"Come on, Laura..." He patted the bed next to him. "We're married now..."

What would he do if I just walked over there and lay down? she thought. Probably run a mile. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Scully, Mulder." She jerked her head toward the door. "Goodnight".

That pouting bottom lip. Aargh. He grabbed a pillow and squeezed past her, the pillow brushing against her nipples under the fabric of her nightwear. Fuck's sake.

"The thrill is gone" he pouted. Speak for yourself, she thought.

She woke up to the sound of her name being moaned ever so lightly, and suddenly was aware that it was Mulder.

Wham, it hit her. Mulder was in her bed.

Mulder was asleep. Mulder was moaning her name... Wham.

Then, a tug on her thigh, and another... a rhythmic tugging... his hand.

His hand was on her thigh. Wham.

Her heart stuttered. And he was...

Tug... tug... "Scul..."

Holy hell he was thrusting in his sleep.

WHAM.

Heart thumping, she tried to say his name, but no sound came past the giant lump in her throat. Swallowing, she tried again, and managed a very shaky, "Mulder".

The only result was that his moaning got louder.

"Scully... yes... oh Scully..."

Oh Christ, she thought. Trembling from head to foot, she reached out a hand and touched his shoulder. "Mulder, please, wake up."

"Scully..." he panted, still asleep. "Oh fuck, Scully..." Blushing scarlet, she shook him hard. "Scu..." his eyes opened with her name on his lips, and he blinked heavily at her. "Scully? What the..."

"You're..." her voice went from tiny to nothing as she pulled her trembling hand back.

"Is this... where are..." he was groggily trying to get his bearings.

She pulled herself together enough to say "You're in my bed", and, she congratulated herself, she managed to make it sound something between an explanation and an accusation, rather than a squeak.

"I'm sorry, it was so cold downstairs and the sofa is about a mile too short, and I would have asked permission but you looked so peaceful..." he started to pull away from her, but his hand sliding across her thigh drew both their attention. His eyes widened. If he had been the type to blush, he would have.

"God, Scully, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..." then a thought seemed to cross his mind and suddenly he looked mortified. "Scully, was I... I mean, I wasn't... I didn't..."

His embarrassment seemed to decrease hers.

"You were talking in your sleep, yes..."

He covered his eyes with a hand. "Oh God. Oh God. Did I... what did I say?"

She had to save him from this. Both to diminish his embarrassment, and to avoid a potential awkwardness that might even destroy their friendship. She took a deep breath and put on her 'business' voice. "My name, I'm afraid. You were... dreaming about me. I know. But before you let the ground swallow you up, remember that we cannot help what we dream. You spend most of your time with me, it's only natural I should appear in your dreams sometimes."

He looked up, through his fingers, unknowingly causing her to melt with protective feelings. "But in... that way? Scully I'm so embarrassed..."

"It doesn't mean anything. You know that. You've probably dreamed... 'that way'... about many people you wouldn't ever... Hell, you might even have dreamed of Skinner!" She tried to inject some humor into the situation, and it seemed to work; he barked out a laugh, and the relief of tension was palpable.

"Actually there was this one time..." he was Mulder again, dry, self-deprecating jokes and all. "I couldn't look him in the eye for a week".

She giggled, relieved that they seemed to have dodged that bullet. "Me too; one time I dreamed he grabbed me in the elevator and pushed me up against the wall and kissed me senseless, and I tore open his shirt and he has the sexiest chest, and I was running my tongue up it, and he lifted me onto the hand rail and hitched up my..." realizing what she was saying, she suddenly clamped her mouth shut and flushed crimson. "Sorry." she cleared her throat "Got carried away there." She cleared her throat again and tried to brush aside her sudden embarrassment. "But that's my point, we dream about the people in our lives. It's understandable."

There was silence. He was looking at her in a strange way. "You... you think Skinner is sexy, huh?"

"Well duh, me and the rest of the world..." Somehow a wall had come down and she felt free to discuss things she would never have dreamed of telling him yesterday. But he was looking at her with such utter shock and dismay that she suddenly wished she had kept her mouth shut. Backpedalling, she said "But it doesn't mean I want to actually do anything with him, that's the point. Dreams are just random neurons firing, so if I was in an elevator with him, and then later saw a couple making out or something, those neurons might fire together while I'm sleeping, while memories are being consolidated, and that would cause me to dream that he was..." She trailed off. "You see the point? It's just random neurons. So don't be embarrassed." She was speaking way too fast. The ensuing silence was loud.

