"Maybe the fog is lifting,
just a little." He heard the
words in his mind. She'd been wrong,
he was as thick-headed as ever and he'd lost his opportunity.
He shivered, hell he'd almost lost everything.
She was resting now, asleep.
The doctor said her recovery was amazing.
But there shouldn't have had to be
a recovery. Shot by her partner.
Mulder felt a moment of near
pleasure as he remembered Ritter's face. "You're
a lucky man." The asshole
didn't have a clue how lucky. If she
had, had died, he would have killed him. That
was a given, nothing they might have done to him would have touched him with her
gone.
He let his face fall into his
hands. Scully had told Sheila that
something would click and a friend would suddenly become the only one you could
see yourself with. That had happened
for him years ago. He just hadn't
acted on it.
He was familiar with rejection.
But not rejection from her. That
he couldn't take. So the big, brave
FBI agent hid behind his sarcasm and innuendos and took what she offered,
grateful for that.
"Mulder?
You okay?"
He jerked upright.
"Scully, yeah, I'm fine. I
didn't mean to wake you. Can I get
you anything?"
Her eyes scanned him, but she
didn't call him on the lie. She'd
used it herself often enough.
"I don't need anything,
Mulder. Why don't you go get some
sleep?"
He shook his head, "Nyah,
I'm good here."
She didn't argue, truth was she
wanted him here. She hadn't said it
out loud, she couldn't, but she was freaked by what had happened and his
presence was comforting. The problem
was, he was so guilty.
Scully reached out and took his
hand. "I need you rested.
I'll need your help tomorrow."
He straightened up.
"Sure, what?"
"I'm going home and I'll
need an escort."
"Going home?
What the, when was that decided?" His
eyes narrowed, ready to do battle with her doctor.
"Just now."
She spoke mildly. "I'm
ready to get out of here."
"No.
No way. Scully, you were
shot. You shouldn't even . .
." His voice trailed off. 'Be
alive'. No way could he say that out
loud. "I don't want you moving
too fast."
"I won't, but I am going
home. I'll recover better there.
The doctor said I was out of danger.
I just need to rest and recuperate."
He opened his mouth to protest
further, but she squeezed his hand. "Maybe
you could stay over at my place a couple of days, help out."
His mouth snapped shut.
Her place? She would allow him
to look after her?
"We need to see what the
doctor says." He finally
responded.
"I'm a doctor."
She reminded him with a smile.
"You're my
doctor. I'm not sure I trust you for
someone as important as my partner."
Unexpected moisture came to her
eyes, but she blinked it away. "Did
you just insult me?"
"Never.
Close your eyes, Scully. Rest
and get strong for me." He rose
and loomed over her for a minute, then pressed his lips to her forehead, and
then to her fingers.
The tears were back in her
eyes. She nodded and carefully
shifted to her side, the pain less than it had been even earlier this evening.
He watched as she got
comfortable, then took his seat beside her again.
*****
He glanced over at her.
She was asleep, the seat reclined. The
doctor hadn’t been happy. In fact
he’d been downright unhappy. It
had crossed Mulder’s mind that he wanted to keep Scully to examine her more
thoroughly, maybe write up her incredible recovery.
He had forced her to sign out against medical advice, which hadn’t
fazed Scully at all.
The doctor had been adamant
about her not getting on a plane, something about the air pressure.
Whatever, now they were in his rental car, headed home.
The doctor had advised that
they stop every hour of so, for her to walk a little.
Scully hadn’t said too much until they were in the car.
The first time he’d slowed down, she had put her hand on his arm.
“The more we stop, the later we’ll be getting home.”
“We can drive half way, then
- “
“Mulder, I want to sleep in
my bed tonight. If you get tired,
I’ll take over driving.”
He looked over and saw that she
was serious. “That’s okay.
We’ll keep going for awhile. But
we’ll stop for a leisurely lunch.”
“Okay, we can do that.
I'll just relax now.”
He had kept his eye on her, but
she seemed to be resting comfortably. When
he did turn off the highway, she stirred. “Don’t
argue, Scully.” He spoke when she
glanced over at him. “It’s time
for lunch.”
She glanced at her watch,
then looked back at him, eyebrow raised. “
“I didn’t eat enough
breakfast. Besides, you’ll like
this place. It has a 40+ item salad
bar.” He grinned at her.
She couldn’t help it, she
chuckled at his enthusiasm. “Fine.
But we don’t have to stay here all day.”
“Of course not.
And this way we beat the crowd.”
She shook her head, but
didn’t protest.
He hurried around the car, to
help her out and she allowed it, even leaning slightly against him walking in.
