TITLE: I Know You (1/1) AUTHOR: mountainphile RATING: PG EMAIL: mountainphile@yahoo.com URL: http://www.geocities.com/mountainphile CATEGORY: MSR, vignette DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and the characters of Mulder and Scully are the exclusive property of Chris Carter and 1013 Productions. No infringement is intended whatsoever... SPOILERS: Post-Millennium SUMMARY: How would life unfold for Mulder and Scully after the kiss"? NOTES: Heartfelt thanks to my handful of readers/encouragers...you know who you are! ARCHIVE: I'd be honored, name and email attached. ******************** I Know You by mountainphile The first time did not come as a surprise. The bizarre events of the evening, the combination of tradition and adrenaline let down, were reasons enough for Scully to expect the kiss. And it was time. She knew her partner, felt the time was right for him to finally take the initiative. Because, if he didn't soon... she would. It was mere seconds away from the start of the new Millennium, in the hospital waiting room as they watched the TV. She turned her head to see whether her suspicions had any basis at all... and beheld his face descending toward her. Their eyes met in the briefest of acknowledgements, of acceptance, before he placed his lips over hers in a sweet and gentle kiss. It was enough, just long enough for the first time. Uninterrupted. Completely voluntary. She knew it would be like that, because she knew him. And Mulder was a gentleman after all, not pushing for anything more, even offering a wry comment afterward to diffuse whatever tension had gathered in the heady air around them. His arm around her shoulders as they left the room felt like a seal of promise. The second time startled her. It happened several nights later, on the way back from conferring with a group of stymied field agents. Her forensic expertise was requested in matching certain recovered evidence with that found on the body of a 55 year- old murder victim. The case seemed strange enough to garner Mulder's interest also, but he stood back and allowed her unencumbered time and access to the body, observing with the others how adroitly she handled the examination, how her finesse and brilliance shone. Afterwards, when the other agents expressed their appreciation and respect, she basked in the surprising adulation. His car slowed to a stop on the street outside her apartment. They got out and Mulder crossed over to her side as she shut the car door. He smiled shyly, proudly, approaching her and closing the space between them. "Scully... you were damn impressive back there," he said, emphasizing the four-letter word. And before she could react, or even feel the warm, sudden flush that spread over her cheeks at his unsolicited praise, his palm slid over her jaw and around the back of her neck, while his mouth again descended. This time his lips pressed more firmly, left a touch of moisture behind. He drew his head slowly back in order to gaze at her, to gauge her reaction. She swallowed, and he searched her face with care. "Was that okay?" he whispered, his breath visible in the cold night air. When, after a millisecond's thought, she nodded, he leaned his forehead against hers and said, "I knew it would be." And she relaxed, knowing he would do nothing to offend or intimidate her, as they began the gradual journey together into this new panorama. She initiated their third encounter. They were at Mulder's apartment, she standing next to his desk while he sat at the computer, anxious to show her a new cyber-game the Lone Gunmen had given him. She looked over his shoulder at the computer screen, aware of how boyishly handsome he now appeared to her, how appealing his satisfaction as he leaned back into the chair to watch the download. She imperceptibly moved both her hands to his shoulders, massaging the muscles, feeling the definition beneath her fingers. When he turned to face her in mild surprise, she leaned over and softly, hesitantly, took his lower lip between her own before grazing over his mouth with slow, languid pressure. "Was that okay?" she asked huskily, and he nodded, pleased and speechless, as she drew away, knowing that it was enough for the time being. It would be mutual, this path of discovery, and for the first time she felt curiously emboldened, even confident. In the days afterward, she came to welcome the unexpected warmth of his hand grasping hers, the weight of his arm spanning her shoulders. Anticipated his gaze and lop-sided smile. She knew him, after spending so many years with him, and took courage and security in these tender attentions. And she appreciated the gentle pace he seemed determined to maintain. Now, on this particular evening, they discussed the aftermath of the investigation at her apartment. He finished his iced tea, she her hot tea. The glasses and cups were set aside, discarded like sunflower hulls, and Mulder stood up to leave. It seemed natural as turning the pages of a book to clasp hands and step deliberately, without words, into each other's space, continuing the new chapter in their long association. His hands eased slowly over and around her forearms, to stop and cup her elbows with gentle fingers. "In case you misconstrue this... I'm not staying tonight, Scully. It's not time yet... " "I know that," she acquiesced, her response too quick. Dipping her head to hide a blush, she was grateful he didn't demand or require many words right now. Hoping the burn on her cheeks wasn't outshining the color of her hair. Raising a hand, he stroked through the lock of hair that fell forward over her right eye. "... But, eventually... there are things I do want to share with you. When the