She woke up and her partner was leaning over her, she gasped and tried to make sense of what had just happened. She remembered being attacked, and then everything faded to black. She began to cry and grabbed her partner, pulling him down to her, she just wanted to feel safe again. She clawed into his back, making sure he knew she needed him. She never wanted to let go. She had felt death come for her, she had felt darkness consume her, but then the darkness retreated and she was staring at her partner. She was staring at the light. His light.
George Washington Hospital
10:34 am
Monday
She was lying in her hospital bed when he walked in her room carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
"What are you doing here Mulder?" she asked as he approached her bedside.
"Just came to check on how my G-woman is doing," he replied walking up to her and planting a soft friendly kiss on her forehead. Oh God how she loved it when he did that.
"But…work?" she asked trying to sound like she wasn't too excited to see him, when in fact her heart had skipped a beat when he walked in and now was beating twice as fast.
"I told Skinner about what happened this weekend, he told me I should take the day off and come see you," he answered.
She could kiss Skinner. He had always known there was a special bond between them that existed outside of work. Giving Mulder the day off was just an excuse, and Skin man knew it.
"Flowers?" she asked sweetly looking down to the hand behind his back.
"Oh yeah," he replied bringing them to her face, letting her smell the fresh pollen. "Your mom told me vanilla orchids were your favorite, and the uh lady at the florists said you would like them."
"I love them Mulder," she said softly setting them on her bedside table. "Thank you."
He paused a moment before continuing the conversation. She loved his nervousness, even now, in the comfort of her hospital room he was visibly anxious about something.
"What is it Mulder?" she asked.
"Nothing," he responded simply. "What have the doctors said about…about your condition?" He pulled up a chair and sat right next to her hospital bed, keeping one of his hands resting on top of hers.
"Well," she sighed, "besides the fact that I seemingly came back from the dead, they found nothing wrong with me. I don't think they even believe my story about how I was attacked."
"Our story," Mulder corrected.
She smiled back at him, the words 'our story' had melted into her heart. "Point being I think they're going to kick me out of this room sometime today."
"Do you feel okay?" He asked, she could sense his concern. "I can get them to keep you here overnight if you're worried."
She admired and adored Mulder's constant care for her, no matter how small or big the situation was, he was seemingly ready to do anything for her in the blink of an eye.
"No," she replied truthfully. "I'm okay now, I think I'll stay at my mom's tonight though."
"Want me to drive you?" he asked.
"No it's okay Mulder," she answered. "Melissa can come pick me up, a family member will have to check me out anyways."
"You know Scully, with all the times I've visited you in the hospital in the past six years you'd think the doctors could grant me that privilege by now," he joked. Even the small thought of Mulder checking her out of the hospital as family had butterflies flying circles in her stomach.
"I think they might require some sort of testing for that," she joked back.
"I think I can handle it," he said seriously. He then stood up and headed for the door. "I'll let you sleep Scully, when…when do you think you'll be back at work?"
She tried not to let her disappointment show as he reached for the door handle. "Um, you can tell Skinner I'll be back on Wednesday."
"Alright," he said smiling. "See you Wednesday Scully."
"See you Mulder," she said smiling as he nodded one last time and left her hospital room. Fuck, it was going to be a long two days.
Margaret Scully Residence
7:03 pm
Monday
Scully wasted no time calling her sister and getting herself checked out of the hospital after Mulder had left. She knew the doctors had more important patients waiting and she honestly just wanted to get home to her mother's house. She could use a night to think things over, and she didn't want to be in her own lonesome apartment.
"Dana you haven't touched the chicken yet; did I not cook it through completely?" Her mother asked suddenly from the opposite end of the rectangular dinner table.
She snapped back to reality. "No Mom, I'm sure it's wonderful, sorry."
"Got something on your mind honey?" Margaret inquired wiping her face with a napkin.
"Oh I'm pretty sure she's got someone on her mind," her sister said playfully before she could respond to her mother's question.
"Shut up Melissa," Scully said plainly.
"Dana," her mother said sternly reminding her of proper manners at the dinner table. It had been a few months since she had been back to her mother's and had forgotten what proper dinner etiquette was after spending so many nights with Mulder eating take out and poking fun at each other's jokes.
"Sorry Mom," she apologized and looked back down to her chicken.
"It's just that you hardly go five minutes without talking about him nowadays," Melissa explained.
"Melissa don't tease your sister," Margaret ordered.
"It's okay Mom," Scully said firmly and then turned her gaze to her sister. "I don't talk about him every five minutes."
"I assume we're talking about Fox?" Margaret asked interrupting the stare contest happening between Melissa and Scully.
"Yeah Mom," Melissa answered. "We're always talking about Fox."
