S.3 E:22 'Quagmire'

A continuation of Mulder and Scully's conversation on the rock, had they not been interrupted by Dr. Farraday.

"Hell is an idea first born on an undigested apple dumpling, yeah," he says looking away from her and grinning ear to ear.

She was impressed by his ability to quote her favorite childhood book on command and if anything, it's attractive. She raised her eyebrows in response and gave him a look that she meant to mean, 'wow Mulder' but probably came off as something else entirely. She had never been good at being, well, whatever she was inherently trying to be right now. Flirtatious? No, that would be stupid. Flirting with Fox Mulder on a rock in the middle of a lake surrounded by what could be a prehistoric monster? Please Dana, stop assuming she thought to herself.

Although…he had started it, per usual. 'Scully are you coming onto me?' She had tried her best to continue what she was saying after he had insinuated exactly the opposite of what she had been doing. Which was dissecting his unrelenting passion for the truth and comparing it in a literary sense to Ahab's quest for the white whale from Moby Dick. He was monomaniacal, especially for dragging her out here on a weekend nonetheless to search for a lake monster. Is that what he thought of as coming onto him? Doing a complete psychological breakdown of the force that drove him to do what he does? If it is, he has a twisted view of flirting, but then again, so does she.

'You've lost weight recently, haven't you?' he had asked a few minutes prior. She was glad he noticed at first, but quickly came to realize he was kidding after she remembered his comment about cannibalism. She had shot him a look that she meant to portray a 'Eat me, I dare you' sort of attitude, though he probably got some pleasure out of it. As did she, momentarily, she was just thinking of a different kind of eating. It had been a long time for her, and it had been longer for him, probably.

She heard him move behind her and looked over at him, he was stood up on the rock and holding his pistol into the air above his head like a torch.

"Mulder," Scully said, "what are you doing?"

"Maybe if somebody hears the shot they'll come looking," he explains looking down at her. Even in the darkness she sees the hazel in his eyes twinkle. Or maybe that was just a reflection of the stars, probably that she tells herself.

"So you're going to waste a bullet by shooting a S.O.S signal?" She asked doubting his logic, as she usually does. It wasn't her fault he had dumb ideas sometimes. He nods and she continues speaking.

"What if this…thing, hears the shot and decides to attack? What if it feels threatened? Then we're a bullet down and it'll definitely know where we are!" She hadn't noticed the change in her tone until she was done speaking. But he had, and as a result had lowered his gun again and held it by his side. She stared back up at him.

"If it makes you feel better Scully," he said calmly, "I'll save every shot for Big Blue, okay?"

He holstered his pistol and sat back down, only a few feet away from where she sat criss cross. That's when she realized how fucking cold it was. The mountain air combined with the fog and the wind had her nearly shivering out of her mind. If such a thing could happen.

"Mulder," she said. "We should get closer, for warmth."

He smirked at her and she nearly pushed him off the rock. "Stop it Mulder, or else I'll steal all your clothes and force you to go polar bearing."

He slid closer to her, his leg touching hers as he put an arm over her shoulder. She leaned into him a little more and instantly felt warmer, though that could just be because he was blocking the wind with his body. Maybe.

"What's polar bearing?" he asked sounding genuinely curious.

"You went to college Mulder," she teased.

"Yeah, and I spent all my time studying like a good little boy," he said teasing her back.

"Polar bearing," she began trying to shrug off his comment about him being a 'good little boy', "is when you skinny dip at night, preferably midnight or early morning, when the water is the coldest."

"Say the word Scully," he said as he watched his breath escape his mouth, "I'll strip right now."

God please. Why did he have to say things like that? Now he had her imagination running at full speed. Mulder…stripping…good lord. A woman can only take so much.

She giggled and leaned into him a bit more, her head resting on the area between his shoulder and chest. His breaths were calm, controlled, his heartbeat regular. He wasn't scared at all. How could he not be? She was the one who didn't believe in this thing and yet she was certain it could jump out of that water any moment and rip their bodies in half before they could even scream. At least if that happened she would no longer have to worry about controlling her womanly urges to find out what Fox Mulder looked like naked.

"Hey Scully," he said a moment later.

"Ye- yes?" she asked, her teeth jittering against one another.

"I really am sorry about Queequeg, I shouldn't have brought you out here with me," he said sounding absolutely pitiful. "See as much as this sounds crazy, I knew that if I didn't bring you with me, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere on this case. Hell, I probably wouldn't have solved half the cases we've solved as partners."

Okay, she thought, truth time. Might as well. They could die out here on this rock, and that would be a terrible way to go, especially if she never got to tell him.

"That's not true," she said practically whispering into his chest. "You don't need me on the X-files Mulder. You were doing just fine before I showed up."

He took a deep breath and she felt her head fall slightly with his chest. Why couldn't this be happening under different circumstances? Like, at one of their apartments with a bottle of merlot?

"Now you're lying," he said after a few seconds of silence. "I need you more than ever."

She couldn't help but smile at his words, but still tried to suppress her obvious happiness. She did the one thing she knew she could do without alerting him to her true intentions.

"Mulder," she said plainly.

"Scully," he replied.

"Hold me," she said with a hint of desperation. She didn't care if he knew how much she wanted him right now, he had just admitted to needing her. Who was the flirtatious one now?

