Disclaimer: for the 8th time, NO, I don't own the X-Files or any of it's characters...-sigh-
author's note: I'm going out of town to Greenville, SC on 6/27 (yes! I'm leaving this horrid city for a week!) , so I won't be able to update for a bit. However, I will do my absolute best to update as much as possible. Anyway, this chapter is for all of you shippers out there, and it's a lot of fun! Lol, enjoy! =oD
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Scully laid the book she had been reading onto her lap, and looked up at Mulder from her bed.
"Sure, what about?" she placed her glasses and book on the nightstand.
Mulder tensed up. He tried to speak, but he found himself unable to.
Scully waited for a response. "Well...?"
He managed to find some words. "Umm...earlier...at the Cortez's house, Joseffina Cortez and Gisela Perez preformed a tarot reading on me. They revealed many both strange and surprising details that I found intriguing." Mulder wasn't too discrete.
"Like what?" asked Scully.
Mulder sat on the edge of the bed close to where she was. "Well, things about my personal life...like my personality, my ambitions, my l-"Scully interrupted.
She sighed. "Mulder, listen, I know you're set on searching for answers, but there's no way that any deck of cards can reveal such information."
Mulder looked down for a moment. "I understand that Scully, but they knew nothing about me. How could they have obtained such information?" argued Mulder.
"Well, what exactly did they 'reveal' to you?" she gave him her famous sarcastic look.
Mulder was thinking of what he should say. She continued to look at him.
"Joseffina and Gisela...They knew about how I turn to the paranormal for answers and not just science or logic." he said.
"That's obvious though...you've been asking them about the monstruo de Chango or whatever you call it and not focusing on any other possible explanation, so of course they'd make that assumption about you, Mulder." Scully wasn't buying it.
"That may very well be true...but how do you explain them knowing about my pursuit of the truth, Scully?...and how hard I work to find it?...they knew all about that...they even knew about my-"Scully interrupted his defense.
"Look, Mulder, I know all of that is true. You DO work hard and put a lot of effort into these cases of ours, but that doesn't mean that you should rely on a deck of cards to foretell your fate. That's nonsense." she said.
"But Scully-"he was cut off again.
"Mulder, it's all a matter of observing people's behavior. If they get a certain impression from you, then that's what they go by." She argued.
Mulder was losing his patience. "Then how do you explain them knowing about my personal feelings? They started to explain all of my feelings before we were interrupted. I know that there was more to be said. I could see it in their faces. It was like they knew everything about me. They-"Scully interrupted him yet again.
"Mulder, listen to me-"he cut her off.
"No, YOU listen to me. Why can't you just believe what I say for once? You're always so quick to try and prove me wrong...and for what? Your own satisfaction?" Mulder was getting upset.
She laughed at the last remark. "Mulder, listen to yourself...Do you really think I'd do any of that, and just for my own satisfaction?...because if that's what you think, than you're only giving me even more of a reason to not believe anything you're saying right now. In fact, it's YOU who always has to be right and has to run the investigations...You're SO quick to believe anything that goes against everything logical or realistic, that you ignore the facts. Like in this case...it's obvious that the murderer is a relative or someone who was close to Yamil Martinez...and not some mythological beast. Why don't you see that?"
"Why? Because right now, the only evidence we have supports MY theory." Mulder knew the subject had digressed from what he had intended to talk about in the first place.
"What evidence, Mulder? I have yet to find anything to support YOUR theory. We have nothing to go by here." Scully was getting angry.
"Scully, I told you what I saw at the crime scene last night. How do you explain all of that? That definitely coincides with my theory." he said defensively,
"I'm not denying that, but there's still NO evidence to prove any of that. It just looks like the killer cleaned up their mess and disposed of any possible evidence of the crime. Like I said, we have nothing to go by...and NO deck of cards could EVER be a reliable source for answers or information, so stop kidding yourself." Scully was growing weary of the argument when she stopped to think for a moment.
"Is THIS what you needed to talk to me about?" she said calming down.
He sighed. "Well... not really."
She paused for a moment. "Then what DID you want to talk about?"
