsed,
never mind close
enough to strangle her." He walked back his desk and opened
the drawer.
Scully's skepticism shot up at once. "Mulder, that's not
possible. Maybe
there was a mistake in the autopsy."
Mulder looked up her. "Look at those photos, Scully. I don't
think that is a
mistake. But I did arrange for you to look at the body when we
get there. So
you can check it out for yourself." He put two airline
tickets on the desk.
"Our flight is at noon. We lucked out. An hour flight."
Scully sighed. "I guess I better go home and pack."
Flight 456
On the runway
12:27 p.m.
Scully tapped her fingers on her arm rest. They had been stuck on
the runway
for the last half an hour. She took her fingers off of the
armrest and was now
playing with them on her lap.
"Impatient, Scully?" Mulder asked as he sat down in his
seat next to Scully.
"I just wish we would get this over with," Scully
muttered. She wasn't fond
of plane rides. She remembered the first plane ride she took with
Mulder. The
plane had dipped and while she had grabbed her seat, Mulder acted
like nothing
was happening. Typical Mulder she thought.
"Well, I just talked to one of the flight attendants. She
said there was a
long line for take-off. We should get going in a minute,"
Mulder said,
settling down in his seat.
"Which flight attendant, Mulder? The blond one?" Scully
teased.
"Of course, who else?" he answered with a grin. The
plane started moving
then. The seatbelt sign flashed on and Scully buckled her
seatbelt.
It was a calm peaceful ride for about 10 minutes. Mulder was
sitting in his
seat with his eyes closed. Of course he can sleep on a plane,
but not in his
apartment Scully thought with a smile. Suddenly turbulence
hit. The plane
jostled. Scully gripped her seat so tightly that her knuckles
turned white.
She turned toward her partner. He was looking with her, with a
sly grin on her
face.
With the plane still in turbulence, Mulder said, with a straight
face,
"Scully, I've never seen someone grip something so tight.
Your boyfriends must
be very satisfied."
Of course, he think about sex at a time like this Scully
thought, still
holding her seat. Mulder noticed that and gripped her hand with
his. They
looked at each other.
"Dare me to hit on that flight attendant now?" Mulder
said with a smile.
Scully had to smile at that. The turbulence subsided then.
"Thanks for the distraction, Mulder," she said softly.
"Aw Scully, I'd offer to hit on any flight attendant for
you," he answered and
settled into his seat and closed his eyes again.
Newark Airport
Newark, NJ
2:39 p.m.
Mulder rubbed his eyes as he walked up to the rent-a-car.
"What's the matter?" Scully asked. "The flight too
short for you this time?"
Considering it is the only time you probably slept today
she thought It
probably was.
"Maybe," he said and gave their names to the people at
the desk. She then
handed him a key and pointed toward the parking lot. They walked
in silence to
the parking lot.
"Give me the keys, Mulder," Scully said simply when
they reached the car.
Mulder looked at her.
"You're tired and I want to drive. That too much to ask
for?" Mulder handed
the keys over to her without a word.
On the Highway
3:15 p.m.
As Scully kept her eyes on the road, Mulder took the opportunity
to look over
the case some more.
"You can do your autopsy whenever, Scully," he said.
"I want to talk to the
family."
"And I wouldn't? Where is this motel, by the way?" she
asked, as she turned
off of the highway.
"There, Scully." Mulder pointed to a small motel
sandwiched between houses
and a Burger King. The sign outside proudly announced "Free
HBO."
"We even get free HBO, Scully. Guess the perks just don't
stop."
Scully parked the car on the street, not seeing a parking lot.
"This is the only motel in Rutherford?" Scully asked,
still gazing at it
through her window.
"Well, no. Actually Rutherford doesn't have a motel. We are
about 50 feet
from Rutherford in Lyndhurst."
"Didn't know you knew so much about New Jersey,
Mulder," Scully remarked, as
she climbed out of the car.
"See, Scully, I do my homework. Let's get checked in."
He headed for the
motel. Scully sighed and followed.
Motel
Lyndhurst, NJ
4:03 p.m.
