Title: Belated
Author: Piper Sargasso
Category: MSR
Spoilers: None too important. Small ones for Tempus Fugit and Irresistable
Rating: NC-17
Archive: Oh, I'd be *so* honored! Please just let me know where.
Feedback: It would be helpful and much appreciated, as this is my first posted 
fic.
Send to --  PiperSargasso@AOL.com
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Chris Carter, Fox, Ten-Thirteen Productions, 
etc. No infringement intended.
Spoiler: Scully's having a trying day and Mulder attempts to celebrate her 
birthday -- three months after the fact. (Answer to the June True Blue 
Challenge)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Belated
by Piper Sargasso



The day even started out weird. Then things, as they often do, just went from 
bad to worse. 

It all began with the strangest, almost disturbing dream. Dana Scully dreamt 
that she was in the ocean, swimming lazily under the moonlit sky in the inky 
darkness as the swells rolled gently over her. After a moment, she realized that 
she was completely naked, but the tranquility of the moment was too delicious 
for her to care. 

That is, until Mulder showed up. Great, she thought, annoyed even in her sleep. 
He paddled furiously to her side. "Hey, Scully!" he chirped. She wanted him to 
leave, to just give her a moment's peace so that she could enjoy the quiet for a 
while. But again, she was feeling so relaxed that she found it hard to put her 
irritation into words. She instead stared at his mouth, which seemed to be 
forming words. 

"--Figi Mermaid! It only appears when it senses that two people are having sex! 
Whadda ya say, partner? It's all just a matter of how close we get, if you think 
about it."

In her dream-addled mind, this seemed perfectly logical. It was an X-file, and 
it was her job to assist her partner in any way necessary -- and since Mulder 
already had his clothes off too....

"Ok," she replied casually. Besides, she thought, he's right. It's all a matter 
of proximity. I'm naked, he's naked -- all we have to do is get close enough. 
Makes sense.

Mulder was ecstatic. "Let's get it on, baby," he growled at her. So there they 
were, in the middle of the Atlantic going at it like two cats in heat, waiting 
for the Figi Mermaid to appear. After about the third go-round, Scully was 
getting impatient.

"Mulder, I don't think this is working." When she opened her eyes, she realized 
with horror that Mulder had transformed into Frohike. "Oh my GOD!" she started 
to panic, pushing away from the little man. 

"Oooh yeah, Mama. You know I like it rough!" he said with a leer. Then without 
warning, he turned around and hopped over the water, disappearing into the 
night.

"Well, she thought, This serves me right for not thawing out the broccoli. Damn 
broccoli!" 



Scully bolted upright. What the hell was *that* all about? she asked herself. 
Shuddering, she slid out of bed and headed for a nice, realaxing shower. At 
least, that was her goal. For some reason, the shower had other plans for her. 
Stepping in, she turned both faucets on full-blast and was welcomed with a sub-
zero cascade of water. She yelped unnaturally high and jumped away from the 
stream. The water was finally adjusted to the perfect temperature and she was 
able to finish rinsing when the cold water suddenly cut off for no apparent 
reason. She howled and leapt out of the shower altogether. Cursing about old 
pipes, frostbite and third-degree burns, she trudged moodily into the bedroom 
and dressed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thankfully, the drive to work had been relatively uneventful, minus the usual 
irritations. Scully's heels clicked evenly down the hallway that led to their 
little prison, as she liked to think of it when she was feeling snappish and 
moody. She stepped into the room and was greeted by Mulder with a dismissive 
wave of his hand. "Hey," he mumbled distractedly without even looking up from 
his file.

"Hey yourself. You wouldn't believe the day I'm already having," she griped 
while hanging up her coat. "Hmmm." he replied, much to Scully's irritation.

"Hey, Mulder? What's that file got that I don't?" she teased. Silence. Now she 
really *was* pissed. To hell with this, she thought. "You'll have to excuse me, 
Mulder. I have a date with one of the Peacock boys." Grabbing her coat, she 
headed for the door. Damn, aggravating man! she thought. 

Mulder looked up breifly. "Scully, if you're not too *tied up*, could you bring 
me back a cup of coffee? Tall. Thanks." he turned his attentions back to the 
file.

Scully's mouth dropped open in outrage. "Anything else, sir? Perhaps there's 
some paperwork you'd like me to file." More silence. "Maybe you'd like me to 
bend over your desk and we could do a little fraternizing," she mumbled angrily. 
Would nothing *ever* divert his unwavering attention from those damn files?

"Scully!" he exclaimed with wonder. Shit! He *did* hear that. "Ooh, Scully. You 
know what I like." 

