Title: "Something in Common" Author: Angela W. Category: MSR/Crossover Rating: Strong R Summary: FBI agents Mulder and Scully and JAG officers Harm and Mac enjoy an evening together. Timespan/Spoilers: I don't think there is mention made of specific episodes of either show, but assume everything up through "Closure" has happened in "The X-Files" and everything up through "Gypsy Eyes" has happened in "JAG". This is part of my "married" series of XF fanfics and is a follow-up to my previous XF/JAG crossover in that series, "Something Fishy". Feedback: If you like or have *constructive* criticism to offer, feedback is valued. Disclaimer: Everyone associated with "JAG" is the property of CBS and Belisarious Productions.Everyone associated with "The X-Files" is the property of Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. Commander Harmon Rabb glanced up as Lt. Bud Roberts poked his head into the office. "What's up, Bud?" "Slightly bad news, I'm afraid, sir," Bud replied. "Harriet and I won't be able to attend the basketball game with you and Lt. Colonel MacKenzie." "Why not?" Harm asked. "A.J.'s sick." "Seriously?" "Well, not to the point where he has to be hospitalized or anything like that. But Harriet took him to the clinic this morning and they've put him on antibiotics. He's too sick to be left with a sitter." "You could still come with us," Harm suggested. Bud shook his head. "Thank you, sir, but Harriet needs me at home. A.J.'s been real fussy; he kept her up almost all night last night. If I were on an out-of-town assignment, she'd cope, of course. She'd have to. But since I'm in town, I'll go on home and spell her." Lt. Colonel Sarah MacKenzie had walked in shortly after Bud began talking. "I think you're making the right decision, Bud," she said. "I'm sure Harriet would be a good Navy wife and understand completely if you had orders to be away tonight. But I doubt she'd appreciate being left at home with a sick baby while you went out and had fun." "Thank you, Ma'am," Bud said before leaving. "So, what are we going to do with the two extra tickets?" Mac asked. "Well, we could always ask the Admiral and the Gunny to join us," Harm suggested. "I suppose," Mac agree reluctantly. "It's better than having the tickets, go to waste. It's just that. . ." "What, Mac?" Harm asked quietly, closing the office door. "I wanted it to be more. . .normal. The two of us going out with another couple. Especially Bud and Harriet, since they're the only two that know we're, um, involved. Going out with two other men from the office, especially if one of them's the Admiral, we're going to have to be on our guard every moment." "Were you planning on jumping my bod during halftime, Marine?" "Of course not, Harm! But I thought it might be nice if we could hold hands or you could put your arm around me if we happened to feel like it. Bud and Harriet understand out situation. We couldn't expect anybody else to. Harm was quiet for a moment, then he said, "Maybe we could. Hold on a minute, Mac." He quickly sifted through a stack of business cards in his top drawer, selected one and punched out a local number. *** In the basement office of the F.B.I. building, Special Agent Fox Mulder answered the phone. It hadn't been a particularly good day for him. His partner - and wife - Special Agent Dana Scully had been tapped to fill in for an instructor at Quantico who had come down with the flu and he'd been alone in their office filling out paperwork. "Mulder," he said tersely, hoping to hear Scully's familiar "Mulder, it's me," greeting. Followed, if he were lucky, by something along the lines of, "I'm heading home. Why don't you ditch the paperwork and come join me? We can have dessert before dinner." Instead, a vaguely familiar masculine voice said, "Agent Mulder? This is Commander Harmon Rabb of the JAG Corps. We worked a case together a few months back." "Oh, hey, Harm! What's up?" "Well, Mac and I have four tickets to the Wizards-Knicks game tonight. Another couple from the office was going to attend the game with us, but their child is sick. Would you and your wife be interested in going with us?" Mulder almost did a double-take at the phrase "your wife". He'd nearly forgotten that Harm and Mac were among the few people outside their families who knew he and Scully were married. In order to keep working together as F.B.I. partners, they had to keep their personal relationship discreet. "It sounds great to me," Mulder answered. "Scully isn't in the office right at the moment, but I don't think there will be any