#x files fictober

[darkesttimelinestuff]

"Do you recognize this?"

Day 7 of Fictober! How am I still doing this? Really proud that I've been able to write every day.

I had a lot of fun finding pictures for today's story.

Prompt #7 - "Do you recognize this?"

Find me on Ao3

Scully had turned her office upside down and inside out looking for her passport. She knew exactly where it was. Where she always kept it. Or, at least where it should have been. 

Maybe Mulder had moved it. He sometimes tossed things aside without realizing it. That’s how she had lost her paycheck once, until it turned up at the bottom of some of Mulder’s papers. Neither was quite sure how it had happened, but from then on Scully was certain to keep important documents as far from Mulder’s reach as possible. 

“Mulder, are you sure you didn’t touch the things in my desk?” she called across the room.

“I’m sure!” he shouted back defensively. “What business would I have going through your desk?”

“Because I always keep my passport right here,” she said, pointing to a drawer, “and I don’t see it. And if I can’t find it, we can’t go to Mexico tomorrow.”

Mulder stood and crossed the room to her desk. “Let me check,” he offered. “Two sets of eyes are better than one, right?”

She motioned with her hand, giving him permission to look.

“Be my guest, but I doubt you’ll find it. I’ve searched that desk twice,” she insisted, slumping in a nearby chair in frustration. 

As Mulder bent over the desk in concentration, Scully checked out his ass. Even in his 50s he had killer buns! 

“It’s so unlike you to misplace these things,” he was saying. “I’m a little disappoint…”

And then he stopped. 

“What?” she asked, worried that maybe he found her passport but it was damaged or expired. 

“Oh wow!” he exclaimed, standing up and examining something she couldn’t quite see. 

It looked like a small paper and she suddenly became very self-conscious. 

“What is it?” she asked, reaching for his hands, hoping to pry them open.

“Oh, it is the most perfect thing I’ve ever seen,” Mulder said, “and I can’t believe you never showed me!”

“Mulder, what is it?” she demanded, cursing her short stature. 

“Do you recognize this?” He held up a photograph.

“Oh, my god,” she said, feeling both embarrassed and defensive about the picture. “I haven't thought about that in a very long time.”

The picture showed a young Dana Katherine Scully on a bed in a black lace push-up bra and panties. She hated that word, but there was no better term for it. They weren’t underwear; that was too plain. No, these were panties. The kind a partner used their teeth to slide down your legs. 

This was Dana, not Scully, and she was bold and sensual, rather than pragmatic and sensible. Her smothering eyes said, “come fuck me,” and you couldn’t deny her anything. 

“Well,” Mulder said, licking his lips, “this is fucking incredible.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes! I love this! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this.”

“There are,” Scully said hesitantly, “more.”

“I need to see them,” he replied, almost too excited.

“Well, this was back when I first started at the F.B.I.,” she said, searching for the other pictures. “My friend suggested it and I don’t know what possessed me, but it seemed like a good idea.”

“Do you regret it?”

“No, not at all! I’m very proud of these pictures. But they’re more for me than anyone else. Ah! Here they are,” she said, handing him the rest of the photos.

The pictures showed a progression of Dana Scully shedding a man’s white button-up shirt, so that she was hugging her lace-clad breasts, posing suggestively on a bed, and, in the last one, looking right into the camera with nothing but a sheet wrapped around her.

“Well, I would be honored if they could also be for me.”

“They aren’t a secret. I just forgot about them,” she admitted. “So much has happened to us.”

“We’ve known each other, what, over twenty years,” Mulder said, “and you never thought to show me these?”

“Twenty-five years.”

“I’m really glad you lost your passport,” Mulder said, studying each and every photo.

[randomfoggytiger]

randomfoggytiger's Fictober Wrap Up, 2023

My first Fictober has concluded; and I decided to throw together my entries, thoughts, and acknowledgements into one post for posterity.

*****

Fictober Fics

"The Dead Are Everywhere, Scully"

Mulder and Scully reunite in the afterlife, two skeletons dancing in the rain and the mud.

"Regardless of His Actions Last Night"

Queequeg, alive and savage, joins Scully on her Chinga vacation.

"As Agent Mulder Says, There Are Many Different Kinds of Vampires" Part I

Mulder and Scully are attacked and turned into vampires by Ronnie Strickland. Scully's crisis begins when her faith seemingly rejects her.

"Time Passing in Moments"

Post Fight the Future Scully brings Halloween to Mulder, determined to give him a break while they wait and wait and wait for OPR.

"As Agent Mulder Says, There Are Many Different Kinds of Vampires" Part II

Mulder encourages Scully not to give up on her faith, both of them choosing to face potential death by holy fireball rather than letting her live in fearful limbo.

"There's Something Up There Mulder"

Scully realizes that Tooms is likely a distant relation of the Gender Bender Brethren (Amish hats are mentioned.)

"I Wonder If You Think It's Safe Enough to Indulge Yourself"

Metaphorical similarities between Mulder's supposed red-green colorblindness (which he does not have) and red-hot Phoebe Green.

"How Much You're Like Ahab"-- Mulder parallels his and Scully's crime scene eating habits to those of their cannibalistic pets.

"The Truth Is Out There-- But So Are Lies"-- Scully ruminates on her partner's ease with lying; and her ability to save him from Them and himself.

"Something Approaching a Normal Life"-- Mulder realizes Scully had invited him to (a disastrous) Thanksgiving to distract himself from the anniversary of his sister's abduction. He plans to return the favor.

"Preying on the Weak and Vainglorious"-- Post Sanguinarium Mulder ruminates on bad luck and bad ends; and Scully insists he's beautiful.

"Kids Today, Huh?"-- 2023 Mulder sinks into a slump after listening to a mopey song all day. Scully reasons him out of it.

"Is Being Made a Fool Of a Crime, Agent Mulder?"-- Mulder and Scully celebrate life, the dead, and all the Roadrunners and Wile E. Coyotes of the world. (My "happy birthday in a way, Mulder" fic.)

"We Need to Get Help"-- Mulder contemplates the glaring similarities between Gender Bender and Never Again and the new differences in his partner.

"We'll Think of Something"-- The Unnatural Scully grumbles over Mulder's tendency to run off into trouble. She goes, anyway.

"End of the Road"-- Mulder's peace after Closure.

"He Had Parents Who Loved Him"-- The Mulder family and baseball.

"I Think She Was Just Trying To Get Away"-- Scully reminisces on Mulder's distance and need for distraction post Monday.

"You Don't Know the First Thing About Me"-- Krycek has fixed opinions about the Syndicate, Mulder, Marita, and morals.

"My Religious Convictions Are Hardly the Issue Here"-- Scully and Mulder try to tackle her fears post All Souls.

"I'm Tired"-- Scully draws parallels between her Tithonus experience and Mulder's Sleepless and Demons one.

"Life’s Just a Path”-- If Melissa were alive post Fight the Future and Millennium, she'd never let her sister live it down.

"I Think He’s a Hard Kid to Love”-- Post Schizogeny Scully is sent on a case with Mulder to unofficially help Skinner's friends, one of which is a bear. (Prompts and artwork contributed by my two sisters.)

"Mulder Will Be Back”-- Jeffrey Spender sneers at Mulder's "hubris."

"Easy for You to Say”-- Post First Person Shooter Mulder is enamored with his little battle girlfriend.

"No More Paranormal than a Change of Wardrobe”-- Freshly-dating Mulder and Scully's lifestyles don't quite match yet; but the effort is worth it.

"What Must a Mother Go Through”-- Post Emily Mulder reasons Scully out of her Mrs. Peacock comparisons.

"Watch Over You Wherever You Go”-- One Breath Maggie remembers the many reinterpretations of her daughter's necklace.

"Your Ideas Are Weirder than Ours”-- The Lone Gunmen are woken by two very grumpy-with-each-other special agents.

"Doesn’t Make Him Less of a Miracle”-- AU Mulder tries to fight colonization and wrangle his "sea monster" child at the local ball pit.

