From: "paula dixon" Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 11:48:58 GMT Subject: submission/storysr/romance-angst-humour/ - new orleans Source: direct Title - New Orleans Author - Paula Rating - PG Classification - SRHA Spoilers - None Keywords - Mulder/Scully UST Summary - Mulder and Scully get stuck sharing a hotel room. Major UST. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. It's a "what if" story but I've tried to keep the characters behaving as they should. If you liked it let me know and if you didn't I want to know why. E-mail me at heidiwax@hotmail.com Disclaimer: Obviously the characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully do not belong to me. They belong to Chris Carter & 1013. I'm just borrowing them for entertainment purposes and will put them back where I found them. New Orleans By Paula Dixon Part 1 Mulder avoided looking at his partner as they walked out of yet another fully booked hotel. He knew that her patience with him had run out about three hotels ago and didn't have to see her face to know that it was a picture of fatigue and annoyance. She hadn't spoken to him for almost half an hour which was probably a blessing, although the strain between them had reached the point where he would almost have welcomed her yelling at him just to break the tension. That wasn't Scully's style though. As usual she didn't have to say a word to lay a huge guilt trip on him. One cutting look from those eloquent blue eyes usually did the trick. It didn't help any that the situation they were now in was of his own making. Mulder had been eager to get to New Orleans as quickly as possible to pursue the possible alien abduction of a fifteen year old girl, that he had booked them on a plane without making arrangements for accommodation or a return flight, not even thinking about what time of year it was. The case had been a washout. The girl had been located at her boyfriend's house and the abduction story had been made up by an over-imaginative younger sister. Mulder and Scully had left the reunited family heatedly discussing appropriate punishments for the two girls. By the time they had finished with the local authorities it was after 9pm and all the flights out of New Orleans were fully booked. With a sinking feeling, Mulder had noticed all the posters and signs at the airport which he had ignored on their flight in. They had landed in New Orleans in the middle of Mardi Gras. He knew then what they were in for and could tell from the stony look on Scully's face that she had made the connection as well. Sure enough, for the next two hours they had been turned away from one hotel after another. Scully had grabbed a phone book and sat in the lobby of the Hilton calling just about every hotel listed, hoping to find somewhere farther out of town that could accommodate them and Mulder had tried bribery, threats and pulling rank with his FBI ID but to no avail. Now, at nearly midnight they were both ready to collapse with fatigue and Mulder was considering how best to broach the possibility of sleeping in the car. Seeing a small boutique hotel they had not yet tried, he promised himself that if they had no luck at this one he would bring up the subject with Scully. He shuddered at the thought. He was going to pay for this mess, that was for sure. Parking in front of the reception, he got out of the car leaving Scully still sitting in silence. The woman at reception with the name tag of Jenny, looked up with a tired smile as he approached and Mulder made an attempt to return it. "Do you have a vacancy?" Mulder asked for what seemed like the one hundredth time that evening. "Did you have a reservation?" the girl asked automatically. Mulder winced at the familiar question. "No, I'm afraid not," he replied dejectedly and had half turned away in preparation for the familiar apology and lecture on the necessity of making a booking especially during this time of year. He was sure he could have recited that lecture back to her verbatim by now. "Well....." Jenny drew the word out as she tapped on the computer in front of her. Mulder's head snapped up at this change in dialogue. This was new. This was a hope he could cling to. "There's a possibility..." Once again Jenny started a sentence then paused to look at the screen in front of her. "We've just had a cancellation. There's actually a waiting list, but at this time of night..." "It's just for the one night." Mulder stated quickly sensing her hesitation and pressing his advantage. Then remembering his partner sitting out in the car he asked "I don't suppose the cancellation was for two rooms? Or a double with two beds?" "No, it's just the one double bed but it's a lovely room." Jenny replied. "It's actually very popular with honeymooners." "Great." Mulder stated flatly in a tone that suggested it was anything but. He wondered which would appeal to Scully more, sleeping in the car or sharing the honeymoon suite with him? "No, that will be fine. Great." Mulder quickly filled out the registration form and handed over his ID and personal credit card. He sure as hell wasn't booking a honeymoon suite to the FBI. Jenny explained where to park the car and handed over the key to him. Mulder smiled and thanked her absently before heading back to the car to break the news to his partner. Part 2 "Well Scully, you want the good news or the bad news?" Mulder asked as he climbed back into the car and started the engine. Scully glared at him. "Ok then. Good news first. I got us a room." Mulder stated flatly. "Thank God," Scully answered with a sigh of relief. "Wait a second. What's the bad news?" "Only one room I'm afraid," he replied, apologetically. Scully rolled her