Title: Home For A Rest
Rating: PG
Classification: light MSR, UST
Spoilers: tiny reference to FTF.
Archive: Sure go ahead, I post to Ephemeral
but just let me know otherwise.
Summary: Mulder helps Scully through a bad
case of the flu.
Feedback: whynot, love it! Please send comments
to ME! xenoprobe@hotmail.com or
https://www.angelfire.com/scifi/xenoprobe
Disclaimer: Characters not mine, make no profit,
have no money- do not sue!
This little tale was written in haste for my friend
Belle. She's home and sick and was having trouble
finding sick-Scully stories to comfort her. So, I
wrote this for Belle, and hope it at least makes her
smile. It hasn't been beta'd just the ol' spell-checker-
so forgive me my mistakes, please.
*~*~*~*~*
Home For A Rest
By xenoprobe
The sound of her sneeze resounded throughout
their basement office. Scully barely even stopped
her typing to catch it in a handkerchief. She blew
her nose discreetly and resumed her work.
"Scully go home." Mulder sat on the edge of his
desk. He watched his partner from across the
room with concern.
"I'm fine Mulder." She did her best, but her voice
failed her. It came out sounding somewhere
between sandpaper and phone sex operator. She
smiled crookedly and coughed a little, against
her will.
"You're sick Scully." She simply shrugged.
"And?"
"And you should go home, get some rest, sleep
it off. Seriously, I can manage the report."
"Uh-huh..." She remained unconvinced.
Mulder rose from his spot and came closer. He
took up the space behind his seated partner and
slowly began rubbing her shoulders. She tensed
for a moment then, as his fingers worked magic
at her knotted muscles, she slumped in her chair.
A tiny groan slipped from her lips and Mulder
smiled to himself.
"You're stiff." His hands and fingers played over
her shoulders and skimmed across the exposed skin
at her neckline. She was on fire. Mulder stopped his
massage and turned her chair to face him. Placing the
back of his hand to her forehead, he took assessment
of her temperature. "You have a fever Scully." He
begged her with his eyes, "please go home, let me
finish the work."
She gave up the fight and conceded defeat. But she
stood up too quickly and fell immediately back into
her chair, landing awkwardly from dizziness. Mulder
bent over her, half-smiling at her disheveled appearance,
half worrying about her state.
"I'm taking you home." His declaration surprisingly
met with no protest as Scully eased herself from the
chair again. She snagged her briefcase and keys from
the table and Mulder helped her on with her coat. As
soon as it cloaked her shoulders she began to shiver.
Mulder's arm wrapped her protectively as they left the
building for the parking lot.
*~*~*
The sniffling had started in the car; the coughing
soon eclipsed the runny nose. Scully's head felt
like a fish tank full of bubbles and rocks. She sat
on her couch rubbing her temples and sneezing
occasionally as Mulder fixed some tea in the kitchen.
As he passed her a steamy mug, she pressed her
palms to the hot porcelain, warming herself.
"You should get changed." She was still wearing
her black pantsuit and although she maintained an
attractive allure, the sniffling and reddened nose
did detract from her appeal. Mulder smiled and
tried to coax her from the couch.
"I don't wanna." She mumbled as she kicked off
her shoes. Well this certainly wasn't the polished
Dr. Scully of the FBI he was familiar with.
"C'mon Scully, you'll feel better as soon as you
get your jammies on, I promise."
"Don't wanna." She repeated. Her petulance was
almost sexy.
"If you don't get up and change I'll be forced to
do it for you." Her chuckle came out in a
cough/sneeze/sniffle combo; she rose and trudged
off down the hall to her room. Mulder took another
sip of tea and grinned at her behaviour, this was a
Scully he'd enjoy, sick-but-adorably-cute-Scully,
he mused.
He fetched the file he'd brought along and set up
a spot at her desk. He took to the task of writing
up the report Scully had started on earlier. The
laptop booted up and he slipped in the diskette
and soon found himself actually laughing out
loud. It would appear that sick-but-adorably-
cute-Scully was not quite present as she wrote
this morning, there were words missing, things
misspelled and a few lines worth the letter 'b'
where she'd let her finger rest on the keyboard.
Mulder glanced at his watch and realized that he
hadn't heard a peep from his partner in nearly
fifteen minutes.
At the threshold of her bedroom, Mulder clasped
a hand over his mouth to stifle a chuckle. Scully
was asleep on top of her sheets. Her flannel top
was on but her slacks were still wrapped at her
ankles and her nylons were down to her knees.
He approached the bed and stealthily slipped her
remaining clothes off. He held her feet together
and turned her body around on the bed, straightening
her out.
He pulled the sheets down from underneath her
limp body and did his best not to disturb as he
slipped her between the sheets and tucked the
covers up around her face. The sight of her snug
in her blankets was heartwarming and Mulder sat
down on the bed to watch her for a while.
