From: Suzanne Feld <wildwing@feldnet.org>
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:21:18 -0400
Subject: On the Train by Suzanne Feld
Source: direct

TITLE: On the Train
AUTHOR: Suzanne Feld
E-MAIL: wildwing@feldnet.org
DISTRIBUTION: I'll send to Gossamer; anywhere else is fine, just let me know 

RATING: PG-13
CATEGORIES: S, R
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully romance.
SPOILERS: Very small for The Unnatural, Dreamland II.   
Takes place sometime in late Season 6.

SUMMARY: It's a thirteen-hour train ride and Mulder bores 
easily.  Heaven help Scully.

Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, never were, I just borrowed 
them for a while for non-profit use.  They?re back home where they 
belong by now, I'm sure.

Author's Notes: Yes, I wrote this on the train.  So sue 
me.  (For once, I think, no one's going to ask me "Where 
did you get the idea for this?")


All of my stories can be found here:
http://web.mac.com/wildwing1/Wildwing/Fan_Fiction.html



On The Train
Rated PG-13
By Suzanne L. Feld

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

Mulder grinned down at his partner, unrepentant.  They stood on a 
long, narrow Amtrak train platform in Toledo, OH surrounded by a good 
two dozen or more fellow travelers, many of them probably from 
cancelled flights as well.  Hard, tiny pellets of snow swirled around 
them in the darkness, plinking lightly off the long silver and blue 
train they were lined up to board.  "Aw, c'mon, Scully, it'll be fun," 
he cajoled, gently nudging her upper arm with his elbow.  "Have you 
ever taken the train cross-country?"

"Once, for our senior class trip.  However, it was in a sleeping car, 
unlike our seats on this trip.  I am not looking forward to this, 
Mulder. I've heard stories about how difficult it is to sleep or move 
around in coach, and it's a thirteen-hour ride."

"We've got our books and travel games and your laptop, and each other 
to keep company," he said, undaunted.  "Besides, you agreed that it's 
possible we could miss Thanksgiving if we waited for a flight out with 
this weather.  We were lucky to be able to get seats at all, you know, 
and it could be an X-File if we manage to get them together."

"Lucky is not the word I'd have used," Scully muttered as the line 
began to move, but she held her peace after that.  Mulder was like a 
child, excited and happy, whereas she was dreading this trip.  But she 
did have to agree that it was better than missing her mom's turkey and 
stuffing while stuck for countless days in a cheap motel in Monroe, 
Michigan where they'd just finished up an unsuccessful X-File; funny 
he should mention that, she thought.  An investigation into how they'd 
managed to find seats together on a crowded train right before the 
holidays would probably be better received than the one they'd come 
out here for.  Skinner was going to hit the ceiling, she knew, when he 
saw the expense report for an investigation into a haunted septic 
pond.  Just thinking about it gave her a headache.  "And that remains 
to be seen.  At any rate, I wish the sleepers hadn't been sold out."

Mulder got on first and helped lift her suitcase from the platform to 
the train while she shouldered the heavy laptop case and ascended the 
narrow staircase into the car.  He led the way down the dimly lit 
aisle between the gray and blue seats, getting more worried by the 
moment as it seemed like every one was taken; seating was not assigned 
like an airplane, but he had been told they'd be able to sit together 
when he'd made the reservation, and was going to make sure they did. 
Most of the people they passed were sleeping, not unusual since it was 
nearly three a.m. and the train had originated in Chicago.  "We're 
going to the next car," he called back to her, hitting the door 
release so it slid back, and walking between the cars on the enclosed 
metal platform.

Here they were in luck; other than a large group of Mennonites or 
Amish--he never could tell the difference--settling in at the front of 
the car, the rest was nearly empty.  He got them seats near the back, 
close to the restrooms, and effortlessly heaved both of their 
suitcases into the overhead rack.  Scully took the window seat first 
without asking, but both knew they'd be switching off during the trip.

By the time he got settled in the car was nearly full, though most 
were single people in a double seat.  Scully was already curled in her 
corner, the leg and foot rests of her seat pulled out as well as the 
back reclined so that she could stretch out comfortably since there 
was a good amount of leg room between the seats.  She'd left her book 
and laptop in the overhead compartment since she'd told him that she 
had plans to do nothing more than sleep until it got light out.