eyes. "Great." Her tone implied it was anything but. "That's what I said." Mulder said jokingly but the comment was not well received by his audience of one. "Beats sleeping in the car." "You think so?" Scully muttered under her breath. Ignoring her sarcasm, Mulder turned his attention to finding the parking space Jenny had assured him was available. Once he found it he parked and set about popping the trunk and grabbing their overnight bags. Scully took her bag in silence and followed him as he led the way to their room. Climbing three flights of stairs did nothing to improve Scully's mood. When they finally reached their room, Mulder opened the door and stood back to allow Scully to enter first. Picking up his own bag he followed closely behind her. Too closely. He ran into her. Opening his mouth to comment, he closed it again quickly when he saw what had made her stop just inside the doorway. The room was just as the receptionist had described it. Large, airy and perfect for a honeymooning couple. The furniture was light and delicate, the bed large, four postered with diaphanous curtains and worst of all from Mulder's point of view there was a large bouquet of roses, a bottle of champagne chilling on the table in the middle of the room and the soft sounds of mellow jazz came floating through the terrace doors from one of the clubs below. Scully surveyed the room with an indecipherable expression on her face. Mulder felt the colour rise in his face and he felt that some kind of explanation was in order. "The receptionist said there was a cancellation." That didn't really cover it. He tried again. "The people who cancelled must have been..." "Honeymooners." Scully supplied. "Guess so." Mulder replied. He wished he could tell what was going on in his partner's mind but her face gave away as much as the Sphinx. "I swear to you Scully, I didn't plan any of this." Scully picked up her bag and walked over to place it on the bed. "What a shame," she muttered under her breath. Mulder frowned, not sure he had heard her correctly and unwilling to ask her to repeat herself. "You don't mind if I take the bathroom first?" She asked, not waiting for an answer as she retrieved her toiletries and nightwear from her bag. Not waiting to hear his reply she strode to the bathroom and locked the door. Once inside she allowed herself the luxury of letting the grin she had been fighting since she walked into the hotel room to surface. She would have laughed, had she been sure that Mulder would not have been able to hear her. The wild goose chase, the disastrous evening they had been through had all been made worthwhile by the chagrined expression on her partner's face when he had seen the room he had procured for them. Looking around the bathroom, Scully smiled again when she saw the huge bathtub. It would serve him right if she luxuriated for an hour or so in the tub but she was so tired she was sure she would fall asleep in the bath and having Mulder break down the door to the bathroom was not worth the risk. With that in mind she took a removed her make-up, took a quick shower and got into her pyjamas. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror the humour of the situation escaped her once again. She would have felt a lot better about sharing a bed with Mulder if she'd had her old pyjamas with her but her mother had given her the new pyjamas she was now wearing for Christmas and this was the first time she'd worn them. She'd packed them in her overnight bag in one of those moments of guilt over unused Christmas presents from loved ones, never thinking that she would be in this situation. Her mother knew her well enough not to give her anything overtly sexual and they were quite demure with long sleeves but they were ivory silk and instead of a collar the neckline dipped down to a deep V. It was a long way from a honeymoon gown but they went perfectly with roses, champagne and a romantic room in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. If you were there with the man of your dreams. "Which," Scully sternly reminded her reflection in the mirror "you're not." Gathering her toiletries she opened the bathroom door. "It's all yours" she said as she walked out. Mulder was in the process of pouring himself a second glass of champagne when he heard the bathroom door open and turned as Scully spoke. Mulder quickly gulped the entire glass of champagne and tried to control his body's reactions to the picture his partner created standing in the doorway, with the light filtering through the silky pyjamas she wore. He had no idea Scully owned such apparel. "Champagne?" he asked in a relatively steady voice. Scully looked at him curiously, unaware of the effect she was having on him. "Why not?" She said, taking the glass from him. "Ok then," Mulder said, turning away from her quickly and heading for the bathroom. Scully shook her head in confusion. Sometimes Mulder's moods were indecipherable. She sipped her champagne. Mulder slammed the bathroom door and leaned against it breathing heavily. Where the hell were those baggy old pyjamas she usually wore? How the hell was he supposed to spend the night in the same bed with her when she looked like a 1940s sex goddess? He stared at his reflection in the mirror, not surprised to find he looked scared. Ok, he told himself rationally, so she's got new pyjamas. She's still the same old Scully. Still his partner of six years, the woman who would put him and his "out there" theories down as soon as look at him. He could handle that. Sure he could. He took a cold shower and felt a lot better about he whole situation. Part 2 Scully was already in bed when Mulder came out of the bathroom wearing one of his