Scully quickly rummaged through her suitcase for a more
comfortable pair of
shoes. She had just spent a half hour on her feet as Mulder tried
to get a
room in the motel. They had arrived at the clerk's desk and found
no one
there. Mulder had tracked down two maids, but no manager. Finally
the guy
arrived and they got to check in. And it was 4 o'clock. Scully
sighed as she
found another pair of shoes that (fortunately) matched her
outfit, put them on,
and walked next door to Mulder's room and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" came the reply from within.
"Mulder, it's me," she replied, knowing that Mulder
would instantly know who
it was.
"Scully, come in, the door's open."
Scully walked in to an empty room. Mulder's suitcase lay open and
the
contents lay spawled out on the bed. Leave it to Mulder. We
are here less
than ten minutes and he's already made a mess she thought.
"I'm almost ready to go," Mulder said as he peeked his
head out the bathroom
door. Scully noticed something different about him. True to his
word, Mulder
was out of the bathroom two minutes later. Scully immediately
eyed him.
Mulder felt Scully's eyes on him as he grabbed his badge and gun
from the
dresser. "Do I look that good today to have the pleasure of
being ogled?"
Scully ignored that comment and walked up to him and fingered his
tie. "Your
tie! It's...it's..."
"It's what?" Mulder was clueless now.
"It's nice and......normal." Scully dropped his tie.
Mulder looked down. "Yeah, well, I kinda spilled iced tea on
my alien one on
the plane," he said and walked toward the door. Scully stood
there for a
moment.
"Scully, are you coming? You said you wanted to come to the
Martins' with
me." Mulder looked at her oddly.
Scully shook her head. "Yeah, I'm coming." Since when
did her partner's tie
bother her?
On the Road
5:17 p.m.
Scully drove again.
"I never said I knew New Jersey well. You did,
remember?" Mulder was saying.
Scully slouched in the driver's seat and mumbled something
incoherent.
"Hm?"
She glared at him. "I can't believe you got us lost."
"We're not lost. I know exactly where we are... we're
at," He turned to read
the sign. "Bobby's Bar and Afghani cuisine and gift
shop." He opened his door
and jumped out. "Maybe Bobby's got a map or at least an
employee with a sense
of direction. And Scully? It wasn't my fault we got lost, it was
that woman
at the gas station who convinced us to turn left when I said
right."
"Uh huh." She had past him and was inside Bobby's.
"Phew," she said when a
blast of smoke hit her full in the face. She walked up to the
counter where a
bored looking lady was smoking a cigarette and simultaneously
chewing gum, a
feat which Scully figured must take some talent. "Excuse me,
can you direct us
to Partrick Rd... in Rutherford?"
The lady eyed Scully. "You're on Partrick."
Scully felt an overwhelming urge to pull out her badge and flash
her
officialness in the rude lady's face, but instead she dug the toe
of her shoe
into the scuffed tile floor. "All right, I'm looking for
number 47."
"Congratulations."
There was a long pause. Scully glanced longingly over her
shoulder to locate
Mulder; she found him reading Hallmark cards across the room. She
turned back
to the lady. "Look, what number are we on Partrick."
The lady took a moment, apparently trying to come up with a
smart-alec remark
but, finding none, replied, "Forty-three."
"We're two houses down from forty seven?"
She nodded and rubbed her cigarette out on the filthy counter top
and popped
her gum.
Scully glared at Mulder. "Thanks a lot," she told the
lady. On the way out
she tapped her partner on the arm.
She drove the full 20 feet to the Martins' house then got out of
the car and
moved quickly up to the house, still not saying anything to
Mulder.
"Hey," He had caught up with her in a few long strides.
"What's up with--"
The door opened and cut off his inquiry. A middle aged woman,
most likely
Mrs. Martin, stood before them, wearing a moo-moo and her hair in
a loose bun.
"Hello?"
Scully asserted, pulled out her badge. "Hello, I'm Agent
Scully, we spoke on
the phone earlier." She acknowledged Mulder. "And this
is Agent Mulder."
