TITLE: Tootsie Pop II (The Angstier Candy Treat): Marshmallows and Mints
AUTHOR: Evielouise
EMAIL ADDRESS: evielouise@hotmail.com
SPOILER WARNING: The Fowl One is discussed a bit. Blech. Plus there are brief Quagmire, Detour, and Small Potatoes references.
RATING: A hearty NC-17.
CONTENT WARNING: Wooo-woooo! *Sap alert!* If you are not a Type S (Sap) Personality, Step Away From the Computer!!
CLASSIFICATION: MSR, S, H, A
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, etc., because if I did, I’d have Moose & Squirrel whipped into a UST-induced frenzy all throughout the seventh season, ending on a decidedly high note with the season finale being, in the immortal words of Sista’ J, "a two-hour, no-holds-barred porn movie" of extraordinary proportions. Yep, that’s what I’d do.
SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully go on another nice trip to the forest, or thereabouts, share conversation and confections, and engage in other fun adult activities.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is just additional story idea-thieving on my part. Is there anything M & S haven’t tried at this point? Apologies to anyone who is familiar with the geographical area I describe in this fic. I’ve changed things around a bit (actually a bunch) for dramatic purposes. Please bear with me. It’s more fun if we do it my way. Trust me.
DEDICATION: To my fellow Bimbo Nympho Alien Junior Leaguers, Sista’ J & Sista’ A, who bring busloads and busloads of laughter to my life each day, and without whose ongoing email discussions of oral sex practices this story would not be possible. I am GREATLY indebted to Sista’ J, Esther P., and Sonya P. for awesomely detailed beta reads. Special thanks to Eiluned and Sista’ A for early beta readings and encouragement when I really needed it.
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Part 1: Pillow Talk
<ring>
<ring>
<groan>
<thunk>
"Godammit."
"Scully? Are you there?"
Mulder finally heard her voice, sleepy and muffled by her pillow, through the phone receiver, "Mulder, what time is it?"
He sheepishly replied, "Sorry. I didn’t expect you to be in bed so early."
A beat as she forced her drooping eyes to focus on the bedside clock. "It's not that early. Besides, we had a long, difficult week and I'm worn out." Her voice drifted away for a moment as she shifted position. "... fell asleep trying to get caught up on my medical journals." She paused and asked somewhat suspiciously, "What did you want?"
"I want you to take a little trip with me, Scully." His voice sounded unsure, whether of his request or Scully’s reaction, she didn’t know.
For a moment she panicked as she thought that maybe Mulder had a personal trip in mind, after the mind-blowing events in their basement office after-hours one day last week. But she had purposely avoided any discussion on the topic afterward, and they had both been kept busy on a case in Nebraska in the interim. Mulder, while he may not have understood her uneasy silence on the subject, had honored it.
Yeah, Mulder was just talking business. Scully quietly groaned into her pillow and then answered somewhat petulantly, "Mulder, we just got back from Omaha this afternoon. Aren't you tired of chasing mutant killers this week?"
He seemed encouraged by her noncommittal response. "Oh, but we aren't going to be chasing mutant killers, Scully." He paused briefly for dramatic effect. "Just lights in the sky."
Silence.
"Scully, are you there?"
"You're kidding right?"
"Would I kid you? Unexplained lights in the sky are no laughing matter, Agent Scully."
When she didn't bother to reply, he rushed to explain, "When I got back from the airport today a contact of mine had left a message for me to call. He works at a wilderness refuge a few hours south of here, and says mysterious lights have been hovering over the area right before dawn for several consecutive days now."
"And you wish to investigate this phenomenon first hand? Mulder, I thought you'd written articles debunking some of those mysterious light stories. How could you be so gullible?"
Scully could swear his voice sounded wounded. "It won’t hurt to check it out. Besides, this contact of mine is pretty reliable. Not the kind of guy to spin wild tales. Wife and two kids. Sturdy forest ranger type." He added plaintively, "He faxed me photos."
Scully inquired, "And what would be the name of the area where said lights have been appearing?"
He hesitated and cleared his throat before answering, "The Great Dismal Swamp."
"Swamp? Mulder, I think a question begs to be asked here..."
"Alright, alright. I know what you're going to say, Scully. My friend has been investigating these lights, and they don't seem to be emanating from swamp gas. I swear, this guy is reliable. He's worked there for years, and has never witnessed anything like it before."
"The Great Dismal Swamp, Mulder? Dismal? Are you sure this place exists? It sounds like a setting from The Princess Bride, if you ask me..."
Mulder cajoled, "Please, Scully. Go with me. It'll be just like the old days…a nice trip to the forest."
He heard her voice huff in laughter.
"Come on, Scully. You know you can't resist a road trip with me. We'll sing songs in the car. Play car trip games. If we leave now, we'll be there a couple of hours before the light show's due."
"Mulder..."
"I'm not ditching you and going off on my own, right? I want you to go with me. It'll be fun." She detected a note of desperation.
A soft sigh, and then, "Where are you, Mulder?"
"Outside."
"Outside? Outside, as in where?"
"Outside, as in outside your building."
Her voice resigned, she stretched and said, "Come on up. It'll take me a few minutes to get dressed." She snuggled into the covers for a moment longer and added regretfully, "What does one wear to go slogging through a swamp, anyway?"
She heard a knock on the door, sat up in bed, and asked, "Mulder, is that you?"
Padding through the living room on bare feet, she heard him say, "Yeah, it's me." She glanced through the peephole and opened the door to see him smiling shyly, still holding the phone to his ear. Her heart did a little somersault when she saw him standing there in faded jeans, boots, and a black t-shirt, a light jacket thrown across his arm. Scully’s reaction to her partner’s appearance always made her feel a bit guilty for some reason.
She had neglected to put on a robe, and Mulder said nothing at first as his eyes took in her purple satin pajamas. Then finally, "Nice P.J.'s, Scully." His voice cracked a bit on her name. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he awkwardly sidled around her and through the door.
