Cowritten with admiralty (Ao3), admiralty_xfd (Twitter), admiralty-xfd (Tumblr)

v. noise complaint

"Skinner's a tough man to shake up," Mulder remarked as he followed Scully into her motel room, kicking off his shoes and throwing his coat on a nearby chair to make himself at home. "This case is hitting him pretty hard."

They'd been called late last night to report to North Carolina as soon as possible. One early morning flight and a long car ride later, and they were in Winston-Salem. Most of the day had to be spent navigating the fine line between trying to comfort Skinner and admitting they were dealing with something unexplainable, the former being made useless by the latter.

Mulder had gone off to investigate with Skinner while she was left at the county morgue conducting the autopsy. It'd been a long process trying to find any evidence to report back with, and that, combined with all the traveling they'd had to do, had made her body sore and achy. Mulder must've noticed her discomfort because as soon as she'd kicked off her heels, he'd pulled a chair in front of the bed and motioned for her to hop onto the mattress.

Ever since they'd made love for the first time after he'd gotten back from England, it was like the floodgates had opened and seven years of sexual tension had washed over them. She'd always thought post-coital bliss was a temporary high one had after coming down from the peak of passion, but Mulder was proving to her that post-coital bliss was a way of life and that sometimes an afterglow would never dim.

He had been nervous about what would happen after finally being together so intimately, fearing that she may regret it and the walls he'd been slowly breaking down since he kissed her during the New Year's Eve ball drop would be erected again higher than ever, but that fear was assuaged every time he remembered her sweet kiss on the lips and the simple reassurance of a smile. There's no going back now.

She grinned at his enthusiasm and hopped up on the edge of the bed, wordlessly putting her feet in his lap as she unbuttoned her jacket. It was hard keeping their hands to themselves in the field. For years people had been speculating they were sleeping together and they'd continued their lives unbothered, but now that they were, every touch and open expression of intimacy felt like a target on their backs. Mulder had noticed that was one of the primary things that made her nervous about this new step they'd taken, so he had been on his best behavior when they were in front of other people.

Now that they were alone, she could see the fire dancing in his eyes.

He started rubbing the soles of her feet with extreme care, watching her face to gauge how she felt. She smiled at him in reassurance and had to make an effort to keep her eyes from fluttering shut and moaning from just how good it truly felt. "How did it go with Skinner today?" she asked, her voice coming out low and smooth.

"We went to the Morley headquarters," he replied, rubbing his palm against the heel of her foot. "They seemed more concerned about covering their own asses than trying to figure out what happened to the man who'd been working there for years. Dr. Voss even said he'd been friends with Scobie for fourteen years but didn't even seem broken up that he was silenced," Mulder explained, judgement heavy in his tone.

"Did you ask them about your bug theory?" she asked, setting her jacket to the side of her on the bed, leaving her in her purple tank top and black skirt - a sight she saw Mulder immediately enjoying as his eyes roamed her bare skin.

"I showed them the bug, and that's how I learned it was a tobacco beetle. But they didn't seem fazed by the fact it was found in Scobie's home," he responded, his ministrations on her feet sliding slightly higher onto her leg - a gentle seduction. "But I don't want to talk about the case right now," he murmured, his hand starting to slip under the hem of her skirt.

Before she had a chance to respond, he'd leaned forward and closed the gap, lifting her slightly so she was further on the bed and he could nestle himself on top of her. "Mulder," she laughed, bending her legs a bit so her skirt inched higher and he could press himself closer. He silenced her with a kiss on the mouth, deepening it almost instantly so his tongue could glide against her own.

This was the first time they'd been in a motel room since they'd gotten together. It almost felt taboo. She'd spent so many nights dreaming of Mulder coming into her room and kissing her this way, and now it was actually happening. Her hand reached up and she raked her fingers through his short, spiky hair, smiling at the way it seemed to encourage him.

