Chapter Eight - Comfort In The Night
2:33 am
Mulder dreamed deeply that night his dreams filled with Scully as they often were. On this night he dreamt of the two of them walking hand and hand along the beach talking taking only the occasional break to stop and kiss.
He was so intent on taking his dream to its conclusion that he didn't hear her first scream. He heard the second one though and bounded into the bedroom totally forgetting the dream and the aroused state in which it put him.
Scully was still asleep but fighting frantically - the bed clothes tangled around her. Their presence seemed to aggravate her more as she kicked to try and free herself.
Mulder climbed onto the bed and took her into his arms suffering several blows from her flailing fists until he managed to wake her up.
He rocked her slowly holding her close and whispering terms of endearment into her ear. Scully finally opened her eyes and blinked as her mind finally grasped the fact that it was Mulder who had once again saved her.
She stared at him for a second and then buried her head on his shoulder and cried. Mulder was shocked at the intensity of the tears and the fact that she let them fall in front of him.
His chest was getting soaked from her tears but he never relaxed his grip on her and continued the slow rocking and tender words until the sobs slowed and finally stopped.
Scully hiccupped a little as she pulled her head back and thoughtless swiped at her nose with her sleeve. She started to say something to him but the sight of him hair messed from sleep looking at her with eyes filled with concern and love started her crying all over again.
This bout of tears was less severe and brought on not by the terror of her nightmare but the realization of what she had been forced to give up four years ago.
Scully finally pulled herself together enough to separate herself from Mulder a bit. She did the best she could to smooth down her pajamas and hair and then stopped when she saw Mulder smiling at her.
"You don't have to do that Scully" he said pushing a lone piece of hair behind her ear "You always look beautiful to me."
Scully frowned at this comment but let it pass. "Do you want to talk about it?" Mulder asked still stroking Scully's back.
Scully nodded "In a minute Mulder - just let me pull myself together a little first."
"No problem, take your time." He said rising from the bed already missing the feel of her against him. "I'll go get you a glass of water"
When he returned back to the bedroom he found Scully sitting on the straightened bed leaning back against the pillows with her eyes shut.
"You just couldn't leave it, could you?" he said jokingly motioning to the bed.
Scully opened her eyes and looked at him forcing herself to smile. "What can I tell you Mulder, old habits die hard."
He handed her the glass of water, waited for her to take a drink and then took the glass and placed it on the bedside table. He sat on the bed next to her and without thinking put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"Apparently so do nightmares" he said resuming the comforting stroking of her back.
Scully snorted at this comment. "I am not surprised that I dreamed of Holton tonight but tonight the dream was different."
"How so?" Mulder said into her hair.
Scully began to describe the dream. Her usual nightmares concerning Holton relived that terrible day six years ago down to every last detail with one exception - Mulder did not arrive in time to save her.
The nightmare tonight was a slight variation of that. Scully dreamt that she had been sitting in Mulder's office when Holton had attacked her from behind. He had little problem dragging her kicking and screaming form out of the office and down the hall into the storage room.
"In my dreams, at least, your theory about Holton getting his strength from my fears proved true. He picked me up like I weighed nothing at all."
Mulder was going to inform her that she was indeed quite light, but decided to let her continue.
Despite her best efforts to fight him off, Scully had found herself in the storage room with all four of her extremities tied separately so she lay on the floor spread out and totally open to his attacks.
Whereas six years ago Holton had pretty much proceeded with the business of trying to rape her, this time he had slowly moved along her body slitting her clothes with a knife so her most private areas lay naked for his inspection.
It was then when Mulder had burst into the room weapon drawn and had ordered Holton to stop. Holton had turned to look at him and had only smiled and given a brief nod of his head.
A gunshot rang out from the corner of the room and Mulder crumpled to the floor. Scully screamed again first at not knowing whether or not Mulder was dead and second from realizing from where the shot had come.
Ryan Holton stepped out of the shadows and walked over to his brother. "Well done, brother Robert had said pulling away from Scully. You can have the first go at her."
"It was right about then that you managed to wake me up." Scully said pulling her head off of Mulder's shoulder so she could look up at him.
