From stojkochic@aol.com Mon May 12 17:48:55 1997 Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: DO YOU WANT TO DANCE 1/2 by: Marnie Bacon From: stojkochic@aol.com (StojkoChic) -------- Title: New: DO YOU WANT TO DANCE? (Part 01/01) Author: Marnie Bacon Rating: PG Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance Classification: S(tory) R(omance) Summary: Our two favorite F.B.I agents share an innocent dance…or is it that innocent? Mulder looked down at the food he had ordered. He wasn't really that hungry, therefore he was just pushing it around his plate. He shouldn't have been this uncomfortable; he should have been excited. Or, at least, interested. I mean, he hadn't been on a date in...four years!!! My God, had it been that long. Sure, he had had the occasional thing with a couple of women, but he hadn't been on a real date in four years. But this really wasn't a date. This was a dinner and dance for all Washington DC based FBI agents, like himself. Sort of like a reprieve from the stress that all the agents felt everyday. It was an annual event. He hadn't gone to the last ones, but this year he was more or less ordered to attend by his superior Assistant Director Skinner. "Highly recommended to attend this function" were the exact words. Which meant he better go or else. He didn't care to think what the "or else" was, so he came. Oh, well. At least he could brush up on his butt kissing skills with the people higher up the ladder while he was here. Maybe even earn a little respect for his division. Yeah right. Like that would ever happen. Now if this was a different dimension... He smiled at that thought. That idea was more believable than one might think. In fact, it went right along with his line of work. Maybe this really was a different dimension. It would make sense. OK, in his mind it would make sense. Here he was wearing a tux and on a "date." Those were two things he never did. Maybe in this dimension, Samantha was still with him. His smile faded. This change in emotions did not go unnoticed by the woman he was with. "Mulder, one moment you are grinning like a goon, and the next you are completely crestfallen. What's going on in that mind of yours?" Mulder snapped back into reality, and his attention focused on the woman. She was the other reason this wasn't a real date. She wasn't his date. Sure, she was the one he came with, but date was a little strong a word for her. She was more like his partner on a quest to get through the evening. Of course, she was also his partner on the job, too which made this analogy easier to accept. "Hello?" "Hmmm, what Scully?" "Is there anything wrong? You seem really out of it tonight. Even more than usual." "No, I'm fine." "You haven't eaten a thing. Are you sure you aren't sick?" "I'm fine, Dr. Scully," Mulder said with a smile. He was always touched when Scully was concerned about his well- being. It always made him feel loved, or at least cared about. Not many people really truly cared about him. She was one of the few. "Guess I'm not that hungry," he said. Yeah, you're too nervous to be hungry, he thought. Why was he so nervous? He was only having dinner with his best friend. It's not like this is a date or anything. Unless he wanted this to be a date? Whoa, where did that thought come from? He better file it away. "Well, you have to eat something, Mulder. You haven't eaten a thing all day and I don't feel like dragging you back to your apartment when you pass out," Scully said. "Yes Mommy," Mulder grumbled as he stuck a piece of steak in his mouth. "Mmmmmm, yummy." "That's better. Don't forget your vegetables." "Don't push it." Scully smiled. She was just happy that she got him to eat a little something. She knew something was wrong with him when he came to pick her up. She knew tuxes and social events weren't his favorite things, but they didn't seem to be the center of his problem. He hadn't said much to her since they arrived much less looked at her. It was almost like he was uncomfortable to be around her, but that couldn't be right. Mulder was never uncomfortable in any situation so why should this one be any different? Maybe it was her. Maybe he didn't want to be here with her. Maybe he had wanted to go with someone else, be with someone else. "Mulder, if you don't want to be here with me..." "What would give you that idea?" "Well, you've hardly talked to me since we got here and you keep on going off in your own little world." "I'm sorry, Scully. It's just that I am still thinking about that last case. I feel we forgot something, that's all." Scully nodded. She knew that wasn't the real reason but she also knew that he would tell her what was wrong in his own time. She just had to be patient. And when it came to Mulder, patience seemed to be her middle name. Oh, real smooth, Mulder thought. Yeah, she really bought that one. Thinking about the last case. Forgetting something. Geez, that excuse was so pathetic. So now she thought he was trying to ditch her and a liar. Why didn't he just tell her that he was contemplating the idea that little gray men were controlling the government. Then she would just think he was paranoid. At least he was used to that emotion. Scully turned around in her seat. Mulder seemed to be having an internal argument and she didn't want to intrude. Maybe he'd finally tell her what was going on. She took in the surroundings. It was a huge, well-lit room. There must have been 75 tables and they all seemed to be occupied. The dance floor also was quite large. She turned some more and her eye caught Agent Tyler McGadden who was, as usual, surrounded by beautiful women. McGadden was, as of now, the most eligible bachelor in the bureau. He knew it and used this knowledge to his advantage to get anything he wanted from the women agents. Except her. He knew she was in a different league and that league was headed by Mulder. Mr. and Mrs. "Spooky" Mulder. She knew all about the rumors that circulated around about her relationship with Mulder. She was constantly asked what they really did in that dark room downstairs. She usually just ignored them and walked away. Scully often wondered