TITLE: "BOOM" BY: X-Phan E-MAIL ADDRESS: xphan1013@yahoo.com RATING: NC-17 CLASSIFICATION: SR, Story/Romance TIMEFRAME/SPOILER WARNING: As always, set before the last 2 seasons, during the "status quo" time before "the baby", Doggett, Mulder's abduction etc... but no serious spoilers. KEYWORDS: MSR SUMMARY: Story of how a ticking clock changed everything. Well... not really. ARCHIVE INFO: Can be archived anywhere as long as my name, address and disclaimer stay intact. FEEDBACK: Please email me with any comments, reviews, constructive criticism, etc... INSPIRATION: About a thousand movies where this happens, but one in particular. How low have I sunk when I have to rip-off a plot from a Keanu Reeves movie? You're about to find out. DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and the characters of Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be gained. ETERNAL THANKS: to Jessy my great beta screener and a true fan. ___________________________________________________________ The X-Files: "Boom" by X-Phan *********************** "The most wonderful of all things in life, I believe, is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a glowing depth, beauty, and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two human beings is a most marvelous thing, it cannot be found by looking for it or by passionately wishing for it. It is sort of a Divine accident." -- Horace Walpole (1717-97), British writer, historian, "The Castle of Otranto" *********************** Rural Arkansas 7:13 PM Scully got Mulder's scribbled message and drove out to the farmhouse as fast as the borrowed compact car would take her. She arrived and looked around for Mulder's rental. It wasn't in sight but he had said he would be here. The note he left said he had to hurry to prevent their suspect from escaping so he couldn't wait for her to return. She got out of the car and was just about to close the door when from behind her a shotgun cocked. "Don't you do nuttin' stupid now. Hands up and turn around real slow." She did as she was told and turned to face their suspect. "Now toss your gun in the car and empty your pockets, slow." She dropped the car keys, her phone, and some change on the ground. "Now then, you must be looking for that friend of yours. He must be awful smart to have tracked me down, you tell him I said so. He's a little busy at the moment, but I bet he'll be glad to see you, you're purdy, I would if I was him. Why don't you go say 'hi'. He's in the barn over there." He motioned with the shotgun for Scully to go towards the barn. When she was almost there he picked up her keys and phone, got in the car, and drove off. "Mulder!" She ran to the barn and pulled back the door. "Scully? Over here." He was sitting on the floor his arms handcuffed in front of him around some pipes. Across from him was an amateurish ticking time bomb with enough dynamite to level the building and then some. "I really have to stop getting hit in the head with a two by four every time I enter a dark room, but on a positive note I know for sure who the bomber is, however the proof is counting down from ten minutes. Have a handcuff key on you?" "No, how much time left?" "Eight minutes, have any bright ideas? I've already tried tugging on the pipes, but they go too deep." "He took my gun, I can't shoot the cuffs. Let me look for something to break them with." "Don't be long, seven minutes." She looked around the barn then tried the house to find it locked. If Mulder were there he might have been able to kick the heavy door in but she had no luck. She ran back in as Mulder saw it tick past four mintues. "I couldn't find anything, okay, uh... know how to disarm a bomb?" Panic was edging it's way into her voice. "Nope missed that class at Oxford, damn, it was an elective too, isn't my face red now." "Unless we can kill it with dry humor, you're not helping." She practically yelled at him. "What do you want from me? In the movies they think it's the red wire and then at the last minute they cut the blue and they're saved." "They're all red wires. What are we gonna do?" "I don't know." She grabbed the pipe he was attached to and together they pulled at it, but it was no use. "I'm sorry Scully but it looks like I'm screwed, take care of my fish will ya." Mulder was doing his best to stay calm since she seemed panicked enough for the both of them. She was silent for a moment then took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. "Then I guess your fish are doomed." "What do you mean, they're really not much trouble and if they die it's like fifty cents to buy more." "I mean I won't be around to feed them, what with being blown up and all." "You're not the one handcuffed to this pipe." He rattled the cuffs for emphasis. "I might as well be since I'm attached at the hip to the guy who is." "Huh?" "Figuratively Mulder" "Seriously Scully you better get outta here now. There's only a few minutes left. The nearest neighbour is a mile down the road, stay away from the guy's house, it might be wired too." "Yeah right, run away and then have to do the grieving