Title - Foggier Than Ever
Author - Donna
Email address - [email protected]
URL - http://www.donnas-stories.com
Rating - NC17
Category - MSR, angst
Spoilers - Rain King, Tithonus
Keywords - MSR, angst
Summary - Continuation of Still Raining
Feedback - I live for it
Archive - Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit.

Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunman and Skinner
all belong to Chris, 10-13, and Fox - Bless them for it!! No
infringement intended.

Foggier Than Ever

"Maybe the fog is lifting, just a little."  He heard the words in
his mind.  She'd been wrong, he was as thick-headed as
ever and he'd lost his opportunity.  He shivered, hell he'd
almost lost everything.

She was resting now, asleep.  The doctor said her recovery
was amazing.  But there shouldn't have had to be a
recovery.  Shot by her partner.

Mulder felt a moment of near pleasure as he remembered
Ritter's face.  "You're a lucky man."  The asshole didn't have
a clue how lucky.  If she had, had died, he would have killed
him.  That was a given, nothing they might have done to him
would have touched him with her gone.

He let his face fall into his hands.  Scully had told Sheila that
something would click and a friend would suddenly become
the only one you could see yourself with.  That had
happened for him years ago.  He just hadn't acted on it.

He was familiar with rejection.  But not rejection from her.  
That he couldn't take.  So the big, brave FBI agent hid
behind his sarcasm and innuendos and took what she
offered, grateful for that.

"Mulder?  You okay?"

He jerked upright.  "Scully, yeah, I'm fine.  I didn't mean to
wake you.  Can I get you anything?"

Her eyes scanned him, but she didn't call him on the lie.  
She'd used it herself often enough.

"I don't need anything, Mulder.  Why don't you go get some
sleep?"

He shook his head, "Nyah, I'm good here."

She didn't argue, truth was she wanted him here.  She
hadn't said it out loud, she couldn't, but she was freaked by
what had happened and his presence was comforting.  The
problem was, he was so guilty.

Scully reached out and took his hand.  "I need you rested.  
I'll need your help tomorrow."

He straightened up.  "Sure, what?"

"I'm going home and I'll need an escort."

"Going home?  What the, when was that decided?"  His eyes
narrowed, ready to do battle with her doctor.

"Just now."  She spoke mildly.  "I'm ready to get out of here."

"No.  No way.  Scully, you were shot.   You shouldn't even . .
." His voice trailed off.  'Be alive'.  No way could he say that
out loud.  "I don't want you moving too fast."

"I won't, but I am going home.  I'll recover better there.  The
doctor said I was out of danger.  I just need to rest and
recuperate."

He opened his mouth to protest further, but she squeezed
his hand.  "Maybe you could stay over at my place a couple
of days, help out."

His mouth snapped shut.  Her place?  She would allow him
to look after her?

"We need to see what the doctor says."  He finally
responded.

"I'm a doctor."  She reminded him with a smile.

"You're my doctor.  I'm not sure I trust you for someone as
important as my partner."

Unexpected moisture came to her eyes, but she blinked it
away.  "Did you just insult me?"

"Never.  Close your eyes, Scully.  Rest and get strong for
me."  He rose and loomed over her for a minute, then
pressed his lips to her forehead, and then to her fingers.

The tears were back in her eyes.  She nodded and carefully
shifted to her side, the pain less than it had been even
earlier this evening.

He watched as she got comfortable, then took his seat
beside her again.

*****

He glanced over at her.  She was asleep, the seat reclined.  
The doctor hadn't been happy.  In fact he'd been downright
unhappy.  It had crossed Mulder's mind that he wanted to
keep Scully to examine her more thoroughly, maybe write up
her incredible recovery.  He had forced her to sign out
against medical advice, which hadn't fazed Scully at all.

The doctor had been adamant about her not getting on a
plane, something about the air pressure.  Whatever, now
they were in his rental car, headed home.

The doctor had advised that they stop every hour of so, for
her to walk a little.  Scully hadn't said too much until they
were in the car.  The first time he'd slowed down, she had
put her hand on his arm.  "The more we stop, the later we'll
be getting home."

"We can drive half way, then - "

"Mulder, I want to sleep in my bed tonight.  If you get tired, I'll
take over driving."

He looked over and saw that she was serious.  "That's okay.  
We'll keep going for awhile.  But we'll stop for a leisurely
lunch."

"Okay, we can do that.  I'll just relax now."

He had kept his eye on her, but she seemed to be resting
comfortably.  When he did turn off the highway, she stirred.  
"Don't argue, Scully."  He spoke when she glanced over at
him.  "It's time for lunch."

She glanced at her watch, then looked back at him, eyebrow
raised.  "11:15?"

"I didn't eat enough breakfast.  Besides, you'll like this place.  
It has a 40+ item salad bar."  He grinned at her.

