Best Laid Plans

by Sara Lynn

Originally posted June 21st 1999

 

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: DO NOT archive at Gossamer. As for other archives, ask me first for permission. Just so I can link you to my site.

SPOILER WARNING: Arcadia

RATING: R. I couldn’t get it smutty enough for an NC-17, sorry. I cursed a little, so be warned.

CLASSIFICATION/CONTENT STATEMENT: MSR Story

SUMMARY: Tension in Arcadia? Want to know why? Want to see how it was fixed?

DISCLAIMER: I own the X-Files. . . . tapes. Hehe.

 

             It’s interesting how a misunderstanding can lead to kidnapping.  Wait a second. That sounds horrible like that. Not kidnapping in the sense of Duane Barry kidnapping Scully, but then again what I did was not 100% kosher. Maybe I should begin from about a week ago.

                 When we were on the undercover case at The Falls of Arcadia, things had happened that were never cleared up. Scully still didn’t believe that nothing was going on between Diana and me. Well, it’s true. As far as I’m concerned, Diana is my past and Scully is my present. And hopefully my future as well, right now I’m not totally sure. In any case, Skinner threw this case at us, of all days, on Scully’s birthday. I had planned a wonderful birthday/apology present. Dinner at an expensive French restaurant. I purchased the most gorgeous diamond ring that I had engraved especially for her.  I was going to present it to her during the night cruise I was to take her on. After the cruise, I had booked us a room in the Hotel George.  Took me months of planning to get one of the penthouse suites with the works. Everything planned out perfectly, until Skinner handed me the case at 12:03 PM on February 23rd. Scully looked almost as heartbroken as I did. At least she hadn’t spent almost a thousand dollars on a night that wasn’t going to happen.

                So we spent to rest of the day collecting what we could in the D.C. area. Clothes shopping was a pip. Scully picked out a few ‘yuppie’ shirts for me and I nodded at some of those cute sweaters she picked out. ‘Twin sets’ she called them. She looked so . . . normal.

                We packed most of our purchases over at my place. I even made a nice little show of presenting the ring to Scully. She stared at it for almost five minutes straight. “It looks like a real wedding ring. ”

                What? No. No, she did not think this was some piece from evidence. I don’t know what I said next, but Scully looked at my closed hand and found the gold band.

I don’t know why I kept this. But I did. And the engraving inside matched the one inside the one I bought her. ‘For my Fox’ to go with ‘For my Dana’. So help me, I’m a closet romantic.  I had wanted to show it to her. After she noticed it, I was going to profess my undying love for her. But as I watched her slip the ring on her finger and readied herself to leave, my insides twisted and knotted up. I slipped the gold band on my finger and gathered our luggage up for the flight to California.

 6 hours. It took 6 long, excruciating hours to arrive at the San Diego airport without discussion. Wonderful. Snippets of case minutia. No talking about her birthday or anything else like that.  Not only that but my body was tired and we still had things to get before we were officially undercover.  Not like it mattered.  We slept in the same hotel room. I got to couch.  When I woke up, Scully had left a note she would be out shopping and I needed to call the local Bureau office and set up the moving van with furniture to move in with. I did just that. Even managed to get a basketball hoop in the deal.

When Scully returned at 3, she was overloaded with bags and boxes. I offered to help her out, but she said she was fine. I’ll give her credit, she only dropped one bag. Unfortunately, I notice that bag was from Victoria’s Secret. A nice bag for something small and slinky. She retrieved it quickly and slid it into her suitcase.

             That was a day and a half before I had a great plan to get on Scully’s good side. I must admit, even for myself, I was obnoxious. I pushed it. Not like I expected Scully to get in bed with me after being such an ass. I was about to leave without a word, but as I stood in the bedroom doorway, I wanted to tell her. I couldn’t let this continue. “Scully?”

She looked at me over her shoulder, that face mask of hers keeping her features from moving with it’s hardened form.

            “Sleep tight.”