There was plenty of leg room for not-tall people, Mulder thought with 
some annoyance as he pushed his feet into the aisle.  It was much 
better than cattle-car airline seats but still not enough for his 
lanky six-foot frame.  He tried turning sideways towards Scully but 
the leg rest of her seat banged into his knees, and when he put his 
seat back he had nowhere to go with his long legs.

"Mulder, quit fidgeting.  We'll change places; I see the problem.  
You can stretch out sideways and I'll put my legs over yours.  Good 
thing I wore slacks."

"Thanks Scully," he said gratefully, not hiding it.  Sometimes it 
didn't hurt to let her know that he appreciated her... when he thought 
of it, that was.  Which he had been more and more, matter of fact.

They got up and shuffled around, finally ending up with Mulder leaning 
back against the window with an Amtrak-provided foam pillow behind his 
head, his suit jacket as well as trench coat wadded up behind his back 
to protect it from the rather blunt arm rest.  Both leg rests were 
pushed up to support their legs, and he had his crosswise towards the 
aisle with Scully's knees bent over his.  There were no armrests 
between the seats, which she thought might be odd if you sat with a 
stranger, but it worked well in this situation.  She relaxed into in 
her fully reclined seat, touching him nowhere but their legs, and 
closed her eyes with a tired sigh.  Though it looked a bit awkward, 
both of them were fairly comfortable and settled down to sleep as much 
as they could as the train began to move silently and smoothly away 
from the station.

***

She woke warm, comfortable, and curled against a hard male body.  For 
a few seconds she just let herself enjoy it and didn't try to figure 
out what was going on despite the swaying she felt.  Then a familiar 
baritone voice spoke close and softly into her ear, puffing warm air 
into it and causing her to shiver in a way that had nothing to do with 
being ticklish. "Wakey-wakey, G-woman, I need to get out," he said 
gently, almost sensuously into her left ear.  "Sorry to wake you, but 
I really have no choice at this point."

Scully found that she was tucked beneath his right arm which was 
curled around her shoulders, leaning against him and touching from hip 
to shoulder, her legs still over his.  "Mulder, how did this happen?" 
she said groggily, reluctantly pulling herself away using the armrest 
on the outside of the seats.  Though she'd never admit it to him, 
waking cuddled together like that had been really nice.  "Getting a 
little familiar, aren't you?"

"You snuggled up to me, Scully," he said with no malice, lowering the 
leg rest on his side and she followed suit so he could stand up and 
move out into the aisle, holding onto the tall seat back.  "Not that I 
minded, but don't blame me for it."

She huffed but didn't reply, standing in the lightly swaying aisle and 
straightening her clothes as he strode away towards the restrooms just 
a few feet away at the back of the car.  This time she took the inside 
and by the time he returned, she had gone back to sleep curled against 
the window. With a heartfelt sigh Mulder stretched his legs into the 
aisle, crossed his arms, and mourned the loss of his pillow and coats 
which she now rested against.

***

She woke sometime later and the train wasn't moving; a glance out the 
window showed that they were at a station, though not which one.  It 
was still dark, but a look at her watch showed that it was close to 
dawn.  Looking the other way she found Mulder beside her sitting with 
his arms folded, head down and eyes open, frowning, knees bent so 
they'd fit in the space between the seats and his feet weren't 
sticking out in the aisle. He was the very picture of dejection.  
"What's wrong?" she rasped and then cleared her throat, sitting up 
from the slumped position she'd gravitated to while asleep and 
rotating her head so her neck would pop and relieve the pressure of 
having slept with her head to one side.

"Nothing," he said with an attitude and tone the belied his words.

Scully decided to give him one more chance before she began ignoring 
his whiney mood.  She had choices; going back to sleep or reading or 
pulling out her laptop was preferable to putting up with her partner 
in full sulk.  "Either tell me or bite the bullet, Mulder.  Last 
chance."

"I'm just kinda cold, you've got my jacket and coat over there," he 
pointed out sullenly.  Sure enough, he was dressed only in his 
button-down shirt with tie hanging loose, and suit pants.  They'd both 
taken their shoes off earlier and she noted that he hadn't put his 
back on yet; apparently he'd walked to the bathroom at the back of the 
car earlier in his stocking feet.

