Author: Jemirah Archive: You want it, you got it. Just please let me know! Spoilers: Nope. Rating: PG Category: Hmmm... Humor? Summary: Scully makes a request of Mulder... Feedback: jemirah@hotmail.com Disclaimer: Hehehehe, do I have to? Author's Note: This was an idea I had a while back, but that I abandoned when a friend directed me to Narida Law's 'Worth Breaking'. This is sort of along the same lines as that story, but hers is better, lots better. Special Thanks: To all my friends, you know who you are, so I won't embarrass you by mentioning you here... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spontaneous Combustion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was the first real warm day of the year, early March. It made me remember my childhood, going to school, actually enjoying recess when it started getting warm again. It felt like field trip weather, it made me think of us going to the zoo in droves, eating popsicles that cost almost as much as admission had and arguing with my best-friend-since-first- grade about who got the window seat on the bus ride back to school. It was the kind of weather that makes you nostalgic, but happy to be where you are at the same time, if that's possible. The trees were beginning to hint at the buds that would soon be blossoms, blossoms that would soon be leaves. The grass looked like it was remembering the color green, and the sky had grown tired of that weepy winter gray. Scully and I had decided to eat our lunch outside in the park, in the sunshine that was happily beaming down on us. There were birds chattering excitedly only feet away, and all was right with the world. Scully had been in a good mood all day, I guess affected the same way I was by the gorgeous weather. We had joked and laughed the morning away, and the paperwork hadn't been as tedious as it could have been considering the gorgeous day we were trapped in the basement away from. Now, though, as we ate our sandwiches in the great outdoors, we had become quiet. I had just put the next-to-last bite of my sub in my mouth when she spoke for the first time since we'd sat down. "Mulder, when was the last time you went on a date?" I nearly choked on the food I had been attempting to swallow and did drop the uneaten remnant to the ground. "Wha-- What?" I managed to squeak out after I had cleared half of a sub from my throat with the help of her pounding on my back. I decided then that I had to learn to start taking smaller bites... "You heard me," was her only response. "Well, I, uh, it, uh..." You'd have been stammering too, if your best friend had dropped something like that on you after nearly eight years of privacy and professionalism. "Oh quit stuttering and 'fess up, Mulder." Now I was stuttering? I had a sudden desire to bolt, screaming, through the group of noisy birds in front of us, but her hand on my arm held me in place. I tried to meet her gaze, but couldn't. She was staring at me, into me, begging me to open up, talk to her. And I wanted to--it was just Scully, after all... "I, uh, would you believe I don't remember?" There! A complete sentence seemed an immeasurable accomplishment. "Yes, I think I would," she said, as she gave me a funny little half smile. "What brought this up?" Apparently I had a little bit of sense left. "I was just thinking..." She didn't seem to want to finish, but I was not going to let her get out of it that easy. "What about?" I had regained a little more of my sense, and picked up the part of the sub I had dropped and began tearing it into shreds that I threw to the birds. "About," she said after only a moment's hesitation, "about that I never see anyone, and you never seem to see anyone, and we're two intelligent, mature adults." I was really confused then. "Hunh?" Ok, so it was not the most intelligent of remarks. I couldn't think for the thoughts and fears flying around my head with super-sonic speed. "Well, it just looks like we could take advantage of the fact that you're a man and I'm a woman, and we're best friends." My head had started thrumming and buzzing like I'd been hit with a two-by-four. I sat there speechless for a couple of minutes before my voice found its way back to me. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" My cheeks felt like they were going to explode--I decided then that that must be how spontaneous combustion started, your partner and friend starts talking about sex and poof!--next thing you know, you're strumming a harp and looking at a pile of ashes in your favorite shoes. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm suggesting we sleep together." She was enjoying what this was doing to me, I could hear the humor in her voice. She had rendered me speechless and stunned in record time today, twice. "You want us to, uh, you want to, uh, have an affair, with _me_?" "No, I want us to sleep together." I hate to admit it, but deep down, I am a true nerd. I have always been able to understand the usefulness of pocket protectors, I enjoyed trigonometry in high school, and I was scared to death right then. I had always tried to hide the truth from Scully, but I am certain she had it figured out by then. "I, uh, d-did you, uh, do you m-m-mean that?" Oh, God, she was right, I was stuttering! She laughed then, and that made me feel better and worse at the same time. Better because I live for her laughter, and worse because she found this a great source of humor. "Scully," I tried to take control of myself, calm myself, "Do you realize what you're saying?" "I, Dana Scully, being of sound mind--what do you think, Mulder, that I'm asking you to marry me, commit yourself to me? I just want to have sex once in a while, Mulder, and I thought you'd be a better idea than some random stranger I pick up at a bar or somewhere. If this is too much for your delicate sensibilities, though..." I had pushed too far, somewhere, somehow. She was mad now. I wanted her to laugh again. How could I accomplish this? How could I fix this, ease the tension that was keeping me from feeling the delicious breeze hitting my face? "No, Scully, it's not that--" she brightened perceptibly at this, "it's just that--" and glowered at this. Oh, God, I was thinking, if you're really up there, help me, NOW--no, five minutes ago, help me five minutes ago. Then I found the courage, somewhere, to look at her face. I didn't expect to see what I saw there. I never thought of Scully being afraid of anything, especially me, but she looked petrified. I took her hand in mine, and finally met her gaze. What can I say? What Scully wants, Scully gets. If I have any say in the matter anyway.