TITLE: Advice Column AUTHOR: Erin M. Blair E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net CLASSIFICATION/CATEGORY: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst CONTENT: Mulder/Scully Romance RATING: PG DISTRIBUTION/ARCHIVE STATEMENT: OK for Gossamer, Xemplary, FanficX, The Cutting Room Floor, etc. Basically, if you want it, you got it. :) Other archivists: please let me know the URL. It is yours for the taking. SPOILERS: The End. The Beginning. Syzergy. War of the Coprophages. SETTING: Season 6. DATE: First draft: August 20, 2003. Final Draft: August 26, 2003. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to Jen for beta reading this fic. I appreciated all the help you gave me. DISCLAIMER: Mulder and Scully (any recognizable character) belong to Chris Carter. I'm just borrowing them until the movie. Dear Irma belongs to me. Washington Times (I think?) is a real newspaper. SUMMARY: Mulder finds out that Scully had written a letter to an advice columnist. ------------------------------------ ADVICE COLUMN Written by: Erin M. Blair ------------------------------------ Mulder was reading the Washington Times when he saw the daily "Dear Irma" column. A letter caught his eye and it read: /// Dear Irma, /// /// I'm a governmental employee who's hopelessly in love /// with her partner. However, he doesn't give me a second /// look. He's into tall, blonde or brunette females with shapely /// legs. I'm a short redhead. I want to tell him how I feel /// but this woman (see description above) always interrupts /// us no matter what the case is. She doesn't get it that /// my partner is with me -- and not with her. Sure, she used to /// be his partner....but he's now mine. How can I get my /// partner to notice me and not his ex-partner? He gives her /// these glances of interest. /// /// ALWAYS DESTINED TO BE ALONE /// /// Dear Always, /// Communication has always been the key to a successful /// relationship. It is possible that this partner wants to be /// with his ex-partner and not with you, considering how he /// tends to be with women with blonde or brown haired. However, /// you never know. He could be persuaded to be with you. Go /// for it, G-woman! /// /// Dear Irma. Mulder felt this "Always Destined to be Alone" was Scully. It sounded like her, but he had his doubts. Scully wouldn't write a letter to an advice columnist, would she? He decided to find out. He waited for Scully to walk into the basement office. She was dressed in a violet suit. "You look nice today, Scully." "Thanks. Is that the 'Dear Irma' column, Mulder?" Mulder nodded. He handed Scully the newspaper and she took from him. "Yes, it is. I was reading it. You should see the first one." "Oh, why?" "Because it's very interesting," said Mulder. He paused. "You know, Scully, I do prefer redheads over blondes and brunettes." "You do?" Mulder nodded. He walked away from his desk and gazed into her blue eyes. "Yes, I do. How come you wrote that, Scully?" "How did you know that I wrote it?" "Lucky guess. Really, Scully, I didn't think you were the type to write to 'Dear Irma' -- I thought you always knew what you wanted. You never seemed to need advice before," said Mulder. Scully drew a breath. "I thought you loved Diana Fowley, Mulder. I have seen you with Detective White and that Bambi Berenbaum woman. I wondered to myself: 'Why can't it be me?' - I have always had these feelings for you. I kept them hidden for so long that I don't remember the original reason for doing so." Mulder clasped his hands around Scully's waist and he gazed into her blue eyes. "Those women didn't mean anything to me. I used to be in love with Diana and with Pheobe Green. However, they're in the past, Scully. You have grounded me and you made me feel like a whole person. I love you, Scully." He put his hands around her and he leaned in to kiss her. He felt the warmth of their lips touching. The heat between them intensified. He knew they never felt this way before. Scully smiled tenderly at Mulder. She couldn't get over the kiss. It replayed in her mind. "And I love you, Mulder." She paused. "I wish I'd written that letter to 'Dear Irma' years ago." They both laughed. Mulder smiled. "So do I, Scully. So do I." End of Story. Feedback: I love feedback. Send to: eblair@sonic.net Author's Notes: I found this story in my notebook, which I completely forgot about, and I thought it would be a good idea to extend what I originally written. I think it's a cute story --- a 'What if Scully writes a letter to a Dear Abby-like advice columnist and Mulder finds it?' -- type of scenario. :) I'm not sure if Scully would write such a letter. With all of her jealously towards Diana Fowley at the end of Season 5 and through Season 7, I thought she needed to talk to someone, albeit anonymously. I would like to thank Jen for beta reading this story. Finally, I hope you enjoyed this story as much I had writing it.