familiar grey t-shirts and pair of boxers. She looked more like the Scully he was used to, wearing her glasses and with her laptop resting on her knees. He gave a sigh of relief and headed towards the TV. "Don't even think about it, Mulder." Scully said flatly without looking up from the screen in front of her. "It's nearly 1am, we have an early morning tomorrow and I am not going to be kept awake for what's left of the night while you check out the in-house blue movies." "I wasn't...." He was lying and they both knew it. "Forget it." Probably wasn't such a good idea under the circumstances anyway. He turned away from the TV and headed to the bed. Scully turned off her laptop and the bedside light, plumping the pillows as Mulder climbed into bed beside her. She was thankful that the bed was king size giving them both plenty of personal space. As Mulder got comfortable and turned off his own lamp she paused to wonder how many hotel rooms she had slept in during the time she'd worked with Mulder. Hundreds. And the sheets always felt the same. Starchy and scratchy. It didn't matter whether they were in Texas or Alaska. As she began to drift off to sleep, a random thought fluttered through her mind of the training school she imagined somewhere in middle America where people were taught the special skill of making beds up so tightly that it was impossible to lie with your toes pointing up. Mulder listened as her breathing became deep and regular, envying her the ability of switching off and falling straight to sleep. It took him hours in front of the TV before he fell asleep which was why he usually slept on his couch. He looked over at his sleeping partner and wondered if he could get away with getting up to turn the TV on, sound on mute of course. He decided not to risk it. As much as he knew about Scully, whether she was a sound sleeper or not was still a mystery to him and tonight was not the night to put it to the test. The sound of her soft, even breathing was soporific and he found his own eyes drifting shut. An hour later Scully was woken by a strange sound. Actually it wasn't really a strange sound but having slept alone for the last six years she had simply forgotten it existed. Rolling over with difficulty under the tight sheets she faced Mulder incredulously. He's a snorer, she thought, my partner of six years snores and I never knew it. Her head fell back on the pillows with a mixture of annoyance and laughter. She rolled back over away from the snuffling noise, taking the pillow with her to cover her ears and tried desperately to ignore him and go back to sleep. The pillow didn't protect her from the low rumbling that seemed to ripple through the mattress. After fifteen minutes of trying unsuccessfully to block out the noise, she reached over and poked Mulder in the ribs with her finger. "Mulder," she whispered. "You're snoring. You have to roll over." He snorted as if in agreement and the snoring stopped as he changed position. Scully sighed with relief and settled back into the bed. Mulder rolled to his right, throwing out his long arm dropping it gently over Scully's waist. Scully froze at this new development. Shit. What the hell do I do now? She was thinking furiously. It wasn't that she objected to his arm being there. Mulder was always putting his arm around her when they were working together but this situation was a hell of a lot different. "Mulder, " she whispered. "Mulder, you have to roll over the OTHER way!" Nothing. She had always imagined Mulder to be a light sleeper, knowing how long it took him to get to sleep but apparently once he actually got to sleep he was down for the count. Sneaking a look over her shoulder she checked to make sure this wasn't one of Mulder's lame jokes. It wasn't. He was fast asleep. Turning back, Scully considered her options. She really didn't want to wake him. Gently, and this time using her elbow she nudged him in the ribs, hoping he would turn away from her. He didn't. Instead he tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her firmly against him. Scully smothered a gasp into her pillow as the length of his body made full contact with hers. Mulder made a soft sound and buried his face in her hair. The analogy of the frying pan and the fire skittered briefly through her mind as her breathing quickened in panic. The heat of his body was pouring through her silk pyjamas, his warm breath on her neck. She was sure he would be able to feel the pounding of her heart where his hand rested, just below the curve of her breast. She felt like the room was spinning as her mind and body waged a battle for the best way to react. Her mind was all for waking him up and telling him to get the hell back to his own side of the bed but her body was singing a different, more seductive tune, pleading to be allowed to nestle against him and let the warmth of his body melt into her. She lay still and silent as minutes ticked by. The feel of his body against hers was a drug she was quickly becoming addicted to and she knew that something had to be done soon, before she gave into the sensations he was arousing in her. Lifting her head and sneaking another look over her shoulder she quickly decided on a plan of attack. This time the elbow in his ribs was far from gentle and Mulder grunted as she made contact. Scully feigned sleep as she heard him mutter something under his breath and she allowed herself a long sigh of relief as he rolled away from her and over to his side of the bed. His breathing was still deep and regular and she was finally able to relax her tensed muscles and eventually drift back to sleep. Part 3 Mulder didn't know what time it was when he woke up and experienced the familiar