"I was trying to tell you before you interrupted me at first. It was about something that Joseffina and Gisela mentioned about my emotions...but forget it...I guess it's not really important." he said.
Mulder knew that wasn't true. However, their both digressed and argued conversation left somewhat of a bitter taste in his mouth. Although, this argument was a typical one. In just about every case they've ever investigated...they always debate their theories with each other. Usually neither of them would get angry with one another...that only happened in rare instances. He wasn't so much upset about her disagreeing with him. He was upset at the fact that she didn't allow him to finish explaining what he had been telling her. He no longer wished to tell her what he had intended to when he so abruptly walked into her room. Scully knew she had been venting and felt guilt slowly take over her, but she still stuck by what she said...only she wished she hadn't said it when she saw the expression on his face.
"Look, Mulder...I'm sorry. It's just that this case has been getting to me, since so far it's been difficult to even begin to piece together. I really do believe that the more we find out about each victim or family member, the further away we get from solving this case. You think it'd be the opposite, but in this case I guess not." Scully's glance met with the floor.
Mulder let out a long sigh. "It's alright, I understand. I was getting a BIT carried away...and what would our partnership be without these kind of arguments?"
She let out a small smile. "It wouldn't be much of anything."
He reached out with his left hand to turn her face toward him. "See Scully, we balance each other out." He moved closer to her. "That's why we mix together so well."
Mulder smiled for a moment before tenderly kissing her on her right cheek. "Good night, Scully."
She felt a bit flushed by the gesture and felt a tiny smile creep over her. "Good night, Mulder."
He stood up and proceeded to his room. It may not have gone the way he had planed for it to, but it ended on a good note at least. There wasn't much to be said. He not only felt this, he knew this to be fact. They communicated through their own means of physical and emotional chemistry. There were times, however, where he wished he could just tell her up front. Of course, there was always that feeling of doubt, though usually it was more of a pride issue. In any case, the moment had been ruined.
Scully slouched down until she was lying on her back, and tucked her arms underneath her pillow. She knew that Mulder had gone in there to discuss something important with her. She could tell by his facial expression. He had on his "serious" face. It couldn't have been just about the case. Now she really did regret interrupting him so rudely this time.
"Oh well..." Scully said to herself.
She also had her pride issues. Though she was very open hearted, she wouldn't be the first to make a "move" of any kind. Working all of these years in the X-Files didn't help much either. She hated to admit it, but she was consumed by her job. Scully couldn't even remember the last time she had even been on a date. Her excuse for not dating was merely that she had no desire to. Well, there was some truth in that. After all, she had Mulder. However, he wouldn't know the first thing about how to please a woman if his life depended on it. It seemed as if the mere concept of dating was now foreign to him. She laughed. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to spend time with Mulder outside of work. To take a vacation with him, nothing romantic necessarily...just to see how he was outside of work. Scully let out a long sigh before turning off the lamp on the nightstand to her right.
Meanwhile, Mulder sat up in his bed, and had already shut off the light in his room and turned on the television. He flipped through the channels repeatedly until he came across Comedy Central, which was airing a South Park marathon. At least that would keep him entertained for a while. Insomnia often overtook him at times. This was one of those nights.
After about a little over half and hour, a minor impulse temped him to go out driving through the night and explore the vibrant city. He resisted the idea, because he saw no motive or point in driving around aimlessly. Then, he had a craving for some Cuban coffee. He knew that if he drove around long enough, he'd find at lease one place that served it that late. Mulder changed into some faded jeans of his, a white undershirt. It wasn't much, but the weather was muggy, it was late at night, and he most definitely wasn't going clubbing on South Beach, so it really didn't matter. He sat back down on the bed, and bent down to tie laces of his sneakers. Then, he stood up, got his keys from the dresser next to his bed, and headed out the door.
Mulder drove out of the parking lot amused by his slightly impulsive actions. He enjoyed doing small things at the spur of the moment. The drive was calm and quiet as he had imagined it to be, until he drove about 4 more miles and ran into traffic. This surprised him at first, then he remembered how bad the traffic had been since him and Scully had arrived. He pulled into a plaza's parking lot that contained a Latin bar.
