KISSING 'HELLO'	
AUTHOR:  Jacquie LaVa
CATEGORY/RATING:  MSR, Vignette, PG-13-ish 
DISCLAIMERS:  Someday CC is gonna have to let these two have some kind of a
life, but until he does... I only borrow them for a short time.  I'll
return them in one piece, I promise!
SPOILERS:  Nah, nothing to speak of...
	
SUMMARY:  When the time is right, it usually hits you over the head
big-time...


Kissing 'Hello'

When he saw the cell phone lying on the corner of his desk, he groaned.
She'd need it, he just knew it.  She used it twenty times a day, every day;
they both did.  They lived on their cell phones, always had.  And even
though she was getting ready for a much-needed vacation; even though they'd
promised each other not to call unless it was a dire emergency...  sure as
shit something would happen, and she'd need that phone.

He stared at it, face-down on his desk.  He didn't know how she'd managed
to leave it behind; the damn thing was like an extension of her arm.  She
could whip it out of her pocket faster than Wyatt Earp pulling his Colt 44;
have it flipped open and dialed in an instant.  It was the same with him -
and it had been so long since he'd  been without his.  He'd be lost without
it.  He had to take the phone over to her; she'd flip when she got to
Toronto and found out it was missing from her purse, or coat or wherever
she usually put it when she was traveling.  

He sighed, and rubbed his face wearily; he'd really wanted to get the last
bit of paperwork done, and she'd wanted to stay and help him but he had
practically  tossed her out the office door and told her to go home, pack
and get some sleep.  It wasn't late when she left, but since she was
catching an early morning flight, she had a chance to go to bed early for a
change.  He picked up the phone and slipped it into his pocket, then rang
her number, hoping he wasn't going to wake her up. He had to warn her that
he was stopping by to drop off the phone...

It rang twenty times before he finally gave up, now worried.  She never
turned off her recorder - and she always answered the phone when she was
home, day or night.  Always - unless something was wrong.  If she wasn't
there, her machine picked up.  He stood and paced the tight confines of the
office, the worry escalating as he imagined what could possibly have
happened.  Yes, she was one damn fine agent.  Yes, she could take care of
herself.  Yes, she had a gun and deadbolts on the doors and could stomp ass
when she wanted to.  But the world was full of loons and monsters - and
more and more they'd seen these animals released from prison, against all
odds... more than once they'd found themselves facing some of the crime
ghosts from their past, and having to fight the nightmare all over again.
It had happened only a short month ago, in fact.  Pfaster... God.  It had
almost destroyed them, as it had once before, years ago. 

It could happen again... it could.  Another monster, let loose upon the
world; one which they'd thought was put away for the duration.  He tried
calling again.  Let it ring thirty times.  Slammed down the phone, sent one
harsh "SHIT!" into the stuffy air of the office, and ran out the door.

All the way to her place, he tried not to panic.  Traffic was light, and
although it had been raining, the streets were not too slippery.  He tried
his best to keep the speeding at a minimum; this time of night the cops
were out in full force and the last thing he needed was a ticket.  Traffic
lights were not friendly, though, and several times he sat and stewed
impatiently behind the wheel as the red lights in particular proved more
sluggish than usual.  He finally pulled up in front of her building,
parking haphazardly in the street and running full-tilt through the doors
and down the hallway and up to her door, forgetting in his now-panic that
he had a key.  Halfway through his fifth hard knock, the door jerked open,
and he almost hit her on the nose.  He managed to pull back his fist in
time, and found himself just staring down at her, vaguely noting the wet
hair slicked back, a baggy oversized tee shirt sticking to her still-damp
body and her face scrubbed sqeaky-shiny.  She gaped at him, at his frenzied
look of panic, and her eyebrows shot up as she queried, "Mulder... what are
you doing -" just as he reached out one shaky hand and yanked her hard,
into his arms and up against his chest, shoving his face into her damp hair
as he managed to grate out three raspy words.

"Where WERE you?"  In response, she found herself mumbling, incoherently;
he realized he had her mouth crammed into his leather jacket, and released
her just enough to allow her to speak.  He couldn't stop shivering;
adrenaline high evaporating, he thought inanely, as he tried to focus on
her words.