I felt so stupid. What the hell was I going to say. ‘Scully, I love you. I want to make love to you on that bed. I want to feel your lips, your breasts, your legs wrapped around me. I could lose myself in your body.’ Yeah, she’d love that one.  I laid on the sofa downstairs staring at the ceiling. Then it hit me. We were so close to the ocean. And I had a new credit card to break in. I spent most of the night flipping through phone books. A little coastal hotel called the Pacific Cove had free beach houses because of the time of year.  I found one that had a fireplace with a large bay window and for another $150 up-front, the owner said he would stock it with anything we wanted.

I talked everything over with him while Scully was downtown getting the samples tested.  For the second time, I had a planned surprise that was going to be ruined. Scully met up with an old friend at the Labs. Ryan something. She told me about seeing Ryan for dinner as we drove away from the perfect planned community. Since we were in San Diego at least one more day, she thought I wouldn’t mind.

Now, I’m not . . . usually . . . a jealous man. 

OK, I am. I’m possessive about Scully.

Fine, I’m damn possessive of Scully. She’s my better half.

So, I put a little sleeping pill in her root beer at the diner.  She wasn’t going to listen to reason. We hadn’t checked into a motel or anything, so no one missed us. All our personal effects were in the back on the minivan. So, as soon as Scully was out, I turned around and drove to the beach house. It was secluded. Even I needed the map a few times to find it.    

It was nice. No one was there. The owner was more than happy to help me get the suitcases in while I carried Scully. To quell his suspicions, I told him we had just gotten married and my ‘wife’ had fallen asleep on the drive down. He smiled and told me that if I needed anything, not to worry and he would handle it. I thanked him generously and he left the two of us alone.

            I left Scully on the large bed and decided to look around the house. The living room was nice. Large sofas with down cushions you could fall into. A glass fireplace in the center of the room. A bay window with sill seats overlooking an undisturbed stretch of California coastline. I turned around and explored the kitchen and breakfast nook. Stocked just like I asked him. Even had some nice bottles of wine.  One bottle sitting in the refrigerator was in a shiny wrapper with a note attached.  It explained that the bottles were complimentary of the staff for the newlywed couple.

I smiled. I just wished all of that was true. Being a newlywed with Scully was a nice thought, but we were still at two ends of the rope. Hopefully all we needed was a week away from everything. A week of vacation that Skinner had been pressuring us to take. A week that I have managed to talk him into as I was making the rest of our plans. The only room I hadn’t really looked at was the bedroom. I stood at the door just looking at the bed. The bed situated in the second bay window. In the center of said bed laid Scully, still fast asleep.

Whatever came over me, I decided that I should probably finish writing the conclusion to the report. And I fully intended to.  But there, right in front of my eyes was the shortcut to Scully’s personal journal. I clicked it, I knew I shouldn’t have. As I read the entry from yesterday I saw exactly what had happened while Scully was downtown. Ryan, actually Ryanne, was a friend of Scully’s from when she lived here as a child. I was jealous of a childhood girlfriend. As I read on, I learned that she had become a lab technician for the local field office after her son was born.  Now I was jealous of a mother. It wasn’t until I got to the last line that I realized I was a complete ass. Ryanne had invited her and ‘her husband’ to dinner at her home. I was invited to come with her. And that’s where I was 24 hours ago. A horse ass that has kidnapped and drugged his partner over god damned nothing!

 

 PART 2

 

 I stood in the doorway watching Scully, the sunset reflecting off the shiny silk sheets and Scully’s hair.  How could I ever make her understand that what I did, I did because I love her so much? How could I let her know that this was my way of giving her a happy birthday? My thought was interrupted by a soft groan from the bed. I moved closer. She rolled slightly and moaned something. I think it was my name, but I couldn’t be sure.

Sitting beside her on the bed, she turned over once again and began to cuddle with my thigh. I wasn’t complaining. Especially since this time I did here my name come from between her red-tinted lips. My hands, almost without my permission began to stroke her hair. The fine strands passed through my fingers and with each pass felt softer and softer.