Her face colored slightly as she remembered the day last week when Mulder had seen her in even less clothing than now. Half-dressed, actually, as she shivered in remembrance. But as far as she was concerned, they had both been overcome with a case of temporary insanity. She did not want them to make that mistake twice. Too much was at stake. She hurriedly changed the subject, "I'll be a few minutes. Uh, help yourself if you'd like something to drink, or..."
"I'm fine." His eyes darted away as she searched his face. "I'll just wait for you right here." He sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa.
"Ok." She allowed herself a quick glance over her shoulder at Mulder's unreadable face as he surreptitiously watched her walk towards the bedroom to dress. She stifled another shiver as she remembered Mulder’s eyes as they had looked that fateful afternoon in the office, insatiably burning into her naked flesh, immediately before he had devoured her.
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Part 2: Not Quite "Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall"…
Scully lay her head back on the car seat, trying desperately to fall asleep and avoid conversation on the long trip towards the southeastern border of Virginia. Four hours alone in the car with Mulder? What the hell was she thinking when she agreed to this trip, business or otherwise?
She chided herself silently, "How will you avoid discussing your thoughtless little sexcapade now, huh?" She wouldn’t know what to say to him if he did bring it up. She felt confused, conflicted, and nauseatingly anxious.
She hadn’t felt this mixed-up since…since Diana Fowley had shown up and forced Scully to wonder about her own place in their partnership. The mere thought of that woman made Scully seethe. She refused to examine her own motives for her extreme dislike of Fowley any further than to acknowledge Fowley’s obvious betrayal of Mulder and her deep involvement in the conspiracy. And Mulder was apparently blind to all this. How could he…
"You asleep?" Mulder quietly murmured.
She opened her eyes in surprise and answered, "No, I… I can’t quite seem to get comfortable."
He volunteered self-consciously, "I brought you a pillow. It’s in the backseat."
She twisted around, retrieved the pillow, and tried to find a comfortable position.
Warily, he suggested, "Why don’t you lie down with your head here in the middle?" He didn’t look at her as he lightly patted the seat between them. "There’s plenty of room."
"Is that a crack about my height, Mulder?"
He smiled at her remark. "I’m surprised at you, Scully. Since when have I ever made fun of your shortcomings?"
"Well, there was that time in Comity when…"
He protested, lifting one hand from the steering wheel, "Please keep in mind that I was not quite feeling myself then. Cosmic forces and all…"
"And then there was the time…"
"Ok, Scully, point taken. But honestly, I wasn’t making fun of you. I just want you to get some rest. I did yank you out of the comfort of your own bed, after all." He hesitated and said quietly, "I won’t bite."
She avoided his gaze, gooseflesh rippling over her as she remembered just exactly how his teeth, and lips, and tongue had felt on her heated skin. Not wishing to argue any further, she placed the pillow on the seat between them, adjusted her seat belt, and snuggled deep into the pillow so that her burning face wouldn’t betray emotions to her partner that, in her opinion, were better left unsaid.
She was extremely conscious of his proximity for what seemed an eternity; her head lay very near his hip and the scent of his fragrant cologne washed over her enticingly. But eventually, weariness began to overtake her, and taut muscles slowly relaxed. How many car trips like this had they taken together? This trip would be no different than the dozens that had preceded it.
Drifting away, she felt Mulder’s hand tentatively reaching to smooth an auburn lock of hair behind her ear, and she mumbled sleepily, "Thanks for bringing me a pillow, Mulder."
"You’re welcome," he murmured back in a pleased tone. Heartened by her words he added, "Want me to sing you to sleep with a few rousing choruses of ‘Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall’?"
His teasing made it feel like old times, before things had become unnaturally complicated. "That will be most unnecessary," she quipped in a voice drunken with drowsiness, "but thanks very much…" and she gradually slipped away under Mulder’s subtly watchful gaze.
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Part 3: A Nice Trip to the Forest, er, Swamp
Consciousness resurfaced slowly as Scully registered the familiar sound of Mulder quietly talking on his cell phone as he drove through the Virginia darkness.
"…should be approaching the refuge entrance in about fifteen minutes. I hate getting you up in the middle of the night like this, but I appreciate it. Can you meet us there?…Yeah. Thanks, Tony… See ya’."
She lay still for several more languid minutes, unable to shake her lethargy just yet. Finally, she muttered, "Mulder, what time is it?"
"Very late. But we’ll have plenty of time to hike to Lake Drummond and get settled before the alleged light show begins."
Scully rubbed her eyes and sat up. "How long have I been asleep?"
"About three hours."
"Three hours?" she said in amazement, and then her eyes registered her surroundings. The silvery blue moon was nearly full, so she had a perfect view outside the car. "So this is what a swamp looks like. Wow, I never expected it to be so...dramatic. It's beautiful." Dark water and gnarled cypress trees draped in gray Spanish moss streamed past her window.
Very soon they pulled up to a ranger station at the park entrance where a lone driver seated in a pick-up truck was apparently waiting for them. Mulder explained, "Tony’s going to let us into the park. It’s usually closed to the public after sunset." Mulder grinned at her. "But he owes me a favor. Be right back."
Mulder jumped out and strode to the window of the other vehicle. Scully watched his lean profile as he conversed with the driver, whom she assumed was Tony. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw Mulder motioning in another direction, then listening intently to Tony for a while and nodding. Mulder’s friend handed him what appeared to be a map and gestured over it.
Once Scully saw Mulder point back towards her in the car, and Tony turned around to peer at her. She saw Mulder smile broadly, then shake hands with him as he got out of his truck to open the front gate of the wildlife refuge.
She wondered in horror for a moment if they had discussed her, and what exactly had been said. "Dammit! What was I thinking?" She berated herself for her indiscreet behavior with her partner for the hundredth time since last week.
And what about the Gunmen? Do they know everything now as well?? The thought of Frohike knowing certain things about her made her skin crawl. But she shook herself mentally, thinking, "Stop it. You’re just being paranoid, and that’s Mulder’s department." She ran her fingers through sleep-tousled hair and admonished herself, "Mulder is an honorable man. He’s my friend. I trust him." She grimaced. "Most of the time." Better not go there.
She was shaken from her ruminations when Mulder suddenly rejoined her in the front seat, eyes shining. "Are you ready, G-Woman?"