Feeling testy already and fiesty to boot, she dropped her coat to the floor and 
slowly stalked over to Mulder's desk. Slapping her palms down on the top, she 
leaned over, giving him a pretty good view to gawk at. Which he did, of course. 
With a satisfied smirk, she leaned over further and whispered in his ear, "You 
couldn't handle it."

Mulder's jaw dropped to the floor. She was straightening up, immensely pleased 
with his reaction when she saw it.

"Mulder!" she shrieked. "You little shit!" She snatched the newspaper section 
that he had folded and placed into the file folder. "I thought you were working, 
Mulder. Not reading some damn movie review! You blew me off for *this*?"

He held his hand up in defense. "But Scully! It's a review for the new Star Wars 
installation. You know how much I wanted to see it!" It wasn't often that Mulder 
whined, but when he did it grated on Scully's nerves. "Fine, Mulder," she 
replied. She didn't have the energy or the willpower to argue with him today.

He smiled lopsidedly at her and held out the file folder he was "reading" from. 
"File that for me, would you?" he said, not really asking. She stood, 
flabbergasted at his gall. He wasn't even looking at her now - again, staring 
down at a new file and still holding the other out to her, waiting for her to 
obey his command. Scully snatched it roughly out of his hand and jerked the 
drawer of the file cabinet out with a force that vibrated in her arm, all the 
while cursing her arrogant partner inwardly.

She looked into the drawer and gasped. Inside was a small, grocery store-stock 
birthday cake. Taking it out for closer inspection, she read the writing on the 
top. "Happy Birthday Jamie," she read aloud. She noted that he'd left the price 
tag on the side of the plastic container. It had a 'reduced price' sticker over 
the original. Men, she thought warmly. They never take off the price tags. She 
opened the top of the container and smiled at the wobbly icing "Scully" written 
over the name "Jamie". It was in Mulder's unique handwriting.

Scully took out a plastic knife from the drawer that housed all their take-out 
untensil package leftovers and cut herself off a piece. Mulder finally glanced 
up. "Why, Scully! Snacking between meals? Isn't that some sort of Dana Scully 
sin?" She shot him a look and offered him a bite. "Mmm," he hummed with his 
mouth full.

"Mulder," she said between bites, "You do realize that my birthday was three 
months ago."

He nodded. "Dog years, remember?" She was about to reply that that made 
absolutely no sense, but remembered she was talking to Mulder. "Poor Jamie," she 
mused.

"Yeah. The lady at the store said that it was an order that was never picked up. 
They had it sitting in the bakery case, just looking lonely. I felt sorry for 
it. Didn't think you'd mind." He looked at her hopefully.

She smiled. "You know, the frightening thing is that I actually understand 
that." 

He was encouraged by her smile and turn of attitude and decided to let her in on 
part two of his belated birthday plan. "Scully?" he asked. "Hmm?" she replied, 
in heaven with her cake. "Wanna go see it?" She looked at him, confused. " 'Star 
Wars: Episode 2'," he replied in a booming impression of the voice that does the 
movie trailers. She smiled, for the second time in one day, Mulder noticed 
happily. "Sure," she replied. Scooping up her box of cake, she settled into her 
desk and began typing up some of their never-ending expense reports.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure? I mean, I never even touched it!" Dana Scully exclaimed. Her 
computer crashed for no apparent reason around lunchtime and she'd finally 
conceded to call the haughty geeks down from technical support. She felt no 
remorse for her use of the word "geeks" because, well, they were all assholes if 
truth be told. They were all just there to serve the morons employed there at 
the FBI and made no effort to hide that opinion. More than one run-in thanks to 
Mulder's inspired technical skills taught her *that* pretty quick.

The "geek" sighed painfully. "Of *course* I'm sure. You've downloaded a virus. 
Weren't you paying any attention to what you were doing? And why are there cake 
crumbs on the keyboard?" the diminutive man demanded with narrowed eyes.

Mulder took in her pose, hands clenching at her sides and the gleam of murder in 
her eyes. He had to intervene, or Geek was gonna get it. "Scully, why don't you 
take the rest of the day off. You look a little pale, know what I mean? I'll 
tell Skinner that you weren't feeling well." Geek snorted, but was grounded 
under Scully's murderous glare. She thanked Mulder and headed for home, thinking 
that it was probably for the best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Scully picked the cigarette up out of the ashtray, taking a long, cleansing drag 
off of it. She only smoked when the stress really got to her, and the way the 
day had unfolded merited the little deviation of character in her opinion. 
Chuckling lightly, she wondered what Mulder would say if he caught her in her 
indulgence. As if on cue, there was a light rap on the door. "Shit!" she cursed 
softly, stubbing out the cigarette. She opened the door a crack. "C'mon in, 
Mulder," she told him hastily before making a beeline for the bathroom. Over the 
slushing water and the swooshing of her toothbrush grinding away furiously to 
rid her mouth of the taste and smell of smoke, she heard his bewildered "Do you 
smell smoke in here, Scully?" It was all she could do to keep from choking on 
flouride. 