if when Mulder was asked these questions if he fueled their imaginations with some incredible story. It wouldn't surprise her. It would be just like him to do it. Mulder saw Scully staring off in a different direction and decided to find out what had grabbed his partner's attention. What he saw did not please him. McGadden: most eligible agent. He used to be that until Scully came into the picture. He wasn't upset about losing his position, though. He'd rather have Scully than ten women crawling all over him. He just didn't like the way she was looking at him. Jealousy? No, just general concern for his friend. McGadden wasn't the kind of guy a girl wanted to get involved with. He was all snake and no charm. "He's not your type, Scully," Mulder said. Startled at her partner's voice, Scully jumped and practically fell out of her seat. Mulder stifled a laugh. When she regained her composure, she said: "Who? What are you talking about?" "McGadden. He's all wrong for you." "How do you know I..." Scully stopped. She knew she couldn't lie to Mulder. He could always tell. So she decided to try a different approach to this subject. "OK, since you know me so well, tell me what my type is." "Fine. The guy has to be intelligent enough to hold an interesting conversation so that automatically puts McGadden out of the running." "Mulder, that's rude and untrue. McGadden is a very intell-" "No interruptions," he said putting up his hand. "He also has to have enough manners not to look at the other person's chestal area while he has this ever interesting conversation. That's two strikes against our friend McGadden." Scully had to smile at that comment. She knew all about McGadden's wandering eyes. "He would have to realize that public groping is a definite no. Look," Mulder said pointing to her left. Scully turned and looked at what Mulder was pointing at. McGadden was in the corner obviously enjoying his female companion. Disgusted, she quickly turned away. "Strike three," said Mulder. "OK, so you've convinced me that McGadden isn't the one for me, not that I needed convincing. So tell me more about my dream man." "Well, he would have to respect your independence and feel comfortable with the fact that you do autopsies on mutants. So I suppose it wouldn't hurt if he understood the X-Files Division or maybe even knew a little something about mutants himself." "Why Mulder, if I didn't know any better, I would have to think that you're telling me my Prince Charming is you." "You said it, not me. Besides, I was thinking more on the lines of Skinner," Mulder said with a grin. "That's not even funny," Scully said but found herself grinning anyway. "OK, my turn." "For what?" "To find that perfect Mulder companion. Let's see, she has to be a tall buxom blonde with long legs and breasts out to the Great Wall of China. Is that about right?" "That's only true when there are no beautiful, petite redheads around. And I don't think I'll ever be without one of them," Mulder said quite seriously. Oh, God. Was he serious? Those green eyes were looking straight into her blue ones, straight to her soul. This was crazy. He sometimes flirted with her, but always with a grin. There was nothing funny about what he said or how he said it. She should have said something to break his intense stare. Maybe make her own little joke about his comment. Anything to get out of this situation. But her mind was a complete blank. The only thing she could concentrate on was his eyes and the beating of her heart. Then she felt someone tap her on the shoulder and the spell was broken. She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding and turned around. It was Agent Justin Harris. "Dana, I was wondering if you would like to dance?" Scully looked back at Mulder, saw he was back in his little world and said, "Sure, I'd love to." Mulder watched Scully and Harris walk out to the dance floor. What had he done? What had he said? Why hadn't he just smiled and made a joke out of it? Because the comment wasn't meant to be a joke. It was all true. Oh, he thought he had filed away all those thoughts. Apparently he just upset his file system and let something slip. Well, this slip up just scared her away and into another man's arms. Not exactly what he wanted to happen. Then again, in his life, things rarely went according to plan. Now all he had to do was come up with a different plan. Mulder's train of thought was interrupted with a tap on the shoulder. He looked up and saw Agent Cassandra Lewis, a tall buxom blonde with long legs and breasts out to the Great Wall of China. If this had been a different situation, he probably would have laughed out loud. Instead he just sat there and stared at her, wondering if this was some kind of sign, an omen. "Mulder, did you hear me?" Lewis asked. "Hmmm, what? Oh, no." "Well, I asked if you would like to dance." "Yeah, sure. Let's go," Mulder said all the while formulating a plan. He figured while he was on the dance floor, he could keep an eye on Scully. You know, in case Harris tried to pull some fresh moves on her. Who was he kidding? She could take care of herself. He wanted to make sure she didn't pull any moves of her own. He led Lewis onto the dance floor as near to Scully as he could get without being totally obvious. He assumed the proper dance position with Lewis and gracefully guided her around the floor. It was purely coincidental that the pattern just happened to be a complete circle around Scully and Harris. While dancing he wondered why he was planning to break up Scully's good time to begin with. Why shouldn't his friend have a good time? Just because it wasn't with him, doesn't mean he should look down at the whole experience. Friends let friends be happy. Was that all she was to him, though. Maybe he wanted her to be more. Where are these thoughts coming from? Geez, now he needed a secretary for his mind, too. Scully saw Mulder come up on the dance floor with that blonde bimbo. OK. That was a little harsh. She could be a perfectly nice human being. Just because she was a tall blonde with a great body didn't make her a bimbo. It's just that he had told her that she was his