Title:           MULDER, SHUT UP

Author:          FatCat (feedback to  FatCat33047@yahoo.com)

Website:         Please visit the wonderful home Donnilee has 
                 created to house my stories at 
                 http://donnilee.tripod.com.  Just follow my name 
                 to find my stories.  While you are there, take a 
                 peek at Donnilee's great stories and those of the 
                 other authors that she has at her site.
                 Thank you Donni!
               
Rating:          R

Category:        MSR, Post Episode 

Classification:  V, RST  

Spoilers:        No Requiem, Season 8 or Season 9 in this world, 
                 but you will find bits and pieces of "All Things"

Archive:         As you wish, but please keep my name attached and 
                 let me know where to visit.

Summary:         Scully's emotions erupt after a case following her
                 meeting with Daniel in "All Things".


Disclaimer:      They aren't mine nor anyone's but CC, Fox, 1013, 
                 DD and GA own the characterizations.  These works 
                 are used without permission-no infringement 
                 intended.

Author's Notes:  What?  This old thing?  It's just an old ditty that
                 I found on my disk and cleaned up for posting.  
                 Spring is here, but I long for our California 
                 summer nights.

                 Feedback always appreciated.

                 Thanks to Donnilee for the beta!



XXXXXXXXXX

ROUTE 16, WEST OF JACKSON, 
CALIFORNIA ON ROUTE TO THE 
SACRAMENTO, CA AIRPORT 
JULY 21, 2000

Dana Scully sat in the passenger seat of the rented Taurus with her eyes shut.  Fox 
Mulder, her ever-talkative partner was doing what he did best, talking as he drove, 
continuing to expound on his latest theory about the case they had just wrapped up.

"Mulder!  Shut up, PLEASE!"  Scully nearly shouted, glaring at him.  "I just cannot 
discuss this case right now.  Okay?"  She had tried to tell him with out resorting to this 
confrontation that she didn't want to talk since they pulled away from the Jackson City 
Jail.  He had remained oblivious until her outburst.

"Sure, Scully, okay."  Mulder glanced at her with a look of surprise and concern on his 
face. "You feel okay?"

"I'm fine.  I just need some downtime," Scully said as she shut her eyes again, turning her 
face towards the side window.

"Um, okay.  Just let me know if you want to stop.  Do you mind if I play the radio?"

She shook her head no.  Some music might be just the thing now.

On they drove, past dinner time, trying to get out of the Sierras to Sacramento in time to 
grab a night's sleep before boarding their flight home early the next morning.  The sun 
was setting when they finally pulled into a motel that looked as if it met FBI standards ... 
cheap.

Vince's Trattoria the sign said.  They chose this particular motel from a row of other 
inexpensive motels that lined Folsom Boulevard because it had a fairly decent looking 
restaurant up by the front office.  Scully sat in the car while Mulder checked them in.  
She had not spoken two words to him the entire drive after asking him to shut up.  He, for 
once, had complied with her request.  Not a word had passed through his beautiful lips 
during the entire afternoon.

He climbed back into the car and drove around to their rooms.  He handed her the keys 
and moved to unload the trunk.  She had both doors open by the time he dumped their 
luggage in their respective rooms.

"Scully, they have room service here if you don't want to go out to the restaurant to eat," 
he offered.

She nodded and started to turn away but stopped.  "I ... I want to go to the restaurant to 
eat after I get cleaned up."  Her voice sounded rusty, as if she had not used it for years 
instead of hours.

"Okay, just knock when you're ready," he said.

The rooms were surprisingly nice.  They were spacious, clean, and freshly decorated.  
Within the hour she gave a soft rap on the door joining their rooms.  He pulled it open so 
quickly she knew he had been waiting for her knock for some time.

They walked through the soft California night toward the restaurant.  The parking lot was 
crowded but there wasn't a waiting line.  The restaurant looked small from the outside, 
but when they stepped into the main dining room they could see that it really was a series 
of small rooms that had been opened to accommodate a surprisingly large seating 
capacity.

They were ushered into a small alcove-type room tastefully decorated and dimly lit.  The 
tables were covered with sparkling white tablecloths with the prerequisite Italian flag 
colors of green, red, and white dominating the table settings.  Linen napkins and a small 
floral arrangement with a candle flickering in the middle of the table, created a very nice 
but unexpected ambiance.

