Title:  Amnesia 
Author: Mattress (Dana@platonic.co.uk)
Rating: Not quite NC-17, but near enough.
Classification:  Mulder/Scully Romance (What else?) 

Disclaimer:  Well, they're not mine. Wish they were, though.  Their lives would be a LOT more fun!

Summary: Okay. so I nicked the theme from another TV show.  Telling you which one, kinda gives it away.

Amnesia
March 14th
10:48pm

"Wow!  Hey Scully, look at that!"  She rolled her eyes at the hyper man at her side.  Why she had agreed to come on the case, she'd never work out.  She supposed it was to do with being so close to Mulder.  She didn't like him going off on a hunch, not on his own anyhow.  At least with her there, he wouldn't get into any trouble.

"It is a fantastic place, Mulder," she said, watching his eyes glisten and gleam in the artificial lights from overhead.  The buildings surrounding them were immense, exciting, and in some ways, a little scary.  The people inside made you lose control, not to mention money, and neither of these had been great hobbies of Scully's. 

She hated to lose control.  More than anything, she hated to lose control with someone there to see.  On her own she was fine.  After she'd lost Emily, she'd spend hours alone crying her heart out, mourning for the daughter she would never have again.  She never liked to cry.  It made her look down upon herself as a woman.  She had enough to deal with, what with being one of the only women in the FBI, she had a reputation to live up to.  She was determined to stay the strong-as-steel agent Mulder knew her as.

"Let's go in there, Scully!"  He grabbed her hand and started to pull her into a small casino.

"No, Mulder.  We're on a case."  She pulled him back.  He gave her that puppy-dog look of his that always made her smile.  "We have to get back to the motel.  And I've had far too much excitement for one day."  He sighed and shrugged.

"Okay.  I guess I'm a little tired too." He suddenly thought of something and stopped walking.  Scully turned around and gave him a Look.  "Why don't we just go and have a drink, Scully?"  She rolled her eyes.  He really wasn't going to give up, was he?  She sighed and gave in.

"Okay, okay.  But you're buying." She pointed a finger at him and he cowered back like a little boy at her gaze.  He nodded, pretending to look terrified.  She let a smile slip onto her face and his eyes softened.  He loved to see her smile.  She looked so pretty.  And it was a thing she rarely did anymore, what with them having so much work and practically no time to relax.  He did try to cheer her up as much as he could, he laughed with her and touched her a lot more, hugged her as often as possible.  And it always had some good effect. 

They rounded a corner into a side street and spotted a small bar, its name, 'Marty's' up in bright green lights above the door.  Mulder raised his eyebrows at Scully and she nodded, pushing open the door and leading the way inside.  The bar was dimly lit and half full of buisness-type people, much like Mulder and Scully.  The other half were drunken men and tarty women with hardly nothing on.  Scully saw one woman smile at Mulder and found her throat tighten a little with jealousy when he smiled back.  He noticed her uneasiness and slipped an arm loosely around her waist in apology.  She smiled and felt much better.

All the tables had been taken, so they found a couple of stools at the bar and sat down.  "What do you want?" He asked her. 

"Beer.  I don't mind which." He nodded and ordered them both a beer from the bar tender, who was so obviously gay, Scully had to hide a smile behind her hand when he spoke.  He brought them their drinks and snapped the tops off.

"You two here together?" he asked them, picking up a cloth and drying the inside of a glass with it.

"Yeah," Mulder said absentmindedly, over his glass.  Scully gave him a Look.

"Not like that.  We're just work colleagues."  Mulder raised his eyebrows at her.

"And best friends." She smiled at him affectionately, taking a sip of her drink.  The bar tender nodded, clearly not believing them and looked around to see if anyone needed serving.  Content that no-one did, he pulled up his stool and sat, intent on making conversation.

"So, you come here *together* often?"  Mulder shook his head.

"We're in Las Vegas on...buisness," he decided, looking at Scully for some back-up.  She nodded and jumped when she felt something touch her thigh.  Whipping around, she caught sight of a young guy, about mid-twenties, who smiled at her suggestively, and was sat almost next to her along the bar.  She turned away and shifted her stool closer to Mulder, who after she rolled her eyes towards the man seated behind her, understood instantly what she wanted.  He began to put his arm around her, asking her with his eyes and she nodded, gratefully, leaning against his shoulder a little.  The man shrugged apologetically at Mulder and turned back around to his friends.

The barman stared at them. "Do you realize, you two just had a whole conversation without making any sound at all?"  Scully looked at Mulder and gave the barman a little shrug.  He grinned.  "Do you ever speak to one another?"  Scully smiled and turned to Mulder, who played along and lifted one eyebrow, seemingly asking her a question.  She shook her head and the bar tender grinned.  "You must be incredibly close."  He shrugged and went to serve a customer, leaving Mulder and Scully trying not to laugh.

"He's right, you know," Mulder sighed, smiling at her warmly.  "We do hardly ever speak to one another."  Scully sighed and sipped at her drink, relishing in the warm fuzzy feeling spreading through her body.

"I guess being together seven years did that to us," she commented, moving her stool right up next to his.  He sighed and curled his arm around her a little more, squeezing her affectionately.

