Title: There's Something…Different About This Case…

Author: Insomnia, a very bored shipper!

Disclamer: I don't own any characters. If I did I would be really rich.

Genre: MSR…the only kind there should be

This story does not include: (and I promise!)

~Mulder having nightmares

~Scully taking bubble baths

~Children of any kind

~Scully's mother

This is my first fan fic. Isn't insomnia great! I hope at least one person reviews it, I would like to know if I should continue with the story….or if I am curing another person's insomnia…

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As Agent Dana Scully walked into the office she shared with her partner, he immediately bombarded her with a "Good morning Scully, we have an X-file!" She sighed as she put down her coffee…not even a chance to sit down and there was already a case to solve...well at least try to solve, as she would attempt to explain what can't be explained rationally and Mulder would make outrageous claims which often would turn out to be the case. "It seems that last night two men in rural Nevada were admitted to the hospital with severe cases of hypothermia, and they claim to have been abducted".

"Mulder! We can't just go off on trips every time some backwoods hick claims to have seen a light in the sky! i won't go with you!" Scully exclaimed, irritated at her partner's stubborn insistance on the existance of extra-terrestrials. She didn't mind if he believed…she just wished that he wouldn't keep dragging her into these things. She was wishing for a more professional case than this.

"Hear me out Scully! How could two men, who were at the time on a camping trip outside of Las Vegas, on a night that was around 90 degrees, come down with a case of hypothermia?"

Scully sighed. Here we go again, it's time to reason with him, she thought. "Well, perhaps there was a lake around? I …I don't know Mulder, how?" she finished lamely. She knew then she was going to Nevada, without a doubt.

Mulder gave her a triumphant look and a smile. "Or maybe they just got stuck in their ice cooler? No, I've heard of similar cases from abductees, who claim that experiments were being done on them…and some of these people have had documented cases of hypothermia after the abduction took place. And what really makes this interesting is that one of these men is Harry Bellows, a noted survival expert who lives in Las Vegas. And believe it or not, Skinner actually has friends, and this man is one of them. So we have the go-ahead to take the next plane to Las Vegas. This is one gamble we're taking that's actually being approved of!"

"Ok Mulder, I'll go now to pack…But if I end up losing a lot of money, I'm blaming you…I never told you I was a compulsive gambler, did I?" Scully said sarcastically.

Mulder smiled inwardly at this rare moment of humor his partner displayed. She was always so stoic, so determined and professional. He took great amusement from teasing her, joking with her, trying to make this more human side of her come out…but she almost always played the part of the put together, perfectly composed FBI agent whose mind was on the scientific side of matters, and who would probably die if she ever actually saw one of the aliens he believed so strongly to exist. As she left the room, he sat down and stared at the door she had closed behind her. He spent some time looking through the case file, but his mind wasn't on it. Now was the time he could cautiously allow himself to think about her…every time he did so he had the same feeling as he did when he was 9 years old and had discovered an old Playboy magazine in the basement…peeking through the pages for only a moment, not daring to get lost in the pictures, and running back upstairs feeling guilty and confused..

She made him feel like that, confused. Of course she was beautiful, he begrudgingly allowed himself to think. Everyone with eyes could see that. Nothing wrong or strange with thinking that...simply an observation. It meant nothing…did it? No, he was her partner, and they had been working together for 5 years now. He didn't want to ruin the relationship he had with her. She was the most important person in the world to him, the only one to stand by him, to believe in him, to-

Mulder jumped up, his heart racing, guilt in his eyes when the door suddenly flew open. "Mulder, I'm ready. Let's go." Scully quickly told him, not even bothering to enter the room. He grabbed his jacket and already packed suitcase, muttering some lame joke about the weather in Nevada, and how hot it would be compared to the relatively cool spring they were having in Washington D.C.

