TITLE: Paradise By The Dashboard Light
AUTHOR: Annette Gisby
EMAIL: annette.gisby@which.net
CLASSIFICATION: MSR
RATED: R
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, Robin this one's for you! Once
I read your idea, it just stuck in my mind! I hope
I did your idea justice!
DISCLIMER: Not mine, never will be, unless I land
in an alternate universe and I really am CC, 1013 or
FOX. Excerpts from the song, "Paradise by The Dashboard
Light", written by Jim Steinman and sung by Meat Loaf
is used with love, but without permission.

PARADISE BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT

"I can't believe you're such an idiot, Mulder!"

Scully glared at him, hoping for some response.
There was none. What did she expect? She could
believe this if she was a teenager on a date, and
Mulder had decided to try something.

But this was Mulder. An experienced FBI field officer,
and what did he do? He'd forgotten to put gas in the
car. Just great! They were miles from anywhere in
either direction, she had a headache and she was absolutely
furious with him.

"So, when are you going to get us some gas, Mulder?
Or are we staying here all night?"

"It's dark, Scully, we're miles from anywhere."

"So? Since when were you afraid of the dark?"

"I don't want to leave you alone. You never know what
might be out there."

Scully tapped her fingers along the dashboard, getting
more and more irritated by the moment. It was the
oldest trick in the book, wasn't it? The boy pretends
they've run out of gas, the girl gets scared and cuddles
up to him, and hey presto! He's got the girl right
where he wants her. In a confined space in small car.

Okay, the car wasn't *that* small, but Scully wished it
were just a little bit larger. She was too aware of him.
His scent, the sound of his breathing. The beeping of his
cell phone as he tried to call someone. He flung it on the
back seat in frustration.

"Well?" asked Scully.

"Out of range. We'd better stay here tonight, and
then see where we are in the morning. Maybe there'll
be some more cars then as well."

"We've been here two hours already, and there hasn't
been one! What makes you think there'll be some
in the morning?"

"Optimism?" he grinned at her, with his best doe-eyed
look and she had to stop herself from giggling. She
was angry at him, dammit!

"Why don't you get some sleep, Scully? You look tired."

"And what will you do?"

"I'll watch you."

"What do you mean you'll *watch* me?"

"I meant I'll keep a lookout for any cars. One of us
should stay awake, just in case. I never sleep much."

His face had darkened and Scully knew it was true. How
many times had she been in the room next to him and
heard his disturbed sleep? When he did sleep, he had
terrible nightmares. Normally they were about Sam, but
recently, ever since she'd been diagnosed, they were
about her. Scully didn't want to be the object of his
nightmares, but there wasn't a lot she could do about
it.

She turned round and lay on her side, away from him.

Mulder watched her, heard her breathing deepen as
she fell asleep. He hadn't told Scully how many
times he'd sneaked into her room when they were on
a case, just to make sure that she was okay, that
she was still breathing, that she hadn't died in
the night. He wondered if she knew.

His nightmares were of death all the time now. Her
cancer was only in remission, the doctors hadn't
said she was cured. Mulder wanted her to be cured.

He didn't want her to leave him. He reached out
and stoked her hair gently, inhaling the feminine
scent of her. God, she was beautiful. And unattainable.

He continued stroking her hair, glad of the excuse
to touch her in any way, but he wanted to do so
much more. Scully moaned in her sleep, turning
over to face him, so that his hand ended up near
her face. He traced delicate lines along her cheek.

Her skin was smooth and looked pale in the moonlight,
with only a slight flush to her cheeks. He watched her
chest heave up and down in time with her breathing.

He could watch her breathe all night. She wouldn't
die while he was watching her. He was sure of that.

Scully woke up with a crick in her neck and the feeling
that she was being watched. She opened one eye to find
Mulder staring intently at her, his hand on her cheek.

She sat up abruptly, causing his hand to fall away. She
missed the warmth of his skin against hers, and
wondered what Mulder was playing at. She wasn't in
the mood for games.

"Good sleep?" he asked, fiddling with the radio, trying
to find something that wasn't static.

"It was okay."

A song blared out from the speakers:

"Stop right there! Before we go any
further, do you love me, will you love
me forever, will you need me, will you
never leave me, will you make me so
happy for the rest of my life, will you take
me away and will you make me a wife? I need
to know right now, before we go any further,
do you love me, and will you love me forever?"

Mulder sang along, until Scully snapped the radio off.

"Don't you like it?" he asked.

"Not really. I mean, teenagers making out in cars? I
don't think they've done that since the fifties!"

"Well, haven't you ever made out in a car, Scully?"

"Of course not!"

He had to laugh at that. Of course, the enigmatic Dr. Scully
wouldn't make out in a car!

"And you have?" she asked him, curious despite herself.

"Yep. Her name was Cindy. I was her first, I was so
afraid I was going to hurt her, but she wanted to.
After that, she couldn't get enough of me. I spent
most of my senior year making love to her, wherever
and whenever we could. Until her father found out,
that is. They moved away, I never saw her again."

"Was she your first too?"

"Cindy? No. My first was - my first was Phoebe."

His voice cracked, and Scully realised he was about
to cry. What had she done?

"I'm sorry, Mulder. I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's okay. It'd be good to tell someone about
it. Phoebe's father was a friend of my father's. I met her
at one of my parent's parties. They had them occasionally,
They were trying to make people think they were
still this great happy couple.