"Ready as I’ll ever be," she replied somewhat ruefully, but barely managed to suppress a smile at her partner’s obvious anticipation of their coming adventure. She hoped that he wouldn’t be too disappointed at what would surely turn out to be a logically and scientifically explainable phenomenon. Mysterious lights, indeed.
Silently they drove a distance into the wildlife refuge until coming upon a deserted parking lot. "Here’s where we start hoofing it," he explained. They climbed out of the car, Mulder grabbing their bags from the back seat. Scully started at a light touch on her shoulder.
"Sorry. I was just…" Mulder faltered. "Here’s your pack." He held it out to her carefully.
She quickly attempted to cover the awkward moment with conversation. "How far to Lake Drummond?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing her curiously in the moonlight. "About four and a half miles."
"Good thing I wore my hiking boots, huh?" she commented dryly.
"Good thing," he replied. "But you’re in shape. I think you can handle it." He grinned mischievously at her. She chose to ignore him.
They walked toward the treeline and down a narrow trail. The skeletal cypress trees with their veil of moss that had looked so intriguing to her from the safety of the car now just seemed eerie. They came to a set of rickety homemade wooden steps leading down to the water’s edge, where she spied something that made her grimace. "What the hell is that thing, Mulder?"
"It’s a ferry."
"Oh, is that what you’d call it?" She eyed it skeptically as he prepared to leap aboard. "Looks to me like a few rotten boards haphazardly nailed together to be utilized only by people with suicidal tendencies. You expect me to get on that thing, Mulder? Are you crazy?"
Arms flailing briefly on a decidedly ungraceful landing, he called over his shoulder, "Scully, where’s your sense of adventure?" Mulder turned towards her looking a tad wounded. "Come on…trust me." He seemed to contemplate the situation for a moment, then stepped forward and resolutely held out his hand to her. She begrudgingly took it. She’d come this far…
Scully hopped carefully onto the contraption and was surprised by its sturdiness. She grabbed onto the handrail as Mulder pulled them slowly across the black water by means of a chain strung across the channel’s width. She watched a large bird, possibly an owl, spread its wings and swoop down upon some unsuspecting small animal.
"Hey, do you think there are any poisonous snakes in this swamp?" she asked casually, attempting to downplay her concern. Her father had always taught her to respect nature, because nature has no respect for you.
"Just cottonmouths, rattlers, and copperheads..." He attempted to reassure her quickly, "But I’m sure they’re all snug in their dens at this time of night, Scully." He paused momentarily. "I hope."
She smiled warily, remembering a night they’d spent stranded on a rock in the middle of Heuvelmans Lake in Georgia. Mulder had observed, "Living in the city, you forget that night is actually so… dark."
She and Mulder had both been a bit on edge after sinking their small boat while searching for an aquatic creature the locals called Big Blue. They’d jumped, wide-eyed, at every ominous splash in the water surrounding them. At one point they’d even panicked and pulled their guns on a harmless quacking duck. Scully had remarked, "It’s not until you get back to nature that you realize everything is out to get you."
About the only positive outcome of that particular evening had been the quiet conversation they’d shared by glowing lanternlight, sitting atop their damp, uncomfortable perch. Mulder had actually quoted Moby Dick. That had taken her completely by surprise.
Mulder continued, oblivious to her reminiscing, "This area is teeming with creatures of the forest…"
Scully’s thoughts abruptly rejoined her partner in the present. "Hence the term ‘wildlife refuge’, eh, Mulder?"
He ignored her, "…some fifty-six species of turtles, salamanders, toads, frogs…"
"No alligators, I hope?" she chuckled, remembering Mulder’s sore disappointment at Big Blue’s true identity.
"…bats, otters, raccoons…" He grunted, tugging the chain slowly and smoothly. "…white-tailed deer, black bears, bobcats…" He halted thoughtfully in mid-litany. "You are packing heat, aren’t you, Scully?"
"Yep." She patted her backpack. "Never leave home without it."
"Me too. Never know when you might run into a member of the Consortium nowadays."
With that, they had safely reached the opposite bank, and Mulder tied off the ferry so it would be waiting for their return trip. Scully was beginning to feel more and more relaxed in Mulder’s company as it became apparent he was not going to bring up personal matters she did not feel equipped to discuss.
The path on the other side was wide enough for them to walk companionably side by side, and the moon was so bright, even through the trees, that they had no need for flashlights. Scully felt herself slowly unwinding, and she breathed a little easier with every step they took.
"Hey, Mulder, is that a light I see up there in the sky?"
"Where?"
"Gotcha."
"Ha ha."
"You’re so gullible."
"No, I’m not."
"Yes, you are."
Mulder smirked at her and changed the subject. "Here’s a little-known factoid that the Navy brat in you will appreciate."
She listened agreeably, so he continued, "The water in Lake Drummond is amber-colored, due to the presence of tannic acids from the bark of the trees surrounding it." He seemed determined to fill the awkward silences with safe, neutral topics of conversation. "This acts as a preserving agent, thus the water was a highly-prized commodity on sailing ships of old, as it would stay fresh in kegs throughout long sea voyages."
She smiled indulgently, eternally grateful for his harmless small talk. She could almost imagine that nothing unusual had ever happened between them.
Mulder rambled on deliberately, "People used to think the tea-colored water possessed magical qualities, and that if you drank it regularly, it would promote health and long life."
"Gee, Mulder, maybe we should bottle some of it and take it home with us. Heaven knows we seem to attract more than our share of health problems."
He searched her face anxiously, but she chuckled, and he gave a small laugh of relief himself.
"Yeah, Scully. It might come in handy sometime." He smiled down at her affectionately, then expansively gestured before them, saying, "This trail we’re walking on was originally part of…"
"Mulder, do you sit around reading almanacs and encyclopedias at home? That’s why you never get much sleep, isn’t it?" She had to look away as she suddenly envisioned what else Mulder might be doing nights that would keep him from getting sleep. She wondered angrily if he ever "lost sleep" with his old partner Diana Fowley, and surprised herself with the fierceness of her emotions. Where the hell had that come from?
