Title: Not The First Time (I)

Author: Angel

Email: Jumperchick@aol.com

Feedback: YES!!!

Spoilers: Not really…. Scully’s whole abduction thing I guess.

Rating: PG-13 I guess. Nothing bad but the rest (or later on) of the series will probably be NC-17... cause I have a sick little mind =)…. But maybe not, I don’t know where I am going with this yet. READ MY MESSAGE AT THE END PLEASE!

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Fox, 1013, Chris Carter. No infringement intended.

Summery: First of the series, Mulder goes missing and come back… yadda yadda yadda =).

Archive: Yes! Let me know where so I can visit please!

NOT THE FIRST TIME (I)

Scully looks tired.

I’ll admit this is a crazy idea. But there have been a lot of UFO sightings around here and since we are already here for a case…

She came with me willingly. I told her that I didn’t just want to sit in my hotel room until our flight in the morning and she sighed her Scully-is-trying-to-make-it-sound-like-she-doesn’t-want-to-go-sigh and said she would go with me. ‘After all it’s a beautiful night out.’

So here we are at one in the morning walking in the woods on a clear warm night in Oregon.

"Mulder how much further?"

"Scully are you whining?"

"Yes I am. I said I would came with you, but you didn’t tell me we had to walk a million miles to get there." She stops and puts her hands on her hips and looks at me.

I grin at her. "Actually Scully we are pretty much here. People have seen UFOs all along this area. There should be a clearing up ahead if you think you can make it." I wink at her. "I could carry you if you’d like."

She just looks at me with the kind of look at would make any man other then me cover his groin area and run for the hills. But not me… I live for that look.

"What is that?" Scully asks furrowing her brow.

The ground is vibrating slightly.

"Mulder?" Scully looks on the verge of panicking.

I can’t decide whether to jump and down with joy or run like hell.

A blinding light stops all my thoughts. It burns into the depths of my soul. Seems it could melt my brain in a moment. But instead it all goes black.

~x~x~x~x~x~

I slowly wake up with a pounding headache I have no clue how much later. All I know are my eyes don’t want to stay open much less focus and I am much colder then I was before.

Scully. Where is Scully?

"Scully?"

My voice echoes deadly back at me.

"Scully?"

Nothing. Great. Just great. One more trip the woods ruined.

Slowly I managed to sit up.

"What the fuck?" I whisper into the darkness.

I’m in an alley way… the one next to my building, I know that much. How the hell did I get back here? I hope I didn’t get drunk and pass out. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Slowly I rise to my feet and my head spins. Oh yeah I was drunk. That’s all there is to it.

Cursing at myself I wobble over to the front of the building and into the elevator.

I feel like shit, nothing short of shit.

I don’t remember getting drunk; of course that wouldn’t be a first either.

I glance at my watch. 1:21 am. Nice. I don’t even know where my day went. Again not a first.

I need a shower. I dig through my pockets for my keys and shove the right one into the lock.

Hello?

Now my key won’t work. Great. Just lovely. I guess I should expect it after having my door kicked down a number of times.

I shove my key back in my pocket and take out my lock picking kit. This thing is so damn handy! Best twenty-nine ninety-five I ever spent. My door swings open in a jiffy. Damn I’m tired; I just used the word jiffy.

"What?" I ask out loud in disbelief.

I look around my EMPTY apartment. Not a damn thing is in here. I walk through in a daze, not a thing.

Ok great.

At least Smoky got over the idea of bugging and trashing my place and settled for cleaning it out completely. Why he needed to take my shower curtain is beyond me, but oh well, I could use a new one anyway.

"Now what?" I ask my empty apartment.

Aw man! My couch! That sucks! It took me three years to break that thing in… In the words of Homer Simpson ‘It will take forever to get my butt groove worked back in.’ Or something like that… I watch too much TV, not that that matters anymore… I have no TV.

So I guess have only one thing to do… Go to Scully’s.

I walk out of my apartment and down to the parking garage.

Where’s my car?

Ok this isn’t funny anymore.

I spend at least five minute standing in the garage rubbing my face with my hands. Damn I feel like I’m been in a bender or something.

I reach for my wallet to see if I even have enough money for a cab. I do, well at least one thing is working for me tonight.

My cab ride is as uneventful as any other, this is strangely comforting.

