Decisions Made and Celebrated by SportJava@aol.com 6/10/96 Hi all! I started this story while in the throes of a miserable summer cold, in between sleeping it off and being totally bored. I guess you know you are truly a "grownup" when you actually *wish* that you were at work instead of lazing about at home... This is a short relationshipper story, and definitely NC-17 in content. Mulder and Scully arrive at a turning point in their relationship (at least in my fanfic universe). Disclaimers and such: The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, Twentieth Television and the FOX Network. No infringement is intended -- I just like to write about these two characters because they're so interesting! ************************************************************************** *** "Aww, damn it, Scully -- you beat my score again!" With a gracious smile that did nothing but emphasize the smirk in her eyes, Dana Scully pulled off the protective goggles and faced her sullen partner, Fox Mulder. "Well, I have to keep in top form to protect your ass, Mulder. *One* of us has to be a sharpshooter." "Hey, I'm a sharpshooter! I haven't heard any complaints about my bathroom etiquette, Scully. I *always* raise the seat, and since that one incident in Boise, I've *always* remembered to lower it too!" "But that's just it, Mulder. Now that I have you trained, I can't tell if you're a sharpshooter or if it's because you finally have some manners." Muttering to himself about females who always managed to get the last word in, Mulder followed his petite partner out of the firing range and waited patiently as she checked in the safety equipment. Scully turned around and suddenly sneezed quite loudly. A second sneeze literally rocked her on her feet, creating such a ridiculous sight that Mulder laughed. With a glare out of her streaming eyes, Scully asked, "*What* is so damn funny about that, Mulder?" "Sometimes, Scully, I forget that you're a petite woman because you can come across like a Valkyrie. Hell, *I* don't want to cross you when you're on the warpath! It was just funny seeing you rocked off your feet by a simple sneeze. Are you coming down with a cold?" "Yes, Mulder, I think that I am....I hate being sick." "Don't worry-- I'll play 'doctor' with you, and it ain't needles that I stick you with." With a lecherous grin at her eye-rolling response, he continued to spout off inappropriate medical analogies as they walked back to the basement office of the X-Files Division. ************************************************************************** ***** Later that evening, a grouchy Dana Scully reclined on the sofa in her living room. The television was tuned to the Discovery Channel, but she wasn't in any mood to watch the educational program. With a wary ear tuned to the banging and clanking noises coming from her kitchen, courtesy of Mulder's attempts to coddle her by warming up some soup, she reached for the remote control and idly began flipping through the channels. Mulder ladled the last of the soup into the bowl and was preparing the tray when he heard a peal of laughter from the living room. Curious, he lifted the tray and walked out of the kitchen and saw Scully giggling on the sofa, intent on watching the television commercial being played out on the set. Mulder placed the tray on the coffee table, glanced at the television and began laughing himself. "Scully, is that the commercial that inspired you to..." "Umm hmm, Mulder, the very same one." With a devilish grin, Scully patted the sofa next to her and Mulder lowered himself onto it. She placed an intimate hand on his thigh, and Mulder sputtered a bit. "She's sick, she needs her rest, don't let her get started..." he thought. And gulped a bit at her smile: the all-teeth variety that surely cannibals had when some unfortunate soul stumbled into their path. Sternly, he said, "You need to rest, Scully" and picked up her amorous hand and placed a bowl of soup in it. With a pout, she settled back against the sofa and began to spoon the soup up. Mulder grabbed the remote and began the surfing ritual, but soon settled on an Orioles game. Scully sighed and prepared herself for an evening of sports. ************************************************************************** ***** A few hours later, Mulder stole a quick look at Scully and saw that she was absorbed in a medical journal. Quietly, he shut off the television and reached out with a long arm to bring her closer to him. With a startled then pleased expression, she went into his embrace and snuggled closer. Enjoying each other's warmth, they sat in companionable silence for a few minutes until Mulder remarked, "You know, Scully, ever since Quee Queeg...you know... it's been pretty quiet around here. That dog was like a child to you, and I know that you miss him. Anyway, since we spend so much time together and you know that I love you, I was thinking...and just hear me out, okay....maybe we should make this...official?" Mulder looked at Scully and nearly laughed aloud at the stunned expression on her face. "O...official?", she stuttered in amazement. "Yeah, official. You love me, I love you, you need someone to shower all that affection and doting on...so, Scully, will you...?", his voice trailed off softly. "Will you adopt me?" The look of disbelief in her eyes changed into a mixture of amusement, fury and exasperation at his childish joke. Grabbing a throw pillow, she proceeded to batter him with it until he raised his arms in laughing protest and cried 'uncle'. Laughing and rolling about on the sofa, their entangled arms and legs pushed them off and onto the floor with Scully squashing Mulder. "Mulder, what an awful joke!" Reaching up with a gentle hand and an even more tender expression on his face, Mulder pushed back a tendril of red hair away from her flushed face and asked, "Would you consider living together, Scully?" in complete seriousness. "Mulder..." Scully realized that the levity had left his face, and in its place, a look of grave expectation resided there. "Mulder, you're serious this time, right?" Her voice faltered a bit as he slowly nodded 'yes'. "Wow", she muttered as she rolled off of him and sat with her back against the sofa's edge. Sneaking a glance at him, her gaze locked with his intense eyes. "Scully, I do love you, and I want us to be together. We've proven that we can keep our professional relationship separate from our personal lives, and we've 'dated' enough. I want to wake up next to you each morning, and I want to fall asleep with you next to me each night. I need to know if you feel the same way. This commitment will be a twenty-four hours a day thing -- we work together, we could