TITLE: Conceded AUTHOR: Denise Morgen EMAIL: meadora@hotmail.com DISCLAIMER: The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are property of Chris Carter, Fox, and 1013 Productions. I do not have permission to use these characters and I'm not making any money from their use. Please don't bother suing me, the most you'll get out of my pathetic life is a battered laptop. CATEGORY: MSR, *R*ST SPOILERS: FTF SUMMARY: Mulder, Scully, one hotel room, one bed. Need I say more? Total SMUT - Definitely not for the kiddies. RATING: NC-17 ARCHIVE: Anywhere-just keep my name attached. FEEDBACK: This one's not real heavy in the thought department so I don't expect a lot of feedback. Don't get me wrong: I'd be utterly DELIGHTED to get some but I'm not holding my breath. Regardless, here's my address: meadora@hotmail.com If you love me enough to write me I will assuredly love you enough to write you back! Visit my fanfiction, it gets lonely! http://DennysX.cjb.net Conceded by Denise Morgen Special Agent Dana Scully shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. Trapped in the hazy world of dreams, she struggled against the nightmare that had been her constant torment since returning from the frozen tundra. Like a skip in an old record her mind relived the fateful moment over and over: the look in his eyes as he admitted his need for her, the sweet taste of his skin as she kissed his forehead and the aching desire that had filled her when he'd leaned in to touch his lips to hers. But the resolution she longed for was denied by the searing pain that lanced through her neck, disrupting their potential embrace. She called out his name as she was dragged once again back down into oblivion and the vicious circle began anew... "Fox..." Agent Mulder looked up in surprise to hear his partner call his name out in her sleep. It had been one hell of a week. After their return from Antarctica and a too short recovery period they had been back in the basement office as if nothing had happened. Filling out paper work and attempting to return to their normal lives (or as close as they ever got to normal). But already the steady monotony had begun to tire. After only a week Mulder had begun to search for a simple case that would get them back out in the field. Something easy with no monsters to chase or little gray men. This little trip to Keokuk, Iowa had seemed just the thing. Residents had been reporting strange lights at the edge of town for the past year but no one had bothered to take it seriously until a more publicized case in Des Moines captured the media's attention. Now suddenly everyone had a "glowing ball of light" or "strange floating colors" story that they were dying to share with anyone who asked. Mulder shook his head ruefully. Too bad it had just turned out to be some farmer with a weird idea about the affect of different colors of light on the growth patterns of corn. He chuckled to himself remembering the look of irritation Scully had flashed him when the farmer said he'd gotten the idea from an acid induced flashback. It was nearly dark by the time they'd made it back into town to find a hotel. Surprisingly it took them another half hour just to find one with a vacancy. The local fall harvest festival was this weekend one of the hotel clerks had told them. Almost everything in the area was booked solid. Luckily he seemed to remember that one of the small inns at the edge of town might still have a couple rooms open. Ten minutes later they were standing in the office of the Cozy Court Motel. The bored looking attendant informed them that while they had two rooms open, one had been reserved. Mulder was just warming up to the task of trying to convince him to rent them both the rooms when Scully interrupted him: "Mulder, let's just take the one room," she said. "But, Scully..." "Look, it's not worth the hassle and all I want to do is take a nice hot bath an climb into bed." "Oooh, Scully..." She gave him the don't-start-with-me-Mulder look before turning to the attendant. "Does one of the rooms have a couch?" "Yeah," the clerk grumbled checking the records. "I'll have to charge you double occupancy, though." "Fine, whatever. We'll take it." Scully said reaching for the keys. A few minutes later... "How do I let you drag me to these godforsaken places?" Scully asked wearily as they entered the room. "Because life would be unbearably boring with out me," Mulder said with a boyish grin as he collapsed on the couch. Scully snorted in mock annoyance as she headed for the bath room. Two hours later found Scully asleep in the bed and Mulder channel surfing on the couch. He glanced over his shoulder at her sleeping form and repressed a sigh of longing. It was hard