"I am," he responded, keeping his arm around her, though now gripping her arm a bit tighter than before.

"No, I mean, really hold me," she whispered. Then, not wanting to seem like she wanted anything more, she added, "we're not getting any warmer sitting like this."

"What do you suggest Mountain Woman?" he asked teasing her again. She would have laughed, had it not been for the freezing air that was keeping her mouth from doing anything but generating the smallest of words. That, and the impending sense of possible death by something named like it was a children's TV character.

Without saying a word, she unwrapped his arm from around her shoulder, put both hands on his chest, pushed him down so that he now lay on his back, and crawled on top of him. As she did this, he simply stared back up at her, not speaking, but obviously struck by what she was doing.

She didn't stop until she had him completely sprawled out on the rock, her body now coming into full contact with his. She felt her hips come into contact with his and for that one second she felt a shock run through her core. She quickly adjusted them so she now lay next to him instead of on top of him, she kept the proximity to him close, in fact, his lips only lay a few centimeters from hers, but now she wasn't pressing down on his groin. Hopefully that would relieve the sexual tension that she had inadvertently created.

She snuck one of her arms around his upper chest, holding onto his back and pressing into him, making sure he knew she wanted to be closer. He got the memo and scooted himself just a few inches closer to her, while keeping his head at an appropriate distance from hers. Suddenly, to her surprise, he wrapped his arms underneath her armpits and settled his hands on her back, as if to shield her from whatever could possibly tear her away from him.

She must've made a face that solicited a response from him.

"Is this okay?" he asked softly, seeking her approval.

"Yes," she was able to mumble back to him. She hadn't taken her eyes off of his for what felt like an eternity. And that was okay.

She felt his hands slowly begin to caress her back, rubbing her in all the places she wanted to be touched. She knew he was probably just trying to get her warm, but good God, she wished he would do more than that. Maybe he would, if she did something in return.

She snaked an arm around his head and gripped the skin on the back of his neck.

"Scully…," he whispered to her. His hot breath on her face felt so good, so welcoming. She inhaled his scent and got high off of his smell. She closed her eyes, just for a second while she took in more of his aroma.

"My legs are cold," she breathed into him. She opened her eyes again and stared back at him as she adjusted her legs, trying to force them into the space between his closed legs, requesting entry.

"That's not a good idea Scully," he pleaded with her as he kept his legs closed, denying her access.

She reached up with her free hand and touched his cheek. "It's okay," she answered.

He sighed and opened his legs just enough so that she could snake hers in between his. He was completely enveloping her now and though they were laying on their sides, his body was practically on top of hers. She loved it. She loved the warmth she felt between his legs. Her hips touched his again and she leaned into him.

He was at a loss for words. He knew it was just for warmth, but goddamn Scully. Could she be any hotter right now? He was getting turned on, which was what he was afraid of, he knew he wouldn't be able to control his…desire, if she requested anything else. Her hips sat perfectly touching his, the only thing separating her center from his sex was a few layers of clothes.

She suddenly thrust herself into him, gyrating her hips against his, just once. Sadly, just once was just enough to get his desire up and at attention. It could have been an accident sure, but he knew he had to break away now before she felt 'it' poking at her abdomen.

She felt him try to adjust away from her, but she wasn't having any of that, not now. This was so amazingly good, and they weren't even nude. She had felt his sex touching her stomach, just enough to set her pleasure center on fire. That's when she had bucked her hips into his. She wanted him so badly, so desperately. She clawed into his back with her fingers and held him close as he tried to scoot back.

At this he stared into her eyes, where she was waiting for him. "Scully I-,"

She leaned her head closer to his and pressed her cold blue lips onto his cold blue lips. She didn't care that he tasted like lunch, she just needed him to know it was okay, that she wanted it. That she needed this right now.

Her lips fit perfectly with his and before he could push away, he was pulled in by her scent, her perfume invading his nose and sending him completely over the edge. He reached a hand up to her neck and held it there, holding her close, never wanting to let go.

She broke the soft kiss only a few seconds after it had started. She opened her eyes and he did too. She smiled lovingly back at him as he stared confusingly back at her.

"It's okay Ahab," she said referring to their earlier conversation, hoping it would ease his obvious nervousness. "I don't care about your…thingy."

At this he chuckled and grinned back at her. "Whatever you say G-woman." Then he pulled her as close as she could possibly get to him. His entire body length touching hers, his legs wrapped around hers tightly, her head pressing into his chest, him steadying it there with his hand. He still felt uncomfortable about his desire practically pushing up into the space between her legs, but knew that she was smart enough for the both of them not to initiate anything. Not while they lay together on this cold rock in the middle of a lake at night as a hungry sea-monster roamed the surrounding waters.

He kissed the top of her head and she looked up at him, moving her lips so they lay just below his.

"Mulder," she whispered.

"Yeah Scully?" he whispered in response, gazing down at her with those twinkling hazel eyes.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied kissing her lips once more, just for a second.

When he pulled away, he stayed close, breathing into her mouth as he spoke.

"Maybe I can hold you some more when we get back to D.C?"

She giggled. "If," she corrected staring over at him. "If we get back to D.C."

He lifted a hand up to stroke her hair as he spoke. In that moment, she knew he was telling the truth.

"We will," he said softly. "I know we will. I wouldn't miss out on this for the world."