He took a secret delight in sitting next to her. You would think that it would be an old story now, sitting that close to her, countless times they've taken car trips and airplane rides to far-off states in pursuit of an investigation. But the satisfaction he felt never went away. He didn't even really notice it now, until the conversation stopped and he was staring out the plane's window. But he didn't feel close enough. He wished he could put his arm around her, touch her arm, something. Anything. But wait…he didn't dare continue this train of thought. It would take him somewhere he didn't think he could go. He just couldn't, it wouldn't be right. She probably only saw him as a pure platonic partner. As Agent Fox Mulder. Never Fox Mulder, man who dreams about her at night. Never Fox Mulder, man who would die for her but never admit it to himself.

She was happy to be there on the plane with him. Every trip with him held the same pleasure of his mere proximity to her. She didn't know quite why but it made her feel…safe and content to have him so near. Like he would take care of her, like nothing would go wrong with him by her side. She laughed at herself inwardly. As a matter of fact many, many times have things gone wrong with him by her side. And what was she doing thinking these thoughts anyway? Not healthy at all…he was her partner and as far as she could tell, the only thing that got him hot was the thought of seeing an actual extra-terrestrial. And she felt mad at herself for not maintaining the independent attitude she always had. She could take care of herself, she didn't need anybody.

But if she did need somebody, it would be him. And only him.

" You must be joking" Scully exclaimed at the skinny hotel clerk who was meekly looking up at her from his glasses. "Only one room available in the whole entire hotel? How is that possible? This is Las Vegas!"

"Ma'am, Sir, please let me express my apologies for the inconvenience…but there is a large convention in town and all rooms have been booked. The same applies for all of the hotels in this area. This happens to be our busiest time of the entire year…I really am sorry. At least the room is a double." He typed the keyboard in front of him, as if the two people in front of him had already agreed to take the room. He had been here long enough to know that where there was a room in Las Vegas this time of year, there would be a boarder, or two. Sometimes more who snuck in. But this particular room…

"We'll take it" broke in Fox Mulder. He was impatient to make a trip to the hospital to interview Harry Bellows and his companion. He didn't care about his accommodations at this moment.

Scully made an exasperated noise with her breath and looked at Mulder, who wasn't paying any attention to her. He didn't seem to mind having to share a room. In truth she didn't either…in fact she was a bit excited at the prospect. They had shared rooms before...never sleeping on the same bed, but it was always exciting somehow. God she hoped she brought a cute pair of pajamas, and not some old tee shirt and shorts like she usually wore to bed. But then she thought, What am I thinking? He's my co-worker! It doesn't matter if my pajamas are cute! Annoyed at herself for thinking that, she grabbed her suitcase just as Mulder was reaching for it and rushed for the elevator.

Mulder and Scully sat outside in the visitor's lounge after having interviewed Harry Bellows' partner, Stan Holmes. He was also suffering from a case of hypothermia, but seemed to be recovering well. He had told a story that the two FBI agents had heard many times…he was awakened during the night by an intense light…went outside to look and …violà, woke up the next morning on the ground, shivering, not remembering a damn thing. Mulder hoped that his companion would tell them a bit more…their story was just so…usual. Normally he was more enthusiastic about abduction cases, but with this one, the only thing that held his interest was the hypothermia, and the fact that Skinner knew this Harry fellow. He thought about how awful the name Harry was, and spent the next 15 seconds imagining what it would be like growing up with that name.

