Title: Superhero

Author: SisterZooey

Rating: I'm going to say R. Mulder and Scully have potty mouths.

Category: As I seem to be mentally incapable of anything else - MSR

Distribution Statement: Anywhere, babies. Just let me know.

Feedback: SisterZooey@yahoo.com 

Spoilers: Small one for Detour, slightly larger one for Rush

Summary: I have a conspiracy theory (which I have been bothering the poor
girls in my dorm with) about the shirt Scully is wearing in Rush. It's so
very un-Scully. It's too - big. So where in the heck did it come from? And
why in the heck are Mulder and Scully acting so goofy in the first scene
of the ep? This is the fourth (and final) installment in the Redhead
Dancing Girl Series. The other stories ("Redhead Dancing Girl", "Talking
to the Walls",and "Quite So New") can be found at Ephemeral, Darkstryder,
and Clinique's Hidden Gems. I wanted to shamelessly plug those two sites
because they are my utter favorites in ficdom and I was thrilled to little
pieces when my stories made them. So go visit those nice ladies and their
sites, by God! In order to have any idea what is going on in this story,
you will need to read the first three installments of this series. That
gives you an excuse to drop by.

Author's Notes: I know, I know. Millenium technically took place after
Rush, but you know what? TOO BAD! This is the order they were aired in, so
I don't want to hear any grousing. :) Thanks to Kimberly at Clinique's,
Erin at Darkstryder, the Haven people and Michelle at the XFFA list. Also,
I was told that I was given props on a Scullyfic list. I haven't read it
and I don't know who does it. But if whoever it was is reading this
-thanks! Thanks to Jennifer, my commiserator. I want to make a clever
little Fitzgerald joke here for you, hon, but I seem to be fresh out.
Thanks to everyone who sent me nice feedback. I'm sorry this took me so
long. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: They're not mine. They belong to Mr. Carter and 1013.  And you
know what? They're pissed off that they're not mine! That's right, by God!
I bring them so much joy! But, alas, it was never meant to be.

"Superhero" (1/1)

`Tell me what did you like about me
And don't say my strength and daring
`Cuz now I think I'm at your mercy
and it's my first time for this kind of thing

I used to be a superhero
I would swoop down and save me
from myself
but you are like a phone booth
that I somehow stumbled into
and now look at me
I am just like everybody else.'
                                         Ani DiFranco
                                          "Superhero"
 

Fox Mulder's Bedroom
7:45 a.m.

     I came slowly, meticulously (so as not to disturb the way the
room felt) out of the endorphin-induced haze of What We Had
Done. I was laying with my head on his chest, throwing all of my
concentration into listening to him breathe and to the bass thud of
his heart. He was naked without shame and I was looking down
the length of his pretty body while he idly stroked my hair. I was
not particularly interested in making eye contact with him. I was
terrified to look and see that he was no longer Mulder, but Fox to
me. My concentration shifted from the echo of his heart in my
head to the hilarious interruption of his bony knees partway
down his legs. If they hadn't been so far away, I would have
reached out and tested the roundness of one, like a burial mound,
with my hand. There was also my concern over what moving
would do to the feeling of the room. Time was being very good
and standing still for the moment. I begged birds not to fly by the
window, horns not to honk, and voices not to creep in from the
hallway. I knew, however, that it was just a matter of time. I was
merely praying for a stay of the moment's execution.

    He cleared his throat. Shit. I knew it was going to be him who
threw the switch.  "Scully - " he began but did not continue.
Silence returned and did its damnedest to salvage what had been
there only seconds ago to no avail. Again, he spoke. "Scully." He
didn't have to say it. I heard it. Look at me.

    I twisted my head around to look into eyes which I was terrified
would no longer be familiar. I was begging all available gods to
assure that Mulder would be looking back at me and not Fox. I
was holding my breath when our eyes met. I continued to hold it
until I had several still seconds to examine the entire surface
of his eyes once, twice, three times. I expelled my contained
breath unthinkingly into his face. "Hi, Mulder." I couldn't
contain my smile nor did I really want to. He was still Mulder.
And the way he was looking at me, I must have still been Scully.