Scully felt his knees bump up against the backs of her thighs, causing her to spread her legs even more as she felt his erection rub against her inner thigh. He pulled back and littered a few wet kisses on the exposed skin of her collar bone, whispering "I. Missed. You. Today," in between every one.

She felt a rush of arousal course through her at the sensation of him on top of her, but she couldn't help but worry about the consequences of crossing this boundary. He must've sensed her apprehension because he pulled up so that his face was hovering over her own. "I can feel you thinking," he reprimanded throatily.

"We're on a case," she whispered breathlessly, still dizzy from his kiss and the sensation of his erection rubbing against her underwear.

"I know, it's a fantasy come true. I've wanted you all day," he whispered while leaning down to kiss her again, only stopped by the turn of her head.

She turned back in time to catch his bottom lip starting to pout as his brows furrowed. Raising a hand, she pressed her palm to his cheek, watching as he pressed himself into her touch. "I want you too, but that's exactly why we need to set some boundaries. I don't want this to distract from the case. You have some of your best ideas in motel rooms," she explained.

"Yeah, and I think I have my best one yet," he murmured, rocking his hips against her center and smirking when she gasped. "Besides, we already had sex in our office," he reminded her with a waggle of his brows.

"And as much as I enjoyed that," she offered with a smile, "it can never happen again. We need to be careful. Also, it's different when we're just going to be with each other after work. Here we're supposed to be focusing on the case. If I'm spending all day thinking of what I want to do to you when we get back to the motel or thinking about what we did last night, I'm not going to be able to concentrate," she explained.

"I respectfully disagree," he murmured before kissing her and backing up, removing his weight from her. "But if that's what you really want, I'll be on my best behavior."

His statement was almost comically ironic as he stood there with a massive tent in his pants, and she lay gasping on the bed with her skirt around her hips - her arousal no doubt evident to him. "I'm sorry," she offered, leaning herself up and pulling her skirt down with shaky hands.

He raised a hand up and shook his head with a soft smile. "Don't be sorry. I never want to do anything you're not comfortable with. Just prepare for me to ravish you as soon as this case is over," he explained.

God, how she loves this man.

She smiled at him and eased herself off the bed, watching as he collected his jacket and made his way to the door. "I'll be eagerly awaiting you to follow through with that offer," she teased, following him to the door.

He glanced up at her while slipping on his shoes. "Oh, it's not an offer. It's a promise," he replied with mock severity, adding a wink for good measure. He was about to turn towards the door when he suddenly turned back around. "Oh, by the way," he murmured, reaching to search through his jacket pocket. "Since our rooms aren't connected, I got a spare key to mine in case you need it."

She took the key offered to her with a smirk and replied, "I can't imagine that I will."

He grinned at her and she could still see the fire burning behind his gaze. "Just one more to tide myself over," he whispered before maneuvering his head down and capturing her lips with his own. He wrapped his hands around her, one on her back and one cradling her head, as he pressed his body flush against hers.

Her body reacted instantly, melting into his as he playfully bit her lip before soothing it with his tongue. She still felt his erection pressing into her hip, and she couldn't help but rub herself against him, swallowing his moan as she tried to convey how much she did truly want him with her kiss.

After a moment of softcore heavy petting, he pulled back and exhaled slowly. "Wow," he grinned, looking down at her with hooded lids.

She felt her heart hammering in her chest and her pulse in her groin as she pulled away. "Goodnight, Mulder," she stated with coy innocence.

He had a doofy grin on his face as he bid her goodnight, exiting the room with one last longing glance.

As soon as the door was shut and she was left in the room, she felt a gnawing sense of loneliness. She knew it was ridiculous. He was only a room or two away and she'd see him first thing in the morning, but her entire being craved his presence.

She changed into her pajamas and got ready for bed with that lingering sense of longing hanging over her like a blanket. Everything about the room made her think of how much better it would be if it were complemented by him: her red toothbrush would look better next to his blue one, her clothes on the floor would look better tangled with his, her bed would look better with Mulder's body in it.