dream girl and not the blondes. Well, now she realized that was another one of his jokes. He had sounded so serious, so genuine though. Why had she fallen for it? She felt like such a chump. Mulder was still trying to organize his thoughts when he heard something. "Ouch!" yelled Lewis. "Mulder, that is the second time you have stepped on my toes. I get the felling that your feet may be on this dance floor with me, but your mind seems to be somewhere else. And I think that somewhere else might be with a certain red-head who happens to be dancing with Harris. Am I right?" "Am I that easy to read or is it plastered on my body somewhere?" asked Mulder. "Yeah, right here," said Lewis pointing to his heart. "Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to steal Harris away from Dana. That way you and Dana can dance the next song out and talk things through. You two obviously have a lot to discuss so don't chicken out, OK? We all know what you two feel for each other. All you two have to do is realize it for yourselves and come to the same conclusion that we all did a long time ago." My God. The whole building knew more about him and Scully than even they knew. So what did they know about each other? Mulder didn't know but he figured he wasn't going to find out by just standing there like an idiot. He was going to get some answers. Finally discover the truth. "Alright, Lewis. Let's go for it." While Lewis was going after Harris, Mulder was quickly trying to think of what he was going to say to Scully. "Hi. Um, it seems that the whole building has us hooked up already so why don't we just go for it," hardly seemed appropriate. Was this what he wanted? Did he want this friendship to go to the next level? Oh, he knew they loved each other as friends, but was it more? Was he IN love with her? Did he love her like that? Did she? Oh, what did Scully think? He could be trying for something that maybe she didn't want. What would he say then? "Sorry I just poured out my whole heart to you. Just forget I even said it. See you tomorrow." Their friendship would never be the same. It would be uncomfortable even to be in the same room with each other. He would lose her forever. Did he really want to sacrifice that for his own selfish reasons? What was he going to say to her? Luckily, he didn't have to come up with the first line because Scully came up to him and said: "I can't help but feel that it was a conspiracy that caused both of us to be without partners. What do you think?" Mulder smiled. Five years with him in the FBI and Scully could smell a conspiracy a mile away. "Don't look at me. It was all Lewis. She said she wanted Harris all to herself, if you know what I mean. It doesn't really matter, though She wasn't my type." He saw the skepticism on her face. "No, really. She was wearing four inch heals, I could see her brunette roots, and her breasts only went out to the pyramids." "Uh-huh. Well, I suppose the only thing we can do is go along with it. Until we find the truth, of course. So what do you say? Do you want to dance?" "It would be an honor and a privilege, m'lady," Mulder said to her, bowing. Mulder guided Scully back to the middle of the dance floor. "Listen, about what I said back at the table. I-" Mulder was silenced by a soft finger on his lips. "Let's not talk about that right now, OK. Let's just enjoy the music," Scully said softly. Mulder had no problem with that. He had no idea what he was going to say to her anyway. He put her right hand in his left and his right arm around her waist. Her left hand went to his shoulder tentatively, almost as if she were unsure what she wanted to do. Which, in reality, was true. Once the union of the dance couple was complete, they started dancing slowly to the rhythm of the music. This is perfect, he thought. Now why didn't he go last year? Well, he would never make that mistake again. He rested his chin on top of her head. Jasmine. Her hair smelled like jasmine. It must have been a new shampoo. He'd have to comment about it to her later. Right now he was in heaven with Scully in his arms in an embrace that was perfectly innocent but oh so intimate. He wished the dance could go on forever. There was nothing innocent about the thoughts that were going through Scully's mind. What was she doing? This was neither the time nor the place to be thinking those things. What she had to do now was figure out exactly what was happening between the two of them. On the outside, it was just two friends sharing an innocent dance. But on the inside, it was an emotional roller coaster. Maybe she should stop this right now and say she was involved with someone. And when would she have met this mystery man? She was only with Mulder like twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Well, she could always say she was involved with Frohike. She shuddered at the thought. Besides, Mulder would probably know about it even before she did. Mulder felt Scully shudder. He wondered if she was cold. He should have warned her not to wear that thin blue spaghetti-strapped dress to this function. It was freezing outside and the bureau was sometimes too cheap to spring for heat. He brought her closer to him to try and warm her up a little bit. To accomplish this, he had to shift his hips slightly against hers. Scully felt this shift and her legs turned to butter. What was he doing with his hips? Was he trying to drive her completely insane with desire? Because if he was, he was doing a pretty damn good job of it. Now how was she going to get out of this position? She had to somehow move her hips away from his. But the only way she could do this was to press her chest against his and subtly push away. Maybe she could do it all in one fluid motion so he wouldn't even notice that her chest had made contact with his. Well, here goes nothing, she thought. She took a deep breath and ever so slightly leaned into his embrace so that her chest touched his. She was just about to push her upper and lower body away from him when she felt Mulder's arm lock into place. Damn. She was caught with no way out. She was intimately pushed against his body and there was no