    "Hi there." Mulder laughed a little, his breath blessing my
face. "You know, if I had taken the time to fantasize about this
part, I might have known what to say right now."
 
    I smiled. "You don't hear me spouting witticisms, do you?" I let
my smile fade and cupped his cheek in my hand. "I'm at a loss,
too."

    "Not only as to what to say but what to do also." I nodded. His
voice was a low murmur that I had heard many times before.
Mulder began to play with my hair. "Was it how you had
hoped?" I nodded again. "Me, too. I was worried." He trailed
off.
    I perked up, lifting my head from his chest, suddenly anxious.
"What? What were you worried about?"

    "That it wasn't how you wanted it to be. That it - " He heard
what he was going to say before he said it and blushed scarlet. His
voice became sheepish and quiet. "That it wouldn't feel good for
you." I eyed him for a moment and accidentally made him
squirm. He began to babble. "I'm not fishing for compliments or
anything like that. It's just it's been a long (he paused) long time
for me and this was our first time and I had pretty high hopes for
it." He stopped and then added, "Is all" as an afterthought.

    I settled back onto his chest and did my best to calm his
worries with a smile. "It was wonderful, Mulder." I could feel
him relax a little under me.

    "Good," he said quietly, thinking it over and not quite meaning
it yet. Then, more forcefully, "good," having made his decision.

    "So what do we do?"

    "Generally? Or do you mean, right now?"

    "Generally. I was planning on getting breakfast right now."

    "You don't think we can just do like we've always done?" I
shook my head, tickling my ear with the hair on his chest.
"Neither do I." He sighed. "Well, maybe something like we've
always done." I held still, waiting for him to continue. "I mean,
we have a fabulous professional relationship. There's no reason
that this has to affect that."

    "But it will."

    He admitted defeat. "But it will. We have to try hard.
Everything professional between you and I is already pretty
personal, Scully."

    "It has become that way for me too."

    He nodded slowly. "I think (he pronounced boldly) that we
need to promise not to get irreparably pissed off with one another,
trying to hold it all in for the sake of professionalism, until
we can get home and have it out with one another. Cause we can't
mix sex and work at work but we can certainly do it at home."

     I nodded, fixating on the facts that one - he seemed to
have this pretty well thought out, implying to me that he had
given this a great deal of consideration and two - home? Did
he say home - singular? I put my musings on the back burner
and said with a smile (mostly to relieve some of the tension
I was feeling), "How am I going to tell my mother that I'm
brining a nice Jewish boy over for Christmas dinner?"

     Mulder grinned at me and murmured, "Oy veh! She'll have a
heart attack. Break it to her gently, deah." Mulder's cell phone
chirped in the living room. "Speaking of mothers, I bet that's
mine." He said ruefully, untangling himself from the covers and
adorned my forehead with a quick kiss. "Be right back." I watched
his tight backside as he strode out of the room, guaranteeing that I
would never be able to watch the way his body moved under his
suits quite the same way again. I caught snippets of the
conversation: "No, I'm at home. When? . This is my vacation.
It's no problem. Yeah, I know where she is, sir. She's not at
home, I'll tell her. Okay, yeah, we'll be there as soon as
possible." He came back into the room. "That was Skinner.
There's been a murder."
 
    "You've only gotten four hours of sleep." I don't even know
why I said it. He was already in the bathroom, turning on the
shower.
 
    His voice rang out from the bathroom. "What's new?" He
laughed. The sound of the water changed as he stepped into the
flow. "I'm great, Scully. This is the best I've felt in years."
 