"You may see the patient now" a sterile looking nurse informed the two bored looking people sitting on the uncomfortable seats. Mulder jumped up, his reverie broken, and looked at Scully. She didn't appear very interested either. But she never did. Smiling, he told the nurse thank you as she led them to Mr. Bellows' room. He was tan, tall, and muscular in a wiry sort of way. But he appeared pale beneath his desert tan, under a blanket, hooked up to IVs. He smiled weakly as the two agents walked in. He gave Scully an even bigger smile as they went through the introductions. "So you two know Skinner, eh? Nice guy, we went camping once…but that's not what you're here for. So I'll just get right to the point. No use beating around the bush, eh? Anyhow, me and my pal Stan are both very much into camping in the wilderness…nothing like a man pitted against nature. So we're asleep in our separate tents, about 50 miles outside of Las Vegas, and the night was very quiet. I was asleep, as I said, until I was awoken by Stan crying out my name. I open my eyes and I thought I went blind for a second, I couldn't see anything. Then I realized it was very intense light all around me. I unzipped my tent, somehow thinking that a snake had entered Stan's tent and he was shining a light on me, but the next thing I knew, I was lying face down on asphalt, and I felt very numb. Good thing a passing motorist saw us two, because apparently we both woke up with hypothermia. I feel ridiculous, me, a survival expert, letting this happen. But Stan insists it must have been a UFO that came and took us, so I called my friend Skinner up there at the FBI see if he could stick a couple of his men on the case, eh? Didn't know he's send such a pretty lady too…" Harry winked at Scully, whose face remained as expressionless as it did since he first started to talk. Mulder glanced over at her, feeling glad that she had made no response to the man. He told Harry that they'd get right on it and would check on him the next day.

Back at the hotel, in their room, Mulder and Scully sat at the table there going over the details of the case. "Let's just go home, Mulder, this is pointless. We have no witnesses, no evidence, nothing. Let's just go." Scully complained as she reached over to turn the air conditioning up.

Mulder frowned at her and replied, "Listen Scully, these men apparently don't know that they were picked up a mere 15 miles outside of the city limits. How did they get 35 miles away from the campsite? They had been driven to a certain location and then hiked the rest of the way. They were not near a roadside at that location. And they without a doubt have hypothermia. And what about the light? This isn't something we can just attribute to their imaginations."

Scully sighed and reluctantly gave in. "I agree Mulder. It is rather strange. We'll go tomorrow and check out their camp site...everything should still be there. We have the location and tomorrow we'll just—" she broke off with a yawn. "It's 3 in the morning Mulder. If we're not gonna gamble we might as well go to bed". Instantly she regretted saying that. She had forgotten that they were sharing a room. She blushed slightly, hoping he didn't think she was insinuating anything.

He looked at her for what seemed to be a few seconds too long. "All right, it is late. You use the bathroom first, I want to look at a few more things in this file first." Scully stood up and looked down at him. He wasn't looking at her. He appeared to already be lost in his reading. Without a word she went to her suitcase and unzipped it. Glancing over just to check that he wasn't looking, she grabbed her things. Damn she had brought a sexy nightgown. She must have grabbed it in her haste to pack…she was wishing that she had brought the ugliest , most un-sexy thing to wear now. For some reason she didn't comfortable wearing that in front of Mulder. She was afraid of…something. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Suddenly she felt shy. Rushing into the bathroom she took her time entering the shower. Her thoughts drifted to how cute Mulder was…yes he was really, really cute…and he had a nice ass…she quietly giggled to herself as she thought that. What a ridiculous thought.

She put on the nightgown and flipped her red hair into a towel. As she opened the door she was startled to see Mulder standing there, various toiletries in his hand. He didn't seem to notice the gown she was wearing. He glanced at her, smiled, and wished her a good night. She nervously smiled back and wished him the same, slowly pulling back her covers as he shut the bathroom door and started the shower. See Dana, what you wear in front of him is no big deal. And why would it be. He doesn't have any feelings for you…she felt somewhat sad and depressed at the thought, as if she was in love with him somewhere deep inside of her. So what if I am, she thought. And what if I'm not. She couldn't think about him anymore, it was driving her crazy. And so was this heat! She pulled back the heavy covers and kept the thin one on top of her, pulling it up to her chin. She was still feeling shy about Mulder coming back to the bedroom and seeing her in her sexy black gown.