way she could explain herself. "What are you doing, Scully?" asked Mulder hoarsely. "I was just, um...I was trying to...well, you see..." "I think we should sit this next song out." He needed to sit down. The dance had gotten entirely out of hand. He had to reorganize his thoughts and hormones and he couldn't very well do it while Scully was pressed against him. She was the reason he had to reorganize. "I think that's a good idea." It was a great idea. Anything to get her out of that position, no matter how much she liked it. Which, of course, she didn't. Not Scully. Not with Mulder. He followed her back to her seat with his hand pressed lightly against her back. At that moment, it was the only thing keeping her standing upright. Once both of them were seated, he clasped his hands together on the table and said, "We have to talk." "No we don't," Scully said a little too quickly. "Yes we do." She sighed. She knew he was right. Something had happened on that dance floor and neither one them knew exactly what it was nor were they ready to admit it. Or, at least, she wasn't. She knew something like this was going to happen to them some day. Two people of the opposite sex who experienced so much together and who deeply cared for each other like they did could not keep a strictly platonic relationship. She never knew the importance of the quote from When Harry Met Sally until now. "Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way." How true that really was. Scully thought she was prepared to handle this situation when it finally did come up. Unfortunately, "finally" had come up way too soon and she had no idea what to do. "Why? What do we have to talk about?" Scully asked. "Scully," Mulder said reaching across the table to claim her right hand in his, "something happened out there. Something neither of us can explain. Something that was years in the making and only clearly coming out now. That is what we have to talk about." "Mulder, you are blowing this thing entirely out of proportion. You are making the situation out to be more than what it was. It was a simple dance where a few moves were misread by both of us. It was absolutely nothing so could you just forget about it?" Scully looked down at their hands clasped together. "Can you?" She blushed furiously and looked away, hoping he hadn't just seen her reaction. Once she had composed herself again, she looked back and said: "Mulder, it's not like we kissed so I really don't see the importance in all of this nonsense talk." "Would your opinion of this talk change if I did kiss you right here, right now?" "Mulder, no..." "Scully, I don't know why we haven't before. Was it because we were afraid that once we started, our raging hormones would kick in and we would never stop? Maybe go a little too far?" "The reason we have never kissed is because it is not part of our relationship. We are just friends who care dearly for each other. If we did kiss, it would ruin our wonderful friendship." "Or make it better." Scully shot him a look. "OK, OK. What would happen if I kissed you...platonically." "I think when it comes to us, there would be no such thing as a platonic kiss." "So, what you are saying is, is that there is something between us that is not platonic." "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that, at this point in our relationship, a kiss on the lips would probably be, like the dance, misinterpreted." "Who said anything about the lips? I meant a platonic kiss on the hand. Well, now I know where your mind has been all this time." Ignoring the last comment, Scully calmly said, "Normally, when one asks for a kiss, they usually mean a kiss on the lips." "Well, this is not a normal time nor am I a normal guy. So, what do you say? Do I get to try out this platonic kissing thing?" "Mulder, what you have just proposed is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard. So, what I'm saying, is no. Can we drop this conversation now?" "That's an intelligent answer, Scully, but I'm afraid that it is the wrong one," Mulder said as he brought her hand up closer to his face. "Let's find out what the right answer is." There could have been numerous scientific reasons why Scully did not pull her hand back from his. Temporary paralysis of the right side. Lost circulation in the arm. But the only truthful one out there was that she wanted this to occur, if only to prove to him that they were only friends. All thoughts of friendship were lost when his lips touched her hand. Mulder had been thinking about doing this with his best friend for a long time. OK, so maybe not with her hand. Not many people dreamt about making out with someone else's hand. But hey, it was a start. He began this exploration of her hand with her delicate fingers. He applied a small amount of pressure to her tips with his lips. He worked down her fingers making sure he didn't miss a single inch of them with his lips. He turned her hand over so that it cupped his face and he kissed the soft palm of her hand. His mouth opened so his tongue could taste her. Mulder heard Scully moan softly and he knew he had found the correct answer. He returned to her fingers, opened his mouth once again, and allowed one finger to enter his mouth. His tongue circled her finger in an erotic matter. "I don't..." Scully swallowed and started again. "I don't think sucking was part of the proposal." "I suppose you're right," Mulder said taking her finger out of his mouth. He kissed her hand again and placed it back on the table. Scully had a thousand emotions running through her. Most of those emotions were ones she didn't want to face. Not here. Not now. Maybe not ever. Perhaps, if she was lucky enough, the whole event had meant nothing to him. Perhaps it was just a harmless experiment to test...to test God knows what. She didn't feel like analyzing what that "what" was. She didn't care. She just wanted to be assured that it was nothing. If that were true, she wouldn't have to worry about what she was feeling. She would just tuck her jumble of emotions in the back of her mind where all the rest lied; the ones that had been accumulating for the last five years. All