Scully kept her gaze fixated on her sister. She knew she was just teasing, but she was so damn good at it that it got on her nerves and sometimes pushed her over the edge.
"He is a very nice man Dana," her mother said in between bites. "And handsome and strong, financially stable, kind, he's looked out for you a lot you know."
"I know Mom, but he's not, we're not-,"
"Having sex?" Melissa interrupted cutting Scully off, which she was somewhat grateful for because she had no clue where her last sentence had been going.
"Mom?" she asked looking over at Margaret. "You going to say anything about that?"
"I don't know Dana…," she paused and looked up with curious eyes. "Are you two having sex?"
"Mom!" Scully nearly shouted in shock.
"Oh don't sound so surprised sis," Melissa said calmly. "I can see you blush from here, it's just a simple question."
She tried to get the red on her face to secede and covered her mouth with her napkin. "No, we're not having sex."
"Hm," her sister mumbled. "Do you want too?"
Her face got even redder than her hair and she got up from the table. She washed her plate in the sink and headed upstairs to her old bedroom. As she exited the kitchen she heard her mom yell.
"Dana, we're sorry! We just want to know what's going on in your life!" She ignored them and kept walking up the stairs. She headed into her old bedroom and crashed on the bed she had slept on throughout high school. Still as comfy as the last time she had slept on it. She thought about Melissa's question in the privacy of her own mind. Did she want to have sex with Mulder? She didn't know…maybe…no. No she couldn't have sex with him they were partners, that would violate almost every code she was taught at Quantico. And the last time she had sex with a coworker it hadn't turned out so well. Still, she thought about the desire, her mom was right, Mulder was very handsome. She thought about how close he stood next to her all the time, how he had held her their first night in Bellefluer Oregon six years ago, how comfortable she felt in his arms.
FBI Building
2:36 pm
Tuesday
Mulder sat in his office making use of his time by throwing pencils at the ceiling, which was pretty much what he did whenever Scully wasn't in the office. He had finished whatever work needed to be done an hour ago and had sent the report on Padgett to Skinner, even though it wasn't an assigned case. Who would have thought though, an x-file literately lying dormant a door down from him, and the only reason he had discovered it was because of Scully. Hell, the only reason he discovered anything was because of her. He had come to realize over the past few years that he couldn't have gotten anywhere on the x-files without her. Her scientific and analytical brain had indeed kept him honest, it kept him grounded somewhat to reality. And that's why he needed her. He would have drowned himself in work six years ago if she hadn't come along, that said he still tried and he was still obsessed with finding the truth, but at least he had someone who could tell him when enough was enough. He thought after Antarctica she would leave him, she had come closer to death in that cold icy capsule than ever before and he figured it would break her resolve. But she stayed with the x-files, she stayed with him; and he had no idea why. As he reached for his phone to call her, Skinner walked in the basement office door.
"Heya Skin Man," he said relaxing back in his chair.
"Don't call me that Agent Mulder," Skinner responded taking a seat in front of his desk.
"What brings the Assistant Director down to the cold confines of Spooky's basement office today?" Mulder asked in a sales pitch kind of voice.
"The file, on this writer Padgett you sent me this morning, it doesn't make any sense." He replied.
"And does that surprise you? I mean more than half the cases we investigate don't make sense, it's why we investigate them," Mulder responded.
"Yes but you didn't turn up any conclusive evidence with this one Mulder," Skinner explained. "I can't accept this report there's nothing to go on here besides the fact that you and Agent Scully were assaulted by this man."
"Scully was killed by this man," Mulder elaborated.
"Yeah I read the report but I also talked to Agent Scully on the phone this morning and I'm assuming you took my hint and went to see her in the hospital yesterday, so if she was killed you're going to have a very hard time convincing me of that," Skinner said.
"Well she came back to life," Mulder said simply.
"And just how did she do that?" Skinner asked.
"I don't think she did it at all," Mulder stood up and paced around the basement office. He had been trying to come up with a somewhat reasonable explanation to all of this himself. "After I left Padgett in the furnace room, I bust into my apartment and saw Scully lying there in her own blood…and she came back to life."
"Yeah I know Agent Mulder that part was in the report," Skinner said annoyingly. "Can we cut to the chase?"
"You said that the crime scene guys didn't find any evidence of Padgett's story right?" he asked already knowing the answer.
"Yes but how does-,"
"He wrote his stories to life Sir, and then when I caught him in the furnace room…he burned them, and all of it was reversed."
Skinner was silent for a long time as Mulder watched him play the scenario out in his head. He wasn't even sure he believed in his theory, but it would explain how Scully came back to life.
