By Sara Lynn
*DO NOT ARCHIVE. DO NOT POST ON A.T.X.C.*
SUMMARY: Following CHANGING OUR LIVES; The Mulders go back to the FBI and finding out what they got themselves into.
SPOILER WARNING: Reading BIRTHDAY SURPRISE (part 1) and CHANGING OUR LIVES (part 2) will definitely be of help. Set after the episode Tempus Fugit (timewise; no spoilers). Of course, it’s a post Memento Mori. If you don’t know Scully has cancer, you do now. Spoiler of the Pilot episode in this one. If you haven’t seen the pilot -- GO SEE IT!!! Reference to Scully’s abduction and Memento Mori.
RATING: Not for children under 17
CONTENT WARNING/CLASSIFICATION: S, MSR is mandatory. Please, They’re married!
DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully are creations of Chris*t* Carter (According to Creative Loafing) and owned by Twentieth Century Fox. Anyone else I mention in here probably isn’t mine.
* * *
The showerhead spurted out the hot water and Fox just let it hit his shoulders and head. Mornings were always a pain in the ass for him but now for a different reason. Dana had kept him up all night and now they had to face the Monday morning on maybe four or five hours sleep. Fox reached over for the shampoo and noticed the peach tinged nails tapping the top of the bottle.
"Dana? Wanna join me?" He slid the frosted glass aside and let his wife step in. She had already stripped out of her nightgown and walked through the door to receive a rainfall over her auburn-gold hair. Fox leaned back against the tiles and watched as she drenched herself in the water.
She turned around and leaned her neck back to let the droplet wake her. A hand came over her body, brushing her tingling skin with electric fingers. Dana let him touch her, knowing if she didn’t stop him soon they would be late. That would most definitely start the barrage of rumors to come.
"Fox." She let the name drip from her lips. He looked down at her uncovered face and smiled. It sounded so natural for her to call him that. That word on her lips did things to his anatomy. She squealed in delight as he pressed the erection into her smooth backside. "We can’t. Vacation ended yesterday and now. . ." Her voice hesitated at the next sentence. "Now, Mulder and Scully have to come back to their boring, sexless lives. Fox, when we leave this house -- we can’t act like a married couple. We have to prove this marriage will not affect our professional career."
"Course it won’t." Fox leaned down, nipping the edge of her ear with his teeth. "We’ve been able to work under this facade of indifference for years. I can work just fine. . . but I need this body when I get home." Dana smiled as he pulled her closer, placing a kiss on her cheek. "But since you insist on making me wait until tonight. . ." He spun her around to face him and lifted her onto his body. With barely anytime spend outside their bedroom, Dana had quickly accommodated to Fox’s size. She wrapped her legs and arms around him, helping in anyway she could to make this most definitely a quickie. She left out any trite words as Fox pressed her to the slick tile and rammed his body into hers.
Fox had always been able to master new concepts and adapt fairly quickly to any situation. Making love to Dana was one thing he picked up in the first seconds of contact. He knew that rubbing against her in a certain way would trigger the surge of shivers and make him climax as well. She giggled and laughed as she tightened her body around his. Fox knew that was a good sign as well. He loved it when she enjoyed the sex as much as he did.
Dana let her head lay on Fox’s shoulder. She felt that the smile on her face was about to burst through her cheeks. He rested his head against the tiles, trying to catch his breath. "Oh Fox." She giggled, feeling him shake again at the sound of her voice. He released his hold on her and let her step down to the slick floor. She quickly washed her hair and, after coaxing him to his knees, helped Fox with his.
Dana chose a conservative cut brown dress suit for work and was surprise as how aroused Fox could get just watching her dress. She dried her hair out with the towel finally looking at the wide-eyed man sitting in her vanity chair. "What?" She asked with a smile.
"Are. . ." Fox had to clear his throat before continuing. "Are you the same woman that’s been my partner for four years, wearing garters and lace under your suits?"
She had to laugh. The question was flattering in a Mulder kind of way. Quickly she ran the brush through her hair and was ready to start the work day.