she had to do was ask. She looked up at Mulder and her question was answered. It was written in his eyes. Damn. It had meant something. An important something. A something neither of them could ignore. Whatever that something was, she didn't need it. She was doing fine without it. Sure, she didn't have a social life, but she had a job she loved, (so few people could say that nowadays) and she worked with a partner that she lo...cared about immensely. Scully felt Mulder was about to say something so she paused her train of thoughts. He didn't get to say anything though because the lights suddenly went out. Mulder stiffened in his chair. In his line of work, an agent in a dangerous situation in the dark is most likely a dead agent. He then remembered where he was and relaxed. A room with more than a hundred agents may be scary but it was far from dangerous. Then he saw the light. No, this could not be happening. They could not be coming back. This light, whatever it may actually be, had already stolen so many things from him. It had taken his sister, broken up his family, killed his father, and practically destroyed his mother. And Scully. He would never forget her abduction and the weeks that he was alone in the world. This light would not want him, though. He would not be that fortunate. It wanted Scully. Mulder was not about to let it happen again. Especially not in front of him. Not like his sister. He was relieved when he found he could sill move. He wasn't paralyzed like the last time. He didn't ponder why that was, though. He had no time. He literally leapt over the table, grabbed a startled Scully, carried her to the near wall, and engulfed her in his embrace. She moved slightly, and he hugged her even closer to himself. Scully wondered what had just happened. She knew the obvious facts. The lights had went off and Mulder had grabbed her. But why? What had possessed him to do something like that? She would have to think about that later, though. Right now, she was concentrating on something more important: breathing, a difficult task while tightly enclosed in Mulder's arms. "Mulder, I can't breathe." Instead of loosening his grip, he tightened it. "Let go." Scully ordered with the strength she had left. She was feeling dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Mulder's response did not make sense to her. "No. The light. Not you. Not again." He heard the footsteps as they moved toward him and Scully. He shook his head. Not this time he thought. If he had been thinking rationally, he would have realized the light was not just one light but multiple lights; all of them harmless and none of them wanted Scully. This particular light coming towards them had a voice. "Don't worry folks. Just a blown fuse. You guys must have been partying too much. Power should be restored soon." Scully heard what must have been the voice of a man from the building's maintenance department and breathed a sigh of relief. Well, it would have been a sigh if she was breathing properly. She had hoped the voice would have broken Mulder's strange "trance." She had to get away. She tried to move again but he kept his arms and body locked in place. The maintenance man saw the struggle between the man and woman who were curled up against the wall. He walked over to the man and tapped him on the shoulder to make sure they were OK. The man jerked in response cutting off almost all the woman's oxygen. He heard the man whimper, "No." The maintenance man was afraid the woman was going to pass out. He was about to push him off the woman when the lights turned back on. All conversation that had ceased while the lights were off, were resumed; almost as if nothing had happened. That was hardly the case between the two in front of him. Scully felt Mulder's arms loosen up when the lights returned. She pulled herself out of his embrace and gasped for air. The man she recognized as the voice asked her if she was OK. She said she was and he walked away. When her breathing had returned to normal and she had made sure she was physically okay, she turned around on the floor to interrogate her partner. Mulder was still curled up against the wall. His head was tucked in his arms, but Scully could still see his face. It was tear stained. He had been crying. The sight of him looking so fragile and child-like nearly broke her heart. She no longer felt like yelling at him. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and tell him everything was going to be OK. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell him that because she had no idea what was wrong. From stojkochic@aol.com Mon May 12 17:54:11 1997 Newsgroups: alt.tv.x-files.creative Subject: NEW: Do You Want To Dance 2/2 By: Marnie Bacon From: stojkochic@aol.com (StojkoChic) -------- Title: DO YOU WANT TO DANCE 2/2 Author: Marnie Bacon Rating: PG Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance Classification: S(tory) R(omance) Summary: Our two favorite F.B.I. agents share an innocent dance...but is it that innocent. She had to get them out of the room. Scully could feel the eyes of all the agents on her and Mulder, and she couldn't very well inquire about his condition while the whole room was staring at them. She spotted a door that would get them out of there about thirty feet from where she stood. They could make it. They had to. Scully knelt beside Mulder and told him he had to get up so they could leave the room. He either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her because he didn't move. She was going to have to do this the hard way. "Fine," she said. "Then I will just drag you out of here." Yes, this five foot three inch woman was going to have to drag this six foot man out of the room. Oh, but never underestimate the power of a woman. This petite person packed a lot of power. She sat down in a chair and took off her shoes and panty hose (discreetly, of course). She was going to need all the leverage she could get, and she wasn't going to find it slip sliding around the floor. Then she squatted behind Mulder, hooked her arms under his arm pits, stood up as erect as she could, and started dragging. Scully got