From: =?iso-8859-1?q?aRcaDIaNFalls?= Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 17:04:01 +1100 (EST) Subject: NEW: Encounter (1/1) by aRcaDIaNFall$ Source: xff TITLE: Encounter AUTHOR: aRcaDIaNFall$ FEEDBACK: arcadianfalls@yahoo.com.au RATING: PG SPOILERS: none CLASSIFICATION: V, R - UST, I guess... SUMMARY: It's the middle of the night at a motel in the middle of nowhere and the elements are bewitching Mulder and Scully. --> http://www.geocities.com/arcadianfalls/ Encounter by aRcaDIaNFall$ I don't know what woke me. The gentle clattering of the blinds against the half-open windows, maybe. A breeze had picked up since I'd fallen asleep and the blinds were jerked back and forth, buckling and rattling, letting strobelike flashes of moonlight through like some alien morse code, penetrating my eyelids, images playing on my retinas. I put up a hand to shield my eyes, stumbling out of bed and tugging at the window, trying to pull it closed. It took several seconds for my fumbling fingers to find the latch and even as I managed to close and secure the window, silencing the blinds, I regretted having to do so. It was a hot summer night and the cool breeze against my bare skin had been a luxury. I returned to bed and lay spreadeagled on my back, the cool sheets against my skin quickly absorbing my body heat. I turned restlessly, searching for a cooler position, feeling the room grow more and more oppressive and humid as I lay there. It was quickly becoming unbearable. I got up again, moving over to the window and throwing up the sash, breathing in the cool air that rushed in. The breeze kicked the blinds up into the air. They clattered against themselves as they settled back down, then were only a second later caught up again. I tugged at the cord to draw them up as high as the window was open, and gazed out through the glass. A cool change was on the way. The wind moved through the open fields, tossed the unkempt grass and the heavy boughs of trees. It was strangely exhilarating, the freshness and vitality, the power of the forces of nature. It was a welcome change from the long, hot day that had leeched energy from us, that had set us - and the whole town, it seemed - on edge. A different movement caught my eye, a movement going against the rest. And a chuckle carried on the wind. I moved to the other window, feeling as though it were The Night Before Christmas as I pulled up the blinds and threw up the window sash, staring out in amazement. A creature in white. Seated on the old rusty swingset in the motel's back paddock, hair flying as she strained against the reins as though she were on a horse. Flying so high, back and forth, muscles flexing in her bared arms but so effortlessly. A sight to behold. I gazed, mesmerised, totally spellbound. Could this be the partner who had snapped at me for knocking over her coffee and tiredly glared when I announced that we'd missed our flight out and were stuck here til tomorrow morning? Could that be this same free spirit? Entranced, I pushed the window open further and swung my frame through, not realising til I landed on rocky ground, with the sharp grasses itching my ankles and bare legs, how irrational I was being. I wore boxers and nothing more, but my feet took me forward of their own accord. This was crazy, I thought as the wind whipped my body and tossed my hair. I was dreaming. I was drugged. I was bewitched. "Scully!" I yelled, wondering if the elfin creature on the swing would simply vanish. But she turned her head, glancing across at me as she still pushed the swing higher and higher. A smile lit up her face, a thousand watt beam, sheer joy. I stared at her. "What are you doing?" "Getting some fresh air!" she yelled back down at me, pushing higher as if with renewed energy. She grinned even wider. The horrified thought crossed my mind that maybe *she* was drugged. She was acting crazy. And yet I knew that, despite being out here, both of us barely dressed, at two am, we were both perfectly sober, perfectly sane. I grinned, opening my arms to her, wanting to share the craziness. "Come down from there!" Letting out a gleeful cackle, she stopped pushing and the swing started to slow, her face to the sky as she let it rock her back and forth, slower and slower, til her bare toes dragged along in the dirt through the grass. She exhaled a long, satisfied sigh, opening her eyes, drawing herself straighter. She looked at me, eyes dancing but a demure smile on her lips. "What are you doing out here?" I asked again, standing only a few feet away, grass whipping my legs, back to the wind as it flattened the fabric of my boxers against me. Scully, like me, was barefoot and wearing only pajamas, white silk boxers and a white tank top. She hung onto the reins of the swing and gazed unflinchingly at me, as if challenging me to question her attire or even to take a closer look. "It was hot in my room," she answered, looking a little sheepish for the first time, though her eyes still shone with joy. "I figured nobody would be awake. It's late." "But you felt like a little exercise?" She tilted her head in acknowledgement, seemingly relaxed, even amused by my teasing. "What woke you?" I shrugged, grinning like a klutz. Somebody up there who likes me. She stood from the swing, dusting off her backside, resting her hands on her hips. I'd only seen her in full length winter pajamas before but I stopped myself from even looking her up and down. We were both too vulnerable right then. The hands dropped to her sides, at ease. "It's beautiful out here in the moonlight. Surreal." "Bewitching," I agreed, glancing up at the sky, in awe of the magical beauty. I closed my eyes briefly, breathing in the fresh sweet breeze, cleansed by it's cool purity. Then, suddenly, there were hands on the sides of my face, firm around my skull, and lips on mine, overwhelming me with sudden closeness and passion and heat. "Don't open your eyes," she murmured, before I even had the chance. "Just kiss me." And so I did. The two of us, barely dressed, buffeted by the wind, and totally oblivious to all but ourselves, swept up in the magic, the purifying breeze soaking through our skin, flowing through our veins, flooding our hearts. I wouldn't have been surprised to have discovered we were floating off the ground, I felt so uplifted. Her lips on my lips, on my neck, on my jaw, her hands on my face, on my arms, on my chest, hungry. Then a sigh, and her cheek pressed against my bare chest, her arms around me, laid on my back. "Mulder -" I shushed her, sliding my own arms around her, holding her close against me, resting my chin on her hair. "I know. Let's just stay here." She heaved another sigh, with the satisfaction of someone just finished the most delicious meal of their life. I began to stroke her hair lightly. It was rumpled by the wind and I smoothed it down, pressing a kiss on her forehead. Then I released my grip on her, taking a step back and nudging her gently. "Go back to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She gazed at me, then smiled, wistful, hair falling across her face. She turned, so tiny and vulnerable, and began to walk away. I watched her go, my heart still racing from the encounter. Seduction in the moonlight was too surreal. It hadn't been a mistake, not at all, but it we had been right to not go any further. It was just another step, another act of craziness, human hunger and perhaps something more, some paranormal element. Fundamentally, very little had changed. For a few brief moments she had loved me with her body and allowed me to love her with mine. Our lives would not be transformed by that moment, nor would we look at each other any differently, approach each other with any less confidence or respect or comfortability. That knowledge let me treasure the moment even more. Dana Scully had me spellbound, had had me so since the first time I laid eyes on her. Moonlight or daylight, long hours in each others' presence or brief encounters on a night like this, that would never change. I returned to my room. The open windows had driven the heat out and it was chilly enough to close them again, but I didn't. I deliberately lowered the blinds, though, and stretched out on my side on the bed, watching as the wind kicked them up and they bounced off each other with a rattle. I closed my eyes, listening to the noise, feeling the cool air sweeping through the room, knowing it would be forever a reminder of the brief encounter, of seduction in an open field by moonlight. I smiled. Listening to the clattering of blinds and whistling of the wind, I fell asleep. fin. ===== : VISIT aRcaDIaNFall$' X-FILES FANFIC : http://www.geocities.com/arcadianfalls/ > check out the new images!! < - Access your appointments and meetings online.