Mulder examined her face curiously and replied, "No, but I did do a little internet research before we came down here. I wanted to know what I was getting us into."
She calmed her thoughts and put on a carefully neutral face. Scully forced a tight-lipped smile and quipped, "How thoughtful, Mulder."
"Thanks…but as I was saying, this trail was originally a cart path formed by George Washington when he tried to develop the area for logging and farming a couple hundred years ago."
"Ya’ don’t say." Mulder’s knowledge of historic and scientific minutiae never failed to amaze Scully. Her former bad feelings proceeded to melt away as warm affection for her partner took its place. She was beginning to feel more than a bit muddled at the hot and cold emotions rampaging through her in rapid succession, and she breathed in the clean night air as she tried to clear her head.
"As you can see," he explained with outstretched arms, "the venture failed miserably."
"Lucky for us," she glanced up at him, then quickly looked away.
"Yeah. Lucky for us," and he grinned at her happily, touching her sleeve lightly for the briefest of moments before ducking his head and smiling to himself.
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Part 4: Who’s Got the Lighter Fluid?
After traipsing nearly five miles along the aforementioned George Washington’s former cart path, Scully was feeling rather warm in the sweatshirt she had worn over her cropped white t-shirt. As she pulled the soft, sage-green fleece over her head, she caught an unexpected glimpse of Mulder’s eyes raking over her body, unguarded and unaware of her observance. She was taken aback by the raw emotion she detected in his features. Her face flushed and eyes closed tightly in embarrassment as she realized what he must be remembering.
As the cool air hit her perspiring skin, she felt exposed and hastily pulled her thin, cotton shirt down over her bare stomach and crossed her arms self-consciously, clearing her throat. Mulder, guiltily realizing he’d been busted, turned hastily as she stuffed the shirt into her bag. He ran his fingers stiffly through his hair, then pointed to where the trees finally seemed to give way. "That looks like the lake dead ahead." His voice was strained. "It’ll be the best place to watch for the lights Tony and the other witnesses have reported the past few nights."
They forged onward in determined silence until they emerged from the forest onto the banks of the largest natural lake in the state of Virginia. Scully was taken aback and momentarily forgot her uneasiness as she gazed wonderingly at her surroundings. "Mulder," Scully breathed. "It’s so…" She found herself uncharacteristically at a loss for words.
The moon, hanging seductively low over the horizon, seemed impossibly huge, and Scully could make out the silvery craters and seas etching its timeworn face. It was mirrored perfectly on the surface of the peaceful water sparkling in moonlight before her. She stood very still listening to the sounds of the insect and frog choruses literally surrounding them, their primal serenade echoing rhythmically in her ears. The night air caressing her bare arms and face felt so exquisitely soft that she actually reached out a hand to touch it. Scully felt as if she were drowning in sensation.
A quiet voice sounded in her ear, reluctant to interrupt her reverie, "I knew you’d like it, Scully."
The hand that had tried in vain to capture a bit of soft night air touched Mulder’s arm lightly instead. She gazed up at him in silent appreciation, and she could see in his eyes that he understood her without words. He said in a hushed tone, "I’m glad you came with me."
She gave a small smile and sighed, "I’m glad, too," then quietly breathed in the intoxicating scent of brown earth, amber water, and green vegetation until her heart and mind became peaceful.
She suddenly noticed Mulder had begun wandering in the bright darkness, searching the shore of the lake. "What are you looking for?" she called curiously.
"Wood."
"And why, may I ask, do you require wood?"
"I want to build a fire," he answered resolutely.
"Mulder, I don’t think they allow campfires in nature preserves."
"I’m sure you’re right, but we’re out here in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, in the dark, with lions and tigers and bears running amok. I think I’d like a nice cozy campfire. What about you?"
The ecologically correct, law-abiding side of her personality waged a fierce mental war with the practical, nature-wary side for the briefest of moments. Comfort and safety won out.
"Good idea," she breathed. Scully scowled when she saw Mulder smothering a smile, but set about helping him gather firewood.
They placed it in a pile near a large fallen log close to the water’s edge where they’d dropped their bags.
"Do you know what you’re doing?" she asked him doubtfully as he arranged kindling in a pile.
He whipped a good-sized bottle of lighter fluid out of his pack and grinned, "Indian Guides, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Do the Indian Guides promote the use of incendiary fluids amongst their young followers?" She wrinkled her nose at the acrid smell as he poured, and poured, and poured. Mulder obviously belonged to the Testosterone School of "If a little’ll do good, a lot’ll do better."
She stepped back considerably as he retrieved a small box of matches and added a dab more from the bottle for good measure. "Mulder, I think you’ve got plenty of fluid there. Be careful. Remember that moonshine incident in Kentucky…"
<foosh>
Mulder fell backwards with an oof and Scully threw her arms up to shield her face. The fire shot impressively upwards into the sky. Her concerned gaze flew to her partner who sat sprawled flat on his ass.
"Mulder, are you ok?"
He coughed and proclaimed, "Now that’s a fire!"
Scully shook her head and rolled her eyes. Typical. But she walked over and pulled him a safe distance away, kneeling to inspect him for damage by the light of his little inferno. "You don’t seem to have any burns. I think you lucked out this time, Indian Guide, but, oh wait. I think your left eyebrow is a little singed."
She smoothed his brow maternally, indulgently contemplating his boyish antics, then noticed he was gazing intently up at her from his seated position. All playfulness had fled his face.
She pulled her hands away hurriedly and looked for her pack. "I really wish I had a blanket."
"I brought a small one in my bag. Over there."
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Part 6: Ghosts of the Present
"What did you say?" Her voice was a bit incredulous.
"Why don’t we ever talk? Like this. Tonight has been…nice."
Scully’s thoughts returned to a similar conversation with Mulder’s doppelganger, in the person of one Eddie Van Blundht, in her apartment a couple of years ago. The disappointment she had felt when she’d discovered it was not really her partner she was spending a cozy evening with had been acute. She’d learned not to dwell on it, but couldn’t keep the irony out of her voice. "I don’t know, Mulder. You tell me."
