Resolution 2000
by Dasha K.
dashak@aol.com
Rating: R for language and adult themes 
Okay to archive at Gossamer and Spooky site. Please don't archive elsewhere
without my permission.

Classification: SR
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance
Summary: Scully tries a new way of making New Year's
resolutions.
Rating: R for language and adult themes
Spoilers: Millennium
Email: dashak@aol.com
Disclaimer: Yeah, in my sad little dreams.

Note: This is just a little New Year's gift for all the
wonderful people of Scullyfic, who continue to inspire and
amaze me. It hasn't been beta read, so please take all
errors with a grain of proverbial salt. Special thanks to
Shannon, for giving me the idea in the first place, and
Jeni, for stalk . . .err . . . encouraging me to write
this.
xxxxxxxxxxxx

In the parking lot, Mulder attempted to fish the car keys
out of his pocket with his uninjured hand. Leaning against
the car, Scully watched him and finally laid a hand on his
arm after he retrieved them with a wince on his face.

"I can drive," she said.

He looked down and smiled. "Nah, I'm fine for driving.
All they gave me was some Tylenol, and not even the good
kind with codeine."

Above their heads, crystalline flakes of snow fell from the
new year sky.

Mulder opened her car door but instead of going around to
the driver's side of the car, he stood right in front of
her as if waiting for something to happen.

"Are you all right?" she asked, but she had a strong
suspicion about what was wrong.

Her lips still stung from his brief kiss in the waiting
room, stung like after drinking dry champagne.

He nodded. "Yeah."

At a time like this, Scully wished she'd had been able to
see herself after they'd kissed, been able to better gauge
her reaction to him. I should have seemed gladder, she
thought. But it's just so much. Somehow, I wasn't
expecting that kiss. Not tonight, not after all we'd been
though.

Her hand found his and it was cold and rough. She squeezed
hard, as if trying to give him some of her inner warmth.

"The world didn't end," she said, repeating his words.

"I know."

This time she was careful to smile, teeth and everything.
"You know, it's not yet midnight in a whole lot of time
zones. The world could still end, after all."

Mulder blinked at her in confusion, his breath misting the
chilly air.

She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his. It was
just like the other kiss had been-- soft, sweet,
affectionate and brief. A kiss that held promise of future
things to come.

When they separated, they both smiled broadly. "See, we're
still here," she said.

He touched her lips and said, "I'm glad, Scully."

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

Their third kiss was outside her door. Mulder had walked
her up to the entrance of her building and they stood,
shivering in the wind that had blown in from the north.

"Are you doing your New Year's ritual?" he asked.

Scully nodded. "I have the wine, the notebook and wood for
the fire."

"I think it's a nice way to begin a new year."

"Yes, but I rarely keep my resolutions," she said.

He took her hands in hers. Now his hands were warm after
driving in the heated car. "Maybe the trick is to make
resolutions you can keep."

She thought about that for a moment, about all the lofty
resolutions she'd made in the past.

This time it should be different, she mused.

"Good night," he said and turned to leave.

Scully caught him at the elbow of his good arm. "Mulder,"
she said, "can I tell you one of my resolutions? I made it
in the car."

When he turned around, she saw that little crystals of snow
were caught in his hair and sparkling from the lights of
her entryway. "Sure, tell me," he said, and flashed her an
awkward grin.

Her heart began to pound underneath her coat. "I resolve
to make sure the world doesn't end more often."

The third kiss was the nicest of all. It wasn't a kiss
between two loving friends. It was a kiss to be shared
between lovers, long and wet, tongues sliding together for
the first time. It was two people discovering each other's
tastes, textures and rhythms.

When it ended, Scully didn't have to remind herself to
smile and look happy. She just was.

Mulder's face was slightly pink. He shook his head, as if
in disbelief. "Wow," he said, as if the power of speech
had entirely deserted him.

Scully got out her keys and opened the door. "I have more
resolutions to make," she said.

Still shaking his head, Mulder said, "I'll give you a call
tomorrow. Happy New Year, Scully."

He turned to walk back to the car and she wasn't entirely
sure, but she thought she heard him whistling.

"Happy New Year, Mulder," she whispered and went inside.

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

Like she did every year, Scully changed into the new
pajamas her mother had given her for Christmas. This year
they were black silk with white piping, quite elegant and a
pleasure to have brushing against her skin as she got
everything else ready for her annual ritual.

