Sorry it took me so long to update. I had the worst case of writer's block ever. But here's an update, and I hope you guys like it!
This one is dedicated to Jess yet again because I love her to death and she is my inspiration for the hips before hands scene. :]
Disclaimer: I own nothing ;)
Oh and btw, I LOVE Josh Groban, so don't think Scully's opinion is my own :]
Scully watched Mulder as they drove, their apartment building getting smaller in the distance. There was a gleam of excitement in his eyes that she used to see all the time when they worked together as agents.
"Mulder, what are you up to?" she asked.
"You'll see," he said, grinning. "We're almost there. Put this on." He handed her a red blindfold.
"Are you kidding me?" Scully said.
"Just do it," Mulder replied with a laugh. Scully sighed and tied the blindfold around her head. It felt strange staring at nothing but red as they kept driving. She felt the car stop and Mulder back up into what she assumed was a parking space.
"Are we here?"
"Yep," Mulder said. She heard his door slam, and the car was left in temporary silence. Then her door opened and she felt Mulder helping her out of the car.
"Can I take this thing off now?" Scully asked. Mulder took her hand and led her forward.
"Soon, Scully." She felt some kind of rough dirt beneath her feet and some sort of familiar smell that she just couldn't put her finger on. Finally, they stopped. "Alright, Scully," Mulder said. She reached to slip off the blindfold. But Mulder stopped her, gently grabbing her hand. He was behind her now; she could feel his warm breath on her ear. "I'll do it," he whispered. She let him slip the red blindfold carefully off of her head. She had to blink a few times before her eyes could adjust to where they were.
"Mulder," she gasped as she realized that they were standing in the same exact baseball field they had stood in about eight years ago. It still looked exactly the way she remembered it: the bright stadium lights, the empty bleachers, and the wide expanse of grassy field. Scully closed her eyes for a second and could almost hear the smack of the bat against the baseballs that Mulder had been hitting when she found him that cool evening. She opened her eyes as she felt Mulder's arms wrap around her waist.
"Remember?" He grinned at her.
"How could I forget?" She turned to smile back at him. He kissed her nose.
"Come on, let's hit some balls," he said.
"Okay," Scully agreed. They walked to home plate, entering the batting cage.
"Thanks to modern technology, we don't need that kid to load up the balls this time," Mulder said, pointing to a pitching machine on the pitcher's mound.
"Only you, Mulder," Scully said, happy to have Mulder's arms around her and no one else around. It made her feel safe.
"And, it comes with a remote." Mulder pulled a small black device out of his jacket pocket.
"How clever," Scully said with a smirk. "Now what are we supposed to hit with?"
"I'm ahead of you, Scully," Mulder said. He let go of her waist and walked over to the benches near the batting cage. He picked up a bat and handed it to her. Then he was behind her again, helping her hold the bat. "Remember what I taught you?"
"No, Mulder," Scully said playfully, "I think you need to remind me."
Mulder laughed. He let go of the bat, leaving it in her control. Then, ever so gently, he placed his hands on her hips, "Hips" and turned them to the left "before hands".
"Thank you, Mulder, I remember now," Scully said, grinning to herself. "Hips before hands."
"That's right," he replied, squeezing her hips. "Now, let's play some ball." He clicked the remote with his thumb and the baseball machine began spitting out balls. The first one was a surprise; neither of them thought it would come that fast, so it went right past them. They were ready the second time. The bat made contact with the baseball and sent it soaring into right field. The next two hits were just as successful.
"You're better at this now, Scully." –smack-
"Shut up, Mulder" –smack- "I'm playing baseball." She turned to wink at him and then back at the pitcher's mound as they sent another ball into the outfield.
"Let's run on this next one, Scully," Mulder said. She nodded and they braced themselves for the next baseball. It came towards them and they made contact. This time, the ball made its way past the outfield. "Holy shit," Mulder managed with a laugh before dropping the bat, grabbing Scully's hand, and pulling her towards first base.
They ran, giggling like little kids, all the way through the bases. They almost made it to third base when Scully suddenly tripped over something on the ground and found herself toppling over into the dust, pulling Mulder down with her.
Mulder's first reaction was to make sure Scully was okay. He didn't even bother to brush off his dust-covered jeans as he crawled over to where Scully lay. "Scully, are you alright? That was some fall."
Scully was laughing so hard she couldn't let him know she was okay. She gasped out an "I'm fine."
Mulder lay next to her on the dusty ground, holding her hand again. She turned to look at him, still gasping with laughter. Mulder leaned in and swallowed her laughter with his lips. Scully wrapped one arm around his neck and moved even closer to him, not even caring that her clothes were now brown with baseball field dust. They lay there for a while, enjoying the cool breezes under the star-filled sky.
A bit later, they got up from the ground, arms still around each other. They walked together to Mulder's car in silence. There was no talking needed. Tonight had been wonderful and neither wanted to ruin the magic by making conversation.
Once they were in the car, however, Mulder felt the need to turn on the radio. "Wonder if there are any cheesy love songs on tonight," he teased.
"Mm," Scully murmured.
Mulder turned to look at her. She was gazing at him with a peaceful smile on her face. Mulder didn't think he'd ever seen her bright blue eyes look so beautiful. He kissed her tenderly and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, still looking at him.
Mulder turned up the volume on the radio. The deejay was just announcing the next song. "And now a song for all the lovers out there, When You Say You Love Me by Josh Groban."
"Ugh, Josh Groban. That man cannot sing," Scully said.
"What? Scully, that's blasphemy right there. Josh Groban has a voice like a choir of angels," Mulder said.
"Okay, Mulder, you're taking that too far," Scully said. She changed the radio station.
"Scully, you don't appreciate good music," Mulder grumbled but let her change the station. It was a news broadcast. The news reporter talked about the War in Iraq for a few minutes.
"And now for some local news. A few hours ago, police discovered the body of Don Childers in his apartment, apparently death by a gunshot wound to the head. No suspects have been named yet. But we are getting word that Mr. Childers had been arrested earlier this week for assault on a female professor at the local university. More details to come."
On that last sentence, Mulder pressed his foot hard down on the brake, and they were both pushed forward in the car.
"Mulder, what the hell?" Scully cried.
"Did you just hear that, Scully?"
"Of course I did, Mulder, but it wasn't necessary to stop the car like that."
"Sorry."
"It's alright. Wow. Don Childers is dead." Mulder and Scully sat there for a few moments, shocked into silence by this announcement.