about fifteen feet when she stopped. She didn't want to stop, but Mulder had finally decided to put a halt to this ridiculous mode of transportation. He looked up at her and said: "I didn't think you'd actually drag me." "How did you think I was going to get you out of this room? You obviously weren't going to move on your own and I couldn't exactly pick you up and carry you across the room," Scully said, trying not to get angry. "I don't know about that, Scully. There have been times when I've felt you could THROW me across the room. "Yeah, well, this wasn't one of those times. Now would you please get up. I would like to get out of this room as discretely as possible." Of course, by now, that was virtually impossible. Already people were whispering about the floor show that had just occurred. Mulder slowly and steadily got to his feet. He was still physically and emotionally drained. Scully gathered up her panty hose and shoes, directed him to the door they were to exit from; and they walked out of the room together. With a little help from a busboy, they found a room that was occupied by neither agents nor hired help. "Why Scully, if I had known you wanted to find a private place to 'make-out', I would have suggested my place," Mulder said to try and lift the tension that he felt in the air. "I'm afraid your humor will not get you out of this situation." Scully stood up straight and looked him in the eyes, an act not easily achieved especially without shoes. "What the hell happened out there! You scared me half to death leaping over the table like that and I nearly passed out because of that bear hug you had me in." He turned away from his partner's angry eyes. He found a chair, flopped down in it, and cradled his head in his hands. Then he swallowed and lifted his head. He let what she said sink in and his eyes widened. "Oh, God, did I hurt you?!? If anyone had done to you what I did, I would have probably shot him on the spot. But I did it. I hurt you." At this point, he was feeling very disgusted with himself. "Mulder, I'm fine. You didn't hurt me. I was just afraid. Right now I am more concerned about you. I want to know what caused you to do that seemingly heroic action." How was he supposed to explain what happened? With the truth, definitely, but how would she respond? Would she think he had finally gone off the deep end? Aw, hell. If she didn't think that already about him, what he was about to say wasn't going to become "the straw that broke the camel's back." Well, here it goes. He took a deep breath and started. "It was the lights. First they went out and then I saw what I now know were numerous flashlights. I thought it was them, Scully. I thought they had found another reason to take you from me again. I wasn't going to let that happen, especially not right in front of my eyes. Not like Samantha." By now he was up out of his seat, walking around the room, and making wild gestures with his hands. He was trying to make her understand. "When I found that I wasn't paralyzed like the last time, I grabbed you up in my arms and tried to protect from what I thought was the light. They weren't taking you, dammit! Not this time." Mulder was getting angry. He stopped to collect himself. "So much had happened tonight and I just wasn't thinking straight," he said calmly. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "For what?" Scully asked seriously. "For what?! For hurting you. For laying out this whole pathetic sob story onto you. For dancing with you. For kissing you. For the whole damn night!" He said throwing up his hands. He walked back to his chair, sat down, and focused his eyes on some point on the wall to the left of Scully. "There is no reason for you to be sorry. Nothing you did is worth an apology. OK, there is one thing. That whole McGadden situation." Mulder looked at her and wondered how she could be joking with him after what he did. "No, Scully. What I did is unforgivable." "Now I wouldn't go that far. In fact, after this, I'd have to say we are even. You have to remember, I did shoot you once." "But you did that for my own protection," Mulder protested. "And so did you. You thought I was in danger. You did it to save me," Scully retaliated. "No. I did it because I jumped to conclusions. I didn't think it through. I didn't gather enough information. I acted on an impulse. God, it's exactly like our cases. Directly or indirectly, I'm the reason you get hurt like that. Me." "Will you stop that, Mulder! Just stop it. You are not the reason why bad things happen to me, yourself, or anybody else. I know that's how you think, and I wish you didn't. I know you blame yourself, but by doing this, you are also torturing yourself. Mulder, you are the reason why innocent people are free and guilty people are locked away. You are the reason I'm still alive. Stop twisting those achievements around. There is nothing but good in you. You have to believe that." "I want to believe," he said distantly. He really wanted to believe, for her. He would do anything for the woman that was standing in front of him. And he had fulfilled that promise numerous times over the years. He wanted to wipe away the demons of the past and the darkness of his soul so he could reach the goodness that Scully was so sure was inside him. "I really want to believe," he said, this time directly to Scully. "What, do you need proof?" Scully asked. "Does the skeptic need cold hard facts? Well, allow me to present evidence A: one Dana Katherine Scully. This person has been rescued from various psychopaths by one Fox William Mulder. Not only has this man saved her life, but he has also saved her soul from loneliness and despair. "You think you are the only one who suffers from depression, but I too have experienced a lot, sometimes, I think, too much. And in those times of darkness I have needed to turn to you. "Mulder, do you know how many times I have thanked God for assigning me as your partner and for giving me a chance to discover a new friend, a best friend." She took a few seconds rest and continued. "Would you like me to go on because I will. I have a thousand pieces of information I can