Scully lay in bed with a sigh and turned off the light, resigning herself to staring at the flaws on the spackled ceiling. How many nights had she put herself to bed in just this way listening to Mulder on the other side of the wall? Wanting to go in and lie with him? Anytime she had allowed herself that comfort, whether it had been under the guise of a nightmare or a flawed motel amenity, he'd always greeted her with a smile and an expression that said I'm so glad you're here.

Whipping off the covers, she muttered, "Fuck it," under her breath.

She hadn't spent all these years yearning to be with him only to choose to be alone.

She stepped into her slippers, ready to go run to his room, when an idea struck her. With an excited smirk, she whipped off her sleeping shirt followed by her pajama shorts and put on her robe, tying the sash around her waist like a present ready to be unwrapped.

The door clicked shut behind her as she read the numbers on Mulder's key. Room 203. She walked down the hallway, passing the room separating theirs quietly. Without even knocking, she opened the door and slipped inside, pausing only to move the 'Do Not Disturb' sign to the other side of the door.

Just like all the other times she'd visited Mulder's room, the television was playing at a low volume as it cast a prism of colors across the white sheets. She toed off her slippers silently as she watched his head peek out from beneath the blankets. "Scully?" his voice called out softly. He sat up and watched her as she came to stand at the foot of the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he tried to read her expression.

"I changed my mind," she whispered, grabbing the end of her sash with one hand and pulling it until her robe parted in the middle, revealing herself to him. She shrugged her shoulders and let the silk of the robe fall from her skin, falling silently to the ground. He watched her like a lion sizing up its prey and it made a shudder of excitement ripple through her body.

Mulder licked his lips and threw the covers off to the side, pausing only to turn off the television and haphazardly discard the remote, bathing them in the gentle glow of the moonlight coming in from the open curtains. "Come 'ere," he murmured, whipping his shirt off eagerly.

She crawled onto the bed and over his body, straddling his lap with him lying down. Her arousal was lined up perfectly with his rapidly burgeoning hard-on, and she kept eye contact with him as she rocked her hips on top of his, her wetness dampening the fabric of his boxers.

His hands grabbed her bare hips as he helped encourage her gyrations, bucking his hips upward against her. "Do you have any idea how sexy you are?" he rasped, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he swallowed thickly.

"Only what I see in your face," she responded softly, grabbing his hands and trailing them up her body until they arrived at her breasts. Mulder cupped the aching flesh in his hands, shifting their weight around tortuously as she arched her back into his touch. "Mulder," she whispered in ecstasy as his fingers found her nipples, rolling them in between his fingers before rubbing his thumbs back and forth.

"Crawl up here," he requested, his voice laden with arousal.

"I did," she sputtered, her head lolling onto her shoulders as she enjoyed the talents of his hands.

"No, crawl up here and grab onto the headboard," he clarified, scooting back and lying down with his head on the pillow, bringing her with him.

Her brow furrowed in confusion before she realized what he was asking. She felt a gush of arousal leave an even larger wet spot on his boxers at the mere idea of straddling his face. "Are you sure?" she asked, licking her lips.

"Scully, I'm more sure about this than I am about UFOs," he nodded, moving his hands from her breasts to her ass in encouragement.

She couldn't help but smile at the overt sexuality of this position. She watched him underneath her for as long as she could, crawling over his abdomen, his chest, and then his shoulders, until his grinning face disappeared beneath her. She was facing the wall as her hands reached out to grab onto the wooden headboard.

"Is this good?" she asked, her chest heaving with excitement.

"So good," he replied, his hot breath hitting the wetness of her sex and making her shiver.