Mulder closed the bathroom door and blindly turned on the shower. Was she really wearing that gown to sleep in? Did he really see her in that? He felt like he was moving in slow motion. Now was not a good time to get excited about it…he had to go back in there and sleep with her in the same room. The bathroom smelled like fragrant soap. She must have brought her own soap to the hotel. Women! Mulder opened the little bar of soap the hotel has wrapped and waiting, and entered the still wet and warm shower. She was just in here a minute ago, he thought. Imagine if…no he had to stop imagining things like that. Not good. But oh he wanted her so bad! Not just in a physical way, but he had grown to appreciate everything about her…everything…he rushed to finish his shower. He just wanted to lie in bed and know that she was next to him. Well in a sense anyway… they did have separate beds.

He saw the lights in the bedroom were still on, and he glanced at Scully. She was turned to the wall, lying in her bed with a sheet all the way up to her chin, and appeared to be asleep. He turned away, feeling guilty for looking at her. He felt like he was invading her privacy that way. He turned off the lights and walked blindly to his own bed, wearing a tee shirt and boxers. He lay down on top of the covers and stared at her in the darkness. He couldn't see a thing, but he could still imagine her. He wondered what would happen if he went and lay down in her bed, put his arms around her, kissed her slowly…she would probably slap him. But that would be a slap he would enjoy getting…it would be the next day he would regret, having to see her mad at him for acting so emotionally. He ran over all the times he got to hold her in his head…but almost all of those times she had been miserable about something, and his embrace had held compassion, comfort. He longed to give her the embrace he dreamt about so often…just to hold her and know that she didn't mind…above all , he didn't want her to mind…

Scully was awake, listening to him breathe. What was he thinking about? Was he already asleep? That was unlikely, as she knew he had insomnia, and his breathing patterns hadn't slowed yet…she turned over and stared at him in the darkness, wondering about him. She felt like she was so close to him but yet so far, forgive the cliché. There must be a mile separating the two beds they lay on. She felt alone, empty. She wished he would just come over and lie down with her. And she thought about how there was a man in the room with her, in the dark…a man that she cared deeply for and was admittedly attracted to. She got asked on dates from time to time but she never accepted…she always thought about Mulder and and what he would say about each guy. And in her mind he never approved…

She was half asleep when her bed moved.

It actually had moved a bit to the left…or had it? Her eyes opened wide as she thought about that. She must have been dreaming, how could her bed move? But she knew what she felt. And she knew it when she felt it again, a slight shift to the left. She was feeling very frightened now, but as always, swallowed it and put on a brave persona. Scully sat up in her bed, feeling very vulnerable, and softly called Mulder's name. She still couldn't see a thing, it was so dark in the room. The curtains were a very think, dark material, so the lights of the city couldn't creep in. "Mulder!" she cried again, not feeling the bed move any more. He grunted and she knew he had been asleep. Feeling a lump of fear in her throat, she jumped out of her bed and in an instant was on his. "Mulder! My bed moved! What is it!" she felt around for him on the large bed and found him. She touched some part of him, but couldn't tell what. He was warm and now awake. "Ooh Scully is this a dream?" he teased as he felt out in the dark for her, reaching her waist. "Mulder, don't laugh, but I swear I felt my bed move twice. Would you mind turning on the lights?"

He was wide awake now. Scully was sitting on his bed, pulling the covers over herself. He sighed at being asked to leave it. He got up and walked blindly over to where the light switch was. There was something in his way. "What the-" indeed it was Scully's bed, now slightly angled so it was a bit in the pathway to the light switch. It hadn't been there before. Getting serious he rushed to the switch and flipped it on. She lay in his bed, knees pulled up, holding a sheet around her and looking a bit scared. He noticed the bed had indeed moved. Concerned, he got on his knees and peeked under. But it was one of those beds that had a low base to it, so low that there wasn't any space underneath the bed. He lifted up the mattress and checked. Nothing. He examined the floor and there was still nothing…just marks left in the carpet of where the bed had been before. He quickly scanned the room for intruders, and finding nothing, examined the bathroom. Nothing. He checked the deadbolt of their door and it was indeed secure. Turning back to Scully he gave her a confused glance. He was at a loss of how to explain it. He struggled to move the bed back to it's original position and then went to turn off the light.

