Dana Scully woke slowly, her eyes fluttering open, brain
not quite functioning right away. Her first conscious thought
was that she was naked, and she knew that was odd because
she always wore at least a t-shirt and underwear to bed. Then
she realized the room smelled funny, tangy, with an undercurrent
of dirty socks. Then she turned her head an inch to the left and
saw Fox Mulder lying there in bed beside her, sleeping like a
baby for once. A disgusting trickle of drool traveled from his
mouth to the pillow.

Her eyes widened as the previous night came crashing down
on her in a heart-stopping flash. Oh. My. God. Shit, shit, shit.
She slipped out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake him,
scrambled into a raggedy robe she found lying on the floor,
and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She
studied her pale reflection in the mirror with disgust. Then
the headache hit. She sank down onto the toilet lid and buried
her face in her hands, willing the throbbing in her skull to cease.
No such luck.

Okay, calm down. Think this through. I had sex with Fox
Mulder last night, she thought, willing her mind to examine
the facts objectively, as if she were investigating a case. No,
that is not entirely true. I had sex with Fox Mulder many times
last night, on many different surfaces. She had trouble remembering
exactly how many times they had created the two-backed monster.
Three? Four? Dear God, it couldn't have been five, could it? Okay,
let's get back on track, Dana. What else. I have touched and for
the most part tasted every inch of my partner's body, and vice versa.
We did things together last night that must be illegal in at least half of
the states in the Union. We debased and degraded ourselves, reduced
ourselves to mindless animals, and enjoyed every minute of it. She
gradually realized the pain she was feeling was not confined to her head;
her thighs, legs, arms, jaw, and between her legs were all sore as well.
She took a few minutes to examine herself and discovered hickies in
places she didn't think it was possible to get them. What the hell was
she going to do now?

"Scully? Are you okay in there?" Mulder's voice on the other side of
the door startled her. Damn him for being a light sleeper.

"Umm, I'm fine," she said, as perkily as she could manage
considering the jackhammer cracking open her cerebellum.
What was that hangover remedy Melissa had told her about
once? Tomato juice and Pepto Bismol? Her stomach churned
at the thought. Maybe just some aspirin, she reconsidered.
"I'll be there in a minute." She went to the bathroom, splashed
some water on her face, then rooted around in Mulder's medicine
cabinet and took his last two Tylenol caplets. A few deep breaths,
and she opened the door. I have faced psychopaths, serial killers,
and prehistoric green bugs. I can do this.

She found him navigating the kitchen, turning on the burner under
the kettle and searching for clean dishes. He was whistling.
Whistling a thin tune that cut through her brain like a red hot poker.
He smiled warmly when he saw her. "Want some coffee?"

She nodded. The movement hurt her head. Naturally. She sat
down on the couch and closed her eyes, mind racing frantically
for something to get her out of this mess. He brought her a
steaming mug of instant coffee, which she accepted gratefully,
careful not to touch his fingers. The couch creaked as he sat
own next to her. "How are you feeling this morning?"

She glared at him. "I hurt. Everywhere."

He grinned. "But I bet your head hurts most of all, doesn't it?"
She didn't respond, just took a tentative sip of the coffee.
Suddenly she felt his lips press a gentle kiss on her neck. She
jumped up without thinking, spilling coffee on her hand in the process.
"DAMMIT!" She raced to the kitchen sink and ran her hand under
the cold water, cursing fluently, using many of the wonderful
adjectives she had picked up from her father's Navy buddies.

"Uh, Scully? Is there a problem?"

She turned around to see him standing in front of her, a
bewildered look on his face, and she wished to God he didn't
look so cute, standing there in nothing but his plaid boxers.

"Yes, Mulder, there is a problem. Or have you forgotten that
we slept together last night?"

"Well, as I recall, there wasn't all that much sleeping involved."
She threw a dishrag at him, but he ducked. Damn.

"This is not funny! What are we supposed to do now?"

He hitched up his boxers, smiling devilishly. "Well, we could
do it again."

She closed her eyes for a minute, counted to ten, and willed herself
not to commit homicide. "That's. Not. What. I. Meant. I mean,
what are we supposed to do about our partnership, our friendship,
our jobs, everything?" Her voice got steadily higher until it cracked
on the last word. He winced.

"I seem to remember bringing up something like that last night, but
you were too busy pulling down my pants," he retorted. "Don't
even think about putting this all on me. You seduced me!"

"You kissed me first!"

"You wanted me to!"

"You're a pig!"

"You're a cheap date! Is that all it takes, Scully, one bottle of
wine and a bad movie?"

"AAARRRGGGHH!" She reached to grab a dirty dish from
the sink so she could throw it at him, and really hit him this time,
but he caught her wrist.

"Why are we fighting about this?" he asked softly, his face
inches from hers. "We both wanted last night to happen. You
were there. I remember."

She smiled a little at that, although a petty part of her resented
him for being right. "I hope we didn't disturb your neighbors."

"I hope we did."

"Mulder...seriously, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know," he said quietly. "Do the only thing we can do.
Take it one day at a time, the way we always have. Let's just...
not make a big deal out of it, at least for now. Let's just see what
happens, take it from there."

She scowled at him. "You make it sound so easy. As if we
haven't just turned a major corner in our lives."

"Dana..." He gripped her shoulders gently. "Of course we have.
Last night...last night was like the inevitable finally happening.
As if what we had been moving toward the past two years finally
came together, no pun intended. And it was incredible."

"Well...yeah, it wasn't bad." No need for him to get cocky.

"Look, the way our lives are right now, we don't know what's
going to happen tomorrow. Let's just enjoy what we have, right
now, this minute." He slowly undid the tie on her robe, pushed
it open, slid his hands inside. She gasped at the feel of his hands
on her bare skin as they caressed her hips, her breasts. She could
only watch, mesmerized, as he slowly knelt before her and trailed
small kisses along her belly, her thighs. Guess I can't argue with
that logic, she thought. At least, not at the moment.

She struggled to remain still, to not twitch with anticipation.
Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore. "Do it," she hissed.
He laughed softly, a deep, husky laugh that gave her goosebumps.
She felt his hot breath between her legs, then the sensation of his
tongue as he began kissing her there.

Dana closed her eyes and gripped the edge of the sink as her
knees weakened. He licked and sucked at her until she let out
a low moan, burying her fingers in his hair, grinding herself
against his mouth, wanting more. For long moments the only
sounds in the room were his tongue working and her heavy breathing.
And as the tidal wave crested and she erupted in a mind-shattering
orgasm, her single coherent thought was, Why not? It beats the hell
out of the vibrator waiting for me at home.

End.