"Sooner or Later a Man’s Gotta Face His Demons”-- Post Amor Fati Scully prods Mulder on a stakeout about his lack of Samhain hunting.

*****

My Thoughts

It's been a few years since I've committed to a daily creative project, but this month flew by. It was a joy to prove myself, in a way; and an even greater privilege to take other people's prompts and turn them into stories. I'm proud of the work I put in, proud of how they turned out, and proud that they entertained anyone who read them.

I did discover a personal writing flaw: grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Which, given that I write and "edit" everything in under an hour and that my brain autocorrects and rewrites while I'm actively writing, is understandable. There are multiple reblogged versions of my finalized fics because I would spot an error and edit after publication but not before the readers hit. And that's okay! (When my Ao3 submission goes through, I'll upload each fic "in its final form", so no sweat there.)

*****

Trivia

Each fic was named with a quote from The X-Files, mostly from Mulder and Scully but also by various side characters (Phoebe Green, Krycek, and Maggie, namely.)

I tackled Scully's religion a lot this month as a way to work out my frustrations with her episodes: her belief in the series has always been chocked up as "yes man" syndrome; and I believe it did a disservice to Scully, multi-layered character that she is. I hope it did her a little more justice.

In a way, I dedicate "The Dead Are Everywhere, Scully" to @enigmaticdrblockhead-- whose writing not only influenced that piece but also sticks with me to this day-- and @perpetually-weirdening-- whose interest in an immortal Scully breathed life into this idea.

In a way, I dedicate "The Truth is out There, But So Are Lies" to @suitablyaggrieved: the discussion we had (concerning Mulder's ability to lie quite well) rattled around in my head until I put it down "on paper."

In a way, I dedicate "Something Approaching a Normal Life" to Baroness Blixen, who is the master of weaving angst and fluff into her holiday fics.

In a way, I dedicate "I Wonder If You Think It's Safe Enough to Indulge Yourself" to @settle-down-frohike because it reads more meta than fic (while also reading as fic.)

In a way, I dedicate "He Had Parents Who Loved Him" to @television-overload, whose baseball fic inspired by Field of Dreams still takes up space in my noggin.

And I think that's all my thoughts for now~.

*****

Acknowledgements and Thanks

@baronessblixen for encouraging me to write this month-- another boost on the long list of encouragements you've given me~.

@agent-troi and @welsharcher (my Fox Mulder Singleton Club members) for their generous prompts. Truly touched by both of you: your loooooooong list, agent-troi; and your vibey suggestions, welsharcher.

@wexleresque for your vampire prompt (that was a fun fic challenge), and your "looking up at the sky" prompt (which challenged me to tackle older years Mulder and Scully.)

@stephy-gold for her Nessa Barrett song prompt (which I plugged into older years Mulder and Scully)-- I learned something new and tackled a genre that is not my favorite (songfic.)

@tossingmyglossymane for the post Monday prompt, which was more challenging to write than expected (and turned out great.)

@xxsksxxx for the prompt about Scully's cross necklace-- that was an initial struggle to nail down until I tied it back to Maggie; then it flowed~.

Anon for the prompt wanting Mulder to mull over Scully's words in Gender Bender (which tied, I thought, perfectly into his confusion in Never Again.)

Thank you to my sisters for the fall prompts that lead to Bernie the Bear (and another thank you to my younger sister who let me include her doodle for that day's Fictober entry.)

And thank you to everyone who engaged, liked, reblogged, and anything else! (I always like to dip in and out of the Notes section to see how each person responded differently to each fic-- a bonus game: make guesses and see if they're correct.) There are too many to count, so I'll just include a few off the top of my head: @dd-is-my-guiltypleasure, @amplifyme, @pianogirlxf, @scullys-scalpel, @teenie-xf, @agertiegirl, @improlificinsarcasm, @borogirl, @tofuttim, @mysteryness, @rosedyl, @spidey-is-tired, and others~!

*****

Thank you for reading~

Enjoy!

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023 and @fictober-event

[atths--twice]

Passing the Time

While waiting for labs at the hospital, Scully helps Mulder pass the time.

Fictober day 6. Prompt: That's All? Easy.

For my dear friend Ingrid. 💓

February 7, 2018 George Washington Memorial Hospital 

“How much longer did they say?” Mulder asked Scully as she closed the door and rejoined him in the hospital’s waiting area. 

“Twenty minutes at least,” she replied and he sighed heavily.

“We’ve already been waiting for two hours.” 

“Lab work takes time. You know that.” 

“I do,” he said with a nod. “I also know that we’ve been out of the game for a while. Maybe there were advancements while we were away.” 

“Excuse me?” she asked, picking up a random magazine as she sat down. “We haven’t been away from anything. You have. I worked in a hospital until very recently, remember? I am aware how long labs can take.” 

“You know what I meant,” he said, rolling his eyes and she hummed. Glancing at the pages before her, but not finding much interest in them. “I guess I just forgot about the waiting part.” 

“No, you’ve never been good at waiting,” she said, turning the pages with a sigh. 

“In regard to some things,” he said and she turned her head to look at him. He shrugged and gave her a small smile. 

“Hmm,” she hummed again, her attention back on the magazine. His leg bumped hers as he began to bounce it and she pressed into him, silently telling him to stop. “Don’t you have something you can do on your phone? A game to play or something you can read?” 

“Not really.” 

“You had that one game you were playing. Just do that and the time will go by faster,” she said, feeling as though she was speaking to a large child. 

“But it’s boringgggg,” he said, dragging the word out dramatically while he bumped his leg into hers. 

“Mulder,” she said, huffing out a laugh. “Twenty minutes is hardly any time at all. You’ll be fine.” 

“At least twenty minutes. That’s what you said they said, right? So it could be more.” 

“You wanna find a supply closet and make out?” she asked, turning her head and looking at him as he immediately stilled. 

“You… you’re… seriously?” 

“Of course not,” she said, looking back at the magazine and shaking her head. “We’re working.” 

“If that’s the only hold up, I’ll take a rain check.” 

“Sure,” she said, turning another page and not giving it much thought. 

“I’m gonna hold you to it,” he said, his voice lower and she fought back a smile, enjoying teasing him. 

“With or without clothing?” she asked, her voice also low. 

“Definitely without,” he answered quickly and this time she was unable to hold back her smile. “Or whatever you prefer.” 

She turned her head and held his eyes, seeing the desire within them. Leaning closer, she grazed his cheek with her own as she brought her lips close to his ear. 

“I prefer without as well,” she whispered, brushing a kiss to his cheek as she pulled away. 

He groaned softly and she smiled as her attention turned back to the magazine. 

“Christ, Scully,” he breathed, putting his arm along the back of her chair and looking around the room. 

“You gonna make it?” she teased and he laughed as he shifted in his seat. 

“Honestly? Sometimes I don’t know, Scully.” 

“I do enjoy keeping you on your toes. Or your back.” 

“Fuck,” he breathed, shaking his head. She bit her lip to keep from laughing. 

“Can I offer any help to alleviate any discomfort you’re presently experiencing?”

“Yeah, you can stop talking,” he nearly growled. 

“Or I could offer a distraction.” 

“No, that’s how we ended up here.” 

“A different kind of distraction,” she said with a laugh. 

“I’ll be the judge. Let me hear  it.” 

“You consider yourself an intelligent man,” she stated, looking at the magazine. Pausing on a page, she considered the pair of pants the model was wearing.

“I do indeed, but I’m not sure I’m liking where this is heading.” 

“You have an incredible memory. Some might say it's too incredible.” 

“It’s definitely served me well,” he said, stretching out his legs and crossing the left foot over the right. “In more ways than one.” 

“Hmm,” she said, trying not to let her mind wander too far, knowing how well his memory had served in their sex life. Even from the very beginning, it was as though he had memorized every spot that made her cry out and beg him for more.  

“So what did you have in mind?” he asked and she shook her head, pushing away those thoughts. 

Later, she told herself. Definitely later. 

“Make a list of all fifty states,” she said and he looked at her. 