She'd been nervous to lower her weight onto him, not wanting to suffocate him, but it seemed as if that was exactly what he wanted her to do. He wrapped his hands around her thighs and pulled her down until she felt his nose brush against her and his mouth latch onto her. "Jesus Christ," she gasped. Her mind flew wildly to Clyde Bruckman's prophecy of the manner of Mulder's demise, which she'd brushed off as a joke at the time, but now she was rethinking her hasty dismissal. She instinctively jumped in aroused surprise at his insistent mouth, but his hands were a vise on her legs, keeping her in place while his tongue swirled around her swollen nub.

Her fingers tightened around the wooden headboard and she saw her knuckles turning white. She still was nervous about making sure he could breathe, but she couldn't keep her hips from pumping up and down against his mouth, adding little rhythms of pressure against his tongue. He'd only just started, but she could already feel a familiar coiling in her gut. The first time he'd gone down on her, she swore she'd never felt anything as good before. However, Mulder was the most intuitive man she knew, and he seemed to be reading her pleasure like a book.

She couldn't help the throaty moan that ripped from her lungs as he hummed against her, sending vibrations directly against her clit. Scully felt herself press against the headboard and lean down on him a bit more, undulating her hips like a figure eight against his greedy tongue. She was rocking so much that occasionally the headboard would bend too far back and hit the wall behind it, but it was a distant sound behind her own mewlings and encouragement of yes, Mulder, please.

As he moved his mouth against her, she could feel his scratchy chin rubbing against her opening, undoubtedly getting soaked wetter and wetter. She had a passing thought wondering if there was a pool of her own arousal gathering at the hollow of his throat, and the thought only fueled her more. "Muh-Mulder, I'm c-close," she whimpered, her voice an octave higher and breathier than normal.

He tightened his grip on her legs and flicked his tongue back and forth rapidly against her clit. She couldn't help the sounds of pleasure tumbling from her lips as she continued shamelessly humping his face, desperately awaiting the unravelling of the tightly wound spiral deep within her belly. "Oh my God! Mulder!" she cried, her whole body quivering and trembling as he helped her ride out her orgasm. She swallowed lungfuls of breath as she tried to come back down to earth.

A sharp rap came from the wall which she thought she might be imagining at first.

Mulder gave her such intense orgasms that often after coming, she went temporarily deaf, only able to hear ringing in her ears for a few seconds. Then a high pitched trilling, sounding warped as if she were underwater, overcame her, and she couldn't help but giggle.

It wasn't until Mulder gently tapped her ass that she realized it wasn't her usual auditory hallucination, it was the motel room phone ringing next to them as she trapped Mulder in place with the death grip of her thighs. "Oh, sorry," she breathed, rolling over so that she was on her back next to him.

Mulder eased himself up on his knees, facing her as he reached over and picked up the motel phone. "Hello?" he asked, the entire lower half of his face glistening with wetness. He eased his boxers down his thighs and pulled them out from underneath him as he nodded, "Uh-huh."

Scully bit her lip and watched his erection bob against his stomach, the glare of the moon illuminating every inch. He was smiling and she wasn't sure who he was talking to. "I heard that too," he responded, pinning the phone between his shoulder and his cheek. He took himself into his left hand, circling his precum with his thumb before stroking himself idly. Scully was trying to understand what he could possibly be talking about, but her focus kept getting drawn to the way he was rolling his wrist against himself. His cock was red, throbbing, and pointed straight at her.

She jumped when she felt him place his other hand in between her thighs, rubbing her sensitive clit with his middle and ring fingers. She bit back a muffled whimper as she ground herself into his hand, noticing the way the movements of his other hand picked up speed as she did this. "Yeah, no, not from my room, but from the sounds I heard, I wish it was," he replied with exaggerated severity.

She felt a sudden realization crash over her and her face flushed in embarrassment. Mulder winked at her as if to say she shouldn't be, before ending the phone call. "You too. Goodnight."

He hung up the phone before crawling in between her legs with a cocky smile.

"What was that about?" she asked, even though she was positive she knew the answer.

