Everything is easier in the dark is rated M for this, and maybe later, chapters. I don't know if you have to put this in here but I don't own these characters. First fanfic.

'Ow ow ow ow ow'

'Scully?'

'Mulder, why are you whispe..'

'Shhh.'

'Muler...gep yer hans uf ma mowf...'

'You have to be quiet.'

'Where are we? Why's it so dark?'

'We're in a closet. I pulled you in here and I think you hit your head on the door.'

'We're still in the haunted house?'

'Yes but it isn't exactly haunted. How are you feeling?'

'I feel ... dizzy. Other than something stabbing me in the back I feel...MULDER.'

'Ignore that, and no wiggling.'

'I do not wiggle and it's a little hard to ignore something that... Is this why you pulled me in here?'

'First of all, I'm not that conniving. Second, thank you. And third, this is a perfectly normal reaction to stress in life or death situations.'

'And friction.'

'I repeat, don't wiggle unless you want to get even more uncomfortable.'

'I don't think it could get much worse.'

'Oh, it can, trust me.'

'Our predicament. Not you and your ill-timed erection.'

'It sounds like shit when you say it.'

'It should. Why are we in here whispering? I thought this house was abandoned except for poltergeists.'

Mulder shifted, embarrassed for the first time in that closet. 'Not poltergeists, petty crooks by the sounds of that poker game.'

'Crooks? Mulder. Are you seriously telling me we drove all the way here for this? I'm not surprised. Why am I surprised? ...' She felt her head go fuzzy.

'Scully. Scully?'

'I'm fine, I think. Just got dizzy. I should sit down. Oh wait.'

Mulder ignored her prickly attitude.

'Let me take a look...'

'Ow, Mulder. There's nothing to see.'

'By look, I meant feel .. for bumps or a cut.' He moved his hands around her hair line, then weaved his fingers from her neck up. There was no light in the hallway and he didn't dare pull the string for the light in the closet should their captors see...

While Mulders hand continued their inspection, Scully closed her eyes and leaned back.

She felt her partners hands freeze as his body involuntarily responded. She collected herself and leaned forward again. 'Sorry. Must be the adrenaline, huh?'

'Also, friction, like you said.'

'Mulder. In the spirit of we're-trapped-in-a-closet-together-for-who-knows-how-long, maybe we should keep all kinds of friction to a minimal. OW.'

'That is a large bump. No blood, though, so that's good.' He removed his hands from her hair. 'If you feel faint, maybe you could sit on the floor.' Mulder wanted her to say yes and relieve them both from the awkwardness as much as he wanted her to say no and let the perverse scenario continue.

'Why do I have to sit on the floor? What if I fall asleep?'

'I don't fit down there and I'll kick you if you start to nod off.'

She rolled her eyes. The closet was too small for her to be any more comfortable down there than she was up here. She was being stubborn. That, and part of her really wanted to prove his adrenaline theory wrong.

'I have a theory.'

'About?'

'It's not adrenaline, Mulder.'

'Oh?'

'Adrenaline diverts blood to vital organs necessary for surviving combat. I don't think THAT organ counts.'

Mulder really wanted to respond with something like, 'You haven't seen the length of my organ' but noted the scientific tone she was using to circumvent the emotionality of the moment and decided to play along.

'And what about the after effects of adrenaline?'

'Well, that could explain it. Except that we are still in a life-or-death situation.'

'Friction.'

'Sorry, did I move?' Scully had thought she was standing as still and rigid as humanly possible.

'I don't mean physically.'

'You mean mental friction?'

'Sure. Being this close to someone you've worked with for so long. Feeling like you've stepped into a bizarre fantasy-slash-embarrassing high school dream like giving a speech buck naked.'

'That's one explanation. Except the easy answer to the situation would be for less arousal and not more.' At the word more, Mulder looked questioningly down at his uncontrollable friend.

'Er, Long-standing ...' Mulder mumbled... trying to think of something.

'What?'

'What you said before, about satisfying a long-standing curiosity.'

'I guess that makes sense. Working with someone for so long in such stressful environments would create some unwanted tension.'

'Who said anything about unwanted?'

'... well, ...' Scully frowned, 'Mulder I assume from your level of discomfort and your comparing this moment to a naked dream, that finding yourself in this situation was far from the poltergeists you were looking for.'

'You had to bring that up again and you forget, I also compared this moment to a fantasy which is far from involuntary.'

Scully unconsciously shifted her weight in an effort to get comfortable.

Barely audibly, Mulder made a deep noise in the back of his throat as he braced his hands on the door frame and attempted to push his back through the shelves behind him.

'Sorry,' Scully mumbled at the slats of the door inches from her face, trying desperately to see out of them into the darkness. She wasn't sorry. She liked feeling his arms on either side of her. But the darkness and the intensity of his reaction to her made her feel panicky.

'I feel claustrophobic, Mulder. That and a little nauseous.'

'I have that effect on women.'

She closed her eyes and felt her head spin. 'Keep talking.'

Mulder started rambling about how extraterrestrial biological organisms could survive on frozen comets, released as the comets ablate in the atmosphere.

Scully moaned started to slump against the door. Mulder supported her weight and pressed one hand to her forehead. It was not desire or pent up sexual tension, but fear for her that made him rest her head back against his shoulder. He remembered their friendship, and how much he would miss being able to do this without awkwardness if the wrong step were taken.

