Title: A Message Author: Rotem Shahar Feedback: LaughsR@prodigy.net Rating: R for language Category: S, R (not really) Keywords: Mulder/other (not really), Post-Ep for Little Green Men Spoilers: Little Green Men Summary: Mulder responds to a message left on his answering machine. Disclaimer: Kerri is mine, but Mulder and Scully aren’t. They belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and FOX. No infringement is intended and no money is being made off of the use of these characters. Notes: This fic was also written for the After_the_Fact Little Green Men fanfic challenge. ~*~*~ Mulder entered his apartment and set his stuff down. He clicked the ‘play messages’ button as he turned the TV on and flipped through the channels. "Mulder... you hounded me to have lunch with you today and then you don’t show. You’re a pig." Is the message that piqued his interest. "Oh fuck!" Mulder exclaimed. "Kerri!" ‘I hope Scully didn’t hear this message.’ He thought to himself as he picked up the phone and dialed Kerri’s number. As he waited for her to answer the phone, he thought about the past few days in Puerto Rico. He had spent a lot of time thinking. Thinking about the x-files. Thinking about Samantha. Thinking about Scully. He hadn’t thought about Kerri once the entire time, just about getting the evidence he needed to prove to Scully that he was right. He realized that he didn’t hold feelings for Kerri anymore and wondered what to tell her. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Mulder heard an agitated voice ask through the earpiece. "Hi, Kerri?" "You son-of-a-bitch." Kerri angrily replied. "Kerri-" Mulder tried to explain. "Did you have fun with her?" "What? With who?" Mulder asked, genuinely confused. "Oh, you know quite well who I’m talking about!" Kerri exclaimed, Mulder’s lack of comprehension fueling her anger. "That partner of yours!" she explained viciously. "You think I’m-" Mulder incredulously asked. "Yes, I think you’re cheating on me! What else am I supposed to think?!" "Kerri, let me explain." "No, I’m sick of your explanations and excuses. You’re going out of town. There’s a case that needs your attention. Something urgent came up. A meeting ran later than expected. You worked late. You lost track of time. I’m sick of it!" Mulder wasn’t sure what to tell her. He didn’t know what she wanted to hear. All he had was the truth. He tried talking to her again. "I was in Puerto Rico Kerri." Mulder tried to reason. "And you forgot to tell me." She continued for him. "Nice. Very nice. You simply forgot to tell me. You forgot to call me to cancel our date. Do you know for how long I waited for you? Any idea at all?" She didn’t give him time to answer; "I waited there for two and a half hours. Two and a half hours!" she yelled. "I just stood there. Waiting. Two and a half hours! Just waiting for you to show up. Hoping a meeting ran late or you lost track of time." She mimicked. "And I’m fucking sick of it." She took a deep breath. "Is that how it works?" She asked him. "Is that how what works?" Mulder asked, not particularly wanting to hear what she had to say. "You leave after work with your partner for a quick fuck and only then come to see me? Do I not satisfy you enough that you need to fuck your partner too?" "Look," Mulder stated, agitated; "If you’re not happy with me or our relationship say so. Don’t bring Scully into this. She has nothing to do with us." "That’s where you’re wrong. She has everything to do with us. She is the reason this isn’t working. Goodbye Fox." Kerri slammed the phone down, leaving a dial tone in Mulder’s ear. Mulder sighed as he placed the phone down. Shrugging, he lay down on his couch. Laughing humorlessly, he thought to himself, ‘at least now I don’t need to tell Kerri anything.’ ~*~*~ The End.