The mood in the car on the way to the almost obscenely large megaplex was 
jovial, with Mulder cracking one incredibly corny Chewbacca joke after another. 
They wound their way through the congregated throngs of movie-goers, finally 
reaching the snail-like concession line. Scully kept checking her watch 
impatiently. "Too bad the Gunmen couldn't be here tonight," Mulder breathed 
suddenly in her ear, causing her to jump in surprise. A warm electric current 
hummed deliciously through her body at the unexpected contact from him. 

"Oooh, keep it up, G-Man and we won't even make it into the theatre," Scully 
teased him. You don't know the half of it, she thought wickedly.

Mulder's eyes widened in pure shock and his mouth dropped open. It would've been 
an unnattractive sight, were it someone else. He took a step back, as if her 
head might pop like a grape at any second and shook his head slightly. Eyes 
forward, he concentrated on the head of the man in front of them. Scully smiled 
in amusement and wound her arm through his, much to Mulder's surprise. What the 
hell has gotten into her? he wondered, but relished the feel of her body so 
close to his nonetheless.

Finally, they reached the front. Operating the cash register was a young woman 
of about twenty, with deep purple highlights in her blonde hair and silver eyes. 
*Silver eyes*?!? Scully thought incredulously. Who the hell has silver eyes? She 
took in the deep plum lips and heavy eyeliner in wonder, as did Mulder. In fact, 
Mulder was staring so long and so hard that the girl had to repeat her question, 
accompanied by an elbow to the side. Courtesy of Scully, of course. 

"Can I *help* you?" the girl was getting impatient. Mulder blinked and placed 
his order, which was very near enough to feed a small nation. The man could eat 
like there's no tomorrow.

Walking away, Mulder had to comment, "What the hell was up with those eyes?" he 
asked with wonder. Scully shrugged, glad that they were nearing the theatre and 
were effectively out of the girl's earshot. "Must be contacts," she said simply. 
He nodded his agreement and held the door open for her, balancing their bounty 
precariously as the opening music boomed along with thundering applause and 
cheering. The pair hurried to their seats and settled in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About halfway through the movie, Scully dozed off. Mulder didn't take offense. 
He could tell how tired she was when she walked in the office that morning, 
though she tried valiantly to hide it from him. He wondered if she got much 
sleep the night before, or if she was having more nightmares. After all these 
years, Donnie Phaster still invaded her subconscious. 

Besides, it was hard to be offended when Special Agent Dana Scully was resting 
her head so sweetly on your shoulder, plump, rosy lips slightly parted and her 
warm breath gently caressing your face. Mulder studied her enraptured, losing 
all interest in the movie. Slowly, so as not to wake her, he raised the armrest 
that separated them. To make her more comfortable, he thought with a grin. She 
must have felt the change in her sleep, because she snuggled closer to his warm 
body and sighed softly. Mulder wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of 
her head tenderly.

In her in-between state of sleeping and waking, Scully wondered when the icy 
movie theatre had gotten so cozy. The seat seemed to have softened and -- 
smelled *so* good now. She nuzzled her nose into the cushion and breathed in the 
heavenly scent. It smelled - safe. Comfortable. Like Mulder. 

Mulder! her eyes flew open, but she made no move to sit upright. Mulder sensed 
that she was awake and held on to her tighter. He refused to let either one of 
them feel awkward about this. "Sleeping Beauty awakes," he whispered in her 
hair. She slapped his leg playfully and grinned. It felt so good to be this 
close to him, she hoped the movie would never end. Cuddled in that darkened 
movie theatre, something between them changed significantly. Their mutual 
acceptance of a boundary being crossed erased the lines a bit more, blurred them 
to the point where they were no longer such high hurdles to jump. They both felt 
it, and it excited them as much as it scared the hell out of them. 

Regardless of Scully's wish, the movie did come to an end. They filed out of the 
megaplex hand in hand, a gesture so unfamiliar -- and yet, not. 

Now, seated in Mulder's car in the fringes of the crowded parking lot, they 
searched each other for signs of regret. Mulder swallowed hard over the lump in 
his constricted throat. "Scully," he began tentatively. His tone pricked her 
ears. Oh no, she thought. Is he going to tell me it was a mistake? Don't do this 
to us, Mulder. Plese, let us have our happiness where we can get it.