"I was soaking in a hot bath... I fell asleep in the tub.  Had a glass of
wine; guess it wiped me out.  Now, mind telling me what you're doing here,
Mulder?  Mulder... God, what IS it?"  For he shook against her, and his
grip on her body was still so tight; she managed to ease up on his embrace
enough to get one pinned arm out and her hand pushed on his cheek until she
was able to see into his eyes.  Wet hazel eyes.  
What the -?  

"Mulder, come on, you're scaring me.  What's going on?"   He just shook his
head, eyes closing in relief at the solid feel of her in his arms; he knew
he must be squeezing the breath from her but it didn't matter; she was
safe, here in his hands; safe.  And in that instant of relief, in the
second it took for him to assimilate that he didn't have to worry... his
panic took on one hard, sword-sharp prickling of understanding; of why he'd
gotten so frightened in the first place; why the simple act of not being
able to reach her by phone had reduced him to a raving loon, rushing
through the night to her apartment.  And it suddenly wasn't about a
misplaced cell phone; it was all about them... what had always been between
them for seven long years; what had kept their relationship the single most
important aspect of their personal and professional lives.  It was why he
never had the slightest inkling to date anyone; it was why she felt
comfortable answering the door to him clad in nothing more than a baggy
oversized tee shirt and damp undies; it was why they argued and teased and
skirted on the fine edge of flirting and why they cried and laughed and ate
cold pizza together... why they called each other late at night and
bantered sleepily over old cases and new monsters and why they watched each
other very carefully, when they thought the other wasn't paying attention.

It was all of that, and so much more, as he stared into her scrubbed-clean
face, thinking he'd never seen anything so lovely - and it was what made
him haul her up even tighter in the circle of his arms, and made him bend
to her and cover her open mouth with his; open in shock because she had
seen the truth of it all, laid bare in his widened eyes about two seconds
before his warm mouth took her little gasp and swallowed it down deep.  The
sweet lip caress they'd shared on New Year's Eve faded into nothingness
against the flare of want this new kiss stirred into each of them, as he
let his lips and his tongue speak the words for him.  Her little hands
curved around his jaw as he deepened the kiss, and her thumbs rubbed wet
tears into his cheeks; he hadn't even realized he'd shed them, or when
they'd started.  The kiss went on and on, neither of them able to do more
than try breathing through noses clogged with tears as well; Mulder found
himself pressing her into the wall next to her half-open door, pushing his
hips and chest against her softness, until they were so off-balance with
the lack of oxygen and the desire that they fell into the open door and
landed on the carpeted foyer floor, Scully sprawled on top.  It broke their
kiss; she took huge gasping breaths and stared down at him, underneath her.
 He had his fingers wound into her damp hair and it hurt her scalp but she
never thought to tell him so.  Her nails were embedded in the tender skin
of his nape but he didn't feel it.  

She pulled one trembling hand from his skin and had managed to partially
shut the door, pushing at it with her palm with about the same level of
strength as a week-old kitten, before he kicked out with a foot and caught
it the rest of the way, then tangled her fingers in his and brought the
wayward hand back to his chest.  His other hand pressed hard into her scalp
until she met his lips again, the kiss a loving thing that danced between
them as he rolled them over and hovered above her, body covering hers in
one insistent demand.  She tore her mouth away and fought to get the words
out, while she still had strength to do so.

"I have a bedroom, Mulder..." His answering chuckle was thick with emotion,
as he nuzzled her soft neck and bit at a tiny lobe.

"Bedroom?  We don't need no stinking bedroom, Scully..."  Her giggle was a
sweet sound to his ears.

"You watched "Blazing Saddles" without me again, didn't you?"  He nodded
against her collarbone, and licked her skin in the enticing dip just there
under the delicate ridge.

"I did, last night - sorry.  Beer too, might as well come clean..." Her
huff of mock anger tickled him and he smiled, suddenly feeling like the
freest, most lighthearted fool in the world, laying there on the floor with
Dana Scully in a damp shirt and bare legs coiled all around him.

"White cheddar popcorn too, I'd bet?"  He nodded again, and she laughed and
tugged at him until she was the one on top, and he sprawled beneath her.
She sat on his hard thighs and suppressed a shiver as her softness made
stinging contact with his erection; he groaned as she whispered in his ear,
"You're a dead man, Agent... I promise you.  And I keep my promises..."