Mulder said nothing but pulled Scully closer to him and kissed her on top of her head.
They stayed that way for a long, long time. It was Scully who finally broke the silence. "Mulder" she began timidly "would you mind terribly staying in here with me tonight?"
Mulder didn't answer just gave her another squeeze and kiss on the top of her head.
He released her and she lay down on top of the bed curled up into a little ball. Mulder grabbed the afghan off the end of the bed and lay down beside her wrapping her in his arms and covering them up.
They stayed like that, not moving just taking comfort for each other's presence.
"Scully?" Mulder whispered after awhile.
"Yes"
"Do you remember when I said you were my one in a billion?"
Scully head moved indicating that she did indeed remember. "You still are Scully. She meant nothing to me then."
Scully said nothing but from the small sniffling sounds she was making Mulder could tell she was crying.
He nuzzled her neck and kissed her there whispering "God Scully I missed you."
"But.but" Scully was trying for the second time that night to pull herself together "you never even looked for me. I thought for sure you would, but you didn't. I knew then that I was right to leave you."
Scully's voice grew stronger now and was tinted with the smallest bit of anger. "Your quest for the truth was what was important to you. Whatever your feelings for me were, they were nothing compared to the drive to find out the truth about. everything. I was just standing in your way."
Mulder sat upright at this statement his own anger rising. "You are right Scully. I did let my search for the truth run every aspect of my life. I always thought that when we had found the truth that then there would be time for us."
Scully had also sat up in bed but instead of snuggling towards him for comfort pushed herself back so she leaned against the headboard. She simply snorted at his comment.
Mulder glared at her for a second and then his look softened. "When you left Scully I was hurt and very angry but thought, selfishly, that you would come back to me. When I finally realized that you weren't coming back, it was like something had been ripped from me. I was no longer whole."
"But still you did nothing about it." Scully accused
"I wanted to, but Diana convinced me that it was in your best interest to let you go. I wanted to believe that so I did nothing."
"Diana tried to fill your place, both on the X-files and in my heart, but couldn't. She left me then too and later I found out that she was working all along for the Cancer Man."
He picked up Scully's hand then. "It was then that I realized that they had been working to tear us apart. They knew, what I didn't, that together we were unstoppable."
Scully looked very tired and sighed "And when did you come to this realization Mulder?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, two and half, three years ago. I thought about looking for you then but part of me was hoping that you had found yourself a normal life by then."
He looked into her eyes and she saw the amount of pain that still remained there. "I was also a bit embarrassed I suppose and didn't know exactly what I would say to you if I did find you."
"Well I am here now" Scully said with a slight look of challenge in her eyes. "and I am all ears."
Mulder looked a bit panicked for a mere second knowing that he had painted himself into a corner. Now was his big chance - he had better not blow it.
He took the hand that he was still holding and turned it so the palm was facing up. He raised it to his lips and kissed it sending shivers up Scully's spine.
"I want you Scully" he said as he drew himself closer "and when this case is over I am going to convince you to stay."
"How do you plan to do that?" Scully said her voice breaking ever so slightly.
Mulder drew close enough so she could feel his breath on her face. "I am going to wine you and dine you and romance you." He began staring at her lips which she was unconsciously licking. "Then I will take you to bed and please you."
He kissed her then. The kiss was full of tenderness and love and the prospect of what could happen between them.
Scully was about to open herself up to him when he slowly pulled away. Placing his forehead on hers and breathing a bit more heavily he explained why he had stopped. "Scully unless you want me to display the ungentlemanly side of myself, I suggest we call it a night."
Scully was about to protest when he placed a finger on her lips. "When I take you to bed Scully" he smiled when she raised an eyebrow at this statement "for the first time it is going to be the perfect ending to the perfect night. And" he continued straightening himself up "will be because we want to be there for all the right reasons and not because of all this."
Scully smiled up at him and shook her head and crawled back under the afghan. Mulder joined her there and took her into his arms where she promptly fell asleep.
This time dreaming only of Mulder and his kiss.
+++++++++ End of chapter eight. Comments anyone?
