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"Have you ever seen the Liberty Bell?" Mulder asked, once they had reached their car.
Scully gave him a suspicious look before opening the passenger door. "Yes."
"You know, I've been to Philadelphia a hundred times and I've never seen it," he admitted casually as he put the seat belt on, a little bit too casually for her liking.
Scully fastened hers too. "You're not missing much," she said. "It's a big bell with a big crack, and you have to wait in a long line."
"I'd really like to go," Mulder said softly, as he drove them away from the ghost of Howard Graves, second star to the right, and straight on till morning… And maybe, just maybe, spending too much time reading Peter Pan to her godson hadn't been the greatest of the ideas because now her mind was all Disney references and Star Wars knowledge.
Scully knew exactly where Mulder was going with this talk of his. Whether he had a hidden agenda or not, she had known, from the moment he bought up the subject, that their next stop was going to be the Independence Hall. The weird thing was she didn't really feel like protesting. The case must have worn her out more than she had anticipated.
"Why now?" she asked, anyway. Because knowing she was going to follow him was one thing, actually verbalizing an agreement was another. Mostly, when it came to Mulder, she felt a lot more comfortable if she came out as uninterested. Which, to be fair, she was. From the Liberty Bell to the Eastern State Penitentiary, she had already checked out all the main attractions of Philadelphia on the first time she had visited the city, years ago, and she had no intention of revisiting any of them.
But, of course, everything was different with Mulder. She didn't really know why. There was just… a way about him, that was all, something she couldn’t quite put a finger on.
"I don't know," he said, nonchalantly. "How late do you think they stay open?"
...
To her surprise, Mulder didn't go straight to the Independence Hall. He stopped at a McDonald's drive thru first. She shot him a questioning look, but he just shrugged. "I'm taking you on a late tourist tour, the least I can do is buy you something to eat."
Well, she wasn't one to turn down free food, so when he told her to choose something on the menu, she gladly asked for a Triple-Double Burger and a coke. Mulder seemed to have an even bigger sweet tooth than she did because he went for two Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry and a Big ‘N Tasty. He actually ordered two of everything with the excuse that "as unhealthy as this is, fast food from McDonald's is still a lot better than whatever crap we usually find on roadside motels."
They ate half of their orders in a companionable silence during the drive, and when they finally got there… it was closed.
"Damn," he complained, letting out a sigh. He looked so genuinely disappointed, it made her laugh.
She shook her head, still smiling. "Mulder, it's way past 7 p.m. It would be a surprise if they were still open. Turn around, we can see that boring bell another time."
But Mulder had that look on his face, the kind when he had forgotten his keys and was trying to figure out what to do.
"Do you think we can… sneak in?" he asked, with that boyish smile of his she could never say not to.
She did try, though.
"Why do you want to see that bell so much?"
"It's a piece of American history, Scully," he tried to remain serious as if that would help him prove his point. He failed, and it didn't. "Besides, we can always use the FBI card as an excuse if something goes wrong."
"Yeah, because that will look really well on my field report."
"This isn't work." She raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, not exactly," he added.
"Then, what is this, Mulder?" she asked. "What is it that we are actually doing here?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. But, if I remember correctly, it was you who accused me of not having a life."
"Yes, but you don't have to include me in your plans outside work, you know."
He squinted his eyes in a funny way. "Of course I do. Now, come on, Scully," he tilted his head to the building outside. Then, he pouted. "Please."
She sighed, deep and loudly.
"Fine."
He grinned. "Really?"
"Just because you bought me sandwiches."
"So the way to a woman's heart is also the stomach. Good to know," he teased.
She put a strand of hair behind her ear and opened the passenger door, successfully avoiding his flirts. He was always flirting. In fact, she was pretty sure he used his flirting voice when he asked if she believed in the existence of extraterrestrials, right when they first met, so she just assumed he was one of those people. She was beginning to tease back, too, but flirting back was not something that came as naturally to her as it did to him. Besides, Mulder had the tendency to get carried away too quickly, one look was enough for him to start rambling about UFO's, and she definitely didn't want to open that can of worms when it came to him.