conflict. When and where should we meet you? Okay. Give me a number where I can call you just in case we can't make it. If you don't hear from me, we'll see you then." Just as he hung up, Scully walked into the office. She smiled at him, "Wow, from that grin on your face, I'd say we're going on another X-File! What is it this time Mulder, aliens, sea monsters or immortal mutants?" He chuckled. "None of the above, Scully. Actually, it's better than an X-File. We're going to the Knicks game tonight!" "Really?" she said, arching up an eyebrow. "I thought you said the tickets were sold out. How much did you have to pay the scalper?" "No scalper, Scully. Do you remember the two JAG officers were worked a case with a couple of months ago." "Sure. Harm Rabb and Sarah MacKenzie. Are we going to the game with them?" "Yes. Harm just called an invited us." "Why just call us up out of the blue like this?" "Another couple was going to go with them but this other couple - somebody who works with them - has a child who is sick. So they invited us, instead." "Why us?" Mulder shrugged. "Like us, they travel extensively for work-related reasons. Maybe we're the only other couple they know in the Washington area." "Is the operative word here "couple", Mulder?" Scully asked. Mulder was quiet for a moment, considering, then he said, "Maybe so, Scully. Remember the vibes we both got from them when we worked together?" Scully nodded. "They reminded us of us. The way we used to be with each other, before we got married." "I got the feeling," Mulder said slowly, "and I could be way off base on this, that they've finally, er, expressed their feelings." "You mean you think they're secretly married, too?" Scully asked with a smile. Mulder grinned back. "Our marriage isn't a "secret" Scully. Skinner knows about it. Our families know about it. The Gunmen know about it. We just haven't announced it to the whole freakin' bureau! In any case, I didn't say I thought they were married. I just think they're. . .involved." **** Mac squeezed Harm's arm as they waited outside the arena. "I'm glad you thought of asking Mulder and Dana to join us. You're right; if *anybody* can understand our situation, it's the two of them. Oh, there they are," Mac said as she caught sight of Mulder and Scully. The tall, dark-haired man and petite redheaded woman soon joined the two officers. As the four of them walked in and found their seats, Mulder and Scully exchanged knowing glances. Possibly it was just because they were off-duty, but Mac and Harm were certainly being. . .friendlier to each other than they had the last time the agents and officers had met. As they sat down, Mulder slipped his arm around Scully's shoulders. She looked shot him a surprised glance, then her face softened into a smile as she relaxed against him. They'd never really worked out any hard-and-fast rules for their behavior in public while not at work. He slipped his glasses out of his pocket and put them on to scan the program. "Fox," she said. "Don't, Dana." "Don't what?" "Don't call me Fox when we're in public." "Are you still hung up about that?" "It's not so much that," he murmured into her ear, "it's that hearing you call me by my first name gives me all these. . .husbandly feelings." She grinned at him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Mac nudged Harm and grinned. "Look at those two," she murmured. "They're worse than Bud and Harriet." "You were the one who wanted us to go out with another couple, Sarah," he reminded her. "Don't, Harm." "Don't what?" "Don't call me Sarah when we're in public." "Why?" "Because hearing you call me by my first name gives me all these. . .romantic feelings." He grinned at her and kissed her lightly on the cheek. During halftime, Mac got up to make a trip to the restroom and Scully joined her. "You know," Mulder said conversationally to Harm, "someday I'm going to put my psychology degree to good use and figure out exactly why it is that women *ALWAYS* have to go to the restroom in pairs. Especially those two. I mean, Mac's a Marine and Scully's an F.B.I. agent. But they seem to think that it wouldn't be safe for just one of them to go to the restroom alone." Harm grinned and shook his head. "You write a book explaining to men even one-tenth of why women behave the way they do and you can retire from the F.B.I. and live off your profits as an author." "So when did you start getting lucky with Mac?" "Is it that obvious?" Harm inquired. Mulder shrugged. "I'm an F.B.I. profiler. We're trained to pick up on the subtle nuances of