widow routine at your funeral, 'He was such a brave and selfless hero who died in the line of duty. I'll really miss him but life goes on,' the hell with that, I can't just leave you here to get blown up while I watch from a comfortable distance." "I'm sure your eulogy will be very flattering, now please Scully I really think you should be going." "I told you no, I'm not leaving." "You want two people to die needlessly instead of one." "Yes, I can't leave you here alone, notice every time I do you get into trouble." "But you can't die Scully I've already ruined your life I can't be the cause of your death too." He whined. "Hey there's still the chance it might not go off." "Are you crazy? I'm not going to risk your life. Run, damn it. I'm just your partner, I'm not worth dying for, think how this will destroy your mother." "You asshole, how dare you?" "I'm sorry but please Scully be reasonable, I'm grateful for your unwavering loyalty and I can appreciate the dramatic quality of all this but we're not Romeo and Juliet, this is real life. You'll find another partner, maybe not one with my roguish good looks, but hey what can you do?" "Die with you in a fantastic explosion." She deadpanned perfectly. "Ahhhhhhh, stop saying that." Now Mulder was panicked. "Please Scully, don't do this, I'm just..." She cut in. "Oh don't say 'I'm just your partner', we both know it's more than that. Answer me this truthfully, if this was reversed, would you leave me?" "If you begged me too, yes." "Bullshit, I want the truth." "Okay, no I wouldn't, but that's different, that's because... of other reasons." "Because... what? If there's something you want to tell me, you have one minute fifty seconds so you better do it quick." "If I tell you, you won't leave." "I'm not leaving anyway, so tell me." He sighs in defeat. "Alright I wouldn't leave you because I love you. Happy now?" "No actually, it makes me wish we weren't about to die. Damn you for waiting to tell me until we're about to be blown to kingdom come." "Sorry Scully, but I wasn't ever going to tell you cause I was afraid you'd just ignore it like it didn't happen AGAIN or worse get scared off, run away, and leave me all alone." "I'm sorry for that Mulder, I didn't think that was you talking, but I would never leave you and hey I can prove it to you. Just wait ninety seconds." "Please run." He said knowing it was hopeless. "NO. And if it makes you feel any better I love you too." "Nope. Just makes me feel worse, now I've killed the woman I love who actually loved me back. I'm going straight to hell." "I thought you didn't believe in that all that, now you believe in hell." "Ironic huh, I figure there has to be someplace for all the evil in the world to go. Just wished I wasn't about to find out for sure." "Don't worry, if I get into Heaven I'll sneak you in the side door," she teased. "Thanks, even if I don't believe, I want to go with you." "Well, is there anything you want to do before you die?" "Nothing I can do in less than a minute, except... how about a kiss?" She nodded in agreement and leaned over, bringing her hands to the sides of his face. They shared a deep hungry kiss, really tasting each other for the first time and trying to savor it if it was to be their last. It was easily the best 'one last kiss before we die' either of them ever had. Regretfully pulling back, she looked at the cheap wall clock counting down the last seconds of their lives. "Thirty seconds left... I wonder." "What?" "What if I hold the second hand with my finger?" "I don't know? Try it." The clock ticks down until it hits her finger and stops, blocked from reaching twelve. "Did it work?" "I don't know? We're not blown up yet." "Don't move your finger." "Duh." "Think you can you take the batteries out to stop it for good?" "I'll try." She awkwardly fiddled with the back of the clock with one hand. "Careful." "Don't bother the woman disarming the bomb." "Sorry." With a click the batteries popped into her hand. She moved her finger away cautiously but the clock doesn't move. "I can't believe that worked. He should have made it more tamper proof." "Then we'd be dead." "Yeah, I guess your right." "You okay?" "I'm fine, just gotta sit down. I'm glad I'm not dead." "I'M glad you're not dead." They sit for a moment, catch their breath, and wait for their hearts to stop beating furiously. "Did I ever tell you, Scully, that you're my hero? You save my ass almost on a daily basis and you do it all in three inch heels." "I have to agree with you this one time, I do kick ass on stilts." "Yeah, you do." "We'll have to celebrate once you're outta here." "Sounds good, what have you got in mind?" "Sex, lots and lots of sex. Sex until we can't see straight." "Uh... are you sure, that's a big decision to make after a near death experi-" "Mulder, if you don't promise to make love to me, I'll put the batteries back in and we'll see just how well this thing works." "Okay, okay, I promise. Now could you go find something to get these cuffs off with?" "Sure, I'll be back." She added with smile as she walked out the door, "Now