I didn’t want to go any farther with Scully’s full comprehension. I needed her to be awake.  “Scully?” I whispered. Nothing. I leaned closer to her ear, “Scully?”

“Mmm, Mulder?”

“Wake up, Scully.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked surprised to see me there. She looked around and I couldn’t be sure whether she was shocked or angry or what.

“Mulder? This isn’t the hotel we were staying in before.”

“No. I . . . um, I decided to rent us a beach house for a week.”

“What?!” She moved away from me and was about to walk away. She turned toward the window and saw the wonderful view we had of the ocean.  “Omigod.” She pressed her fingertips against the glass and gasped. “Mulder, how?”

“It’s your birthday surprise.”

“My birthday was five days ago, Mulder.”

“I know. I had planned something you would have liked. Dinner at a little French bistro. A midnight cruise. I even booked us a room at the Hotel George.”

Now she looked shocked. “My god, Mulder. I had no idea.”

“I was planing on presenting that ring to you on the deck of the cruise ship.”

Scully spun around and for a still moment stared slackjawed at me. “The diamond ring I was wearing for the undercover assignment.” I nodded.  Scully looked quickly around the room.  When she spotted her green travel case she unzipped it and reached in for what looked like her toiletry pouch. She brought it over to the bed and dumped in onto the comforter. Amongst the hairbrush and lipstick was the blue velvet case that the ring came in. She opened it up and looked at the prize inside.

“Read the inscription.”

“‘For my Dana’.” I could see the tears begin to well up in her eyes.

“It matches the one in the gold band.” I slip the ring off my finger and hold it up for her. She takes it from me and looks at the inscription.

“Why did you buy this?” She held up her ring.

“I wanted something that would bind me to you.” I stood so I could look her in the eye. “I love you, Dana.”

She stared at me. The last time I said it I was drugged, this time it was not the drugs talking. I could tell she was overwhelmed. She wouldn’t look at me as she walked to the balcony doors and stepped outside.

 

 I left her outside while I fixed dinner. No reason to interrupt her thinking just yet. I admit, I had dropped a few bombs in her lap.  Now my only concern was whether or not she felt the same.  I’ve always thought I knew, but honestly I’m not sure. What if I’d been wrong all this time? As I watched her, I couldn’t help but think this might be the time for us to talk.

I stepped onto the deck and made a beeline to where Scully sat on the railing.  “Scully?”

She turned to me slowly and looks at me with a deerlike stare.

“Dinner’s ready.”

She nodded and followed.

We sat in silence, I didn’t know what to say to her. I wanted her to speak first, but she sat frozen, picking at her food.

“Scully, please say something to me.”

“Why did you never mention you were married?”

Oh my goodness. “How did you know?”

“The  Fairfax county records. I. . checked. . .”

“How long have you know?”

“A few weeks. After the incident with Cassandra.”

“Are you mad?”

Scully stood up, carrying her plate to the sink. “I don’t know.” She just stood at the counter, her back to me as she continued. “Part of me is upset that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me you were once married. Somewhere along the six years we’ve been together you think you would have told me. But then I think that you probably consider this a major mistake and wanted to leave it in the past. I understand that. I’ve never told you certain parts of my past either. So I don’t know if I’m mad.” She spun around and I could the dry streaks from tears on her face. “Why didn’t you trust me?”

“Scully, I do. I trust you with my life and my heart. However the last few women I trusted with that. . .” I covered my face before she could see what’s about to occur.

“You said you loved me, I think I at least deserve a truth, if not *the* truth”

I nod. “Ok, let’s go in the living room.” I stand and carry my plate to the sink. As I approach her, she turns so she does not have to look at me. How can I blame her? The sunken living room seems chilling and as I waited, I made a fire in the fireplace. I didn’t notice Scully’s move behind me and sit down on the sofa.  I know I turned to find her eyes drilling into me and I could never recall a moment before then that I felt anything but love for the woman before me.