"Are you saying that it’s my fault?"
She looked at him sharply and set the marshmallows aside.
His words tumbled over one another. "Scully, please don’t think that I’m accusing you of accusing me. I just want to know what you’re thinking. Because, quite frankly, you’ve been keeping me at a distance this past week, and…" He stood and paced before her nervously. "I thought that after we…" Seeming to lose his courage, he drifted off.
Her heart sank like a rock. Oh god. This was it. The confrontation she’d been avoiding. A hand went to her forehead, shielding her eyes from his gaze as she attempted to gather her thoughts and circumvent this conversation.
Mulder pleaded, "Scully, please don’t close me off. We can’t continue like this. Tonight was very…special to me. I want us to be together like this more often. I want to really get to know you. What’s stopping us? What’s come between us?"
Scully gave a shuddering sigh, then seemed resigned as she answered in a quiet, faltering voice, "I’m…scared, Mulder."
"Scared? Of me?"
"I don’t know! Scared of us. Scared of losing us. What we’ve got. What we’ve become to each other. Our partnership. Or maybe it’s too late and we’ve already lost it. I don’t know…" She was frustrated at her inability to voice her own feelings-feelings that even she did not fully comprehend.
"Scully, together we can only become stronger."
A dispirited, bitter laugh. "Are we together, Mulder? Are we truly together on this? Because in the past year, I’ve sometimes not felt that way."
"What do you mean? I know sometimes I take off and leave you, and it invariably pisses you off, but I don’t want you getting hurt because of me…"
She rose suddenly to face him, hands on hips, and countered fiercely, "Don’t give me that bullshit. I’m tired of hearing those excuses. And I’m not talking about you ditching me. I’m talking about you taking the word of everyone else above me. Valuing everyone else’s opinion. Except mine!" She seemed close to tears.
"Scully, I value your opinion." He seemed astonished at her outburst.
She glared at him. "Yeah, right. Well, next time you need help on a case, why don’t you just cut to the chase and go ask Diana Fowley what she thinks?"
"What are you…" he began to question, but then a look of uneasy realization crossed his features. "This whole thing is about Diana, isn’t it?"
Her jaw set grimly at his mention of the name and she crossed her arms tightly across her chest.
He thought aloud, "She’s what’s been keeping us apart. I didn’t realize how important this was to you, Scully, believe me."
"Mulder, I believed in you before, and I was made a fool. In front of the Gunmen even. So everyone knows. You don’t…"
"I’m an idiot, Scully. There. I’ve said it. Are you satisfied?"
"That you’re an idiot, Mulder? There have been times as of late that I’ve been positively convinced."
"I asked for that, huh?"
"Yes, you did. Mulder, if you ever want to be truly close to me, you cannot flaunt your previous relationship with that woman in my face and in front of everybody else. I feel like a fucking imbecile! Do you know how many times you took her side over mine? And I know that sounds a bit childish, but dammit, it’s true!"
"I…"
"Shut up, Mulder. I cannot believe we’re even having this conversation. To make a long story short, I cannot be in an intimate, trusting relationship with a man who does not trust me or whom I feel I cannot trust. Completely. And you have certainly betrayed my trust more than a few times lately."
Scully’s chest constricted as she observed his disconcerted expression. Dammit. She was not going to feel pity for him. Absolutely not. He’d done this to himself. He’d relegated her to a rank below Diana Fowley, turned their partnership into a joke, and she would not let him off the hook so lightly.
They stood facing each other, in fighting stance, but then he suddenly grasped both of her hands tightly. "Are you saying that you don’t want to be with me anymore? I know you don’t mean that. We’ve been through too much together to throw it all away!" he exclaimed desperately. "Scully, we don’t even have to be intimate. I promise…" His voice caught in his throat, then he took a deep breath and continued softly, pleadingly, "I’ll be satisfied if we…if we can just have what we shared before. That part of our relationship was worth more to me than anything Diana ever meant to me!"
A lump rose in her throat. "Mulder! I swear…" She felt her eyes fill with tears once again at his unself-consciously endearing words. "Dammit! You know that was the absolute best thing you could’ve said at this point…"
His crooked smile was confused and a bit uncomprehending. "So I just said a good thing?"
She sighed. "Yes, Mulder, that was a good thing to say to me right now. But I don’t think you’re quite finished."
"I’m not?"
"No, godammit, you’re not."
"Scully, this is a whole new side of you, all this swearing. You’re really turning me on…<oof> That wasn’t what I needed to say, was it?"
She stepped back and stared at him pointedly.
"All kidding aside, Scully," and he moved to place his hands on her shoulders, "…you are the most important person in my life." His voice broke and he looked up for a moment, seeming to search the heavens for answers. "I…care…so much for you. I don’t think you’ll ever truly realize the depth of my feelings." One hand swiped impatiently at his eyes and his next words were rough with emotion. "And there is no one I trust more than you. I trust you with my life."
Scully examined his face closely as he shook his head and added, "I don’t know…sometimes I think when Diana shows up, I just get confused and shove my head up my ass or something."
"You can say that again."
Mulder dropped to his knees.
"Mulder, this really isn’t necessary…"
"Scully…"
"Really, Mulder, you can get up now…"
He smiled up at her through unshed tears and held her small hand tightly against his own heart. "Scully, forgive me?"
"Yes, Mulder, I forgive you. But this is your last chance. Now get up. I feel silly."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Part 7: Altoid, Anyone?
They sat leaning lazily against the log side by side, with a bare two inches of space between them. A gentle breeze from the lake coolly brushed across their fire-warmed faces as they watched a burning log shift and send sparks flying up into the darkness. Enveloping them were the rich, pungent smells of wood smoke and warm vanilla.
"Scully, this is absolutely the last marshmallow I am going to eat. You’re a good cook, but I’m stuffed. Sick, actually."
Mulder pulled up his shirt and rubbed his belly, puffing out a breath of air through pursed lips. Before she knew what she was doing, Scully’s hand seemed to move of its own accord. Her fingers brushed lightly over her partner’s firm stomach, and she watched fascinated as the corded muscles contracted, golden skin rippling ticklishly in response to her touch.
