"Have you ever thought about coming back?" Mulder suddenly asked after a longer pause. "Back to D.C. I mean." He then added, looking down at what was left of his fish.
"Of course I have. It's where my family is," she looked at him, "my friends." He didn't look up.
"I'm sorry." Scully began after a while. "I don't think I've ever said that to you."
His eyes met hers. "You're sorry? For what?" he requested, but his tone suggested that he was well aware.
"I am sorry for leaving like that."
Mulder looked at her intently, then replied "You don't have to apologize. This is your life."
Scully's heart sank abruptly, "and this job offer was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity." He sounded sincere, but Dana nevertheless detected a pained undertone.
"Yes, it was." She agreed, "still, I should have told you about it earlier." She cleared her throat and took a sip of her wine.
"Anyway." Mulder half-forced a smile, "the past is in the past. What matters now is that we are here now. Together." He gently placed his hand on her arm and caressed it with his thumb.
They finished their meals, talking about what Mulder wanted to do and see during his stay. Once they were done, the regular after-work crowd began to fill up the place and both agreed to go with the flow and order a couple of drinks.
The alcohol certainly helped the mood, and one drink later, Mulder and Scully were talking animatedly, like in the old days—about strange cases, icky patients, Skinner's promotion, the freaky amount of time Mulder spent with Scully's mom, and so much more. Even though they had been talking on the phone at least once a week, it felt like they hadn't had a proper conversation in ages.
After the third round of drinks, it had become so loud in the pub that Dana moved around the table to sit next to Mulder.
After Mulder had gotten the fourth round, Scully sleepily leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I've missed you." She said softly. As a response, Mulder put his arm around her shoulder and leaned over, closer to her face. "I've missed you, too." He almost sounded sad. She looked up into his face—he looked sad, too.
Before she could say anything else, she heard a voice from across the table.
"Dana? I wasn't expecting to see you here!" the posh, female vice belonged to a tall, dark skinned woman, who was walking towards them, smiling, with a fresh pint in her hand.
"Melanie!" Scully exclaimed in surprise, "Fancy running into you here."
"I'm here with my girlfriend and a few friends. Over there." She pointed to the other end of the room.
"Is this your friend from America?" she then asked, eyeing him curiously.
"Oh, yes. Melanie, this is Fox Mulder, Mulder, this is Melanie Higgins, she works at the hospital with me."
"Nice to meet you, Melanie." Mulder shook her hand.
"The pleasure is all mine." She smiled. "Well, I better get back to my group. Our friend Jenny is celebrating her PhD. See you later!"
"Congratulations to her. See you!" Dana waved, as Melanie made her way back.
"She seems nice." Mulder remarked.
"Yes, she is. Most of my colleagues are really great, actually." Dana replied. "It can be quite difficult to find people with whom you get along and work well with." She added teasingly.
"You think?" Mulder chuckled.
"How is Franklyn gonna cope without you the next ten days?" Dana shook her head, laughing.
"Actually, Skinner asked Monica to assist him." Mulder answered matter of factly.
"Oh no. Poor Monica." Scully never understood why Monica Reyes hadn't replaced her in the first place. Instead, Mulder got stuck with a whining thirty-year-old named Paul Frankly, who couldn't be bothered to do anything for work, except for showing up—and even that was not guaranteed. So why would they keep him? Because he was the relative of some big-shot politician. And that's how it works.