Dina, the daughter of the owner, seated them.  She was a slender girl with long, curly, 
brown hair, laughing brown eyes, and a ready smile.  She turned this smile on Scully who 
could not help but smile back as Dina explained the specials of the day.

Scully glanced over at Mulder and was shocked by the look on his face.  He obviously 
had been watching her exchange with Dina and did not expect her to look at him.  His 
expression of pain surprised her.  She thought, at first, he was staring at Dina.  The young 
woman bore a marked resemblance to Mulder's sister, Samantha.  Scully immediately 
assumed that she reminded him of sister.  She dismissed this thought as he guiltily looked 
down at the menu when he caught her stare.

Her mind reeled.  He had been looking at HER with that pained expression.  She caused 
his pain.  'What now, Mulder?' she wondered.  Then she deliberately chose to ignore it.  
Today, she had her own burden to carry.  She wasn't sure her size four shoulders were up 
to assuming any more of his burden today.

Their dinner was as exceptional as the delicious smells emanating from the kitchen hinted 
it would be.  Scully had the minestrone soup and hot sour dough bread.  Mulder had the 
heart attack on a plate ... a dish called Land, Sea, and Italy.  It came with a generous 
salad, followed by a huge platter with a small steak, a fried cod filet, and a big serving of 
spaghetti with meat sauce.

The homemade soup was the best minestrone she had ever had.  It came with small round 
loaves of sour dough bread, hot from the oven.  It was served with a lovely house wine 
that Dina had suggested.  It was a local wine and neither of them had heard of the brand 
before.  Scully took note of the name.  She would look for it when she got home.

The delicious food worked as a panacea, melting away the stress of the day.  'Of course, 
the wine probably helped the most,' Scully thought.  Mulder offered her a taste of his 
food and when she voiced her pleasure at the wonderful flavors of it all, began feeding 
small bites to Scully.  She was buttering bread for them both and was soon reciprocating 
by feeding Mulder bites of bread and butter dipped into her soup.   Neither noticed when 
the room began to clear and they were left alone.  They had fallen into their long pattern 
of conversational ease.  They both had brilliant minds and were capable of playing devil's 
advocate on a wide variety of subjects.  A casual listener would be shocked to learn that 
they were not lovers.  They sounded like any garden-variety couple out for a dinner date.

"Are you ready for some dessert?" Dina asked.  "We're closing the kitchen in a few 
minutes, but we have plenty of time for your dessert."

"What do you have?" Scully asked, as she smiled at her again.

"We actually have a limited dessert menu, but we feel we have chosen the best of the 
best.  We have a triple chocolate cake served with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce 
or we have authentic Italian spumoni ice cream.  What will it be?"

Mulder glanced at Scully and then up at Dina and asked if they could have one of each.  
He also ordered another bottle of the wine they had been drinking to go.

Dina smiled and said she would see what she could do for them.

Minutes later they were walking back toward their rooms, desserts, wine, corkscrew, and 
glasses in hand.

"Wait a minute, Scully.  What's this?"  Mulder pulled her over to the side of their 
building.  A redwood gate opened to disclose a huge, swimming pool and patio area.  The 
only lights on were the underwater fixtures in the pool.  They cast an aqua glow over the 
entire enclosed area.  "I think we're on to something here," he said as they walked 
through the gate, shutting it behind them.  He smiled and pulled out a chair for her at a 
nearby table.

Scully shook her head as she smiled and toed off her shoes, walking to the edge of the 
pool.  She bent over and rolled the legs of her jeans up above her knees.  She walked 
down the steps into the water and sat down on the side of the pool, swishing her feet back 
and forth.

"I'll take my cake here, if you please."  She grinned up at Mulder.

He for once seemed to be at a loss for words and merely handed her the cake, a fork and a 
glass for her wine.

Scully stared up at the stars and breathed in the fragrant night air as Mulder opened the 
bottle of wine.  "I miss living in California.  When you're back east you forget about how 
wonderful the weather is here during most of the year.  I fell in love with this state when 
my dad was stationed in San Diego.  I can't believe I didn't relocate here after I passed my 
boards.  Mom always said she and Dad wanted to come back here when they retired," 
Scully's voice trailed off.