Suddenly remembering herself, she withdrew quickly, staring into the fire, and casually replied, "You shouldn’t have eaten so much. Why are guys like that?"
His eyes seemed glazed over for an instant until he shook his head slightly, sighed in disappointment and confusion, and asked, "Like what?"
"Like Billy Hopkins in the fourth grade trying to impress me with how many hot dogs he could eat in one sitting."
"How many?"
"A lot. But you don’t want to know the eventual outcome."
"Oh."
"Here, Mulder," Scully rummaged through her pack, "have a couple of these…" She took out a small tin.
"What are they?"
"Mints. Peppermint soothes the stomach." She took out two and popped them into her mouth, sucking contentedly as the potently flavored candy melted on her tongue.
"Ah, Altoids… ‘the curiously strong mint’. Did you know these come from England, Scully?"
"You should know, Mulder." She found herself admiring his face in the firelight, a study of contrasts in rich, golden highlights cast against dark, impenetrable shadows. She started guiltily when she realized he’d caught her staring. She hastily held out a mint.
Mulder gazed challengingly into her eyes, then opened his mouth and waited expectantly. Scully drew in a quick breath. She hesitantly raised the tiny mint slowly to his waiting lips and gave a slight gasp as she felt their exquisite softness close around her fingertips and suck the candy into his mouth. Quickly he withdrew and guardedly watched her expression, which she tried to make calm.
Scully cleared her throat and said slowly and deliberately, "England, huh? No. No I didn’t realize that. But they always help to settle my stomach. Fieldwork and indigestion do not mix."
She gave a shaky sigh and stared into the sky moodily, then exclaimed, "Hey! Look up!…No, never mind. Just a falling star. Sorry."
She noticed that Mulder seemed to be gazing intently at her lips. "What?" she asked in a voice a couple of octaves higher than usual.
He murmured, "Scully, I think you have a little…marshmallow goop…right…"
"Where? What is it with this stuff? Why can we not eat it without getting it all over…" She licked her lips and waited. His eyes glittered in the firelight.
"Nope. You missed it. Right…" He reached out and touched her cheek. She closed her eyes at the overwhelming sensation as Mulder scrutinized her face. When she was able to open them again, he’d leaned unexpectedly close. She drew in a shallow breath as he whispered, "Here. Let me get it…"
She felt his lips gently caress the corner of her mouth. Scully forgot to breathe when she felt his tongue stroking the tender skin there, licking away the last vestiges of their very late evening snack.
Reluctantly he pulled away and said softly, "There. All better." His thumb brushed across her full lips.
Scully remembered to breathe again and spoke at last in a low, throaty tone, "Mulder?"
"Yeah, Scully?"
"What’s she got that I don’t got?" Her eyes were downcast for a moment, but then she looked resolutely into his face.
Mulder’s expression was stricken. "Scully…" He fumbled awkwardly for words, "Aside from having somewhat better grammar habits…"
She was not amused. "That’s not what I’m talking about."
"Let me finish." Sitting on the edge of the log, he steepled his hands, and spoke carefully. "That part of my life with her is over." Scully sat facing him on the blanket below. "She means…nothing to me in that respect. Besides…" He grinned sheepishly. "She never did it for me like you do."
"What poetry, Mulder. You sure know how to make a girl feel special."
"I’m not doing a very good job of this, am I? What I mean is…"
She placed her hands lightly on his knees, halting any further fumbling attempts at explanation from her partner. At first she hesitated, then seemed to steel her nerve enough to continue their flirtatious dance (who’d been the one to instigate it this time?) She teased in a low, silky voice, "Are you saying I light your fire, Mulder?"
Mulder coughed, then strangled out, "You most definitely light my fire. No contest." Then he gently and soberly touched her hair and uttered, "You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, Scully." He trailed a finger down the side of her face. "Inside and out."
Her breath hitched suddenly in her chest and she wrapped her arms tightly around Mulder’s neck, burying her face there. Caressing her back soothingly, he asked in a concerned tone, "Scully, are you alright?" She nodded wordlessly, her face pressed against the skin of his throat, and he hugged her closely in return.
She finally broke the embrace and pulled back, looking into his bewildered expression. Mulder rarely caught a glimpse of the affectionate, needy side of his red-headed partner and it had thrown him as well as touched his heart. "I didn’t mean to upset you," he offered, but she shook her head and smiled.
"You didn’t upset me," she soothed, and she patted his legs. "You’re sweet."
He chuckled, "I don’t think anyone’s ever called me sweet before. Least of all you."
"Bite me, Mulder," she teased.
"Oh that can be arranged, Dr. Scully. Just show me where you want it." His eyebrows rose suggestively.
She smiled secretively, saying nothing and sitting back on her heels. Her hands reached to massage the muscles of his calves. A soft moan escaped his lips.
Mysteriously she asked, "Mulder, did you hear the weather report for this evening?"
"Weather report?" He looked puzzled and slightly breathless at her touch.
Her hands drifted up to rest atop his thighs. "Yeah, weather report."
"Whoa…" She had begun massaging his thigh muscles, caressing and kneading his legs through the smooth fabric of his faded jeans. "Scully, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. This could get…"
"Shut up, Mulder." She pushed his hands away and continued, "The weather report wouldn’t happen to have been ‘Cloudy with a chance of sleeping bags’ now, would it?"
"Cloudy with a chance of…?" he began, and then his eyes widened and his mouth popped open in surprise. On a previous trip to the forest, in search of Floridian mothmen, Mulder had flippantly suggested to her a way for two people to keep warm in the great outdoors. It had involved sleeping bags and naked bodies. He continued weakly, "Scully, are you saying if it rains sleeping bags…" He swallowed hard. "I might get lucky?"
She ignored his incredulous expression and glanced up at the sky expectantly. Then she looked intently into his eyes. "Looks like tonight just may be your lucky night, Mulder."
He hesitantly placed a suddenly trembling hand on his partner’s cheek. "Are you sure, Scully?" he asked thoughtfully.
