Risky Business by Teresa SUMMARY: Mulder gets himself into deep trouble with some international terrorists- and Scully must risk her own life to save him. Plenty of MSR. This summary sucks, just trust me, R&R, you’ll like it. CATERGORY: Action, Romance (MSR), Angst, Suspense, SiSA RATING: 90% PG-13 with R moments sprinkled throughout. Language, violence, scary situations, & witty but tame sex talk. As Jillian would say, “Fun stuff”. Don’t read this if you’re younger than high school. SETTING (TIME): Season 7. After the flashback events in “Per Manum” and after “all things” but before “Requiem”. Basically, we’re going to pretend that there was an actual romantic relationship in this time period, which was about a month long. Any objections? No? I didn’t think so. SPOILERS: Nothing you shouldn’t know already. ARCHIVE: By all means, even if you just want a copy for yourself. Just e-mail me at tcarthage@yahoo.com and I’ll send you a continuous copy. DISCLAIMER: Yada yada yada. CHAPTER 1- The Timeless Art of Seduction Friday, May 5, 2000 4:24 PM J. Edgar Hoover Building, Basement Dana Scully was not having a good day. No, scratch that. Dana Scully was not having a good week. She had just left her fourth budget meeting that week, during which she had been forced to vehemently defend the entire X-Files division and their expenditures, which, she had to admit, were often a bit excessive. It had been an exhausting argument, especially because she knew that no matter how well she justified her work, she and her partner would forever be seen as the FBI’s most convenient scapegoats. Scully frowned. Speaking of her partner... “Where the hell were you?!” she snapped as soon as she entered the office. He was sitting there with his feet on the desk, absently fiddling with a pencil, the phone cradled between his ear and shoulder. He gave her an amicable look and mouthed, ‘I’m on the phone!’ She promptly snatched the phone from his shoulder and hung up, slamming the receiver down in frustration. “We had a meeting, Mulder! Where were you? I had to handle it all by myself!” “And I’m sure you did a wonderful job. Thanks.” “Dammit, don’t try to avoid this. What happened?” He shrugged. “It must’ve slipped my mind.” Her fists tightened and she glared at him, shooting fiery daggers from her eyes. He glanced back up at her and grinned, and the daggers clattered harmlessly to the floor. “Mulder,” she began, calmly at first, “I had to defend our expenditures in front of the entire board, including Kersh. They crucified me in there, and on top of that, I had to cover for you-” “As I said, Scully. Thanks.” He smiled at her again, aware of but completely ignoring her incredulous stare. He stood up and stretched with a groan. “My neck’s sore,” he commented, and then looked at Scully, as if he expected her to do something about it. She continued to stare at him, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed. She hadn’t blinked in four minutes. Mulder shrugged again and stepped past her to the door. He grabbed his coat and folded it over one arm, picking up his briefcase with the other. “I’m gonna head out a little early today, Scully.” “Excuse me?” “I’m sorta tired. It’s Friday and I think I’m just gonna go home now.” Her mouth fell open. “Mulder, what is going-” “Oh, could you, uh, get that paperwork taken care of?” he interrupted. “And I think there’s a few more reports to write about those last few cases, if you don’t mind. Call me if you have any questions, okay?” He could’ve sworn he heard her squeak, and his smile widened at the rise he was getting out of her. “Well. I’ll see you Monday, then,” he said pleasantly. “Have a good weekend.” He leaned in to give her an unreciprocated peck on the cheek, turned on his heels, sauntered out of the office, and shut the door behind him. Outside, Mulder paused, pressing his ear to the door with a grin. There was a very, very long silence, and then a sudden clanging commotion. He knew exactly what she was doing. She was kicking the poor, innocent, oft-abused trashcan. He stifled a laugh. This is so much fun... Friday, May 5, 2000 6:36 PM Georgetown, Virginia Scully wearily turned her key in the lock and shoved the door open with her shoulder. She set down her briefcase inside and sighed softly, extremely relieved to be home. She was about to close the door behind her when she saw a figure move out of the corner of her eye, and she spun towards the couch, immediately alert. Her right hand reached for her gun while the other groped behind her for the light switch. In another moment the room was flooded with light and she had drawn her weapon on the intruder. Mulder sat up on the couch and looked at her cheerfully, apparently not bothered by the fact that she was aiming her gun at him. “You trying to pick a fight, Scully? ‘Cause I don’t think that’s playing fair.” She lowered her gun and glared at him. “What the hell are you doing here?” “Waiting for you.” “Mulder, get out of here,” she said irritably. “I have paperwork to do all weekend, as you so kindly reminded me, and I’m not in the mood to play games right now.” He jumped up from the couch, trotted over to her, and helped her remove her coat. “I have a present for you,” he said, producing a package from behind his back. The fact that it was simply