"We've been mistaken as a couple so many times," he went on and she nodded, amused.

"Like those times in Kansas."

"And I think Skinner's starting to give us weird looks."  She smiled.

"Well, that's not surprising, considering your track record."  He pulled that cute puppy-dog face at her and she chuckled quietly, resting her head on his shoulder again.

"We should just go ahead and move in together."  She grinned and looked up at him.

"That'd go down well.  Although, I don't think there's anything in the Bureau rules that says we can't."  He smiled, trying not to let on that a part of him was serious.

"I guess it would make finishing reports off easier," he commented, smiling at her.

After a while, they decided to head back to the motel, having drunk three beers each and shared an alcoholic apricot cocktail.  It was dark outside and the air was biting.  Scully shivered a little and Mulder put his arm around her shoulders.  She smiled up at his friendly gesture and slid her arm around his back. 

There was a slight fuzziness in her head, the one she usually got when she was the slightest bit tipsy.  But she was glad she wasn't drunk.  She'd had far too many experiences with alcohol than she'd like to remember, most of them to do with embarrassing herself completely or doing something that she'd never do when she was sober.

She smiled when she felt him begin to caress her shoulder ever so slightly, with his thumb.  Leaning against him a little, fatigue making her feet drag, she sighed and relished in the warmth from his body. 

When they got back to the motel, it was almost one in the morning.  They'd spent a lot more time in the bar than they'd really meant to.  They walked together into Scully's room and Mulder flopped down onto her bed, lazily.

"You know, Scully," he sighed, "We really should move in together." She rolled her eyes at him and sighed.

"What makes you say that?" She bent her knee and folded her arms, looking affectionately down at him.

"Well..." He poked his tongue out the side of his mouth in thought.  "We're best friends, right?" She nodded.

"I guess."

"And we get on really well."  Again, she nodded.

"And it would make talking to one another less expensive, considering how much time we spend talking to one another on our cell phones."  She grinned.

"The Bureau *would* love that." He nodded, happily. "Much less money for them to spend."

"So what do you say?" She looked down at the floor, bewildered.

"I dunno, Mulder.  It's a big step to take.  I'll need some time to think about it."  He nodded.

"Sure.  Take as long as you want." She smiled gratefully and sat down on the bed next to him.  He closed his eyes and then opened them again because he'd suddenly thought of something.  "Ooooh, I know.  As we're gonna be helping the Bureau out financially, why don't we waste a little money on a few drinks from the mini-bar?"  She rolled her eyes at him.

"Mulder.  We can't.  Not on a case."

"Sure we can.  Watch."  He rolled over on his tummy to the edge of the bed and reached to the cabinet.  He opened it and took out two tiny bottles of brandy, holding them up for her inspection.  She shook her head, pulling a face.

"Don't like brandy." He lay the two on their sides on the mattress and routed around in the cabinet a little more.  He smiled at her and took out two vials of Vodka.  Scully raised her eyebrows.  "I'm gonna have such a hangover in the morning."

"That's okay.  I'll hold your hair back while you throw up."  She smiled at him and shrugged.

"Okay.  Fine.  I'm tired anyway.  I'm sure we can drink ourselves to sleep." He grinned like a little boy at Christmas.

"You want a contest?" She shook her head.

"The way you drink, I'd be hammered into the ground."  He smiled, handing her the two bottles.  "Thanks."  He got up off the bed and retrieved a couple of shot glasses out of the cabinet.  He handed her one.  "Right.  You got any salt?"  He shook his head.

"Just have to drink them without."  She raised her eyebrows and poured the first bottle into the glass.  Here goes, she thought and brought the glass to her lips, tipping her head back to let the strong liquid drip down her throat.  Gagging a little, she wiped a drop off her chin with her finger and sucked it, hoping Mulder didn't realize she'd almost thrown it back up.

Mulder drunk both shots together and coughed at the familiar tickle in the back of his throat.  He looked over at Scully, who smiled lazily at him, tipping her head back and swishing her hair from side to side across her shoulders.  He sighed, feeling really relaxed, for once.  He couldn't keep his eyes off her hair and the way it flowed around her neck and cheekbones.  He swallowed and blinked, chastising himself immediately for looking at her like that.

"So, what's the most you've ever drunk in one night?" he asked her, crawling up to lie on his side next to her.  She flopped backwards onto the bed, the other bottle in her hand and yawned, stretching her arms lazily above her head.  She shrugged.

"I dunno.  I once went to a friends party when I was nineteen and they spiked my drink big-time."  He chuckled and closed his eyes, remembering the many times he'd been drunk while he'd been working with her.  "I don't think I could stand up.  I can't remember any of it." He nodded and felt his mind begin to go fuzzy. 

He liked it when he was drunk.  He could forget all his problems, forget all his worries.  He'd even gotten drunk shortly after his mother had died.  It'd helped, but not as much as Scully had when she'd held him all night and rocked him to sleep.  He'd practically forgotten his mother had ever existed.  He often forgot who people were, but there was one person he would never forget when he was drunk. 