She couldn't help it, she chuckled at his enthusiasm.  "Fine.  
But we don't have to stay here all day."

"Of course not.  And this way we beat the crowd."

She shook her head, but didn't protest.

He hurried around the car, to help her out and she allowed it,
even leaning slightly against him walking in.  His arm around
her felt good.  He watched her eat, only remembering to eat
himself when she reminded him.

She dozed off and on the rest of the way home, but seemed
okay when they reached her place.  He carried both of their
bags inside, though she had reached for hers.  The look he
gave her actually caused her to blush.

At his insistence she got ready for bed, while he fixed
something for dinner from her freezer.  He had planned to
take a tray in to her, but she sat at the table and just looked
at him until he looked away and served the meal.

Once she had eaten, he did insist that she go rest.  He
cleaned the kitchen and went to check.  She was in bed, but
reading one of her journals.

"You're supposed to be sleeping."  He sat beside her on the
bed.

"I slept the whole way home."  She groused.

"You left the hospital against medical advice."  He lifted the
journal from her hands.  "You need to lie down and get
comfortable.  I'll get your medicine."

She rolled her eyes, but decided not to give him any grief,
just relaxing back against the pillows.  It was kind of nice
being pampered by him.

Once he had her tucked in, he got ready for bed himself, pj
bottoms and a t-shirt, though he was far from sleep.  He
retrieved a blanket and pillow from the linen closet and made
himself comfortable on the couch.  He surfed the channels
with the sound turned low, but nothing caught his attention
so he snapped it off.

He flipped through the magazines on her coffee table, all
AMA journals.   He needed to give her a subscription to
Cosmo for her birthday, they could both enjoy that.

Finally he gave up all pretense of trying to sleep.  He wanted
to watch her breathe and revel in each breath.

He carefully let himself into her room and took the small
chair by the window.  The chair might not be the most
comfortable, but he wanted to be here.  His eyes finally grew
heavy and his chin sank to his chest.

*****

"Mulder?"

He was awake instantly.  "Yeah, Scully.  Are you okay?"

"Well I am, but you won't be, sleeping there.  Why are you
there?"

He shrugged.  "I wanted to be able to hear you if you needed
anything."

She didn't point out that he was literally only a couple of
yards closer than the couch.  He was here for himself as
much as for her.  She knew that and accepted, even
appreciated it.

She turned her bedside lamp on the lowest setting, then sat
up against the headboard.  "There is one thing you could do
for me."

"Sure."  He was already on his feet.

"You could change my dressing for me."

He hesitated, hadn't she done that when she got ready for
bed?  And, and the location of her wound . . . "Sure," he
heard himself say.  "I'll get the stuff."

She nodded and watched him leave to gather up the
bandages and cream.  Okay, yes, she'd admired his ass in
those pj's as he went.

When he returned, he sat beside her on the bed, putting the
materials on the bedside table.  He turned to her and she
lifted her pajama top to give him access, exposing the
bottom curve of her breasts along with the bandage.  He
couldn't stop the involuntary glance and could only hope she
didn't notice that his hands were trembling slightly.

He carefully pulled the tape from her skin to remove the
bandage, then stopped.  He stared at her body for a long
moment, then looked up to meet her eyes.  Neither spoke,
but his hand came up, his fingertips barely touching her skin.  
She shivered at the feel of his feather-like caress and her
breathing grew shallow.

"Scully, how?"

"I don't know, Mulder."

"You're healed.  There's almost no mark, no . . . "

"It's even better now than it was when I got ready for bed.  I
can't explain - "

"Fellig.  Fellig did this.  He saved you."

"Mulder - "

"He saved you.  That's all that matters, Scully.  The how, the
why - I don't care.  He saved you.  You're alive and you're
here."

"And you're here."  She spoke softly.

His eyes widened at her tone and he realized again his
proximity to her full and perfect breasts.  Was she . . . was
she giving him another chance?

"Scully."

She shivered again at the sound of him, his want, his need
undisguised this time.  She moved closer to him.  He wanted
to pull her against him.  

Instead he leaned down and his lips pressed lightly against
the faint bruise that was all that was left from what should
have been a fatal wound.  Her breath caught at the feel of
his lips against her skin.  She reclined, pulling him down with
her, her breasts becoming more exposed with the
movement.

She hadn't pushed him away, she hadn't slapped his face.  
He nuzzled her breasts.  She gasped then, but with delight,
entangling her hand in his hair.

He hesitated, pulling back slightly, sitting beside her, but
leaning close.  "Scully, we shouldn't . . . you - "

"Mulder, when I was lying there, waiting for the ambulance . .
. Fellig was dead beside me. One thought kept running
through my head. 'Wasted'."

His guilt took an immediate leap.  Yes, wasted was a good
word for what he had done to her life.