Mulder concentrated on her words.  His profiler's mind trying to make a connection, 
trying to understand her mood using the clues she'd given him today.   A look of sudden 
understanding flashed over Mulder's face.

"It's your dad's birthday, isn't it, Scully?" he said.  "That's why you were so ..."

"Bitchy?" she offered, cutting him off, as she nodded.  "This morning was particularly 
hard.  We had been interviewing all those elderly couples at the casino where the murders 
occurred and I almost lost it.  I kept asking myself why those people survived and my 
Dad didn't.  Why did those women remain with the love of their lives and my mother was 
left so lonely?"  She took a sip of her wine and said, "And then it got really weird, 
Mulder.  I began to ask myself why it seemed I would never have what they had, 
someone in my life that had been there with me through everything.  I just lost it in the 
car.  I'm sorry," she finished quietly.

His silence scared her.  He was kneeling next to her, gazing into his cup of spumoni with 
such intensity she thought he had found the answers to all the questions of the universe in 
there.  She touched his arm.

When he finally looked up at her the look of anguish she had seen on his face was back.  
"Mulder, what is it?"

"Scully," he stopped, suddenly without words.  He swallowed and tried again.  In a low 
voice he said, "I know you want a normal life, Scully.  You want the husband and the 
kids and the palm trees in the back yard.  So much of what has happened to you since we 
met has removed that dream from the realm of possibility.  I'm sorry for all the things that 
have happened to you since we became partners.  I feel I am to blame for many of those 
rotten things, if not directly, indirectly.  The very fact you are my partner has made you a 
target of sorts.  I would give up my life to give you back Melissa, or Emily, or the ability 
to have a child, even if it was with someone else.  I've known this for some time but I've 
ignored it."

She stared at him as he spoke.  Her face placid, not giving away for a moment the 
thoughts that were racing through her brain.  'What did he mean, *even if it was with 
someone else*?  Did that mean he'd thought about having those things with her?' she 
wondered.

He hesitated before going on and then said, "I haven't wanted to think of my life without 
you.  We both know I'm a selfish, self-centered jerk at times, but my need to continue on 
the X-Files isn't the most important thing anymore.  It's what you need that's important to 
me.  You need the stability of all the normal things and you're not going to find them 
while we work together.  I love you enough to want you to be happy, even if it's not with 
me.  You should consider quitting the X-Files, maybe even the FBI."  He finally stopped 
rambling and stared into the water.

His shoulders were hunched as if he were expecting a blow.  Throughout his speech she 
had sat still, listening intently.  "Mulder, just when did you reach this brilliant 
conclusion?" she finally asked, sounding disgusted.

He stole a glance at her and then turned fully to face her.  She was calmly eating her 
dessert.  He became mesmerized as she swirled the spoon in the container and picked out 
each bite.  Just enough chocolate cake, just enough vanilla ice cream, just enough fudge 
sauce and up to her mouth.  He watched as she closed her eyes in pleasure and hummed 
as the combination of flavors spread over her tongue.  She opened her eyes and smiled as 
she let her small pink tongue run over her lips to capture the final taste of chocolate then 
flick over the spoon again, seeking every morsel.

He swallowed hard and said, "While we were in the car, you were so upset it gave me 
time to think.  I realized that you don't smile much anymore, Scully.  You smile at 
strangers more readily than you do with your friends or family.  You have a beautiful 
smile and I miss it.  If someone else could give you happiness, so be it.  Maybe Daniel ..." 
he stopped abruptly.  Had he gone too far?  He watched her eat for a moment and her 
actions began to arouse him.  "Is that dessert as good as you make it seem, Scully?" he 
finally had to ask.

'There it was again. 'If someone else could give you happiness, so be it.'  Why did he 
continually think that someone else could give me happiness and he couldn't,' she 
wondered.  'Maybe because he doesn't know how you feel about him,' the small voice of 
her conscience told her.

She swept her gaze over him before speaking. "How ... valiant of you," she said 
sarcastically as she took yet another bite.  This time her small white teeth scraped the 
spoon as she pulled the chocolate into her mouth.

Mulder was getting more and more uncomfortable.  He shifted to give his body relief 
from confines of his tight jeans.  Here he was trying to do the noble thing and let her go 
and all she could do was tease him with her erotic actions.