The buzzing of his cell phone cut through the remnants of his nebulous
dream, and he groaned in his sleep, rolling over and putting out one limp
arm, hand feeling for the stupid thing.  It was so early, only about six
o'clock in the morning; somebody had a lot of nerve calling him this early
on a Saturday.  He fumbled around on the nightstand and found it, flipped
it open and rumbled, "Mulder", into the receiver, at about the same time he
realized that not only did he not have a nightstand, but he also did not
have a peach satin bedcover.  It wasn't a dream, then - it was real.  It
had all happened.  He'd spent the night in Scully's bed.  He'd loved her
into oblivion and back, then done it all over again, neither of them
getting more than a few hours of sleep.  The grin on his face got even
wider when the soft low voice on the other end of his phone murmured
accusingly, "You snore."

Hitching himself up against her pillows, he cradled the phone against his
ear and tugged on the rumpled sheets.  "Yeah, well... you hog all the
covers."  Her answering chuckle warmed him down to his toenails, and he
wished like hell she was still there in bed with him.  Early-morning
flights were a bitch... he'd figured she would wake him up and demand a
ride to the airport.  Her next words zapped him to the core and left him
shuddery-hot.

"I miss you already - I missed you the instant I locked the door behind me.
 By the time I got in the taxi, I ached all over, Mulder...  I still ache."
 She paused and swallowed in a gulp of courage, before she plunged on.
"Why, Mulder?  Why now?  Why not last year, or the year before?"  As her
words trailed off, he sighed, knowing exactly what she was thinking.   He
ran a hand over his face, rubbing hard, and thought for a moment before
answering.

"Scully, honestly I don't know why now, and not some other time.  Maybe we
just weren't ready last year, or the year before; maybe one of us was there
and the other one just lagging behind.  Seems like it was never both of us
together, until now.  And with us, it had to be together, Scully - you know
that.  Otherwise it wouldn't be worth a damn thing.  It had to be equally
vital at equally the same time and place in both our hearts.  It's just the
way we are, with each other.  All or nothing -  that's what we demand from
our partnership and our friendship... why would a romantic relationship be
any different?"  Her soft intake of shaky breath was audible, and he was
suddenly ravenous to see her; had to be with her and touch her; reaffirm
what he'd discovered with her just a few short hours ago when he'd pressed
himself deep into her body and had carved a place for himself in her heart.  

"Scully... why didn't you wake me?  I wanted to take you to the airport.  I
wanted to kiss you goodbye..."  She was silent for a long moment, and he
could swear he heard a sniffle.  Ah, Scully, he thought - no tears, not
now!  But then she spoke low into the mouthpiece, and he had to strain to
hear.

"I don't ever want to kiss you goodbye, Mulder - now that I finally have
the right to kiss you.  I want every kiss to be 'hello' in some special
way..." He interrupted her with a few short sentences which rocked her to
the core.

"Scully, you always had the right to kiss me.  Nobody else did - just you.
I waited such a long time for the moment to be equally right, for both of
us - and last night was it.  You felt it - I know you did.  You kissed me
'hello' like nothing I have ever experienced, Partner..."  Her giggle and
his chuckle merged and bounced along both receivers as he added, "When are
you coming back?  The very instant.  I'll meet you - I'll be there.  I'll
kiss you 'hello'..."  She interrupted him with a sigh of such longing, it
would have caused his knees to buckle if he'd been standing up.

"Mulder... I'm still at the airport.  My flight got delayed.  And, you'll
never guess... the seat next to mine was empty... so I sort of, um,
reserved it.  I take off in about three hours... Mulder, come with me?
Please?  I'll let you kiss me 'hello' in 17 A and B..."  He was floored.
Come with her... she wanted him with her on vacation.  Never mind the fact
that he didn't have any leave approved; somehow he'd finagle a few days out
of Skinner.  He was so busy plotting, he didn't hear her worried,
"Mulder... say something!  You don't have to come with me if you don't want
to, but please say something!"  Later, much later, he would explain to
Scully the difficulties of trying to say anything around the biggest
shit-eating grin in the world, but for now...

"Pucker up, Scully..."

End