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baronessblixen · 7 months

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AU where Mulder and Scully meet on karaoke night at a bar.

The other day I had an idea for a story and thought, don't I have a prompt for this? And I did. This story went in a completely different direction than planned: AU, a touch of magic, fake dating, first kiss, fate (wc: 1,655)

Tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2023

Fictober Day 26: I Saw Your Face In A Dream

He’s nursing a beer, listlessly playing with the edges of the label, tearing it off piece by piece. Neither of his friends notices his mood. Or they do notice it and decide not to comment. If that’s the case, Mulder can’t blame them. It’s been like this for weeks. Okay, maybe even months. A dark cloud follows him around, ready to open its gates and rain down on him.

Frohike would say that he’s full of bullshit and that the only dark cloud he has following him around is Diana Fowley, his girlfriend. His fiancée. He takes the beer bottle between his fingers, relishing the cold of the glass, the realness of it all. What doesn’t feel real is that he’s engaged to Diana. For all he knows, she’s planning their wedding right now, flowers and all. He takes a big gulp, trying to drown the feeling of dread he can’t shake off.

“Dude, stop staring,” Byers says, nudging Frohike. Mulder watches his friends and tries to find out what it’s about. Frohike’s eyes are glued to the stage where people are singing karaoke. That’s the whole reason they picked this bar; Frohike, Byers, and Langly can’t stay away from a karaoke night.

His job is to make sure neither of them gets too drunk and start a fight about which duet to sing before it inevitably ends in a discussion about songs sung by three people. As funny as they can be sometimes, Mulder loves his friends. And they stand by him, no matter what. Even if it means accepting Diana into their midst.

“I can’t. She’s magnificent.” Frohike is in his own world and Mulder can only chuckle. That is until he redirects his gaze to what – or rather who – has him so transfixed. The woman is small and if he weren’t so tall, he’s not sure he’d see her at all on this big stage.

She keeps shaking her head and laughing the cutest laugh in between her notes that she misses one after the other. She might be the worst singer he’s ever heard. He barely recognizes the song she’s singing, but he recognizes something else. A feeling of warmth spreads inside his chest. It’s hitting a home run, coming home after a long journey, and his favorite birthday as a child all rolled up into one.

“Now we’ve got two of them,” Langly laments. Mulder hears his friend, but he cannot look away from the woman on stage. She’s belting now, missing so many notes that it’s a miracle no one has booed her off yet. And yet, it’s his favorite version of Son of a Preacher Man. He takes in her appearance; her short, flaming-red hair, her perfect face, and the roundest eyes he’s ever seen. What color are they? He needs to know. Before this night ends, he needs to find out.

He’s never believed in love at first sight, even though he believes in everything else. Bigfoot? Of course, he exists. The Jersey Devil? Is surely out there. Love at first sight? Think again. That was until he laid eyes on her. There’s something about her that pulls him to her. Like something inside him was screaming, ‘Hey, I know you’. She's so familiar to him. As if they've spent a lifetime together already. She's not someone he's met at work. He'd know if she worked for the FBI. It must be something else. Something more like... destiny.

“I’m in love,” he murmurs, the words bubbling out of him while his eyes never leave her. She’s flinging her arms wildly and something tells him this isn’t like her at all. It makes him smile

“We know you love Diana,” Byers says. "We just don't know why."

“No, not her,” he says, without even thinking what he’s saying. He’s bewitched. Entranced. Completely out of his mind. Diana would hit him over the head if she were here. But she isn’t here. And with that vision in front of him, she slips from his mind quietly, without any fight at all.

“What are you talking about, dude?” Langly asks. “Are you serious right now? That woman can’t carry a tune and you two sit here like dogs.”

“I need to talk to her,” Mulder says. The song is coming to an end, and his heart is racing. He gets up from his chair and it almost tips over.

“I saw her first,” Frohike says, but Mulder barely hears him. One day he will apologize for ignoring him and for seemingly stealing the girl. He’s making his way through the tables, tipping over a bottle somewhere, but he fears that if he takes his eyes off her, she will disappear. Just like in his dream. It’s her. He knows it now. He's seen her in his dream. The dream he’s been having ever since he was a child. The flaming locks that surround him. That scare everyone else away but take him in, warming him, comforting him. He used to think the dream alluded to his own name – Fox. Now he knows better. Her. His heart can’t be wrong.