She grasped the hand on her cheek between both of her own and brought it slowly to her lips, pulling two of his fingers into her wet mouth. She suckled softly, eyes burning into his own feverish gaze, momentarily stilling the conversation. At last she released his fingers from the ministrations of her lips and tongue, then placed a gentle kiss in the palm of his hand.
"I’m sure, Mulder." She placed featherlight kisses on the pads of his fingers, one by one. "What about you?"
He stared at her blankly, slightly out of breath with the turn of events. "What about me?"
"Are you sure, too, Mulder?" She gave a long, slow, seductive lick on the palm of his left hand, then kissed it again soothingly.
"God, Scully! I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life." He stilled her by grasping her hands and looking earnestly into her eyes. "You are the one and only sure thing in my life."
They smiled a bit shyly at one another in mutual relief and anticipation, clasping hands, palm to palm, fingers interlaced. Six years it had taken them to get this far. Six long years of stolen glances, suggestive remarks, gentle touches, charged arguments, desperate embraces, and heartfelt declarations.
Scully could be still no longer. She freed her hands from Mulder’s firm grasp and reached unwaveringly for the buttons on his jeans. He eagerly followed her lead and grasped the hem of her t-shirt, fingers brushing her bare skin, causing her to shiver. "No," she stated firmly and pushed his hands away. "Let me do this." To his confused expression she responded, "It’s your turn, Mulder. Let me take care of you this time." Slowly she removed his tennis shoes and socks. "You sit tight, G-Man."
"Oh, I’m beginning to sit tight, alright." He blew out a breath as she successfully unfastened his jeans. He lifted his hips and watched her pull them over his long legs, tossing them carelessly aside.
Languidly stroking the bare skin of his well-muscled legs, she smiled enigmatically up at him, purring, "Did you ever get a copy of that email that made the rounds at work?"
"What email?" he croaked distractedly. He gazed wonderingly at the positively predatory Scully who now held him completely in her power. He’d definitely never experienced this surprising aspect of her personality before. Not in six long years.
"One of those ‘urban myth’ emails that espouses the benefits of utilizing Altoids during certain sexual acts…" she explained.
"Sexual acts? I like the sound of that phrase rolling off your tongue, Scully." He was beginning to perspire.
"Wanna’ see if it’s true?" He watched as her tongue darted out to wet her lower lip.
He practically squeaked, "I’m game if you are…"
"Oh, I’m game alright." Her head bowed low, and he felt her teeth and tongue graze his ankle, tentatively sampling his skin. Her lips then made a long, torturously slow journey up the inside of his calf, tongue darting out to taste the back of his knee. By this point, Mulder sat seemingly mesmerized as she insinuated her slender body between his knees, and he obediently lifted his arms as she pulled his shirt over his head. She sighed as she raked her nails gently up and down his bare arms, repeating her earlier request, "Let me take care of you."
She covered a muscular shoulder in featherlight kisses, sucking gently at his skin, then kissing the angry scar left by a bullet she herself had once fired. Her tongue swirled over the indentation, and she tasted her own regret at the unfortunate incident in the damp saltiness of his skin. Her lips caressing their way down to his nipples, she sucked and laved until she felt him shudder. "Cold, Mulder?" she asked breathlessly without interrupting her work.
"Not in the least…" He inhaled sharply. "Quite the contrary. You’ve got a hell of a…" A quick gasp. "… talent there…" He marveled at the things he was learning about his partner and abandoned speech as her wet lips traveled down his flat stomach, tongue sliding into his belly button. His strong hands made their way to tangle in her luxurious hair.
Innocently she inquired, "Hey, aren’t we supposed to be investigating some mysterious lights around here somewhere?"
His voice sounded strangled as she toyed with the waistband of his boxers. "Fuck the lights, Scully."
"What did you say, Mulder?" She smiled against his skin.
"I said, ‘Fuck the lights.’ I’ve got more important things on my…um…unh…mind right now. God…" She was nipping at the skin above his waistband with her teeth, her silken hair draped across his sensitized chest. He opened his eyes when she stopped, then looked up where she was now standing over him, eyes hungry.
"Stand up, Mulder." She reached for his hands to pull him to his feet, then sank to her knees before him. Her arms stretched up to slide his boxers over hips and down legs so agonizingly slowly, Scully’s eyes drinking him in worshipfully as she progressed, that he felt gooseflesh on his naked skin, even in the warmth of the fire.
She tilted her head back and hotly gazed up at him until he felt as though he were about to be devoured whole. He couldn’t utter a sound. She suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tightly, her hair grazing his sex. He groaned, leaned down, and kissed the top of her head.
"Scully, you don’t have to…"
"I want this." She insisted, "Be quiet and lie down here. Beside me." She stroked the blanket next to her.
He complied, lying back and watching her every move, captivated.
She kissed her way up his calves, over his knees, across his thighs, tantalizingly dragging her hair across the place he most wanted her lips to be. "God, oh god…Scully."
"What’s the matter, Mulder? You want something from me?" She applied tiny, featherlight kisses directly above his sex, blue eyes turning up to watch him questioningly.
His breath hissed out through his teeth as he answered, "I want you, Scully. Only you…" He grimaced as her hand gently massaged his balls. "Nobody else. Just…you…"
"Good answer, Mulder," she murmured. He cried out as he at last felt her teeth on the underside of the base of his cock, delicately nipping their way up the sensitive vein there.
Her tongue slicked across the head to taste his salty sweetness. Scully’s thumb massaged a spot on its underside. "Mulder, do you like this?"
"Oh yeah, Scully." A groan. "Just keep…doing what you’re doing… Your mouth is so…incredible…Fuck…" She felt his hand fumbling to desperately caress her cheek, then slide around the back of her neck.
Scully wetted her palms with the flat of her tongue, then took him into her eager mouth as far as she could, wrapping one hand around the base of his now engorged cock. Stroking him with her tongue and hand in tandem, she reached her other hand to tease the secret sensitive spot behind his balls, as his hips began rhythmically undulating in primitive response to her relentless seduction.