2:33 am
Mulder dreamed deeply that night his dreams filled with Scully as they often were. On this night he dreamt of the two of them walking hand and hand along the beach talking taking only the occasional break to stop and kiss.
He was so intent on taking his dream to its conclusion that he didn't hear her first scream. He heard the second one though and bounded into the bedroom totally forgetting the dream and the aroused state in which it put him.
Scully was still asleep but fighting frantically - the bed clothes tangled around her. Their presence seemed to aggravate her more as she kicked to try and free herself.
Mulder climbed onto the bed and took her into his arms suffering several blows from her flailing fists until he managed to wake her up.
He rocked her slowly holding her close and whispering terms of endearment into her ear. Scully finally opened her eyes and blinked as her mind finally grasped the fact that it was Mulder who had once again saved her.
She stared at him for a second and then buried her head on his shoulder and cried. Mulder was shocked at the intensity of the tears and the fact that she let them fall in front of him.
His chest was getting soaked from her tears but he never relaxed his grip on her and continued the slow rocking and tender words until the sobs slowed and finally stopped.
Scully hiccupped a little as she pulled her head back and thoughtless swiped at her nose with her sleeve. She started to say something to him but the sight of him hair messed from sleep looking at her with eyes filled with concern and love started her crying all over again.
This bout of tears was less severe and brought on not by the terror of her nightmare but the realization of what she had been forced to give up four years ago.
Scully finally pulled herself together enough to separate herself from Mulder a bit. She did the best she could to smooth down her pajamas and hair and then stopped when she saw Mulder smiling at her.
"You don't have to do that Scully" he said pushing a lone piece of hair behind her ear "You always look beautiful to me."
Scully frowned at this comment but let it pass. "Do you want to talk about it?" Mulder asked still stroking Scully's back.
Scully nodded "In a minute Mulder - just let me pull myself together a little first."
"No problem, take your time." He said rising from the bed already missing the feel of her against him. "I'll go get you a glass of water"
When he returned back to the bedroom he found Scully sitting on the straightened bed leaning back against the pillows with her eyes shut.
"You just couldn't leave it, could you?" he said jokingly motioning to the bed.
Scully opened her eyes and looked at him forcing herself to smile. "What can I tell you Mulder, old habits die hard."
He handed her the glass of water, waited for her to take a drink and then took the glass and placed it on the bedside table. He sat on the bed next to her and without thinking put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"Apparently so do nightmares" he said resuming the comforting stroking of her back.
Scully snorted at this comment. "I am not surprised that I dreamed of Holton tonight but tonight the dream was different."
"How so?" Mulder said into her hair.
Scully began to describe the dream. Her usual nightmares concerning Holton relived that terrible day six years ago down to every last detail with one exception - Mulder did not arrive in time to save her.
The nightmare tonight was a slight variation of that. Scully dreamt that she had been sitting in Mulder's office when Holton had attacked her from behind. He had little problem dragging her kicking and screaming form out of the office and down the hall into the storage room.
"In my dreams, at least, your theory about Holton getting his strength from my fears proved true. He picked me up like I weighed nothing at all."
Mulder was going to inform her that she was indeed quite light, but decided to let her continue.
Despite her best efforts to fight him off, Scully had found herself in the storage room with all four of her extremities tied separately so she lay on the floor spread out and totally open to his attacks.
Whereas six years ago Holton had pretty much proceeded with the business of trying to rape her, this time he had slowly moved along her body slitting her clothes with a knife so her most private areas lay naked for his inspection.
It was then when Mulder had burst into the room weapon drawn and had ordered Holton to stop. Holton had turned to look at him and had only smiled and given a brief nod of his head.
A gunshot rang out from the corner of the room and Mulder crumpled to the floor. Scully screamed again first at not knowing whether or not Mulder was dead and second from realizing from where the shot had come.
Ryan Holton stepped out of the shadows and walked over to his brother. "Well done, brother Robert had said pulling away from Scully. You can have the first go at her."
"It was right about then that you managed to wake me up." Scully said pulling her head off of Mulder's shoulder so she could look up at him.