    Mulder had left his white dress shirt on the floor the night
before. I retrieved it as I passed and put it on. I rolled up the
sleeves and buttoned it up. It ended halfway down my calves. It
smelled like Mulder - fabric softener sheets, aftershave, and a
faint hint of his sweat. I sniffed at the arm as I strolled to the
bathroom.

    Mulder was singing in the shower. He stopped when he heard
me come into the bathroom. "You were flirting with me, Scully."
He called over the rush of the water. It was humid and smelled of
utilitarian shampoo in the bathroom.

    I opened the medicine cabinet and retrieved the toothpaste,
taking the time to work the flatness in the middle to the end of the
tube. "When was I flirting with you?"

    "In the woods. With the mothmen. You were flirting with me."

    I liberally applied toothpaste to Mulder's toothbrush and stuck
it in my mouth. The plastic clicked against my teeth as I spoke
around it. "How do you figure?"

    "Joy to the World. I never could figure out why you sang that
song of all songs." I kept brushing, not bothering to reply, as I
knew he would keep talking without my help. "I mean, there
were a million songs you could have sung and I never really
pegged you as a Three Dog Night fan." I shrugged even though
he couldn't see me. "It's the second verse." I stopped brushing for
a moment. He was right and he began to sing, rather tunelessly,
"If I were the king of the world, tell you what I'd do, I'd throw
away the cars and the bars and the wars and make sweet love to
you." He stopped and I curbed my urge to demand the chorus.
"Am I right?"
 
    I spat a mouthful of foam into his sink. "Yeah. Took you three
damn years to figure it out, but you're right." I replaced the
toothbrush. "Leave the water on. I want to shower after you."

    "Okay." I wandered out of the bathroom and began fishing my
outfit out of my bag. I sighed when I noticed I had grabbed a
white T-shirt and not my white shell in my haste to pack. "A
patrolman in West Virginia was murdered with his own flashlight
last night."

    "Beaten to death?"

    "Yeah. But that's the thing. He was only hit once. A single blow
obliterated half of his head."

    I was trying to shake the wrinkles out of my blazer. "Bullshit."

    Mulder laughed. "How can I argue with that Scully?"

    "I've wanted to say that to you for years. Bullshit, Mulder,
it's not possible."

    "Drove his glasses into his brain and through his skull."

    I laid my pants out on the bed, brushing at the wrinkles.
"Yummy."

    He strode into the bedroom toweling his hair vigorously. "All
yours."

    "Thanks."

    He grabbed at the tail of his shirt as I passed him. "Nice
threads."

    "I have good taste." I smiled at him over my shoulder.

    I was loath to wash the sweat off my skin and the dampness
from between my legs. I washed quickly, trying not to think about
it. About ten minutes into my shower, Mulder stuck his head into
the bath, his tie dangling precariously close to the stream of
water. I blinked the water out of my eyes and beamed at him.
"God," he breathed, "You're beautiful." He sighed. "I gotta go.
One of us should be at the scene. You don't mind, do you?"

    I shook my head, splattering water on his tie. "I'll be right
behind you."

    Mulder leaned in and kissed me. "Good." Before he withdrew
his head, he said, "Tonight." It was a question, a statement.

    "Yes. Tonight."

    With a wide smile, he was gone.
 

J. Edgar Hoover Building, Office of Walter Skinner
9:00 am
 
     "Good morning, Agent Scully."

    "Good morning, Kimberly. Agent Mulder said he'd leave a file
for me here?"

    She handed me the folder with a smile. "Here you are."

    "Thank you." I nodded once and left, turning right.

    "Agent Scully, wait!" I stopped and turned to see Kimberly
following me with her purse slung over one shoulder. "Are you
headed for the ladies room?"

    "Yes."

    "So am I."

