"Why not?" Maxwell shot back, a whiny tone creeping
into her voice. "Mulder's taking Scully!"
"I'm not Mulder."
"That's for damn sure." She jumped down to the floor,
and went over to her own desk, sitting down in the
chair behind it. "Why the hell won't you take me?"
"I'm not going." Alex finally looked at her, noting
that she was gradually looking more and more
pissed at him. Aha, he knew the Maxwell he was
used to was in there somewhere... her nice mood
couldn't last.
"And why not?"
"I don't want to get into it," he half-mumbled in reply.
Maxwell reached over the gap separating the two
desks, and turned his face towards her. "Get into it. Now."
"Well, someone has to be there to look after
Jordan..." he paused, looking at her expression,
which clearly read, 'Weak, Alex. Real Weak.'
"You know, 'cause Frank will be..."
"Ever heard of a babysitter, Alex? Hell, her
grandparents aren't exactly in another country."
"I'm not going," Alex reminded her, turning
back to his papers. "There's no chance of
convincing me, so you can stop." A sigh
came from her side of the room. "Just tell
me why, okay?"
"Tell me why, I don't like Mondays.."
She cringed at his off-tune singing. "Come
on, Alex. What is it?"
"You mean apart from all the narrow-minded
homophobes who roam the FBI in the search
of poor little things like me?" Maxwell snorted
in reply, then changed her expression when
she saw that he was perfectly serious.
She sighed again. "Yeah, apart from that."
"I'm not embarrassing myself over the fact
I can't dance to save my life, due to the fact
I have, oh, zero sense of balance."
Both of them were silent for a while, Alex
ignoring her, instead focusing on his work,
and she searched for something intelligent to
say. Eventually, she opted to say nothing,
and swiftly packed her things up.
"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." He didn't say anything further,
staring at the papers in front of him. Maxwell
watched for a while, then left the office.
"Anyone home?" Alex called as he walked
in the front door. There was no answer, and
he sighed. Frank was obviously consulting on
a case, and Jordan was probably at a friend's
house. He went through to the kitchen, pressing
'play' on the answering machine on his way.
Only one message, from Jordan. "Hi Daddy,
hi Alex... I'm at Candice's house. You
can come and pick me up any time, okay?
Bye." Alex sighed. That was surely
expected of him. He knew where Candice
lived; he'd taken Jordan there often enough.
He dropped the rest of his work gear, and
picked his car keys up again.
"Hey," he greeted Candice's mother, with
his usual charming smile. "Is my sister around
somewhere?" The woman smiled a little
back at him, and nodded.
As if on cue, Jordan came running out.
"Alex!" He broke into a grin and bent
down to pick the little girl up.
"Hey, Jord. How are you?" He gave an
acknowledging nod to the woman in the
doorway, and walked back down the path.
"Good! How are you?"
"Fine. I'm going to stay with you tonight,
okay?" He put her down, and she ran
around to her side of the car.
"Why aren't you going to the dance?" Alex
got into the car, and reached over to unlock
Jordan's door.
"Because I'd rather spend a night with
my little sister, that's why." She beamed
up at him, putting her seatbelt on.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really." Alex started the car and backed
it out of the driveway, then heading off down the
road again. His car was an automatic, unlike
Frank's—basically because it was a lot easier
to drive. After a while, he glanced over at
Jordan. "How was school?"
"It was great," she began, then went off in
detail about her day at school. He listened
for a while, making comments where
appropriate, then tuned out in favour of
concentrating on the road. Soon enough,
they reached the house, and Jordan
immediately sprinted inside. Alex
followed at a more sedate pace, settling
down on the couch, while his sister made
straight for the kitchen. He turned the television
on, mindlessly surfing the channels. "Hey,
kick ass, South Park," he murmured, settling
back to watch. After a minute, Jordan came
back in, and looked at what was on the
television.
"Oh, no! No, Alex, I don't want to watch this."
"Tough luck, I'm watching it."
"But I hate it!"
"Jordan," he began, mock-seriously, "No one
can hate this program."
"I do!"
"No, you don't." Jordan sighed exaggeratedly,
and sat down deliberately with her back to the
television, eating the small meal she'd prepared.
He watched her for a while, then reached over
to steal a biscuit. "Hey!" she yelped, smacking
his hand. "You're not allowed any."