"Well, dammit, why didn't you wake me up and get them?" she said, not 
bothering to hide her annoyance.  God, he was such a child sometimes!  
Leaning forward, she reached back and found his London Fog next to her 
and pulled it out as he reached behind her for the suit jacket.  Just 
then the train began to pull out of the station; while that was 
normally a fairly smooth operation, this time there was a jolt and a 
bang and Scully ended up thrown sideways and back against Mulder, who 
wrapped both arms around her to hold her steady so she didn't slide to 
the floor from her precarious perch on the edge of the seat.

She turned her head to the right to find his face only millimeters 
from hers, his eyes intense and parted lips soft and inviting.  For a 
split second, totally without thinking and acting only on instinct, 
she began to lean forward to kiss him, then her mind shrieked what are 
you doing. However, by then it was too late; Mulder had closed the gap 
between them and was kissing her.

Scully froze in shock; she had not seen this coming.  His kiss was 
firm but not demanding, gentle rather than rough.  He parted his lips 
and caressed hers with them, but didn't bring his tongue into play or 
attempt to deepen the kiss any further.  It was far more than the New 
Year's kiss a few months ago, but nowhere near what she suspected the 
hallway kiss might have been if not for that damned bee.

While she was immobile, he broke this kiss with a last lingering 
caress of his mouth on hers then let go of her, leaning back into his 
seat with both coats in his hands.  "That was nice," he said in a very 
deliberately featureless voice.

"Why'd you do it?" she blurted unthinkingly, sliding back into her 
seat as the train began to pick up speed.

He shrugged, a tiny smile playing around those sensual lips.  "Seemed 
like a good idea the time."

She narrowed her eyes at him, folding her arms across her chest.  
"Because I'm a woman and nearby?"

Why did she always do this?  Mulder wondered, fighting back his 
temper.  Every time he went to make a move on her, she deflected him 
by acting like she was nothing more than a convenient female, that he 
didn't want her, Dana Scully, to the exclusion of everything and 
everyone else.

"Scully, there are a lot of women on this train right now but you're 
the only one I would have kissed," he said, low, while leaning forward 
and shrugging into his wrinkled suit jacket.  "You can't tell me you 
think that I'd have just planted one on any of the females nearby.  
Besides, I've wanted to kiss you again for a long time."

In for a penny, in for a pound, Scully thought.  "Then why didn't you 
kiss me again after last New Year's Eve?" she challenged.

His brows went up and he stared at her in surprise.  Sometimes he 
thought he'd imagined that sweet little kiss; she'd never given any 
sign that she'd liked it or disliked it or even wanted to remember it.  
He shrugged, deciding that honesty was the best policy.  "Between your 
response to that and what I said to you after my adventure in the 
Bahamas, I didn't think you were interested in me that way."

Now it as her turn to shoot the eyebrows up.  "We're not going to get 
into that again, are we?"

"Get into what?"  he kept his voice low, leaning closer.

"What... what you said.  I told you before that I'd never hold you to 
something you said while on morphine."

"And I've told you before that even though I was a bit doped up, I 
knew exactly what I was saying and feeling.  Why don't you believe 
me?" he asked, frustrated.

"Because we're work partners, we face life and death situations every 
day.  You are the closest friend I've ever had; I'm closer to you than 
I've been to any man other than my father, I think.  It's easy to get 
attached and think--"

"Scully."  He turned as much as he could in the seat to face her so 
she could see his face in the pale dawning light outside the windows 
when he interrupted her.  He put one hand on her upper left arm, which 
she had resting across her lap, but didn't grip it tightly knowing 
she'd probably pull away if he did.  "Listen to me.  Let me make this 
clear for once and for all."  He made sure he had her attention, her 
wide blue eyes staring back at him almost fearfully.  Keeping his 
voice low but speaking clearly enough that she had no choice to see 
that he meant it, holding her eyes with his even as he reached over 
and put a gentle hand on her other forearm, he said, "I am in love 
with you, Dana Scully.  It's not friendship love or partner attachment 
or the Florence Nightingale syndrome or anything other than what it 
is, and that's a true and abiding romantic love between a man and a 
woman.  Scully, you are everything I have ever wanted and needed in a 
life partner and just never knew it.  You are everything I told you 
once before: my constant, my touchstone, you keep me honest; on top of 
that you are the most incredible person I have ever met.  You're 
stunningly beautiful but not conceited, strong in every way 
imaginable, and deserve the respect you get from everyone around you.