"Mulder! Why did you turn off the light?!" Scully cried as she felt him jump into his bed, bumping into her a bit.

"There's nobody in here Scully. I don't know why or how your bed moved. Maybe we have a ghost in your bed." He taunted mischievously. He was surprised when she didn't argue with him. But he knew she had had some encounters with ghosts that she grudgingly had told him about before. He thought she had a real fear of them. Turning towards her he said more compassionately, "It's Ok, Scully. I'm right here, and we both have our guns. Nothing is going to happen to you." He received what felt like a jolt in his heart when she said hesitantly, "I think I'd like to sleep in this bed tonight Mulder, if you don't mind". But he then realized she meant switching beds with him. Well he wasn't about to sleep on a haunted bed, and he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to sleep in the same bed as her either. "Oooh no Miss Scully, I'm not going to sleep on some ghost bed. I guess we now know why this room was available, huh?" he grinned in the dark and put his arm around her. He hoped he wasn't touching her somewhere he shouldn't. He didn't want to get her mad. She surprised him by putting her knees down and embracing him back.

"Things like that scare me, Mulder." She whispered, still in his embrace. She felt tears come to her eyes…it had terrified her. Her, an FBI agent! This was ridiculous. She scolded herself for acting so stupid in front of him. But…he was holding her, and he didn't seem to mind. But, angry at herself for acting so weak in front of her partner, she pushed away from him and turned her back. Not wanting to have him think she was angry at him for embracing her, she mumbled, "It's so hot in here". Mulder grunted in response, and hidden in the darkness, frowned. He cursed himself for putting his arm around her. She was a professional woman who didn't seem to need any consolation at the moment. He had hoped when she first jumped in his bed that she was making up the story that her bed moved, and that this would finally be the night that his feelings (feelings?) for her would be expressed. It was so difficult to lie still there with her on the same bed. Things never seemed to happen like they did in those movies that weren't his. Except on his side of the boat….he highly doubted that she was also turned on by the fact that they were in the same bed. But it was still slightly enjoyable for him. He silently thanked the ghost in the bed, if there actually was one.

Morning came, and Mulder awoke to his partner touching his shoulder and whispering something to him. Faint light was coming in through the dark curtains. "mmmm, Sculllly…" he murmered.

"Mulder! Did you get up last night and move my bed?"

He glanced over at her bed and saw that it had moved again. This was really strange.

"No Scully, I didn't. but what do you think about trying to find a different hotel room for tonight?"

She smiled at him, relieved at his suggestion. But she was still spooked about the bed. Unusual occurances seemed to follow them around.

Sitting at an Elvis-themed restaurant a block from the hotel (Mulder had insisted on eating there) Scully suddenly broke their silence.

"I just thought of something…isn't it a bit strange that both Harry and Stan were 'deposited' along a road? In that area of desert, roads are pretty scarce. And they had originally been camped far off any roadway...now if they were taken by extra-terrestrials, what are the chances that they would be dropped off on the pavement and not in the desert somewhere? I think that they were returned from wherever they were taken by actual men, Mulder. It just makes more sense."

Mulder listened thoughtfully. He usually felt a bit disappointed when she came up with an explanation or theory that he couldn't debunk, but this time it was different. Nothing had really drawn him to this case. There had been no marks on the men , other than their hypothermia. And that was unusual for actual abductees and people who claimed to be abducted. He felt that both men were telling the truth…But what was the real truth?

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should I continue? I hope you say yes, because I want to get to the part where they finally kiss…but all in good time. Reviews would be cool…look in the lower left hand corner..look you don't even have to register to review it! :D