He got out of his car and walked into the bar. No one really paid much attention to him, they were either dancing to some Spanish music on small dance floor, watching television, or talking amongst themselves. Mulder sat down.
"What'll it be tonight, sir?" asked the bartender. He didn't look Hispanic.
"Anything with Cuban coffee...and lot's of it." Mulder was eager to have some.
The man thought for a second. "Hmmm...I've got just the thing for you."
Mulder watched him pour a couple of drinks into a mug.
"Here ya go" the bartender slid the mug over to him.
Mulder looked at it curiously. "Other than the coffee, what else is in here?"
"Glad ya asked. It's a blend of the strongest Cuban coffee with the strongest Cuban rum. The caffeine kicks in way before the liquor does though. It's a very unique drink really." the man spoke of the drink with high regard.
"As long as I'm alright to drive." said Mulder
The man laughed. "Believe me, you'll be fine."
Mulder chugged down the contents of the hug mug.
"Mmm, this isn't bad at all. I'll take another one." said Mulder sliding the man more money.
He pushed the money back. "Believe me, you won't need another one...just give it a little while."
"Ok, if you say so." Mulder stood up to leave after about 15 minutes. "Thank you sir, have a good night."
"Same to ya." said the bartender wiping down the counter.
Mulder proceeded to drive back to the hotel. Traffic only seemed to like it intensified. The roads were crowded with young and old people of all types. With the car windows still up, he could hear the sound of several vehicle's subwoofers to what sounded like hip hop music. They were most younger people. He laughed when he saw how most of them were oriented with the Hip Hop culture. All having nice decked out cars with neon lights, 20" rims that spun, and the works. Many of them would start accelerating and race each other. He was fascinated with the culture of the city, even while driving in traffic. Mulder began to feel the effects of the drink. The caffeine was first.
He decided to test out the rented car's stereo, and to his surprise, it was a rather nice one. The car was a fairly new one...a 2003 Saturn LS. It wasn't anything too special he knew, but at least it looked and drove nice. Mulder scanned around the radio stations until he came across what seemed like a hip hop station. The station was called Power 96. He listened to what seemed to be a Spanish reggae hip hop song. He had never heard anything like it before. He turned up the music and rolled down his windows. Though he couldn't understand what the song was saying, he did keep hearing the song say "culo", thus he only sang along with the catchy tune when it said that word. Another car to his left had the same station on. There were 3 guys in the car. The ones in the passenger seat and driver's seat looked over at him now. They nodded their heads and gave him a knowing smirk. Mulder understood their gestures. They challenged him to a race down the street they were on. He returned the gesture, and as soon as the light turned green, they took off.
By now the caffeine was at its peak, and the alcohol was now beginning to take effect. Usually alcohol kicks in immediately, but like the bartender said, this was indeed a "special drink.
Mulder raced the boys down the street. Both cars drove insanely. He was surprised at how fast the Saturn accelerated. Then he remembered that it was an FBI vehicle. Therefore, it was made for high speed chasing. His confidence boosted to an even bigger extreme. After about only 5 miles, signaled their defeat and drove off.
"Ahhh...swEEt victory." Mulder said to himself with a smirk.
He couldn't recall ever feeling so alive in his life. The feeling was great. He felt like a teenager again.
1:56am
The caffeine rush began to wear off after only 20 minutes, and as he drew closer to the hotel, it faded away even more so. By the time he had reached his destination, the caffeine had completely worn off. The alcohol was now in full effect. Mulder tried his best to remain sober as he went up the elevator back to his room. When he got to his room, he felt completely relaxed and comfortable. He no longer had any control of his emotions.
He managed to sit down on a chair and take off his shoes and socks, followed by his shirt. Mulder noticed that he had left the television on when he had left, but even now he made no attempt to turn it off. He looked into a mirror that was directly above the sink next to the bathroom. His pupils were huge, but he took no notice. He looked around the room when he saw the door connecting to Scully's room. Mulder now had other urges.