She saw that and continued.  "I'd wasted my chance and I
was never going to see you again.  I was going to die alone
and I'd wasted all that time."

His grip on her had tightened at the word 'die', but he was
confused now.  Wasted all that time?

"I'm healed.  You saw it yourself, Mulder.  I, I need to tell you
something."

She saw the concern on his face.  Her hand came up to
caress it away.

"Do you remember that letter we got from Sheila?  When you
found out what she and I had discussed?"

He blinked, he'd been thinking about that just last night.  
After a moment he nodded slowly.

"Mulder, what if I told you that I'd had that moment.  That I
can't imagine being with anyone but you."

His eyes closed for an instant.  "I'd say, 'finally'."

Her look of wonder caused a smile on his face.  "Finally?"

"I had that epiphany years ago, Scully.  I've just been waiting
for - "

He didn't get a chance to finish that sentence as her hand
caressed his cheek and he leaned into it.  What did she
want?  Her eyes smiled then and she let her lips lightly touch
his.  He let his eyes close as he deepened the kiss.  She
tasted cool and sweet and Scully, just as he'd always
imagined.  His hand caressed her back, the skin smooth and
warm beneath his hand.

She slid down in the bed, leading him down beside her.  She
pressed against the hard length of his body and her leg
brushed his cock.  

He broke the kiss then, pulling away from her.  "Scully, we . .
. you just got out of the hospital."

"Yes, from a bullet wound that's completely healed.  I'm
healed.  I . . . I don't want to wait any more."  She pressed
against him again.

He groaned into her mouth and she smiled.

He moved away long enough to lose his t-shirt and unbutton
her top.  His eyes caressed her body.
 
"Mulder?"

"I, I just want to, to look at you.  I need to believe this is real,
not some dream."

"It's not a dream, Mulder."  

He pressed himself against her and heard her breath catch.

He moved down her body, licking, tasting her.  And she
wasn't pulling away.  She was allowing him this pleasure.  
He felt like he'd been given the keys to paradise.

She let her eyes slide closed, feeling the stubble from his
face lightly caress her inner thigh, then his face nuzzling her
curls.  She remembered overhearing a woman from the
secretarial pool remarking that Mulder's nose was too large
for his face.  She couldn't be more wrong, especially the way
he was using it now.

He smiled as he heard her moan.  Then he slowly but surely
began driving her out of her mind.  His tongue, that talented
tongue . . .

Then almost before she was ready, she was coming.  She
was coming like she had never come before.  He moved
quickly to take her into his arms as she shuddered.  She
clung to him as her body gave itself over to the delightful
sensations he had brought from her.

When she finally began to come back to herself, she looked
at him, tears in her eyes.  

"Scully?"

"I've never been more wonderful." She answered his
unspoken question.

He relaxed then, pulling her close to him.  "Rest, Baby."

"No, we're not finished here."

"We are for tonight.  You just got out of the hospital.  You - "

"Then you can be on top this once."

"This once?"  He looked at her, his eyebrow cocked.

The grin she gave him was pure evil and his pulse
quickened.  "Come on, Mulder.  Show me what ya got."

"Oh, so you want me."  He nuzzled her throat.

"Yeah, I think I do."  Her leg slipped between his and he
knew how much she wanted him.

Both of their smiles faded as he moved over her and his
cock pressed against her.  Then he entered her slowly.  He
didn't dare think about how long he had wanted this.  He
concentrated on the sensation of having her hot tightness
surrounding him, wanting him.

When he was fully sheathed within her, he paused, giving
her time, giving himself time.  No words were spoken, but
their eyes said volumes.  He began moving slowly, then
thrusting deeper, harder at her insistence.

He wanted this to last, to show her how important she was to
him.  That couldn't happen; no way could he ever convey
that.  But he wanted her to enjoy this, to bring her to that
peak again and again, tonight and every night.  

Their eyes were locked again, devouring each other as they
loved.  He knew she was close again, he could feel it.  He
brought his fingers into play, and saw her eyes widen in
surprise, then her body arched and they both were lost in the
wave that overtook them.  Clinging to one another,
submerged in each other's soul.

She was stunned that she'd come again.  She rarely came at
all, though she didn't admit it.  The other men that she'd had
sex with, she couldn't call them lovers, not after tonight,
either hadn't made her feel safe enough to let go, or hadn't
taken the time.  She had been loved tonight in more ways
than she could voice.

He left her body and collapsed beside her, still mindful of her
injury.  She understood, but would have relished his weight
upon her.  He gathered her against him, holding her close.

She brought his face to hers and kissed him, then let him
rest his head on her breasts.  She felt him relax into sleep,
not releasing his hold of her.

She ran her hand through his hair, watching his body
entwined in rest with hers.  For the first time in too many
years, her future seemed clear.