They had finished eating at the local diner, and Scully was exhausted. All she wanted to do right now was lie in the motel bed and fall asleep. She had just said good night to Mulder and gave a sigh of relief as she closed the door. Leaning against it, she took a moment before beginning to get ready for bed.

She first noticed the strange smell coming from the bathroom. It only took one look to decide she was definitely not going in. Flopping onto the bed she felt something move in the mattress. Then there was a small rustling from the cupboard. Nope, that's it, I'm not sleeping in here.

She closed the door and inhaled the cold outdoor air. Mulder wouldn't be asleep yet but she really didn't want to disturb him so she began walking towards the register. The girl who was sat inside, looked up from whatever they'd been reading.

"May I help you?" she squinted and arched her eyebrows.

"Could I please get another room?"

The girl turned slowly towards the computer, and began looking through what Scully assumed were the list of rooms, glancing every so often up at her. Mulder had been the one to get the rooms when they had first got here and so she had not interacted with the girl. However, she seemed to have an automatic resentment towards Scully.

Mulder had probably said something without thinking and the girl had taken it the wrong way.

The girl had turned towards her and was sneering slightly at her. Yeah definitely Mulder. Or maybe she was jealous. That thought was interrupted.

"Sorry lady but we don't have any rooms left, it's the one you've got or nothing."

She could hear the jeering tone in the girl's voice. Scully just smiled uncomfortably in reply and turned back towards the rooms.

As she stepped up to the door, she hesitated knocking. Mulder was probably inside asleep or watching TV and definitely didn't want to be disturbed. The alternative was the car.

She knocked.

"Come in."

She cracked the door open.

"Oh hey Scully. What is it?"

Scully stepped inside and closed the door behind her. The anxious anticipation slowly ebbing away.

"Is it alright if I stay in here, I already checked that there aren't any other spare rooms although that's not actually definite because I think the receptionist kind of hates me. I'll be fine to sleep on the couch."

She noticed Mulder had just sat silently gazing at her during her little outburst. For some reason he seemed slightly amused. His face became a frown as he noticed her confusion.

"Yeah, of course it's fine Scully. I'll sleep on the couch so you can take the bed."

"No Mulder, really you should have the bed. You barely sleep in a bed as it is and I think we'll both be in a far better mood tomorrow if you take it."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Scully huffed and sat down on the couch. She continued to sink for a moment until a ripping sound came from the couch and a huge puff of dust rose into the air. Scully hastily stood up again. Mulder raised his eyebrow.

"Well looks like no one's sleeping there."

After Scully had finally given in she had got ready for bed having retrieved the few things she'd left in her room. Now wrapped in her dressing gown she looked towards Mulder to move from his position on the bed. He scooted to nearly the edge, his back facing her to give her enough space to lie down. Scully leaned over and turned off the light.

It was the early hours of the morning when Scully was awoken due to the bed suddenly moving and a very girly scream coming from Mulder.

"What the hell is going on."

That was all she heard before a thud. Scully was very glad she wasn't that close to the edge of the bed.

"Ergh."

"You alright Mulder?"

She could tell she sounded way too happy about him falling out of bed but his little grunt was just too cute.

"Thanks for the concern."

Mulder had stood up and bashed the magic fingers until it gave a final whine before stopping the bed from shaking.

"I swear this motel wants us out of here."

Scully looked up.

"Let's just sort this out in the morning."

Mulder clambered back onto the bed and lay on his back.

"Scully, do you ever think about leaving?"

What the hell. Where had this come from? She tried to stay calm.

"Leaving what?"

"Oh you know, the Bureau, the x files. I mean with everything that's happened to you…."

She looked over at him and could see the pain in his eyes.

"Mulder look at me."

He turned to face her now laying on his side.

"I don't. Ever. I may have thought about it in the first few months, I mean can you really blame me? I'd gone to medical school then to quantico just to get stuck in some basement. But after that I realised that the work we did…"

She sighed.

"The work we still do is worth any of the sacrifices we have had to make. We have a real chance at finding the truth. The number of times I've felt we're so close to it, just to slip out of our grasp. And I know what you're thinking. It doesn't mean I believe in aliens or vampires or werewolves, it means I think it's important that we do find what's being hidden."

Mulder was giving her an insanely cute smile.

"What?"

"Oh Scully, I just love it when you get all spooky on me. How far you've come."