Scully poured the other bottle into the glass and drunk it.  She could feel the lightheadedness creeping over her by the minute.  She wasn't used to the amount of alcohol in strong drinks, she didn't usually stray far from wine or beer.  Sitting up, she felt her head spin violently.  She grinned and found that she liked it.  Turning her head this way and that, she smiled to herself as the room around her span in all directions.

Mulder touched Scully's arm. "Will you pass me another bottle of Brandy?"  She nodded and rolled over towards the minibar, reaching carefully for the last two bottles for him and another of Vodka for herself.  "Thanks."

"So how much can you drink before you turn into an over-excitable teenager?" she asked him, each word being a little over-pronounced.  He grinned.

"About this amount."  His hand reached for the bottle in hers, but he missed and grasped her arm instead.  She giggled a little and took his hand in hers, pushing the bottle between his fingers.

"There you go."

"Thank you."  She grinned and flopped down into the mattress again.

"We really shouldn't be getting so drunk on a case," she sighed, smiling at him crookedly.  He shook his head.

"It's not as if there's anything else to do.  The case is solved.  You emailed Skinner the documents last night." She sighed, resting a hand on her tummy.

"I know.  But it still feels like we're law the breaking or something." He laughed and she frowned. "What's so funny?"  He grinned at her.

"Did you hear what you just said?" A smile slowly began to creep onto her face.

"What did I just say?"

"You said 'law the breaking'," he replied, putting on a squeaky voice, trying to impersonate her.  She rolled onto her side and poked him in the ribs, her face in a typical, Scully-like pout.

"Don't take the piss."  She reached up to give his nose a quick pinch and he smiled.  "You don't get to see me drunk that often."  He patted her arm as an apology.  She lay back again, staring at the ceiling with a new fascination.  She grinned.  "Hey, Mulder?"

"What?" he said, a note of reserve in his voice.

"Can you see that mouse on the ceiling?"  He frowned.

"What?"  She lifted a hand and pointed up above her.

"Look.  There's a mouse on the ceiling."  She giggled and turned her head to him, giving him a playful look.  He squinted and stared upwards, turning his head this way and that.

"I can't see it."

"You're not very good at seeing things, are you Mulder?" she slurred, pushing herself into something that wouldn't quite pass a sitting position and felt her head spin again.  She dropped backwards onto the bed again, unable to stay sitting.  "It's up there."  Again, she pointed, giving him an exasperated look.  He looked at her and shook his head.  She sighed and dropped her hand, fiddling around with the last bottle in her hand, trying and get it open.  "You're *hopeless*, Agent Mulder."

"You are at opening bottles."  He took the bottle from her and sat up, unscrewing the top for her.  She smiled and tipped her head back into the mattress.  She opened her mouth, pointing down it.

"Don't tell me there's a mouse down there too." She rolled her eyes.

"No.  I can't get up." She giggled and opened her mouth again.  Mulder smiled and lifted the bottle up high above her lips, shooting her an enthusiastic look.  She grinned and he poured the vodka down somewhere near her mouth.  Catching the first drop, she drunk the rest, letting a little spill over the sides of her mouth and run down into the sheets.  She pulled a disgusted face when the last swallow was gone and coughed, placing a hand over her mouth.

"Nice?"  She nodded and he held a hand out to her.  She took it and let her head roll back on her neck as he pulled her to her feet.  "You get drunk so quickly, Scully."  She giggled and lay a hand on his chest, rolling her eyes at him.  "Lightweight."

"I am not *drunk*," she stated slowly, opening her mouth in exasperation.  He took her by the shoulders and pushed her towards the bed again.  For a moment, she thought he was going to throw her down and start ripping her clothes off, or something, but he just sat her down and knelt in front of her, waggling a finger in front of her face.

"You're a very naughty girl, Dana Scully," he scolded and she looked at him with innocent eyes and nodded, her face imitating seriousness.  "Don't you ever get drunk on a case again."

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Skinner," she said, her voice all little-girly and cute.  "But it's all my partner's fault for getting me drunk in the first place."  She beamed and giggled again, laying her hands on his shoulders and pushing him away.  Mulder very nearly fell backwards onto the floor.  She grinned and crawled over the bed to the pillows, taking one in her hands and turning around to face Mulder again.  There was devilish grin on her face.

"Oh no you don't, you bad girl."  She shrieked hysterically and jumped like a cat to the end of the bed, starting to batter Mulder haphazardly with the pillow.  "Ow!"  He armored his head with his hands and sped around to the other side of the bed, grabbing another pillow and swiping her over the head with it.

"This is war!" she shrilled, giggling and pounding the pillow against him until it burst open, feathers exploding into the air around them.  She gasped with an open mouth and her shoulders slumped.  "We broke the pillow."  Her sweet eyes looked so forlorn that he sat on the bed next to her and put an arm around her.

"Never mind.  At least we've still got one to lie on."  She sighed and swallowed, her eyes drooping suddenly.

"I think we should go to bed now."  A small lashing of her serious self came back and she sighed, tiredly.  "It's late and we've had enough fun for one night."

"Mmm..."