"Agent Mulder I'm ordering you to take tomorrow off, in fact I'm ordering you to take the rest of the week off," Skinner finally said as he stood up from his seat. "You need some time away from the x-files, as does your partner, let Agent Scully know she can come back in on Monday. You two need a vacation."
"But-,"
"That's an order Agent Mulder," Skinner said firmly. "I'm going to post an agent outside this door tomorrow and if I hear that either of you two are here, I will personally kick you out myself." He turned and headed out the basement office door, but before he closed it he peeked his head around the corner one last time. "How is she Mulder?" he asked in a more caring tone.
"She's doing fine Sir, I think. She's at her mother's right now," Mulder replied. Truth was he wasn't sure if she was okay or not, she was a master in the art of hiding her emotions.
Skinner nodded and closed the door behind him, leaving Mulder standing in his office alone wondering what he was going to do for the next six days.
Dana Scully Residence
9:22 pm
Tuesday
"Mulder?" she asked picking up the phone in her living room whilst sitting on her couch.
"Hey Scully," his voice sounded raspy over the phone. "Just wanted to let you know that Skinner gave you and I the rest of the week off. I guess we've really gone off the deep end this time."
"The rest of the week?" she asked. She had no idea what she was going to do with herself for the rest of the week. It wasn't like she wanted to spend every waking minute at her mother's, and she certainly didn't want to stay with her sister, but staying at her apartment sounded so…mediocre.
"Yep," Mulder confirmed. "You doing okay G-woman?"
"Yeah Mulder," she affirmed him, "I'm fine." She wasn't exactly fine, she had a stressful weekend, died and somehow came back to life, spent a night in a hospital bed, and now was having a mental war with herself over her supposed feelings for the man she had known for six years. So no, she wasn't fine, but she didn't want to worry him.
"You still at your moms?" he asked softly.
"Um, no Mulder I'm back at my place now," she said cautiously. There was a few seconds of silence on his end of the call. She could practically hear him breathing.
"Do you want me to come over? I can bring wine," he politely suggested.
Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Fuck yes she wanted him to come over. But her brain sent different words to her mouth. "That's alright Mulder, I'm fine really. If I need anything I'll call."
She heard him sigh. "Okay Scully, goodnight, don't let the heart-wrenching mentally disturbed paranormal writers bite," he joked.
"Too soon Mulder," she warned.
"Sorry," he replied quickly sensing he had crossed a line. But making jokes was the only way he knew how to relieve awkward situations, and this was certainly an awkward situation. "Night Scully."
"Goodnight Mulder," she said sweetly. She kept the phone to her ear for quite some time before she heard his end of the line click. She fell over onto the couch and held her phone to her chest. What was she doing? Better yet, what was she not doing?
Fox Mulder Residence
9:25 pm
Tuesday
He stared at the phone in his hand for a few seconds before ending the call. He leaned back into his shitty brown couch and turned on the TV. He wasn't really watching anything, he just needed a distraction from his own thoughts, but they kept pushing into him. Had Scully wanted him to come over? He didn't know, he just knew that he had really wanted to go. Something about her lately had changed, she returned his affectionate stares, she even started to engage him in spouting out sexual innuendo at inappropriate times. He owed everything to her. When he told her he loved her after the time warp that sent him back to a ghost cruise liner in 1940 he knew he had meant it. He just wasn't sure how he meant it until she had reached up for him and clung to his chest after he thought she had died. That's when he realized how he loved her, and how much hurt she would cause him if she ever left. His eyelids slowly came down over his eyes and he fell into a deep sleep.
1:07 am
Wednesday
She had gotten dressed and left her apartment for Mulder's nearly twenty minutes ago. She rode in the elevator up to his door and fumbled around with her key. She didn't quite understand what had come over her. She just couldn't sleep, and she needed her G-man. She twisted the key in his door and it swung open, she walked in and slowly shut it behind her. She heard his TV on and saw him slumped over on his couch, still in his jeans and grey t-shirt. He hadn't noticed her walk in and was snoring loudly. She had only ever seen him asleep a few times, usually in a hospital bed twitching or with a blank expression on his face. But here he looked peaceful, his torso rising up and retreating down as he breathed. She immediately made her way over to the couch where he was laying and slipped off her heels and overcoat. She had worn jeans on the way over, but pulled those down as well, leaving just her underwear and t-shirt on her cold body. She stood in front of her sleeping beauty grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch and crawled into the space next to him covering their bodies with the warm blanket. She nuzzled as much as she could into him without trying to wake him up. Right now, lying next to him was enough for her, and if he woke up, only God knew what would happen. She slid her hand lightly around his waist holding onto his back for support and let her head fall softly onto the same pillow his head was resting on. She closed her eyes and was just about to slip into unconsciousness when she heard his voice.