"Scully, say something!  I just spilled my guts to you and all you're doing is eating that 
dessert as if it's the most important thing in the entire world."

"Mulder," she said playfully as she carefully scraped the carton and stuck the last perfect 
spoonful of the dessert into his mouth. "Shut up."  She stood up, walking out of the pool 
to the corner to throw away her container and spoon.  He took advantage of her 
inattention and stood up to adjust his arousal to a more comfortable and hopefully less 
observable position.

The bougainvillea vine covering the fence smelled heavenly and she inhaled deeply.  The 
air was warm and dry and a slight breeze wafted through the fencing.  California nights 
were so beautiful just like she remembered from her childhood.  She turned and walked 
back towards him.

"Have you ever seen a comedian named Gallagher?" Scully asked, suddenly breaking the 
stillness of the night.  "He used to have a whole bit about Californians.  Let's see.  I think 
it went something like:  'Californians are like breakfast cereal, them that aren't fruits or 
nuts are flakes.'"  She laughed softly before saying, "I always thought that the state 
government had secretly hired him to make California less attractive to immigrants.  Too 
many more people and the beauty of this state will be ruined."  She stretched her arms up 
to the heavens and threw her head back.  The cotton of her blouse pulled against the 
surprising fullness of her breasts.

"I love California, especially at night.  Can you smell all the things in bloom here?  Did 
you know that they use geraniums for fences out here?  There are flowers blooming here 
every month of the year.  I've always felt more free here than anywhere else in the world.  
Who knows?  Maybe I'm just one of those nuts at heart."

She turned and faced Mulder.  The look of surprise on his face only increased as she 
began to slowly unbutton her blouse.  She striped off her clothing, piece by piece, and 
tossed them into a pile a few feet from the edge of the pool.  She stood poised on the edge 
of the pool before him, naked, more beautiful than even his wildest imagining.

She gave him a saucy wink.  Then she gracefully made a shallow dive into the deep end 
of the pool, surfacing in the middle of the pool and treading water as she slicked her hair 
back out of her eyes.  She smiled up at him.  He was standing as if fixed in place, staring 
at her, trying to sort through all the signals she had given him.

"Scully?" he choked out.

She shook her head to silence him.  "The only thing I want to hear from you, Mulder, is 
the sound of your clothing hitting the ground and your body diving into this water.  It's 
my turn to talk and you're too far away from me."  She smiled as realization washed over 
his features.  "Do we have an understanding?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"  He grinned as he quickly stripped and dove in, stopping less than a foot 
from her.

"Mulder, this is hard for me so I want you to just listen for a moment," she said holding 
up her hand as he reached for her.

He nodded and backed up a few inches, trying desperately to keep his eyes on her face.  
Her skin glowed like a pearl in the underwater lighting of the pool.

"Mulder, I have what I want in life.  I don't deny when I was younger, I thought I wanted 
the husband and the kids and the house with the palm trees, but then I grew up.  I am an 
adult woman who has made every choice in the past seven years voluntarily.  I realized 
when I saw Daniel last month that I am happy with my life in almost every way.

"I chose medicine, I chose the FBI, and I chose to stay with the X-Files and with you.  I 
don't want to change a thing about my life except the fact that you and I are two 
incredibly stubborn people.  We seem to be bent on keeping our feelings for each other 
secret while everyone in the world around us makes bets on whether or not we're in love."

She floated over to him and put her arms around his neck, easing her entire body against 
his.  She could feel his breath on her face, his heart beating rapidly, his arousal pressing 
between their bodies.  She raised her eyes to meet his and smiled as she leaned in and 
licked a small smear of chocolate from his lip.

"I don't want to feel like I am walking this path alone.  I need a lover and soul mate as 
well as a professional partner, someone who will stay with me forever.  I want that person 
to be you, Mulder.  I love you, too," she said, finally responding to his earlier declaration.  
She closed her eyes, suddenly shy after revealing her thoughts to him.

He hugged her tightly, reveling in the feel of her bare skin against his before speaking.  
"Why don't you and I use our considerable brain power to figure out a way to open up to 
each other and fool the world instead of the other way around?" he suggested, as he 
smiled back at her.  "God, Scully!" he exclaimed as she slid her silky arms around him.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said.  "But first, Mulder, why don't you just shut up 
and kiss me."  She pulled his head down and captured his lips in a kiss so hot he expected 
to see steam rising from the water.  Their tongues dueled as they deepened the kiss.  Only 
a lack of oxygen and an imminent threat of drowning caused them to separate.