She reveled in the taste of him, the smell of him, the sound of his wordless cries. She shivered in the knowledge of her power over him, and how she held him literally in the palm of her hand as his heated, silken shaft throbbed and pulsated. She suckled, stroked and squeezed until he started and tried hurriedly to pull away from her. "Scully, I’m gonna’…" he said thickly.
"No, Mulder. Let me." She forced his hands back onto the blanket and stared unwaveringly into his eyes at his wondering expression. When he didn’t reply, she took that as acceptance, and sucked him greedily into her mouth once more, tongue swirling round his head, teeth grazing, hands pumping and applying precise pressure on inflamed nerve endings until Mulder cried out her name and at last climaxed with a harsh groan, then fell bonelessly still.
When his eyes finally opened once again, he watched as she cleaned the last vestiges of spent passion from his skin, then crawled up his body, licking her lips breathlessly. She smiled into his face and purred, "Happy now, Agent Mulder?"
His breathing was still ragged as he raised his eyebrows incredulously, appeared ready to say something, but then gave up and limply dropped his head to the blanket again. He sighed heavily and pulled her tightly against him, eyes focusing on her wet, swollen lips. "Wow, Scully," he finally said in a hoarse whisper.
"Wow, Mulder? Six years of pent-up sexual tension and all you can think to say is ‘wow’?" She smiled at him indulgently.
He puffed out a breath and replied, "You’re an animal, Scully."
She laughed delightedly.
He gave a sated sigh and continued, "What can I say? You’ve rendered me practically speechless."
"Now that’s something that doesn’t happen every day. I guess I can take that as a good sign." She added teasingly, "I wonder if we missed your light show?"
"Huh? Oh yeah…I saw mysterious lights all right, but it wasn’t from any bleepin’ U.F.O." He hesitated thoughtfully, caressing the small of Scully’s back. "Unless it means… ‘Unbelievably Fantastic Oral sex…"
She laughed again.
"…or Utterly Ferocious Orgasm…"
Scully giggled into his sweat-dampened chest. He reached down and hooked a finger under her chin, then said into her eyes, "I really missed hearing that sound this past week. Your laughter is addictive, partner. I want to hear it all the time now."
"Mulder, I can’t believe how you’ve gotten all mushy on me," she teased.
"I’m a mushy kind of guy, Scully. You’ve discovered my secret."
"Secret, Mulder? You do tend to wear your emotions on your sleeve."
"Do you scoff at my affection for you, G-woman?" He was stroking her throat lightly from her chin to the hollow at the base of her throat and back again.
Her voice hitched as she said, "Whatever blows your skirt up, Mulder, is fine with…" She halted mid-sentence as his fingers again traveled to tangle in her hair.
He murmured as her eyes closed in quiet ecstasy, "Did I ever tell you that you have beautiful hair? I like it… a lot."
She whispered, "No, Mulder, I don’t believe you’ve ever told me that."
His fingers stroked her cheek in featherlight caresses, and he said only half-jokingly, "You’re a bewitching temptress, Dana Scully. I may have to create another X-file with your name on it."
She laughed, "Nobody’s ever called me a temptress before, either. This is an evening of ‘firsts’ for us, huh?"
He murmured, "How about…a first kiss?" She held her breath as he continued, "Your lips are so amazing, Scully. I’ve wanted to kiss them since the first time I met you."
"Oh really," she countered in a hushed tone. Their mouths were centimeters apart, achingly close. "I thought you probably hated me back then." Her arms wrapped around his bare back and stroked his baby-soft skin.
"No, I was too busy wondering what your hot little body looked like under those starched suits," he breathed salaciously into her parted lips, eyes wandering over her face, taking in her every expression.
She gasped quietly, touching his lightly stubbled cheek, "I can’t believe you just admitted to that, Mulder!" She playfully nipped at his chin with her teeth. "You are so wicked."
"Oh, you don’t know just how wicked, Miss Scully." His hands roamed up her body slowly and deliciously.
"Mulder," she breathed expectantly into his mouth, eyes tortured.
"Scully, I can’t wait another second to kiss you," Mulder whispered, and she felt his warm breath brush her lips as he bent ever closer.
Scully’s eyes flew wide at a horrible crashing noise in the bushes nearby. "What the hell was that, Mulder?"
"I don’t know, but it better not be another godamned bee," he replied humorlessly through gritted teeth.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Part 8: Please Don’t Feed the Bears
"No, seriously, Mulder, I heard something…" she began, but was rudely interrupted by the unwelcome sight of a huge, lumbering black bear heading straight for their camp in the gray pre-dawn light.
"Shit!" they cried out in unison and scrambled to their feet, both running in the opposite direction of the bear. Mulder hoisted Scully onto the lowest branch of the first tree they encountered, climbing up right behind her. They did not stop until they were breathless from the exertion and had reached what they hoped was a safe distance from the ground. Peering through the leaves at their intruder, they watched him enthusiastically tearing into their bag of leftover marshmallows.
Mulder swore and moaned up to her from his lower branch, "We never get a break, do we, Scully?"
He was unexpectedly answered by the sound of her laughter as she choked out, "I don’t know. I’d say you got pretty lucky tonight."
He looked thoughtful as he watched the bear snuffling the plastic sack for the last bites. "Yeah. You’ve got a point there."
"So, Mulder, how were those Altoids?"
His eyebrows rose sharply in remembrance. "Icy-hot, Scully. Like fire and ice all wrapped up in one sweet little package. You may rest assured, the urban legend stands undisputed."
When there was no reply, he became acutely aware of his partner’s wandering gaze from above.
"You’re staring, Scully."
"You’re naked, Mulder."
"Thanks, Scully. Until you informed me, I was totally unaware of the fact that I was bare-assed naked in a tree."
Her eyes raked over him shamelessly as she said, "That’s a good look for you, Mulder. Think I’ll have to talk to Skinner about making it required dress code for you." She smiled sweetly. "Want me to come down there with you?"
"No!" He sounded a trifle panicky. "If you so much as touch me, I might fall out of this damned tree. You seem to have an incapacitating effect on me, Scully."
"Oh, you have no idea, Agent Mulder. Wait until I get you home…"
END Tootsie Pop II: Marshmallows & Mints