"Dana…," he mumbled. She froze. She had woken him up…it was over. "Dana…," he mumbled again. She opened her eyes and looked over at her partner. His eyes were still closed and his hands seemed to be twitching underneath his head. Thank God she thought, he was just dreaming. He was dreaming…about her?
"We can't Dana…," he mumbled. We can't what, she wanted to ask, but stayed silent. She watched his lips move slowly in his sleep as he continued to mumble nonsense.
"Oh…Dana…" he said sensually. She raised her eyebrows and wondered if he was dreaming about the same thing she had dreamed before. And then he let out an audible moan, followed by another. He sounded exactly like she had imagined in her own dreams. She tried to get those memories out of her head, it wasn't like she had control of what her mind dreamed while she was asleep, sometimes she had sex dreams, and sometimes those dreams included Mulder. It was no big deal, there were a million purely scientific reasons why she would have sex dreams about him, he was an authority figure in her life, she hadn't had a serious relationship in eight years, she hadn't had sex in nine months.
After another five minutes of listening whole heartedly to his moans, she felt his body convulse on the couch next to her. It only lasted a few seconds and then he went completely silent. She had left her hand on his waist the entire time and now leaned closer into him as she fell into a deep, uninterrupted sleep.
8:16 am
Wednesday
He woke up slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the light that was shining through his windows. As his senses awoke, he began to move but felt a warm body lying next to him on the couch. He went completely still and looked down to where he felt the person who was pressed up against him. There was a blanket over their head and he slowly lifted it, revealing fiery red hair that he knew all too well. He let the blanket drop back down to cover her face and immediately looked around at the coffee table and floor. He didn't remember inviting Scully over last night, there was no obvious signs that he had done any heavy drinking, and he didn't have a hangover…so how did she end up on his couch. He suddenly felt a hand lightly sweep across his waist. He lifted the blanket again to survey the scene. He was still in the same pair of jeans he had worn last night and Scully was wearing a t-shirt…and no pants. Scully had no pants on, this wasn't looking good for him. He glanced around at the floor again and saw her jeans, heels and coat in a pile on the floor next to the coffee table. He froze not knowing what to do, if he tried to move off the couch, she would certainly wake up and if he stayed on the couch he would just have to wait until she woke up anyways. He decided he might as well take the initiative.
He poked her forehead and began to whisper. "Hey Scully…uh Scully…wake up…wake up Scully."
She began to stir and slid her hand up to his chest resting it near his heart but didn't wake up. He liked the feeling of her hand on his chest, even if he was wearing a t-shirt. No, stay focused Mulder he told himself. He moved his hands to her face and began to softly pat her cheek.
"Scully, wake up Scully…come on…wake up."
She lifted her head and opened her eyes slowly seeing her partner staring down at her with a concerned look on his face. Last night she hadn't quite thought out what she was going to say to him in the morning, but fuck it, she had gotten better at winging it since becoming his partner.
"Scully," he said slowly as he watched her beautiful eyes stare up into his. "What are you doing in my apartment?"
"Sorry Mulder," she said sweetly trying to sound as innocent as she could. She didn't want him to be angry at her, that was the last thing she needed right now. "I couldn't sleep last night, and used my key to get in, you were asleep on the couch and I didn't want to intrude on your bed so I just slept…here."
He didn't know what to think. He couldn't think about anything in this moment, except for how absolutely perfect she looked lying next to him.
"Your pants…" he muttered. "Your pants are…,"
She giggled. She hadn't meant to giggle, but seeing him in such an uncomfortable situation put a smile on her face. She had done that to him, she was the reason he was stuttering over his words.
"On the floor?" she answered.
He gulped and nodded. She still hadn't taken her eyes off of him since she woke up.
Waking up and seeing his face looking down into hers made Scully realize something. She wanted to see this every single day, she wanted to wake up next to him every morning. But she tried to calm herself. They weren't there yet; the morning was still young.
"Can you get them for me?" she asked sweetly.
He nodded and slowly sat up letting her hand fall from his chest onto his upper leg. She pulled the blanket over her lower body and sat up straight on his couch. He grabbed her jeans off the floor and handed them to her. She took them and slid them on under the blanket. When she got them on she stood up and faced Mulder as he stood in front of her blocking her way to the bathroom.
"Uh, Mulder?" she asked kindly.
"Yeah?" he asked unaware of his own actions.
"Can I get to the bathroom please?" she asked again pointing past him.
"Oh, jeez Scully sorry," he said moving quickly to his left and out of her way.
"It's alright," she said sweetly as she let her hand brush over his hip moving past him. She got to the bathroom door when his voice broke the tense air around them.