She’s standing at the bar now, her cheeks pink and flushed. She’s smiling, talking to a friend of hers. He keeps walking until he stops right in front of her. Her eyes, he realizes, are the bluest blue.

“Hello,” he says.

“Hi,” she says, mustering him. “Can I help you?” His eyes wander, taking her all in. Her form-fitting jeans that hug her curves most deliciously, and that shirt. Slightly too big on her, in a faded green, and an alien head prominently featured, sticking out its tongue.

“Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?” he asks.

“Logically, I would have to say no,” she says, her lips twitching.

“But your shirt.”

“Belongs to my sister.” She points at another redhead who is making out with a hot brunette. Mulder quickly tears his eyes away.

“It’s cool.”

“I’ll let her know.”

“Your singing was…” This is why he never does this. And he hasn’t had a chance to even try in a while. Diana seduced him. More than once. No matter how far he ran, or how hard he tried, she always got her claws back into him. Any moment now she’s going to decide he’s not worth it and walk off. His chance will be blown. He’ll never see again and his heart will shatter into a million pieces.

“I can’t carry a tune,” she admits. “I lost a bet. The only reason I’m here if you must know. I was just about to leave actually.”

“No,” he says quickly and she narrows her eyes. “I-I-I thought your singing was great or no I didn’t really but- I don’t know how to say this.”

“With words, I hope. Just say it.”

“I like you,” he blurts out. She huffs at him.

“You don’t even know me.”

“Give me a chance to get to know you. I saw you up there and I- this is going to sound crazy.”

“Everything you’ve said so far has sounded crazy.”

“I feel like I know you.” That gets him an eyebrow. “Not like that. Ugh, you must think I’m the world’s creepiest guy.”

“Maybe not the world’s, but…” She smiles at him, giving him a chance. All he has to do is take it.

“I think maybe our souls know each other.” He waits for her to laugh at him and walk off. She does neither. She regards him with a tilted head, probably trying to figure out what flavor of crazy he is exactly.

“That’s sweet, um, but I need to go home now. I'm starting a new job tomorrow.”

“Please.” It’s all he can say.

“I really-” she looks past him and he doesn’t know what she sees there, but panic flickers in her eyes. “Shit. Look, I don’t know you and this might be the biggest mistake of my life but you’re cute and my ex just walked in and it didn’t end well. I can’t believe I’m asking this but, can you pretend? For just a second that we’re… more than strangers?”

“As in-”

“Hey Dana.” A tall guy, older than her – and Mulder – walks up to them, certain of himself. Mulder stands up tall and feeling brave, loops his arm around the woman whose name he didn’t know until the guy said it.

“Hey Ethan.”

“Who’s this clown?” He stares at Mulder.

“He’s just- he’s-”

“This clown is her boyfriend,” Mulder says, his voice dark. “And if you bother her again, you will be very sorry.”

“Right,” Ethan says, laughing. “Listen, pal, Dana and I have history. We go way back.”

“You can go wherever you came from,” Mulder says. “But alone.”

“Let’s go have a beer, hm, Dana? Let’s talk.” Before Ethan can say another word, or persuade her, Mulder whirls her to him and she gasps when his mouth lands on hers. She melts into his arms, her own going around his neck. She presses against him, her kiss full of passion and questions. And Mulder feels the same. Something is happening. Something cosmic. When they break apart, Ethan is gone. They stare at each other with open mouths.

“Hello again,” Mulder says.

“I feel like… I feel like I’ve done this before. I feel dizzy.”

“Let me help you.” He takes her elbow and takes her to a chair.

“I’m Dana, by the way,” she says. “Dana Scully.”

“Fox Mulder. My friends call me Mulder. I think we were destined to meet,” he says. “Tonight, or any time. I recognized you. Or something in you. Destiny, fate. Call it whatever you want. You still think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“I don’t believe in destiny,” she says, “or fate, but I believe in choice.” She offers him a hand. Without hesitation, he takes it. “And maybe I do want to get to know you, Fox Mulder.”

#fictober23 #no idea what happened here #but it's fictober and i can try things right?#the story just came out of me like that #msr #xf fanfic #my writing #my fic

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