The Wrappers

I don't own The X Files or its characters. The X Files is the property of Chris Carter, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

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Chapter 3 by Anarchy X-Phile

Mulder pulled the Bureau sedan into Scully's apartment building's garage and parked it in his usual place; normally, he would just called her to let her know he was out here waiting and she'd come down to him—but this time he decided to go up and knock on her door. This way, he could carry her luggage for her... or maybe she would offer him something to drink before they left and he could go inside.

He liked her apartment much more than he liked his own. While he spent his free time watching movies or researching old case files, she spent her spare time burning tiny decorative candles that smelled like cinnamon and baked apples—in the living room and kitchen—and lavender in her bedroom. Yes. He knew exactly what her bedroom smelled like. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he dreamed of those stupid candles all the time—the way their tiny flames would flicker in the darkness and give out just enough light to see her skin slide against her creamy sheets.

God he was pathetic. She was out there using condoms with God only knows who and he was sitting here daydreaming about her candles.

He sulked up the stairs to her apartment and knocked softly on the door, his hand moving from the door to his tie so he could loosen the choke-hold it had on his neck. He immediately heard her footsteps approach the door and he tried to bite back a smile. He loved the moment she opened the door—any door; that split second the door swung open and revealed her face, well, there was nothing like it in the world. There was that brief moment when she realized it was him and her face... it was hard to explain but put simply, it lit up. But then that moment would end and she would either duck her head down and invite him inside or she would frown and ask him why he was at her door at 2AM.

"Mulder," she said as her own way of greeting him before she swung the door open wider and motioned for him to come inside. He stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him as she rushed back to her bedroom. She must not be finished packing yet.

"I'm not finished packing yet." She said over her shoulder before she disappeared down the hallway.

This wasn't too unusual and normally he would grab something out of her fridge and relax on the couch until she was ready but today was different. He wanted to be her bedroom again. He wasn't going to look in her trashcan this time, he didn't want to see it again. But he did want to smell that damn candle. And maybe she hadn't packed her underwear yet and he'd get a sneak peak. Probably not but a man could dream.

She heard his footsteps follow her down the hallway as she went into her bedroom. He'd been in here a couple times—never anything inappropriate, of course—but it still made her breath catch in her throat; surrounded by all her belongings, he looked so out of place here. The ceilings in her apartment were low and whenever he was here, she was reminded how tall he was; while they were at work, she was usually wearing heels that helped make up for her short stature, but right now she was barefoot and he seemed so large, looming over her as she nervously finished packing.

"It's about a four hour drive. We can either grab dinner on the road or wait until we get there and sit down somewhere." He said as he plopped down in a small armchair she had in the corner of her room.

She flinched when she saw that there was a bra hanging off the back of the chair and she tried to get his attention before he noticed. "We can wait until we get there. What are you in the mood for?" Her words were rushed and she hadn't been able to disguise the tremble in her voice. She shoved a pile of clothes into her suitcase and glanced over her shoulder at him, her eyes betraying her as they quickly flicked worriedly towards the bra before moving back down to his face.

A smile flickered across his lips for a brief second before he masked his amusement; he'd seen the bra the moment he stepped through the door, although he thought the blush on her cheeks was the most adorable thing in the world. He reached blindly behind him until he felt the padding of the bra and he closed his fingers around it, his fingertips sliding unnecessarily across the fabric as he watched her face. He brought his hand forward and looked at the garment, noting the color, style, and weight of it so he could remember it later when he was dreaming of her in this lavender soaked room.

He stood up and walked the short distance to her, pulling his bottom lip in between his teeth as he battled against his desire to lift the bra to his face so he could smell it—he'd much rather bury his head in her actual breasts than something she'd worn a few days ago, but the temptation was still there. He got within inches of her body before he offered the bra to her, his face down-turned so that she could feel his breath on her forehead; when it came to Scully, neither one of them cared much about invading the other's personal space, but being so close to her in this room was beginning to make his pants tighter. "Don't forget this," he whispered as his eyes flicked from her face down to her bra; it wasn't a particularly fancy bra—it had very little lace and had a more practical look than anything sexy, but holding it in his hands with her so close to him was intensely erotic. For both of them.

Her chest was rising and falling quickly as she licked the corner of her lip and looked down at the floor, pulling the bra out of his hands so quickly that she nearly yanked off one of his fingers when it got wrapped around the shoulder strap. She mumbled a clipped "thank you" and shoved it into the suitcase, slamming the lid closed and zipping it up. She tried to ignore the fact that he was standing right behind her, his hand still halfway extended towards her as though he was going to touch her. She glanced behind him and noticed that his eyes were focused on her ass, still chewing softly on his bottom lip. God, why did he have to be so damn sexy?

"Mulder..." she started but then stopped when her home phone began ringing.

"Go answer it, I'll carry this." He said as he reached his arm around her, nearly encircling her waist as he grabbed the suitcase handle. He raised his eyebrows at her and she nodded her head and stepped around him, heading out the door and leaving him in her room.

She walked into the living room and over to the phone to answer it before her answering machine picked up; "hi mom," she said immediately into the receiver. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and released a slow breath and then looked up to see Mulder stepping back into the living room with her bag in hand. "I'm going out of town on a case." She turned away from Mulder and rubbed her hand across her stomach. "It won't be a long one, I'll call you when we get back into town." She paused for a few seconds and then nodded her head. "Alright mom, I will. Love you." She dropped the phone back on the charger and turned back to Mulder. "Ready?"

