Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters though I sometimes wish I did:)

Scully was walking in the hallway leading to their office while she was reprimanding herself. She was late. Very late at that. She had had one hell of a morning and even worse: one hell of a week.

They had been on 3 different cases this week, all in three different states. They had spent more time flying then standing on the ground and the truth was she was beat. The last case had hit home : they had been looking for man who they suspected had kidnapped and killed three children. Not a case they would usually be handed, but they had needed the man power and so they had tried to help the local pd and the local field office. While in pursuit of this man Scully had been hurt. She had tried to overpower the man but failed in doing so and he had pushed her hard against the wall. Mulder had eventually caught up with him and he was now safely away in prison, where he could do no harm to anyone. When Mulder had come to find her, he had asked her if she was alright, and if she needed to see a doctor. She pushed him away with a quick "I'm fine" and they took the next flight home. Coming home she found that she probably should have had her back check out, finding that it was bruised all over and that it really hurt. She figured it would fade and eventually go away. So she took some painkillers and went to bed to get all the sleep she could get, seeing that monday they had to be at work again.

It was the nightmares about the case along with her back ache that had been the cause of her lateness. She hadn't slept all night and when she had finally fell asleep her alarm woke her. Her shower hadn't worked, which had forced her to go to work without showering and then when she wanted to start her car, he hadn't worked either.
Finally she took a cab and that is why she was walking down the hallway, late. Very late.

She opened the door to their office and immediately spotted Mulder who was hunching over some pictures, probably UFO sightings. And she suddenly wished that this day was gone be over very soon.

Mulder looked up at Scully and immediately saw that something was wrong, she looked tired and frustrated. "Scully, are you all right?" he asked hesitant. "Mmh yes I am Mulder, I just had a morning from hell" she replied while dropping her bags. " Well you don't look so good, you look tired, you sure you're not sick Scully?" he replied. " I'm not sick, just tired after the week we had!" she said a little frustrated at the situation.

Suddenly he felt like she needed a break, this had been one hell of a week , even he had difficulty getting over it. To top it off, there was nothing much to do around here, except for the paperwork.
"Hey, why don't you take the day off? I'll finish the paperwork. Whatcha think?" he asked her. He saw her hesitating, she wasn't someone who just took a day without really needing it. But he thought she really did need it because the next moment he could hear her say " I think I will do that Mulder, you sure that's not a problem?". He smiled up at her " of course it is not a problem Scully, shall I bring dinner over tonight? Let's say Chinese, 6pm?". She smiled back at him "that's a great idea Mulder, see ya then". "See ya Scully" he replied but she was already out the door.

When she was gone he had time enough to just think. To let his mind wander where he refused to let it wander most of the time. He let it wander to Scully. He remembered her walking in here, almost 4 years ago now. He had been weary about her, he knew she was here to debunk the x-files but that didn't really took long. Soon he had started trusting her, and after a while she became the only one he trusted. They became partners, then they became friends, and then he fell in love. He never really knew when or how it had happened, like one day he had woken up and told himself " you are in love with Dana Scully". He knew of course that wasn't how it worked, he had probably been falling for her for quite some time now but he had buried it deep within his subconscious mind. But now that he knew it was hard keeping it there, now it was hard not to notice how beautiful she looked, how smart she was, how she would be just great for him. Sadly it was also so easier to see how she deserved better, better than some paranoid, selfish bastard as himself. Yes Dana Scully was a Queen among people and she deserved a King to rule beside her.

She had done what he said. She had gone home, slept for a couple of hours, read some books which she hadn't done in years. She had eaten a light lunch and around 4pm Mulder had called to ask her if they were still on for dinner. She didn't have to think about it, of course they were still on, she hadn't seen him an entire day and though she didn't like to admit, out of fear for being seen as weak, she missed him. After she hung up she figured she still had time for a bath but she hadn't counted on falling asleep. And that is exactly why she was still in the tub when the bell rang. She quickly grabbed her rope and went to open the door.

