It was 8:01 and Dana Scully had yet to arrive at the office. Mulder raised one eyebrow as he watched the clock tick away the seconds. She was usually more than prompt with getting to work. Mulder sometimes considered calling up the good folks at Oxford and suggesting inserting a picture of Scully along with the definition of punctual. Different explanations as to Scully's tardiness ran through his mind: car trouble, illness, mother called, oversleeping, out late with Jean Paul...Jean Paul, even the mention of the name left a bad taste in Mulder's mouth. His name had to be pronounced with the accent placed just right, with the perfect amount of snootiness. Mulder sat there, one eyebrow cocked, his nose to the air, hand extended and muttered, "Jean Paul Fourier. That's a soft g mind you. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Mind if I steal your Dana?"

The door to the office flew open and Mulder stopped pretending to be the suave Jean Paul. Scully rushed in, her clothes wrinkled, hair wild and face flushed. Taking in his partner's disheveled appearance, Mulder wasn't exactly eager to her where she had been. Scully dumped her purse on the desk and grabbed the nearest cup of coffee, which just happened to be Mulder's.

"You go right ahead there. Not like I was planning on drinking that anyways."

"Oh Sorry!" exclaimed Scully, "I just really need this right now. Sorry I'm late by the way."

"I have no doubt that you're sorry."

Scully finished her dustbuster impression with the coffee and put the mug back on the desk. Mulder gave the cup a longing look.

"So, do I get to hear why you're fashionably late or shall I use my imagination?"

"We had a late night and I guess we overslept."

Mulder's stomach turned at Scully's use of the plural pronoun, as he'd guessed Jean Paul was the direct cause of her tardiness.

Scully was staring at her partner who appeared to be somewhat preoccupied. She wanted to tell him the news she had, she wanted him to be the first to know but didn't know quite how to tell him. She knew their relationship had never been more than platonic but they'd always tiptoed that fine line between friends and lovers. Not being sure of how he'd react, she hesitated in telling him.

Mulder continued musing about Jean Paul, the brilliant French forensics expert, He'd come and swept Dana off her feet. Mulder wasn't sure why he felt this extreme hatred towards the man, when afterall, Dana had never really been his. He supposed that someday she would have been his...Mulder's thoughts were cut short by a small noise from Scully signifying that she wanted his attention.

Scully was looking at Mulder, with a slight smile playing with her features, "penny for your thoughts"

"It's going to take a lot more than a penny to get into this head." Mulder replied, who had no intention of Scully ever finding out his feelings for her or Jean Paul.

Scully flashed an enigmatic ScullySmile and lifted a hand to brush hair out of her face.

Mulder watched the hand come up to her beautiful hair. He had noticed the lock on her face and ached to brush it away himself. As she carelessly flicked the hair away, something caught Mulder's eye. Something had flashed in the light, Something on Scully's left hand reflected light. Mulder instantly felt ill.

He reached out and took her hand in his own. Scully gasped and tried to take it back. Mulder stared at her perfect hand marred only by one thing; the diamond behemoth on her slender finger. He dropped her hand.

"Congratulations Scully. I hope you're very happy."

Scully felt her hand fall back into her lap, heard his words, watched him walk away and felt her world fall apart around her. The bitterness in his words had torn her apart. She wanted him to be happy for her but most importantly she wanted to be happy for herself. She was now left questioning her impulsive reply to Jean Paul's proposal. Scully moaned softly and laid her head down on the desk. She closed her eyes and the world slowly disapppeared as she slipped into sleep.

Mulder had been walking for close to two hours now. His feet were beginning to ache and he was tired. When he'd left Scully sitting stunned in the office, he had been tempted to go home but instead found himself walking. So, she was getting married, she would become Mrs Jean Paul Fourier. Maybe he would take her away to France with him. Mulder didn't want to contemplate life without Scully. The sight of the ring on her finger had hurt, it had physically hurt. Now Mulder was walking back towards the bureau. back towards Scully to face the anger he felt.

When Mulder arrived at the office he saw Scully with her head on the desk, hair falling around, sleeping with an expression of peace across her lovely face. Mulder was almost positive she was dreaming, if only he knew what her dream was about. He watched her sleep for ten minutes before sighing. Rising to leave, Mulder looked at her once more before whispering, "I love you Dana, even if you never were mine."