“A list of all the states? That’s your grand plan to help me pass the time?” he asked, moving his arm and sitting up, his brow furrowed even as he smiled. “List the states? That’s all? Easy.” 

“And the capitals,” she said as he stood up, patting his suit jacket, most likely looking for a pen. 

“What?” he asked, stopping and staring at her. “The capitals too?” 

“You said listing the states was easy. We’ve got time to kill so… capitals too,” she said, turning a page and raising an eyebrow at him. 

“Oh… you’re going to regret this. I’ll be done way before the labs are.” 

“So you say,” she said, looking at the magazine. “Yet there you stand, writing nothing down.” 

“Oh, you… you…” He shook his head, waving his finger at her. “I’m gonna find some paper and then… be prepared to be amazed.” 

“I’m all a tingle,” she said with an exaggerated shiver. 

“You… ha ha ha,” he said, walking out of the room to hunt down some paper. 

She smiled as she put the magazine down and reached for another. 

He was back quickly, heading to the small table in the corner of the waiting area, when she stood up and stopped him. 

“Give me your phone.” 

“You don’t trust me?” 

“No,” she laughed. “Not for things like this. Gimme it.” 

“I can’t believe you don’t trust me,” he said, taking his phone from his pocket and handing it to her. “I would never-”

“Dyspareunia,” she said, putting his phone in her pocket. “Thought of that word on your own to build off of your previous word spare?” She raised her eyebrows and he shrugged with his palms up, a guilty smile on his face. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’ll be holding onto your phone. Go on.” 

“Bossy,” he said, as he continued past her. 

“You love it,” she stated and he nodded, grinning at her. 

“I absolutely do. Especially when-”

“Nope,” she said, pointing at the paper. “Get to writing.” He saluted as he sat down as she shook her head as she also sat down. 

Quiet fell over the room and she was surprised when she realized ten minutes had passed without any interruptions. Looking over at him, she smiled as she saw how focused he was as he wrote. Suddenly feeling sleepy, she set the magazine beside her, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes. 

“Hey,” Mulder said softly and she opened her eyes. “It always amazes me how you can fall asleep anywhere.” 

“Are you done?” she asked, sitting up and looking at the paper in his hand. 

“Why yes, Miss Scully. I got all my homework done,” he said in a southern drawl, handing the paper to her. She took it with a smile, her eyes running over his words. 

“You know,” he said as he sat down. “That was actually harder than I thought it would be.” 

“Hmm,” she hummed. “That’s not surprising.” 

“What are you trying to say?” he asked and she laughed quietly.

“Nothing about you in particular. It’s just not something we think about in our normal day to day life, so it’s not surprising that it proved to be somewhat difficult.” 

“As long as it wasn’t a dig at my intelligence,” he said, sticking out his lower lip. 

“I would never. Did I not call you an intelligent man earlier?” 

“No. You stated that I considered myself an intelligent man.” 

“Did I?” she asked, tapping her finger against the paper as she read. 

Juneau, Alaska. Austin, Texas. Olympia, Washington.    “You did. Find any mistakes?” 

“Not yet,” she said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. 

“You won’t. Because, I have a fantastic memory, as I believe you said.” 

“Ohhh. You were so close,” she said, closing her eyes briefly and shaking her head. “I said you had an incredible memory, but it looks like I was wrong.” 

“Fantastic… incredible. One would say they’re interchangeable,” he said, moving his hands as though weighing the words on a scale. 

“Hmm,” she hummed, nodding in agreement. 

Columbus, Ohio. Montpelier, Vermont. Bismarck, North Dakota. 

“So what’s the word, Teach?” he asked as she folded the paper in half. 

“All correct. One hundred percent,” she said, smiling as she turned her head to look at him. 

“A hundred percent. That should get a gold star,” he stated and she sighed. 

“Unfortunately, I’m all out of gold stars at the moment.” 

“Huh…” he said, rubbing his fingers across his chin. “No gold stars? You got anything else of value? I mean… a perfect paper achieved by my incredibly fantastic memory… it deserves something.” 

Smiling again as she leaned closer to him, she placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him softly. Then again. Then once more, her lips lingering on his. 

“Better than a gold star?” she whispered and he hummed as he kissed her before pulling back slightly. 

“Much better,” he whispered back, bumping his nose gently against hers. 

She pulled back further, smiling at him, her fingers scratching lightly at the stubble upon his cheek. He smiled and she dropped her hand with a sigh just as the door to the waiting area opened and the lab technician stepped inside. 

“Agents, I have the results you’ve been waiting for,” he said and they both stood to their feet and followed the technician down the hall. 

Though her focus was on the case and the new evidence they now had, her mind kept drifting to the softness of Mulder’s lips and how she wanted to feel them on hers again. 

Without clothing this time, she thought. Most assuredly without clothing. 

[scullysexual]

fictober day 2 | m | this list | ao3 | @today-in-fic | @xffictober2023

Oh it would be so easy to slip the clothing that separates them down, for him to slide into her. To actually have sex felt like too much of a commitment, too big a step forward, she wanted it to be more than just a quick rut on the couch- as pathetic as that sounded. Besides this- the way he moves slowly against her core- to change this all of a sudden might mean they’ll both wake up and stop. [Mulder and Scully partake in some dry humping]

Day 2: Dry Humping.

The movie had ended ages ago, she was supposed to leave ages ago yet instead Scully finds herself laid back on the couch, limbs all tangled, a tongue down her throat and its owner laying on top of her.

She wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Mulder was hard. She could feel it even through the many layers of clothing. Even she was feeling the effects of their make-out session and the way he was grinding so perfectly against her centre.

Oh it would be so easy to slip the clothing that separates them down, for him to slide into her. To actually have sex felt like too much of a commitment, too big a step forward, she wanted it to be more than just a quick rut on the couch- as pathetic as that sounded. Besides this- the way he moves slowly against her core- to change this all of a sudden might mean they’ll both wake up and stop.

“Will you stay tonight?” he asks, his lips against hers. He asks her this every Friday. They’ll be no funny business, he sometimes adds. I’ll even sleep on the couch. And each time she has an excuse. I have to finish that report, or, My mother’s coming round. She was telling him the truth each time but none of those things stopped her from staying over necessarily.

“Yes,” she answers taking the chance. And maybe it was because enough time has passed, maybe it was the fact that they were responsible, mature adults who could spend the night simply existing next to each other. Or maybe it was the way he was grinding on her, the pressure and feeling making her brain all fuzzy that influences her answer.

“Oh my god,” he whispers in awe. His hands yank at her hips, pulling her even closer. Scully yelps which turns into a sigh and then a moan as he presses himself even harder against her. There was no ignoring what they were doing now, no pretending that they were simply kissing.

It happens all of a sudden. She feels the pressure building before she explodes, softly, almost like snowfall or very light rain. Her body stiffens and she clutches him a little closer, hanging on.

She just came, she thinks.

Mulder has also stiffened in her arms. This wasn’t supposed to happen, she was supposed to leave.

A hot redness creeps over her cheeks and neck.

“Um…” she says, lost for what to say, sitting up. Mulder moves automatically. She chances a look at his face and it seems to be one of shock.

“I’m sorry,” she says, feeling a sudden need to get out of here. With enough space cleared, she is able to stand and she begins heading towards his front door. “I’ll- I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Scully—”

But she is gone before he can utter another word. Mortified and embarrassed for reasons she can’t explain she runs as far away from Mulder’s apartment as fast as she can.

[medicaldoctordana]

Fictober 2023 4/31

Dialogue only post htgsc

You Stole My Keys So I Wouldn’t Be Alone read on ao3

“Mulder?”

“Yeah, Scully?”

“That night, Christmas Eve, did you take my keys?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Scully.”

“Mulder, give it up. I know you did.”

“Well, how do you think you got home that night?”

“Mulder, you were the one that found them once we left that haunted house.”

“Ah ha! So you admit it! It was haunted.”

“Haunted, cursed, whatever you want to call it. I don’t know what we saw, Mulder. But it wasn’t something I could explain away with science.”