* * *
Nothing unusual happened on the way in. Mulder started in on what a pain in the ass DC traffic was. Scully pushed the button on the elevator and just looked at Mulder, who had abruptly stopped talking. They stepped in the elevator and let the doors close before he said anything. "Dana. . ." He whispered under his breath. She knew he was going to say something personal and moved in closer. ". . .you’re wearing your wedding ring."
She looked down at her left hand and saw the teardrop diamond shining under the florescent lights. It had been second nature just to wear it. She really hadn’t thought about it until Fox had mentioned it. Words escaped her and she was happy when the elevator reached their floor. Like many instances when they would walk together, he placed his hand on the small of her back.
Scully looked down at his hand, wondering how something simple like that could bring about a dozen memories they had created within only the span of a week. She suppressed her smile and let Mulder moved ahead of her to unlock the office door. Time to get to work.
Mondays. Dana remembered she was in the same position a few weeks ago of having nothing to do. Only a few weeks. She had gotten married only a few weeks ago and now she was standing here, working next to her husband. Suddenly the phone rang and Dana realized her life was getting back to normal. Fox answered it, using abbreviated text to get through the one sided conversation.
"That was Skinner." Mulder moved over to Dana and tilted his head to one side. "Gotta get to work." He placed a soft kiss on her lips and went to get the door.
* * *
Kimberly knew they were expected and ushered them into Skinner office as soon as they got there. Neither agent did anything abnormal as they made their way to the chairs in front of the A.D.’s desk.
"So, how were your vacations?"
"I spent most of my time laying around the house. How about you, Scully?"
Dana rolled her lips together. "Pretty much the same."
"I hope you’re well-rested then. Nothing new came up over the weeks you were gone. I’d expect no cases anytime soon, it’s been rather quiet, so this may be a good time to catch up on a few forms that need to be filled out."
Scully crossed her legs again, catching Mulder’s eyes. He tried not to think about it, but that would prove hard.
"You two are excused." Mulder stood up, waiting for Scully to join him. They made it halfway to the door when Skinner stopped them. "Agent Scully, may I see your hands." Dana walked back to his desk and held out her hands to him. He took hold of her left palm, the small vein in his forehead popping out at the sight of her ring. His eyes lifted to meet Mulder’s "Must had set you back a few paychecks."
Scully looked back at her husband. He shrugged and they both looked at the A.D. He let the tiny smile play on his lips. "I just had a feeling. You two are dismissed." Mulder waited for Scully to exit first. Skinner gave into his smile quickly before returning to work.
* * *
Scully continued typing even when she realized Mulder had been sitting quietly for the last fifteen minutes staring at her. She closed the files she was working on and turned to see what her partner wanted. "Mulder, You’ve been way too quiet."
"I’m bored." His voice was like that of a five year old. Dana smiled slightly. He stood and reached to help her out of her chair. "Would it be okay to go get some lunch with my wife?"
Dana gave him her hand and let him help her up. "Course, Mulder. If you want to take your wife to lunch, I can’t stand in your way." Her eyes curved to her lips as the comfortable smile made another appearance.
Small personal jokes and light innocent touches carried them out of the J. Edgar Hoover building and toward their usual picnic spot in the pavilion. Dana sat on the bench as Mulder got two hotdogs and they ate in relative silence. They didn’t need words and Dana placed her head on Mulder’s shoulder. "I hadn’t realized how easy it would be to make this work. We could have done this years ago." She whispered.
Fox looked down at the woman next to him. Her blue eyes were twinkling by the waters of the fountain before them. Her pink lips at a former glory of the red tint they were this morning. Her cheeks, thought sallow, were flushed with color. The thought that they were sitting on this same bench less than a month earlier, hiding their feeling behind discomfort and work, seemed like light years away.
He hadn’t realized how easy her lips would form to his in a kiss weeks ago. Now Fox Mulder didn’t know how he could live without her. She seemed to agree, lifting her head to meet his in a kiss. He felt a little silly doing this in public, in broad daylight, but Dana tasted great. The laugh against his mouth let him know that she agreed.
