From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 27 Oct 2002 23:13:07 -0000
Subject: NEW:  A First Time for Everything by Polly
Source: direct

Reply To: polly122456@yahoo.com


Title:  A First Time for Everything
Author:  Polly  -  polly122456@yahoo.com
Rating:  PG-13, with sexual situations
Feedback:  Welcome and appreciated; this is my first 
try at fanfic so please be honest but gentle!
Classification:  MSR, Humor, Mild MulderTorture, 
Post-The Unnatural
Spoilers:  The Unnatural big-time, Milagro, Triangle
Disclaimer:  Mulder and Scully don't belong to me; 
they belong to CC, 1013, and David Duchovny and 
Gillian Anderson.  If they belonged to me, Mulder 
would have lots more shoes.
Notes:  Written for the Haven September 5W Challenge 
(elements at the end)
Archive:  If you want it, take it; just please let me 
know.

Thanks:  To the Beta Girls, SLS and Peg'sGirl; you 
ladies are the best!  To bcfan for throwing down the 
gauntlet, and to SLS, Peg'sGirl, Angie K, AnnD, 
Phantagrae, Redwyne, and Vickie Moseley for 
encouraging and inspiring me to write and for 
providing moral support.  Thanks also to all those 
who encouraged me to post this beyond the realm of 
the Challenge, especially Vickie Moseley who provided 
the final push and the technical expertise.

Summary:  There's a first time for everyone, as 
unnatural as it may seem.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   

"Slow down, Mulder.  Take your time."

Dana Scully stole a quick glance at her partner.  His 
breathing was labored and a fine sheen of sweat was 
just beginning to break across his forehead.  "We 
don't have to be in any hurry, you know."

"I know," Mulder whispered.  "It's just that I ... I 
need ..."  Scully could feel his body tense next to 
hers.  "I just need ... I need to ..."  His voice 
trailed off and he gasped just a bit.

"What do you need, Mulder?  What?"  For the first 
time Scully noticed that her own breath was ragged, a 
result of most of his weight resting upon her small 
frame.  He closed his eyes and didn't answer, so she 
gently prodded him again.  "What do you need, 
Mulder?"

"I need ... I need to ..." He struggled with the 
words and kept his eyes closed.  "I need to sit 
down!"  He finally rasped.  "God, Scully, this hurts 
like hell!"

"I know, Mulder," she said, looking down the familiar 
hallway at the apartment door that seemed miles away 
right at the moment.  "But it's not much further.  
You can make it.  Let's just rest for a minute, 
okay?"

Mulder nodded and shifted his weight slightly, giving 
Scully a chance to flex the cramped fingers of her 
right hand that had been holding fast to the belt 
loops of his blue jeans.  His left arm still rested 
across her shoulders, but she took the opportunity of 
the brief pause in their journey to toss the size 11 
1/2 Nike sneaker in her left hand down the hall, 
where it landed with a thud just a few feet shy of 
the apartment door.

It felt good to get the kinks out of her elbow and 
wrist, both of which were aching from being in the 
same position for too long.  She'd inherited the shoe 
somewhere on the second floor landing, but she wasn't 
quite sure how it happened.  Mulder had insisted he 
could carry it with his left hand, while he used the 
Louisville slugger in his right as a makeshift cane.  
It seemed a good plan as they made their way up the 
front steps of his apartment building and into the 
lobby, but there they found an "Out of Order" sign 
taped to the elevator door.  Scully's instincts told 
her right then and there to turn around, get him back 
in the car, and head to Georgetown, but she had 
finally given in to Mulder's insistence that he 
needed things from his apartment that she wouldn't be 
able to find on her own.

Another weight shift at her right brought her back to 
the task at hand.  "Okay, Scully," Mulder said 
confidently.  "I can make it now."

"Remember, not so fast," Scully said as they set off 
again, this time at a slow limp down the corridor.  
To her relief, he seemed to be moving a little easier 
now.  "Slow and steady wins the race, you know, 
Mulder."

"No fair hurling cliches at me when I'm not at 100 
percent, Scully."

"I just wish you had gotten the crutches at the 
hospital," Scully said as they finally closed in on 
the door to number 42.  "We could have avoided all 
this and gone directly to my place."

"I told you, Scully, I have three pairs of crutches 
in my hall closet.  It would have been wasteful to 
pay for another pair."  They stopped in front of the 
door and Scully propped Mulder up against the frame.  
He watched her deftly bend down to pick up the 
sneaker with one hand while she fished her keys out 
of her jacket pocket with the other.