“Tell me about Diana.”

“She was in my graduating class at the academy. We hadn’t thought about dating each other during, but something happened after. She was amazing, I thought she would have been the one. After about three months together, we eloped. Even my parents were unaware of that, but we were being impetuous. Just ‘you wanna get married’ and boom.” I looked up from where I was seated and saw Scully still was not making eye contact with me.  “As far as the bureau was concerned, I was single. Diana didn’t even live with me. I know that sounds really fishy and to be honest, I thought so too. She did stay around for a while . . . maybe a year or two, but as soon as I got interested in the X-Files, the problems started.” Still no eye contact. “She accused me of loving the memory of my sister more than her. I turned around and accused her of smelling of cigarette smoke and cheap sex. Next thing I knew, papers were served and Diana left the country.”

“She was having an affair?”  

I looked back at Scully to find her watching me intensely.  “I don’t know. I do know that at that moment I realized I had been an idiot. When you came in, I tried as hard as I could to not get attached to you in anyway. I told you all that mattered was my sister. That I DID love the memory of a woman I hadn’t seen in over twenty years”

“What happened?”

I smiled. “I realized you weren’t spying on me as much as you were trying to help me. But something always attracted me to you. I don’t know when I identified it as love, but I know that for a period of years I have loved you unconditionally.” I rise to my knees and take her hand in mine. “This is not what I felt with Diana. I let time pass because I wanted to be sure. I’m sure now. That ring was . . . It was my way of admitting to myself, to you, and to everyone I love you.”

“Why did you keep your wedding ring then?”

“It was my father’s. I . . . took it from him during one of his more drunken evenings after the divorce. He never knew it was gone. Diana didn’t want a ring, but wearing this made me feel married. When I bought your ring, I wanted to inscribe them the same so you realized this was for you.”

Scully closed her eyes and stood up. She walked toward the bedroom and I stayed where I was. No reason to tag along when she was coming right back with something in her hands. She opened up her hand and I saw she held both rings out for me.

“Would you do it right? The way you had planned it.”

I took both the diamond ring and her left hand in mine. “Dana Katherine Scully,” I smiled, “I love you. I want you to be mine. I waited long enough to tell you. I hope you feel the same because I would be honored to know you would be my bride.”

“You were going to propose?” She said in little more than a whisper.

“Yeah.” So I lied, it was not my intent to propose five days ago, but going undercover I realized that being married to Scully was exactly what I wanted. I held her hand. I watched her face as she thought over what I was telling her.

“You want to marry me?”

“Yes.”

“You want to be like the Petries?”

“No. I want to be like Mulder and Scully, if that’s what you want.”

“Are you going to leave the toilet seat up?”

I laughed. “I guess I’ll just have to get my wife to train me.”

“And how should I do that?”

I looked at her face. “Are you saying yes?”

“Yes.” She smiled.

I don’t know what I looked like, but suddenly Scully’s face glowed like I had never seen.  In an out-of–body way I felt her arms wrapped around my neck and her body press against mine in a hug.  “Oh Laura!”

I’m glad she laughed. She even swatted me playfully and smiled a wonderfully toothy grin and my horribly lame joke.

 

 Part 3

 

   “So Jack proposed. The ring was wonderfully ornate. But I looked at it and couldn’t lie to myself. Jack was not the man I could see myself growing old with.” I notice Scully staring at the ring as she spoke. It’s so nice to have her siting in-between my legs in front of the fire. I reached up and intertwine our fingers together. I love her small hands. They fit so nicely in mine. 

“Am I?”

“I know I never told you, but no matter how often you infuriate me, I do know I wouldn’t be alive today without you.”

“But you didn’t answer the question, Ms. Scully.”

“Oh Mulder, I haven’t said anything before, but I do care for you. I’ve never really been in love, so I’m not totally sure.”

“How do you feel right now? Protective?”

“Yeah.”

“Happy?”

“Very.”

“Do you see yourself growing old with me?”