"Agent Mulder, I would never have thought you to be one to ravage poor agent Scully in the middle of a public park." The agents broke apart at the sound of their boss’s voice. They separated and moved over so Skinner had a spot to sit down. He took a bite of his sandwich before deciding to continue. "I guess I should be thankful you aren’t in the middle of the FBI building making out like two teenagers. So what happened in the last few weeks. . . and I’m not sure laying around the house can account for the *entire* time."
"We went to Georgia, got married, came back here and bought a new house." Scully said it quickly and surprised Mulder to the point of shock.
"And we laid around the house for about a week." He said bring them back to the present.
"You two really want to push some buttons. FBI might not have any *official* rules on agent relations but they frown on them big time. Not a good thing to toy with if you want to keep the X-files." The last comment was clearly directed to Mulder.
"Sir, I realized that nothing the X-files could offer me would make up the fact I’d be missing out on sharing a life with Dana before I lost her to something beyond our control. I’m sure you’ve realized that I’m in love with her, as many times as I’ve almost admitted it outright."
Dana looked up at her husband. Did he realize what he was saying? As his arms wrapped around her body, she knew he meant every word. "Sir, Nothing has changed. We’re still professionals inside the FBI. We can work together and our relationship won’t interfere."
"See that it doesn’t." Skinner moved closer in before continuing. "If you cannot maintain your record and keep you private life out of the workplace, you won’t be together professionally." Both agents jumped slightly at the thought. Skinner sensed it and suggested they walk back to the FBI building. "So Fox," Mulder still hated it when Skinner would call him that. "Are you enjoying married life? All the little perks?"
* * *
Dana was amazed they made it through the day and couldn’t wait to get home. Fox promised it was his turn to try and make dinner. She did nothing to stop him and was surprised at how good it turned out. To the surprise of Dana, Mulder pushed her out of the room and told her to sit with her eyes shut on the sofa while he cleaned the table. Dana had played this game before and was less cynical this time around. Last time he ended up giving her a true birthday present and their new life really began.
She heard the lights click off and listened intensely. The TV turned on and Dana felt the sofa shift around her. Mulder sat down behind her and placed a plate on her lap. "Open you eyes."
Dana did as she was told and looked down at the plate. It was a slice of pie that she recognized as the dish Mulder had ordered for dessert last night at the restaurant. She hadn’t wanted any, deciding that she wanted to have Fox for dessert instead. They took the entire pie home and place it in the freezer until later.
Oreo cookie pie. Cookies n’cream ice cream sprinkled with broken cookie pieces on top. Fox cut into in and raised the fork to Dana’s mouth. It melted instantly in her mouth. She looked up at Fox and watched him as he turned the video on. The sounds on moaning cause her attention right away.
"Fox, what is this?" Her eyes were drawn to the couple on screen. The man looked like he was about to burst under the woman kneeling before him in a bustier that concealed nothing. The girl body filled the screen as she began to touch her breasts, squeezing to the point that they would pop. Dana laughed as the moans continued even when the woman’s mouth was literally full.
"This will get better, I promise. I just wanted to show you these aren’t the worse things in the world." Fox’s hand abandoned the fork to begin unbuttoning Dana’s blouse. "You can always get some creative ideas from these movies." He propped his legs up on the coffee table and moved Dana’s to hook around his thighs. This pushed her skirt up and Fox released the catches on the garters. He tossed the belt to the floor and rolled the stockings down each leg. He sighed at the silky feeling of skin under his hands.
Dana reached over and click off the television. She turned around and faced her husband. "Fox, You and I have always been able to communicate without words." She stopped, looking at his confused face. "Would it be asking too much if we could just talk?" Fox glanced around the room nervously. "Fox, please, when I die I want you to be able to say you knew me better than anyone."
The mention of her mortality caught him. He had promised that in their limited time together anything she wanted would come true. She moved off his lap and went to the bedroom. Fox brushed back his hair and followed. When he entered the darkened room, he only saw a candle lit on the dresser. He moved toward the candle, but the knock at the closed door caught his attention. Opening the door, he found his wife standing before him. Her eyes were wet and she clung to the robe she wore.