"The insurance would have paid, Mulder," she said as 
she rose to insert the key in the lock.  "I've never 
known you to be so concerned about the rising cost of 
health care before."

Scully pushed the door open and he put his arm around 
her shoulder once again as she helped him hobble into 
the foyer.  "I ran into Stephanie from Human 
Resources the other day on my way up to Skinner's 
office," he said, as Scully pushed the door shut.  
"She told me if I got hurt one more time this year, 
the insurance premium rates for Bureau employees were 
going to go up by 85 percent.  People may not think 
I'm a team player, but I try to do my part for my 
fellow staff members."

"It's only April, Mulder."

"Ha, ha."

The sofa was now within arm's reach, and Scully 
tossed the shoe out of the way and began to extricate 
herself from Mulder's embrace. "Okay, grab on to the 
armrest," she said, "and give me that nice piece of 
ash."  His grin turned into a wince at the sudden 
added pressure on his foot, but he handed over the 
bat with just a small grimace.  "Hang on just a sec," 
Scully said as she slipped off her jacket, placed it 
over the desk chair, and leaned the bat against the 
wall next to the aquarium.  Returning to his side, 
she began to unbutton the Grays jersey and slid it 
off his shoulders.  "Let's get this off before you 
sit down," she said, pulling his arms through and 
tossing the jersey to rest on top of her jacket.

As Mulder eased himself down onto the leather 
cushions, Scully grabbed a throw pillow from the 
other end of the couch and placed it on the coffee 
table.  "Okay, you get that foot elevated and I'm 
gonna get you some Tylenol.  And I think we'd better 
get some ice on that foot.  It's a little more 
swollen after that trip up the stairs."

"You're the doctor," Mulder called after her as she 
disappeared into the kitchen.  

When she returned a few minutes later Mulder had his 
right foot resting on the pillow and had removed his 
left shoe and sock.  She took a seat on the coffee 
table opposite him, placing the bag of ice and a tea 
towel next to her, and handing him the Tylenol and 
water. "Thanks, Scully," he said, downing the pills 
quickly and handing the glass back to her.  "Thanks 
for taking care of me, as always."

She gave him a slight smile, reached out for his 
foot, and leaned back so she could swing it into her 
lap.  "Let's see how much damage we did coming up 
those stairs."

"Ow!" Mulder tried to jerk his leg back but Scully 
was holding on tight.  "Jesus, Scully, that hurts!"

She shook her head and began her examination.  "Oh, 
Mulder.  It's just a broken toe.  Don't be such a 
baby."

"I think the key word here is 'broken,' Scully," he 
whined.  "And it hurts like hell."  Seeing she was 
lost in her work and no sympathy was forthcoming, he 
asked, "So ... how is it?  Do you think it's going to 
be okay?"

"It's a simple fractured phalanx, Mulder," she 
replied.  "You'll live to play 'this little piggy 
went to market' another day."

"Ooooh, is that a promise, Agent Scully?" he asked, 
waggling his eyebrows seductively.  Scully only shook 
her head again and went back to the examination, so 
Mulder continued.  "Seriously, thanks for letting me 
preserve what was left of my dignity at the hospital 
by not telling them what really happened to my foot."

Scully's hands stopped their probing and she looked 
him square in the eye.  "Well, all those nubile 
little nurses at the ER thought they had a big 
baseball hero in their midst.  Who was I to burst 
their bubbles by revealing that mighty Fox Mantle's 
broken toe was caused not by a foul tip off his bat 
but by his dropping the pitching machine on it."

"Nubile?" He scrunched his face up into that 
quizzical look that she loved.  "Were you even in the 
same ER I was in tonight?"

"Oh, come on, Mulder, they were fawning all over 
you," Scully said.  "And you were eating it up with a 
spoon."  She could tell by the half-smile on his face 
that he knew she was right.  "Well, nubile or not, 
they did a good job with the buddy wrapping on this 
toe.  It survived the trip up the stairs very well.   
I just want to check these other toes, make sure the 
doctor didn't miss anything, and then we'll put some 
ice on it for a little while."

"I can do that, Scully," he said, picking at a loose 
thread on his jeans.  "I mean, you probably want to 
go home."