“Ah, no plausible explanation then, huh.”

“Not this time, Mulder. Not after…”

“I know.”

“Mulder?”

“Yeah, Scully?”

“I would have been a good mother, right?”

“The best.”

“Mulder?”

“Mmm hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For taking my keys that night. For being there when she… For being there for me.”

“Nothing could keep me away from you, Scully. Not even ghosts, apparitions, aliens... And they were wrong about our intimacy through codependency.”

“I know, they were just trying to get us to make the same pact they did. Another set of victims dragged into their lonely hell.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“I don’t feel so alone when I’m with you, Mulder.”

“Scully?”

“Yeah, Mulder?”

“Thank you.”

[xxsksxxx]

Liberating the Mirage

Summary:

When an assignment goes horribly wrong, Mulder has to race against time to find Scully.

But sometimes the line between reality and illusion blurs—and it turns out there’s more than one locked door that needs to be opened.

Notes:

This is my contribution to Fictober, a yearly event that celebrates writing and reading—and fall. All of which are good things in my world.

Since there’s no way I can come up with a new story every day, I’ve decided to write one fic that includes all prompts from the Fictober 2023 prompt list. They’re all in bold if you want to seek them out specifically. You can find the list here: Fictober 202

I’m dedicating this final chapter to @baronessblixen who’s encouraged me throughout this journey!

I would’ve never had the courage to try my hand at writing (and actually posting!) if it wasn’t for her. So, thank you, my friend.

I hope you’ll have as much fun reading this fic as I had writing it.

AO3 | Start at the Beginning | @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023

Epilogue

Holy Cross Memorial Hospital, Washington, D.C.

Mulder pressed his back against the wall of the long hallway and stealthily crept from door to door. If he didn’t have to worry about getting caught, he would’ve laughed. It seemed creeping along walls was all he did these days. The consequences of getting caught this time would be very different from last night though, even if they were not any less dire. Hospitals didn’t appreciate people sneaking into patients’ rooms after visiting hours, he’d learned over the years. Usually, he didn’t care about those things, but this time he didn’t want to take any chances.

When he finally reached the door marked with the number 603 he let out a breath and took a careful look around. He was alone in the hallway; the only sound was the humming of the overhead neon lights. He silently opened the heavy door to the hospital room and sneaked inside, quickly closing it behind him again. Someone had drawn the blinds, and only small slivers of sunlight fell onto the white covers of the bed standing close to the window.

Scully was lying in her hospital bed, her eyes closed. He quietly walked over to her bedside, his sneakers squeaking softly on the linoleum floor, and stared down at her. The machine monitoring her blood pressure hummed softly in the dimly lit room.

Her breath was slow and deep, and Mulder let out a relieved sigh. It would take some time until he stopped worrying after her latest adventure. His fingers brushed a strand of hair off of her forehead, and the slight contact of his hand with her face caused her to stir, her eyes fluttering open to look at him.

“Mulder? What are you doing here?” she asked, not the slightest hint of surprise in her voice at seeing him there.

“I needed to see you. Make sure you’re okay,” he said simply and took her hand in his, playing tag with her thumb. Scully watched their hands silently, pressing her thumb back against his, lost in thought.

“I’m fine, Mulder,” she said reverently. “There’s just a lot on my mind.”

Mulder nodded while keeping his gaze on their still joined hands, afraid she’d be able to read him like a book. “I talked to Skinner this morning. Our host was still in the basement where we had locked him up. It seems he couldn’t find a way out either.”

Scully looked up. “What about Connolly? Did they catch him as well?”

Mulder shook his head, not raising his eyes. “No. There’s no trace of him. He disappeared.”

Scully stayed silent, returning her eyes to their joined hands after a while.

“Did you talk to the doctor? When will you be able to go home?” Mulder finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Tomorrow. They did a full check-up and blood work today. I had an allergic reaction to the drug he injected me with. But apart from a few scratches and bruises, I’m okay now.”

Mulder finally raised his eyes to hers. “Who’s going to take care of you? Is your mother coming over or do you want me to pick you up?”

Scully looked up at him and then quickly avoided his eyes again. “Would you mind taking me home tomorrow? My mom’s just going to fuss and worry, and I’d rather not have her make a big deal out of a few bruises.” She kept fiddling with his thumb, circling hers around it again and again.

Mulder watched her for a moment. “What’s going on, Scully?” he asked softly.

“What do you mean,” she replied, still not looking at him.

Mulder squeezed her hand gently as he curled his fingers over her thumb, forcing it down into his palm. “You’re not looking at me, Scully. What’s this about,” he hesitated as a thought suddenly struck him. “Is this about our kiss?” he asked quietly.

Scully’s fingers twitched in his grasp. Bull’s eye, he thought grimly. His heart picked up speed, and he started to sweat. “Do you regret it, Scully?” he asked monotonously, his face a mask even though his heart was beating wildly.

Scully quickly looked up at him, searching his face. “Do you?” she asked, her face unreadable.

“No, I don’t,” he said firmly. “But if you do, I… I want you to know I understand. I know it wasn’t the best of circumstances, and you were probably still feeling the drugs,” he rambled nervously. “So, what I’m trying to say here is, that if you didn’t like it, and you’d rather forget it happened…” he waved his free hand around vaguely.

“I’m not saying I didn’t like it,” Scully said, amusement tinging her voice.

Mulder dropped their joined hands down to the bed covers and exhaled. “What are you saying then, Scully?” he asked, watching her intently.

“If I remember correctly, Mulder, it was me who kissed you. And I don’t want to forget. But in case you forgot, I can remind you,” she said with a smile.

She tugged on his hand in hers and pulled him closer, tenderly putting her free hand behind his neck.

Mulder was watching her with wide eyes, and she pulled him in for a kiss. This time he didn’t hesitate and deepened the kiss immediately, pressing his lips to hers.

Neither of them noticed the rays of the setting sun streaming through the hospital window, bathing the hospital room in soothing colors and engulfing their faces in a warm glow.

The End.

***

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed my contribution to Fictober 2023.

And if you want to comment, please feel free. You'd make my day—just be kind. You can also find this fic on AO3.

[thatfragilecapricorn30]

confession

msr, teen | 1k words | ao3 | @xfilesbingo prompt "confession" | tagging @today-in-fic

Mulder and Scully stumbled into his apartment, dripping wet, and immediately began shucking off articles of clothing. It was Mulder’s bright idea to pick up their food in a torrential downpour, instead of having it delivered, because he wanted to go to Blockbuster too. And of course Scully had to accompany him to ensure that Mulder actually picked a decent movie for once. She wasn’t interested in his obscure sci fi films, though it had been awhile since they had actually finished a movie. Usually, one of them had a better idea in mind of how they could spend their evening, and easily enticed the other away from the screen, which Scully couldn’t deny was definitely more fun than watching TV.

Once boots, jackets, umbrellas were all left in a damp heap on the floor, Mulder grabbed the food and the video to bring into the living room, while Scully continued to shake her head like a dog to dislodge the water in her ears. Even after being inside for a few minutes, she was still shivering from the cold rain and contemplated retrieving her go bag that was always kept in the trunk of her car. When Scully was first assigned to the X-Files, she very quickly learned that she would be jet setting across the country at a moment’s notice, so she started keeping a change of clothes and a travel toothbrush in her car for convenience's sake.

Mulder must have read her mind, because he called from the living room, “Go steal something of mine to wear,” which sounded much better than going back out in the storm. Scully went to scavenge for some sweatpants and maybe his Knicks jersey if she was lucky. She loved the well-worn shirt. Honestly she enjoyed wearing Mulder’s clothes - even though they were huge on her - because they were very soft and warm and often smelled like him. Scully also knew how much Mulder liked seeing her in his clothes. So possessive, she thought fondly while rolling her eyes, as she started looking through his dresser.