He had to get it all out now, or he was sure he'd never have the guts to again. 
"I--, I mean, we--," This isn't going well, Boy-O. He decided to start from the 
beginning. "We've also been such good friends--" his sentence trailed off at her 
look of complete horror. realizing that she was misunderstanding the nature of 
his awkward little speech, he stammered, "No no! It's not like *that*, Scully. 
I's just--" Oh what the hell, he thought. Maybe just *showing* her would get the 
point across. Pumped up with nervous energy, he leaned over her seat and 
whisperd, "I mean, this." His eyes dropped as he lowered his mouth gently onto 
hers. She melted into his kiss and eagerly parted her lips in invitation. Warm 
and sweet, it was everything she wouldn't admit she'd always imagined. The kiss 
gained temerity, fueled by the passion that they's so long denied themselves 
until they found themselves groping wildly at each other like a couple of 
hormonal teenagers.

Mulder finally broke away with no small argument from Scully. "Not here. Please, 
not like this. You're worth so much more than this, Scully." he pleaded with her 
to understand. 

She sighed, but was touched enormously by the respect and tenderness he was 
showing her. Any other man would have her in the back seat so fast it would make 
her head spin. But not Mulder. No, he was a better man than that. He cared more 
than that. "Drive, Mulder. My apartment's closer." 

He looked at her for a moment as if trying to decipher some foreign language. 
She raised her eyebrow. "Mulder? The key goes in the ignition -- that's the 
little slot there. I hope that's not going to be a problem for you to find, or 
else we're gonna have some problems tonight." she teased him. 

He smirked at her and started the car. Driving down the road, he had the death-
grip on the steering wheel and swerved twice in his efforts to look at Scully. 
Unable to stand the lack of contact with his all too close partner, he finally 
rested his right hand on her thigh. God, does that feel good, one part of him 
thought. Hope she doesn't kick the shit out of me for it. The other part piped 
in, What the hell are you babbling about, you idiot? You're on the way to her 
apartment aren't you? She'll probably kick your ass if you *don't* do that. He 
chanced a sideways glance at her. She gave him a full-blown smile, one that 
melted his heart in it's rare beauty and squeezed his occupied hand in 
reassurance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Scully's hands were working against her, she was sure of it. They conspired to 
keep her from performing the simple task of putting the key into the lock of her 
apartment door. She was grateful that Mulder refrained from making any comments 
similar to the one she'd afforded him in the car earlier, but was distracted 
from her mission by the incessant caress of his thumb against the nape of her 
neck. Few men had ever bothered with this secret erogenous zone of hers and it 
took all of her powers of concentration to finally open the door. Glancing up at 
his darkened eyes, she felt all of the inhibitions and fear melt away. She 
trusted him entirely.

Scully reached for the light, but Mulder stopped her with a firm grip on her 
wrist that made her gasp in excitement. "Leave it," he told her firmly. Her 
heart palpitated furiously in anticipation. Did he understand? Did he know that 
this was *exactly* how she'd always wanted it from him? The last thing she 
needed was a slow and tender seduction. She was past all that already. After six 
years of intellectual foreplay, she needed it rough. Dangerous. 

He sensed that in her completely. Grabbing her by the waistband of her jeans, he 
pulled her to him roughly, delighting in the little gasp it wrenched out of her 
and pressed a scorching kiss on her plush lips. She moaned into his mouth, 
greedily sucking at his bottom lip and jerking at his leather jacket. He pulled 
her up, never breaking the tempestuous kiss and smiled against her lips slightly 
as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Walking with her into the dining room, 
he deposited her in a sitting position on the dining room table. 

She pulled away slightly and gazed at him with lust-addled eyes that mirrored 
his own. Never before had he seen anything as incredibly sexy or beautiful than 
that. He needed her so badly, but wanted desperately to make it last for her. 
Never breaking eye-contact, he reached down and yanked her jeans over her 
shapely hips, taking in the lacy lavender panties she wore. Scully kicked off 
her shoes and shimmied the jeans, followed by the panties, off of her legs and 
onto the floor. He felt his groin harden painfully as he watched her allow her 
legs to fall open wantonly. Lowering his head, he suckled her neck for a moment 
before hastily pulling her v-neck t-shirt off over her head. He looked at her 
lacy lavender demi bra, noting that it matched the discarded panties. The fabric 
molded to her curves, accentuating each swell of the breast that it clung to. 

