Safe and together
Disclaimer: I don't own the X Files. If I did there would be no season 9 and everything would end in cute baby fluffiness. But since I am a stickler for cannon and this is the world we live in I write to make up for it.
Summary: Mulder and Scully discuss when they first knew they were in love. Total fluff references to 'Aubrey' and 'Colony' and maybe a few others that I am forgetting.
The morning light was shining into the dinky motel room as Agent Mulder woke up. His eyes were blurry and for a second he forgot where he was and had a moment of panic until he felt a warm body beside him and knew everything was ok. He wanted to pull her toward him but decided to let her sleep. She was facing him her hair in her face and her arms curled up against her chest like a sleeping child.
It was not often that Agent Scully looked vulnerable but when she was sleeping he always realized how small she was. When she would wake up crying some nights it would become clear that she needed him. He needed her too. Since he met her she had been the only constant in his life.
There were so many times he thought he would lose her and he couldn't believe that now it was just the two of them. There was some guilt that he still felt each time he would see her like this. Guilt that stemmed from the things that she had been through over the years because of their relationship but also the most recent development, which was their need to go underground to avoid being arrested by the FBI.
For the past two weeks they had been moving from motel to motel and town to town just to make sure they were always on the move. Scully was not even able to tell her mother anything and chose instead to have Agent Reyes visit Mrs. Scully to let her know that Dana was safe.
Mulder moved her hair out of her face and laid his hand softly against her cheek for a moment. As he was removing his hand he felt her smaller one grab hold of his wrist. She moved his hand to her mouth where she kissed it lightly.
"Good morning." She said opening her eyes with a smile on her face.
"Hey. Sorry I didn't mean to wake you up." He replied as he scooted closer to her wrapping his arm around her bare waist.
"Mummm…" She murmured as she snuggled into his chest. "I was already pretty much awake. What time is it anyways?"
Mulder threw a look at the alarm clock next to the bed and replied, "A little after ten."
"I could get used to sleeping in. It's a dangerous road to go down though."
"Well if we are gonna have to stay in all of the crap holes and then spend all day driving we might as well sleep in."
"True. How long have you been awake?"
"Just a few minutes."
"You were tossing and turning last night and talking in your sleep."
"Really? I don't remember my dreams. What did I say?"
"Well my favorite was 'purple alien' which you shouted pretty randomly. I think you were talking to skinner actually. You kept saying sir as you talked saying things like, 'well sir we think it was…' and 'we need your help sir.' And other things like that."
"Well I do fantasize about Skinner a lot." Scully laughed which brought a big smile to his face. She had been laughing a lot in the past couple weeks that they have been on the run.
"I think you just miss him."
"Maybe. Getting on his nerves was my favorite pastime."
"Whatever." She said with a laugh and a shake of the head.
At that Mulder pulled her even closer and started to kiss her cheek and neck and rub his stubbled face against her causing her to scream and try to twist away from him.
"Ah! So scratchy!" She yelped as she pushed his shoulders back to get his face away from her.
"I gotta grow my hair out!"
"No you don't! You just want to so you can feel like an outlaw."
"I still think I should dye my hair bleach blond. Can't be too safe."
"You can do that if you want but if you do we will start driving separate cars."
"Ya know maybe blond is the wrong choice. I should just shave it all off."
"You do that and I will dye my hair."
"No! I love your hair." He demonstrated this by burning his head into her hair and kissing her neck. "But if you really want to I will love you with any color hair or no hair at all."
"Yeah you better. We can both go bald. I don't think it would draw any attention." She said jokingly. Her face then changed from playful to thoughtful, "When did you know you loved me?"
His eyebrows went up in surprise, caught off guard from the random question. "I will have to think about it. My initial reaction was to say when I learned about your cancer but I think I knew before that."
"I thought about it the other day and I think I knew when they pulled you from the water in Antarctica when you were chasing the bounty hunter."
"Really? Kind of random."
"No, see you don't know what it was like right after you were found! You were almost dead! Your heart stopped and the doctors were not listening to me about how to save you. I was about to pull out my gun and demand that they take you out of the water they had you in."
Mulder laughed, "Well I already knew by then."
"You did? That was before my cancer."
"Yeah. I remember now the exact moment. It was weird because it was kind of sudden and as soon as it realized me it seemed obvious. It was the moment I realized you were alive when we broke into Donnie Pfaster mom's place. You were laying there all beat up still fighting. I kind of felt like an idiot when I figured it out because it took so long for me to get it."
"Well it took long to realize because it wasn't something that happened right away. On paper we should hate each other. Not saying we never have." The last part she said with a smile.
"Yeah well on our views and beliefs we are opposite but when it comes to the really important things it all makes sense. There are so few people you come across who are honest and loyal when you find it you need to hold on." He pulled her closer with the words 'hold on'.
"Why did it take so long then? For us to get together then?"
"I don't know. We have crazy lives and take chances in so many other places. I know that with you I don't like to take chances."
"That's true I guess."
"Well I am never gonna let you go. You can't get rid of me now. It's too late."
She just smiled and kissed him.
"Good. Cause things will be uncertain for a while."
"Things have always been uncertain. Everything except you. We will start a new life, just you and I."
She replied again with a kiss, this one slightly more aggressive than the last. He pulled her in close deepening the kiss and for the first time in so long felt a measure of peace. They were safe, she was safe. With all of the close calls over the years it was nice to know that, for a while at least, it would just be the two of them.