Maybe I was drugged, that would explain why I don’t remember the day and how they were able to clean out my place without me even knowing it. That makes sense, I don’t feel like I have a hangover now that I think about it. I just feel strange.

I finally get to Scully’s building and all I want to do is crash on her couch. I won’t even wake her up. Won’t be the first time I walk in unannounced.

I turn my key in her and lock and am slightly surprised it worked, I’m glad they didn’t get to her too. I slowly walk into her dark apartment as quietly as I can closing the door.

"Shit!" I hiss out.

When did she put this table here?

My eyes slowly focus at her place. When did she move things around?

"Don’t move. I’m armed."

I slowly focus on Scully standing her hallway wearing sweats and pointing her gun at my head. Nice to see you too partner.

"It’s me Scully. Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you."

Scully’s gun drops to the floor with a thud and she closes her eyes leaning up again the wall behind her. "Not again, please." She whispers.

"Scully I’m sorry. I should have called you it’s just something really weird is going on at my place." I think I really pissed her off this time… Why does she look different to me? I don’t know what it is but something is weird.

She releases a shaky breath and slides to the floor leaning against the wall. She pulls her knees up and places her head on them.

"Scully are you ok?" I walk over and crouch by her.

She’s crying now I can hear her. She is mumbling something too. I have to stain to hear her.

"Wake up. Wake up. Please wake up."

"Scully what’s wrong?"

My God what is going on?

She doesn’t say anything. Just repeating a command to wake up.

Her or me? Who needs to wake up? Am I dreaming? That would make sense, a lot of sense. But I don’t seem to be waking up so I better get this show on the road.

"Scully talk to me." I reach out and lay and hand on her arm.

She gasps and pulls away from me. Her head shoots up with a look of shock and confusion.

"Scully what’s wrong?"

I can see her jaw shaking as she reaches out and touches my arm with suspicion. Her fingers caress me softly the whole time she watches my arms. Her eyes get wide with wonder and she lays her whole hand on my arm and squeezes.

"Mulder?" Come in a choked whisper.

I nod at her. "It’s me Scully."

She lets out a shocked breath and lurched forward onto her knees. She take my face her hands and examines my face carefully, she stares into my eyes for a long moment. Then Scully does something that I will never forget. She kisses me. Dana Scully kisses me. A hard, brutal, solid lips to lips kiss. It’s only a moment. Two heartbeats and she pulls away and goes back to starring at me. Well… Hmm… Ok…

"Scully are you ok?"

"Oh my God. It’s really you." Her hands slide down my chest as if she is testing my presence.

"Scully what is going on?" I grab her hands in mine so she will focus.

She slowly pulls from my gasp her eyes still wide with surprise. Her reaches out and places her fingers over my lips, I don’t know whether she wants me to be quiet or if she is feeling for my breath.

"Mulder how did you get here?" She whispers after a moment. Her eyes still look me up and down examining every detail.

"I woke up in my alley, I think I was drugged. My apartment was empty and my car was gone so I took a cab over here… Scully why are looking at me like that?"

She takes in a shaky breath and tears fall suddenly from her cheeks.

"Scully…" I reach for her and she falls into my arms clutching at me for life. She holds me tighter then I thought her little arms could. Her whole body is shaking and quivering. "Its ok." I whisper into her hair. I think I am talking to myself more then her.

I feel her hands clutch at the back of my neck and she pulls away slowly with a look of such sadness I didn’t think it was possible.

"Mulder…" She whispers closing her eyes.

"What? Scully tell me what is going on!"

She pulls back from me a little more. Then she stands and pulls me toward her couch. I sit heavily and relax into the back. I think I could sleep for ten years, but first I want to know what is going on.

Scully is still starring at me with wonder. "I’ve had so many dreams." She whispered.

I shake my head slowly in confusion. "Please tell me what you are talking about Scully." I say in a slow deliberate voice.

She visibly shakes herself from her thoughts. "You’ve been gone for almost two years Mulder."

"What?!" This is crazy. I must be dreaming.

"In Oregon you were abducted." She says so matter of factly.

I jump up from the couch and pace in front of it. "No way Scully! You are talking crazy. I must be dreaming, I must be!"

"Mulder the back of your neck." She says softly looking so sad.

My pacing comes to a dead stop. I just stare at her for a moment before I work up the courage to touch my neck. I feel a small irregular area of skin at the base. "Oh God." I sink to the couch again and Scully hugs me from the side.