"Scully nothing…nothing happened last night right?" he asked cautiously.
She turned and looked at him piercing his deep hazel eyes with her seductive gaze.
"No Mulder," she giggled. "Nothing happened." She shut the door and put her back against it on the other side, slowly sliding down and letting out a deep exhale. Whoa. She felt as if she had just walked on the moon and avoided a collision with an asteroid. She was surprised by her determination not to give in to him there on his couch, God knows she wanted to.
She came out of the shower fifteen minutes later and opened the bathroom door a crack, keeping a towel wrapped around her nude body. "Mulder!" she shouted out for him.
"Yeah Scully?" he shouted back from the kitchen.
"I need you to get something from my purse," she requested as he came to the crack in the bathroom door.
"Yeah?" he asked sweetly seeing her bare shoulders and wet hair.
"My spare bra is in the right zipper pocket," she said simply.
The smile on his face fell into a more awkward grin. "Just get it Mulder," she commanded him. He left her sight and returned a moment later holding her black lace bra by the strap like it had been dunked in hazardous acid. She took it from him. "Thank you." She whispered. He merely nodded and watched as she shut the bathroom door in his face.
Ten minutes later she emerged from his bathroom fully dressed and met him in the kitchen where he was brewing coffee.
"All freshened up now Scully?" he asked trying to ease the tension.
"Yeah, thanks for not freaking out about this Mulder," she said taking a mug and filling it to the brim with the coffee he had made. "Straight black Mulder?" she asked.
"There's some sugar in the cupboard to your right, and milk in the fridge," he replied as he moved to the couch and switched on the TV again. He switched to a local news channel and tried to pretend like he was interested as Scully mixed her morning drink together. A moment later she joined him on the couch touching her leg to his and leaving no room between them.
"Hey Mulder," she said taking a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah," he answered taking a sip of his and keeping his eyes trained on the screen.
"How come you never call me Dana?" she asked trying to prompt him to answer about the supposed sex dream he had last night.
He kept his eyes on the television screen and set down his mug. "Because that would be unprofessional," he answered half truthfully. Really it was because he didn't want to get to attached to her, he had tried so hard over the past six years to not fall in love with her, and using her last name helped him remind himself of their plutonic relationship.
"How come you don't want me to call you Fox?" she asked again.
Christ there were a million answers to her question, but the biggest one was because after she had said it that first time, in his car six years ago on the Tooms case, he had almost died. The way it rolled off her tongue made him melt in his seat, it was like she had tried to say it as sensually as she possibly could, and it worked, it had worked oh so well.
"Nobody calls me Fox," he lied. "I told you that."
"That's not true," she called him out. "Your mom called you Fox, Phoebe Green called you Fox, even that dumb biologist Bambi called you Fox."
"That's not very nice Scully, Bambi was a brilliant scientist who-,"
"Who wanted to sleep with you," she interrupted. She knew it was true, and she had been so outrageously jealous when he had called her on that case. That he was solving a case without her, with some ridiculously named woman instead. Fox and Bambi…how cute, she had thought with angst. Even back then, when she hadn't realized her love for him, she had gotten extremely jealous.
"Well I'll have you know Scully we didn't sleep together, and I had never planned on it," he answered.
They were silent for a few minutes as they both pretended to watch the TV. She occasionally reached for her coffee mug to take a sip and when she did she noticed he would flinch slightly as she moved next to him.
She got up from his couch suddenly and set her mug down on the glass coffee table in front of them.
"I'm going to head out Mulder, I've got to go meet Melissa for brunch in a few hours and I should probably change my clothes before going over there, she might…assume things," she said.
"Oh uh okay Scully," Mulder said standing up and looking down into her eyes for what felt like the first time in forever.
"Yeah, so um, goodbye," she said turning to walk out the door. She felt him suddenly grab her hand with his intertwining his fingers in hers, he had never done that before. She turned back to face him.
"Mulder?" she asked quietly. Her heart began to pound even harder than it had been last night.
"Can I call you later Scully?" he simply asked.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes," she answered. A wave of happiness flooded through the canals of her brain and she smiled back at him. He returned her smile and slowly let go of her hand, letting her walk out of his apartment. Then a few seconds later he realized what he was doing. He ran out of his apartment and saw her standing in the elevator at the end of his hall still smiling when she caught glimpse of him.
"Mulder?" she asked half confused half ecstatic. Electricity was coursing through her veins as he stood at the opposite end of the hallway.
"Dinner, tonight, yes or no?" he shouted.
She could barely contain her happiness as she felt tears begin to form in the corner of her eyes.
"Yes," she shouted back to him. The elevator doors began to close.