* * * * * *
March 15th
9:24 am

There was something in Scully's eyes.  Was it rain?  Or water of some kind?  She opened her eyes and groaned, rolling over to bury her face in the pillows.  It was the tiny bit of light shining from between the curtains in her hotel room that was hurting her eyes.  She closed them again and sighed to herself.  What a killer headache.  She'd not had one of these in a while.

Mulder put his hands over his eyes.  The light from the window was driving him insane.  If someone didn't switch that damn early morning sun out pretty soon, he was going to have to start taking hostages from the weather department.  He reached over to the side of the bed to find his watch and encounted something soft and cotton-covered.

Scully felt something touch her shoulder, but she tried to ignore it, her pounding head making it near impossible to think straight.  She swiped at the thing with the back of her hand and it lifted off her, much to her comfort.

She shivered and realized that she was naked, wrapped loosely in the bed sheets.  They felt incredibly clammy against her skin and she shifted around a little, trying to get comfortable for just a few minutes before she knew she had to get up.  Rolling onto her back and shading her eyes with her arm, she felt her side hit something body-like.  She groaned sleepily and reached out a hand to touch the thing.  It jumped under her fingers.

Mulder felt something touch his shoulder and jumped.  He reached out and grasped at it gently.  It was a small, fine-boned hand.  Recognition hit him, but he couldn't work out where it was from.  He wondered briefly whether he was in one of those weird dreams where you can't see, but trashed the idea when the hand in his squeezed a little.

Scully squeezed the hand she held and frowned.  Why the hell was there a hand in her bed?  Then she began to think logically again and figured that there must be a body attached to the hand.  And a person inside the body.  Reaching out her other hand, she smoothed her palm over the one in hers and followed it's arm up to the elbow.  There was hair growing on the arm and Scully frowned some more.  Then she realized.

Mulder realized who the hand sliding up his arm belonged to.

"Oh crap," they both murmured together, opening their eyes sleepily and staring at one another in shock.  Scully sat up and her mouth gaped as she looked down at Mulder.  She couldn't speak.  Mulder was wearing exactly the same expression.  And he wasn't wearing anything else.

"What did we..?" Scully mumbled, her head still banging.

"Scully, I..." She sighed and flopped back into the pillows with a groan.  Suddenly remembering her nakedness, she blushed and pulled the sheets around her breasts, turning on her side to face him.  He gave her a timid look and she swallowed.  "Did we..?"  His eyes held the unspoken question.  Scully reached under the covers and touched...

"Yes, we did," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"God," Mulder whispered, "How drunk were we?"

"So drunk that I can't remember any of what we did."  He groaned softly.

"Me neither.  And my head feels like crap." He rested his hands over his eyes again and wiped them down his face.

"So does mine," she replied, burying her face back in the pillows.

"You're sure we...you know?"  He gave her a crooked, embarrassed smile and she looked up, nodding.

"I'm sore," she murmured.  "Very..." She faded off and held out her hand to emphasize her point.  He sighed and reached over to touch her shoulder in a silent apology.  She sighed and, finally, smiled at him.  "Oh well.  I guess it was bound to happen some day soon."  He nodded.

"Seven years kinda puts the pressure on."  Scully chuckled quietly and reached for his hand.  He took hers and held it close to his face, nuzzling her knuckles softly.

"God, Mulder.  I don't believe I can't remember any of it," she moaned miserably, closing her eyes.

"Our first time together and we were too drunk for our memories to even work."  They sighed simultaneously and Mulder reached to caress her face tenderly.  He grinned, despite his headache.  "I love you.  I suppose I can tell you that now."  Looking deep into his eyes, she smiled and placed her own hand over his, against her face.

"Yeah, I love you too.  Have done for a long time."  She shifted closer to him across the bed and snuck her nose under his chin, pulling the sheets between them and around her.  He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed against him, resting her hands lightly against his chest.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked, snuggling his nose into her hair.

"I'm not doing anything for another ten minutes.  I can hardly open my eyes."  She chuckled a little and felt his arms tighten around her, affectionately.

"I'm sure not going anywhere."  She smiled and relaxed against him as his hands swirled gentle patterns against the bare skin of her back.  "Hey Scully," he whispered after a moment or two.

"What?" she breathed back.

"You still want to move in with me?"

"Maybe."  He grinned and kissed the top of her head.  She sighed happily and lifted her face a little, to kiss the underside of his chin.

* * * * * *
10:18am

"Get up!" Scully, fully dressed and wolfing down Asprins like they were Rolos, kicked Mulder in the side with the heel of her shoe and smiled at his groan.  "Come on, Mulder.  We have to get a move on if we want to catch that plane back home in an hour and a half."

"I wanna stay here," he mumbled, rolling away from her across the bed.  She knelt on the edge and sighed, smiling a little.  Putting what she hoped was a menacing tone into her voice, she decided to threaten him.

"If you don't get up, I'm gonna have to jump on you."

"Go ahead."  Her smile widened.  She kicked off her shoes and bounced up beside him, sitting heavily on his side.  Mulder mumbled something and rolled onto his back, reaching up to hold her waist.  She grinned at him and rocked him back and forth with the weight of her body.  There was a part of her that just wanted to snuggle up in bed with him again.  A very large part of her.