"Anyway, I was seventeen and Phoebe was 23. I think
she only paid attention to me because I was the youngest
there. Everyone else was the same age as my parents. I
didn't drink, but Phoebe thought it would be fun to
spike my iced tea with rum. I can't believe I didn't
notice.

"I felt so sick, I had to leave the party and went
to my room. Phoebe was there waiting for me, in my
bed. I don't know how to describe what she did to
me. I wasn't interested in her. I told her to go.
But my body had other ideas. Remember, I was only
seventeen and here was a naked woman in my bed.

"It was hormones, that's all. Scully - she - she
made me do things, I didn't want to do. Can a
man be forced to have sex by a woman? And she
hit me, again and again until I gave in and had
sex with her. I didn't want to see her after that,
but she threatened to tell her father that I raped
her if I didn't keep sleeping with her. I'm
sorry, Scully, I'm sorry!" He was sobbing in earnest
now.

Scully felt sick. If she ever saw Phoebe Green again,
it would be on the other side of a gun. She put her
arms around Mulder, cradling his head against her
breast. "Ssh, it's okay, Mulder, it's okay," she
soothed him, rocking him in her arms. "It wasn't
your fault, Mulder. Don't ever think that. What
she did was tantamount to child abuse."

Gradually, his sobs subsided and he sat up, looking
at Scully, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"I never told anyone that before, Scully. It was hard."

"I know, Mulder. But I'm glad you trusted me enough
to tell me."

"So, what about you?"

"What?"

"Your first time."

"Oh. That." Scully hoped she wasn't blushing. Mulder
had told her all his secrets, wasn't it time she
trusted him with hers?

"Well, it was prom night. Marcus was my date, I was going
with my friend Sarah and her boyfriend David. We danced a
bit, and Marcus kissed me on the dancefloor. I was so
embarrassed, that I stalked off and left him standing
there. Alone.

"He came over and apologised, said that I was just
so beautiful that he couldn't resist me. Yeah, right!
He just wanted some, it didn't matter who it was.
I'd already told him, that I didn't want to go all
the way. We'd only been going out for a few weeks,
and anyway I knew he wasn't the one I wanted my
first time to be with.

"Sarah came and led me outside. She was as white
as a sheet. She said she overheard David and
Marcus talking, they were betting on how far
Marcus would get with me that night. Marcus, of
course, bet that tonight would be his lucky night.

"Boy, was he wrong! He was walking with a limp
for the rest of the year!"

Mulder was confused. "So, if it wasn't Marcus, who was it?"

"That's just it, Mulder. It wasn't anyone. I mean
there hasn't been a first time for me, not yet."

She heard Mulder's intake of breath and glanced at
him. His skin had a greenish hue from the dashboard
light and she felt her heart constrict painfully.

Did Mulder feel the same way?

"Scully - Dana - I don't know what to say. But have
you never wanted to try it? Just to see what it's like?"

"Of course I have. But I've never met anyone I trusted
enough to make love to. Mulder, you're the only one
I trust."

He gulped. Was she saying what he thought she was
saying? He moved closer to her, she didn't back
away. That was a good sign.

"Scully."

"Mulder."

"I think it's about time I showed you what making out
in a car is like."

She moaned, low in her throat and he felt himself
stiffen in anticipation. He was going to make love
to Dana Scully. *His* Scully. She would remember this
night for the rest of her life, he would make sure
of that.

He kissed her, hesitantly at first, but then more
forcefully. Scully was pressing her body up against
him, she was almost in his lap. He reached down
and squeezed her breast, making her groan into his
mouth. His erection got harder, if that were possible.

He wanted to take things slow. They had all night and
he wanted to make sure that Scully was ready for him.

He still remembered how frightened he'd been of hurting
Cindy. But Scully's mouth on his, and her groans, and
just the thought that it was Scully, it was all he could
do not to rip her clothes off and have her immediately.

Scully was in heaven. Mulder's hands were doing things
to her that she had no right to feel. When he began
to open her blouse and slipped his hand inside her
bra, she felt like she was dying. No-one could
feel this good and live.

There was a delicious ache at the juncture of her
thighs, and she wanted to feel Mulder there, needed
to feel Mulder there.

"Mulder," she whispered breathlessly. "I need-OH!"

Mulder had begun to suckle on her breast and whatever
she'd been about to say had gone out of her mind. God,
that felt so good!

"Don't stop! Please!"

Mulder looked up at her flushed face and grinned. He
had no intention of stopping. He was going to make
this the most fantastic night of Dana Scully's life.

***************************************************

Mulder watched Scully as she laid her head against
his shoulder. She had given him a perfect gift
tonight. She hadn't just given him her body, she
had given him her heart and soul. It was up to
him now to take care of them, to make sure that
nothing bad ever happened to her again.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked quietly, he had seen
the blood, although Scully tried to keep it from
him. He didn't know whether her cries had been
of pleasure or pain.

"No, Mulder. It was wonderful," she looked up at
him, reaching her arms behind his head to kiss
him. It was a slow languorous kiss, both of them
sated by their previously frenzied lovemaking.

"I think I might have to go shopping tomorrow."

"Why?" asked Mulder.

"So I can buy that song. He knew what he was
talking about!"

"Paradise by the dashboard light?" grinned Mulder.

"Definitely, Mulder. Definitely."



THE END
Feedback very much appreciated!

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