"I'll call you before I come pick you up?" He shouted in joy.
She nodded her head and saw him smile his biggest smile ever as the elevator doors closed and took her down to the lobby. She walked out of his building, got in her car and headed to her sisters. She had so much to tell her.
Melissa Scully Residence
12:46 pm
Wednesday
"So you crawled into his bed and you didn't sleep with him?" Melissa asked sitting across the couch from her.
"No…I just slept next to him…" she leaned her head back and put a pillow over her face.
"Did you want to sleep with him?" Melissa asked repeating her question from the other night but this time in a more caring and less teasing way.
"I don't know…," she said. "I didn't until I heard him moan my name…,"
"HE MOANED YOUR NAME?" Melissa said loudly in shock.
"He was sleeping and I guess…I guess he was having a dream about me…I don't know Melissa, it could have been anything," she tried to play it off.
"Oh no sister," Melissa answered, "that was a sex dream, he was having sex with you in his mind."
"Well he didn't say anything about it this morning so I don't think he remembered," Scully said plainly. "But we're supposed to have dinner tonight so-,"
"You're having dinner? Like an actual go-out-to-a-restaurant-and-eat dinner?" Melissa asked.
"I assume so, he told me he would call me later," Scully answered.
"Wow," Melissa said in awe. "You're going to have sex tonight aren't you?"
"I…I don't know…we have a lot to talk about…" she said.
"Like your repressed sexual feelings for him, his sex dream about you, and not to mention the fact that FBI agents generally don't sleep in each other's beds with very little clothes on," Melissa said playfully.
"Yeah…all that."
Dana Scully Residence
5:58 pm
Wednesday
She had been staring at the phone for the past thirty minutes waiting for her G-man to call. She hoped she had dressed appropriately for wherever they were going, but that was thing with Fox Mulder, she never knew what to expect when she was with him, and she secretly loved it. The phone rang at that moment and she immediately picked it up.
"Mulder," she said quickly.
"Hey somebody sounds excited," he said. Shit, had she really sounded that excited to talk to him? She tried to mask it with her next sentence.
"So where are you taking me?" she asked. There was a sudden knock on her door and she got up from the couch. "Hold that thought Mulder." She opened the door and he was standing there, looking lavishly dressed in black slacks dress shoes and a light blue dress shirt, his top button was unbuttoned.
He brought the phone down from his ear and slid it in his pocket.
"Guess you'll have to wait and see G-woman," he said smiling at her.
"Oh Mulder, I…I didn't expect you yet…" she said looking down at her apparel. "Let me change and then we can go. Come in," she said grabbing his hand and leading him inside her apartment. She went to her bathroom and tried to change as quickly as humanly possible.
He was left sitting on her couch staring off into space as the woman he loved got ready for their first date. He hadn't told her it was a date, maybe she didn't think it was, but they had never gone out to dinner before, not by themselves anyways. After waking up next to her this morning though, everything had changed, his love for her grew leaps and bounds in the mere minutes he spent with her. He heard her bedroom door open and out she walked. She looked stunning, scratch that, there was not a word in all the languages on the planet that could describe her beauty. She was wearing a tight sparkly black dress that went down to her thighs, where one side split revealing her perfectly sculpted legs. Her fiery red hair was up in a bun and she had donned bright red lipstick and two earrings that had the shape of crescent moons. The dress had thin straps at the top that barely clung to her shoulders. Her luscious breasts were pushed up looking like they were about to break free from her dress any second.
"Mulder, your staring," she teased as she stood in the doorway to her bedroom.
"Your making me feel underdressed Scully," he joked regaining his composure.
She smiled at him and turned her back to him. "Come zip me up would you?"
He slowly got off her couch and walked towards her, stopping only a few inches from her exposed back, he followed the zipper down to her lower back where it currently lay, waiting impatiently for his touch. He put one hand on her waist to steady her as he pinched the zipper in between two of his fingers and slowly pulled it up her back watching as the fabric came together to hide her bare skin. He reached the top and she turned around.
"Thank you, now, let's get going," she said sweetly. "I'm hungry."
Enzio's Italian Restaurant
7:41 pm
Wednesday
"So you never called her back?" Scully asked as she took a sip of her very fancy chardonnay. Mulder was sitting across the table from her and they had just gotten through the talking about ex's phase of the date. She was confident it was a date, and she hoped he saw it that way too.
"Nope," Mulder replied as he stared back at her. His hazel eyes were even more starry than usual. "Was I supposed too?"
"No," Scully answered too quickly. He smiled and she tried to reverse out of her answer. "Well I don't know…maybe, but with a name like Bambi she probably has tons of men chasing her."
"You really didn't like her did you Scully?" he asked temptingly.