live together....I need to know if that scares you as much as it scares me, but I'm willing to go for it if you are." With a slowly-spreading grin, Scully nodded and said simply, "Yes." They sat there and stared at each other, both a little stunned at their decision, until Mulder abruptly scooped up Scully and headed for the bedroom. "Mulder, wait!" "Huh?" "I'm sick, remember? You said yourself that..." "I'm looking forward to every possibility of catching it, Scully." And with an expectant smile on her face, Scully gave up her half-hearted protests. ************************************************************************** *********** With a burst of enthusiasm, Mulder pitched Scully onto the bed and caught her on the first bounce. Giggling, Scully wound her arms and legs around her lanky partner and flipped him over onto his back. Dipping her head down, she ran a teasing tongue along his lips and quickly nipped at his chin. Mulder groaned softly and reached up to tangle his fingers in her bright hair. Capturing her wandering mouth with his own, Mulder sought and found her avid tongue with his, and they remained that way for long minutes, slowly and sensuously exploring each other. Mulder released her hair and his hands began to wander, edging slyly under and up her t-shirt and rounding forward to tease her breasts. With an appreciative murmur, Scully broke their kiss and stared into Mulder's eyes as he gently rolled her nipple between his fingers. Her gaze faltered as her eyes began to haze with pleasure, and Mulder felt a rush of pure lust as he saw the pleasure she took from his touch cloud her eyes. Impatient hands tore at clothing, and garments flew and landed with total disregard. Naked in what seemed like seconds, the two lovers paused for a moment, as if to try to form a permanent memory of this time when they celebrated a decision that they thought would never occur. With a shaky smile, Scully leaned forward again and kissed Mulder slowly and with great love. Mulder returned the kiss with equal measure, then brought his arms up around her shoulders and silently urged her forward. Shifting his hands to under her arms, Mulder pulled her until her breasts were level with his mouth, and he began to lick and suckle at her as her breath caught erratically. She moaned quietly and braced her hands on his shoulders and shifted this way and that to encourage his ministrations. Mulder pulled back and gazed at the dampness of her breasts, then shifted his gaze upwards to see her face. The haziness in her eyes and the unconscious biting of her lower lip assured him that she was close to the edge, and he slid his hand down her arm to grasp at her hand. With a gentle tug, he directed her hand towards his erection and gasped as she took a hold of him. She smiled lazily at him, and brought the tip of him against her damp mound, slowly rubbing him against the folds of humid flesh. He arched his back, almost losing control, but held on to it tenuously. Sharing the experience, their hands guided him in teasing exploration of her, then her hand abandoned his and slipped under to caress vulnerable flesh drawn tight with excitement. Mulder threw his head back and his face twisted in a grimace of tight control while Scully laughed softly, then she dipped her mouth down to tongue the tiny nipples on his chest. Mulder grabbed her hips and pushed upwards with his hips, and Scully's lingering laugh turned to a startled cry at the change of pace. Buried deeply within her, Mulder held her hips motionless, and then wordlessly began to move her rhythmically above him. He felt something pull taut within his chest as he watched her rock her head backwards, her red hair sliding and shifting along her cheeks and damp nape. She whispered his name and tightened her thighs along his hips as she shifted to take him even deeper, whimpering a bit as he obliged and thrust upwards as if to sink himself beneath her skin. Watching and waiting as she sped up, oblivious to everything except the need for fulfillment. Her rhythm faltered, and suddenly, Scully's eyes flew open. She stared down at him for a breathless second, then shuddered and came in great waves that caressed him internally. Mulder's breath caught at the sensation and at the sight of Scully quivering above him, and he reached down between them to where they were joined. With a deliberate hand, he started to caress her lightly and she gasped at the sensation, grabbing at his forearms for support as she continued to climax. He quickly rolled her onto her back, and with hard, urgent strokes, made her cry out in satisfaction. Moments later, his own hoarse shout followed hers, and he collapsed onto her, breathing harshly and his lean frame shaking from the release. The lovers slipped slowly into sleep, drugged with pleasure. ************************************************************************** ***** At dawn, Mulder slowly came awake to the sensation of a hand gently caressing his face. With a murmur, he reached up as Scully's finger began to slowly trace along his bottom lip and trapped her hand within his. Turning his head, he looked at her face and the grave expression on it, and his heart sank a little at that look. "Scully, what's wrong?" he whispered. "Mulder, are you very sure about our moving in together? Any doubts about it?" "Scully, of course I have doubts about it. We stopped trying to hide our relationship from Skinner and the other brass, and they seem satisfied that our effectiveness as a team hasn't been compromised by our personal involvement. My doubts exist along the lines of whether you'll get sick of too much of me in your life." "Never," she said with fierce deliberation. "That will never happen. Even when we're fighting over an explanation for some strange occurrence while investigating a case, or you leaving a pile of sunflower seed hulls on the coffee table will I ever get too much of you. I thought I lost you once in New Mexico, and I will never take your presence for granted again." "I feel the same way, Scully. Seeing you alive and awake in that hospital bed felt as if my life had been given back to me -- no one is going to take you away from me unless they get through me first." With deliberation, Mulder gathered her closer to him and held on tightly, reassuring each other of the complete committment of their decision to share their lives totally and fully. The sun continued to stream in gradually, warming the room in subdued light as the intertwined bodies on the bed lay contemplating their future together, the peaceful silence interrupted with a huge sneeze that rocked the bed and Dana Scully's bright laugh of amusement. "Aw, hell...I got your cold!" The End.