From: JonahHolleyKim@aol.com
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 01:45:56 EDT
Subject: A Motel in Alabama by Ann K
Source: direct

Title: A Motel in Alabama

Author: Ann K

Rating: PG

Classification: S

Spoilers: None

Keywords: MS Friendship

Summary: Written in response to a 500-word challenge on 
"motel." Scully and Mulder settle down after a day spent at 
work and on the road.

Feedback welcomed at annhkus@yahoo.com





"Mulder, we are not staying here."

He stepped away from the building for a moment. Scully was 
right. It was horrible. 

It was also the only motel for miles, and he was exhausted. 
"Scully, unless you tell me there is a Holiday Inn next 
door, our options are limited. I am tired. I smell bad. And, 
if I don't get some sleep soon, I will be impossible to deal 
with tomorrow."

Ignoring her raised eyebrow that suggested he was 
always impossible to deal with, he stepped into the motel 
office, drawing a breath at the stagnant odor. The night 
clerk barely raised his head in response. It looked like he 
had just walked off the set of Deliverance. It was going to 
be a long evening.

Bags in hand, he stood behind Scully as she swung open the 
door to her room. It was as bad as he thought it would be. 
His room didn't look any better, as he gingerly stepped next 
door and surveyed his surroundings.

Scully appeared, her hair somewhat disheveled and her black 
pants wrinkled from the long drive. "I just have to say 
this," she said, her voice reflecting the depth of her 
exhaustion. "We have slept on the ground, in the car, at 
our desks. I have even survived countless nights on your 
couch. But this, Mulder. This might be the worst motel I 
have ever seen."

He agreed, but felt obligated to lighten the mood. It was 
his idea to drive past the last good exit, where several 
dismal, yet comparatively better lit motels, remained. 
"Cheer up, Scully. At least they had two rooms. We could 
have been bunking up together."

Laughing humorlessly at his remark, she turned on her 
heel. "Someone would have been sleeping in the car, then." 
Knowing it would not have been her, Mulder shut the door 
behind him with a sigh and prepared for bed.

Dumping the dingy bedspread on the floor, he crawled under 
the thin cotton sheet, ignoring the creaks and groans from 
the mattress. God, how old was this thing, he wondered. He 
heard similar sounds from the adjoining room, and knew 
Scully was ready for bed, too. The empty parking lot was a 
sign he didn't need to know that he and Scully were the only 
tenants in for the evening. And likely had been for some 
time.

The drool on his pillow suggested he had been asleep for a 
good while when he heard a loud curse from next door, 
followed by a noise which suggested the second coming. He 
visualized Scully's mattress falling to the ground, and 
smiled at her curses in spite of himself. Her bed must have 
been even older than his own.

He met her at the door, shaking his head at her two-piece 
pajamas and pillow. "What was that comment about us bunking 
together, Mulder?" Sighing, he switched off the lights as 
Scully curled into bed beside him, waiting until her breath 
became even and quiet before he drifted off to sleep.