His arm around her felt good. He
watched her eat, only remembering to eat himself when she reminded him.
She dozed off and on the rest
of the way home, but seemed okay when they reached her place.
He carried both of their bags inside, though she had reached for hers.
The look he gave her actually caused her to blush.
At his insistence she got ready
for bed, while he fixed something for dinner from her freezer.
He had planned to take a tray in to her, but she sat at the table and
just looked at him until he looked away and served the meal.
Once she had eaten, he did
insist that she go rest. He cleaned
the kitchen and went to check. She
was in bed, but reading one of her journals.
“You’re supposed to be
sleeping.” He sat beside her on
the bed.
“I slept the whole way
home.” She groused.
“You left the hospital
against medical advice.” He lifted
the journal from her hands. “You
need to lie down and get comfortable. I’ll
get your medicine.”
She rolled her eyes, but
decided not to give him any grief, just relaxing back against the pillows.
It was kind of nice being pampered by him.
Once he had her tucked in, he
got ready for bed himself, pj bottoms and a t-shirt, though he was far from
sleep. He retrieved a blanket and
pillow from the linen closet and made himself comfortable on the couch.
He surfed the channels with the sound turned low, but nothing caught his
attention so he snapped it off.
He flipped through the
magazines on her coffee table, all AMA journals.
He needed to give her a subscription to Cosmo for her birthday, they
could both enjoy that.
Finally he gave up all pretense
of trying to sleep. He wanted to
watch her breathe and revel in each breath.
He carefully let himself into
her room and took the small chair by the window.
The chair might not be the most comfortable, but he wanted to be here.
His eyes finally grew heavy and his chin sank to his chest.
*****
"Mulder?"
He was awake instantly.
"Yeah, Scully. Are you
okay?"
"Well I am, but you won't
be, sleeping there. Why are
you there?"
He shrugged.
"I wanted to be able to hear you if you needed anything."
She didn't point out that he
was literally only a couple of yards closer than the couch.
He was here for himself as much as for her.
She knew that and accepted, even appreciated it.
She turned her bedside lamp on
the lowest setting, then sat up against the headboard.
"There is one thing you could do for me."
"Sure."
He was already on his feet.
"You could change my
dressing for me."
He hesitated, hadn't she done
that when she got ready for bed? And,
and the location of her wound . . . "Sure," he heard himself say.
"I'll get the stuff."
She nodded and watched him
leave to gather up the bandages and cream. Okay,
yes, she'd admired his ass in those pj's as he went.
When he returned, he sat beside
her on the bed, putting the materials on the bedside table.
He turned to her and she lifted her pajama top to give him access,
exposing the bottom curve of her breasts along with the bandage.
He couldn't stop the involuntary glance and could only hope she didn't
notice that his hands were trembling slightly.
He carefully pulled the tape
from her skin to remove the bandage, then stopped.
He stared at her body for a long moment, then looked up to meet her eyes.
Neither spoke, but his hand came up, his fingertips barely touching her
skin. She shivered at the feel of
his feather-like caress and her breathing grew shallow.
"Scully, how?"
"I don't know,
Mulder."
"You're healed.
There's almost no mark, no . . . "
"It's even better now than
it was when I got ready for bed. I
can't explain - "
"Fellig.
Fellig did this. He saved
you."
"Mulder - "
"He saved you.
That's all that matters, Scully. The
how, the why - I don't care. He
saved you. You're alive and you're
here."
"And you're here."
She spoke softly.
His eyes widened at her tone
and he realized again his proximity to her full and perfect breasts.
Was she . . . was she giving him another chance?
"Scully."
She shivered again at the sound
of him, his want, his need undisguised
this time. She moved closer to him.
He wanted to pull her against him.
Instead he leaned down and his
lips pressed lightly against the faint bruise that was all that was left from
what should have been a fatal wound. Her
breath caught at the feel of his lips against her skin.
She reclined, pulling him down with her, her breasts becoming more
exposed with the movement.
She hadn’t pushed him away,
she hadn’t slapped his face. He
nuzzled her breasts. She gasped
then, but with delight, entangling her hand in his hair.
He hesitated, pulling back
slightly, sitting beside her, but leaning close.
“Scully, we shouldn’t . . . you - “
“Mulder, when I was lying
there, waiting for the ambulance . . . Fellig was dead beside me. One thought
kept running through my head. 'Wasted'.”
His guilt took an immediate
leap. Yes, wasted was a good word
for what he had done to her life.
She saw that and continued.
“I’d wasted my chance and I was never going to see you again.
I was going to die alone and I’d wasted all that time.”
His grip on her had tightened
at the word ‘die’, but he was confused now.
Wasted all that time?