"I hardly knew her Mulder I think it would be unfair to say I didn't like her," she answered.
"You know Scully, they say an impression of someone is formed within the first two minutes of meeting them," Mulder said scientifically.
"Okay Mulder," she replied playing along with his game. "What was your impression of me when we met?"
Oh this was a dangerous game she wanted to play but he smirked back at her. "Well you have to understand how a man's mind works Scully, I saw a gorgeous woman walk into my office and my mind immediately went to why Skinner was sending me an angel."
She giggled and lifted her wine glass to her face trying to hide her red face. "I think you've had too much champagne Mulder, I'm pretty sure I was wearing a full body beige pantsuit and big rimmed glasses."
"It was as if you had walked right out of the pages of Playboy magazine," Mulder teased.
"Okay Mulder stop it," she warned seductively.
"Alright Scully, well two can play this game," he answered. "What was your first impression of me?"
Hmm. She tried to remember. He had turned around in his chair and took off his glasses and she looked into his young hazel eyes and almost melted before him. She hadn't loved him, but he was certainly physically attractive.
"That you were a work-obsessed, disorganized narcissist," she said playfully staring back at him.
He leaned back in his chair acting as if he had been stabbed in his heart. "Ouch Scully, that one hurt," he said winking back at her.
"But then…," she said softly. "Then we went to Bellefluer…and that night I came to your motel room and you held me and let me stay in your room… You opened up to me and I saw a different man, a better man."
Mulder simply sat there staring back at her as she waited for him to reply, but the waiter came by the table and interrupted their staring contest.
"More champagne Sir? Ma'am?" the young waiter asked.
"No thank you," Scully said first. Mulder looked up at the man. "The Mrs. is cutting me off thanks," he winked back to Scully. "But we'll take the check."
Outside Dana Scully Residence
8:37 pm
Wednesday
Mulder payed the for the dinner in full, not even allowing Scully to take out her purse and he drove them back to her apartment. He had tried to bid goodbye to her on the steps of her building, but she wasn't letting him go so soon. She had practically tugged him by the arm up the elevator to her apartment.
She fumbled through her purse her hands shaking with nervousness as she looked for her key. She lost the grip on her purse and it fell to the floor in front of her apartment. She bent down to start picking things up as Mulder put his hand gently on her back and helped her pick up her things.
"Sorry…," she said quietly. They both stood back up and she pulled out the key, putting it in her door handle and twisting it clockwise, the door clicked open and she pushed inside. Mulder followed her in but stayed standing near the entrance as she moved into her kitchen to pop open a bottle of wine. Her entire body trembled in anticipation.
"Thanks for dinner tonight Mulder, I really did enjoy it, I can't believe that place is as good as it was!" She said quickly trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. She struggled with the cork as she tried to open the bottle, she needed alcohol, it would calm her, put her in a better state to deal with him. She felt him come up behind her standing so close she was pushed up against the countertop and his hands came under her arms removing her hands from the bottle.
"Scully what's going on? You trying to get me drunk on purpose?" he whispered into her ear. She almost melted into his body at the feeling of his hot breath on her neck.
"No, I'm okay Mulder really I just-,"
"Is this about you sleeping over at my apartment last night?" he asked softly keeping her pinned up against the kitchen counter.
"No…yes…yes it is Mulder I'm sorry I've been acting so strangely lately…I've got to tell you something, it's about last night." She said turning around and facing him.
His lips were within a few inches of hers. He could hardly contain himself. But he was curious to see what Scully was going to tell him.
"We didn't have sex did we?" he asked making sure not to pressure her.
"No, no we didn't have sex," she said trying to hide her smile at the thought of it. It was no use, he lifted her chin so that she was staring up into his eyes, the eyes she had so desperately wanted to fall into.
"You…you were saying things, in your sleep…," she explained.
His hand fell from her chin and he took a step backwards letting her move away from the countertop again. "What things?" he asked confusingly.
"You said my name a few times…," she said softly hoping he wouldn't be upset with her for not telling him sooner. "My first name…," she felt a wave of pleasure run through her center as she trembled at the thought of it. "You were moaning…a lot…,"
"Jeez I'm sorry Scully I-,"
"You moaned my name, and I didn't tell you because I thought you knew, I thought you remembered…," she said quietly but firmly. "Do you remember anything?"
"No, I don't…sorry Scully that wasn't me, I don't daydream about those things, that was my subconscious mind…and I uh…haven't had sex in…a while," he answered stuttering over his words.
They stood no more than two feet apart as they both tried to process the next thing that was going to come out of their mouths, knowing it could have a significant impact on their relationship.
"How long?" she asked sweetly looking back up at him.
"How long?" he repeated back to her confusingly.
