Work Text:
“I won’t let you go alone,” Scully said, stepping almost blindly into Mulder’s personal space. He put his arms around her, and she brought a hand up to touch the fine, soft hairs on the back of his neck. Normally, she would take comfort from Mulder’s embrace, but her mind was elsewhere.
“Skinner,” Mulder said, pulling out of her arms and looking into her quizzical eyes. “I’ll ask Skinner. Maybe he’ll be too flattered by the offer to turn me down.”
Scully put her hands back on her hips and looked over at the closed office door. Her stomach churned with a sickening sense of foreboding. Mulder cupped her cheek for a brief moment and then turned away from her to go back into the office. She stood in the hall alone, just breathing. She was worried and nauseated and she didn’t want to be at work any longer, but she didn’t want to leave Mulder’s side either.
The door opened again and Mulder had his jacket slung over his shoulder. He inclined his head towards the elevators as he took her elbow to point her in the right direction before his hand moved down to the small of her back. The echo of her heels was unusually loud in the empty hall. Even the ding of the arriving elevator sounded amplified.
“Where are we going?” Scully asked.
“I need to pack,” he answered, punching the number for the parking garage with his knuckle. “Thought maybe you’d want to drive me home.”
When they got into the car, Mulder loosened his tie and undid the top button on his shirt. Putting the car in reverse to back out, Scully turned her head back to look behind her and glanced in his direction. “I think I got lipstick on your collar,” she said.
Mulder flipped the sun visor down and lifted up the cover on the small mirror embedded in the flap. Sure enough, there was a very faint, rosy streak at the fold of his collar. “Wouldn’t be the first time,” he replied, flipping the visor back up. “I’m sure it won’t be the last either.” He waggled his brows at Scully, but she wasn’t paying attention. He reached over and put a hand on her thigh, giving her a light squeeze. She said nothing.
Mulder discretely kept his eye on Scully as she drove them to his apartment. She continuously licked her upper lip, something she did when she was nervous or frustrated. She rubbed her thumbs against the steering wheel while maintaining a tight grip on it at the same time. She glanced in the rear-view mirror so many times Mulder almost thought they were being followed. Several times he even looked over his shoulder out the back window, just to double-check, but traffic was light and he saw nothing suspicious.
When they arrived at Mulder’s building, Scully seemed reluctant to get out of the car, but she finally caught up with him a few moments later as he waited for her at the front door. In the elevator, Mulder took her hand and Scully jumped, startled, but then realized he was just sliding his keys out of her grip. Once he took them from her, he put his hand on the back of her neck, gently running his thumb against the side of her neck.
On entering the apartment, Mulder immediately tossed his suit jacket onto the table in his entry way and made quick work of removing his tie, which he simply threw to the side. Before he even made it to the bedroom, his shirt was half unbuttoned and he dropped it on top of the rumpled sheets on his bed as soon as it was off, leaving him in his white undershirt and dress pants. Scully wandered into the room a few moments later, his suit jacket draped over her arm and his tie folded in her hand.
“Trying to single handedly keep your dry cleaner in business, Mulder?” she asked.
“This way my accountant lets me claim the Wongs as dependents on my tax return.”
Scully smiled a little and stepped close to Mulder as he shuffled hangers around in his closet, perusing the inventory. She was able to snatch an empty hanger from the rod and hang up his jacket in the midst of his removal of several dark colored shirts. On the back of the closet door was a tie rack, overloaded with ties of all variety. She found a decent space to hang the one in her hand and then ran her hand over all the others.
“Watch yourself,” Mulder said, placing both hands on Scully’s hips for a moment and then sliding one hand to her abdomen to hold her back against his side as he rolled a small, carry-on sized suitcase out of the depths of the closet and past Scully’s heels. He gave her a small squeeze and then let her go to pull the suitcase up onto his bed.