use to get you to see what a wonderful person you are." Scully had Mulder's complete attention throughout her presentation. He felt so lucky to have this woman on his side. "You are incredible, Scully. I mean it. I may not have ever said that to you before but I am constantly thinking it. I have been wanting to tell you that on numerous occasions, but no time has ever felt more right than at this moment. Especially after what you said. No one has ever said that or anything like that before to me. Thank you." Scully was truly touched. She was also beaming with pride after his heart-felt compliment. She never knew positive feedback like that could completely lift your spirits. She had experienced the occasional "good job" and pat on the back during her career, but nothing compared to this. She felt six feet tall (compared to her height, that was really big). Mulder's compliments were few and far between so she was going to have to relish the one she just received. She felt their conversation was about to turn into uncharted territory. She was also feeling extremely uncomfortable because Mulder was staring at her so intently, almost willing her to come out and speak her mind. Scully decided to change the subject. "You never did tell me what was wrong back at the table. The truth, I mean" There, she was positive that this topic was relatively safe. Mulder smiled. She sure did change subjects quickly, he thought. Well, he knew she wasn't going to like his response because it brought them right back to the "forbidden topic." "Are you sure you want the truth?" he asked. He was giving her one more chance to save herself by letting it go. "Always." Here it goes. "Well, ever since I saw you tonight in that gorgeous dress looking so beautiful," he saw her blushing, "I have been asking myself, 'When did she change?'." "How do you mean?" she asked, quite baffled. "I mean, when did you change from the skeptical person I work with to the woman who keeps me up at night." "Mulder, for as long as I have known you, you have been a chronic insomniac," Scully said, trying to rationally explain his situation. "That's not what I mean." He got up from the chair and started pacing back and forth trying to decide the best way to handle this. He stopped pacing and stood in front of Scully to prevent her from turning away from what he had to say. Mulder was going to, in essence, "pour his heart out." He hoped he wouldn't hate himself in the morning. "Dana..." he started. "Dana?" Scully was genuinely surprised when he used her first name. Wherever this was going, it couldn't be good. "Yes, Dana." Of course he would use her first name. It was much more intimate. "Does this mean I get to call you Fox?" "No." He was in no mood to joke around and didn't even laugh at the use of his first name. Scully was going to open her mouth to continue on with the safe subject but felt Mulder would get angry with her for trying to lead him off of his original topic. She was in no position to argue with him when he was looming over top of her with that look in his eyes. "Now what I have to say is important," he continued, "so I would appreciate it if you would listen with an open mind and an open heart." Uh-oh. Trouble, Scully thought. "In the beginning, you were just the woman they sent to spy on me. Then I began to respect you as a doctor and an FBI agent and you became my partner. Trust came soon after, which, in turn, developed into friendship. This friendship is the best thing that has ever happened to me. No one has ever been able to dive into my mind; understand me the way you do. I am so grateful for what you have brought into my life; peace of mind. If you think I'm a wreck now, you should have seen my before you first walked into my office." He chuckled slightly. "Scully," we went back to using her last name because it was more comfortable, "I wouldn't trade what we have for anything." "So what's the problem?" she asked softly. "The problem is that I think I found something that I would sacrifice our friendship for." Scully let out a deep breath. She tried to look away but knew Mulder wouldn't let her so she did her best to fight off the tears that were coming. She failed miserably. "Oh, Scully. What have I done to you? Shhhh, don't cry," Mulder said. He brought his hands up, cupped her face, and brushed away the tears with his thumbs. He had no idea why she was crying. He hadn't even told her what he had to say. When he was done, then he would expect a reaction from her, and he hoped tears would not be it. "What do you expect me to do? You just said you wanted to end our five year friendship and for what. We've survived so many things together, what could possibly terminate our friendship?" Hiccup. She was so upset, she was hiccuping. "Who is she, Mulder? And why didn't you tell me? And why would she be the one thing our friendship can’t survive?" Hiccup. "Whoa, Scully. Calm down. Listen to yourself. It sounds like you already have me married. I'm supposed to be the paranoid one. Scully tried to calm herself down but it was difficult because she was still crying and hiccuping. It's hard to look controlled when your shoulders are shaking. "So what is it?" she said in the steadiest voice she could muster, which wasn't very steady at all. "Well, it's something that hasn't happened, or more accurate, something I haven't done." "Well, what is it?" "I'm not sure I can tell you. I don't think I'm ready because I'm afraid that once I tell you, our friendship would be ruined." "Well, according to you, our friendship is doomed no matter what, so just tell me what it is. I'm a big girl. I'm pretty sure I can handle it," Scully said slightly smiling. Mulder was going to go for it. He was just going to do it. No hesitations. No time to back down. No warnings. Just pure spontaneity. "This is the 'something'." Mulder didn't have to move his hands because they were still on her face from when he was wiping away her tears. He just had to move his head. He never had to move so far in his life. Time seemed to go in slow motion. As his head advanced towards hers, he saw Scully's eyes close. That simple action told him that she