interpersonal behavior. Not only that, I'm in a similar situation myself." Harm nodded. "Couple of months ago." In the restroom, Mac and Scully stood over the sinks. "So I take it you and Harm are more than just friends these days?" Scully asked. "Is it that obvious?" Mac asked, blushing slightly. "Probably not to anyone but me," Scully assured her. "But you were looking at him the same way I look at Mulder when I think no one's watching." Mac smiled softly. "Do you ever find yourself thinking 'Wow, I can't believe he's mine?'" Scully smiled and nodded. "All the time. I've never thought of myself as a possessive person, so it throws me for a loop sometimes." Harm looked at Mulder again. What he was about to ask wasn't the sort of thing men normally talked about, but it had been on his mind ever since he began his romantic relationship with Mac. "Mulder, can I ask you a personal question?" Mulder was slightly surprised, but shrugged and said, "Sure." "Do you like being married?" Mulder gave a grin. "Hell, I *LOVE* it! But my nickname around the bureau is "Spooky", so I don't know that you want to be drawing any conclusions based on my feelings." "Why do you like being married?" Mulder was quiet for a moment and then he said, "Look, I'll tell you, but don't tell Scully, okay? She might shoot me." Harm nodded. Mulder gave a slightly embarrassed grin. "I get to know she's safe now. Every night. Scully's always hated the fact that I try to protect her and, honestly, it's never been a lack of respect for her professionally or a lack of trust in her judgment. It's just that. . .I worried. Now I don't. She's safe in my arms." Harm grinned. "So you'd, um, recommend it? Getting married to somebody you work with." "Well, only if you're in love with her," Mulder said. Harm was saved from answering by the return of both women. The Knicks' victory came on a jump shot at the buzzer and Mulder was so thrilled that he spontaneously kissed Scully. She was surprised. He'd never been so blatantly affectionate in public before. Harm put his arm around Mac as they walked up the stairs, then slowly let his hand slide lower. "Harm," Mac whispered in a husky voice, "stop that." "Stop what?" he inquired, with a look of angelic innocence on his face. "You've got your hand on my butt," Mac informed him crisply. "It's never seemed to bother you before." "You've never done it in public before!" Harm grinned, gave her once quick squeeze, and returned his hand to a more prosaic location at the small of her back. As they reached the foyer, Scully turned to Mac and said, "Would the two of you like to come back to our place for a drink or a cup of coffee?" Mac glanced quickly up at Harm. She could tell he was feeling. . .frisky. . .but the idea of spending another hour or so with a couple who they had so much in common with was appealing. At his barely perceptible nod, she said, "That would be lovely." *** Soon the four of them were at the agents' apartment. It was the same one Scully had lived in prior to their marriage. While Mulder still maintained the lease on his old place, mainly because it simply seemed easier to fulfil it then try to break it, he had lived here with her ever since their marriage. "Would you prefer coffee or something alcoholic?" Scully asked. "I don't drink, so coffee for me, please," Mac said. "I'll have a beer if you've got one, otherwise coffee is fine for me, too," Harm replied. Mulder brought a couple of beers over for himself and Harm, while the Scully prepared coffee for herself and Mac. Harm leaned back against the couch, slipping his arm around Mac's shoulders and letting his fingers play lightly against the skin of her upper arm. While he was, in a way, enjoying this time with the other couple, he was also beginning to get restless. Oh, hell, he thought to himself with an inward grin of amusement, be honest. The word for what you're beginning to get is "horny". Scully returned to the living room with the cups of coffee, creamer and sugar bowl on a small tray. She handed Mac a cup, then glanced around for a place to sit. Her options were limited. She could have sat on the couch on the other side of Harm, but that would put her at practically the opposite end of the room from Mulder. Besides, as she remembered from experiences with her brother and sister-in-law, sitting on a couch beside two other people who were obviously a "couple" was an uncomfortable experience. She could have sat on the floor or dragged a chair in from the kitchen. But Scully opted to sit in her usual position. The armchair was occupied