don't you go anywhere." "Ha ha." She came back twenty minutes later carrying a screwdriver and hammer. "I called the police and told them what happened, all except for few details regarding our celebratory plans, and I gave them the info on the car he's driving. They're putting up roadblocks now and they should be here to pick us up within a half hour. That and I found these so we can try to break your cuffs." "Good, come give it a shot." She came over to where Mulder was tied and he stood up. She looked at him then over at the bomb still sitting a few feet away and dropped the tools at her feet. With her duty to inform the police completed and mission to find tools over, her compartmentalized mind had finally allowed her to comprehend what had happened. That combined with the adrenaline wearing off hit her pretty hard. "Scully?" She just stared blankly at him. "Scully!" "We almost died Mulder," she said quietly. "I know, but it's okay. We're alive, both of us, we're okay." "But we almost died." "I know, come 'ere." She threw her arms around him. He wanted to do the same but was still cuffed. Scully squeezed as hard as she could trying to convince herself he was okay and they were still together. After a minute he lifted one arm and she soon got the message to duck under it and rest her head against his chest. Never letting go they slid down to the floor and remained like that for a long while until they regained their composure enough to continue trying to free him. Scully pulled away and looked up at Mulder. "We can't waste anymore time fooling ourselves, Mulder, life's too short." He nodded and kissed her once more for good measure. Not brave enough to look up at his eyes just yet, she whispered, "I still have that promise you made to me and I plan on holding you to it. So lets get you out of here." Mulder smiled but didn't say anything, refusing to contemplate the future just yet, but secure in the knowledge that they would face it together. She picked up the hammer and screwdriver intending to break one of the links. Putting the handcuffs against the pipe, she lined up the screwdriver to take a swing with the hammer, but her hands were shaking just slightly. Luckily for both of them she didn't need to because they heard a police car pull up outside. She went out, met the deputy, and brought him back to unlock Mulder. The man was about to make a joke about a federal agent getting himself handcuffed when he saw the bomb and large amount of dynamite next to them and thought better of it. "I'm sure the sheriff will thank you for figuring out who the bomber was, Agent Mulder. Now that we know who he is he won't get far." "Thanks and make sure to have a bomb squad secure his house before anyone else goes inside in case it's booby trapped." "We'll do that." Mulder rubbed his sore, chafed wrists and they went outside. After getting their statements, the next patrol car that arrived gave them a ride back to their motel. When they arrived Scully insisted on immediately attending to Mulder's wrists. Happy to indulge Doctor Scully, he let her apply some magic healing goo from her medical kit. Once that was done, she carefully put everything away, better organized than it had been before. Her nervous energy wasn't a good substitute for adrenaline-fueled bravery so Mulder realized he would have to make the first move. He closed in on Scully and stilled her by placing his hands on her biceps. Then he slid them up her arms and neck until he was cupping her face. "I hope you're not regretting that promise you extorted out of me." He half chuckled. "No," she didn't elaborate further. "Well then why don't we start with a kiss? I was at a disadvantage before when I couldn't use my hands and now I don't ever want to let you go." As he had been talking Mulder kept moving closer and closer to her lips until he was softly pressing against them. She didn't have a chance to think until it was too late and she was already swept up in the sweet kiss. It took a few more in quick succession for Scully to remember exactly how she was feeling when she demanded Mulder to make love to her. She pulled herself against him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The look in her eyes when Mulder pulled back was the one he had been waiting to see. It was that Scully who grabbed his shirt and pushed him down on the bed. "Don't forget I'm injured, be gentle." "You really want me to be gentle?" "No, I guess not, but we should hold off on the bondage for a little while." "I'll consider it." "Holding off?" "Bondage, once you're healed of course." She climbed on top of him while stripping off her jacket and blouse. "This time we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way since I don't have any of my equipment with me." He couldn't tell if she was joking and hoped she wasn't. She pulled his tie off and threw it behind her. "I hope you're not in love with this shirt Mulder." She grabbed the collar and pulled it apart tearing all the buttons off. Mulder chuckled. "Been waiting to do that for a while have you?" "Oh yeah." "It was worth the