"No, I've got it all figured out," Scully noted while 
flexing his other toes gently.  "We'll spend the 
night here so you can rest the foot a bit, then 
tomorrow morning we'll pack you a bag and go to my 
place.  Don't bother protesting, Mulder," she said as 
he started to open his mouth.  "I've got some work at 
home I have to finish before Monday and I want you 
where I can keep an eye on you.  To make sure you're 
using those crutches and icing the toe periodically.  
With lots of tender, loving care from Dr. Scully, you 
should be able to go to work on Monday morning.  I 
don't suppose you have one of those orthopedic shoes 
around here, do you?  I don't think you're going to 
be able to get a shoe on this foot, at least for a 
few days."

"I think there are two or three in the hall closet," 
Mulder replied, "right next to the crutches.  Maybe I 
should stay home on Monday, just to be on the safe 
side."

"And send me off to that big budget meeting with 
Skinner all alone?" Scully exclaimed.  "Not a chance, 
Mulder.  I'll get you to that meeting if I have to 
put you in a wheelchair."  She gently flexed his 
ankle.  "You don't happen to have one of those in the 
hall closet too, do you?"

"No," he chuckled, "I think that was a rental.  But 
we will have to pick up my car sometime tomorrow."

"Nope, all taken care of," Scully said, stroking the 
arch of his foot now.  "While you were entertaining 
the nubile nurses I called Byers and he and the boys 
went to pick it up.  They're going to keep it at 
their place until you're able to drive, which, if 
you're good, should be by the end of the week."

"Ah, grounding me huh?" Mulder smiled at her.  
"Taking away the old car keys."

"Someone has to protect you from yourself, Mulder.  
That's my job ..."  Her voice trailed off as she 
began to examine the underside of his foot.  "Mulder 
... how did you get this scar under your big toe?"

Mulder hoped she didn't notice the way he shivered as 
she ran her fingernail along the length of the two- 
inch scar that extended from the middle of his big 
toe to the ball of his foot.  "Oh that," he said 
nonchalantly.  "That's an old war injury."

"An old war injury," she repeated.  When he failed to 
offer up any more information, she gently prodded, 
"Go on ... I'm listening."

"Well, I was trying to save one of the guys in my 
platoon from a fate worse than death," he began.  
"His name was Joe ... G.I. Joe ... and Samantha had 
taken him from my room and decided that he should go 
for a dip with Barbie wearing a pair of Ken's 
chartreuse swim trunks.  I wouldn't have minded so 
much if she'd dressed him in his frogman's outfit, 
but Ken's trunks?  Well, I just couldn't let that 
happen to a buddy."

She loved these moments when he was filled with happy 
memories of Samantha, but when he didn't continue, 
the curiosity was too much for her.  "And ... how did 
you get the scar?" she asked.

"I guess Joe didn't think going swimming with Barbie 
was as bad an idea as I did.  During the skirmish 
with Samantha he stabbed me with his bayonet.  I had 
to get eight stitches.  See, a regular in the ER even 
then."  He started to laugh and Scully joined in, the 
same infectious giggle he'd heard on the baseball 
diamond a few hours earlier.  God, he loved to hear 
her laugh like that.

"Somehow I have a hard time picturing you playing 
with dolls, Mulder," she said, once the laughter had 
subsided.

A stern look appeared on his face where the smile had 
just been.  "Scully," he scolded, "G.I. Joe is not a 
doll.  He's an action figure."

"Oh, sor-ry," she said, placing his foot back in her 
lap and reaching for the towel and ice bag.  As the 
coolness of the ice began to filter through the towel 
and onto his sore toe, he was wishing the warmth of 
her hands would return, her gentle ministrations 
making his foot feel better than the ice ever could.

"Samantha loved dolls," he reminisced.  "She had all 
shapes and sizes, but she loved those Barbies best.  
Did you ever play with dolls, Scully?" he asked, 
trying to get her to meet his gaze.  "Or was that 
another of those pastimes you didn't partake in 
because you had more 'necessary' things to do with 
your time?"

Scully glanced at him quickly, but returned her 
attention to his foot.  "No, dolls were Melissa's 
thing.  She loved Barbie too.  She had hundreds of 
them.  Well, at least it seemed like hundreds."  
Scully smiled.  "She used to try and get me to play 
dolls with her all the time.  Then one day I lined 
all her various and sundry Barbies up on the fence 
behind our house and shot their heads off with my BB 
gun.  She didn't ask me anymore after that."

