Title: Merrily, Merrily
Author: Gina Rain (ginarain@aol.com)
Category: UST
Rating: R 
Spoilers: The Unnatural
Archive: Sure.
Summary: I'm leaving it out. Just go with the whole 
story and trust me on this one.
Disclaimer: The X-Files belongs to a whole bunch of 
people. I'm not one of them.
Thank you: To my wonderful beta, Sybil. Thanks a 
million!
Special Dedication: To Sallie--who is so loving and 
supportive to everyone--she deserves a little something 
to cheer her during her recovery. This is my 
contribution, sent with love.



XXX Row, row, row your boat XXX

The room looked like the one they had just checked out 
of: faded walls, faded bedspread, ugly country landscape 
hanging slightly askew above the bed. Broken air 
conditioner.

It was a standard issue cheap motel room in the middle 
of nowhere.

As she fiddled with the knobs and dials of the broken AC 
unit, she let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a 
whimper. All the fiddling in the world wouldn't change 
the fact that the machine would provide no relief on 
this sweltering August night.

"There's more than one way to chill out, Scully."

*Chill out*. She would have hoped Mulder would have 
stopped using that expression along with the rest of the 
world. Sometime in the 1980s? She couldn't remember.

While she tried to recall the expiration date of the 
slang expression, she felt her partner slip her jacket 
off her shoulders. She heard it fall somewhere. The 
location didn't matter. It couldn't be worn again 
without dry cleaning anyway.

A warm hand pressed against her back. She shivered in 
discomfort as the wet silk of her blouse, combined with 
the damp elastic at the back of her bra, sent a sticky 
reminder of just how humid the night had become. She 
stepped away from the touch.


XXX Gently down the stream XXX


She turned to look at him. His jacket and tie were 
history. The crisp white shirt still looked crisp--even 
though the top three buttons were undone and his 
shirtsleeves were rolled up to just below his elbow. 
There was not so much as a single wrinkle in his 
charcoal gray pants.

She smiled internally.

The cool drink of water in her room was raising the 
already unbearable temperature up another notch.

"Come here," he said in much the same fashion he had 
used when he once held a bat and gave her an extremely 
early birthday present. She had known she was in for 
trouble but had trusted him and went. Very clear signals 
had been sent out and received that evening. Mulder's 
erection had pressed into her back and when she shifted 
just a bit, the only thing he had said was "ignore it." 
And, of course, Mulder being Mulder and Scully being 
Scully, they both did.

She thought about it later. The fact he had been aroused 
was undeniable. The fact he acknowledged it was 
unavoidable. The fact he asked them both to forget about 
it was both unnatural, yet completely right. Given the 
confines of their relationship, it was the only thing to 
do.

For one evening, they enjoyed the heady excitement of 
holding and being held. They didn't delve into deeper 
issues, or take drastic steps. They just enjoyed the 
warmth and the laughter without thought of going any 
further.

Scully didn't know what he was asking her to do now. It 
didn't matter. She still went willingly.

She stopped when she was an arm's length away from him. 
He moved just a tiny bit closer and put his hands on her 
waist, untucking her blouse from her skirt. This was not 
what she expected.

"Mulder ... "

He didn't respond to the warning tone in her voice, 
choosing instead to undo the buttons of her blouse--
working his way from the bottom up.

She should stop him. She knew she should, but the blouse 
was wet and disgusting against her skin and she wanted 
it off. She sighed in relief as she heard it plop on the 
floor. She made a mental note to herself: Dry silk 
floated. Wet silk plopped. Who knew?

Fingers were pulling down the side zipper of her skirt. 
She hadn't given much thought to all the layers there. 
Skirt, hose, underwear. He hooked his fingers in the top 
two layers and began to pull them down. She reached out 
a hand to grab his shoulder as he pulled them off, 
grabbing and tossing her shoes on the way.

"Better?" he asked, straightening up and reaching around 
her to unclasp her bra. Her arms automatically crossed 
in front of her chest.

"No. Mulder ... " The warning tone was back even while 
she was thinking of how good it would feel to have that 
wet blend of elastic and lace off her body.

"I've *seen* you naked, Scully. You've seen me."

"Yes, but it was during extreme circumstances."

"Well, it's *extremely* hot."

And her bra hit the floor. Her panties soon followed. 
And he stood there, fully dressed in front of her 
completely naked body. She wasn't one bit cooler. She 
was exposed in ways that went far beyond a simple lack 
of clothing. There was naked and there was *naked*. She 
knew without looking that her nipples were behaving as 
if she had gone topless in Antarctica. Well, that was a 
bad example. Perhaps Mulder had been right after all. 
Perhaps it was just more of the same old, same old. But 
there was also a full body blush to accompany the nipple 
action, and she could feel moisture in the only area 
that had been relatively dry before Mulder had started 
to strip her. None of these things happened when she 
stripped down for a Gyn visit.