"Good thing you're so light, Scully," he joked, smoothing his hands up and down her sides.  She sighed and gave in to the urge, leaning down to lie against him.  She smiled and let him stroke her hair.

"I wish we could stay like this for ever, Mulder.  But you have to get up."  He smiled at her and sighed.

"Okay.  You win."  She sighed and rose off him, letting her hand linger on his cheek for a moment.

"Love you, Mulder," she breathed, her eyes soft and affectionate.  He nodded.

"Love you too."  She smiled and stood, sliding her feet into her shoes again and clipping away from him, in the direction of the bathroom.

"I'm having a wash.  By the time I come back, I want you to be up and dressed."  Mulder grinned. 

"Yes Mom."  Raising her eyebrow in amusement, she retreated into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.  Stripping off her shirt, she stood before the sink.

She turned on the taps and put in the stopper, staring into the basin with a content look.  She'd been meaning to tell Mulder that she loved him for a long time.  In the end, she'd made a promise to herself that she would let him know before Easter.  It had been hard, harder than she'd imagined.  Every five minutes, she'd wonder if now was the right time to say the words.  But she'd always loose her nerve. 

Now *it* had happened and she regretted the fact that they'd had to get drunk, to find out what it was like.  She sighed and smiled to herself.  She knew the next time would be easier.  Much easier.

Cupping the luke-warm water in her hands, she splashed it over her face, letting a few drops trickle down between her breasts.  She considered for a moment before unclasping the hook of her bra and shrugging it off too, letting it drop on the floor beside her feet.  She trailed her hands in the cooling water and looked at herself in the mirror.

She looked terrible.

Dark rings stood out under her eyes and her lips were bitten and red.  Gazing down at her neck, she spotted a sanguine love bite...

Hot flesh against her own.  Mulder's mouth suckling fiercely at the skin of her neck.  He was behind her, touching her.  His teeth biting into her...

She stared at her reflection and swallowed.  Bits of the previous night were coming back to her.  It was strange, like being in murky water.  She shivered and lifted a wet hand to touch the small lesion.  It was sore.  Like certain other places.

Letting her head drop and hang loosely on her neck, she sighed and dipped her hand in the water again, swirling it around, making pretty patterns in the light reflecting off the crystal surface onto the sides of the basin.  She sighed again and suddenly, a spark of gold light caught her eye.

She looked up and noticed a small haze of gold on the side of the sink.  She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision and saw what it was.  A ring.  A beautiful bad of gold, just the right size for someone with small hands.  Maybe someone had left it there the night before they arrived.  But she would have noticed it by now.  She couldn't remember seeing it either of the two nights they'd already stayed.

She stared at the ring for a few seconds, then picked it up.  She smiled a little at the confusing object, before slipping it daintily onto the ring finger of her left hand.  She gazed at it, lovingly.  It fitted her perfectly.

Meanwhile, Mulder was debating whether or not to get out of bed.  He decided he should really, considering Scully had one hell of a hangover and was considerably ratty, even though she'd just admitted what he'd known all along.  He smiled to himself and pushed himself into a sitting position, his hand holding him up while his head span violently.  She'd looked so beautiful this morning when he'd woken next to her.  Confused, but beautiful none the less.

And when she'd confirmed that they had indeed *done it*, he'd been so angry at himself for not remembering.  He swung his legs out of bed and spotted his pants and boxers in a heap on the floor.  Getting completely out of bed and bending down to retrieve the garments, he noticed something floral sticking out from under his trouser-leg.  He frowned and lifted his pants, revealing a small posy of flowers.  White miniature roses. 

He grinned and tilted his head fondly at them.  Had he bought them for Scully, perhaps?  Had they been a delivered present for his love last night?  He still couldn't remember anything they'd done.  He sighed and reached down to pick up the flowers, lifting them to his nose and sniffing their sweet fragrance...

Kissing peach-like lips softly and handing her the flowers.  Her smiling blue eyes as she lifted them to take a sniff.  Then kissing her again as she thanked him and the bells...

Bells.  There had been bells last night.  Had he had the radio on?  Or was there a late night service at the church across the street?  He smiled to himself, glad that things were beginning to come back to him.

He grinned as the bathroom door opened and Scully stepped out, idly smoothing the fingers of her right hand over the back of her left.  He stood and held the flowers out to her, hoping she'd start to remember too.

Scully smiled gently and took the flowers from him, fingering the soft petals affectionately.  Mulder watched her mutely and noticed the ring on her finger almost instantly.  He raised his eyebrows.  "Scully?"  She sighed and sniffed at the flowers.

"What?"

"That ring."  He pointed to her hand and she smiled, holding it out to him, for inspection.

"I just found it in the bathroom.  Someone must have left it there."  Mulder took her hand in his and rotated the ring around her finger gently, admiring its shine and color.  He gazed back down into her eyes and felt himself warm in the blueness of them, raising his eyebrows, amused.

"Suits you."  She smiled.

"Fits me too.  Perfectly."