"And what are you going to do about it?" he
asked, grinning at her. She moved another foot
away from him, and he sighed. "That's cheating,
Jordan."
"And what are you going to do about it?"
Jordan shot back. Alex had to laugh, and
the phone rang. He got up and answered it.
"Yeah?"
"Alex, it's Frank."
"Oh, hi..." Alex paused for a minute, turning
back towards the lounge, then yelled, "Don't
you DARE touch that remote!" He turned back
to the phone. "What's up?"
"Just calling to say I'm not coming home before
tonight. There's still a bit of wrapping up to do
here, and I've got clothes in the Jeep. Can you
organise for Jordan to go somewhere tonight?"
"There's no need, I'm staying home." There
was a pause. "You there?"
"Why are you staying home?" Alex shrugged,
not caring that even Frank couldn't see shrugs
over the phone line.
"I just am."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you later. Bye." Alex
hung the phone up, then went back through to
the lounge. Predictably enough, Jordan had
changed the channel, to some cartoon show
she was watching. He slumped down on the
couch and looked at her. "Didn't I say not to
change the channel?"
"No, you said not to touch the remote. I
didn't. I changed it at the television." Jordan
gave her brother an innocent smile. He shook
his head.
"Jordan, you're nuts."
"I know. But so are you." Alex sighed. It was
going to be a long night.
Frank turned around at the sound of his name
being called. Mulder. "Hey, Frank, where's Alex?"
"At home," he replied. "He didn't come tonight."
Mulder's face fell slightly. "Why not?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen him." Personally,
Frank was wondering why Alex hadn't come.
Admittedly, he was generally cautious about
being seen in public, especially with Mulder,
but it wasn't like him to miss this sort of thing.
"Maybe Maxwell knows," Mulder wondered
aloud. With an acknowledging nod to Frank,
he left, in search of his partner—who would
surely know where Alex's partner was. It wasn't
long before he saw the former. "Hey, Scully!"
The distinctive redhead looked over to him.
"Mulder!" He made his way through to where
Scully was standing.
"Hey, have you seen Maxwell?"
"She's wandering. Black dress. You'll find
her. Why?"
"Alex isn't here. I figure she'll
know why." He looked over the heads of
the crowd. He couldn't see her instantly,
but it was worth wandering.
"Jordan," Alex warned, wielding the
watergun like a pistol, "I swear to you,
you're not going to make it back to the
house." The two were playing an adapted
version of hide and seek. Jordan was hiding,
and the aim was for her to make it back to
the lounge before Alex got her with the watergun
- which was filled with red dye. She had
apparently decided to hide out until he got
frustrated. He slowly walked around to the
side of the swimming pool closest to the
bushes, peering into them. "You've got to
come out sometime." He turned back to
looking at the house, across the pool.
"Come on. I'll give you a chance!" He
was about to circumnavigate the yard
again, when he was shoved from behind.
Turning before he lost his balance and
tumbled into the pool, Alex caught a
glimpse of Jordan dissolving into giggles.
Completely soaked, and under the water,
he grinned. And held his breath.
Jordan watched, slowly controlling her
giggling, as Alex stayed under the water.
Slowly, it dawned on her that he wasn't
coming up to take a breath. "Alex!" Jordan
knelt down next to the pool, watching her
older brother. "Alex!" No response, and
she jumped in, despite the depth of the pool
at that part was several feet over her head.
Jordan swam over to Alex, and grabbed him.
Alex instantly spun around to face her, giving
her a fright, and causing her to scream. He
grinned, and she splashed him. "I thought
you were dead, Alex!"
Alex cried, in falsetto, "Oh, my God! You
killed Alex! You bastard!" He then emptied
the contents of the watergun over the little
girl's head. "Yeah. Right." Jordan tackled
him around the neck, clinging on. He fell
backwards, shoving her underwater. By
the time the two came up again, she was
spluttering. Alex laughed. "Inside?"
Coughing the slightly pink-tinged water
out, Jordan nodded. The two went inside.
Spying the dark haired woman, Mulder made
his way through the crowd to Alex's partner.
"Maxwell!"
Maxwell spun around, searching for who had
called her name. She saw Mulder, and smiled
a little. "Hi, Mulder."
"Listen, do you know why Alex didn't come
tonight? Is he all right?" She looked thoughtful
for a minute.