"So you don't actually think of him in that way?"

"Well I'm not saying I wouldn't... I mean... I don't want to actually be with him or anything. Why are you even asking? This conversation has gone somewhere strange, huh."

He relaxed. "I guess that can happen when your random neurons cause you to sleep-hump your partner."

She snorted a laugh, once again feeling relieved. If he was dead-panning, things must be okay. Phew.

"Well Scully, it's 3.30am, so how about we get some sleep." He leaned towards her, a suggestive look on his face "That is, if you'll trust me not to touch you."

She flushed, as a mental image forced itself upon her. Thanks for that, Mulder, she thought, I'm not getting back to sleep anytime soon now. Aloud, she said "Of course I trust you Mulder. I'm not about to make you sleep on a couch that's, I quote, 'a mile too short'."

"Thank you Scully, I really appreciate that. Goodnight, Honeybunch"

"Goodnight, Poopyhead."

He was woken by a severe hard-on at about 7.30am. A little hand was resting on his chest, and a head of silky hair was nestled into his shoulder. He bit his lip, hard. She smelled wonderful. His heart ached to think this would be the only time he would ever have her in his arms like this. He turned his face into her hair and breathed in the scent of coconut, and couldn't help hugging her to him a little. Then he froze, afraid that the motion would wake her up and end this. She moved slightly, and muttered something incoherent. He waited a moment, but she did not move again. He exhaled. If only she would dream of him the way he always dreamed of her. Random neuron-firing my ass, he thought. Wish I could make HER neurons fire like that.

A thought struck him. Why not? People were highly suggestible while dreaming. Her movement indicated she was not deeply asleep, and... yes, her eyes were fluttering. She was dreaming. Now if he could suggest some things to her, he might be able to get her to dream what he wanted her to dream.

"Scully..." he whispered, barely making any sound at all, for fear of waking her. He ran a finger ever-so-lightly from behind her ear, down her neck, along her collarbone. She shuddered in her sleep and he gave himself a mental high-five. He bent his lips to touch her ear, blowing into it slightly. "It's me Scully. It's Mulder." She made a tiny sound like 'muh', which he took to indicate success so far. Yesss.

"I want to kiss you Scully. So much. It's driving me mad." He ran a finger along her lips, and little bursts of joy went off in his head as she tilted her chin towards the finger. "Your lips are so soft" Oh God, they were. So perfect. How much he wanted to just crush her mouth to his, but obviously that would wake her. And ruin everything forever.

"I want you Scully." Her eyebrows drew together slightly and her lips parted. He wondered what form this dream had taken. Maybe he should take charge of that. He could set the scene somewhere they spent a lot of time, so that maybe she might remember this dream each time they were there. The more often, the better.

"We're in the office right now, Scully. I have you rammed up against the filing cabinet." Her breathing had sped up. Oh yes. He licked his lips so that his tongue brushed her ear. "I just can't hold it back any longer. I'm going to fuck you till you don't know your own name." She whimpered. "You remember mine though. You're calling out my name as I make you come over and over and over..." she was breathing hard, and he could see her rapid pulse in her neck. But he had to be sure it was him she was dreaming of. "You're screaming my name, Scully... You're crying out, 'Mulder, Mulder...'" She moaned then, moaned his name! And again! Ohmygodyes. He mentally danced a jig all around the room, and then had a wicked thought. Now would be a really good time for her to wake up. He leant over her, just a little closer than necessary, and shook her gently. "Scully, wake up, you're dreaming" he visualised horns appearing on his head and tried to suppress the wicked grin that was spreading across his face.

"Muller" she moaned, face flushed, lips trembling. He squeezed her shoulders, fighting back an irresistable urge to wake her by making her dream real. "Muh..." her eyes blinked open, and he wondered if this was how he had looked when she woke him up from his 'random neuron-firing'...

"It's okay Scully, I'm here."

"Whuh?" She looked utterly disoriented.

"You were having a nightmare" He cleared his throat. "I think." He suppressed another grin. "You called out for me. I'm here, Scully, you're okay"

"I was... what?"

She woke up from one HELL of a dream, with Mulder's face far too close to her own, and she was not sure at first whether she had indeed woken up. He was talking to her, saying something about a nightmare, and her calling out for him. That brought things into focus pretty sharply. She knew exactly why she had been calling his name, and it was NOTHING like a nightmare. She coloured instantly, thanking the powers that be that he had interpreted it as one.