Even though Scully had spent a lot of time at Mulder’s, she wasn’t exactly sure which drawer contained sweatpants. Leave it to Mulder to have no organization system and just have random clothes shoved in together. It was a wonder that he was able to get dressed at all. This weekend Scully was going to stage an intervention over the state of his wardrobe. Mulder would hate it but she’d make it worth his while, and she greatly enjoyed the fact that she could do that now. While Scully was rummaging through one of the middle drawers, her fingers closed on a velvet box. She pulled it out and stared at it, feeling shocked.

“Scully, did you get lost in the closet?” she heard Mulder yell from outside the room.

She knew exactly what kind of box it was and opening it up confirmed it. She only got a small glimpse of the jewelry before Mulder was in the doorway. She looked up at him and his expression turned into his “panic” face when he noticed what she was holding.

“Something you want to confess, Mulder?” she asked, trying to joke but ended up sounding serious.

“You weren’t supposed to find that,” he said.

Scully snapped the list closed. She wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

Off her expression, Mulder amended, “You weren’t supposed to find that yet.”

“Is this for me?” she asked, her voice only coming out as a whisper.

“No, it’s for my other girlfriend. I see her on the nights I’m not with you,” he said with a smile, but Scully didn’t laugh.

He sighed, “Of course it’s for you. I’ve actually had it for a while but I didn’t want to scare you away and I was hoping to find the right moment and make it really special…”

“Special?” she asked. This came as a surprise. Scully had always been simple when it came to relationships and she thought Mulder was the same way. She didn’t care about fancy things or big declarations of love. The little moments were more important to her.

“Yeah, special. Like fireworks and a mariachi band and champagne.”

Now Scully laughed. “Mulder, be real.”

He moved to sit on the bed and Scully joined him. “I am. Well, not about the fireworks and mariachi band but I really was going to ask you in a nice way.”

She took his hand and squeezed. “I’m sure whatever you came up with would have been great. But for the record, I don’t expect or need anything like that. Getting to be with you is already special.”

Mulder pulled his hand away, only to put his arm around her and pull her close. “That’s why I love you. Because that’s how you think. But you deserve a lot more.”

Scully could feel Mulder’s pulse racing where she was leaning against his chest. She wondered if he was nervous about asking her. Did he really not know how she felt about him? Scully decided to lay the issue to rest.

“Mulder,” Scully said, still curled up against him. “The answer is yes.”

Mulder pulled back to look into her eyes and when he realized she was serious, his timid smile changed to the biggest, goofiest grin she had ever seen.

“Scully, I haven’t even asked you yet,” he stated playfully.

She leaned up to kiss him briefly. “But now you don’t have to worry about my answer. I’ll be waiting for something really spectacular now, though.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked as he kissed her more. He pushed her back on the bed. “Something like this?”

“This is a good start,” Scully said breathlessly.

She wouldn’t be needing those sweatpants now.

[astridncs]

A Forgotten Birthday, Or So He Thought

Fictober 2022 — Day 13: “Are you busy tonight?” (from this list); tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022 ; also on AO3

~sorry for the late upload/s~

--

“Hey, Scully, are you busy tonight?”

Scully looked up from what she was reading, “No, why?” she answered.

“I was thinking, maybe, you wanna come over?” Mulder asked.

Scully tilted her head, as if contemplating deeply before answering, “Sure, I’d love to.” A smile graced her own face when she saw Mulder’s face light up.

“Alright! Want me to pick you up?”

“Nah, I’ll just drive later.”

“Okay, I can’t wait.”

Scully laughed, “Me too.”

Mulder was glad that she said yes, although a bit bummed out that she seemed to have forgotten what day it was, not that it really mattered…but still.

Little did he know, Scully has already had something planned days prior.

She knew Mulder wasn’t the type to really celebrate his birthday, but years of being together has both of them celebrating it (and hers). It all started with simple greeting cards to cupcakes, then to small gifts; her own Apollo 11 keychain still kept safely in her nightstand drawer.

For Mulder’s birthday, she got him something special, something small that she hoped he’d like.

continue on AO3

[electromignion]

Under The Moonlight (OS - AO3)

Read on AO3

Fandom:  The X-Files

Pairing: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully

Characters: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully

Rating: General Audience

Words: 1503

Tags: MSR, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in Love, Mention of Jealous Fox Mulder, Mention of Emotional Hurt Fox Mulder, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Idiots in Love, Partners to Lovers, Love Confessions, Moon, Fictober, Song: Fly Me to the Moon (Frank Sinatra), Song: Moon Love (Frank Sinatra), Knowing the songs aren't required, References to Canon, mention of Pheobe Green, Love, First Kiss, Romantic Fluff

Synopsis: Mulder talks through his feelings alone at his place and ends up singing in front of Scully’s apartment.

Following @quinnick​ ‘s Fictober list so thank you so much!! Prompt #21 : Full Moon!

[sosoane1]

Fictober: Day 5 Opposite Attract

TXF | Pre-season 10 | @100wednesday  |100 words AO3

‘‘There’s someone I want you to meet. Fox Mulder meet, Dr. Dana Scully. Dana just got out of a relationship with a jerk.’’

‘‘Thats not what I said!’’

‘‘No you said there were differences you just couldn’t ignore, that’s code for he’s an ass. Oh, and Fox just got out of a relationship too! He was dumped.’’

‘‘I wasn’t dumped, I last left.’’

‘‘What’s the difference?’’

‘‘Well one has more respect’’

‘‘Yeah right. Oh, hey! Maybe you two could go on a date! I mean you two don’t have much in common but you know what they say! Opposite attract.’’

[darkesttimelinestuff]

"That's all? Easy."

On day 22 of Fictober Mulder and Pendrell are having a drink when they spot Scully with another man. Hopefully it's a little fun and a little silly.

Prompt #29 - "That's all? Easy."

Find my other mediocre, mostly MSR fic here.

Pendrell slammed his glass down in frustration.

“Don’t take it so hard, buddy,” Mulder said. 

“Oh, sure. Easy for you to say,” Pendrell grumbled. 

Mulder was taken aback. “What does that mean?”

The scientist shot him an incredulous look. “You’re kidding. Mulder, you’re tall, traditionally handsome, mysterious,” he replied, eyeing Mulder and taking a long drink from his glass. “Women love that.”

Mulder chuckled and gave him a wry smile. “It doesn’t get you as far as you’d think, my friend,” he said, slapping Penrell on the back.

“Oh, come on.” Pendrell, tipsy and loose, rolled his eyes. “Women love a brooding man. Just look at Angel.” Off Mulder’s puzzled look, he added, “From Buffy.”

Mulder nodded, not quite understanding. He didn’t want to argue with his friend, who was clearly heartbroken at the coincidence of seeing Scully drinking with another man. It’s not what Mulder had expected to see either when he invited Pendrell out for drinks. Now they were commiserating their unspoken affection for a certain redhead.

“Besides, once Scully told me that ‘smart is sexy.’ She likes a brainy man,” Mulder replied, and hoped his friend would leave it at that.

They sat for a long moment, sipping their whiskeys. 

“Yeah?” asked Pendrell.

Mulder nodded.

“Who is that guy, anyway?” Pendrell wondered. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him at the F.B.I. Maybe an old friend from Quantico,” Mulder offered. 

“Boyfriend?”

“Maybe,” Mulder agreed. “Or date.”

They continued to watch Scully and her mystery man as they drank. They watched the man pay the bill. They watched him get up and put on his coat. They watched him give Scully a friendly peck on the cheek. And then, they watched him walk out of the bar, while Scully remained. 

“Maybe not a boyfriend or date!” Pendrell said, excitedly. 

“I guess not. Unless it didn’t go well,” suggested Mulder.

“As odd as it sounds, I would feel bad if that were the case.” 

“Same,” Mulder agreed.

“You should go ask her out for a drink,” Pendrell said with determination.

“What?” Mulder asked. 

“You think I don’t see the way you look at her, Mulder? Takes one to know one. You need to go over there and ask her to have a drink with you. And when you’re done, you ask her out for another drink this weekend.”

“That’s all? Easy,” Mulder scoffed, and leaned back in his seat. 