by Mulder, but that didn't mean she couldn't fit in it, too. Mulder was surprised when Scully sank gracefully onto his lap. It wasn't like this was an unusual experience. Normally, when they were home alone watching TV, she almost always sat in his lap. But she'd never done it in front of other people before. Mac smiled softly as she watch Scully settle into Mulder's arms. She'd seen Harriet sit like that with Bud, too. She wondered if being married gave women the ability to commadeer their husband's laps without feeling the least bit awkward or self-conscious about it. Mulder tried to concentrate on what Harm was saying, but it was a battle he was on the verge of losing. If Scully didn't quit wiggling on his lap, he was going to embarrass himself in front of their guests. He pressed gently on her hip and she seemed to understand his silent message, for she immediately went still. After a few more minutes, Harm stood up and pulled Mac to her feet. "Thanks for the beer, but we'd better be going now." Like before I start "saluting" Mac in a way that's noticeable to the agents, he thought. "Anytime," Scully said as she and Mulder stood up and walked their guests to the door. "Thank you for inviting us to the game." *** As soon as the door had closed, Mulder manuvered Scully so that she was standing with her back pressed against it and bent his mouth to hers for a long, sweet kiss. "Ready for bed?" he murmured when they came up for air. "In a minute," she replied. "Something wrong?" he asked. She smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. I just want to sit in your lap to cuddle and talk for a few minutes. Then I'll be ready for bed." They walked the few steps back to the easy chair and resumed their previous position. "What did you want to talk about?" "Just that this evening was so nice. We've never really been out with another couple before." "I agree. I get along well with Harm - better than with some other Navy guys I could mention - but I get the feeling you and Mac are already well on the way to becoming best friends. Which is, I guess, something you need. I mean, I've got the Gunmen. They may be paranoid geeks, but they're my friends. They're your friends, too, of course, but maybe you need a woman friend." Scully nodded slowly. "It's just that Mac and I understand each other. We're both women trying to make it in what have traditionally been considered male occupations. If anything, she's probably got a tougher row to hoe than I do; the Marine Corps may be one of the few organizations in the world that is even more male-dominated than the F.B.I. Besides," she added with a smile, "Mac has one *VERY* important qualification for being my friend." "What would that be?" Mulder asked. "She's got a gorgeous guy of her own, so I don't have to worry about her making a play for you!" Mulder grinned and stood up, swinging Scully into his arms. "Mulder," she said, attempting to sound serious as he traversed the short hallway to their bedroom, "carrying me to bed is old-fashioned and chauvanistic. It's practically a cave man tactic!" "And?" he asked with a smile, coming to a stop beside the bed. "And I love it," she admitted. "Everytime you pick me up, I feel just like I'm in the closing scene of "An Officer and a Gentleman". Except that you're much sexier than Richard Gere." Mulder chuckled as he laid her down on the bed and tugged off first his own sweatshirt, then hers. "I thought Richard Gere was voted the sexiest man alive by the staff at People magazine." "That's just because they didn't send a reporter to the basement of the Hoover Building," Scully assured him. "Glad you feel that way," Mulder said, making quick work of her bra. He lowered his mouth to hers for another kiss, then began working his way down her neck to her breasts. He gently suckled first one, then the other. "God, Mulder!" Scully moaned. He was sooo good at this. She ran her hands up and down his back and shoulders, delighting in the feel of his strong muscles and smooth skin. She was startled when he abruptly pulled away. "Where are you going?" "Gotta take my jeans off," he muttered as his hands made quick of his remaining clothing. "Things are getting uncomfortable down there!" She smiled. "Well, as long as you're in the mood to remove clothing, you might as well finish undressing me, too." When they were both naked and snuggled under the covers, Mulder resumed his position at her breasts with his mouth. He also slid a hand down to stroke her inner thighs lightly. After a few moments, he slid a finger into her and gave