"Are you okay now?" he was saying. She tried to answer, but her heart was still pounding, and sending pulses downward, to where... oh Christ on a cracker, she could feel him against her, and he was hard. Really hard. She tried again to form an intelligent sentence, but her brain was still too fuzzy. Oh she wanted him. So fucking much. Her head swam as she gazed at that bottom lip and visualised taking it between her teeth. Gaahhhh... She tried to mentally shake herself out of it, but he moved and she felt 'it' move right... there... and she very nearly broke apart lying right there beneath him. Holy hell, how had she got into this situation? Lying underneath Mulder's obviously aroused body, on the brink of orgasm. And how the hell was she going to get out of it?

"Scully talk to me, are you okay?"

"Uh... Mul..." Fuck, she couldn't even form words.

Then he kissed her, and the world came apart.

Okay, this did not go quite according to plan. He was not supposed to kiss her. He had planned to play with her a bit, to 'realise' that she had been dreaming about him, to embarrass her like he had been embarrassed, and maybe say something about random effing neurons. Then he had planned to tease her about the dream any time he was bored or horny, and see if he could make her blush, have a little fun. But he had totally lost control, lying there on top of her as she struggled to come down from what looked like pretty near the edge, and he had kissed her. It had not been a conscious decision. He had no choice. He had just kissed her. And she had gone wild. It was only a few seconds, but they were eternal, and they were heaven.

And then she had come back down to earth, and looked at him with horror, and struggled out of his arms and as far away from him as possible on the bed, and now she was huddled there, hugging her knees and trying not to cry. How had heaven become hell so quickly?

"I can't believe that just happened." She managed in a very small voice, looking at her feet.

"I can't believe it hadn't happened before." He said, not taking his eyes from her.

She looked up at him then. "What?"

"You heard me."

"But... I don't understand" She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of something.

"Come on, Scully. I know you were dreaming about me. And you know I was dreaming about you. You know it's not the first time, either, for either of us."

What? He couldn't know that. She'd been so careful to hide it from him.

"Random neurons my ass. You know it's more than that."

"But... we do spend more time together than with anyone else..."

"And if you were a dude, and I was dreaming like that, I'd be believing that neuron theory with all my heart."

She rolled her eyes. "You'd be less likely to dream about a guy, obviously. But you spend all your time with a woman, and... forgive me, but I know you've not gotten laid in forever, so it stands to reason that..."

"Don't 'scientist' me, please. It's too late. I want you, and you know it. You can't escape that."

He made a movement towards her, and, panicking slightly, she tried to back away, but her back was already pressed against the wall.

"We can't... It's not... Okay, I know it's not just randomly-firing neurons. But there are physiological consequences of... of being sexually inactive. It's true. It's like when you're really hungry, everything vaguely edible looks and smells delicious. And tastes delicious, if you get to eat it."

"Delicious" he repeated, looking her up and down once and then locking gaze with her. Her mouth opened, but no words seemed forthcoming. She tried to look away, but failed miserably. He couldn't know how much she ached to believe he could really want her.

"You just THINK that, because you're hungry, and I'm the only food around. You need to do something besides work, for a change. Go out, meet women." She felt something crack inside her as she said the words, saw the image of him with someone else. But surely that was better than to let him in, let him work out his frustrations on her, and then once he felt better, he would end it and she would never be okay ever again. No, better to see him with someone else now, than after THAT.

"I met one already. I'm looking at her right now. And I have a nagging feeling she wants me too."

All my fault, she thought. Why couldn't I hide better. If I hadn't let him see, he wouldn't consider me the easiest, closest option. Lazy asshole. Go pull some bimbo, don't just break the heart of whoever's nearest. She looked away and swallowed. "Look, I don't want to ruin everything we have, just because of some random burst of hormones"

If she could have brought herself to look at his face, she would have seen the moment his heart broke.

However, by the time the silence became uncomfortable, he had composed himself enough that when she finally looked up at him, he was able to say in a relatively steady voice "No, you're right, that would be stupid."

A strange mixture of relief and a foolish disappointment washed through her. She suddenly forgave him for considering her as an option for working out his frustrations; he was a guy after all, and they probably were more inclined to be slaves to their sexual whims. He looked unhappy now, and she was filled with the need to comfort him.

"I can't lose you." She explained, almost apologetically. She saw something flash across his face, a quiver of the lip, but it was gone before she could decide what it was.

"No. Yes, I mean. I mean, I feel the same. I'm... I'm going to take a shower. See you in a bit."

And he was gone, leaving nothing but emptiness.