Mulder laughed.  "Old Sure-Shot Scully, even then, 
huh?  No wonder you kick my butt every time we're at 
the firing range.  I guess you spent your childhood 
playing doctor then?"

"And I'd say it's a good thing I did," Scully 
replied, as she carefully placed his foot back on the 
pillow so as not to dislodge the ice.  "Good practice 
since I have an accident prone partner who winds up 
in the ER at the drop of a hat ... or the drop of a 
pitching machine, as the case may be."

"A match made in heaven," he smiled up at her.  "But 
you're usually not in this good a mood after a few 
hours with me in the ER.  What gives?"

She crossed her arms in front of her and looked down 
at him.  "Well, I wouldn't want this secret to get 
out, Mulder, but I actually kind of enjoy it when we 
have to make a trip to the ER." He looked wounded, so 
she quickly continued.  "I mean trips like the one 
tonight, when you're not seriously hurt.  I make a 
game of it, actually."

"A game?"

"Uh-huh.  I use the opportunity to try and sharpen my 
medical skills.  I don't get a chance to see many 
live patients, except you, of course, so while I'm in 
the waiting room or your cubicle, I listen to what's 
going on around me, the other patients giving the 
doctors their symptoms, and I try to diagnose the 
problem.  It's good practice."  The wounded look 
hadn't subsided so she added, "Of course, if you're 
seriously injured, my eyes, ears, and thoughts are 
only on you, Mulder.  Scout's honor."

He shook his head.  "I spend half the afternoon 
planning a romantic evening and now I find out all I 
have to do to turn you on is make a trip to the 
emergency room."

He tried to grab the words and stuff them back in his 
mouth, but the eyebrow went up, the head cocked to 
the side, and he knew it was too late.  "That was 
supposed to be a romantic evening, Mulder?"

<Strike one>

He didn't seem to be able to look anywhere except at 
his hands folded in his lap.  "Well, it was supposed 
to be.  A night under the stars, me sharing something 
I love with you.  I *thought* it would be romantic."

"And I take it the trip to the ER wasn't a part of 
the original plan for the evening's festivities?"

Finally he looked up at her and laughed as 
sarcastically as he knew how.  "Not hardly."

Her arms were still folded across her chest.  "And 
this 'romantic' evening.  Did it end with batting 
practice?  Or was there more to it?"

"There was more," he looked down at his hands again, 
and then back into her eyes.  "I thought we'd come 
back here for dinner, and then we'd talk, and I had 
some things that I wanted to tell you ..."

"Dinner?" she interrupted.  "Champagne and caviar to 
start us off?"

"No ..." his voice trailed off as his attention 
returned to the loose thread on his jeans.  "I wanted 
it to be the complete ballpark experience, you know?  
So I got hot dogs and beer, and peanuts and popcorn.  
And ice cream.  *Real* ice cream.  No nonfat tofutti 
rice dreamsicles.  The real deal.  Actual cows were 
involved."

She tried to suppress her smile as she took a seat 
next to him on the couch.  "That sounds nice, 
Mulder."

"It would have been if I wasn't such a klutz," he 
said, kicking the coffee table with his good foot.  
"Ow!" he shouted, grabbing it quickly.  "Great, now I 
think I broke a toe on this one."

"Let me see," Scully said as she put her hands over 
his and straightened his leg out to rest the foot 
alongside the other on the coffee table.  She scooted 
forward and inspected each toe carefully.  "No, just 
a bump, that's all.  Let me rub it a little to take 
the sting out of it."

How wonderful it felt to have her hands massaging the 
hurt away. "Feel better now?" she asked, looking back 
at him.

"Well, it's still a little sore.  Maybe you could 
kiss it and make it better," he replied with a 
sheepish grin.

She gave him the eyebrow once more, and then watched 
the look of total shock overtake him as she bent down 
and placed a featherlight kiss on the top of his big 
toe.  He sat with his mouth hanging open, continuing 
to stare at the toe, as she settled back against the 
couch cushions.  When he finally looked at her, she 
gave him the dazzling Scully-smile he'd only seen a 
few times before.  "Does it hurt anyplace else?"

"Well, when you were checking my foot before, I think 
I bit my lip.  That kind of hurts," he responded, 
sticking it out a bit more than usual so she could 
see.

