From: Moonrock66 Date: 26 May 1999 23:57:50 GMT Subject: NEW: A Realization (1/1) Title: A Realization Author: Georgia Email: Moonrock66@aol.com Distribution: Freely Rating: PG Category: VR Spoilers: Everything up to Sch...the tree one from season 5. Keyword: MSR Summary: Scully finally admits that Mulder's boyish agility is a turn on. Disclaimers: They're not mine but after Genesis maybe they should be. Someone's not taking good care of them. Author's notes: This is the first piece of fanfiction that I wrote. It's been sitting on my hard drive waiting for me to get up the nerve to post it. Be kind. By the way, I am a shipper, but this is safe for NoRomos. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dana Scully looked across the basement office she shared with her partner. Agent Mulder sat in the corner, not uncharacteristically quiet, his intense gaze directed downward at a case file. The case drifted fleetingly through Scully's mind, as her eyes and her thoughts focused on him. The attraction wasn't purely physical, she decided. Perhaps not even primarily physical. Sure sometimes he was cute. Like a dejected puppy. And then, of course, there were the other times. Times when Mulder's day old stubble or black turtleneck made Scully forget for two seconds that they were co-workers. But that had been the easy part. She simply pushed any temptation she felt for him into a neat little area of her mind marked "off limits." So far that area had been reserved for a college professor and a couple of married guys. It was easy to add Mulder to the list. This was professional. No more. No less. Yeah, sure it was. At least as much as it ever had been. From the day she walked into his office, sparks had flown between them. Their flirtation, his snide remarks and her cold rebuffs, were now as much a part of their quest as Samantha or Melissa or the truth. Yet, somewhere (and this was the hard part), the flirtation had grown. First into respect, then friendship, then trust. A trust that the other would be there not only to save a life but to ride out a loss of faith, soothe a broken heart and sacrifice strength when the other needed it. Now, remarkably, Scully realized somehow even this trust had grown deeper. It too had changed. When the hell did this happen, she asked herself. When had she fallen in love with him? He had known for sometime, Scully guessed as she watched him turn the page. Despite the fact that Mulder wore his beliefs on his sleeve, his emotions were bottled up almost as tightly as hers. He was wounded, and he never let you forget it. Still, where Scully was clinical, Mulder went to his intuition for answers. He listened to his gut and understood what it told him. And Scully knew it told Mulder that they were in love with each other. Scully recognized a while ago that they were more than friends. She sometimes thought he saw her as a surrogate for Samantha. And with him still locked away in the off-limits section, she never saw the change coming. She never saw it until Emily. For some reason, she couldn't call him right away. She originally thought it was the old need to prove to herself to him. Now she realized what had hit her in the moment she hung up on him. He had become far too necessary to her life. He was so deeply imbedded that relying on him had become a unconscious thought. It was not that she wanted to prove she could do it without him, but that the thought of without him no longer existed. Mulder cleared his throat loudly. "What?" Scully deadpanned, completely missing his previous remark. Mulder grinned, wondering where she had been. "Next time you want to undress me with your eyes Scully, let me know. I'll help." Scully looked away, unable to think up a usual comeback. In the past, these remarks hadn't bothered her. She'd even joined in on that one. But that was easy. Fun and games. Wasn't it? Not anymore. Not since she'd seen the way Mulder lifted Emily and held her as his own child. Since she's seen the pain in his eyes at the hospital. And felt his complete rejection when she wanted to be alone. Things between them had changed again and ignoring that fact was just creating resentment. Mulder reposed his question. "You didn't think Skinner was ready for possessed killer trees?" he asked standing to put on his jacket. She wanted to say, "Yes, Mulder, your boyish agility is a definite turn on." But instead, Scully heard herself say, "I mentioned the trees, Mulder." Her eyes rolled up to meet his, in a move that usually said don't test me. This time, however, her message was hidden by something else. Understanding. And Mulder read her loud and clear. She knew that he saw her thoughts. That they were finally on the same level. That the attraction buried so deeply had finally surfaced. The mutual awareness of it now alive between them. She grabbed for the folder in self-defense. With her back to Mulder, Scully flipped through her report. "Right here," she said, pointing to the last page. "An irregular root system in the area's trees has yet to be explained, as has its impact on the case." He was reading over her shoulder she could tell. She could feel his breath on her neck. Only he wasn't saying anything. Another breath on her neck. She turned to face him, not sure where she was going with this. "Mulder..." But it didn't matter. With one swift move it was over. The years of waiting, wondering, and what ifs ended in less than a heartbeat. Mulder's hand went up behind her neck and before Scully could get a good breath, his mouth went over hers. She could tell he intended the kiss to be rough and unsettling. An interrogation. He was making sure she knew what he did and punishing her for making him bear the awareness alone. Despite its power, the tenderness of their bond won out. Mulder's lips pressed hard on Scully's at first, as if he were trying to make up for five years in a split second. But when she met his intensity with her own, Mulder softened his touch. The kiss tested all parameters. Yes, they could achieve passion and sweetness with equal ease. It, like all their cases, had answered some old questions, but it also created new ones. Questions like, what comes next and when? It had taken them five years to risk this much. Certainly the next step would come quicker. But under what circumstances? It's not like they could date or even needed to. They spent almost every waking moment together anyway and had invaded each others dreams years ago. His lips parted, releasing hers. Scully realized she had been standing on her toes and lowered herself to the ground. Mulder gazed down on her in that familiar way. They smiled, neither removing their hands from the new found places on the other's body. Scully raised a skeptical eyebrow. She wasn't even sure why. That kiss raised no doubts. No matter the cost. This was going to happen between them. And they were both happy, relieved, willing. Mulder kissed her forehead right above the eyebrow like he had done many times before. "Do you think we should add a footnote to the report?" he joked. Scully lifted the folder from the desk where it had landed. She straightened her suit, his hands falling away from her body. "I don't think this has any relevance to the case." She turned for the door. Mulder wiped her lipprints from his own mouth and followed. Scully sighed, thankful that nothing between them had changed. Nothing central anyway. Their relationship had to evolve, as it always had. Yet, the core stayed the same. They needed each other. She opened the door, and his hand went to the small of her back. Scully froze for an instant, then continued into the hall. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope it wasn't too bad. I am working on some newer stuff. Encouragement? moonrock66@aol.com