“Oh yeah,” She opens her other hand and holds up the gold band. “I do.”

I watch as she let go of my hand and slipped the gold band on.

“I want it to be obvious to everyone that we’re married.”

“So what should we do about the legal part?”

“I don’t know. I would love a big church wedding.”

“So can you wear white, Scully?”

“Mulder, you’re not assuming I’m a virgin, are you?”

“I could hope.”

 She turned in my arms. “Neither of us are spring chickens, Mulder. We’ve both got pasts.” I could see her force her thought out past scared breath.  “How many . . How many women have you . . ?”

“Four.”

Scully looked sad, but continued to push forward. “Who?”

“Well, the obvious Phoebe and Diana, and Cathy and Kristen.”

“Who were Cathy and Kristen?”

“A girl I knew in high school. We . . . um, we went to a little make-out spot and . . . I barely lasted a minute. Not like she ever spoke to me after that, but I guess technically you could say I lost my virginity to her.”

“Oh, Mulder.”

“And Kristen, she was a mistake I made while you were . . . gone.” I pull her closer and lay my head on hers.  “What . . . what about you, Scully?”

“Three.” She said without hesitation. “Michael, my first during my first year of college. Jack,” I held my breath waiting for the last one. “And Ethan.” 

“Who's Ethan?”

        “Ethan was the guy I was seeing when I started on the X-Files.”

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”

“It only lasted few months. We had slept together like twice. As soon as he realized that my new partner was a man and I told him about going to Oregon, he made me choose.”

“I’m glad you chose me.”

“I guess I did, didn’t I?” She snuggled up against me and held me close.

 

             “Am I really a horrible husband?”

Scully turned around from where she stood at the kitchen sink. Her hands were soapy and I could see a smile appear on her face.

“I know you didn’t appreciate my actions on the undercover assignment, so. . .”

“I was frustrated, Mulder, at you and at Skinner for assigning us a case on my birthday, My 35th birthday. Then you were just being so touchy and . . . I don’t know. How was I suppose to act?”

I approached her slowly. “I was touchy because I wanted to touch you.” Her head ducked down and I had to lift her chin up to look at me.  “Do you think I wouldn’t touch you if you were my wife?”

“I hope you’d do more than that.” She smiled slightly as I lowered my lips to hers.  Such soft lips, I can taste the coffee she just had. And that peppermint stick she was sucking on. Oh, I want a taste. Just a lick. Oh no, she jumped. Oh god, she jumped away. “Mulder?”

 “What?”

She touched her lips like I shocked her or something. “You licked me.”

Was that it? “I wanted to taste you.”

Oh good, she laughed. I love to see her laugh. She laughed and she got that look in her eye. That I’m-hungry-Mulder-and-you’re-on-the-menu.

“Scully, would you like to . . . God, it’s been so long.” When did I revert back to 16? “Would you like to . . . um, go . . . in the other room?”

“Mulder, Is this your idea of initiating foreplay?”

“Only if something comes after it.”

“If it good foreplay . . .” She smiled and wiped her hands off with the dishtowel. “Y’know what would be a nice way to loosen up, Mulder?” 

“I can think of many things, Scully. What were you thinking of?”

“A backrub.”

A backrub? A touch-her-bare-skin backrub? “Sure.”

I followed her like a sheep back into the bedroom. She reached into her suitcase and pulled out the Victoria’s Secret bag and a tube of lotion. She handed me the tube.  “Why down you take some of the blankets from the bed and lay them out in front of the fireplace. I’ll be right there.”

Oh my god. I watched her disappear into the bathroom and remembered to breathe. Somehow I remembered her instructions and stripped the bed clean. I was gonna lay Scully down in front of a roaring fire and touch her naked flesh. Oh PLEASE let me get laid there too.

 

 PART 4

 

Down comforter as makeshift blanket. Knit throw to curl up under. Pillows. Bottle of chilled champagne. Two flutes. Lotion.  Perfect. I had everything I need except . . .  “Scully?”

“Right here, Mulder.”