"Right here?" she asked, first tracing it with her 
index finger and then leaning over to touch her lips 
to the same spot.  Oh, Mulder, if only you knew, she 
thought. When she had walked into that basement 
office nearly seven years ago to meet her brand new 
partner, one of the first things she noticed was that 
luscious lower lip.  And even as she was struggling 
to introduce herself, she was wondering if she'd ever 
have a chance to do what she was doing right now.  
Could almost seven years of anticipation live up to 
the actual moment?  As Mulder began to return the 
kiss, she knew that her imagination didn't even begin 
to rival reality.

She wasn't sure just when, but Mulder's arms had 
moved around her as she was lost in thought, and his 
lips had left hers to begin a trail of soft kisses 
down her neck to just above her collarbone.  As she 
was thinking she could get used to this, really used 
to this, Mulder pulled his hand around with the idea 
of placing it elsewhere, and his thumb brushed just 
under her armpit.

"Mulder!" she shrieked, pulling back from him 
quickly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, a look of genuine concern 
crossing his face.

"I'm sorry," she said, "it's just that I'm ticklish 
there.  You surprised me, that's all."

"Here?" he smirked, grasping her wrist, pulling her 
arm away from her side, and using the fingers of his 
other hand to begin tickling his way up the inside of 
her arm toward the spot that elicited such a squeal a 
moment before.

"Yes, stop it," she said, raising her voice slightly 
and punching his shoulder with her free fist, but 
he'd found the spot again and began the torment 
vigorously this time.  "Mulder!" she yelled at the 
top of her lungs, followed by uncontrollable giggling 
that got louder and louder as the torture continued.

"Scully, shhhh, you'll wake the neighbors," he said, 
finally stopping the game and taking her hands in 
his.

She was almost hiccuping as the giggles subsided.  
"Oh yeah, right, Mulder," she replied, trying to get 
herself under control again.  "A few weeks ago I was 
on the floor of this apartment screaming bloody 
murder while a madman tried to remove my heart from 
my chest.  I even fired six shots into the wall.  And 
your neighbors never even bothered to call the 
police."

"Well, that's when there was mayhem involved," Mulder 
said.  "You can bet your boots that if they thought 
there was even a chance that I was getting laid in 
here, they would be outside that door listening at 
the keyhole in a minute."  It wasn't until she had 
pulled her hands out of his, leaned back, and folded 
her arms across her chest again that he even realized 
what he said.

<Strike two>

"Getting laid?  Is that how you really expected this 
night to end?  I thought you said this evening was 
about romance."

He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a rhetorical 
question or whether he was supposed to come up with 
an answer, but he replied anyway.  "I didn't know 
that one necessarily precluded the other."

She stared at him for a few seconds longer, ran her 
fingers through her hair, and stood up.  Mulder's 
eyes turned back to his foot still on the coffee 
table and he silently cursed himself for his 
stupidity.  Even with a broken toe you can still get 
that foot in your mouth, you idiot, he thought, as he 
looked back up into her eyes, waiting for her to head 
for the door.

But instead, she bent down and removed the ice from 
where it still rested on his toe.  "I think this has 
been here long enough," she said.  "We should get the 
foot elevated a little more now."  With that, she 
patted the couch cushions that she had just vacated.  
"Here.  Swing your legs up here."

Without a word, he complied, and she took the pillow 
that had been under his foot and placed it behind his 
shoulders.  "Now scoot down a little," she said, 
folding up the blanket that was usually stretched 
across the back of the sofa into a tight rectangle 
and placing it on the armrest.  "Put your feet up 
here."  He did as she said, and she positioned them 
to her satisfaction on top of the blanket.  "I think 
that should be okay.  Comfy?"

He shook his head quickly, not looking up to meet her 
eyes, but she bent down over him grabbing the bottom 
of the black long-sleeved tee shirt he had worn under 
the Grays jersey.  "Let's take this off," she said as 
she tugged until he raised his arms to let her pull 
it over his head.  "That'll be more comfortable."  He 
looked up at her, wishing he could say what he was 
thinking:  that removing the shirt only served to 
remind him that he was going to be spending a chilly 
night on the couch.  But then what she was doing 
finally registered.  She was pulling her own black 
tee shirt over her head.

"Scully, what are you doing?" he whispered, but she 
silenced him with a look, kicked off her shoes, and 
quickly peeled off her black slacks and pantyhose 
with one motion.  He knew his mouth was hanging open 
again, as she stood before him in matching light blue 
panties and bra, hands on her hips.  Before he could 
think of anything else to say, she leaned over him 
once more, and began to unbutton and unzip his jeans.  
"Scully ..." he said again, "what ..."

