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Even if the storm seemed finally finished, there were still some water drops that were falling from the crevices of the ceiling and the air was still cold and damp. They were in a high school gym, and still, the atmosphere was magical. The blue lights were gently illuminating the room, dancing together in a sweet rhythm. the band was playing "somewhere over the rainbow" and lots of lovers were dancing, each people not paying attention to anything but the person right in front of them. In the middle of the dancing floor Sheila and Holman were holding each other smiling. It had been a weird case, but seeing the two of them exchanging loving and happy glances was worth it all. Mulder and Scully were one next to the other, rhythmically waving at the sound of the music.
After another kiss, Sheila and Holman approached the two agents to thank them for their help and just before going away Holman looked at Mulder, saying with a smirk:
"you should try sometimes"
The two men exchanged knowing glances before Holman exited the gym. Mulder smiled nervously.
Scully turned to him with a confused look. He smiled, although she could sense he immediately tensed at Holman's words.
"Try what, Mulder?" Scully asked.
He nervously looked around him, moving his attention to the pairs on the dancing floor, deliberately ignoring her question. Suddenly his nervous face brightened.
"Hey Scully, do you want to dance?" he fast turned to her.
"What? Mulder, the case is closed and we didn't even go to this school" She was surprised although amused. She remembered well the last time they danced together. It was after the Great Mutato case, at the Cher concert. It had been incredibly funny and sweet, but it didn't last long and was just for half a song.
Mulder was making that puppy eyes she can't never say no to. His tone was demanding and playful.
"C'mon Scully" he said while taking her hand and leading her on the dancing floor. She didn't even try to resist.
Once on the dancing floor Mulder rested his hands on Scully's hips, while her hands laid around his neck. They were nervously laughing.
God, we look like two teenagers. She thought.
They slowly came closer one another until Scully's face was on Mulder's chest and his head was on top of hers. They were practically hugging while waving at the slow rhythm of the music. Scully felt overwhelmed from his closeness. The speech she made to Sheila in the bathroom was going on loop in her head.
" Well, it seems to me that the best relationships, the ones that last, are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and see something different from what you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with"
Did he just tried to convince Sheila, or was she talking about her and Mulder? They grew incredibly closer in the six years they worked together, but could she talk about love? Of course, she felt attracted to him. He was a handsome and intelligent man and she was a woman after all. But did she love him? She still couldn't understand her feelings for Mulder. He was her best friend, the only person she truly trusted and she loved him. But was she in love with him?
Flesh of the previous night crossed her mind. After the flying cow destroyed Mulder's room they had to share hers, and since there were no couch, they shared her bed too. It had been a stressful night for her. Having him so close didn't allow her to close her eyes the whole night. She had been so fucking aroused the whole time, she even thought of going in the bathroom for an iced shower in the middle of the night. It didn't help her when, in the morning, they woke up tangled together. They were so embarrassed that they quickly jumped out of the bed and prepared themselves for the day, ignoring the fact.
Now, with her arms around Mulder, she couldn't ignore her fastening heartbeat, and she was terribly sure, he couldn’t either.
Scully slowly raised her head and looked up to Mulder. Their eyes met and every trace of nervousness still lingering, quickly evaporated. The look Mulder gave her almost scared Scully. She could see all the love and happiness he was experiencing in that moment. He pulled her even closer if possible and started singing the lyric of the song that the band was playing. Just in that moment she paid enough attention to the song to recognize it. They were playing "wicked game" by Chris Isaak. She knew the song well, but hearing Mulder sing it to her melted her heart.p/>
" The world was on fire and no one could save me but you
it's strange what desire will make foolish people do
I'd never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you"
"What a wicked game you played to make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you"
He was whispering the words in her ear. She could feel her eyes filling with tears. Scully felt so vulnerable for a moment and so moved by his words.
Well, Chris Isaak words.
She felt lost for a moment. Lost in a dream. The other couples magically disappeared, time stopped. The soft colors of the lights illuminated them while Mulder gently kissed her temple. The atmosphere was so dreamlike, she could feel herself losing the control of the situation, like in those dreams in which you can’t fully control your body and the images are blurred, out of focus.
“Mulder” she whispered with a low voice. “What are we doing?” demand mixed to desire in her voice.
He pulled away, looking in her eyes and, without answering her, Mulder kissed her forehead, sweetly, lingering. Everything he needed to say enclosed in his kiss.
Scully was so focused on it that didn’t notice the change of the music. The band ended the song to start a faster one. With a smirk on his face he took both her hands and made her twirl. She was so surprised by his attitude’s change that lost her equilibrium and almost fell on the floor. They looked to one another and started laughing so hard that earned an annoyed glance by the couple next to them.
Mulder and Scully continued to dance until the reunion party finished and everyone was asked to leave the high school. They laughed a lot and had a really good time. After their first dance, the band didn’t play another slow song and that short, although intense, moment between them didn’t repeat.
The cold air hit Scully the moment she exited the high school. The sky was clear now, no sign of the storm that just passed. Holman should be having a very nice time right now, she thought with a smile on her lips. Her right hand was entwined with Mulder’s. He refused to leave it when they stopped to dance and she surely didn’t want to complain. Once they arrived at their car Scully turned to Mulder. They were facing. Scully’s back leaned on the door of the car. Their hands still holding. A small breeze made her red hair fly all over her face and shoulder. The air was electric, maybe due to the storm of before.
“Scully, you are breathtaking” He said with such a lovely, low voice she felt tears in her eyes once again.
Scully smiled, resolution in her gaze now.