Far worse than her own exposure was her total inability 
to read his expression--or lack thereof. He didn't move, 
didn't touch her and there was no expression on his 
face.

"There's a pool ... " he said and she headed for the 
bathroom to grab a towel before he could say another 
word.


XXX Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily XXX


All inhibitions left when Scully found herself floating 
naked in a motel pool. She didn't worry about sanitary 
conditions or risk of widespread exposure, should the 
other patrons of the motel also decide to choose this 
way to cool off. She just reveled in the cool water 
tossing around the strands of her hair--like a fiery 
halo--and the water slipping through her fingers as she 
gently lapped at it with her hands.

And then he was there, standing in the pool by her feet. 
The water was up to his bare shoulders. He wrapped his 
hands around her ankles and gently spread them apart.  
She felt the incredible sensation of moisture both 
running in and rushing out. She closed her eyes and 
dipped her head further back. When she opened her eyes 
again, he was not there.

She broke out of her floating position and began 
treading water as she looked around. 

There he was, sitting on the top stair of a concrete 
staircase leading from the pool. He leaned back 
slightly, his arms against either side of the railing.

His face was still a portrait of neutrality, but once 
again, his body betrayed him. And this time, it was not 
going to be easy to "ignore it." She was in the middle 
of the pool, treading water and staring at his naked 
body. Actually, staring at his erection. Straight, 
proud, impressive.

"Come here, Scully," he said.

As always, she went. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as 
each stroke led her closer to him. 

And then he reached down and put his arms under hers and 
lifted her out of the water and onto his lap. She spread 
her legs until they enclosed his, and supported herself 
again with one hand on his shoulder. With the other, she 
reached down and positioned him where she wanted him. 
She closed her eyes and began the slow, excruciating 
slide down.

"Mulder," she said, as he began to fill her and she 
accompanied her one-word sentence with a moan.


XXX Life is but ... XXX


"Scully."

She heard herself say something and moan before her eyes 
opened. Heat. Intense heat. Damn, it was hot. And 
sticky. But not in a good way. Not at all.

She opened her eyes. Mulder's hand was on her right 
cheek, pushing her face away from the car window. The 
one which had stuck three-quarters of the way down and 
she had been sleeping against for the better part of the 
last two hours.

"Ah, Scully. That's gotta hurt," he said as he gently 
stroked the indentation the window had left across her 
cheek. She heard him unstrap the seat belt and felt it 
pull away from her body.

She felt like she was in a sauna. Everything was foggy 
and heated. She looked around. There was no motel in 
sight. No pool. Just Mulder and Scully in a rental car 
without air conditioning. A rental car with a broken 
window that could go up but not down. She knew that 
much. If she concentrated, it would all come back to 
her.

She focused. They were in front of her apartment 
building after a long ride back from a case in upstate 
New York. The pool had been a dream. Perhaps if she just 
closed her eyes, she could quickly finish the dream 
before going upstairs.

"Come on, rise and shine, Scully. Okay, scratch the 
shine part but at least rise."

She could feel him hovering over her, still trying to 
stroke life back into her half-numb face. It was too hot 
to hover and all she could look forward to was the nasty 
pins and needles sensation when the circulation 
returned. She hated that feeling. 

Damn him.

He took her from the cool water of the pool. From a warm 
summer breeze and hot pulsing life within her. With 
dream Mulder, she could look forward to an earth 
shattering orgasm. That was a sensation she liked very 
much, thank you.

"Scully ... "

There was a mild warning tone in his voice.

"Shut up, Mulder. I'm sleeping."

"You were in the middle of a nightmare, Scully. Come on, 
it's hotter than hell in here. The faster I take you 
upstairs, the faster you can cool off."

*Nightmare*?

She had heard herself moan as she felt dream Mulder 
enter her. She could feel herself being filled by him. 
Felt the thick, hot slide ... she supposed a moan like 
that could have sounded like a nightmare.

Her eyes snapped open and she swatted his hand away and 
reached for the door handle. 

She was fully awake before her body hit the warm DC air. 
That's all she needed. She had been known to come in her 
sleep. Fairly rarely, but it had happened. Mulder might 
not have much luck spotting aliens but he sure as hell 
came close to being Johnny on the spot for this event.

He followed her up the stairs, annoyingly poking her 
after every three steps to ask her if she was still 
awake. It got stale after the first time.

"It's the heat, Mulder. I just fell into a really deep 
sleep. Stop that."

"Well, I'm sorry about the air conditioning. I really 
thought it would be much cooler once the sun went down. 
If I had any idea, I would have insisted on another 
rental."

"It's okay. I would have done the same thing," she lied.

They walked through the door and Scully made a bee-line 
for the thermostat. She turned it down and heard it kick 
in immediately.