Scully sat down on the side of Mulder’s bed, watching him pack. As disorganized and sloppy as he could be, he was methodical and efficient in how he packed a suitcase. Shirts, pants, boxers, socks, light jacket, fleece jacket, all swiftly folded and tucked into a neat order inside the case with just enough room in the right spot for his toiletry bag. In no time at all, he was zipping up the bag and she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.
Mulder was about to announce a new record for packing when he saw Scully’s face. The last time he’d seen a look like that from her, he was handing her his weapon as he was about to face off with Robert Modell in a hospital room. Leaning over his suitcase and planting two fists into the mattress, Mulder bent his head and kissed the corner of Scully’s mouth.
“Careful,” Mulder whispered against her lips. “I might think you’ll miss me.”
Scully reached up and touched her fingertips to Mulder’s cheeks, letting them slip to his jaw. “Don’t go,” she whispered.
Mulder pulled his head back and looked at Scully curiously. She held eye contact with him and he felt like he was being hypnotized by how crystal-clear blue her irises became through a sheen of tears.
“Scully?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, putting a hand on his chest and pushing him away slightly. She swiped a knuckle under her eye and then rubbed the side of her hand against the apple of her cheek. “I don’t know why I said that. I think I'm just…I’m still not feeling very well.”
Mulder put the back of his hand against Scully's forehead for a few moments and then smoothed her hair over one ear. “You are a little warm,” he said.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she answered, grasping his hand to pull it away from her face. “Maybe the flu. Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Maybe you should make an appointment with your doctor,” he said, lightly. “Just to know for sure.”
“I will.”
Mulder planted both fists into the mattress again and lowered his head, speaking down at the bed. “Scully, I’ve been thinking about some things lately and I think when I get back from Oregon, we should talk.”
“About what?”
“The future. Our future.” He looked up at met her eyes. “With or without the X-files. The FBI, even.”
“Are you asking me to quit?”
“No. I’m just reiterating what I told you the other night. I think there could be so much more. For us.”
Scully reached up and put her hand on Mulder’s face. Her stomach quivered with the panicky, foreboding, sick feeling again. Mulder pulled back from her and put his suitcase on the floor. He came back towards her and wrapped an arm around her waist as he bent over her, one knee pressed to the bed as he lowered her down to the pillows.
“You probably don’t have time for this,” Scully whispered.
“Yes I do.”
“Wait,” she said, putting her palm against his chest to hold him back.
Mulder leaned back so he was sitting on one folded leg, pulling Scully back up with him. “I know, I know,” he said. “Wrinkles.”
Scully smiled a little as she unbuttoned her blouse. Mulder took the opportunity to pull his undershirt over his head and then unbuckled his belt. He took Scully’s blouse from her once she slipped it off her arms and retrieved a hanger, taking great care to arrange it neatly and then hang it on the door handle of the closet. By the time he was finished with that, Scully had unzipped her skirt and toed off her shoes. While she rid herself of her pantyhose, Mulder draped the skirt over the back of his chair, straightening and smoothing it to perfection. He caught Scully grinning at him from where she lay, on her side in the middle of the bed, clad only in a navy blue bra and panty set. She flicked her wrist at him and mimicked the noise of the soft snap of a whip. Mulder chuckled.
“I am not whipped,” he said, shucking his pants and kicking them to the side. "I prefer to think of it as well-trained."
Scully raised an eyebrow.
“See, still a bit of a rebel.” Before Scully could try to guilt him into picking up his pants, he moved onto the bed, mirroring her position on his side and resting his hand on her hip.
“Socks, Mulder,” she whispered, running her big toe up and down his shin and pushing the top of his sock down towards his ankle. Mulder bent a little at the waist and pulled both socks off, flinging them towards the corner as Scully tsked.
Wearing a bemused smirk, Mulder leaned in and kissed Scully softly on the mouth. Pulling back and tilting his head the opposite way, he kissed her again, just a little harder that time. He got a secret thrill out of the way she looked at him every time he leaned in for a kiss. Her eyes always tracked his descent to her lips as though he might change his mind at the last minute. As if he could. It only took a moment or two for her relax and reciprocate. He always knew he had her when he felt her fingers sliding through his hair and her palm cupping the back of his head. He may have spent the better part of seven years trying to unsuccessfully convince her that they were not alone in the universe, but he could successfully pique her desire for him in under seven seconds, so he considered it a win.
