This one goes out to the LabMice. Be strong, my sisters. It ain't over 'till it's over. It all belongs to Chris and Co. Please, let him live. Classification: Short Story Rating: PG Description: Set during "Tempus Fugit". The last day in the life of a LabBoy. Up Until a Moment by Alexandra Nigro The opals were a dumb choice. Special Agent Danny Pendrell thumped his head dejectedly against the steering wheel of his battered Honda and ignored the indignant blaring horn of the Ford Explorer behind him. "I'm going, relax," he muttered. Stoplights were good places to think - the anxious Washingtonian behind him didn't appreciate that fact. More's the pity, reflected Pendrell. Nothing beats the secure confines of a man's car for some truly thorough self-castigation. He shoved the clutch in and restarted the ancient Honda as the man behind him layed back onto the horn. "Christ! Will you relax?" He could feel his blood pressure rising slightly. What had started out as a great Sunday afternoon had deteriorated rapidly. Pendrell had taken the afternoon to cruise around Georgetown, do some shopping and generally re-connect with the waking world. The workload at the Bureau had been especially busy after the holidays and he had found himself covering for the members of his team who'd rather spend this dreary March in Aruba rather than the office. It was weeks like this that Danny was painfully aware that there was a larger world out there than could be seen through the lens of the microscope. Everyone he knew had fabulous-sounding vacation plans, the best future he could see was spending an uninterrupted day puttering around a bookstore. Still, it beat doing his laundry. He had bought a couple of mystery novels and was just digging for his car keys when he passed a corner jewelry store. The glint of opals and glaring red sign that proclaimed "Earrings, 30% Off" caught his eye. Before his even had time to think about it, he was handing a credit card to the pert young sales girl and admiring the way the opals seem to glow with orange and green. "Are they for your girlfriend?" "Huh?" Well yes and no. It was Her birthday tomorrow. But she wasn't his girlfriend. "Uh.....they're for my Mom." "That's so sweet. Do you want me to attach a little card to the box?" "Um......sure." Blushing, he stuffed the box into his coat pocket and fumbled the credit card back into the billfold. Racing back to his car as if someone would know what he intended and laugh. He slid the pen from his checkbook and opened the little gold card the sales girl had taped to the top of box. A flurry of questions spun through his mind. To Dana, from Danny? To Agent Scully, from Agent Pendrell? To the most beautiful woman in the world, from the shyest guy in the lab? Exactely what kind of moron was he? He had just blown $80 to buy a birthday present for a woman he barely knew. A card was one thing, but giving a jewelry to a co-worker was highly inappropriate. Giving Scully a gift like this would only embarass her and humiliate himself, and God knows, he had accomplished the latter every time he was in her presence. Pendrell started the car and groaned. He never took the damn things out of his coat. The sat there, heavy against his hip at work, teasing him to dare convention and march down to her office. That was a nice little fantasy. She'd open the box and smile that fantastic smile. He'd gather the courage to ask her out. She'd accept. In an alternate universe. So he'd stopped into the bar that everybody talked about at work. The one he never went to but couldn't bear to miss today. Anything but going home alone. Then were rules about drinking on an empty stomach and they existed for a reason. Pendrell had taken chemistry, he knew what happened to brain function as a result of too much alchohol - and it had never been so welcome. He was well into his fifth beer when she appeared out of nowhere. There was no stuttering this time, and only a little slurring. Liquid courage was a wonderful thing. "Hey! Birthday Girl!" He still had the opals. God, in His Infinite Mercy, was giving him another chance. "I have something for you, where have you been?" He searched his pockets furtively - which pocket were they in? Go man, go. Don't lose that momentum. "Hey, can I buy you a drink?" She looked over her shoulder. "No, you know what? It's O.K. I'm with somebody." "Oh." Against his better judgement, he looked. Military jacket and a goddamned cleft chin. God was a vicious bastard. He hung his head and laughed. It was a amazing how enough beer could make the most humiliating situations funny. And how it helped you prolong them. "Let me buy him a drink too." She said something, he didn't hear it. She patted him on the shoulder, he didn't feel it. "I insist. I insist. Bartender, bartender, set me up with a couple of......Birthday Girl drinks." She would probably never speak to him again but he was going to spend the evening with her. Maybe she'd ditch G.I. Joe. Maybe. He scooped up the bottles and resolved to let the Sam Adams continue to do the talking. She looked so serious when he approached her. Was she going to tell him to take a hike? Scully was standing up. "Get down!" she screamed. He turned. He saw the gun at same time as he felt the right side of his chest explode. What was the worst thing that could happen if you tried to buy a beautiful woman a drink? You got shot. Pendrell was already numb by the time he hit the ground. Wait, he thought desperately. Wait. I haven't paid my bar bill yet. Wait. I'm supposed to spend Easter with my family. She was leaning over him, saything something. Wait. I didn't sign the card. She won't know the opals were for her. She won't know I love her. THE END -- **Alexandra Nigro** X-Men, Fan-Fiction, X-Files: http://home.earthlink.net/~alchemist8/index.html The Southern Comfort Home Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~alchemist8/southerncom.html