It had been relatively easy to get inside the building because Mulder had a smart card that, according to him, could take him almost everywhere. "Courtesy of the Bureau?"
"Yeah, something like that." And he had said it in a way that suggested that the FBI had nothing to do with it. She probably should have pressed him, but the tiredness seemed to be winning every single one of her battles today.
Mulder's smile faded as soon as they approached the bell. He tried to hide it, but she could see right through him.
"I told you," she said with a sigh, sitting on the floor next to "the great piece of American history", as he had so poetically put it. "It's just a big bell with a big crack."
He sat by her side. "No long lines, though."
Mulder reached for the paper bag he had been carrying and picked up his Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry. Her second sandwich had stayed in the car, a decision she was beginning to deeply regret now that she had to watch Mulder eat his dessert.
He noticed her staring, of course. And, with one of those gentle smiles of his, he offered her the little disposable white spoon.
She smiled back, taking it. "Thank you."
He nodded.
It was really good. She read it was one of those limited editions it would soon be removed from the menu. She made a mental note to eat as many as she could until then, and to buy a few for Mulder as well, because he could be really kind when he wanted to, and it would do her no harm to be kind in return. Friends do these sorts of things for each other too, don't they?
And before Scully could begin to question the exact moment the man sitting next to her became something more than just the guy she worked with, he interrupted her thoughts with a very Mulder-like question.
"Did you know that there's this theory that the crack is not exactly in the bell?"
She chuckled. "Ok, I will bite. Where is it, then?"
"In the universe," he said. Her mocking laugh didn't stop him from continuing. It never did. "They say that even if the bell was removed, the crack would still stay, somehow. Because the crack it's everywhere. It's a split in the skin of the world. Two parts of space and time that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the Liberty Bell."
Scully smiled. "And you believe that?"
"No, not really." She didn't buy it. He laughed. "Well, maybe a little. But I think the whole thing is a bit flippant. I mean, I've read X-Files about places and objects that are touched by non-human forces, and there's usually some… energy, that indicates that. I mean, if this crack was something more than just a crack then we would probably hear voices, anything. But you're not hearing anything, are you?"
The fact she actually payed attention to her surroundings before answering him, as if her subconscious needed to double-check that there wasn't anything out of the ordinary for her to hear, was the biggest proof that the amount of time she was spending with Mulder was beginning to rub off on her.
"Just you, rambling spooky theories, as always."
He smiled.
And then he offered her what was left of his McFlurry. It wasn't much, to be honest, but it surprised her that Mulder was the kind of guy who would give away the last slice of pizza. Actually, no, she re-examined, it wasn't that surprising at all.
"You don't really think I'm spooky, though… Do you?" he asked after a couple of minutes. It hadn't been that long since the Eugene Tooms' case, and if she was going to be honest with herself, her answer hasn't changed ever since. But the quietness in his voice seemed to weigh a little bit more now.
"I think you are," she admitted. He tried to hide how her admission had hurt him, for reasons neither of them could understand. She noticed, of course, she always did. "But not the way Colton did," she found herself adding, with a caution she didn't recognize. "It's not a bad thing, Mulder. You have your beliefs, as everyone else does. You shouldn't care so much about what others think of you."
"I don't," he said. And the "I care about what you think of me" that was left unsaid was right there in his eyes for her to read.
She swallowed.
"You're a good partner, Mulder. I mean, I definitely regret my decision to stay in the X-Files when you make me miss our flight just to show me a crack in a bell."
He smiled. "A crack in the universe."
She ignored his corrections.
"But you're a good partner. And a good friend, too."
"Spooky theories and all?" he teased.
"Yeah." She smiled. "Spooky theories and all."
They stayed like that for some time, sharing desserts, talking, and just… enjoying each other's company. Mulder's ideas of fun were a bit unusual, and the floor was more than just a bit uncomfortable, but she was having a nice time.
For some strange reason, she thought about the day Ellen suggested she should go out with Mulder. She wondered if this was what a date with him would be like — and yes, she decided, it would have been exactly like this.
This was not a date, though. Far from it.
But it was funny that she had a better time here, with Mulder, her crackpot partner, than she had at that dinner with Rob.