He nodded his head and walked towards the door, opening it for her and then stepping out into the hall so she could close it and lock it behind them.

When they were in the car and had made it out of the heavy DC traffic, they got onto the freeway and picked up speed. She unbuttoned her suit jacket and relaxed back in her seat. "I know you didn't want to do this case."

"It's not because you chose it, if that's what you're still thinking. I just don't think the incident holds merit. I think we're going to get down there and find that the woman was tired of her job and found a way lucrative way out. She's already filed insurance claims, workers compensation, and a lawsuit against the hospital."

"Mulder. Both of her eyes were blacked, two ribs were broken, she had bruises across her entire body. It is physically impossible for her to have self inflicted all these wounds; even with the adrenaline caused by an episode like this, she would have passed out well before she had the chance to finish assaulting herself. Her medical exam also showed signs of recent intercourse but she claimed that it's been over a year since...uh... well...since she had had sex."

"Over a year, huh? That's a pretty good stretch of celibacy, don't you think? When's the last time you did the naked pretzel, Scully?"

She gave him a sideways glance and then looked out her window for a few seconds, deciding whether or not she should answer. Finally she sighed and ran a finger nervously across her brow. "We don't really have a lifestyle that caters to a personal life, Mulder. Chasing leads and cases all over the country makes it difficult to carry on any type of relationship—even a no-strings-attached agreement."

He felt his stomach drop to the floorboard; just hearing her talk about a no-strings-attached relationship made him insanely jealous. "You carefully avoided giving me an answer," he said as he forced his eyes to stay on the road when all he wanted to do was look over at her.

"It's been a while."

"Define a while."

"It's been...just...a while, Mulder. I haven't sat down and counted the days." She was irritated, not so much by his question but in the fact that she knew it had been longer for her than it had been for him.

"Counted the days, huh?"

"Counting months would be easier, if you must know." Although counting the years was also an option—but she wasn't about to admit it had been over 3 years since she'd been in a man's bed. Her last round of the 'naked prezel' had been while she was going through the academy; Jack. She had never felt that he was a particularly good lover—he had given her a basic level of contentment in bed but he'd never blown her mind. Not in the slightest. She settled for a while, but eventually she had gotten restless and moved on—it wasn't worth her time. Then she got involved with the X Files and everything took a backseat to her career.

Mulder's brows furrowed as he thought about her answer; she had to be lying. Condom wrappers didn't just appear in bedroom trashcans. On the other hand, she had never lied to him before. Why would she start now? Trust was a major issue with them.

"How about you?" She asked, biting the inside of her cheek to mask her curiosity. A part of her hoped he'd been celibate as long as she had, but the realist in her thought it was ridiculous to believe he'd been faithful. Whoa. Faithful? Where had that word come from?

"Well it's it's been a while for me too, Scully." He answered slyly. "Most girls run away at the first mention of my job. Hunting aliens evidently isn't a chick magnet."

Her eyebrow arched slightly before she ducked her head down to look at her hands in her lap. "I didn't run," she said softly, immediately regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

He chuckled softly—not a that-was-funny chuckle, but more like a I-hadn't-thought-of-that chuckle. He liked it when she slipped and revealed little tidbits about herself; despite how much time they spent together, sometimes she felt like a complete mystery to him. He smiled and chanced a quick look over at her, "no...you never did, did ya?"

"Define a while," she said, flashing him a rare, open-lipped smile.

"You're like a dog with a bone, Agent Scully." He said with a quick wink before he cleared his throat and looked back at the road. "It's been...God, at least a couple years. I dunno—it just...well it just doesn't feel right." She busted out in a full bellied laugh, her upper body shaking as she tossed her head back and let it land against the headrest. She closed her eyes as she felt them begin to water up.

"Care to share the joke, Scully?" He asked, looking over at her and feeling his lips tilt into a smile just watching her; his hand moved with a mind of its own and nearly laid itself boldly on her leg, completely caught up in the moment. He jerked his hand back to the steering wheel and thanked God she hadn't seen him because her eyes were still closed.

"I've seen some of your videos Mulder, you can't expect me to believe that it doesn't feel right?" She wiped the side of her index finger under her eyes and caught the small tears that had collected in the corners of her eyelids and then dried her finger on the knee of her suit pants. She hummed low in her throat as she caught her breath and Mulder felt his groin tighten. He liked that hum—it almost sounded like a moan and the thought of making her moan was the most appealing thought he'd ever had in entire life.

"Oh, that." He said as he turned away from her to watch the road; he always felt embarrassed when she talked about his movie 'hobby' but it always seemed to make her smile so he never deprived her of the opportunity to laugh at his collection. "But that's different than sex; movies are...impersonal, distant."

Her eyebrow arched as she grew serious again. "You want sex to be impersonal?"

"No." He said quickly and a bit too loud; he didn't want her to misunderstand. "I just meant that with movies, my emotions aren't involved. The next time I have..." he paused briefly, unable to say the word 'sex' with her looking at him so intently, "...well, it'll be completely personal and it will feel right. I'm just waiting for that moment."

"Fox Mulder—who would have ever thought you had a heart under that badge?" She grinned, reaching over to pull on the elbow of his suit jacket jokingly.

"Anytime you want to see what else I'm hiding under this badge, you just let me know." She chuckled and let go of his sleeve, giving him a lingering look before she relaxed in her seat and closed her eyes.