"If you don't feel the same way about me I can live with that, Scully.  
What I can't live with is not letting you know how I feel any longer, 
and I'd like to know how you feel about me if you'll put me out of my 
misery."

God, he'd made a speech, finally told her how he'd felt with no plans 
beforehand to do so.  Right here on an Amtrak train as the sun rose 
behind a blanket of thick white clouds and filtered through blowing 
snow, rocketing along in Ohio or Pennsylvania or wherever in the hell 
they were at the moment.  He really had no idea where all this had 
come from out of the blue, but knew deep down that it really was about 
damn time.

She bit her full lower lip, eyes suspiciously bright.  "Aren't the 
soliloquies supposed to be my domain?"

"We can switch places again if it makes you feel better."

Still feeling a bit reckless and figuring she had nothing to lose, she 
decided to stick with the truth.  Holding his eyes and keeping her 
voice equally low, Scully heaved a sigh then said, "I don't want to 
love you as anything other than a friend, Mulder, but God knows I 
can't help myself anymore either.  You are not the man that I would 
have chosen for myself, but you're the love of my life and I can't 
deny it any more either."

His jaw fell briefly, heart jolted at her words and it took him a 
minute to realize that he had heard her correctly.  He began to feel 
dizzy then realized that he wasn't breathing, and took a deep breath.  
Passing out when Scully was finally telling him how she felt was not 
the way to react to her declaration, he suspected, if he wanted her to 
take him seriously.

"We are so different, Mulder, for all that we're united on your quest 
for the truth.  A romantic relationship will make us or break us, 
truly bring us together or tear us totally apart for good.  Are you 
ready for that?"

He lifted the hand he had on her forearm and cupped the side of her 
face, but made no other move.  "I've been ready for a long time, 
Scully.  Just waiting on you."

She gave him one of her mysterious and beautiful little close-mouthed 
smiles, cupping his hand and rubbing her cheek on it as her eyes held 
his. "Then why don't we make a date for the day after Thanksgiving."

"Our first real date?" he smiled back, his heart lifting.

She nodded.  "My place.  Dinner, and whatever else happens, happens.  
No strings, no expectations, no worries.  Let's just see where this 
takes us. Sound good?"

His eyes went from happy to intense and aroused in a matter of 
moments; the suddenly intense, loving look he was giving her caused 
her to catch her breath.  "Sounds good indeed," he breathed in return, 
sliding his hand out from under hers to wrap it gently but firmly 
around the back of her neck beneath her hair, bringing his other hand 
up to meet it on the other side.  "If you don't want me to kiss you 
again, Scully, you'd better--"

"Mulder, would you shut up for once?"

He grinned down at her then did as asked, leaning forward and meeting 
her halfway.

***

"'Kleenex' is a brand name, which is not an allowed word," Scully 
said, shaking her head.  "You know better than that, Mulder."

He shrugged, giving her a crooked grin before looking down at the 
travel Scrabble game again.  "Worth a try, and with the double word 
score I would have kicked your--"

"But you didn't get it, and I'm winning by a comfortable margin," she 
said smugly as he removed the six letters from the board.  She turned 
to look out the window as he studied the tiles on the tray in front of 
him.

Pennsylvania was flying by, distant mountains soft and misty in the 
light snow that drifted down.  It was just a few hours past dawn; 
they'd had breakfast in the dining car, each read for a while, now she 
was kicking his ass in Scrabble.  But it was difficult to concentrate 
when all she could think of was the kisses they'd shared, the way he'd 
looked at her, the things they'd both said, and how her heart jumped 
every time she thought about any of it.  She felt sixteen again, only 
this was better because she was old enough to truly enjoy it.  Though 
all they'd done was kiss, things had gotten a little steamy between 
them and it was by silent agreement that they'd stopped and gone to 
breakfast.  Though the train seats had high enough backs that no one 
could see them unless they walked by in the aisle, she didn't want to 
risk anyone seeing them doing anything but kissing.

He ended up making `keener', then she laid down `fringe' over the `n' 
with a triple letter score on the `g' that popped her score even 
higher past his.  One of the best things about playing games with 
Mulder, Scully thought, was that he wasn't a sore loser, nor did he 
ever let her win.  They were pretty well matched in most things, 
though Mulder tended to beat her more often in chess and board games, 
whereas she was better at anything to do with language or drawing.