"It's beautiful, Scully."  He took a step backwards to observe her better but his foot hit the side of the bed, causing him to stumble and fall onto his knees.  "Ouch."  Scully was immediately in front of him and she clasped his hand in hers.

"Are you okay?"  He nodded and gazed up at her.  Something happened between them.  Scully dropped the flowers.

The exciting flash of gold as he slipped it onto her finger and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.

The coldness of that first feeling of the ring on her finger.

The light from the candles all around them as they walked together...somewhere.

The spell broke. "Lord," Scully whispered, closing her eyes in wonder.

"You keep remembering things too?"  She nodded and watched him stand, taking her hands in his and leading her to the bed.  They sat slowly, shakily, side by side, looking at one another, almost afraid.

"What can you remember, Mulder?" Scully started, keeping tight hold of his hand.  She didn't want to let him go.  The memories were shaking her usually cool exterior beyond speedy recovery.  They were coming back too fast, making her feel dizzy and goosebumpy.

"I remember giving you the flowers.  And bells.  I remember bells."  She nodded slowly.  "What about you.  Did you remember anything?"  Again, she nodded.

"I know we made love..." She bit her lip nervously and just looked at him.  He gave her a questioning look and she swallowed, rolling her eyes and indicating behind her.  He raised his eyebrows.

"Like that?"  She nodded and blushed, unbuttoning the first two buttons of her blouse and revealing the dark pink mark on her collarbone.  He gave her a guilty look, touching the small blemish gently with his fingers, and she winced a little.  "Sorry."  She smiled as he bent and pressed his lips against the lovebite, ever so gently.  She hardly felt it, he was so gentle.

She couldn't look at him, so she dropped her eyes to somewhere over his shoulder.  "And just now, I remembered something about the ring."  He nodded.

"Me too."

"I remembered you giving it to me." 

"Yeah.  I remember that too."  She swallowed and looked up to catch his eye.  He smiled at her.  "And we went somewhere last night.  We were walking..."

"And there were bells..."  He shrugged.

"Maybe I bought you the ring, and then we went for a walk at midnight by the church."  She smiled at him, tenderly.

"Romantic, Mulder."  He grinned, modestly at her and nodded, understanding.  Everything was falling into place.

"And perhaps we went into the church, because I remember candles."  She nodded and sighed.

"Sounds like we had one hell of a night."  He sighed and gazed into her eyes.

"Scully?"

"Yeah?" He sighed again and moved closer, looking at her hopefully.

"Do you remember buying *me* a ring?" She shook her head, affectionately.

"No.  Not at all."  He shrugged.

"Oh well."  He sighed and smiled shyly at her. "I remember kissing you last night."  She shook her head slowly, miserably.

"I don't..."

"Let me remind you."  She smiled and he cupped her jaw in his hand, shifting closer to her and touching his nose to hers.  He nuzzled her sweetly and she sighed against his face, countering the affection and sliding her hands up his chest and over his shoulders.  "Love you, Scully," he murmured.

"I love you too, Mulder," she breathed back, tilting her head and parting her lips a little.  Mulder closed the final breath of space between them and touched his lips gently to hers, feeling their perfect softness for the very first time.

Scully smiled softly against his lips, lifting a hand to touch his cheek.  As they began to kiss properly, she wondered why the hell they hadn't done it before, well, not consciously anyway.  She closed her eyes and kissed him back, putting as much affection into the kiss as she could.  She wanted their first *proper*, *conscious* kiss to be perfect.  She felt recognition hit her in warm waves over and around her heart.  Yes.  They had kissed before.

Mulder could feel her sweet breath against his cheek, tickling his ear, soft as a feather.  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, squeezing her body against his and running a hand idly up and down her back.

"This is so weird, Mulder," she said when they broke apart.  He nodded.

"I know what you mean."  She smiled and took his bottom lip between hers, laying a hand on his cheek and smoothing her thumb over the early stubble.  They just stayed like that for a while, relishing in the contact and affection.  She pulled away and grazed her lips against his chin.

"It's like when I was dying of cancer, I couldn't remember much because I was so ill."  She looked up into his eyes and swallowed.  "I guess that's why I'm a little scared.  The feeling's too familiar."  He slipped his arms around her again and buried his face in her hair.

"It's okay," he whispered softly. "I'm scared too."  She turned her face up to his, against his chest and gazed up at him, curiously.

"What are you afraid of, Mulder?"  He swallowed and kissed her temple lovingly before cupping her jaw.

"My motto for the past few years has been to trust no-one.  Sometimes I can't even trust myself, but I've always been able to trust you.  You are my life-line to sanity, and I've always been able to rely on you."  She snuggled against his chest again, beginning to understand.  "I can't rely on you now, not for this.  You remember as little as I do.  It scares me that you can't help me."  He sighed, exasperated and she squeezed him tight.

"We'll remember, Mulder.  Don't worry about it."  He nodded against her and she sighed deeply.  "Thanks for the ring, by the way."  She glanced over the carpet and grinned.  "And the flowers.  They're beautiful."  He smiled.