disorientation of trying to remember which state, city and hotel room he was in. Rolling onto his back he became aware of the disturbing noise that had woken him and turned towards his partner. Scully was moving restlessly on the other side of the bed and muttering in her sleep. He could only make out a few words but they cut into him like a knife. "No...please don't..." The distress in her voice was clear even if her words weren't. "Stop it...please...." Mulder had more experience than most with nightmares and the fact that his partner apparently suffered from them as well made him ache for her. He proped himself up on his elbow and looked down at Scully's flushed face, undecided as to what course of action to take. He wanted desperately to comfort her but didn't know if it would be appreciated. She made the decision for him with her next words. "Please... Mulder! Please help me....!" He gathered his petite partner into his arms and held her close against him, murmuring to her soothingly. "Hey Scully, it's okay. I'm here." His voice was low and rough with emotion. "Everything's alright, I promise." She nestled against him and let out a shuddering sigh but did not wake. Smoothing her hair back from her face he gazed down at her, wondering which of the horrifying experiences she had been subjected to since she had known him she had relived in her nightmare. He felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for her suffering holding her closer against him, perversely gaining comfort from the feel of her in his arms and the fact that in spite of everything she still trusted him to save her, even from the terrors in her mind. He listened as Scully's breathing slowed and softened, allowing himself to relax and set aside the dark thoughts clouding his mind. She felt so damn good in his arms. As if she belonged there. The thought startled him although he had felt that way many times in the past when he'd held her. Scully's head rested on his chest and he let his lips rest against her hair, inhaling the sweet smell of her and savouring the feel of her body under her silk pyjamas, warming his own. God she felt good. Too good. The reactions he had felt earlier when he saw her in the bathroom doorway returned in full force and he groaned softly in frustration. He tried telling himself that it was only Scully he held in his arms but that just made things worse. Because it was Scully. His partner, his friend and the only person he trusted implicitly. The only person who had never betrayed him. And she was so beautiful. Goddamn it, he thought angrily, how the hell had he gotten himself into this situation? He cursed the fates that had set him up. Still, given forewarning would he really have changed a single thing about this evening? Probably not. He really should disentangle himself from his sleeping partner, get her over on her own side of the bed, go back to sleep and pretend this never happened. But he wasn't going to. Instead he was going to switch of the part of his brain that told him he was being an idiot and would live to regret this. He was going to ignore his body's natural reaction to the sleeping woman in his arms and let the warmth of her body lull him to sleep. Part 4 Scully's first thought on waking was that the pillow she had slept on seemed strangely hard. And warm. And muscular. Her eyes flew open in shock and she found herself looking at a wide expanse of familiar grey t-shirt. Mulder. She closed her eyes again briefly, telling herself that when she opened them she would wake up on the white pillow she had fallen asleep on over on her own side of the bed. She opened her eyes again and raised her head. No. Still Mulder. How the hell had she ended up sleeping snuggled up against Mulder? On his side of the bed. Fortunately he appeared to still be asleep and she carefully extricated herself from under his arm, moving carefully so as not to wake him up. She had just succeeded in moving her body over to her own side of the bed when Mulder's eyes fluttered open and he looked straight at her. "Hey Scully," he said easily, stretching his arms over his head as if nothing was wrong. "Hey" she replied trying to match his tone. "Sleep okay?" he asked innocently. Her eyes narrowed as she searched his face for any signs of humour. "Mmmm, guess so." She answered still unsure what was going on in his mind. "Me too. Never better in fact." "Mulder..." Her tone was a warning and he heeded it. "Well, I guess we'd better get going." He said brusquely. "You want the bathroom first?" "Sure, thanks." She grabbed her clothes and practically ran for the bathroom to get away from him. Mulder smiled. After years of living out of suitcases, it didn't take them long to get their bags packed and ready to go. As they gathered their luggage and prepared to leave they both took a last look at the room they had shared. "We'll have to come back here sometime." Mulder said lightly and Scully shot him a suspicious look. Mulder dropped the key in to reception and they loaded the car. As he eased the car out of the parking space Scully looked at her partner speculatively. "Mulder," she said seriously. "About last night...." Mulder froze. "Yeah?" "I'm not sure how to say this..." His heart picked up speed as he waited for her to continue. When she remained silent he prompted her. "Whatever it is Scully, just say it." "This isn't easy Mulder." Turning to face him she finally said what was on her mind. "You snore Mulder." "I do not!" Whatever he was expecting, that certainly wasn't it. "Mulder, I'm sorry but you do." "You lie!" "When have I ever lied to you?" Mulder manoeuvred the car out into the early morning traffic and they headed for the airport. The End