“Your loss, Mulder. Because one of these days… One of these days…

[randomfoggytiger]

"The Dead Are Everywhere, Scully"

(Fictober, Day 1)

*****

He wakes alone in a field, his body having shed its flesh and left only its bones. The words “putridity and liquescence” come to mind, or to the back of it; and he sits up, knowing he has something to do. There should be someone else here, he thinks as he stands.

His memory is as empty as this afterlife, fields of tombstones stretching around him with names he knows he should know but does not. 

Skeletons, he thinks, skeletons are the link. He shovels out thought after thought, leaving open graves of dead girls, dead sisters, dead fathers, and dead mothers as he pushes the boundaries of his mind in pursuit. 

And like a bright flash it comes to him: “So first they're going to eat, then they're going to drink, then they're going to dance--"

He moves away from heaps of upturned dust and decay into a happier time-- a gray, distant recollection of two souls swaying in sync, celebrating life and happy endings. 

He needs to find his dance partner. 

*****

She wakes entombed in choking sand. It sifts through her teeth, collects in her crevices, grinds against her joints. The soft gauze of her funeral dress-- hers or someone else's-- twists around her legs and arms as she bangs the sarcophagus lid for freedom. There is no pain since the nerves spreading from her spinal cord have dropped away; but there is panic and fear and failure, Death and darkness and defeat.

Death has captured her in unbreakable chains: immortality, the curse of eternal life. I won't let this thing beat me echoes, hollow, in the fruitless weight of nothingness. 

“I can’t."  

But there is another echo that spits out defiance: Yes, you can; and strength and courage and hope stir in its wake. 

Her knuckles crack, her fingers scrabble at dangerous angles, her wrists snap; but she mentally chants over the sounds of failure-- I have the strength of your beliefs, Mulder you’re the only one I trust, I won’t let this thing beat me, I won’t let this thing beat me-- 

And the lid slides off and the wind rushes in and the sand blows away. 

*****

They reunite in a graveyard, rain racing down the curved edges of their new perimeters.   

“What are we doing here?” she calls across the distance still separating them. 

“We’re having a dance, partner.” 

“Mulder--” and both of them stop as the truth opens before them. 

He breaks the silence: “Well, c’mon, Scully. I think we got a few twirls left in these old bones of ours.” 

His infectious enthusiasm and her reluctant amusement finally meet in the middle. 

“Which ones, Mulder?”

“You tell me.” 

She does. 

*****

It is only them, the rain, and the mud. 

“Mulder, I don’t understand it, any of it. How did this happen?” 

They slow, the rain pours, the mud thickens around their shifting ankles. 

“I don’t think we’ll ever know, Scully. Once I would have said ‘I think it’s about fate.'” They carefully maneuver around the awful deaths that time conjures up. “And you later argued for free will over fate on a certain later Monday. But I think we were both right, or both wrong, or both right and wrong; because we’re standing in a place where neither fate nor free will has power.” 

“Then what does, Mulder?” She almost drifts away before he draws her back. 

“I think it’s a matter of perspective. That we’ll never know, really. But one thing we do know. That you and I are Mr. and Mrs. Spooky--”

“Mulder--”

“And that we’ve beaten the odds, Scully. That we’re here together. That we found each other. That it feels right even if this existence doesn’t make sense, or at least if it doesn’t make sense yet.” 

She lets him freestyle them both a little while she thinks. “King Spooky.”

“Hm?” 

“You and I alone, together. King Spooky and Queen of the Dead.” 

He celebrates her move with a dip. “Now let’s shimmy, Queen Spooky. Get those little legs moving.” 

She raised a perfectly poised pointer finger in reproof. “That was a debatable topic even in life.” 

“You can’t dress up what Death has dressed down, Scully.” 

“And ten to one you can’t dance to it?” she asks, remembering another of his phrases from another world. 

“Well, I like to think that our perspective has managed to beat a few odds. Wouldn’t you?”  

A thoughtful, settling silence: “Yes, it did.” 

And they shake the cold from their bones in tune with the rain.

*****

Acknowledgements: Thank you to @baronessblixen, @welsharcher, and others who have encouraged me to start writing. This is take two; and I really, really like how it turned out.

Thank you to all the mutuals and anons who were so kind on my first fic (Son of Egypt); and thank you to @perpetually-weirdening for (probably not meaning to) getting the idea of immortal Scully stuck in my head.

And my thanks to David Duchovny for the line he wrote in Hollywood A.D.-- it made a wonderful title; and inspired me to wrangle my floating thoughts into one coherent story.

Tagging @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023 and @fictober-event

[atths--twice]

Rediscovering the Thrill

What may have happened while they were staying at The Falls when Mulder left the bedroom telling Scully that the thrill was gone.

Fictober day 4 prompt 9: I wouldn't do that if I were you.

The thrill is gone. 

The words Mulder had said when he left the room kept repeating in her ears as she straightened up while she waited for her face mask to dry. 

The thrill is gone. 

How could it be gone when it had never even started? At least not in the way he was implying. Not how Rob would mean it if he was speaking to Laura. 

She knew he was teasing her, acting the part of a hurt husband, but still… 

Picking up his shoes, she placed them on a shelf in the closet. Seeing his sweatshirt had been left on the bed, she sighed as she snatched it up to hang it in the closet.

The thrill is gone. 

Is that what he wants? she wondered, placing the sweatshirt on the hanger. A thrill? Something that isn’t who we are? Does he want to be someone else? For me to be someone else? Or is it our thrill that’s gone? 

“Hey, Scully,” Mulder said, poking his head around the corner. 

“Jesus Christ, Mulder,” she said, dropping his sweatshirt and looking at him in exasperation. 

“Sorry,” he said, tapping his fingers against the doorjamb. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” 

“Yeah, well,” she huffed, picking up the sweatshirt and hanging it with a bit more force than was needed. “Did you need something?”

“It’s still early,” he said rather sheepishly and she raised her eyebrows, waiting. “I know I won’t be sleeping anytime soon. You wanna watch a movie or something?” 

She stared at him, crossing her arms and drawing in a breath. 

“You don’t have to, but-” 

“No, I…” she said with a quick nod. “I will.” 

“I mean I don’t know what’s on, but…” 

“It’s still early,” she finished and he nodded, tapping his fingers on the doorjamb again. “Maybe we could see what’s inside that gigantic basket Pat gave us.” He grinned and she attempted to smile back, but her skin felt tight. She touched her face and nodded. “You go open it, I’ll wash this off and join you.”

“You got it, Mrs. Petrie.” 

“Shut up,” she said, pushing him out of her way as she walked to the bathroom. She heard him laughing as he left the room and she smiled slightly. 

Ten minutes later, she walked into the kitchen to find the contents of the entire basket laid on the counter as Mulder looked at it dubiously. 

“Nothing good?” she asked and he sighed. 

“I don’t know. It’s all so… frou frou-y.”

“Frou frou?” she teased. 

“Yeah. They’re not brands I recognize. Look at this one, what’s that name? I can’t make it out. Solare’s? Sss… Salane’s? I can’t tell.” 

“They’re crackers,” she said, looking at the box and then at him. “Take them, the salami, and that cheese and I’ll grab a knife and a plate.” 

“The wine too, or no?” he asked and she shook her head with a slight frown. 

“No, the wine at dinner made me feel… I don’t know. I don’t want any. But you go ahead if you want.” 

“Nah. It’s not exactly my first choice, especially this one from… Zairess? Seriously, what is this? Where did Pat get these things?” 

“Probably some hoity toity shop somewhere. Gotta keep up with those appearances, right?” she asked as she opened cupboards and drawers searching for what she needed. 

“I would hate to live in a place like this,” he said and she snorted. “No shit,” she said, rolling her eyes. Shaking her head, she finally found what she was looking for and grabbed a large plate and a sharp knife. 

“But you wouldn’t mind it.” 

“Living somewhere where neighbors help each other out? That’s not so bad.” 

“But dinners at their house? Tuna casserole dinners, Scully? ZZ Top wine?” He gestured to the bottle he had put back into the basket and she laughed. “From the finest little shop in San Diego, but still…” His eyes widened and he stepped backward out of the kitchen as she followed. 