Nobody was answering the door. They had agreed on 6pm, hadn't they? Granted he was 5 minutes late but that was no reason to not open the door, was it? Suddenly the door opened and all of his previous thoughts went out the door. There was Scully, still dripping wet with only a robe covering her, and it was barely covering anything at all. "Uh Scully?" he asked hesitant. "I'm so sorry Mulder, I fell asleep in the tub" she answered while pulling the robe closer. "Come on in Mulder, I'm just gonna get dressed, I'll be right back!" she told him, already walking away. "Hey Scully, no need to be shy you know!" he called after her. But she ignored him and kept walking.
While she was getting ready he prepared their food and picked a movie from Scully's wide collection. He had just finished when she walked back in, dressed in sweatpants and a tank top. He thought she looked more relaxed then ever, more beautiful then when she was wearing her suits. This was Scully. His Scully. Still their was something bothering her, he could clearly see that she wasn't quite feeling as well as she pretended. "I hope you don't mind I already picked a movie?" he asked her. "No of course I don't Mulder, though I do not always agree with your movie choices" she told him grinning. "Really funny Scully! By the way, did you have a good day today?" he asked her. "Yeah I did actually, slept some, read a book, the usual stuff" she replied while sitting down. And then it dawned on him, that was what was wrong with her. He saw the way she went to sit down, very slow, very careful. There was something wrong with her back. He had been the victim of many back aches over the years and so he knew the signs.

Oh God he had noticed. This was what she was afraid of. She knew he'd figure it out. She knew that he was going to know that she hadn't been telling him the truth. Now he was looking at her with those concerned eyes and though she was able to avoid telling him about her back this morning she knew it wouldn't be the case this time around. "What's going on Scully?" he asked her. "Nothing, I'm just stiff from falling asleep in the tub" she replied easily. "You don't really believe you are getting away with just another version of your already famous I'm fine Mulder – speeches,do you? Tell me what happened Scully? The truth this time" he told her. She looked up and saw his mind working, trying to figure out what might have happened and then she could see it dawn on him. She saw him clench his jaw. " It was the big guy, from last week, wasn't it?" he asked her. He looked at her and she ducked away, not ready to admit the truth to him, but by doing so telling him all he needed to know. "Seriously Scully? You should've told me! Why didn't you anyway?" he demanded. This made her angry, he had no right butting in her life like this. "Because this is my life Mulder and I can do with it what I want" she replied while getting up. She was on her way to the kitchen to blow off some steam when she heard something she thought she'd never hear, not from him. "I'm sorry Scully, I shouldn't have yelled to you like that, you're right this is your life. I just whished you felt you could tell me these things, let me help you" he told her sadly. She choked, he looked honestly hurt and confused. And she knew that if she was going to tell anyone, open up to anybody, it would be Mulder. And so she decided to let her walls down, to let him in, to let him help her.
"I'm sorry too Mulder, I should have told you, you're my friend. I just wanted to be strong" she told him. He looked up at her, eyes still full with worry. "Let me see?" he asked timidly.

Without speaking she lifted her shirt so he could see her back. He gasped without thinking about it. Her back was bruised and there were red strings across it. No wonder she couldn't sleep! "Jezus Scully! This looks really bad, are you sure you don't wanna go see a doctor?" he asked her concerned. She turned around quick. "No I'm good Mulder, it will fade eventually. But since we just established you're my friend, you think you could rub some lotion on it?" she asked sweetly.
He swallowed. Looking at her at skin was one thing, actually touching it was an entire different thing. Except for the obvious fact that he loved Scully for her mind and soul, he also loved her for her body. She was beautiful and most of the time she wasn't aware of it, making her all the more attractive to him. But he couldn't really back down, could he? Hadn't he just pleaded with her that he was her friend and that he wanted to help? " Sure Scully, not a problem" he told her while mustering up a smile. She got up to get the lotion and he saw her wince again. He would control himself and try to do his best to make the pain go away. When she came back, she sat down and was about to pull her shirt over her head but he stopped her. "Uhm Scully, it might be better if you lie down for this?" he told her. " Yeah, you're probably right, let's go to the bedroom" she replied. Bedroom? Damn, why didn't he just keep his mouth shut. He quickly mustered up a nod and followed her to her bedroom. By the time he had reached her bedroom she was already lying on the bed, shirt discarded on the chair next to her bed. He climbed up the bed, but as he was about to start he thought that maybe her bra was going to get in the way as well. "Scully, don't take this the wrong way but can unlock your bra? It is going to make this easier" he told her hesistant. "Uhm yeah sure Mulder" she replied, trying to be cool about it but he could see it'd made her nervous.