His next word was "premiere", which got him within ten points of her 
score, and took the last three tiles.  They did three and four letter 
words from there on in until running out; Scully didn't gloat, but 
mentally notched another tick in her win column although it ended up 
being closer than she liked.

Mulder made a run to the snack bar two cars away, bringing back a Diet 
Coke for each of them, a bag of hot chips for himself and a Rice 
Krispy Treat bar for Scully.  "How'd you know I like these?" she 
asked, unwrapping the sticky treat.  "I don't let myself have them 
very often."

"Observation, Scully, nothing gets by me," he said smugly, dipping 
red-powdered fingers back into the small bag of chips.  "I am a 
trained investigator, as you so well know.  That, and you missed your 
shot at the waste basket last week."

"I feel so much better knowing you're monitoring my caloric intake."

"Better a Rice Krispy Treat than that--"

"If you bring up that damn Tofutti Rice Dreamsicle once more time, 
Mulder, I may have to hurt you."

"I was gonna say bee pollen.  Hey, ouch!"

"That's just as bad."

With the Scrabble game set aside and snacks consumed Scully settled 
back in her seat, relaxing and adjusting the flat foam pillow behind 
her head. Mulder settled down next to her, turned on his side facing 
her with his legs curled against the footrest.  He tugged his London 
Fog over his shoulder so that it partly covered her as well, letting 
one hand settle gently on her thigh beneath it.

She turned her head and looked at him, but he had his eyes closed and 
appeared as peaceful as a sleeping child with his cheek against the 
seat.  The innocent appearance did not fool her, however, and she was 
braced for whatever came next.  So when the hand began to move, she 
wasn't the least bit surprised.  She did, however, wait to see just 
where this hand was about to go, just what kind of liberties he 
thought he might be able to take with her after just a couple of 
kisses.

But to her relief he only curled his hand around her waist and 
snuggled closer, resting his chin on her shoulder and kissing the side 
of her neck briefly before settling down.  His cheek rasped against 
her jaw with a day's growth of beard, causing her to shiver but not 
with displeasure.  "What do you say we take a nap?" he murmured, 
already sounding half asleep.  "This time we can snuggle for real."

Though it was barely noon, she didn't have the heart to turn him down; 
it did sound nice even if she wasn't sleepy.  She'd sit here and enjoy 
his warmth and nearness for a bit, then get her book and read while he 
dozed.

Ten minutes later they were both sound asleep and rocking with the 
gentle motion of the train, Mulder's head on her shoulder and Scully's 
cheek against the top of his dark head.  When the conductor came by to 
announce lunch a short time later he didn't have the heart to wake 
them.

***

"Damn but you smell good."  The gravelly voice was her partner's, but 
closer than she'd ever heard it before.  It was right next to her ear, 
in fact, but before she could pull away, his hand tightened on her 
waist.  "Don't move... this feels nice," he rasped, sliding his other 
arm around her back and pulling her closer.

"What're you doing, Mulder?"  she murmured sleepily, but let him hold 
her.  She turned her head and found her face in his hair, which 
smelled of his wonderful natural musk and the no-nonsense shampoo he 
used.  "Mmn, you smell good too," she said without thinking.

The speaker overhead crackled to life.  "Next stop Harper's Ferry, 
West Virginia... next stop, Harper's Ferry.  Ten minutes."

"How long did we sleep?" Mulder said, sounding more awake and quite 
surprised.  "We're almost there."

They both sat up, letting go of the other reluctantly.  Looking 
around, Mulder noted that the car was now almost half empty; 
apparently many people had gotten off while they were sleeping and the 
only seats still occupied were in front of them.  Just then a 
conductor walked by and he asked how long it would be to D. C.  
Smiling at the handsome, tousled couple with sleep-marks on their 
faces, he allowed that it would be about an hour and that they were 
running forty minutes or so early.

"We'd better get our stuff together," Scully said, pointing out the 
Scrabble game that still sat on the pull-out tray.  "And it's my turn 
to use the restroom."

"Ah, the mysterious female bathroom rituals," Mulder said as he rose, 
then paused to stretch with his hands braced against the overhead 
rack.

"It's the same thing you do, only with different plumbing," she said 
with a small grin, trying not to stare at the strip of golden skin 
exposed on one side when his dress shirt rode up and suit jacket 
flapped open.

"No, I meant all that primping and floofing you girls do in there," he 
said, giving her ass a surreptitious caress as she squeezed out in 
front of him.