Scully sighed into Mulder’s kisses, laying back and pulling his head with her so his kisses didn’t stop. He put his arm around her, sliding her over a few inches so her side was pressed to his chest. His hand covered the middle of her back and slowly, his fingers inched up, sliding beneath the band of her bra until the strap lay across his knuckles.
The first time Mulder had unclasped Scully’s bra, he was nervous as hell. So nervous, his fingers had been shaking and he’d pulled clumsily and ineffectively at the eye and hooks until Scully reached back, pushed his fumbling fingers aside, and undid it herself with a twist of finger and thumb. He’d worked past the nerves long ago and could deftly unclasp the entire contents of her lingerie drawer at this point, but he always did so with a little reverence in the moment. He liked to feel the straps loosen and he liked that Scully always gave a tiny shrug of her shoulders as her chest was bared.
Mulder moved his kisses from Scully’s mouth down her neck and to her shoulder. He slid his body lower as he bent his head to press his mouth to the swell of her breast. He felt Scully flinch and he paused, looking up at her.
“Scully?” he whispered.
Scully shook her head slightly, eyes heavy. “Tender right now,” she answered. “It’s fine.”
“Are you feeling up to this?”
“Don’t even think about stopping, Mulder.”
Mulder knew better than to second-guess, but he proceeded with caution, breathing over her skin instead of kissing her as he worked his way down to her belly. He paused for a moment, turning his head so that his ear was pressed to her abdomen and he circled his thumb around her belly button as he held her hip. In that moment, he imagined the thrum of a heartbeat in his ear and the tiny flutter of life under his hand. He covered for his reverie by turning his face again and brushing his nose along the lace trim of her panties. Miracles were something to add to the discussion when he returned from Oregon, not now.
Scully tilted her hips and Mulder slipped her panties off her legs and then removed his boxer briefs. At this stage in the game, Scully didn’t even notice that he'd shoved both garments off the edge of the bed with a kick of his foot. She was too busy caressing his back and shoulders with closed eyes. Mulder moved back up and lay down next to her, petting her hair back before resting his hand on her face. Scully opened her eyes and smiled up at him.
“Ladies’ choice,” Mulder said.
“Mmm,” Scully replied.
After a short time spent searching Mulder’s face, Scully put her hand to his chest and pushed him onto his back. She rolled with him and then sat up, throwing her knee over his hips to straddle his waist. She took control of him and he tipped his head back against his pillow, biting his lip and running his hands up and down the tops of her thighs. She looked him in the eyes as she lifted her hips and reached for him. The muscles in her legs clenched and then she relaxed, coming down to his lap. He would never get used to how good she felt around him. Never in a million years.
Scully moved slowly and Mulder was content to lay passive for the time being, watching her as she watched him. It was unusual for her to hold his gaze for so long in this position, but he wouldn’t complain. She had a look of deep concentration on her face, as though she was trying to tell him something. If he believed for one second that Scully believed in telepathy, he might stop to listen.
Mulder moved his hands around to grip Scully’s hips, fingers pressed along the curves of her backside. With a hitch in her breath, she took his hands from her hips and placed them on her breasts. She didn’t flinch this time, but her mouth opened and her lips quivered. She kept her hands over his, holding on to his wrists while he used his thumbs to draw circles over her nipples.
The time for docilely letting Scully have all control was over. Mulder pumped his hips against her, slowly at first, but then with more intent. She moaned quietly and her eyes slipped shut. She arched her back, breasts pressing more forcefully into his hands.