"I'd do anything for you, Sweetheart."  She pulled back and they looked into one another's eyes, baring souls and sharing affection.  Hiding nothing.  Mulder's hands caressed her neck, smoothing around her nape, so close to where the implant was found.  Scully's eyes teared up a little as she realized how gently he was touching there, softly wishing he could take all the past painful memories away and replace them with good ones.  She sighed and smiled at him wetly.

"Try to forget those memories, Mulder."  He nodded and sighed.  She raised her eyebrows and lifted her wrist to look at her watch.  "We should get going.  We're gonna miss our flight."  He gave her a miserable look and leant forward to kiss the bridge of her nose.

"What time's our flight?"

"Eleven-thirty."

"What time is it now."

"Half-ten."  He sighed.

"I suppose we'd better then."  He didn't move, didn't want to let her go just yet.

"Mulder."  She looked at him, sternly.  "We really have to go."  His shoulders slumped and his heart sunk, but he loosened his grip around her waist.  She slid his arms from around her and kissed his lips, too briefly.  "Come on."  He grinned at her and stood up.

* * * * * *
Ten minutes later, they were packed and ready.  Mulder walked through the door into her room and held his arms out for her, that cute puppy-dog look he did so well, on his face.  She smiled and sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh come on, Scully.  I've gotta go for seven long hours without putting my arms anywhere near you.  Please?"  She sighed again and gave him a soft look.

"Okay.  Just a quick cuddle, mind.  We don't want to be late for that plane."  He grinned and enveloped her in his arms, spreading long, tender kisses all over her face and hair.

"I love you." His voice held real meaning.

"I love you too."  She sighed, smiling self-consciously.  "It feels so weird to say that to you."  He nodded.

"But it feels so right."  She nodded, snuggling into his shirt and closing her eyes.

"Now come on.  We have to get going."  He smiled at his beautiful Scully and gave her one last, thorough, lingering kiss, before taking her hand in his and kissing the backs of her fingers.

"Right."  He picked up her bag and his in one hand, making for the door.  She followed and he opened the door, grasping the room key in the other hand.  She sighed, exasperated.

"Mulder, I can carry my own bag, you know."  He grinned, the Scully he knew and loved making him feel all warm inside.

"It's okay. I can manage."  She smiled at him, appreciatively.  They exited the small room, both feeling a little sad to leave the place where they had their first proper kiss.  Scully gazed quietly behind her and sighed.  She couldn't wait to get home, but she'd miss the room. 

Suddenly, a gigantic, bustling lady walked straight into her from out of her room and she almost fell over sideways.  Mulder caught her by the arm, stopping her from falling.  The lady stopped and smiled at Scully.  "Oh, I'm sorry, dear.  I didn't mean to walk into you."  He gaze changed to amazement as she noticed Mulder with her.  "You're the couple who..."  She took a deep breath.  "Wait a second, I have something of yours."

Scully gave Mulder a questioning look, but he just shrugged.  The woman sped into her room and came out again, her hands holding a piece of paper.  "You left this on the landing last night."  She smiled at them, knowingly.  "Thought you might want it back."  Scully took the paper from her and stared at it.  Mulder leaned over her shoulder to read.

In curvy, blue letters on the paper stood out the words, 'Marriage Certificate.'

"Oh shhh..."  Scully reached up and clamped a hand over his mouth, stopping him from saying the inevitable.  She stared at the certificate again.  It couldn't be true.  But as she tore her gaze from the title, down to the two names scrawled on the dotted lines, she knew it must be.  Dana Katherine Scully.  Fox William Mulder.  Oh.  God.

They were married.

So that's why Mulder had heard bells, candles, remembered placing the ring on her finger.  But that must mean... "Oh, I almost forgot."  She rummaged around in her pocket.  "Here you left this too."  She produced another golden ring, just the right size for Mulder and handed it to him.  Then she promptly turned on her heel and strutted down the hallway, not noticing the two completely shocked faces she left behind her.

"Mulder..."  Scully couldn't speak.  "Mulder..."  Mulder couldn't either.  "Shit."  She began to open and close her mouth, her body beginning to shake.  She began to pant in short, sharp breaths and he realized they should go somewhere else, away from prying eyes.  Mulder slipped an arm around her waist and led her back to their room, closing, locking the door behind him and sitting on the bed again.  He just held on to her, his arm tightly around her waist as she struggled to normalize her breathing. 

When she'd calmed down a little, he squeezed her once before, turning to her and leaving a small kiss against her hairline.  "Shit, Mulder."  When he looked down again there were tears in her eyes.  "Shit."  He nodded, dumbstruck.  She lifted the certificate to her lap again to read over and over, trying to convince herself that those weren't Mulder and her names scrawled there in black ink.  But she couldn't. "Oh my God."

The first tear fell down her face and he smoothed it away in a flash.  "It's okay, Scully," he reassured her, slipping his arm back around her again and burying his face in her hair.  She shrank away from him and stood, sharply.

"What the fuck do you mean?  Of course it's not okay, Mulder!  We're fucking married!"  She started to pace the room, throwing her hands up in the air as she went.  "I don't believe this!  How could we be so fucking irresponsible?  How the hell could we have fucking let this happen?"  Mulder stood and caught her arms in his, bringing her to a halt.