"Just a few minutes, Mulder, and we'll be fine. Why 
don't you sit down and cool off for a while before 
hitting the road? I'll just change my clothes and we can 
have something to drink."

"Take a shower, Scully. You've got cable and air--one 
more luxury than my apartment currently has. I'll be 
more than entertained until you come out."

She smiled and went straight to the bathroom.


XXX ... A Dream XXX


She walked out of her bedroom ten minutes later feeling 
much better. She was in a tee shirt and shorts and felt 
cool, calm and relaxed. Dream Mulder was back where he 
belonged--somewhere deep in her subconscious only to be 
released on hot, sweaty nights when the frustration of 
not being able to cool off invited other frustrations  
out for a pity party.

She opened the door and stopped. Mulder was standing 
over a vent--his wet and wrinkled white shirt open and 
flapping in the cool breeze blowing from the air 
conditioning. His eyes were closed and the half smile on 
his face was as near to rapturous as anything she had 
previously seen in his limited repertoire of 
expressions.

The smiled faded and she knew he sensed her presence. 
Mulder opened his eyes and pulled the flaps of his shirt 
together. A sheepish look crossed his face.

"For the record, Scully, you did *not* just catch me in 
the middle of intimate relations with your AC unit."

"I know that. I can recognize afterglow when it's 
staring me in the face."

He shrugged and smiled and her stomach clenched 
slightly. He was beautiful and funny and real. Not an 
expressionless body with a steel cock who could provide 
a mindless, thoughtless, no frills fuck. 

She remembered what he had said before she went into the 
shower.

"How's your cable, Mulder?"

"Just fine, Scully. How's your internet service 
provider?"

She ignored him. "So, that means your air conditioner is 
not functioning?"

He nodded.

"No wonder you were having intimate relations with mine. 
How could you not have a working air conditioner in the 
middle of summer?"

"Because it wasn't quite this hot when we left town. I 
figured we'd come back and I'd buy a new one before the 
next heat wave hit. It's okay. I'll be fine. The health 
club pool opens at 5:30."

She felt the color rise to her cheeks over the thought 
of Mulder in the pool. The reasonable side of her began 
to scold.

Mulder would never sit naked on some filthy steps. He'd 
never yank her nude body out of the water and impale her 
in public. Hell, he'd probably never even do that in 
private. And all the things *she* did in that dream? 
Nuh-uh.

Besides, the real Mulder would never be a body without 
expression. Behind his sometimes poker-face, was a man 
filled with passion who went into everything with all 
his heart, mind, body and soul. Being with him would be 
far too frightening at this time of their lives. Which 
is why she occasionally needed dream Mulder to take up 
the slack. There wasn't the least bit of emotion in 
dream Mulder. Just a sexy body. Nothing to confound or 
astound her. Just a quick release. 

"Scully? Earth to Scully?"

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

"Do you have some sort of sleep disorder I should be 
aware of?"

"No." She shook herself. Dream Mulder was convenient and 
useful but definitely had no place in a room when the 
real thing was there. "Of course not. And--no pool. 
There's no need. Go downstairs and grab your bag from 
the car. You're staying here. I'll even let you have the 
living room so you and ... " she looked down at the vent 
"*it* can be alone."

He gave her a wry smile and crossed the room to her 
front door.  He turned back.

"What was your nightmare about, Scully?"

She looked at him--standing in her doorway--his 
expression open and curious. 

"I never said it was a nightmare, Mulder."

She was rewarded by another full out smile before he 
turned and left to pick up his bag.

She sat down and closed her eyes; reveling in the cool, 
clean air in her apartment--anticipating the warmth of 
having Mulder as a short-term houseguest. Sometimes, it 
was the simple pleasures of life that were the greatest.

But Scully never could do simple. 

She remembered a simple song in school that she pondered 
over for hours. "Life is but a dream?" How can it be if 
people were conscious for sixteen out of the twenty-four 
hours of the day? And even when asleep, dreams only 
occurred during certain cycles. 

Sex dreams were just sex dreams? And her true 
relationship with Mulder was far more complicated but 
could remain fairly simple on an interpersonal/romantic 
level until it was mutually decided it was beneficial to 
make a change? All well and good.

Until Scully remembered two sounds she clearly heard 
herself making before she woke fully. Two sounds she was 
pretty sure were not just part of a dream, but had 
crossed the boundary into real life. Two sounds that 
Mulder had been witness to and she had just confirmed 
were not the result of a nightmare.

One was the sound of a moan, which had immediately 
followed the one word that exposed all her mysteries:

"Mulder."

She heard his footsteps as they came down the hall. 

He wouldn't mention it. She was pretty sure of that. 

But if Mulder should break the rules of the game they 
both played--if he should be so bold and out of 
character--she would have only two words to say to him 
in response:

"Ignore it."



The End.

This bit of freakiness was brought to you by the 
overheated mind of Gina Rain in an un-airconditioned 
room.