He brought her cold water and placed it on a
coaster on the bedside table. He returned to the
report and put together a coherent review of their
most recent case. Mulder even made some noodle
soup for when his partner ventured to wake up, he
left it slowly simmering on the stove top for a while,
keeping it warm.
*~*~*
The sky was dark when Mulder returned to her
bedroom. She had kicked off her covers and
was shivering in her sleep. He felt her forehead
again only to sense her fever was worse. A
frown creased his face as he tried to gently rouse
her. She didn't budge. Mulder shook her shoulders
with more intent, then called to her- his voice rising
as each attempt failed to wake her.
He gathered her in his arms and forcibly shook her
until her eyes fluttered a little. She opened them,
and saw her partner through blurry vision.
"Mulder?" She mumbled. "What is it?" She seemed
unaware that she was sick, that he was holding her,
that she was burning up all over.
"Scully- your fever... it's getting worse." Her head
fell back a moment then she snapped awake and
disoriented. He looked at her, trying to train her
eyes to his. "Your fever Scully- it's really high."
"Thermometer's in the medicine cabinet Mulder..."
She faded again and Mulder laid her back to the bed
to go find the thermometer.
"Shit." He muttered. "Shit." Her temperature was
104 degrees. "Not good, not good..." he paced at
her bedside debating scooping her up and carting
her off to the hospital. From the corner of his eye,
he saw her tiny hand reach out to him.
"Whassrrong?" He dropped to his knees at her side.
"Your fever's too high Scully what do I do?" Her
eyes closed briefly. "Scully! C'mon sweetheart don't
sleep now- tell me what to do."
"Cold shower..." It seemed as if that last instruction
had sucked the last of her energy dry. Mulder picked
her up and made his way to the bathroom. He wrestled
her flannel pajama top off and stepped into the upright
shower stall, he was still clothed, she was limp in his
arms. He ran the cold water, with just a hint of warmth
then flipped the knob to start the shower.
The jolt was harsh, it was freezing and Mulder shook
instantly from the cold spray. He hoisted Scully up
under the arms, trying to somehow balance her dead
weight against him; her head was pressed to his chest.
After a few minutes she began to stir and mumble
something about the cold. After a sentence or two
it seemed to Mulder that she was hallucinating.
Hallucinating about Antarctica.
"Shh, Scully I've got you. Baby I've got you,
you're safe... you're safe here with me."
He kept talking through her mutterings, trying
to ground her, trying to wake her from the dreams.
The words spilled out of him, things of safety,
things of love and as he spoke her body began to
respond to his assurances. She stood up a little
stronger, her eyes opened and she focused on the
shimmery sight of the buttons on Mulder's shirt.
"Scully?" She lifted her face to his and she straightened,
bearing her weight. His hands smoothed down over
her hair and traced her face as she started to register
where she was and what was going on. Mulder leaned
passed her and shut off the water. He helped her out
of the stall and wrapped her in towels, rubbing her
arms and hugging her close.
When she was safely tucked into bed again, Mulder
double-checked that her fever had indeed died down.
He grabbed the book Scully had been reading from
her nightstand and settled into the chair in the corner
of the room.
*~*~*
Scully awoke, her throat dry and voice raspy. She
sat up and noticed right away that Mulder was slouched
in the chair, asleep with his head tipped back. She
ventured into the living room and saw the chilled soup
on the stovetop, the finished report on her desk; she
smiled as she coughed into her fist. She filled her glass
with orange juice and shuffled back into her room.
"You're awake." Mulder grinned.
"So are you. You could have laid down Mulder, I'm
sure I wouldn't have noticed last night."
"I just wanted to keep an eye out, in case your fever
came back." He stood and stretched his long arms
over his head; his back making tiny pops as he twisted
side to side. "How are you feeling Scully?"
"My throat's still killing me, and I'm still tired, but
I'm otherwise fine."
"You scared me last night. You were hallucinating
when I took you into the shower."
Scully pulled the covers over her crossed legs on the
bed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She
blushed a little. She had a vague recollection of the
incident. Mostly she remembered his voice, soft,
in her ear, reassuring.
"Its Saturday... want to stay- watch a movie with
me?" His eyes were smiling as he nodded.
"I'd love that Scully- love it."
*~*~*
As they pulled an afghan over themselves on the
couch, Mulder sneezed; shaking the very walls
around them. Scully laughed.
"Here we go again..." she snickered. "C'mere
Mulder." She reached up and smoothed her hand
across the nape of his neck then guided him to lay
his head in her lap. He cuddled to her without effort
and they spent the morning nestled together, coughing,
sneezing and smiling.
FIN
*~*~*
I know it's nothing special- I just wanted to make
my friend snicker. Please do let me know if you
liked it, hated it, think I should quit... I live for
feedback. Thanks.