Mulder shrugged. "Manager. Apparently there was a noise complaint."

"We got a noise complaint?" she asked, horrified, clapping a hand over her mouth. She tried to remember all the sounds she'd made during her enjoyment.

"It appears not everyone enjoys a siren's song," he tsked in mock disappointment. "But I certainly do." He grinned lasciviously, bending down to kiss the sheen of sweat on her breasts.

She'd never been one to be loud with her other partners, but with Mulder she couldn't seem to help it. He turned her on so much that the moans and whimpers and pleas tumbled from her lips without her even being conscious of it.

"I'll be quiet," she whispered, spreading her legs wider as his tip brushed against her swollen lips.

He grabbed himself in his hand and parted her cleft with precision, lining them up. "Don't be," he demanded before plunging all the way into her.

She gasped loudly in pleasure, arching her back, and he started laughing. "Good, I want to hear you," he chuckled.

She knew Mulder loved to hear her moan just as much as she liked the things he did that made her moan. She swore sometimes just hearing her voice was enough to drive him crazy. As much as she wanted to turn him on right now and reciprocate the pleasure he'd just given her, a noise complaint was dangerous territory. She didn't want to do anything that would raise suspicion if it got back to the bureau.

Mulder withdrew torturously slowly before thrusting back into her, angling his hips so that he'd rub against her G-spot. She bit her lip and furrowed her brow as she swallowed a moan. "Scully," he groaned, pumping his hips against hers, the sounds of skin against skin contact slapping against the walls of the room.

She raised her legs and wrapped them around his waist, reeling from the sensations of his hips grinding against her inner thighs, their arousals pressing together as intimately as possible as he slid in and out of her. He leaned over her, bracketing her head with his arms so that his weight was on her a bit more, his adonis belt sinfully rubbing against her pubic mound, stomach against stomach. "Oh my-" she began, stopping herself with another bite to her lip.

Mulder bent down and kissed her on the mouth, causing her lips to pucker against his. She was just about to deepen the kiss when he leaned back up, a bead of sweat trickling down from his hairline. "I want to hear you, Scully. I want to hear how I make you feel."

She knew this would give him the pleasure she wanted to reciprocate, so she nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

He moved his hands and grabbed her wrists, taking them both in one hand and trapping them over her head. "Is this okay?" he grunted, rolling his hips against her when he bottomed out inside of her.

It was more than okay, and the gush of arousal that coated his cock and the way her eyes all but rolled into the back of her head had to have told him as much. But she knew he wanted to hear her say it.

"It feels amazing," she moaned. "You feel amazing."

With his free hand he grabbed one of her breasts, squeezing and kneading it before moving to the other. He bent his head to capture her nipple into his mouth and suckled on it mercilessly, lavishing her with his attention. A throaty groan escaped from her lips as she arched her back up, desperate to have as much contact with him as possible.

In this position she felt like she was completely and utterly his, completely vulnerable to him in every way. Mulder, of course, used this position to give her as much pleasure as possible. She felt like a bundle of live wire in his hands thrumming all over with charge. Every single bolt of pleasure in one part of her body was magnified by his attention, making her dizzy with arousal.

He picked up the pace and was starting to slam into her, the entire bed creaking as she writhed beneath him. "Oh my god, yes Mulder," she cried out, her whole body pressing against him as much as she possibly could, as if she was trying to meld their bodies into one.

He took his hand from her breast and brought two of his fingers to her lips. Taking the hint, she lifted her head and drew the digits into her mouth, swirling her tongue around them as she hollowed her cheeks and stared into his eyes.

"God, you drive me crazy," he grunted, curving his fingers in her mouth before withdrawing them slowly, wiping away some remnants of saliva off her chin before bringing the fingers down to her clit.

She whimpered loudly at the contact as he started rubbing her, while snapping his hips against her so hard her breasts were bouncing wildly on her chest. "I'm so close, Mulder," she pleaded, rolling her hips against him.