"I didn’t think you were ever going to come back."

I remember how that felt. That dead feeling in my heart. Did she feel like that? I barely survived three months how did she make it two years? Two years?! How is that possible? How could I loose two years just like that? I slowly pull Scully into my arms. She is real. This isn’t a dream.

"I thought you weren’t coming back." She mumbles into my neck. I can feel her hot tears run down my skin. She is defiantly real.

I sit is silence for sometime. With Scully curled against me. I don’t know what to think. My hand slowly touches the base of my neck again.

Scully shifts away from me and looks at me again. "I’m still expecting to wake up."

"Me too." I whisper hoarsely.

Scully clears her throat. "I… I should take you to a hospital. Get you checked out."

"No I’m ok. I think."

She shifts so she is facing me and starts to run her fingers through my hair looking for head injuries. She looks me over with her familiar doctor eyes. "You seem ok. How do you feel?"

I let out a snort of laughter. "I have no clue." I groan and run my face with my hands. "I could use a hot shower to wake up a little."

Scully nods. "Go head. I’ll fix you something to eat while you do."

I stand and walk into her bathroom in a complete daze. When I step under the hot water I feel ten times better. I brace myself against the shower wall and let the water hit me in the back for who knows how long. I finally shut the water off when it starts to cool and step out to be greeted by a pile of clean clothes. I don’t have the energy to wonder how that got here… Screw it.

I walk out dressed a few minutes later to see Scully standing in the kitchen. "Where’d you get these?" I ask pulling my sweater away from my body slightly.

She smiles taking my hand and leading me to the door of her spare bedroom. She opens it up and I stare in shock. The room is filled to the hilt with boxes, and in the far corner I can make out part of my couch covered in a sheet. I laugh. Because I don’t know what else to do. "My couch." I say nodding.

Scully lets out a light laugh. "Well your living will left me everything." Her voice catches with emotion. She clears it and continues. "The only furniture I kept was the couch. But everything else is here. Oh and this…" She takes my hand and leads me to her bedroom where she points the far corner which is lit by a faint blue glow.

"My fish tank." I say smiling.

She tugs my arm and pulls me back to the kitchen. "Eat something. Then we’ll talk" She sits me down in front of a table full of food.

"Jeez Scully." I say laughing as I stab a chuck of pasta.

She just shrugs and pours a glass of iced tea for me.

She watches me while I eat. With a look of awe on her face.

"Ok Scully I’m going to explode." I say pushing my plate away. She picks up her own plate and mine and takes them to the sink. I drag my stuffed tired body back to the couch. Scully sits down next to me again and turns my face to her again. Is she going to kiss me again?

"You sure your head feels ok?" Damn.

"Yeah. I’m ok."

She frowns and runs her hands through my hair again, lightly grazing my scalp with her nails. I think I could die a happy man with her doing this. After a moment she drops her hands to her lap and sits back against the couch. "Do you remember anything?"

I shake my head. "Last thing I remember was walking in Oregon."

She gives an understanding nod then a look of realization comes over her. "I better call Skinner in the morning."

"Are…. Are you still working the X-files?" Oh God please.

Scully gives a small smile. "Do you think I would stop?"

I match her smile and nod. "I guess not." I lean back further into the couch and rub my face with my hands.

"Why don’t you go get some sleep Mulder." Scully says with a hand on my arm.

I nod. "Yeah good idea." I start to lay down on the couch basically ignoring the fact that Scully is still sitting at one end by placing my feet in her lap.

She lets out one her beautiful breathy laughs. "Take my bed Mulder. You need to sleep well."

I open my eyes and look at her. "Scully… I was just sleeping in an alley way, trust me the couch is perfect." She frowns and looks at me. "Go. I’ll be fine."

She nodded and lets out a sigh. "No use arguing with you." Pushing my feet off her lap she walks away.

"Night Scully." I call.

A moment later I feel her place a blanket over me, I don’t open my eyes but I can’t help but smile. "Good night, Mulder." She whispers as she bends to place a kiss on my forehead.

God I love that woman.

The end for now… PS: Further installments will have links placed on this page so check back! This piece is being rewritten at the moment and the second installment is in the works! It's looking really good! If you want me to email you when more is posted just drop me a line and I will put you on the mailing list! Thanks!

~Angel