"He's kinda sensitive about it. I think it's to do
with his arm... he mentioned that he wasn't going
to be embarrassed about having no sense of
balance."
Mulder stared blankly ahead. "Jeez. I've got to go."
He made his way to the door, saying goodbye to
Scully on the way.
"Listen, you," Alex began, holding a soft toy
in his hand, "Lots of people, including me, would
be quite happy to sleep with Cartman. What's
your problem?"
"I don't want to have a South Park doll in my bed.
I don't like South Park." Comically, Alex
shook his head. "You're one messed up kid,
Jordan. Guess you take after me, huh?" Jordan
giggled, flopping back on the pillows. One
hand clutched her red-haired doll tightly, the
other was flung above her head. Alex tossed
her the Cartman toy, and went over to the light
switch. "Night, short stuff."
"Night, you dirty rat." Alex still didn't know
where she'd picked that up from, but Jordan
certainly sounded tired. He flicked the light off,
and left the room. Fun as the night had been,
Alex wasn't happy. He should have been out
with Mulder and the other agents, but instead
he'd spent the night at home goofing off with his
baby sister. He slumped down on the couch,
and turned the television on. Thoughtful of
Mulder to phone. Alex wondered if his lover
had even noticed his absence. After a while
of mindlessly watching 'The Fugitive'
(Alex wondered if everything was
conspiring against him), there was a knock
at the door. He got up to answer it.
"Mulder!" The other man smiled a little,
and handed Alex a rose. The younger man
took it, not knowing what to say. "Why
aren't you..."
"Like I'm going to enjoy it with you at home
by yourself."
"Hey, I had Jordan..." Alex avoided Mulder's
eyes, and trailed off. He went through to the kitchen
to put the rose in a vase of water. By the time he
came back, Mulder was in the lounge, rifling through
the CD collection.
"'Chef Aid', hmm?"
Alex smiled a little, wondering what the other
man was doing. "Yeah."
Apparently finding the CD he was looking for,
Mulder turned the stereo on, and placed it in the
player. Then he came back over to Alex. "Babe,
why didn't you go tonight?"
"I..." Alex trailed off. "Aw, hell, you don't care."
Mulder took him in his arms. "Don't be stupid.
Maxwell told me what you said."
"Yeah?" He sounded disinterested. "Oh."
The music came on. "Hey, we can dance here, can't we?"
"I c..."
Mulder supported the younger man with
both hands. "Look, put your arm around my neck.
Hold." Alex did as instructed, and the two slowly
began dancing. Blushing furiously, Alex swore.
"This is stupid."
"Hey." Mulder's hand crept down to squeeze his
lover's ass. "No, it's not. I wouldn't be here if it
was stupid." The two began dancing more
skillfully, in perfect time. Whenever Alex swayed
a little, stumbled, Mulder just supported him more.
After several minutes, the music stopped, and the
two melted into a kiss. There was the sound of
quiet applause, and both men looked towards the
door.
"Aw, hell," Alex said, turning his head away.
Neither man had heard Frank come in.
"Nicely danced," Frank observed. He stepped
up to the two of them. "Mind if I cut in?"
"Go ahead," Mulder replied, grinning. Alex
shot him a panicked look, then gave up, letting
Frank hold him in order to give the support.
The two danced, and Alex noted inwardly that
he was getting better, albeit awkwardly. The
music ended, and they both dropped their hands.
Alex smiled. "Don't expect a kiss." All three
chuckled, and Frank smiled at Alex.
"You're not that bad, Alex."
"Thanks." He moved over to Mulder, allowing
himself to be hugged. Alex looked up at his lover.
"Bed?"
"Okay," Mulder replied instantly. The two left,
going upstairs. Frank went over to the stereo,
ejecting the CD. It was one of Alex's... he was
wondering what song they'd just danced to.
Murmuring, Frank read out loud, "Chef Aid:
Chocolate Salty Balls?" He shrugged, set the
disc down, and went off to his room.
The End
Dirty Dancing
by Fleur
"So," Maxwell began, sitting on the edge of Alex's desk.
He ignored her, looking down at his work. When she
was nice, as she had been all that day, he got suspicious,
and therefore had to avoid her. "Are you taking me to the
ball tonight?" "No," Alex replied shortly. He turned over
another leaf of paper, examining the next.