Mulder said nothing but pulled Scully closer to him and kissed her on top of her head.
They stayed that way for a long, long time. It was Scully who finally broke the silence. "Mulder" she began timidly "would you mind terribly staying in here with me tonight?"
Mulder didn't answer just gave her another squeeze and kiss on the top of her head.
He released her and she lay down on top of the bed curled up into a little ball. Mulder grabbed the afghan off the end of the bed and lay down beside her wrapping her in his arms and covering them up.
They stayed like that, not moving just taking comfort for each other's presence.
"Scully?" Mulder whispered after awhile.
"Yes"
"Do you remember when I said you were my one in a billion?"
Scully head moved indicating that she did indeed remember. "You still are Scully. She meant nothing to me then."
Scully said nothing but from the small sniffling sounds she was making Mulder could tell she was crying.
He nuzzled her neck and kissed her there whispering "God Scully I missed you."
"But.but" Scully was trying for the second time that night to pull herself together "you never even looked for me. I thought for sure you would, but you didn't. I knew then that I was right to leave you."
Scully's voice grew stronger now and was tinted with the smallest bit of anger. "Your quest for the truth was what was important to you. Whatever your feelings for me were, they were nothing compared to the drive to find out the truth about. everything. I was just standing in your way."
Mulder sat upright at this statement his own anger rising. "You are right Scully. I did let my search for the truth run every aspect of my life. I always thought that when we had found the truth that then there would be time for us."
Scully had also sat up in bed but instead of snuggling towards him for comfort pushed herself back so she leaned against the headboard. She simply snorted at his comment.
Mulder glared at her for a second and then his look softened. "When you left Scully I was hurt and very angry but thought, selfishly, that you would come back to me. When I finally realized that you weren't coming back, it was like something had been ripped from me. I was no longer whole."
"But still you did nothing about it." Scully accused
"I wanted to, but Diana convinced me that it was in your best interest to let you go. I wanted to believe that so I did nothing."
"Diana tried to fill your place, both on the X-files and in my heart, but couldn't. She left me then too and later I found out that she was working all along for the Cancer Man."
He picked up Scully's hand then. "It was then that I realized that they had been working to tear us apart. They knew, what I didn't, that together we were unstoppable."
Scully looked very tired and sighed "And when did you come to this realization Mulder?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, two and half, three years ago. I thought about looking for you then but part of me was hoping that you had found yourself a normal life by then."
He looked into her eyes and she saw the amount of pain that still remained there. "I was also a bit embarrassed I suppose and didn't know exactly what I would say to you if I did find you."
"Well I am here now" Scully said with a slight look of challenge in her eyes. "and I am all ears."
Mulder looked a bit panicked for a mere second knowing that he had painted himself into a corner. Now was his big chance - he had better not blow it.
He took the hand that he was still holding and turned it so the palm was facing up. He raised it to his lips and kissed it sending shivers up Scully's spine.
"I want you Scully" he said as he drew himself closer "and when this case is over I am going to convince you to stay."
"How do you plan to do that?" Scully said her voice breaking ever so slightly.
Mulder drew close enough so she could feel his breath on her face. "I am going to wine you and dine you and romance you." He began staring at her lips which she was unconsciously licking. "Then I will take you to bed and please you."
He kissed her then. The kiss was full of tenderness and love and the prospect of what could happen between them.
Scully was about to open herself up to him when he slowly pulled away. Placing his forehead on hers and breathing a bit more heavily he explained why he had stopped. "Scully unless you want me to display the ungentlemanly side of myself, I suggest we call it a night."
Scully was about to protest when he placed a finger on her lips. "When I take you to bed Scully" he smiled when she raised an eyebrow at this statement "for the first time it is going to be the perfect ending to the perfect night. And" he continued straightening himself up "will be because we want to be there for all the right reasons and not because of all this."
Scully smiled up at him and shook her head and crawled back under the afghan. Mulder joined her there and took her into his arms where she promptly fell asleep.
This time dreaming only of Mulder and his kiss.
+++++++++ End of chapter eight. Comments anyone?