"Since you've had sex," she clarified. She licked her lips trying to keep her urges at bay.
"Oh uh jeez Scully that's a little personal don't you think?" he replied.
She turned back around ashamed at herself for even asking. She closed her eyes and felt her body temperature rise.
"Two and a half years."
She was jolted by the words and turned around to face her partner who was still standing in her kitchen, his eyes were fixated on her floor.
"What did you say?" she asked even though she had heard the words quite clearly.
"Oh come on don't torture me here Scully," he replied keeping his eyes off of her.
"No," she answered as she walked up to him and put her hands on his face making it so he was looking into her eyes. "Two and a half years?" she asked softly.
He nodded and stared back into her eyes. "When…when you got cancer…I thought I was going to lose you…and when I almost did, I guess I realized that there was not a single woman in the world I wanted more than you, and I just sort of stopped dating and stopped having sex entirely."
She felt the tears run down her face as she grabbed the back of his neck and forced his forehead to touch hers.
"You never said anything…," she said as she cried.
He felt her tears drip down onto his hands. "I knew I couldn't fall in love with you Scully, and I didn't know whether you would ever love me back so I just…I just kept it a secret."
"Oh God Mulder," she whispered into his ear. "I've been in love with you for a long time now, but after Padgett, it became so much more clear…it was like something woke up inside me."
She felt his arms wrap around her waist and pick her up, she kicked off her heels and looked straight ahead into his beautiful eyes. His lips leaned into hers, colliding with a passion she had never known before as he sucked her lips into his and they exchanged love.
She kissed him back letting him take the lead, she felt his mouth open and his tongue begin to enter mouth, she responded in kind by letting her own tongue glide into his mouth. She wrapped her legs around him as best she could in her dress and ran her fingers through his hair.
He broke away and looked at her as she was overcome with lust. "Do you want to do this Dana?"
Even if she hadn't, he had used her first name, there was no escaping this prison of passion now. She smiled at him seductively and nodded. "Take me to the bedroom," she ordered.
He carried her from the kitchen to her bedroom and shut the door behind them all while staring deeply into her beautiful blue eyes. He gently laid her down on her bed and stood at her feet ready to be commanded. Instead she stood back up and moved to where he was standing. Looking over her shoulder back at him she moved her hair out of the way and spoke softly.
"Unzip me," she said exhaling trying to get the oxygen back into her lungs.
He reached to the zipper at the top of the dress and reversed his earlier action, slowly pulling it down watching as the fabric separated to reveal her perfect shiny skin. She slipped the straps off of her shoulders.
"Pull it down," she said. He grabbed the sides of her dress and pulled it down to her waist, looking back up he noticed she wasn't wearing a bra. She turned around slowly to face him and stared up at him seductively as he resisted the urge to stare at her breasts.
"Fox." There it was, she had said his first name for the first time in nearly six years, and it sounded even better than the last time she said it. He could no longer maintain his composure. He looked down at her breasts, they were perky and flawless, just like the rest of her.
"Dana…," he said. "I've dreamed about this for years…and I don't want to screw it up with one night, you should know…I'm in this for…" he ran out of the words to say.
She knew what he meant. "Forever," she whispered lovingly. He nodded and she put her hands on his chest looking longingly into his eyes. "Me too."
With that decided he hoisted her up onto him again and they laughed as he toppled over onto her bed. She landed on top of him and began to straddle him as their mouths connected once more engaging in a furiously passionate make-out session. She felt him grow hard under her as she sat on top of him. She began to slide herself along his length. She had wanted this for so long.
"Dana…," he moaned in pleasure. It sounded exactly like it had the night before, except this time it was real, this was happening. She grabbed him and began to stroke him through his slacks.
"I want you Fox," she whispered into his ear. "I want all of you."
He swung her over so that he now laid on top of her, she gazed up at him with her deep blue eyes. He returned her gaze and looked down at her with his piercing hazel eyes. She began to cry again.
"Shhh Dana shh it's okay," he said as he held her in his arms. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said staring back up at him lovingly. She leaned up into him and wrapped her arms around his chest pulling him close so that their faces were no more than a few millimeters apart.
"All my life I never imagined you would be the one I would fall in love with, and now, here you are," she sniffled. "In my bed, making love to me, everything is right in the world…I'm so happy you're here."
He let a single tear fall from his eye onto her chest. The woman had a way with words. He couldn't deny that.
"I'm happy you're here with me…" he said as he softly kissed her lips. He pulled away a mere second later. "And Dana…,"
"Yes Fox?" she asked choking back tears of joy.
"I remembered something else…"
"What's that?"
"I'm madly in love with you."
"I'm madly in love with you too."