a small moan of pleasure at her heat and wetness. She answered with a louder moan of her own. "Please, Mulder. Now!" He nodded. After almost a year of marriage, he was becoming an expert at reading her lovemaking moods. They often spent hours teasing and pleasing each other, indulging in all the erotic variations they could think of. But there were other times, like tonight, when she preferred to stick to the basics. A couple of kisses, a few minutes of foreplay, then him on top. Mulder entered her with one smooth thrust. "Oh! Yes, Fox!" she came within moments and he followed soon after. "I love you, Dana," he murmured. The last words he heard before falling asleep were her answering murmur of "Love you, too." *** "Your place or mine?" Mac asked Harm with a sexy smile as they rode down the elevator together. "Yours," Harm answered decisively. "It's closer." "Feeling a little eager, Flyboy?" "I'm horny as hell, Marine!" Mac grinned as they emerged out on the sidewalk. "Let's walk. We'll probably get there quicker that way than by taking the time to walk to the car, get turned around and find a parking space near my building." Harm nodded and took her hand. It was nice to do things like this, Mac thought. An evening out with another couple, then walking home hand-in-hand. Their lives were often so hectic that it was rare for them to have a chance to do these simple things. As soon as they reached her place and locked the door, Harm swung her up in his arms. "Any requests, Sarah?" "I've got you, Harm. What else could I want?" "Just thought you might have some opinions as to location or position," he said with a grin. Sarah smiled and ran her hand lovingly along his face. "Let's just stick to the basics tonight, Sailor. The bedroom, no oral sex and you on top." "When did you become such a tradtionalist, Mac?" he asked as he walked through the apartment and deposited her on the bed. "You know me, Harm. There are times when I really enjoy the exotic. But there are also times when I prefer the tried and true." Harm grinned and lowered her to the bed. He kissed her once gently, then a second time with increased passion letting his tongue dart in and out of her mouth. She moaned softly. "Clothes off, Harm!" she demanded. "Yes Ma'am!" he replied. Harm quickly and efficiently stripped, then began removing Mac's clothing. Mac sighed. Commander Harmon Rabb Jr., USN, was the epitome of self-control and self-assurance when he was on duty and in public. And an absolute beast between the sheets when they were alone together. Mac skimmed her hand along his broad shoulders and bulging biceps, then let her fingertips drift down his chest and belly. "God, Harm, you're so big!" she said as she stroked him. "It's not like you haven't seen it before, Sarah!" "I know, but it's always amazing." "Ready to be amazed some more?" he inquired with his cocky flyboy smile. "Please, Harm!" Harm slid in with one smooth stroke. Mac felt herself begin to twitch with excitement. She'd had a fair number of previous romances, including a brief marriage when she was in her early 20s, but no man had ever made her climax as quickly, as frequently or as intensely as Harm did. Within moments, she tightened around him and screamed out his name. Mac let her head fall back on the pillow with a sigh of dreamy contentment. She waited for Harm to resume thrusting, but instead he remained still and said, "Mac, I've been thinking." "Yeah, it's pretty obvious what you've been thinking *ABOUT*, Sailor!" "Not that. Well, indirectly, but not just that. The whole time we were out with Mulder and Scully I was thinking. . .if they can do it, we can, too." "I'm sure the agents do it just fine, Harm! But at the moment, I'm more interested in us doing it!" Harm laughed. "I don't mean sex, Mac. Or rather, not only sex. They work together. They're employed by the federal government. And they're married. The Admiral's been pleased with us lately, we've done well on a couple of high profile cases. So I think it's time to go public with our romance. We'll tell the Admiral first thing tomorrow morning. Then, this weekend, we can go pick out a ring and set a date." "You're sure, Harm?" "I'm sure, Sarah. Are you? This is your last chance to back out without causing both of us major public embarrasment." "I'm sure, Harm." Harm grinned and began thrusting into her again, rapidly. A few minutes later, he came with a murmur of her name. "I love you, Sarah." The last words he heard before drifting off to sleep were, "Love you, too." Author's e-mail addy: tapw63@hotmail.com