A fire was lit in the hearth and she turned the
multicolored lights of her Christmas tree on. All other
lights in the living room were shut off and the room glowed
red, orange and yellow.

In the kitchen she opened a bottle of Pinot Noir and poured
a glass. She found a notebook and a pen in the utility
drawer.

After setting her goods down on the coffee table, Scully
put some Chopin piano concertos on the stereo.

She sighed with happiness as she settled on the rug, right
in front of the glowing fire. Even if she never really
kept her resolutions, the act of taking stock and setting
goals helped her keep her focus, to define what she wanted
from the new year.

Usually it was easy to write down her resolutions. She'd
just grab her pen and go, scribbling across the page. This
year, though, her mind felt stuck in a loop. Instead of
thinking of what she needed to accomplish in the next three
hundred and sixty-five days, Scully kept flashing back to
the kisses she'd shared with Mulder.

This is a bad thing, she thought, putting down the pen to
sip her wine. This is why I shouldn't let Mulder in like
this. He can be a distraction from what I really want.

Then Scully thought of what Mulder had said outside. He'd
said: "Maybe the trick is to make resolutions you can
keep."

She drank the rest of her glass and thought some more about
his kisses and her resolutions for the next year. Instead
of writing them down, she simply let them take form and
substance in her mind.

The resolutions became nearly three-dimensional in her
mind, and she was so lost in their colors and shapes that
she started at the sound of knocking at the door.

Who the hell is knocking at nearly three in the morning she
thought, but then she realized only one person would be at
her door at this hour.

A smile grew on her face as she walked to the door.

When she opened the door, Mulder was standing there with an
embarrassed grin on his face. He was holding her bag. "I
was nearly home when I realized you left this in my car. I
thought you might need your things tomorrow."

Scully now remembered pulling out her keys and placing them
in her coat pocket.

"Thanks," she said, taking the bag from him.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you resolution ritual."

Opening the door wider, she said, "I'm done now. Do you
want to come in and have a glass of wine?"

His smile was as delighted as a small boy's on Christmas
morning.

While Mulder was taking off his jacket, she got the bottle
of wine and a glass from the kitchen. He was sitting on
the couch.

She poured him a glass of the dark red wine and handed it
to him. "Sit down in front of the fire with me," she said.

It was funny how she'd felt so awkward around him earlier
in the night, but now that she'd done her resolutions and
taken stock, she felt no fear.

Mulder sat down on the rug with a small groan.

"Are you sore?" she said.

He nodded. "I have a feeling I'm going to wake up and not
be able to get out of bed."

She clinked glasses with him. "To the new year," she said.

"To the new year," he repeated.

They both drank in silence.

"Do you want to hear my resolutions?" she asked, setting
her glass down on the coffee table.

Mulder glanced at the open notebook sitting nearly in front
of him. "It doesn't look like you wrote anything down."

She nodded. "I know. This time I just thought about
them."

"Are you sure you want to tell me?"

Scully was never more sure about anything in her life. She
gathered her knees in her arms. "Yes, I want to share them
with you. Usually my resolutions are in the self-
improvement vein. You know-- to work out three times a
week, go to Mass every Sunday if possible, to go to more
professional functions, those sorts of things."

He laid his large hand on her shoulder. "How are they
different this year?"

She watched the way the firelight played on his face,
softening his handsome features and making him look like a
man who didn't have a care in the world.

"This year they're more selfish."

"Selfish?" he said, wrinkling his forehead.

"Well, maybe not selfish but more self indulgent."

Mulder smiled at that.

She shut her eyes and settled against the back of the
couch. "I resolve that this year I'll indulge in the
pleasures of the flesh."

He chuckled. "Ooh, Scully . . ."

"It's not what you're thinking," she said, snorting. "I
just need to be kinder to myself. I resolve to once a
month to get a massage or a pedicure or something luxurious
like that. I resolve to eat more chocolate and not feel
guilty about it. I resolve to see more movies and spend
time lying on the couch, listening to music with my eyes
closed. I resolve to take more naps."

Mulder kept chuckling and she almost opened her eyes to see
the expression on his face, but instead, she kept talking.
"I resolve to learn something new, not because it's good
for me, but for fun, like taking tango lessons or learning
to cook Thai food. And I resolve to buy a really slinky
dress and some high heels and go out one night with a
handsome man for dinner and dancing."