"I want to show you something." Dana walked in front of him and Fox had no choice but to follow. He stood behind her, she turned to check. She undid the tie at her waist and dropped the robe off her body to stand in front of him in only a bra and panties set motioning with her eyes at her lower back. Fox knelt down. Nothing he hadn’t seen before. The cave of her back marked only by the tattoo. He touched the color flesh, amazed somehow that it was flat and blended perfectly to the rest of her skin.
Before Fox had assured her that a pair of red marks were mosquito bites. She was scared and for the first time, purely feminine in his eyes. He looked back at that moment and wished he had done something more. Dana knew, she just knew, and was giving him a second chance. Better not waste it. Fox leaned forward and let his nose burrow into the small of her back. She arched, amazed at how hot his breath was.
"Scully." He moaned, remembering how hard it was to get the image out of his head. The body of this gorgeous woman laid bared to him. He knew if he tried the bureau would have him, but then she had to curve her body against his and convince him that she was truly scared. After everything that night, his constantly-thinking brain would not get rid of the image of the woman. Hoping that she would turnaround and begin to seduce him. Suddenly Fox knew what to do next.
"Turn around." He ordered and Dana did so. Everything had changed. Her hair was shorter, redder. She looked thinner. They were married and he was sure of where she stood. Alone and independent, but still at his side. He reached forward and unclasped her bra. It and the matching panties quickly were disposed of and Fox looked at her hungrily.
"This is how I wanted you that night in Oregon. I wanted. . ." Fox dropped to his knees and buried his face at the juncture of Dana’s legs. The pressure pushed her onto the bed and he only used it to his advantage. His mouth found a spot he liked quickly and he stayed there. She couldn’t think as Fox’s tongue found the source and his teeth the nerve center. Her body bucked under the teasing and she felt the warmth start in her back.
"Fox." She whispered against the pleasure. He looked up and knew what he should have done so long ago. Divulging his body of the work clothes, he covered her from head to toe. His lips caressed her face. His hands squeezed the flesh of her upper torso. His hips crashed into hers with each thrust. He had full control, doing what he wanted to do that night in Oregon.
Feeling the limit coming quick, Fox rubbed his body down along Dana and got her screaming within a few minutes. He felt her squeeze the life out of him and let his control go. Fox steadied his breathing, using the last ounce of strength to hold himself over Dana’s body. "God, I can’t believe I didn’t do this four years ago."
Dana looked up at Fox’s face. He looked relaxed and happy. Now she could get him to open up a bit more easily. "Fox, could we talk now?" He nodded, moving them up the bed. Fox pulled out of her slowly and sat up against the pillows. Dana moved between his legs and burrowed her head into his neck. She felt the big hands rub lightly over her back.
"Ok, Baby, I want to know something that has been bugging me for a while. . . What in the hell do you see in me?"
Dana let out the tiny laugh. "Fox, I would never have thought we would end up here, but somehow you make me feel special. You’ve always listened to me like I was an equal. You challenged me. Most of the time you don’t try to protect me, but I’ve realized why you do. I thought that somehow you wanted Samantha to end up like me and I became the focus of that love that you didn’t want to lose again."
"You smart woman." Fox kissed the forehead of the red-headed vixen in his arms. "I did, in the beginning, want you to be my little sister grown up, but I’ve been attracted to you since the moment you walked in my office. I only realized after you were gone that I was in love with you." He stopped, taking in a deep breath. "When you told me you had cancer, I couldn’t let you live out the remainder of your life without me. I know it’s selfish, but when I read your journal in the hospital, it wasn’t as selfish as I thought. I made myself a promise that night. I told myself I would make sure you would get everything you wanted in your life. A home that was more than a few empty rooms. A lover that wanted you in every way imaginable. A husband that was never going to let you forget what you mean to him. Dana, I love you more than anything in this world."
The tears were there when Dana looked up. Fox had laid bare his soul. She couldn’t remember a time when he couldn’t grow emotional talking about himself or his past. Even with the pain he felt remembering, there was the sense of pure love in every word. Dana turned her body so she could look Fox in the eye.