“At least the tuna was dolphin safe,” she deadpanned and he grunted. 

“Not as safe in my stomach. It definitely did not agree with me.” 

“Proper food can have that effect on a body used to only eating takeout and microwave dinners.” 

“Are you knocking my frozen meatloaf meals, Scully? How can you when it’s made for hungry men like me?” 

She laughed again as they sat down on the couch and she set the plate and knife on the coffee table. He added the salami and cheese, opening the box of crackers and then the bag inside. Placing some on the plate, he picked one up and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. 

“Not terrible,” he stated, chewing again. “But definitely dry. I’ll go get us some water.” 

“Hmm,” she hummed with a nod as she opened the salami and began slicing pieces of it and laying them beside the crackers. 

Mulder came back and snatched a piece as he set the glasses of ice water on the coffee table. 

“Hmm. That’s good. Zany Tony makes a good salami.” 

Scully laughed as she opened the cheese and started slicing it. 

“Who makes this cheese?”

“It said Wandering Willows Farm on the package.” 

“The fuck it did,” he laughed, reaching for the wrapper and looking at it. “Tira’s Cheese. Tira.” He looked at her and shook his head as he dropped it back onto the coffee table. “Your name was better.” 

“If I ever decide to throw all this away,” she said, waving the knife to indicate the room at large. “I’ll become a cheese maker and call it Wandering Willows, just for you.” 

“It’s a solid plan. People do love cheese.” He tried to take a slice, but she stopped him by blocking his hand. 

“I have a sharp knife in my hand. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” 

“But, Scullyyyy,” he whined. “Tuna casserole.” She shook her head and snorted out a laugh. “With white wine, need I remind you.” 

“No,” she said with a shiver. “You don’t need to remind me. I think Tira’s vineyard made that wine too.” 

“Ha!” he exclaimed, bumping her with his shoulder and laughing quietly. “Cheese and wine. You’ll have some stiff competition at ol’ Wandering Willows.” 

“I can take her,” she said, finishing with the cheese and setting the knife down. 

Picking up two slices of cheese, she handed him one. They nodded as they tried it, watching each other as they chewed. 

“It’s… cheese,” he stated and she nodded in agreement. “It’s not bad.” 

“But it’s not great.” 

“Better than tuna casserole.” 

“Hell yes it is,” she said, reaching for another piece as well as a cracker and a piece of salami. “Let’s see how all three are together.” 

He prepared a cracker for himself and they nodded once again as they took a bite. 

“Oh, that’s good. Much better as a combo,” he said, shoving the rest of it into his mouth. 

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Much better.” 

“Does it need mustard? I think there’s a jar of Zoreli’s in that basket. Or Tortoroni’s Tangy Mustard.” 

“Is it Zoreli’s and Sons? Because I really prefer that brand over just Zoreli’s.” 

He laughed as he began stacking the salami and cheese onto another cracker and she smiled as she did the same. 

“Wandering Willows will have to speak to the Zoreli’s about an exclusive deal to work with them.” 

“It’s in the bag. One of my employees is sleeping with the boss of the Zoreli family. They made an offer they couldn’t refuse,” she said in her best Brando voice and he choked on his cracker when he started laughing. 

He reached for his glass of water, choking and sputtering, as she thumped him on his back and chuckled softly. 

“Scully,” he said in a strained voice after he had taken a few large drinks, shaking his head and coughing as he laughed again. 

“You want into the Willows… you’re then in until you die.” 

“Or you’re given a pair of cement shoes,” he said with another cough. 

“Meh…” she said with a shrug. “You gotta protect the family.” 

“I never knew the cheese/wine/mustard business had such a dark side.” 

“Why do you think you don’t recognize the brands we’re eating tonight? The others…” She ran her thumb slowly across her throat and his eyes widened. “We don’t play at the Willows.” 

He smiled slowly, shaking his head as he stared at her. She smiled back and then looked at the television. 

“Are we still going to watch a movie?” 

“Yeah,” he said, smiling as he set his glass down and reached for the remote. “Yeah, we are.” 

He flipped through the channels until he landed on something, glancing at her for her approval. She nodded, not really caring what they watched. He set the remote down and made up another cracker to eat. 

They watched the movie in near silence, eating their snack and drinking their water. 

But every once in a while, he glanced at her and shook his head as he laughed through his nose. She smiled and shrugged, an entire conversation being spoken without saying a word. 

What do you think now, Mulder? she thought, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Is our thrill still gone? Do you-?

“Is being bedfellows the only way into a place of employment at Wandering Willows?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts. 

“Not always,” she said, carefully considering her words. “All options for employment are taken into consideration.” 

“So if it’s beneficial to the farm…” 

“Or if the person is just really good looking…” she said with a shrug and he smiled. 

“And they own a mustard farm…” 

“Or a fruit farm. We’re always looking to expand. And if we can lock down jellies… well…” She sucked air in through her teeth and he threw his head back as he laughed. 

Yeah, she thought with a smile. The thrill is definitely still there.

[scullysexual]

fictober day 3 | m | this list | ao3 | @today-in-fic | @xffictober2023

But sometimes that caring and that gentleness could be stifling, sometimes she just wanted him to let go. [Scully wants to get tied up]

Day 3: Tied Up.

She doesn’t remember a time when he wasn’t gentle with her. Always caring, always looking out for her, putting her pleasure before his own. Even when he briefly lost control (if you could even call it that) he never did anything to hurt her and she loved him for it.

But sometimes that caring and that gentleness could be stifling, sometimes she just wanted him to let go.

And he did.

Her wrists are in agony. Her hands are pulled above her head, Mulder’s tight grasp wrapped around them, nails digging in. It hurt but in a good way. A very good way.

Scully liked the restraint, she liked the lack of control. When she tried to free her hands Mulder would only push on them harder, his hips slamming into her. It felt so good that even her orgasm is different- stronger, longer. She wanted that again. She wanted more.

He never did quite take her like that again. It was almost as if he’d realised just how harsh he’d been, they’re next sexual encounters were much more gentle in comparison. Scully knew that if she wanted to feel like that again, experience that again and more, she would have to be the one to bring it up.

“Mulder…?” she drawls, speaking slowly. They lay in the dark, spooned, happy and sated. “Are you still awake?”

“Hmm…”

It wasn’t much of an answer but at least it was a response.

“I wondered if I could ask you something?”

“Hmm…anything.” She feels a kiss against her shoulder, his breath shifting her hair.

“That other night…when you held my hands above my head…?”

She feels him tense behind her.

“Scully, I’m—” he starts to say, no hint of sleepiness in his voice now.

“No,” Scully cuts him off, reassuring him. “You didn’t…offend me. I suppose that’s the point.”

There’s a moments pause before he speaks again.

“What’s that point?” he asks.

She takes a deep breath then lets it out slowly. This is Mulder, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

“I liked it.” Despite herself she still speaks quietly. “I want that again,” she adds feeling brave. His hand clenches around her hip. “But I want you to use rope.”

Her heart beats a little faster as Mulder gives the ropes one last pull tight.

Being tied up in her bedroom on a Sunday night was never a place Dana Scully thought she’d find herself but here she was, exactly there. She feels herself flush.

“You definitely sure about this?” Mulder asks. He still leans over her.

“Yes Mulder,” Scully reassures him for the third time that night. “This was my idea. You don’t need to keep asking.”

He moves away from her but there’s still the look of unease in his eyes.

“What is it?” she asks, trying not to sound annoyed.

“It’s just…” He sighs then starts over. “I feel like you need a safe word.”

She looks at him confused. “What would I need a safe word for?”

“Sculleee,” he says, exasperated. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’re all tied up. You can’t go anywhere.”

“Good. That’s the point. Mulder, if I want you to stop I’ll just say stop.”

“You want stop to be your safe word?”

There was only one way out of this conversation.

“Sure.”

“If you say stop I’ll untie you as quick as I can.” He leans back over her, presses his lips to hers, and silences any argument that could come out of her which was fine by Scully. It was all perfunctory; she had no intention of stopping him.