She let go of his Levis and stood up, looking 
directly down into his eyes.  "Mulder, did you or did 
you not say that tonight was my birthday gift?"

"Yes, but ..." he stammered, though she didn't give 
him a chance to go on.

"And isn't it customary to allow the person whose 
birthday it is to unwrap the gifts any way he or she 
pleases without commentary from the guests at the 
party?"

He nodded his head slowly and tried to speak, but no 
words would come out.  "All right, then," she said, 
and went back to the task at hand.  With only a thin 
piece of silk standing in the way of what hovered so 
painfully close to his face, Mulder brought his hands 
up toward her breasts, but Scully quickly batted them 
away.  "Ah, ah, ah," she said.  "Hips before hands," 
patting his side to indicate he should raise his 
bottom off the couch.  As he did, she pulled the 
jeans and boxers down quickly, maneuvering them down 
his legs, and ever so gently over the broken toe.

"You learn fast," he said, as she dropped the jeans 
and boxers on top of the rapidly accumulating pile of 
clothing on the floor.

"I had a good coach," she replied, and then stood at 
the end of the sofa, crossing her arms over her 
breasts, studying him from head to foot, surveying 
her handiwork stretched out buck naked before her.  
She'd seen him in the buff several times, but never 
like this.  Never when they were both completely 
healthy, broken toe excepted, never when his life 
wasn't hanging in the balance, never when he was as 
obviously aroused as he was right at this moment.

After a few minutes had passed, Mulder finally broke 
the silence.  "Well, aren't you going to say 
anything?" he asked.

She looked him over once more and smiled.  "It's not 
as big as I thought it would be."

As his face, and his arousal, fell at almost the same 
moment, she couldn't keep a straight face any longer.  
"The toe ... I was talkin' about the toe," she said 
giving him a quick wink along with the giggle. "It's 
not as swollen as I thought it would be."

"That's not funny," he pouted, but the joke at his 
expense was quickly forgotten as she climbed on top 
of him and claimed the lip between her teeth.  His 
arms immediately encircled her, and she released his 
lip, kissing the tip of his nose and staring into 
those beautiful hazel eyes filled with desire just 
for her.  "Is this really what you want, Scully?" he 
asked.  "Really?"

"It's what I've wanted for a long time, Mulder," she 
replied softly as he stroked her hair.  She sat up 
resting on his thighs and guided his hand from her 
hair to behind her back at the clasp of her bra.  But 
to her surprise, he pulled his hand away and leaned 
back on his elbows.

"Don't you want to move this to the bedroom, Scully?" 
he asked.  "Don't you want our first time to be 
somewhere a little more special than this couch?"

"There's nowhere more special than this couch, 
Mulder," she responded, placing her hands on his 
chest and pushing him back down.  "As a matter of 
fact, I can't imagine our first time being anywhere 
else."  She could see the questioning look in his 
eyes, so she continued.  "This couch is like an old 
friend to me.  It's where you and I got to know each 
other.  Where we've shared a lot of laughs and a lot 
of tears.  Where we've faced our fears and chased 
them away.  Where we've shared our hopes and dreams.  
It's where I fell in love with you.  And I can't 
think of any other place where a new phase of our 
relationship should begin."

She said she was in love with him so matter-of-factly 
that he was afraid to be anything more than matter-
of-fact himself. "Just like that?" he asked.  "I 
thought women wanted foreplay.  Lots and lots of 
foreplay."

"Mulder," she purred, a wicked smile poised on her 
lips. "We've had almost seven years of foreplay.  I 
think that's enough for any woman."

The way he gazed at her made her heart nearly melt.  
But she could tell he still wasn't convinced.  "Yeah, 
but Scully, don't you think ..."

She put a finger across his lips.  "We're not going 
to think, Mulder.  We're just going to make contact.  
We're just going to let it fly, okay?"

"Mmmm-hmmmm ..." he closed his eyes as she leaned 
forward again and started a line of kisses down his 
chest.