enough getting any sleep at night in his apartment. At least there all he had were his shadowy memories of her to keep him up. Having the genuine article just feet away made sleep an impossibility. Before he realized he'd moved he was standing at the side of the bed looking down at her. God, she was beautiful. Her red hair fanned out like a halo around her, framing ivory skin that seemed to glow in the dim light of the TV. Even the light tint of frostbite that still tainted her cheeks and forehead couldn't detract from her ethereal beauty. Now here was a real X-File: What was this gorgeous, intelligent woman doing hanging out with a self obsessed jerk like him? He wondered for the ten thousandth time why she hadn't just called it quits and left him yet. He asked himself while rubbing his face in his hands. He chuckled at the thought and resumed his position on the couch. He was just starting to get into an old episode of the Twilight Zone when she called out his name. Mulder wondered to himself. "Fox...don't leave me..." Mulder thought as he leapt over the couch to the bed. "Dana?" He called out tentatively as he reached her side. Scully had managed to cocoon herself in the sheets and as she struggled to free herself tears flowed down her face. "Fox..."she cried out again pitifully and Mulder felt something inside himself break. Disregarding all protocol, he swept her into his arms and rocked her against his chest. "Shh, Dana honey, it's okay. I'm here, it's okay," he murmured into her hair. As soon as he'd taken her into his arms she clung to him weeping like a lost child. This was a side of Dana Scully he'd never seen before. "Wake up, Dana, it was just a dream..." Slowly Scully came back to herself. "Mulder," she said weakly as she pulled back a little to wipe the tears off her face, "what's going on?" "So we're back to Mulder now, huh? You were calling me Fox a minute ago." He said with a tired grin as he looked down into her tear streaked face. "I was?" she asked, feeling hazy. "You were having a bad dream and you called out for me. Do you remember what you were dreaming?" She shook her head against the memory. "No...no, I don't remember." "Are you sure?" he asked while wiping away some more of the drying tears with his thumb as he cupped her face in his hand. "It usually helps to talk about it." "Voice of personal experience, or is that Dr. Mulder's clinical opinion?" Scully snapped at him and immediately regretted it. He was after all, just trying to help. If only he wasn't holding her so close... Mulder just smiled wryly at the snap and brushed it off with a chuckle. "Well, I guess you could say it was a little bit of both. So wanna talk about it?" "I'm just fi-" she started, breaking off as she looked up into his eyes. "I was dreaming about that night in the hallway." She finished quietly. "Oh." He chuckled and gave a self depreciating sneer. "Yeah, I can see how the thought of kissing me would give you nightmares." "If I was calling out for you then doesn't that alleviate the possibility that you were the part of the dream I was trying to escape from?" Panic shot through her body as she realized what she'd just insinuated. she thought as she tried to push Mulder away, but instead of releasing her he just held her tighter. "What were you trying to escape from then?" he said in a husky voice as he looked down into her deep blue eyes. "Mulder, let me go." She said quietly as she tried to avoid his gaze. "You haven't answered my question yet." He reached down and pulled her chin gently up to force her to look at him. "If you weren't running from me or the kiss then what was it, the bee?" "I wasn't running from anything." She said, sidestepping the question. Every second she sat there in his arms she became more and more aware of him physically. At this point he was holding her so tight she could feel his chest nudging her breasts with every breath he took. She closed her eyes for a moment to fight down the desire she felt surging up inside of her. He scarcely noticed her evasion as his eyes caught hers. He could see the need he felt for her reflecting in the ocean of her eyes. When she closed those eyes to dampen the flames of the fire he knew she felt burning inside her his control snapped. "Dana..." he murmured before he captured her lips with his own. Warning alarms went off inside her head when she heard the strange quiet way he said her name, but before she could react his kiss was already on her mouth. Her eyes snapped open in shock and she froze. Conflicting emotions flashed through her head like lightning but still she hadn't moved. To his credit, it didn't take Mulder too long to realize the woman in his arms was being about as responsive a block