III
As she ran Scully mulled over the startling events of the day. For all that she was used to strange things happening over the last six years since she'd thrown her lot in with Mulder, this was unprecedented. It appeared that he was dead serious and she wasn't quite sure how to take it; up until the kiss on her kitchen floor she'd honestly thought he was kidding and just carrying the joke too far as he was wont to do.
Sex with Mulder. It both deeply and wildly attracted and aroused her, and yet repelled her. Attracted, well, because he one hell of a sexy, charismatic, muscular, masculine... yeah, all that and more. Repelled because she had a pretty good suspicion that once they did sleep together she'd be left in the dust, forgotten, and he'd obsess over something else with good little Dana to tag along, the ever-faithful Mrs. Spooky in her place two steps behind him. Although she wasn't the type to fall in love with every man she had sex with, Mulder was different. Different because he was her friend, her partner, one of only two people on this planet that she trusted unconditionally--and the other was her mother. How much of that would change afterward?
I'll have to insist on nothing changing in our relationship/friendship, she thought as she geared up from her slow warmup jog to a medium run when she reached the park two blocks from her building, feeling her muscles warm to the work. Then it hit her. What the--? I'm not going to sleep with him! she scolded herself then upped her pace another notch as if to leave the thoughts behind. For a while she succeeded, forcing herself to concentrate only on her breathing, the feel of her muscles moving in easy harmony, the sweat forming on her brow and beginning to trickle down her back. But the memory of that life-altering kiss stayed in the back of her mind, just waiting for the right time to come back and haunt her with the knowledge that she could have more if only she was brave enough to reach for and risk it.