"And what you may find ..." <kiss> "...is you 
concentrate on hitting this one out of the park ..." 
<kiss> "... and the rest of the world just fades 
away..." <kiss> "... all your everyday, nagging 
concerns ..." <kiss>  "... the pain in your broken 
toe ..." <kiss> "... how you probably couldn't afford 
that nice, new Armani suit on a G-Man's salary ..." 
<kiss> "... how you threw away a promising career at 
the FBI to hunt aliens with a skeptical, albeit 
beautiful, partner ..."  He opened his eyes and she 
stopped the kisses and met his gaze.  "Your obscenely 
overdue triple-X bill.  And just so we're clear, 
Mulder, you might notice that I didn't mention 
getting into the heart of a global conspiracy, 
because that problem isn't yours alone.  It's ours.  
Together.  I thought you understood that by now.  
Don't make that mistake again, okay?"

He responded with a huge smile and reached behind her 
back, unclasping the bra and watching it fall softly 
onto his chest.  "Shut up, Scully," he said.  "I 
think I'm about to get lucky."

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

He woke up with a start, his mouth dry, the blanket 
pulled up around his chin, his feet still propped on 
the sofa's armrest, and most noticeably, alone.  He 
raised up and blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to 
the darkness, listening for any sounds at all to 
indicate that Scully hadn't left or that the whole 
thing hadn't been a dream.  He laid his arm on the 
back of the couch to pull himself into a sitting 
position, and there it was - the undeniable feel of 
silk under his fingertips.  Definitely Scully's 
panties, and he noticed the bra was also draped over 
the couch cushions, just a little further down.  
Evidence that he hadn't imagined it, at least.  When 
she said she wanted their first time to be on this 
couch, he had his doubts, thinking it logistically 
impossible.  But Scully said they would work it out 
together, because that's what they did best, and of 
course she was right, as always.

But as he listened intently, he still heard no sounds 
coming from anywhere in the apartment, so if she'd 
left, she'd left without her underwear.  "Scully?" he 
called.  No answer.  "Scully?  Are you here?"

"In the kitchen, Mulder," she yelled back, just loud 
enough for him to hear.  "I'm just getting you some 
more Tylenol.  I'll be right there."

"Okay," he said, smoothing the blanket around his 
waist.  "I just wanted to make sure you were all 
right."

She was only a shadow as she rounded the corner from 
his foyer to the living room, and she paused to click 
on the floor lamp on the other side of the room.  He 
wasn't prepared for the vision before him, Scully 
dressed in the Grays jersey he'd worn hours before.  
It hung almost to her knees in the front, but her 
thighs peeked out from both sides as she crossed the 
room carrying the pills and water.  Just like before, 
he thought, but not.  In the course of a few hours, 
everything had changed.

"I'm fine, Mulder," she said, sitting next to his 
outstretched frame on the edge of the sofa.  "I was 
getting something to eat.  I did get gypped out of my 
dinner, as you might remember."  She smiled warmly.  
"But you were sleeping so soundly I didn't have the 
heart to wake you.  Do you want me to fix you 
something?"

"No, I'm good," he smiled back.  "More than good."

"But the toe hurts a little bit, I'll bet," she said, 
handing him the pills and water.  "It's way past time 
for your medication."

"Actually, I hadn't noticed," he replied, tossing the 
pills in his mouth and taking a gulp of water.  "My 
mind was otherwise occupied."

"Good," she smiled as she took the glass from his 
hands and placed a quick kiss on his cheek.  "I guess 
we have a new way to deal with pain management in the 
future then, don't we?"

He laughed and took her hand in his.  "You're so 
beautiful, Scully.  I love you so much."  He put his 
arms around her and pulled her close.  "And that's 
not the medication talking," he whispered.  "It 
wasn't the medication talking the first time I said 
it either."

She touched her forehead to his and played with the 
hair at the base of his neck.  "I know, Mulder.  I 
guess I just wasn't ready to hear it that time.  But 
good things come to those who wait."

"Cliches again," he sighed.  "Well, then, there's no 
time like the present."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Time and tide wait for no man."

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"Okay, I know when I'm licked," he said, and she 
placed a kiss on his forehead.  "What time is it 
anyway?"

"It's about 3:30," she said, rising from the couch 
and heading toward the bedroom.

"I guess you're ready to get some sleep, huh?" Mulder 
called after her.

Her head popped back around the corner.  "Sleep?"  
She looked at him incredulously.  "I hate to tell you 
this, Mulder, but this is just the seventh inning 
stretch.  If your toe is bothering you that much, 
maybe I'd better place you on the disabled list and 
look for a pinch hitter."