He said nothing at that.

"I resolve to remember that I'm not just a scientist, an
FBI agent and a doctor, but that I'm a woman."

She heard him inhaling sharply.

"I resolve to find my garter belt in the bottom drawer of
my dresser and buy candles."

Scully opened her eyes and saw Mulder staring at her, his
eyes a mixture of wonder and confusion.

"I resolve that at least once a week breakfast will be in
bed and it'll be for two."

He took her hand and stroked the top of her palm with his
index finger. A shiver ran through her at the sensation.
"Who is the one who'll be lucky enough to share breakfast
with you?" he asked.

Oh, Mulder, you silly man, don't you know?

She drank some more wine for fortification.

"I resolve to remember that I'm a woman who has reached her
sexual peak and that I work with an attractive man who very
clearly loves the hell out of me. I resolve to not forget
that he's not perfect, but neither am I, but I resolve that
for once I should throw caution to the winds and let myself
be loved, in every way, and vice-versa."

Mulder's eyes became as large in his face. "What are you
saying, Scully?"

She ignored his question. "I resolve that I finally tell
Mulder that I love him, that I've loved him for a long time
and I'm tired of pretending that I don't, or hoping it'll
just go away."

He touched her face with a hand that was slightly
trembling.

"I resolve to make our partnership work, both
professionally and personally."

Now he looked as if he were about to cry.

"I resolve to stop waiting for things to become perfect. I
resolve to kiss Mulder again, to make love to him, to bring
in the new year right here, in front of the fire."

She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it. "I resolve
to stop hiding."

"Can you go over that part about having sex in front of the
fire again?" he said, with a nervous laugh.

Instead of more words, she answered him with a kiss. She
answered him by kissing him long and slow, by unbuttoning
his shirt and drawing it off his injured body. She said
everything else she needed to say by removing her pajamas
and lying down with him in front of the fire. They gently
touched and explored by flickering firelight, ushering in
the millennium with smiles and soft laughter.

"I like your resolutions," Mulder said and took a nipple in
his mouth to savor it with his tongue.

Scully arched her back in pleasure. "I do, too," she said
in a strained voice, as he was doing such delightful things
with that mouth of his.

I resolve to find out just what his mouth can do, she
thought.

Finally, Mulder lay on the rug and she crouched over him,
tasting bits and pieces of him, cataloguing their flavors
and textures for future reference.

"I want to make a resolution," he gasped.

She buried her nose in his dark, curly pubic hair, taking a
sniff of his low, masculine scent, her fingers moving up
and down the length of him. "What's that?" she said,
raising her head.

"I resolve to make Scully feel really, really good, if only
she'll let me."

She took that as the magic, millennial sign to move up and
poise for him to enter her.

The expression on his face was priceless and gorgeous as
she slid down the length of him, until he was fully inside
her.

"I love New Year's Eve," he said as she moved his cock in
and out of her depths.

"It's New Year's Day," she reminded him.

"Whatever," he said, and his eyes rolled to the back of his
head.

I resolve to love him like this until the day I die, she
thought.

When she came, she felt as hot as the fire still merrily
burning away in her fireplace and as light and free as the
snow outside.

And her ultimate reward was finally watching Mulder coming,
his face transformed with ecstasy as he gushed deep inside
her.

Scully collapsed on his chest and kissed his stubbly chin.
"I resolve to make love with you until the sun comes up,"
she said, feeling bold from her pleasure.

"Oh yeah," he said, pulling her in for another kiss. "It's
going to be a good millennium."

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


In the morning, she heard him stirring in the bedroom.
Scully stretched luxuriously in the sheets and made a
resolution to sleep in more often.

"What are you doing, Mulder?"

He leaned over and kissed her bare shoulder. "I'm going to
see if any stores are open. I want to get some eggs and
bacon."

She shut her eyes and smiled at the thought of breakfast.
"That sounds nice," she said.

"I'm just trying to make good on your breakfast in bed
resolution."

She rolled over and anticipated the rest of the year and
all the resolutions they could fulfill.

End

Yeah, I know it was schmoopy, but sometimes you have to do
it. <g> I consider it to be a virus, like the cold or the flu. Now it's
out of my system.

Again, thanks to all the amazing men and women of Scullyfic
and my ultra-cool co-list moms, Jill and Shari.

Feedback would be oh-so-sweet:
dashak@aol.com