He angled his hips in a way that, combined with his fingers and the position, had her seeing stars once again. "Mulder!" she shouted, lifting herself on her heels to buck against him. She felt him hardening before he spurted hotly inside her.

"ScullyScullyScully," he chanted as he drove himself as deeply into her as possible.

Soon enough, the only sounds in the room were that of their mixed breathing. He let go of her hands, delicately bringing each wrist against his lips and pressing a kiss to them before collapsing next to her, then dragging her spent body against his.

They lay there, catching their breath as they lovingly pressed kisses to each other's faces and wiped hair out of each other's eyes. "I'm so glad you changed your mind," he murmured, stroking small circles onto the skin of her back. She swore she could hear the tiny inked snake encircled there hissing with satisfaction.

She felt her eyes grow heavy as Mulder pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Me too," she nodded, with a smile. She could get up in a few minutes; she wasn't ready for this moment to end quite yet.

Her eyes slowly blinked open as she became aware of the sound of Mulder talking. "Uh-huh. Alright sir, I'll be down as soon as possible. Yeah, I'll meet you in the lobby." She lifted herself onto her elbow and looked over him at the alarm clock on the nightstand.

5:37.

She hadn't intended to fall asleep in his room, but it seemed her body couldn't resist the temptation to curl into Mulder's side, his arm thrown around her, and drift off into sleep while he'd played with her hair.

She wiped her eyes and sat up fully, smiling at him when he mouthed good morning. His happy face faltered as he listened to the other person on the phone. "Oh, um, I think she mentioned it wasn't working yesterday," he frowned, scratching his chest idly. "No, no, that's not necessary, sir. I can go wake her up. Scully isn't a morning person, she's really grumpy. You don't want to face her wrath," he explained, giving her a teasing look.

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she watched him hang up the phone. "What was that about?" she asked, her voice raspy from use.

"Skinner," he replied. "Another body has been found and he needs us downstairs stat so we can drive to the scene. Apparently he called your room first and was worried when you didn't answer."

"Shit," she exclaimed, rolling out of bed and grabbing her robe.

"I told him we'd meet him in the lobby, and he seemed to buy it," he explained.

"Okay," she nodded, brushing her hair back from her face. "Meet me in the hallway?" she asked.

"Will do," he replied, standing up and giving her a quick peck on the lips as he made his way to the bathroom.

Scully went into her room and dressed as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the dull ache between her legs. She was glad Mulder had been able to think on his feet and cover for her, but she still couldn't help but feel worried that Skinner suspected something.

When she met Mulder in the hall and walked with him to the elevator, she could tell he wasn't concerned in the doors opened to the main floor of the hotel and she could feel her heart pounding. She straightened her skirt compulsively when they walked across the lobby to meet Skinner, but instead of the look of judgement she was expecting, he just looked exhausted. "Thanks for meeting me so quickly," he greeted them.

"Sorry I missed your call, sir. I was having a bit of trouble with my phone last night," she explained, having practiced the sentence over and over again in her head during their descent in the elevator.

"I don't think it's just yours, Agent Scully," he replied, motioning for them to follow him to the coffee bar. "Apparently the entire phone system in the hotel was acting up, mine included."

Scully felt her body freeze. "You're... staying at this hotel, sir?" she asked, trying to hide the worry in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm on the second floor," he replied with a nod. She glanced over at Mulder with wide eyes behind Skinner's back and he just mouthed 'I didn't know' with a shrug.

"Did you two get any sleep?" Skinner asked as she snapped her attention back to him.

"I did. Very peaceful. What about you, Mulder?" she prompted, turning to him and appearing to look curious about his answer.

"Oh, yeah. I feel very refreshed," he responded with an overenthusiastic nod.