time is right. Is that okay?" "That's okay," she said breathlessly, thinking that the time would be soon, rather than later, if he continued much longer in this slow, tantalizing courtship dance. As she raised her eyes to his, he leaned forward and kissed her with soft, yielding lips, ruminating slowly over her mouth, the line of her jaw, and down to her neck. "I love the way you smell, Scully," he murmured, taking short breaths, sliding his nose along her skin. "I always have. I'd know your scent anywhere." His fingers traveled down her neckline to the velvet skin above her breasts, where the contours gently changed, swelled. They stopped there, lingering, daring to go no farther, but alerting her to his desire and to the possibilities that existed for the future. Involuntarily, she gasped. Her face flushed hot again from both pleasure and embarrassment. This was... Mulder, her partner, her friend of many years. Yet it was also Mulder, the man for whom she now felt such as intense outpouring of affection. Familiar, comfortable... and, she thought with a start, so new. At the sharp intake of breath, he pulled back to look at her face, taking her chin into his warm hand. "It's just me," he said, searching her eyes intently with his own hazel ones. "I want you to tell me what you're feeling. Whether you're all right with this. There's no need to rush into anything, and no need to hide behind walls. I'll be able to tell. I know you... " "It startled me... to feel you touch me like that," she whispered. There. She said it, a thing she previously would have stuffed behind an impenetrable wall of denial. He grinned at her unexpected frankness and she found herself smiling in response, chagrined. Lowering her head, she leaned against him, encircling him with her arms, needing the comfort of his closeness. "God, this is awkward, Mulder." "I know." He stroked the fiery strands of her hair with one hand, pressed along the length of her backbone with the other. "I expect it will be for awhile. We've become so used to each other in one context. We can almost finish the other's sentences, know each other's thoughts. We've seen ourselves naked, wounded, dying, afraid, elated, joyful... " He placed his mouth against her ear as he continued to speak in low, soothing tones. "All in the context of work, of friendship. We've experienced the gamut, Scully, the full spectrum of companionship and familiarity. We know each other so well... " She nodded and pressed more tightly against him, burying her nose in his deep, reassuring scent, feeling the firmness of his muscles against her body, melting into him. Everything he said was true, she knew. Yet the newness, the strangeness, of such physical proximity was overwhelming, intoxicating. She felt his heart pounding against her throat as they stood together, acclimating themselves in slow, measured doses. "New... yet so familiar," he murmured, his lips against the skin of her brow. "Discovery in a wholly different circumstance, Scully, with a new meaning." He moved slowly to her cheekbone, investigating, first with his mouth, then with his eyes. "I remember windburn here, redness from the snow and ice. Your tears. Scratches. Scuffs and bruises. I know this cheek... " She looked up at him with a quizzical expression, brow arched. "Don't doubt me, Scully. I've kissed you there before... Granted, it was in a hospital situation, and as both a concerned partner and a desperate friend." He breathed into her ear again as he lowered his voice to a soft whisper. "And I expect to, sometime, know you better... even more completely." "So, Agent Mulder," she countered quietly. "Does your photographic memory extend to the sensory, also? Or merely the prophetic?" As if to answer, his tongue, thick and warm, traced the curving edge of her ear down to the small lobe, which he softly drew into his mouth. She trembled at the sensation, and he pulled back again, examining her face, wanting the truth of what she was feeling. Before he could ask, she managed a shy smile and said, "It's okay, Mulder... " "Too much?" "Yes... no... " She gave a small laugh, shaking her head as she reached up with new boldness to memorize the contours of his face with her own searching fingers. Mulder's face. Her personal touchstone. From smooth brows to tender eyelids. The soft sandpaper of his upper lip, the enticing depressions on either side of his mouth. He blinked and sighed at her touch, relishing the feel of her fingertips on his skin. A wave of affection, infused with desire, washed over her, and she replaced her fingers with her mouth, kissing his full lower lip until the upper responded by grasping back in a playful, teasing caress. They smiled together, lips moving over lips, content to nuzzle and familiarize. Gently, slowly. Taking their time to become comfortable with one another in this new arena. "I know you, Scully," he breathed between kisses. "How you like things to be. Structured. Step by step. Full, scientific investigation." Another light peck. "Nothing neglected or unexplained... " Gentle fingers moved behind her ear. "God, you're so beautiful... " Her soft hands cradled his face as she pushed back to look at him. "Mulder... Do you know that you talk too much?" The corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement at her words. "Taking charge, Scully?" he taunted affectionately. "Regaining control? That's so like you. I find that incredibly... exciting... " "I'm sure you do, Mulder." She broke off to kiss him again, aware that time itself was grinding to a halt in the wake of their enlightening and tender ministrations. "Because, you see... I know you, too... " ******************** THE END I Know You 12/09/99