shirt to see the look of predatory glee on your face, but let's not make a habit of it." She scraped her nails along his chest, still grinning. "This is all mine now and I'll tear your clothes off whenever I damn well please." "My mistake, the lady is always right." "After I'm finished with you, the term 'Lady' will no longer seem appropriate." "Did I mention how much I love you?" "Yeah, but feel free to scream it all you like." "Shouldn't be a problem." She laid herself across him to lick Mulder's neck and he took the opportunity to squeeze her firm ass with both hands. "Mmmm, how long have you been waiting to do that?" "How long have I known you? Thirty seconds less than that. You have one fantastic ass Scully." "It's true but I love him anyway." She chuckled at her witticism. "And he'll always be grateful for it." "Enough talk, get my skirt and underwear off." She worked on his belt and finally managed to get his pants and boxers pushed down to his knees. He was fiddling with her bra but Scully was distracting him by sucking on his tongue. "Unhooks in front. Hurry." "They should have signs-" she cut him off with another kiss. He freed her from the bra and together they pushed her skirt and panties down her legs so she could kick them off. "Now help me get mine off." "No time." She again straddled his hips and ground her pelvis against his erection. They both moaned at the intimate contact. Scully rubbed her slick folds over his cock as if anointing him with her fluids before she let him enter her. "Oh Scully please." "Yes," she said as she grasped him firmly and brought the head of Mulder's penis to the mouth of her vagina. Once inside she lowered herself down pushing him deeper and deeper until she was firmly seated on his hips. She shivered at the satisfying fullness of finally having him inside her where he belonged. "You're incredible Scully, it feels so good." The look in his eyes perfectly matched her own. "Welcome home Mulder." "Mmmm, never gonna leave." "Promise?" "Oh yeah, now kiss me." He pulled her to his mouth and tried to taste every square inch of hers. Wrapped up in their passionate kissing they didn't notice their hips had minds of their own and were grinding against each other desperately trying to get more sensation. In his position he couldn't get much leverage to counterthrust but Scully's enthusiasm more than made up for it. Her near constant moaning into Mulder's mouth didn't help his control, but she was ahead of him anyway. Still their mouths remained fused together, no chance to breathe, but lack of oxygen just enhanced the pleasure anyway. When her climax hit her thrusts became erratic and Mulder had to hold her hips for the last few strokes it took to push him over the edge as well before he came inside her. She finally broke the kiss to bury her head in his neck while she rode out her orgasm, all the while clenching her jaw to keep from screaming. It felt to Mulder like she was sucking the life out of him through his penis, though he wasn't complaining. By the time all his muscles relaxed enjoying the afterglow she was already limp on top of him. "Wow Scully, that was incredible." "Mmmm," she agreed, half asleep. "I love you, you know." "Me too, but sleep now, more later, lots more." He rolled them onto their sides. She was most of the way to dreamland and with a satisfied grin on her face Mulder hoped to see a lot more of. He wiggled out of his pants and held her closer in lieu of pulling a sheet over them since they hadn't unmade the bed. That's how he fell asleep and woke up the next morning. Forget electric blankets, they had nothing on a warm soft Scully to wrap yourself in. She was watching him from behind half lidded eyes and smiled at Mulder serenely. "Morning Mulder." "And a wonderful morning it is, my darling." "I'm your darling huh?" "Don't like it?" "No, actually I do. It's nice to be someone's darling, especially yours, and as far as terms of endearment go it's not too chauvinistic. Just try to stay away from the animal names." "But huggy-bear, what will I do if I can't call you my little red squirrel or fuzzy-bunny?" "For one thing you'll be able to keep both your testicles." "Oh come on, be honest, you were goading me." "You're right, I was, I wanted to see what else you could come up with on the fly, but still, fuzzy-bunny is out." "Agreed." He kissed her forehead and got out of bed. She jumped up right after him. "Just where do you think you're going?" "Well I was kinda getting hungry." "Have you already forgotten the promise? Mulder, I can still see straight and it's up to you to rectify the situation." "If you insis-" She didn't wait for an answer and grabbed him, tugging in the direction of the bed. He yelped. "Hey watch it Scully. That's not a handle." The End ___________________________________________________________ Finally finished this distraction from more important stories. Once you have an idea though you have to follow through and get it down or it will bug you later. If you liked it and have comments or ideas for my next story, send them to xphan1013@yahoo.com.