"Yes, yes," she gave a warm smile. What did this
poor woman do to deserve
her daughter taken away? Scully wondered. "Please come
in, my husband should
be home any moment now."
They entered a dimly lit living room area; a floral print couch
was in the
middle and Scully and Mulder sat there while Mrs. Martin went to
the stairs.
With one hand on the banister she leaned up and called,
"Katie. Katie, come
downstairs, I need you to talk to some people."
There was a silence then a Scully heard a voice call,
"Okay." and a minute
later a young girl came down the steps, jumping from the third to
the bottom to
land with a thud on the uneven wooden planks.
"Katie, these are Agents Mulder and Scully. Will you sit
with us for a few
minutes to talk about Sarah?" Her voice softened when she
said her older
daughter's name.
Katie looked hesitant but stepped over to the armchair, draped in
another
floral print, and sat, arms wrapped around her pulled up knees.
She watched
the agents carefully, waiting for one of them to speak.
"Katie--" Agent Scully started.
She cut her off. "Yes?" she replied abruptly.
"Uh," Agent Scully smiled. "How old are you,
Katie?"
"Twelve," she replied faster than she had meant to. She
realized she sounded
nervous then realized she was. Agent Scully began speaking
quietly to her mom
so she turned her attention to Agent Mulder. He was apparently
listening
closely to the other adults' conversation, he had his long legs
stretched out,
crossed at the ankles and his eyes flicked from her mother to
Agent Scully and
back again, depending on who was talking.
He's got hazel eyes she realized. They're pretty, I
wish I had them. He
seems like an okay guy... but, ugh, what a boring tie. I wish
these FBI agents
would be a bit more creative in what they wear so when they're
interrogating
you, at least you've got something interesting to look at. I wish
he had a
nicer tie at least.
Katie suddenly realized the agents were standing up to leave.
That was
strange... they'd only been here a couple minutes.
"...we'll be calling you in a couple days, Mrs.
Martin." Agent Scully was
saying. She smiled politely and they left.
In the driveway, Scully was accepting the keys from Mulder.
"You really are
tired, aren't you?" she asked. "What's the
matter?"
He shrugged and got into the passenger’s seat. "I
dunno. Nothing, I guess."
She frowned. "You hardly said anything in there.
Mulder!"
"WHAT??" He flinched, alarmed. She was staring at his
chest and he too looked
down. "What?"
"Your tie! It's..... bright!" she said. He pulled it
away from his body to
get a closer look and sure enough it was. "Mulder, it looks
like Walt Disney
threw up on it."
He dropped the tie and gave a little laugh. "C'mon Scully,
let's go back."
She stared at it one more time, wondering how he had changed ties
without her
noticing and stuck the key in the ignition.
Mulder hardly said a word all the way back to the motel. Scully
was getting
worried. Mulder was usually never this quiet. She glanced at him,
hoping he
wouldn't notice. No such luck.
"What are you looking at?" Mulder asked, sounding
annoyed.
"You're so quiet. Are you okay?" Scully asked her eyes
turning back to the
road.
"I'm FINE," Mulder said, quiet loudly, and in the same
way Scully had said
that line over and over again when she was sick. Scully got the
hint.
Whatever problem Mulder had, he would tell her when he was ready.
Though
sometimes when he was ready happened to be too late. Scully
pushed the
thoughts out of her head.
She pulled up at the motel without another word from Mulder. As
they walked
to their rooms, she saw Mulder yawn out of the corner of her eye.
"I'm going to grab something to eat, then head out to the
medical examiner's
office and take a look at Sarah Martin's body," Scully said,
and she watched
Mulder nod slightly. Then she added, "Mulder, you look beat.
Get some sleep."
She braced herself for another outburst, like in the car, but was
greeted
instead by a simple, "Ok, Scully." Ok Scully??? Did
Mulder just say OK
Scully?? Maybe he is....calm down, Dana, he's probably just
tired. Scully
sighed and watched Mulder walk into his room. She headed to the
lobby to see
if she could get something to eat.
End part 01a of 11
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