a thick manila envelope made Scully eye it suspiciously. “Mulder, what are you trying to-” “Just look at it, will you?” She sighed and opened the envelope, glancing down at it skeptically. But her eyes widened as she flipped through the papers inside. She looked up at Mulder in awe. “You did this?” she asked, unable to conceal her excitement. “You wrote all the reports, you filled out all the paperwork for our last four cases...” “So I would appreciate it, Scully, if you didn’t kick me out of your apartment,” he replied, very pleased with her reaction. She finally allowed herself to smile. “Have a seat, Mulder. You deserve it.” “No, not yet,” he said. “You go change your clothes, make yourself comfortable. Just relax, okay?” She reluctantly obeyed, not taking her wary eyes from him until she entered her bedroom. In a few minutes she returned, dressed in a comfy pair of flannel boxers and a large New York Yankees baseball jersey- his Yankees jersey, which she had apparently stolen from him during the past month. Not that he minded- he didn’t care what she wore as long as it was removable. He blinked the thought from his head and pointed her towards the couch, motioning for her to sit down. “Mulder, I’ll ask you again,” she said. “What are you doing?” “Nothing,” he replied. “Just, uh, unwinding with my partner on a Friday night.” He joined her on the couch, a bottle of red wine in one hand, two stem glasses in the other. She took a glass from him and watched as he uncorked the bottle and poured them each a nice healthy amount. “Cheers,” he said, clinking his glass to hers. “I’ve been through this scene before,” Scully said with a nostalgic smile. She nodded at the glowing fireplace and the red wine, then at her partner. “Don’t worry, I like you better than Eddie Van Blundht. Though not by much.” Mulder grinned. “What was that... three years ago? Wow, three years... three years already, seven years total-” “What were you thinking?” she asked, curiously. They had never actually discussed the pinnacle of the Van Blundht case before. “I mean, what were you thinking when you came in here and saw us?” She suppressed a giggle at the memory. Mulder sipped his wine distractedly. “Well before I got here, I was thinking... she thinks he’s me, so she’ll trust him, but God knows what he’s gonna try to do. I just wanted to get to you first. But I also remember that in a way I was torn... I couldn’t decide whether I wanted him to succeed or not.” He glanced at her for a moment, but then quickly explained, “I mean, I didn’t want him to touch you, of course. But even though I couldn’t imagine you’d let it get very far, I knew that if you rejected him, you’d actually be rejecting me.” Scully smiled. “Well, you saw that I wasn’t putting up much of a fight, but you scared him away before he could do anything. And the look on your face was priceless.” “Yeah,” he chuckled. “I really didn’t know what to think of it. When I opened the door, I thought, fireplace. Wine. And I saw you. With him. With me. And I thought, look what he’s doing, that loser is getting farther with her after one day than I’ve gotten in four years.” Scully laughed. “Well, you know, he was very charming... in your body, at least.” She poked Mulder’s arm affectionately. “But just because Eddie Van Blundht fed me wine and listened to my high school anecdotes does not mean that he succeeded in seducing me.” “For which I am very grateful,” he added. “Why? Are you trying to seduce me, Agent Mulder?” she teased. “Oh, I don’t know, we’ll see,” he said, grinning. “Tonight it’s just dinner and a movie. Very casual, very laid back. And I’ll watch anything you want, even if it’s a chick flick.” “I don’t have any chick flicks, Mulder. You know me better than that. I have comedies and action movies, and that’s about it.” He went over to her TV cabinet and opened a drawer to rummage through her very limited video collection. “Mystic Pizza, no. Hmm, Spinal Tap, no. Deep Impact- jeez, that sounds like one of my movies. Young Frankenstein, Terminator 2, Silence of the Lambs, no... Kalifornia?! Holy shit, what a God-awful movie, Scully. What could have possibly compelled you to buy this?” “Oh, that was years ago. Guess I was on a Brad Pitt kick.” “Whatever. Can I throw it in the fire?” “Um, if you like.” He tossed it into the fireplace, watching with satisfaction as the tape burned and melted into a bubbling puddle of black plastic. Scully rolled her eyes at his male compulsion to destroy things. She came up behind him and peered past him at the videos. “Hey, here we go,” she said triumphantly. “Mission Impossible 2. I love that movie-” “Oh, are you a big Tom Cruise fan, now?” “Why, are you jealous?” “Of course not,” Mulder replied, defensive. “I never get jealous.” “Oh, really. Ha.” He ignored her. “Besides, he’s married. He’s ineligible.” Scully sighed ruefully. “He wouldn’t be man enough to handle me, anyway.” “He’s man enough to handle Nicole Kidman... and Mimi Rogers, once upon a time,” Mulder said thoughtfully. Scully shuddered. “Oh, yeah... There’s something about her I don’t like at all... I don’t know what it is, but I’m really not a big fan of Mimi Rogers.” “Hmmm, wonder why. I sorta like her, actually.” “You would,” Scully muttered. “Why, are you jealous?” he countered. “Of course