"I love you too. It’s only going to get harder in the future. I feel like I’ve been handed a death sentence and I’m just waiting to die. Fox, I wouldn’t want to subject you to this, but you would not give in. You are the most stubborn, pig-headed man. . . but you wouldn’t be Fox Mulder if you weren’t." His fingers stroked the tip of her nose. Dana loved him for all the reasons he had be teased about. His intelligence, his persistence, himself.
They shifted their position so they laid on their sides. Touches and caresses accompanied the twenty questioned they asked each other. "What did you think of me when I walked in the basement?"
"I thought the most perfect woman had just walked into my life and. . . she was a damn spy." His hands grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. "Did you even realize what the bureau had done to me?" Dana’s wide eyes and shaking head told him that he had her at a loss. "No matter what credentials you had, you were a woman. A gorgeous woman that could get the X-files closed on a technicality. The night in Oregon I actually thought that you were trying to catch me in some kind of harassment suit, but you were truly scared. I realized in that moment you had no idea what your real part was in the grand scheme. I didn’t try anything, but I couldn’t get over how perfect the woman they had sent to debunk me had been."
Dana placed her head down on the mattress. "I thought you were holding back." She said in a confident tone. "I always wondered what would happen if I gave you a second chance." Her nails scraped the puckered skin around each flat nipple, getting a rise from Fox.
"Do you really get annoyed by my protecting you?"
"A little. Fox, I’ve always tried to be more than just a woman and every time you protect me or ditch me, you affirm to everyone that I’m 5- foot-3 Dana Scully. I’m a tiny woman that needs to be protected by a big strong man."
"You’re only 5’3?" Dana pushed Fox away from her in a laugh. She had forgotten that his arms were around her waist and she rolled with him to the floor. Even when she landed under him, the laughter didn’t stop. . . until his lips met hers in a kiss.
* * *
Dana rolled her sleep-laden head across the pillow. She tried to remember where she was. The hard, flat surface against her back felt like carpeting. She remember laughing so hard with Fox that they fell to the floor and ended up making love on the carpet. They must has fallen asleep in that position as well. She opened her eyes, but Fox was nowhere to be seen.
Worried slightly to the location of her husband, she wandered through the hallway, checking each room until she saw him sitting naked in the living room. He was reading the newspaper, seemly unaware of his lack of clothes. That was until Dana decided to make herself known. "Fox."
"Good morning, Baby." Dana looked over at the clock and saw it was 5:30 A.M. She was up a half hour earlier than usual. Fox stood up and walked over to her. The laugh that came from her lips surprised him right away.
"I missed you this morning." She said opening her robe to one side. Fox’s tongue darted over his lips at the sight of his wife’s breast. He stepped forward and held the exposed side before pushing the cloth of the other side to join in.
"Sorry I worried you. I couldn’t sleep. We didn’t go through the mail yesterday. You got a package from Charlie." He pointed to the small box on the coffee table. Dana saw it and moved past him to retrieve it. She knelt down and unwrapped the brown paper from the box. Inside was a tiny card with her name on it.
"He says he’s sorry that he missed my birthday." She looked back at Fox, who had decided to sit down on the sofa behind her. Thanks to him, her birthday had been fun. Even if they didn’t get to truly celebrate it until weeks later. "He’s also sorry to hear about my cancer." She slowed down before telling him the rest of the card. "But he hopes this present will get some good use." She sounded confused as she opened the box and pulled out her present.
It was a tiny silver camera. Dana was amazed at how easy it looked to operate. Inside the box was at least six cartons of film. and another card.
Dana --
Mom told me about the new changes in your life and I thought that you and Fox (can’t believe that’s his real name) would like to share some photographic memories of your marriage. Just make sure you’re fully clothed in most of them.
Love, Charlie and the family
Dana looked back at Fox. Her dirty little mind contemplated some thoughts of what to take pictures of. He quickly shook his head and took the camera from her. "No, we’ve got a shower to take before work." Fox untied the robe and left it somewhere between the sofa and the bathroom. They had work to do.
END