Skinner sighed and fixed his coffee. "Well I'm glad someone was able to sleep. My room was next to a couple enjoying themselves a little too much, if you get my drift," he muttered. "I'd be surprised if there wasn't a hole in the plaster."

Scully felt her entire face flame crimson and she started fixing her own coffee to look preoccupied.

"That loud, huh?" Mulder prompted, with a smirk.

Skinner nodded with a frown, "I had to file a noise complaint it was so bad. Usually I don't want to be that guy, but Jesus. Some guy named Miller apparently has many talents."

"Wow," Mulder chuffed with a laugh. Scully looked at him with absolute mortification but it seemed he was enjoying himself entirely too much.

"Yeah, wow's right. It sounded like my bed was next to a jack hammer operated by a woman having a heart attack," he continued, sipping his coffee, every word a further ding at her pride. She had never truly bought into Mulder's theory of spontaneous human combustion, but she wished more than anything that she could just go up in flames right now.

Skinner must've mistaken her embarrassment for discomfort and he quickly tried to shuck it off. "I'm sorry, Agent Scully, that was inappropriate of me. We should get going," he replied. He looked like he was about to start moving when he stopped for a moment. "By the way, what are your room numbers? I'm having some files sent here from D.C, and I'll ask the front desk to put them in your rooms."

There was a beat of tense silence before Scully swallowed thickly and meekly mumbled, "Uh, room 205."

"That's right next to me! And you didn't hear anything?" Skinner asked with incredulity.

He looked at her expectantly and she was too embarrassed to look him in the eye so she quickly darted her gaze back to the ground. But then she realized that looked suspicious so she tried to look back up confidently. "Um, no. No, I didn't hear anything. I sleep very deeply, sir."

"Very deeply," Mulder sniffled loudly, and she sent him a pointed glare.

"I don't understand how they didn't wake up the entire damn floor," he replied in disbelief before turning to Mulder. "And your room number, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder let out a little groan and a shrug before stating. "I, uh, I forgot," he lied.

"It's on the back of your keycard," Skinner replied helpfully.

Slowly, like a man being sent to his execution, Mulder extracted his card, flipping it over to pretend he was looking, and mumbled so she could barely hear him, "203."

She watched as Skinner's face remained a perfect catatonic mask. The only sign he heard anything at all was the twitching of a vein on his forehead. Then, ever so slowly, as if she could visibly see the wheels in his bulbous head turning, his mouth twisted into a frown.

"I see."

They all stared at each other, a wave of awkwardness washing over them. Skinner finally rolled his eyes and wiped a hand across his face, stopping to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I'll get those files sent to your rooms."

"Sir-" she started, ready to try some lame excuse.

He raised his hand to stop her. "I just hope Agent Mulder lowers the volume the next time he wants to enjoy the hotel's adult offerings." He glared at Mulder. "Right?"

Mulder's mouth gaped as if to defend himself but said nothing as Scully elbowed him. "Um. Yeah, now that I think about it, I was watching something…. not very family friendly."

"I'd prefer it if you kept the personal entertainment off the bureau's bill, Agent Mulder."

"Check, sir," Mulder replied dutifully. "I definitely won't be… indulging tonight, because I'm going to be so engrossed in those files. Right, Agent Scully?"

"Yes. I'm going to give them my all as well so we can solve this case," she lamely replied.

"I trust that you will," Skinner stated, eyeing them both.

They watched as he turned to make his way to the front desk, and when he was out of earshot she whispered, "I can't believe he heard us."

"I can," Mulder whispered. "Your performance was absolutely magnificent."

She smiled, allowing her humiliation to fall away at his compliment. "Well, your performance was nothing to sneer at, either."

"A jack hammer?" Mulder repeated with unabashed pride in his voice. She began to say something but he stopped her with a raised palm. "Before you say it, I think we can both agree it should be my line now."

She gently took the edge of his jacket between two fingers and led him out of the lobby, rolling her eyes, saying it anyway.

"Shut up, Mulder."