He started rubbing slowly and gently, making sure not to miss a spot, and after a few painful gasps she felt herself relax to his touch. When he touched a particulary tense spot she had to fight back a moan but the second time she couldn't stop herself. " God Mulder you're really good at this" she told him, hearing that her own voice had dropped an octave and that it sounded huskier than before. "Thanks Scully, not a problem you know, you could ask me anytime" he offered. She knew she was gonna take him up on that offer again, it this was the only way to get his hands on her then she was gonna take it, knowing that he'd never actually touch her in the way she wanted. Suddenly she felt him at her neck, the most sensitive spot on her entire body and though she tried she couldn't stop the loud moan from coming from her mouth. " Mulder will you please not do that again?" she asked. He immediately lifted his hands from her body. "I'm soo sorry Scully I didn't know your neck hurt as well, I can't see any bruising, I'll just stay away from it then" he told her. "Mulder it doesn't hurt, just don't touch me there" she asked.

Suddenly it dawned on him: her neck didn't hurt, it was sensitive as in arousing. " Ok, Scully, sorry!" he told her and then resumed working on her lower back. But he couldn't let it go, the moan she had just uttered had him seriously aroused and just maybe he had an actual chance here. Could it be that she liked him too? He decided to take a chance, life was too short, wasn't it? Slowly and carefully he moved to her upper back and from there to her neck. She almost jumped up this time when he touched her neck. "Mulder!" she exclaimed. "Scully just relax, will ya? Trust me".

Trust him was the easy part, she wasn't sure she trusted herself when he was touching her there though. She decided that honesty was really the best policy and figured he'd back off after telling him. "Look Mulder my neck is just really sensitive, so just leave it will you?" she said to him. "I know your neck is sensitive scully" he replied and before she could say anything he started placing kisses on her lower back, slowly going upwards. His lips felt heavenly against her skin and she wasn't gonna stop him even if she could. But she figured that maybe this was a one time thing for him. Maybe his porn collection wasn't doing it for him these days. She couldn't be his one night stand, she really couldn't. " Mulder, stop! Can you fasten my bra please?" she asked him.

Shit he had fucked up, he had acted too fast and now she was gonna run, she was gonna resign and move to Spain. His Scully would go and he would be to blame. He quickly fastened her bra and then practically ran from the bed. " I'm sorry Scully, I shouldn't have done this, just don't go move to Spain please" . "Don't you dare say you're sorry Mulder, don't you dare pull back now, I've been waiting for this for ages! And why would I move to Spain?" she told him. "Pull away? You are the one pulling away Scully! Quite literally actually!" he replied. "I'm just making sure that this isn't a one time thing Mulder" she told him hesitant. A one time thing? Like he could have the power to stop himself after one time. Like he could just stop loving her. "I don't it could ever be a one time thing Scully. If I do this I don't think I could never do it again. I am an addict and you, Dana, are my addiction" he told her honestly. She took a step closer. " That's all I needed to hear Mulder. I love you Mulder!" she told him while pressing up to him, lips hovering next to his. " I love you too Dana" he said closing the gap. Kissing her was like something from the movies. It was what he always dreamt about, but his dreams did not do her any justice. But soon kissing her wasn't enough and they were touching and loosing cloths faster then ever. They made love for hours finally catching up for the years lost. And whatever worries they had were left for when dawn lit up the world again.

Let me know if you liked it? Thanks for reading!