    We walked along together in silence, stealing sideways glances
at one another. It had never occurred to me that I would, should,
or could have any sort of bond with Kimberly. I wondered, as she
held the bathroom door open for me, if Kimberly had ever tried to
be my friend and I had missed it. I scanned my memory for any
overtures she may have made and came up empty. I sighed at my
reflection, watching Kimberly retreat into a stall over my
shoulder. Had it really been so long since I had been friends with
another woman that I had forgotten how? I shook the thought out
of my head and removed my purse from my briefcase, which is
where I usually hid it, and fished out my lipstick. The first coat I
had applied was stuck to the rim a coffee cup in Mulder's
apartment.

    The toilet flushed, Kimberly emerged and washed her hands at
the sink next to me. After drying them, she leaned against the wall
and watched me for a moment. I tried to ignore her examination.
Finally, wrinkling her brow, she leaned in and sniffed the collar of
my shirt. I raised an eyebrow at her in the mirror. She smiled,
showing off her unnaturally white teeth. "British Sterling," she
said. I looked back to my own eyes quickly. " My God. Scully
bagged the Fox." She leaned against the counter, folding her arms
in front of her. I closed my lipstick and placed it back in my
purse. I've gotten past Senate sub-committees and trained
surveillance experts, I assured myself. I could handle a secretary.
I said nothing. "C'mon, Dana," she said flatly, "there's only one
man who you know and I know that wears British Sterling
aftershave and, "she slid behind me and peered down my collar,
"Armani shirts." Kimberly resumed her place at the counter.
"Just yes or no, that's all I want."

     "What? So the water cooler pool can either cash in or up the
ante?" You could have ice-skated on my voice.

    I turned to take my jacket and leave but she grabbed my
shoulder. "Dana, I can keep secrets." Her voice told me that she
knew some pretty big ones. "I've been watching you and Mulder
for seven years now." She smiled softly at me. "I'm kind of
rooting for you guys." Her smile grew. "Girl talk, Dana.
Remember that?" She tilted her head to one side. "I don't care
about Agent Scully and Agent Mulder. I just want to know how
Dana's man is in bed." I blushed and she laughed. "Besides, if I
can't have him, I can live though the person who can" I snorted,
my cheeks burning. She was quiet for a moment and finally,
exasperated, cried, "So?!"

     "He's amazing." I said as I looked at the floor.

     She opened her mouth and no sound came out. Finally she
said, "Great!" and grabbed my shoulders. "Oh no, oh wait!" She
leaned in close and hissed, "was this the first time?" I nodded.
"My God, I would have exploded! How did you stand it?" I
thought `my vibrator' but bit my tongue and shrugged instead.
"I'm sorry, but I would have been forced to haul his tight little
butt right down onto that basement office floor. Damn, Dana,
nerves of steel!"

    I laughed nervously. "Kimberly, I have to go." She let go of my
shoulders. "Mulder's expecting me." I looked her in the eye for
the first time since the office. "I would like to talk, but I can't."

    She shrugged, still smiling. I mused at what it must be like to
smile so much. "I understand. Nothing personal." I pulled my
jacket on and looked in the mirror once more. "You look great,
Dana." I smiled at her. I held the door open for her and we exited
into the hallway. "We should do something together sometime."

    "We should?"

    "Saturday night?"

   "We should." I nodded. "We'll make plans tomorrow." She
smiled. We had come back to Skinner's office. He was standing
near Kimberly's desk, watching us quizzically. "So, I'll -uh - talk
to you then."

   "Yeah. See you later, Dana." She gave me a quick little wave and
turned into the office.

   "Bye Kimberly," I called as I began to walk away.

   "It's Kim," was the reply that came from the office.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

    Mulder meets me in the hall. I watch his smile grow as he
recognizes the shirt I am wearing as his. Our conversation is all
winks and nudges. We have a delicious secret, which isn't going
to be a secret much longer, and we are taking turns teasing one
another with it while it is still ours alone. He swats me with the
file folder; I play with his tie. I pout, I flirt. He eats
it up. We are acting like a couple of fools for one another.
But he's still Mulder. And I'm still Scully.

XXX FIN XXX
Was it worth the wait?
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