I looked up and I swear I never saw a more beautiful sight in all my life. Second skin is all I can say. The slinky slip of a . . . slip. A blue that I’ve only ever seen in Scully’s eyes. It’s short. She looked nervous. “Why are you nervous, Scully?” I reached out for her hand and led her over to the nest I’ve built.

“This . . . I just want it to be perfect.”

“Oh, Scully. It will be. I will make it so perfect just for you.” I help her to sit on the comforter and as I looked in her eyes, I knew.  “You’re my Dana.”

She smiled. Have I mentioned how much I love that smile? “And you’re my Fox.”

“Ooooh, Say my name again.”

“Fox.” Oh geez, that woke the monster. 

“Why. . . Why don’t you lay down, Sc . . . Scully.” Geez, I’m turned into a teenager again. Just hope I lasted a bit longed.

“Shouldn’t I remove any clothes in your way?” Without me saying anything, she slipped one of the straps off her shoulders.

“Oh my.” I flipped my eyes over to the window. I was ready, but not that ready.

“Mulder?”

I looked back to see Scully lying down with a pillow under her breasts. Her gorgeous bare back exposed to the crisp, crackling air. The slight hint of indelible ink on her hip. Her eyes wanting me to touch and caress her. What was I to do? I took some lotion and rubbed it lightly on her shoulder and spine.  But she wanted me to do more. . . She wanted me to straddle her hips and really rub into the skin. I don’t know why this was so hard. I teased her all the time. I used every innuendo I knew. I’m usually not a big talker, but why in the hell did this have to be the one time I was all talk. As I knelt frozen at her side, my Scully looked confused and scared.

“Mulder? Did I do something wrong?”

Oh no. “No, No, No. Why would you think that?”

“The first time I invite you to touch my body, you . . . you won’t.”

“Oh Scully. . .” I placed a hand on her lower back as I lowered myself to lay next to her. “I do want to touch you. I want to make love to you. I want to marry you. You could never do anything wrong.”

Oh, that smile came back.

“You’re got beautiful skin” that feels so good under my fingers.  I know, I’ve run my hands over ever inch of it.  “I want to touch it” with my entire body, for the rest of my life. “Oh, Scully. . . ” My fingers brushed away the hair at the nape of her neck and I placed a small kiss on the implant scar. I paused. She shivered? “Are you cold?”

“A little.” She managed to squeak out. Maybe I finally did something right. Had to try that again. A peck, just a bit lowered.  Well, she didn’t shiver that time, she moaned. 

“Scully, I want you so badly.” I tried to kiss her spine once more, this time poking my tongue out to taste her as well. Boy did she jump. I didn’t mean to, but I laughed. She did too. I remember that. That was right before we kissed. A real deep kiss. Damn, no woman ever kissed me like she did.

Most of the rest to the night was a blur. We kissed. We made love. I think I called out God’s name at least three times as I reached the height of ecstasy.

And Scully fell asleep. I couldn’t. I’m approaching 40 sooner than I would like and my body just will not go to sleep. I’m wired. Scully’s a drug. A wonderful narcotic. I’m holding her in my arms and I’m happier than I’ve ever been. Oh, she feels so nice. Her breasts pressed against mine and my hands on her smooth skin. Mmm, she smells . . . sweaty. I probably do too. This is sex the way it’s supposed to be, a real workout.

“Scully? Scull-lee?” I comb my fingers through her hair as I feel her rouse to awareness.

“Fox.” Oh god, the monster’s awake. “Hey.” She looks up and smiles. Every morning should begin like this.

“Scully, how would you like to check out the whirlpool tub in the bathroom?”

“Only if you join me.” I lay on the floor as Scully gets to her feet and walks away. Her wonderfully nude form padding into the bathroom. I think nothing can make this view any better until I see her look back and smile.

My best-laid plans may have been laid to waste, but I can definitely improvise. And now, to improvise my way to Scully. 

 

THE END

 

 

Click Here to send Feedback