Mulder knew what he had to do. He went to Skinner's office, tossed his badge on the AD's desk, handed him the resignation papers and left. The man once known as Special Agent Mulder had left the office as nothing more than Fox Mulder.

Scully awoke from her nap feeling surprisingly refreshed. But, thanks to the pre-nap coffee, she knew she had breath that could slaughter a fly from 50 paces. Wondering if Mulder kept any mints in that desk of his she opened a drawer. Pushing aside pens, pencils and elastic bands she saw a small framed picture. Curiously, she picked it up, as she looked at it, she smiled. It was her and Mulder, or as they were known when this picture was taken, Rob and Laura Petrie. Mulder had his arm around her and they were both smiling. *God* she realized, *we both look so happy* She briefly wondered why Mulder had this picture in her desk but was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.

Skinner burst into the office and he did not look happy. He threw Mulder's badge and papers in front of her. Scully looked at them, not quite believinng what she saw. Skinner gave her a questioning look.

"Did you two have a disagreement?"

Scully took a deep breath, "Not exactly" she said.

"Then what the hell is this about?!" roared Skinner, "and what the hell is that on your hand!"

Scully glanced at the ring, "the reason for Mulder's resignation sir." she said.

Skinner didn't look at all surprised and nodded, "Well Agent Scully, I suggest you and your offending ring go find your AWOL partner. I want his ass in my office ASAP!"

Scully groaned and nodded, "I'll get right on it Sir." and with that Skinner left the room leaving Scully alone once again. She picked up Mulder's badge and sighed, "well Agent Mulder, I hope you're at home."

Scully banged on the door to Mulder's apartment. She tried to knob but the door was locked. Reluctantly she searched her keyring for a copy of Mulder's key and opened the door. The apartment was tidy as usual and nothing looked out of place. She walked around checking the kitchen, bathroom, and finally the bedroom. On the bed there was a piece of paper, Scully picked it up....

Scully stared at the note, at first not wanting to believe it. Of course Mulder loved her, she had known that. She'd always tried to convince herself that she felt otherwise, that she had no interest. Jean Pual was nothing more than the latest (and greatest) attempt to make herself deny her feelings. She suddenly felt that saying yes to Jean Paul last night (or was it this morning..) had been possibly the biggest mistake of her life.

Feeling the last of her walls come tumbling down, Scully fell down onto his bed and sobbed. The covers, she noticed, smelled like him. She hugged a pillow and let herself cry.

Feeling very run-down now, Scully felt like a shower. She made her way to his bathroom. As she showered, she caught herself wishing that Mulder would return and join her in the shower. He would stand behind her, running his hands over her stomach, touching her breasts. Scully realized that the water seemed to become much warmer.

With her shower complete, Scully flet somewhat more energized and hungry. She knew Mulder didn't keep a lot of food in his kitchen, but she decided to try her luck. She first went to his bedroom, selected a t-shirt of his, put it on and then headed for the small kitchen.

Scully stared at the cupboards, there was nothing, or at least nothing healthy to eat. She had checked everywhere and let's face it, Mulder was no health food nut. She sighed and eventually put at TV dinner in the microwave. She watched her food go around before the microwave flashed *Your Food is Ready* at her. Scully took the vile package out of the nuker and dug in.

Scully moped around Mulder's place, occasionally calling her machine to get her messages. She stared at the ring Jean Paul had tenderly placed on her finger not 24 hours ago. It was ugly, she realized, it was ugly because it did not symbolize true love; only a facade. The ring meant nothing to her. She slipped it off her finger and placed it on Mulder's nightstand. Feeling like a weight had been lifted off her, she curled up under the covers and fell asleep.

Mulder had spent the remainder of the day holed up in a road-side, rent-by-the-hour dump. The rooms were cheap and besides, he had no intentions of sleeping. His mind was reeling over the day's events, too much had happened before his brain could comprehend it all. He was beginning to regret having left Scully that note and wondered if maybe there was a chance that she hadn't read it yet. On a whim, he hauled himself to his car and headed for home.

Dana Scully did not hear the door open, nor did she head the man enter the bedroom.