Mulder slipped one hand out of Scully’s grasp and moved it back down to her hip. He stroked his thumb down over her pubic bone to his intended target, coaxing more of her self-control away. He knew he was succeeding when her hands dropped to his chest and her body tipped forward slightly so she could lean against him. Her bottom lip glistened with saliva from her inability to close her mouth as she panted in time with the flick of his thumb.
Scully gasped and shivered, head falling forward. Mulder felt her skin flush and break into gooseflesh. She was so unbelievably sensitive in that moment that her scalp tingled as the ends of her hair fell across her shoulders. If she didn’t know better, she’d say it felt like she was made of static electricity. A coil of liquid heat spread through her and in that split second, she wished for it to spark and ignite into life as it flooded her empty womb. Such things were too much to hope for now and she collapsed with exhaustion on top of Mulder’s chest. A traitorous tear leaked out of one eye and down her nose, but she brushed it away before it hit Mulder’s shoulder, lest it give her away.
It was humid in Mulder’s embrace. His arms around her held in their ragged breath and sweat and heat, but she didn’t mind. She would rather burn in his arms than be chilled outside of them. Before too long, he rolled them over and lay in the cradle between her thighs, holding himself up on his elbows so he could look at her.
“What?” Scully asked, pushing her fingers through his damp hair. He looked like he was trying to tell her something with his mind, but she didn’t believe in telepathy.
Mulder shook his head, bending down to kiss his way down her chest and then back up to her throat. When he lifted his head again, the gold cross on her necklace was between his lips. He opened his mouth and the tiny pendant fell back with an insignificant thump against her chest. Scully reached back behind her neck and felt for the clasp on the chain. She fumbled with slick fingers, but managed to undo the clasp and then bring it around Mulder’s neck and secure it in place. He tipped his chin down to look at the cross now dangling from his neck and then looked back up at Scully as she touched it with her index finger.
“Now you’ll have me with you,” she said.
“I love you, Scully.”
Scully didn’t say anything, but traced his lips with her thumb.
Mulder dragged his lower lip against her thumb and then turned his head away. “I should probably…”
“I know.”
Scully pushed Mulder up and off of her because she knew he wouldn’t do it willingly, even if he had to. She didn’t want her reluctance to let him go to influence him to stay. If he could end this crusade by going to Oregon, she wasn’t going to deny him the opportunity, despite her misgivings.
They were both quiet as they cleaned up and got dressed. Mulder took every advantage of the confined space of his bathroom to find a way to touch her; brushing his hips against hers as he leaned past her to open his medicine cabinet; massaging her shoulders in a way that was almost counterproductive as he waited for her to hook her bra into place so he could get out of the door; rubbing her sides as he pretended to smooth out imaginary wrinkles from her blouse as she buttoned the shirt.
Scully shrugged into her blazer as Mulder picked up his suitcase. She left Mulder’s room without a backward glance, but Mulder paused and looked around. His dress shirt was laying precariously on the edge of the bed, already wrinkled and ready to fall over the side at any minute. He thought about hanging it up, but it would be more fun to have Scully scold him for his carelessness when he got back.
“You’ll be careful, won’t you?” Scully asked, turning off the car after parking in the FBI headquarters garage. She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to look at Mulder.
“You’ll make an appointment with your doctor, won’t you?” he replied.
“I’ll go tomorrow.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Scully nodded and got out of the car. She waited for Mulder to join her and they walked to the elevators together. On impulse, she reached out and curled her pinkie finger around one of the belt loops in Mulder’s jeans and gave it a small tug. Mulder looked down at her, a smile on his face.
“I love you too, Mulder.”
Mulder released the handle of his suitcase and turned towards Scully, bending slightly and shielding both their faces from the security cameras that were up ahead of them.
“I know you do,” Mulder said. “Let’s talk about that more when I get back.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” Mulder whispered in her ear. “The day after that, the day after that, and every day after that for…however long forever is.”
Scully turned her head and looked at him with a watery gaze. “Is forever what you want to talk about?”
“So much more, Scully. So much more.” He kissed her cheek and put his hand at the small of her back, guiding her forward.
The End.