Mulder couldn't resist those luscious mound any longer. Taking each one in turn, 
he opened his hot mouth over the fabric and bit down roughly, causing her to 
arch her back in pleasure. He continued his ministrations to her breasts, 
finally dropping his hand to the nest of curls between her thighs, where he 
teased her relentlessly. Each feather-light graze of her clitoris had Scully 
moaning in protest and frustration.

"Mulder," she breathed, "Oh, God! Please!"

But Mulder kept the torture going. Several agonizing minutes of this was 
rewarded with a long and exploratory kiss which ended, to Scully's supreme 
delight, with a hot, wet trail of kisses down her neck. He lowered them to her 
breasts once again, kissing the tops which heaved with each heavy breath above 
the lace of her undergarment. Down her tummy, gently grazing her over-heated 
skin before gently spreading her legs apart. 

Then, with no notice, he put his mouth to work on her bundle of nerves, nipping 
at it and suckling it with just the right amount of pressure to not be painful, 
but rough enough that she gasped and moaned relentlessly, head thrown back and 
arms behind her quivering from the weight of her upper-body. She was spiraling, 
shaking ferociously with the intensity building between her legs, thinking in 
her enflamed and frenzied state that she would never, *ever* begrudge this man 
his sunflower seeds, not *ever* again. She rode the waves of arousal several 
times, each waning then rebuilding strength before exploding into a million 
pieces, not ever wanting it to stop. Not even when it became too much. 

Without a word, Mulder reverently placed a tender kiss on the inside of her 
thigh and stood up, freeing his engorged flesh from its constraints. Scully 
scooted to the edge of the table, dropping her legs open in invitation and 
giving him better access to her throbbing sex. Any doubt was obliterated by the 
action and he gave her a gentle thrust to allow her to adjust. She moaned loudly 
at the sensation and wrapped her leg around his waist, pushing him further into 
her and begging him for more.

He obliged, still standing before her and thrusted deeper into her, roughly 
filling her more completely than she'd ever been in her life. "Oh, GOOOODDD!" 
she gasped loudly. This is perfect. Oh, God! This is Mulder. This is happening, 
she thought over and over, like a nonsensical mantra. Out loud, "Harder, Mulder. 
Oh God! Please. So good. So damn good, Mulder! Oh, God, right there. Please -- 
don't -- *ever* -- stop!!!" Scully cried out hoarsely as another orgasm shook 
her body to the core, leaving her feeling ethereal and shattered all at the same 
time, halfway between Heaven and Earth. Mulder pumped furiously once, twice, 
then exploded hotly into her, trembling from the intensity.

They leaned against each other, each clinging to the other's sweaty and feverish 
body. Several long minutes passed that way, listening to each other's heartbeat 
slow and return to normal, the moisture now chilly on Scully's exposed skin. She 
shivered. 

Finally, Mulder pulled away from her, never taking his arms from around her, and 
looked deeply into her eyes. "Scully, I need you to know that this can't be just 
a one time thing for me. I know," he looked down briefly, "It's a little late 
for that, huh? What I'm trying to say is that I love you." He searched her eyes 
for rejection, or worse - fear. She sat on the table, expressionless. Despair 
clenched his heart mercilessly. His worst fear had come true.

Scully slid down his body and off her perch until her feet touched the floor. 
"I'm hungry, Mulder. Want some ice cream?" she asked simply. Mulder shook his 
head and zipped up his fly, wanting for all the world to disappear off the face 
of the planet. Scully stopped at the threshold of the kitchen. "Oh, Mulder? I 
love you too. More than you could ever imagine." She said with a warm smile and 
retreated into the darkened kitchen. But not before seeing the impossibly wide 
grin that split Mulder's face. 

She returned with a bowl of ice cream and walked past him, towards the bedroom. 
"Well, it's a shame you didn't want any, Mulder." she said with a seductive 
smile. "I was going to let you eat it wherever you want." Her voice dropped 
suggestively at the last and she sashayed into the bedroom. 

With Mulder trotting eagerly after her like a puppy.  



~THE END~


Hello! This little bit of fluff signifies the very first True Blue Challenge 
*and* first smut piece I've ever written. It wasn't as scary as I thought it 
would be! Hopefully, that's not because I did it wrong. Please let me know what 
you think, but remember -- I'm brand spankin' new at this, so be gentle. 

PiperSargasso@AOL.com


ITEMS:

1) A birthday cake with "Happy Birthday Jamie" written on it

2) Mulder or Scully smoking

3) Skinny dipping

4) A computer virus

5) Characters go see "Star Wars: Episode 2"

6) A bowl of ice cream

7) A girl with silver eyes