He laughed and sat up straight, bringing his feet 
gently down to the floor.  "Something tells me you 
know a little bit more about baseball then you let on 
tonight," he said, looking back at her over his 
shoulder.

"Well, I must confess that brother Bill tried to 
teach me once, but he wasn't as good an instructor as 
you are, Mulder," she replied.  "Maybe the next time 
I see him, I'll tell him what he can do to make the 
national pastime more interesting."

"Oh, good," Mulder said as he put his elbows on his 
knees and rubbed his eyes with his fists.  "Give him 
one more reason to hate me."

Scully giggled before resuming her trip to the 
bedroom, but a few seconds later, her head popped 
around the corner again.  "Can I ask you something, 
Mulder?"  He looked back at her, waiting for the 
question that he already knew she wanted to ask.  
"Why tonight?  We've been at this same place so many 
times before.  Why did you take this step tonight?"

He thought for a moment and sighed, turning away from 
her, his eyes straight ahead.  "Two reasons, I 
guess," he began.  "I told you about meeting Mr. 
Dales today and the things we talked about.  A lot of 
important things.  And he said that I should start 
paying a little less attention to the heart of the 
mystery and a little more attention to the mystery of 
the heart, and I think he was right.  He's a wise 
man, Mr. Dales."

"The 'other' Mr. Dales," she said with that skeptical 
lilt to her voice.  "The one who has the same name as 
his brother."  He nodded and Scully just shook her 
head.  "And the other reason?"

He looked back at her again.  "What?"

"The other reason, Mulder," she replied.  "You said 
there were two reasons.  What was the other one?"

This time his eyes stayed connected with hers and his 
voice was strong and clear as he answered.  "Because 
of what happened a few weeks ago with Padgett."  He 
paused a moment and then continued, "I thought I'd 
lost you, Scully.  But not when you were laying on 
this floor covered with blood.  Before that.  You 
were acting different, and when Padgett said you were 
already in love, I thought maybe you were in love 
with someone else.  And I kept kicking myself for 
being so stupid and being in love with you almost 
from the moment I met you and never doing anything 
about it.  And then after what Mr. Dales said today, 
well, I guess it gave me the courage that I needed."  
He'd said it, finally managed to get it all out, and 
he looked away, staring at the floor beneath his 
feet.

She was around the corner in an instant, kneeling 
beside him and taking one hand in hers and stroking 
his hair with the other.  "Oh, Mulder," she said, 
"who else would I be in love with?"  He looked up at 
her then, and they shared another brief kiss.  
"C'mon," she said, standing up and pulling him up 
carefully with her.  "Let's go to bed."

The blanket fell away and he was naked again.  She 
slung his left arm over her shoulder and grasped him 
around the waist with her right arm.  "You know, 
gimpy," she teased, "I've been rethinking the plans 
for tomorrow.  I think we should just stay here all 
day."

"Really," he said.  "And what brought you to that 
conclusion?"

"Well," she replied as they neared the bedroom door, 
"I saw that there's an Orioles game on TV tomorrow.  
I thought maybe we could stay in bed and watch it and 
you could teach me all about the finer points of the 
game."

"That sounds like a good plan," he said, grabbing the 
bedroom doorknob and swinging the door open in front 
of them.  "But I thought you had work to do."

"So we're a little less prepared for the meeting with 
Skinner, so what?" she laughed.  "I think furthering 
my baseball education is a little more important."

"I couldn't agree more," Mulder responded as they 
headed slowly toward the bed.

"But just be forewarned, Mulder," Scully said as she 
helped him sit on the side of the bed.  "Cal Ripken 
is not the only Ironman I expect to see tomorrow."

"I'll do my best to live up to his example," Mulder 
whispered, pulling Scully between his legs and 
lifting the Gray's jersey over her head.  "Right now, 
though, I think I'm ready to go into extra innings."  
He started to place a kiss on her belly button, but 
she tipped his chin up to look into her eyes.

"Oh, what the heck, Mulder," Scully smiled.  "Put 
your money where your mouth is.  Let's make it a 
double header."

The End

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
 
The 5W September Challenge:  Who, What, When, Where, 
Why
Who:  Mulder & Scully
What:  Their first time
Where:  Location, location, location
When:  When did it happen?
Why:  Premeditated or spontaneous?
Elements:  Muldertoes, Scully being vocal (in any 
way), the Mulder lip, a 'wink'