wasn't going to resist. He would have stopped if she had wanted him to, but he knew that wasn't going to happen now. Just before his lips touched hers, he thought about the fact that his life would never be the same. Good. Scully saw him moving towards her and she knew exactly what was going to happen. Though it didn't look like it from the outside, she knew she was in total control of the situation. Mulder would never go through with it unless she conceded. She had to make a decision. Was she going to resist or just let it happen? Before she even asked herself that question, she had her answer. She closed her eyes and waited - for what seemed like an eternity - for his lips to descend upon hers. The first touch was electrifying. It was like a lightning bolt had struck the both of them. Mulder stepped forward so that not even an inch separated the two of them. Neither really knew how to proceed from there. They both wanted more but did not know how to take it so they just let their animal instincts take over. Mulder deepened the kiss by running his tongue across Scully's lips until she opened up for him. Her hands found their way into his hair and she began running them through it. Such a soft texture. While her hands were exploring his hair, his tongue was exploring her mouth. Every time he found a sensitive part of her mouth, she moaned. Or was it him? Did it matter? Mulder was getting very greedy. He wanted more of this intoxicating beauty. His hands moved from her face, through her soft hair, to the back of her head to push it closer to his. If things didn't stop soon, kissing her wasn't going to be enough. Hiccup. He smiled against Scully's mouth. That certainly never happened to him before. Never had a kiss ended because of a hiccup. I guess it was a night full of firsts. Scully pulled away slightly and looked up at Mulder, clearly embarrassed that she had just hiccuped. She saw that he was smiling and knew that she had nothing to be embarrassed about. "What just happened?" Scully asked in a husky voice. "I think we just ended our friendship," Mulder replied in an equally husky voice. "Oh," she said as she moved back so that her body was flush against his again. This time, Scully initiated the kiss. It was her turn to explore. There was no hesitation to this kiss. Both had had a taste of what was to come and both wanted more. Her tongue went right into his eagerly awaiting mouth. She caressed his tongue with hers and was met with delicious moans of his own. While her hands went back to running her hands through Mulder's hair, he decided to go a little farther and started running his hands up and down her back. Scully shivered with pleasure, and he felt each quiver. Neither had ever acted this passionately about anything before in his/her life. They both knew why that was, though. The person in front of them was special. This was the person they loved. They knew they had to stop soon, but neither of them wanted to end it. Well, something was going to have to stop them. Thud. Thunk. Scully woke up with a start when she heard the noise. She sat up in bed and reached for her gun that was on the end table at the side of her bed. Only when she had her gun securely in her hand did she remember she had company. Mulder. He had needed to stay at her house for the night because his apartment was being sprayed for termites. She looked at the clock and saw it was 2:15 am. She was wide awake now. Might as well check out what Mulder was doing. While Scully was putting on her robe, she was thinking about that dream she was having only moments before. It was still fresh in her memory. It still seemed so real to her. The smells, touches, tastes...Stop it! This was no time to be thinking about a dream that probably meant nothing other then the fact that she was getting desperate for male attention even in her dreams. Except that it brought up some interesting questions like what she really felt for her partner or the infamous "what if." Oh, this was getting her nowhere. Time to see what Mulder was up to. She walked into her dark living room to find Mulder playing with her stereo. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked. Mulder whirled around, obviously startled to find that he had woken her. "I guess my night vision isn't as good as I thought it was," he said turning on the nearest lamp. "I kicked your table while trying to get to your stereo. I couldn't sleep and I thought some music could get me to sleep seeing your TV isn't working." "What, I still get the Spanish channel in pretty well." "Oh, well then let's sit down and watch El Mundo Grande." "Can I get you anything?" Scully asked getting up to go to the kitchen. "Do you have any of that chicken left?" "Do you know what time it is?" she asked for the second time that night. "2:23 am. Three and a half minutes since you last asked me." "Anyway, no. We ate it all at dinner. How about pretzels?" "Alright." he said while turning on her stereo to try and find some decent music to listen to. Scully brought back the snack and asked, "So, why couldn't you sleep this time?" "I had an, um....interesting dream," he said finally finding the perfect 2:30 am music, soft and light. "Really, me too." I bet it was nothing like mine, they both thought simultaneously. A new song came on the radio. A song both of them recognized from their dream. They both stood still, under the spell of the song, until Scully dropped the pretzels she had in her hands. "Oops," she said picking up the bag and putting it on the couch. "Nice song, isn't it?" "Hmmm? Oh, yeah." She had to act normal. If she didn't, Mulder would know something was up and then he would know about her dream. OK, so the latter would probably never happen but she didn't want to take the chance. All she had to do was get through this song. Mulder broke the silence between the two of them by asking the life changing question that told Scully everything, "Do you want to dance?" Well, how was it? Feel free to E-mail me feedback at StojkoChic@aol.com. This includes positive and negative ( I think I can handle the insults. I’m strong…maybe). Just keep the vulgarity down to a minimum.