"We were drunk.  And what's so bad about being married to me?  Am I that annoying?  I love you."  She gazed into his eyes, wanting, no, needing to believe him.

"I love you too, Mulder, but we can't do this.  We're fucking married for Christ sakes!"  She began to pace again, but Mulder held on to her, walking with her.

"It's okay, Scully.  Calm down."  She shrugged him roughly off her and strode away from him, unbelieving horror in her eyes when she looked back at him.

"How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when something like this has happened?"  Another tear let itself loose down her face.  Then another, and another.  She let out a sob that tore at Mulder's heart and ripped it in two.  She pressed her lips together in an attempt to stop crying.  She couldn't. "It's over, Mulder.  Everything.  It's all over."  She sat on the bed again, misery clouding her eyes.  Pushing her face into her hands, she wept.

Mulder sat gently down by her side, lifting his hands and bringing them to her shoulders.  He pulled her against his chest and she complied, nuzzling her face into his shirt and crying hard.  He stroked her hair back from her face and kissed her temple, shushing her quietly and running a hand up and down her back soothingly.  As she quietened, he wondered why the hell they'd done it.  And how the hell they'd not remembered it.  Their own wedding day.  Lord.

Scully was so angry at herself.  She'd known from the beginning that getting drunk had been a big mistake.  How the hell had they let this happen?  What in the world were they going to do?  She sighed against his chest and felt him kiss her temple.  She slowly sat up properly and faced him, gazing deep into his eyes.

He gazed right back, leaning closer to nuzzle his nose against the side of hers.  She sighed and returned the affection, lifting her hands to lay them on his cheeks.  Their lips came together almost of their own accord and Mulder kissed her as tenderly as he could, trying to make her believe that they'd be okay.

They broke away as softly as they'd come together and Mulder gently caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.  Scully reached down again to take his hands in hers.  She looked down at their joined hands and sighed, defeated.  "What are we going to do?" she asked him, her voice a mere whisper.  He took her jaw in his hand and turned her face to him, looking her in the eye.

"Whatever happens, Sweetheart, we're going to be alright."  She sighed and nodded, eventually smiling sheepishly at him.  He smiled back, kissing the bridge of her nose and squeezing her hands in his.

"I guess we could always get an annulment..." she murmured, swallowing.  He tossed her a hurt look and she smiled a little.

"*I* was kinda hoping we would stay married," he said, looking a little nervously at her. She smiled fully then, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.  They broke apart and grinned at one another.

"So we're agreed then?" she asked him, smiling, knowing the answer before he said it.

"Of course.  I think it's one of the only things we've ever agreed on."  She chuckled a little, rubbing his upper arms with her hands.

"My mom's gonna kill me.  I think she may have already got her outfit bought for a church wedding." He raised his eyebrows.

"Really?"  She nodded.

"Yeah.  She's been asking me about you for ages.  Trying to get us together.  She really likes you."

"Good job, really.  She's my mother-in-law."  They smiled at one another, but Mulder's face grew sad for a moment.  "You're unlucky," he sighed.  "You don't get one." Her face fell and she lay her head on his shoulder, snuggling at his neck.  They held one another in silence.  "I'm sorry."  She sighed and squeezed him.

"That's okay."  She sat up and smoothed her hands against his shoulders.  Her expression turned from misery to wonder as she gazed at him.  "It's a strange feeling."  He looked suprized.

"What, being married?"  She nodded.

"Mmm-hmm.  It's weird that we don't remember it.  You'd think even drunk we'd be able to remember something as important as getting married."  He nodded.

"At least you didn't get married to some strange guy you found on a street corner.  I would have been so jealous."  She grinned, not unlike she had the night before, when she'd found a mouse on the ceiling.

"No kidding, Mulder.  Remember when that guy Colton tried to flirt around me?  You were like my guardian."  She stood up and began to pace the room, her arms swinging all manly.  "Me Tarzan, you Jane.  Scully's mine.  Keep your hands off her."  He stood and started to laugh, finally picking her up in his arms and jiggling her up and down.

"Me Fox, you Dana.  We married."  They both, for some reason, found this hilariously funny and Mulder threw her roughly onto the bed, mainly out of fear of dropping her.  She landed on her butt, bouncing hard on the mattress and sitting up, brushing her hair from her face.  The laughed a little more and Mulder sat on the side of the bed, leaning over her as she lay down again.  She smiled as he kissed her, laying his arms either side of her face.  "Hope you don't get too pissed off with annoying, little me."  She grinned.

"I think I'll just have to get used to you, Fox."  His first name sounded so good on her lips.  He leaned down to her and kissed her softly.

"Do you think we should replay last night?" he asked when they broke apart.  His eyes were a dark hazel and they made her shiver.  Scully shook her head and swiftly looked at her watch.

"Shit...We missed the plane, Mulder."  Her eyes looked at him, forlorn and desolate.  He was about to put his arms around her, tell her everything was okay, but she grinned and pushed him away from her.  "Had you big-time.  Come on.  We've got twenty minutes to get to the airport.  We'd better hurry."  He nodded and grinned, racing out the door after her and closing it behind them.

They would be okay.

La fini. (PHEW!!!)