of ice. But doubt had begun to blossom in his heart alongside the terrible certainty that he'd just made the stupidest mistake of his life. He awkwardly broke off his embrace and released her. He stood up from the bed and ran a shaky hand through his hair as he headed for the couch. "I'm sorry, Scully. I don't know what came over me." he thought miserably. "It won't happen again, but I'll understand if you want to put in for a transfer or file harassment charges when we get back." "Mulder, look-" "No, Scully. Just let it go, okay? We both need to get some sleep. We've got an early flight tomorrow morning." And with that he rolled over on the couch. Panic tore through her body, effectively immobilizing her. she asked herself. [Just let it go.] the rational part of her mind told her. [He's your partner, you can't have that kind of relationship with him.] [Are you prepared to deal with the consequences of such a action?] That thought gave her pause. Was she ready to deal with the kind of changes a move in that direction would bring not only to their relationship but to their partnership as well? She closed her eyes and caught her face in her hands. Abruptly, she raised her head and sought out her partner with her eyes. Her decision was made. Mulder heard her get up from the bed and move over to the couch beside him. he thought with a sigh. "We need to talk about this." Her voice floated softly down to his ears. Still, he couldn't keep the petulant tone out of his voice when he spoke. "All right, Scully. If you absolutely feel this can't wait till morning then I guess I've got no choice." "Well, now that we've got that established, mind sitting up and making some room on the couch?" But, he thought with a shrug, he really didn't want to have this little talk at all... "What, you don't find a conversation with the back of my head intellectually stimulating?" He said with a sneer as he got up and moved to the side of the couch. Scully sat down on the opposite end of the couch and tried to will the tension out of her body. Mulder could tell the second she switched into her "all business" persona. "Mulder, we're both aware that we find each other physically attractive," Mulder's ears perked up "so it's hardly surprising that this happened. It was only a matter of time before one of us acted on the way we feel. And if you consider the stress we've been under and-" "How do you feel?" Mulder asked, cutting of what she was saying as he leaned closer to her. "W-what?" Scully asked, disconcerted by his sudden nearness. Hearing the uncharacteristic stutter in her voice he decided to push the issue. He'd already come this far, if she was going to file harassment charges he might as well earn them. "How. Do. You. Feel." Each word was punctuated by the slow forward movement of his body from his end of the couch to hers. "Fine, I'm fine." She said breathlessly. Mulder chuckled. Yep, he was definitely having an affect on her. Time for some truth from both of them. "I'm glad you feel fine," he said as he completed his journey to her side. She was so close... He lowered his voice to a seductive whisper. "But I wanted to know specifically...how do you feel about me?" God he was so close. She felt trapped in his eyes, drowning in pools of hazel. "Mulder?" she asked weakly "what are you doing?" "Just asking you a question, Scully." He said innocently as he reached up and tucked a strand of fiery hair behind her ear. Or it would've been innocent if he hadn't caressed the line of her chin with his finger as he took his hand away from her face. It was the touch of his hand that undid her. How long had she dreamed of him touching her like that? Fantasized about those long fingers tracing their way across her body? She scrambled off the couch and away from him. "I think you're right, Mulder. It is late and this is a conversation that we can have later." "No, Scully," he said as he followed her off the couch, "I think you're right: we need to discuss this." He watched as she moved over to her bag on the small nondescript motel table. he thought as she rummaged through her things. She wondered. she thought with a giggle. She sobered immediately at the sound of Mulder moving across the room to stand behind her. She turned to face him only to find her nose practically buried in his strong chest. [Because he's your partner, because it'll affect your work, because...] He watched her frantically paw through her belongings for a minute before he felt himself being drawn to her side. When he reached her she turned around to face him with out any prompting. The silence weighed thickly for a another minute before he spoke. "Dana, look at me please..." Hesitantly she dragged her gaze up to meet his eyes.