Scully was lying on her back staring up at the ceiling. She had managed to doze off a few times, but only for about five minutes. Turning to face the nightstand, she glanced at the clock. It read 2:15am. She groaned and rolled back over. How was she ever going to be able to wake up later that morning? Just then she heard a door slowly open. It was the one connecting to Mulder's room. She remained quiet because she knew he thought that she was sleeping.
Mulder walked into the dark room, with only small beams of streetlights shining through the vertical blinds. Even with the dim light, he could see that she was lying on the left side of the bed. He crouched down to the floor and moved closer to where he head was rested. Mulder began to speak softly.
"Scully..." he began. "There's so much traffic outside on the street. Wow, I went out for a drive and there were all of these nicely decked out cars, and...and they were playing this loud booming music like..." Mulder began to mimic the music he had heard.
"And then, wow, they went SO fast, and it sounded like..." Mulder then mimicked the noises that the car he had raced made.
He was sounding completely out of character. She knew this could only mean one thing. Mulder was drunk. She tried her best not to laugh.
"I know it sounds stupid, but it really happened. I couldn't believe that I actually did that though, but it felt so great...racing down the street with those guys...They didn't even know what they had coming; no they didn't. I hauled some major ass and they were left in a trail of smoke." He started to laugh. "Yeah, it was great...you should've been there, Scully. Even though you probably would've been mad the entire time and criticized me for acting so stupid, I still like having you around..."
Mulder's tone grew more serious now. "Have I ever told you how beautiful I think you are? Even while you're sleeping, I still find you stunning." he stroked her hair.
Scully now knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that Mulder was totally gone.
"You know, Scully, in all these years of working together, I don't think I've ever told you how beautiful you are...and not just on the outside, but inside too...and I don't mean your insides...I mean like your heart...you get met? There are so many times that I wanted to tell you...and there's a few that'd I've tried...but now I can tell you, here while you're sleeping. I love you, Scully." Mulder was all fluff now.
Scully's mind didn't want to take his words seriously, because she knew he was VERY drunk, and he was indeed acting very out of character. However, her heart was so eager to believe his last words. She felt like it had skipped a beat, and wanted to sit up and respond with the same words. She didn't know how to react.
Mulder leaned in closer to her face, and began to stroke the hair away from her face. She now got a bit tense, and tried her best to act as if she were sleeping. Then, he leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly. Scully felt her face flush with heat at the gesture. She assumed he had moved away from her, but instead she felt him softly kissing the right side of her neck. The heat spread from her face to throughout her body. She was very eager to respond, but she kept her composer. He slowly mad his way up the tip of her chin, and then kissed her lips. This kiss lasted a bit longer than the others. Now she didn't care if he was drunk, she was deeply enjoying this side of him. He pulled away, and she couldn't take it anymore. Scully sat up.
"Mulder..." she whispered.
He suddenly fell back startled and confused. She turned on the light in response.
"Mulder, are you alright." asked a now concerned Scully.
He turned his head to the side, before puking on the floor. Scully quickly got up from the bed and kneeled beside him.
"Go and lie down on the bed. I'm gonna clean this up." Scully helped him up to the bed, and went inside the bathroom to get some towels.
She placed the towels over the mess. "Are you alright, Mulder?" she sat beside where he lay.
"Ughhh..." he replied still feeling nauseous.
"Ok, just stay here and rest." said Scully, moving the trash bin to the side of the bed closest to his head.
He moaned again, before rolling over. She pulled the sheets over him.
"Are you feeling any better?" she asked.
He didn't respond. She leaned over to look at him.
"Mulder?..." she saw that he had fallen fast asleep.
Scully turned off the light and sighed before getting on the bed and lying next to him. She still was shocked by his recent words and action prior to vomiting. He probably wouldn't recall anything later that morning.
(That's all for now...until I get back at least...just wait until he wakes up the next morning! ;oP Please keep R&Ring while I'm gone! Tankya beri m00ch! =oD)
(P.S. Sorry that this chapter took me so long to write. I got a bad case of writer's block. .)