not!” He grinned at her. “Don’t worry, I like you better. Though not by much.” She shoved him playfully. “Are we going to watch a movie or not?” “Almost. Let me go get the food.” He stood up and headed to her kitchen, where he had been keeping dinner warm in the oven. Scully’s eyes lit up. “You cooked, Mulder?” “Yeah,” he said, a bit shyly. “I cooked... barely. It was quite a harrowing experience, and not something I’m eager to repeat.” Scully laughed and started to get up to help him, but he shot her an overly stern look that made her sit back down, thoroughly amused. “Stay there, Scully, and pick out a movie. Anything you want. I’ll be right there.” Scully took out the Mission Impossible 2 video and settled back onto the couch, resting her slippered feet on the coffee table. A minute later, Mulder returned and presented her with a plate full of oysters garnished with seasoned truffles, and chocolate-covered strawberries for dessert. “Mulder,” she began in a suspicious tone, “I’m a doctor, a scientist. I’m well- educated in chemistry and I’ve read Freudian psychology, not to mention the dozens of urban myths that litter our file cabinet.” “Yes, I know that, Scully,” he replied, innocently pretending he had no idea why she had brought it up. “Well then, you couldn’t have thought I wouldn’t see what you’re trying to do here.” “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “You do too. Oysters, truffles, and chocolate strawberries are all alleged aphrodisiacs. Alleged, mind you.” He smiled. “Hmm, interesting, I had no idea. Well then, you’d better clean your plate.” Scully shook her head with a chuckle but obeyed, and within ten minutes all that was left was a small pile of empty oyster shells. Mulder lowered his fork and cocked an eyebrow at her expectantly, as if he had just slipped her love potion #9 and was urgently waiting for a sign that it was working. “Mulder?” “Yeah?” “Stop looking at me like you want me for dessert. Eat your strawberries.” Mulder looked down at his plate and frowned at the strawberries as if they were somehow defective, at least compared to her. “You can have them,” he offered. “Don’t mind if I do,” she said happily, picking them off his plate. Mulder watched her nibble at the chocolate coating and gulped. Baseball, he thought, baseball baseball baseball... nope, that wasn’t going to work. Baseball had taken on a whole new meaning for him; he’d taken her to the batting cages several times since her first “birthday present,” and although she had learned quickly, they’d both agreed that baseball was much more fun with two batters and only one bat. And Mulder had decided that he would much rather wrap his arms around her and make sure her hips turned the right way than hit a few homeruns by himself... Wait a second, this really isn’t helping, he thought. Jeez, baseball can be a pretty dirty metaphor if I let it... and here she is, looking incredible in my Yankees jersey, still sucking on those damn strawberries. Scully suddenly realized he was staring at her and looked up at him mid-bite, half a strawberry hanging from her mouth. Screw it, he thought, it’s not like I wasn’t planning this anyway. Dinner’s over, let’s go. Time for dessert. He swooped in for the kill, pushing her back against the armrest, startling her a bit. Hovering over her, a hand on either side of her head, he quickly leaned down to bite the other half of the strawberry from her mouth. He brushed his lips against hers, teasingly, but then nuzzled her head to one side and rained kisses down her throat. With one hand, he fumbled for a remote control on the end table and punched a few buttons without looking. Luckily, his aim was correct and suddenly the soft melodies of ‘Nights in White Satin’ filled the room from Scully’s stereo. She chuckled softly. “You trying to start something, Mulder?” “Yes. Yes, I am.” “I think those oysters have had an effect on you.” “I think that you have an effect on me,” he mumbled against her neck. “The oysters had nothing to do with it, I assure you.” “So, what about the movie?” she asked absently. “We’ve both seen it.” “You were never really planning on watching a movie, were you Mulder?” “Nope,” he said, a bit impatiently, continuing his thorough exploration of her collarbone. “Hmmm, neither was I,” she said. She grabbed his head and pulled his mouth up to hers. He grasped her shoulders and held her tight against him as he kissed her senseless. Note to self, he thought- feed Scully chocolate strawberries as often as possible. “I’m glad I let you have my dessert,” he whispered, grinning, and kissed her again hungrily. By the time they finally broke apart again to allow air into their aching lungs, she had half melted, inside and out. No one else could ever do that to me, she mused, never. Only him... She swallowed hard, inhaled a shaky breath, and urgently pointed in the general direction of the hallway. She could manage three syllables: “There. Go. Now.” “If you insist.” He stood up and lifted her into his arms in one smooth motion, and kissed her again. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands threading in his hair, pulling him closer. She grinned against his mouth as he carried her down the hallway and into the darkness of her bedroom, and kicked the door shut behind them.