“You know Mulder, you should really try sometime”
Mulder eyes brightened and became bigger due to his surprise in earing Scully’s reference to what Holman had said to him before. Scully chuckled tenderly. Her free hand now laid on his shoulder, pushing him closer. Mulder smiled to her. Their eyes were conversating with each other.
Mulder gently stroked Scully’s cheek before pushing her to the car door and slowly pressing his lips to hers. It was gently at first, just lips touching, and even so the electricity between them was mind-blowing. When Scully shyly asked permission for more with her tongue, Mulder was more than happy to allow her. The kiss became much more passionate, their tongues dueling. Mulder’s left hand was still entwined with Scully’s one. His free hand moved from her cheek to the back of her head, entwining the fingers with her hair. She pushed him closer too. Her back was pressing hard to the car door now. The only noises were the wind and their kiss.
When they parted the looked at each other and became to chuckle. Mulder approached closer again pressing his nose in an eskimo kiss with hers. He pressed his lips on hers once more, quickly, smiling.
“Son of a bitch. He was damn right” laughed Mulder. Scully laughed with him, then became more serious.
“what are we going to do now?”
“well, I’ve a couple of ideas” Mulder said with a lascivious smile.
“No Mulder” she chuckled “I’m talking seriously”.
He became serious, she could see a shadow of sadness in his eyes now.
“I don’t know, Scully. I wish I did. I know we can’t just walk away like Sheila and Holman, walk to a normal life, a life without aliens and conspiracies, a life where we didn’t risk our life daily and in which a possible relationship between us could be accepted by the FBI, and could not be used against us by the Consortium. I wish we could.” He sighed.
“But our flight is not before tomorrow morning. I know we can’t just walk away like Sheila and Holman did, but if you’re willing we could try, just for tonight. We could pretend to be two ex-students who met at the reunion, we could pretend to just walk away, together. We can figure out the rest later, once we’re home. If you are willing”
Scully looked in his eyes, her glance was intense. She normally would have said no. She liked to think about the consequences of her actions, to be logic and weight all the pros and counts of a possible relationship with her co-worker. She was not an impulsive person, but tonight she just wanted so bad to be with him, to see where things would lead. To be able to just go away with him like Sheila did with Holman, with such easiness and being so comfortable with him.
“Yes” She heard her voice say before she could fully elaborate her thoughts.
“Yes, we can” she smiled him.
Mulder stroked her face gently one more time before pulling away from her. His lips were showing the biggest smile Scully had ever seen on Mulder face. She should look just like him, she thought amused. Their hands disentwined themselves and she already missed the sensation of touching him.
She didn’t know if once on D.C. they could make it work. There was still a lot to work on and the x-files needed them. That section of the FBI became as much important to her as it was for him, and she wasn’t sure that they were ready to sacrifice all the work they did to get to the truth. But still, she already missed his gently touch on her face, his hungry and passionate lips on hers. She knew she was doing a big mistake tonight, she should have apologized to him and asked for another room at the motel, but she couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t just the mere physical desire, it was so much more that pushed her in bed with him that night.
It was love.
Love in his purest form. Love for the man she spent the last six years together. Love for her best friend, the man that knew her more than anyone, the man that had risked his life more than once for her, the man that was now looking at her with such love in his eyes that she thought she was going to die. That man. Mulder. Her Mulder.
She followed him in the motel room that night and allowed that part of herself that was still rebellious, impulsive and crazy to live in the moment, to just be. She allowed herself to feel free for a night, to just be Dana. She could be agent Scully the next day, in D.C., when reality would come after her to kick her ass.
Scully kissed him. Hard. Passionately. She led him to bed, their hands entwined again. They made love that night, sweetly, slowly, almost painfully. They paid attention to every spot of their bodies, allowing their minds to create memories. They both feared it would be their first and last time together and they wanted to be able to remember it when, at the end, they would unavoidably separate.
It was mind-blowing and sad at the same time. It almost felt like dying and coming back. Two lost souls mixing and then returning to be one. Lost. Alone.
Little moans and sweet talk spread in the room. Their names were uttered like a prayer. Their voice was demanding, supplicant, ecstatic.
When they finished, they felt like dying and going to heaven. It was powerful, the best experience they had ever had.
They returned to their private corner of hell the moment they opened their eyes the next morning. They packed without saying a word. Scully was angry with herself, with Mulder, with their jobs, with the whole world and the fucking way it worked. She exited the room when she realized she couldn’t hide her tears of anger anymore. She cried for what could have been her life, for the way it had been the previous night. She cried because she allowed herself to be impulsive. She cried because right now, she was crying because of a man. It was all so unfair and crying wasn’t going to fix anything.
But hell, it felt so fucking good.
She didn’t acknowledge Mulder’s presence until he pressed his hand on her shoulder. She turned to him and fell in his embrace. She let him console her, hold her, until she regained her posture. When she pulled away from him her face was serious, cold. She was agent Scully now. Mulder knew her well enough to understand what was going to happen. They would go back to D.C., to their life and just pretend the last night didn’t happened at all, just pretend that the love they shared wasn’t there, poking in their life, ready to kick their ass any moment they would lower the guard enough.
He didn’t even try to convince her that they could work it out, give their relationship a chance. He knew too much well that when Scully entered agent Scully modality, her heart would be too unreachable to even try. She was controlled now, the logic took the place of the spontaneity and she rebuilt a high wall between them, the same wall she lowered the previous night to allow him to love her, to allow herself to love him.
“C’mon Mulder, we better go If we don’t want to lose our flight”
“okay” he sighed “let’s go back”