She laughed as she walked away, and he heard "floofing?" waft back 
over her shoulder as she disappeared through the bathroom doorway, the 
heavy metal door sliding shut behind her.

He mused on how amazing it was that their romantic relationship had 
begun, of all places, on a cross-country train ride.  He thought of 
all the times he'd tried to make himself do exactly what he'd done 
without thinking today, and it happened with no forethought at all.  
More than once he'd braced himself to kiss her, been almost shaking 
with the excitement of finally doing it, then chickened out yet again; 
impulsiveness had been the way to go and he just hadn't realized it 
until it happened.  And regardless of whether or not it was a good 
idea , he mused, this time he was going to follow through on those 
kisses...!

Grinning, he stretched his legs out onto her side, relaxing for a 
moment since he knew she'd be after him to clean up once she got back.

Which was exactly what she did, making him pick up and throw away the 
trash from his trip to the snack bar and put away the Scrabble game in 
her suitcase since he was the taller one.  He mumbled something about 
having gotten it down as well, but she ignored him knowing it was a 
token grumble and expected.

They both shrugged into their overcoats, slipped on shoes, and sat 
down to wait as the train hurtled on.  "God, I'm starving," Mulder 
said suddenly, turning away from the window.  "You hungry?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I am--we must've slept through lunch, 
it said on our tickets that the dining car was serving lunch between 
noon and three and I had planned to eat then.  But it was a good nap, 
and we obviously needed it."

"It's nicer sleeping with someone snuggled up to you, isn't it, 
Scully?"  Mulder said with a rakish grin, nudging her lightly in the 
side with his wrist.  "Imagine how fun that'll be in a bed under 
covers."

She turned and raised a brow at him.  "Getting a bit ahead of 
yourself, aren't you, Mulder?" she said dryly.  "I invited you over 
for dinner, not to move in."

"Ahh, but you said wherever this takes us," he said, still smiling.  
"I make no bones about where I want this to take us."

She gazed back at him, the eyebrow still up, and he couldn't resist 
leaning over to kiss her, sliding one hand around the back of her neck 
to bring her face towards his.  At first her lips were cool and closed 
against his, but within moments they were warm and moving and parting 
so that her tongue could come out and play with his.

"Ahem... lovebirds... ten minutes to D.C."

They broke apart guiltily; somehow Scully had ended up half in his 
lap, breasts pressed to his chest and arms wrapped around his neck.  
Moving back into her seat she glanced up at him, and he shook his head 
ruefully.  Then she reached in her coat pocket and got a tissue out, 
wiping the majority of her freshly-applied lipstick from Mulder's 
mouth and using a small pocket mirror to fix hers.

"Still think we're not going to end up in your bed day after tomorrow, 
Scully?" Mulder said with humor clear in his voice as the train began 
to slow and the few people in the rows ahead of them began to rise 
from their seats.

Although on one hand she didn't like him assuming, Scully knew he was 
right; there was no way this was not going to end up in her bed no 
matter how much of a bad idea she thought that might be.  If their 
enemies or their bosses found out that they were romantically 
involved... but what the hell, she thought.  Time to keep him on his 
toes.

"Who says we have to wait a couple of days, Mulder?  Why don't you 
just come home with me; I have food at my house," she said silkily, 
smiling slightly over at him.  "We were going to share a taxi anyway."

"What, tonight, now?" he blurted in surprise, hoping he wasn't making 
his panic face.  But this was classic Scully; when she made up her 
mind that she wanted something or had a task to accomplish she never 
put it off, she always forged ahead with single-minded determination.  
How that would translate to her actions in bed... he had to stop 
thinking about it, he realized, or she'd get a preview of coming 
attractions!

"Unless you've changed your mind and don't want to," she said with a 
shrug, turning away to hide her grin.  It wasn't often she got the 
upper hand and she was going to enjoy this while she could.

He took a deep breath as they both rose and reached for their 
suitcases.  "The answer is no I haven't and yes I still want to, but 
isn't this kind of sudden?"

She turned to stare at him wide-eyed.  "We've been partners nearly 
seven years, Mulder.  Are you kidding me?"

Laughing, he followed her out into the aisle and off the train.  
"Let's go find a cab, G-woman.  Your place it is."

As they headed for the exit, Mulder by her side, Scully decided that 
though she would never admit it to him, taking the train had been one 
of his best ideas yet.

finis