“I’m healed.
You saw it yourself, Mulder. I,
I need to tell you something.”
She saw the concern on his
face. Her hand came up to caress it
away.
“Do you remember that letter
we got from Sheila? When you found
out what she and I had discussed?”
He blinked, he’d been
thinking about that just last night. After
a moment he nodded slowly.
"Mulder, what if I told
you that I’d had that moment. That
I can’t imagine being with anyone but you."
His eyes closed for an instant.
"I'd say, 'finally'."
Her look of wonder caused a
smile on his face. "Finally?"
"I had that epiphany years
ago, Scully. I've just been waiting
for - "
He didn't get a chance to
finish that sentence as her hand caressed his cheek and he leaned into it.
What did she want? Her eyes
smiled then and she let her lips lightly touch his.
He let his eyes close as he deepened the kiss.
She tasted cool and sweet and Scully, just as he’d always imagined.
His hand caressed her back, the skin smooth and warm beneath his hand.
She slid down in the bed,
leading him down beside her. She
pressed against the hard length of his body and her leg brushed his cock.
He broke the kiss then, pulling
away from her. “Scully, we . . .
you just got out of the hospital.”
“Yes, from a bullet wound
that’s completely healed. I’m
healed. I . . . I don’t want to
wait any more.” She pressed
against him again.
He groaned into her mouth and
she smiled.
He moved away long enough to
lose his t-shirt and unbutton her top. His
eyes caressed her body.
”Mulder?”
“I, I just want to, to look
at you. I need to believe this is
real, not some dream.”
“It’s not a dream,
Mulder.”
He pressed himself against her
and heard her breath catch.
He moved down her body,
licking, tasting her. And she
wasn’t pulling away. She was
allowing him this pleasure. He felt
like he’d been given the keys to paradise.
She let her eyes slide closed,
feeling the stubble from his face lightly caress her inner thigh, then his face
nuzzling her curls. She remembered
overhearing a woman from the secretarial pool remarking that Mulder’s nose was
too large for his face. She
couldn’t be more wrong, especially the way he was using it now.
He smiled as he heard her moan.
Then he slowly but surely began driving her out of her mind.
His tongue, that talented tongue . . .
Then almost before she was
ready, she was coming. She was
coming like she had never come before. He
moved quickly to take her into his arms as she shuddered.
She clung to him as her body gave itself over to the delightful
sensations he had brought from her.
When she finally began to come
back to herself, she looked at him, tears in her eyes.
“Scully?”
“I’ve never been more
wonderful.” She answered his unspoken question.
He relaxed then, pulling her
close to him. “Rest, Baby.”
“No, we’re not finished
here.”
“We are for tonight.
You just got out of the hospital. You
- “
“Then you can be on top this
once.”
“This once?”
He looked at her, his eyebrow cocked.
The grin she gave him was pure
evil and his pulse quickened. “Come
on, Mulder. Show me what ya got.”
“Oh, so you want me.”
He nuzzled her throat.
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Her leg slipped between his and he knew how much she wanted him.
Both of their smiles faded as
he moved over her and his cock pressed against her.
Then he entered her slowly. He
didn’t dare think about how long he had wanted this.
He concentrated on the sensation of having her hot tightness surrounding
him, wanting him.
When he was fully sheathed
within her, he paused, giving her time, giving himself time.
No words were spoken, but their eyes said volumes.
He began moving slowly, then thrusting deeper, harder at her insistence.
He wanted this to last, to show
her how important she was to him. That
couldn't happen; no way could he ever convey that.
But he wanted her to enjoy this, to bring her to that peak again and
again, tonight and every night.
Their eyes were locked again,
devouring each other as they loved. He
knew she was close again, he could feel it.
He brought his fingers into play, and saw her eyes widen in surprise,
then her body arched and they both were lost in the wave that overtook them.
Clinging to one another, submerged in each other's soul.
She was stunned that she’d
come again. She rarely came at all,
though she didn’t admit it. The
other men that she’d had sex with, she couldn’t call them lovers, not after
tonight, either hadn’t made her feel safe enough to let go, or hadn’t taken
the time. She had been loved tonight
in more ways than she could voice.
He left her body and collapsed
beside her, still mindful of her injury. She
understood, but would have relished his weight upon her.
He gathered her against him, holding her close.
She brought his face to hers
and kissed him, then let him rest his head on her breasts.
She felt him relax into sleep, not releasing his hold of her.
She ran her hand through his
hair, watching his body entwined in rest with hers.
For the first time in too many years, her future seemed clear.
Links to other sites on the Web
Mulder,
Scully, the Lone Gunman and Skinner all belong to