Mulder held her to him with one arm and used the other to bring them into shallow water.  
He moved his hands to grip her thighs, lifting her legs.  She got the hint and wrapped 
them around his waist as he slid into her.  Her groan of pleasure almost made him lose 
control before they even started.

She wrapped her legs around him tighter and began to slide up and down on his cock as if 
posting a trotting stallion.

Mulder spread his legs to give them a measure of stability and held on for dear life.  He 
used his hands and mouth on every part of her body that he could touch.  He liked this 
position.  Scully was significantly shorter than he was and if they had been in bed he 
would have not been able to reach all the parts of her that he longed to kiss and tongue 
and suckle while he stroked into her.  Her groans became louder and longer and the long 
steady stokes of their rhythm increased and became choppy.

"Oh, God, love you Mulder," she moaned as she clenched her inner walls harder on him, 
reaching for her release.

He slid his hand in between them to stroke over her clit gently.  One, two, three strokes, 
and she gasped, freezing in place for only a second before she began to quake and shiver 
in his arms.

Her release pulled him over the edge and he began to thrust up into her, bellowing his 
love for her as he came.

"Scully," he groaned as he once again found two brain cells to rub together in his speech 
center.  "I think I need to sit down."

"Mmmrmnph ..." she said as she clung to him.

Mulder moved towards the steps and fell down, still holding Scully tightly wrapped 
around him.  They clung to each other as their hearts slowed and their breathing calmed.

"So, Scully?"

"Yeah?"

"Want to transfer to the Los Angeles Field Office?"

"Whatever for, Mulder?" Scully pulled back to try to follow his thinking.

"I like this new, freer Dana Scully," he teased.  "I'd take a transfer to the West Coast if it 
means that she'll stick around."

Scully smiled and hugged him again, snuggling in to kiss his neck.  "I don't need 
California nights to make me wild, Mulder."

"No?"

"No, you drive me crazy wherever we are," she said, suddenly completely sober.  "I don't 
want to go back to the way we've been, Mulder.  I was being honest when I said I wanted 
you for my lover."

"I know you were; I want the same thing.  I love you Scully.  I don't think I could go back 
to being just partners again."

They clung together for several minutes until a noise alerted them that they might not be 
alone.

"Did you hear that?" Mulder whispered in her ear.

"Yes.  We need to get out of here."

Before either of them could move they heard a small voice say, "Daddy?  Can we go 
swimin' Daddy?  Mommy wants to know why you didn't come back to get us."

A male voice coughed and cleared his throat before answering, "We can't go swimming 
right now, Pumpkin.  There's ... something in the water right now."

"What's in the water, Daddy?  Can I see?  Is it a frog?  A fish?" the sweet little voice 
asked.

"No, honey, we can't use the pool right now because there are ... chemicals in the pool.  
We have to wait until morning.  Now let's get back to our room and let Mommy know 
that the pool is closed."

The sound of retreating footsteps and the patter of the young child was all that was heard 
in the still of the night until Mulder's laughter began.

"Mulder ..." Scully warned.

"I can't help it, Scully," he continued to laugh.  "Something in the water ..."

Scully climbed off Mulder's lap and marched over to her pile of clothes.

"Come on, Scully.  It is funny," he said as he embraced her from behind. "All those years 
of sticking to the rules while being scrutinized constantly and the first time we step over 
the line, we have a stranger playing peeping tom."  His soft chuckle was contagious.

Scully turned in his arms and smiled up at him.  "Get dressed, Mulder.  We still have to 
make it across the parking lot to our rooms.

"But Scully?  What's the use now?" he teased.

"Shut up, Mulder," she growled.

"I mean, after all, how many others do you think could be up at this time of night?"

"Mulder, I'm warning you, not one more word."

"Ohhhh, what are you going to do, Agent Scully?  Get physical with me?" he taunted her.

"No, that's what I'm NOT going to do if you don't get dressed and back to our rooms right 
now," she said ominously.

"But Scully ..."

"Mulder," she reached over and kissed his beautiful lips, effectively cutting off his next 
words.  "Shut up."

And so he did.

THE END