'Scully?' He whispered into her ear.

At that moment, the hall light turned on and their coffin-sized closet was filled with horizontal beams. Footsteps moved past the door as a few of the trespassers went out for more beer from the car. Mulder froze, still holding Scully against him. Thinking about reaching for his gun. The sound of the front door closing and the remaining trespassers inside made him relax a little.

'I'm okay,' Scully whispered back. 'I just don't think aliens are the right subject material for keeping me awake.' The over-powering urge to shut her eyes was suppressed by the light that gave her something to look at. Tilting her head, she realized how close they were and felt the scrape of stubble on her forehead and nose. Embarrassed, she lifted her head; it throbbed less but was still hazy. Mulder released his arm from across her waist and rested it comfortingly on her side, ready in case she faltered again. His other arm still rested on the door frame. If they had been a couple, Scully thought, the closeness and his stance would have been comforting. Instead, Scully felt adrenaline of her own pumping through her body.

'Feeling better?'

'Not much. I still feel an over-powering urge to sleep.' She lied. In a second she knew she didn't want to sleep but it slipped out anyway.

'Exactly what subject would keep you awake?' Mulder said with a little hurt in his voice, sure musings on the possibilities of alien life was enough to keep anyone coma-free.

'Let's start with how strange your fantasies are, Mulder.'

He smiled, 'you don't know the half of it, Scully.'

'I think I have a pretty good idea.'

Mulder laughed, 'You need an equally disturbed and cynical mind to have any idea what my fantasies are like.'

'Mulder, what makes you think my own personal life isn't equally disturbed and cynical?'

'Because I saw how much you liked living in the Petrie's house and how normal you want to be.'

'And yet look at where I am. I'd say that makes me sicker than you.'

Mulder chuckled. 'My fantasies aren't all bubble baths and bottles of wine, Scully."

'You don't know my fantasies, Mulder.' She was a little angry at how patronizing he sounded.

'Maybe you're right.' He realized he was rubbing his thumb up and down her side comfortingly and stopped when he saw recognition on her face. Feeling rebellious and unruly under his patronizing authority and wanting to prove the complexity of her nature, she whispered huskily, 'Why stop?' looking sideways at him. His eyes were dark and filled with thoughts as intense and complex as her own character, but mingled with doubt and confusion.

Just then, the vagrant trespassers returned with round two and the light in the hallway went out. The atmosphere became even more electrified so Mulder removed his hand from her side and braced it on the frame again, rather than risk it brushing something else and trigger a new wave of desire.

Scully sighed. 'Please tell me they are close to passing out.'

'They're at least past the point of lowered inhibitions.' There was a hint of remorse and darkness in his voice.

'Not that I wasn't enjoying your comfort, but I would like to get back to the hotel and have a bubble bath.' She was equally bitter.

'I guess it isn't comfort if it only makes you think about what you don't have.'

As usual, he knew what she was thinking. And as usual, he knew nothing of her motivations.

'It wasn't that.'

'No? It wasn't my reminder of the normal life and husband you don't have?'

'Actually, It was the adrenaline rush that came with your comfort I was thinking of.'

'It looks like I inadvertently discovered a cure for your sleepiness.' He waited for a flashing sign that said "Put hand here" but when it didn't come, he risked it anyway. Everything is easier in the dark, he thought.

Scully tried to figure out where to put her hands when he resumed the illicit contact. As her heart pounded and her head again throbbed, one hand instinctively sought out his other on the door frame. His hand automatically grabbed her hip and he once again moaned into the back of her neck.

Then something fell to the floor of the closet - her flashlight slipped from its holster at her waist. For a moment, everything froze. Scully reacted quickly to try and pick it up. Attempting to crouch down was her first instinct. It was difficult in the tight space and Mulder fought every urge to groan as she slid down him.

Once she had found the flashlight, she waited for the sound of footsteps. Nothing happened. The sounds of blissful drunkenness continued from across the hall.

She sighed and tried to stand up but felt Mulder's hands on her shoulders.

'I think you should stay there for a second.'

'Mulder, it's uncomfortable down here.'

'Trust me, it's worse up here.'

Scully swallowed. She tried not to think about the ridiculousness of the predicament. Instead, she slowly rose to her feet anyway, unable to avoid feeling him hard along her back.

The friction was unbearable for Mulder. He grabbed her arm and let out a muffled moan as he tried to control her. He bit his lip and dug his back into the shelves again, letting pain placate the intensity of arousal.

'Stop.' He finally growled just as she was able to get to her feet.

'Why?'

'For the sake of my sanity.'

Scully had the briefly childish instinct to be proud of her effect on him, but his tone indicated this wasn't playful. He was trying to save the shreds of their friendship and partnership and whatever deep-seeded need for her kept him from acting out any fantasy that could jeopardize her presence in his life.

She waited for him to go back to the banter and innuendo that allowed for both the sexual and the platonic, but neither to their full potential.

She was relieved when he sighed instead and returned his hand to her hip and resumed his comforting gesture.

'This is the new normal, I guess.' Scully said with resignation.

'Until the lights turn on and we're free.'

'No, until the lights come on and we're trapped by responsibility and fear. This feels like freedom to me Mulder.'

'Me too.' He admitted into the back of her hair again, confessing to Scully's alter ego.