His mouth makes its usual downwards path along her body, gently tickling her skin, taking some time to suck a nipple into his mouth and mull it over with his tongue. Scully wraps her fingers around the binds, using the rope as leverage to hold onto something, her hips moving to seek relief.

“You look really hot all tied up Scully,” he says, his head resting against her stomach, so close to where she wanted him.

Scully moans at his words, feeling herself become wetter. Mulder continues on right until his mouth is at her centre. Usually she’d hold onto him, let her fingers roam his hair while he ate her out. She was unable to do that and the thought makes her delirious.

His tongue touches her and there’s a sudden hot flash that explodes through her body. She tugs on the binds only resulting in them tightening even more. She moans louder.

“You’re so wet Scully,” Mulder says, pulling his mouth away and replacing his tongue with two fingers., spreading her open and pumping in and out of her hard.

The act has her seeing stars behind her eyes.

“If I’d known you’d get this wet, I’d have tied you up months ago,” Mulder is saying but she can’t be quite sure, the ringing in her ears getting louder and louder. She can feel herself approaching that peak, feels Mulder’s thumb rubbing back and forth across her clit, his encouraging words.

She explodes. And she forgets about the ropes.

She goes to reach forward, to grab hold of him and pull him to her but the ropes hold her back, snapping her arms back down. Her comes a second time immediately.

“Whoa, Scully!” Mulder yells. He’s pulled away from her now, is rooting somewhere away. Scully’s eyes remain closed, tongue running across her dry lips as she breathes heavily in and out, fingers flexing and unflexing around the binds.

The bed dips, Mulder has returned. There’s the sound of a faint buzz and then it is pressed against her centre.

Scully springs to life at the vibrations. They’re only on low, nothing that would overwhelm her or push her over the edge. She supposes it could be quite nice if her body wasn’t already overstimulated from two back to back orgasms in less than a second.

He pushes the vibrator inside her where the feeling intensifies. Scully moans.

“How’s that?” Mulder asks in a quiet voice.

“Good…” Scully half moans.

Mulder chuckles slightly then makes his way to the top of the bed. He brushes the hair from the side of her face, sticky with perspiration and runs his finger lightly across her cheek. Scully opens her eyes and sees Mulder’s hard cock. Her hands ache to touch it.

“Not too intense?” he asks, still talking about the vibrations.

She shakes her head.

“Good.”

He grabs hold of his cock and places it against her lips as an invitation. Scully opens her mouth, running her lips down the side of it before turning her head and taking him into her mouth.

“Fuck, Scully…” he breaths, his eyes closing.

The angle doesn’t give her much room to suck. The angle doesn’t give her much room for anything.

Mulder braces himself on her headboard, thrusting his hips back and forward as the head of his cock hits the inside of her cheek. The vibrations are still rippling through her body and Scully sees the remote that sits clutched in Mulder’s hand, his thumb over the button.

The vibrations increase. She moans around his dick. The vibrations increase some more. She tries to get the vibrator to go in deeper.

She wants him to move, to straddle her so she can take his dick properly but before she gets her chance to signal her desire he takes his cock out of her mouth, shuts the vibrator off, and moves it from her. He chucks it and the remote somewhere to the side and climbs over her. He lines himself up then pushes all the way in with one thrust.

Scully moans once more. Mulder grips her hips, pulls all the way out, waits a second, then pushes all the way in again. It’s slow and hard, he keeps this up a few more times before switching to a quicker pumps.

Her wrists and arms were starting to ache from being tied up for so long but she wasn’t ready for this to stop just yet.

“You think you can come again?” Mulder asks through gritted teeth.

“Touch my clit and we’ll find out.”

Mulder doesn’t wait, his fingers find her clit instantly and begins worrying the bud in little clockwise circles. Scully feels herself clenching hard around him before her orgasm explodes. Mulder follows her soon after.

They lie there for a while, breathing heavily. Scully notices the ache again.

“Mulder?”

“Hmm?”

“Stop.”

He looks at her for a few seconds before immediately springing into action. He pulls at the ropes, untying them, and throwing them off to the side. He gently takes her arms, inspects her wrists. A little red but nothing too severe. He kisses the red marks, soothing it.

“Thank you for that,” Scully says, feeling full of love.

“Don’t mention it,” he says back. “That was fun.”

“Really, really fun.”

[medicaldoctordana]

Fictober 2023 1/31

Not a prompt, just finishing up a WIP...

You and Me on The Rock

If you asked Dana Scully where she thought she might be when she was 40, her answer would not reflect her current life position.

5-year-old Dana Scully wanted to be a snake wrangler or boat so she could be in the navy like her father.

When she was 10, she wanted to be a doctor or a veterinarian.

By 18, she would have settled on becoming a doctor. Expecting at 40 she would probably be married and settled down with a cocker spaniel waiting in her fenced yard for her to get home from a 48-hour ER shift.

Ask again at 21 and she’d be confident she would be a doctor- less optimistic about the husband and house- not about the dog though. And Dana was certain about her future as a pathologist or surgeon.

Even at 30, her answer wouldn’t be where she found herself now. She had achieved her dream of becoming a doctor. Doctor Dana Scully at the ripe, young age of 27 even taught a few incoming courses at Quantico. Having very little field experience herself, she was teaching others about a deceased body- how to catalog the evidence and seeing the importance in the details.

After her stint in medical school, her brief time in the FBI prior to being assigned to the X-Files… The X-Files themselves… Dana Katherine Scully still did not expect to find herself on her knees in the mud and the rain on her 40th birthday.

Yet there she was, on her knees.

In the mud.

And the rain.

Finish on ao3

[xxsksxxx]

Liberating the Mirage

Summary:

When an assignment goes horribly wrong, Mulder has to race against time to find Scully.

But sometimes the line between reality and illusion blurs—and it turns out there’s more than one locked door that needs to be opened.

Notes:

This is my little contribution to Fictober, a yearly event that celebrates writing and reading—and fall. All of which are good things in my world.

Since there’s no way I can come up with a new story every day, I’ve decided to write one fic that includes all prompts from the Fictober 2023 prompt list. They’re all in bold if you want to seek them out specifically. You can find the list here: Fictober 2023

This story is complete, but to keep in the spirit of Fictober, I’m posting one chapter a day.

I hope you’ll have as much fun reading this fic as I had writing it.

AO3 | Start at the Beginning | @today-in-fic and @xffictober2023

Chapter 7: Twists and Turns

The minutes seemed to drag endlessly while Mulder and Scully waited for John’s return. When they finally heard the key turn in the lock, Mulder almost sighed in relief. He got up immediately and moved closer to the door.

Egan stepped inside, his eyes swiftly scanning the room for anything unusual. He gave Scully a quick glance before returning his gaze to Mulder.

“Your hour is over, Agent Mulder. Do you have the list?” he asked coldly.

Mulder nodded, never taking his eyes off of the taller man. He pointed to the pad lying on the floor near the window.

John laughed. “Nice try. Give it to me!”

Mulder returned to the rear wall and bent down to pick it up. John took a hasty step forward, his gun firmly aimed at Mulder, who held the pad up into the moonlight, illuminating the written words. “I wrote down what I could remember,” he said. “Now let us out of here.”

John laughed and took another step in Mulder’s direction. That was all Scully needed. She swung her leg out with all the force she could muster and kicked his knee as hard as she could. The man went down screaming, clutching his knee. Mulder didn’t hesitate and jumped right on top of him, pressing his knee between the man’s shoulder blades.

Scully was scrambling across the concrete floor, diving for the gun John was still clutching in his right hand. She pressed her fingernails into his wrist, and he reflectively released the weapon. She gave it a shove for good measure, and it slid across the floor out of reach.

“Stop moving!” Mulder yelled, holding the man down with all his might. “It’s over!” John was fighting with all his strength trying to get Mulder off of his back. But it was no use, Mulder was in the superior position and pulled the man’s wrists up as far as they would go.

“I said ‘Stop moving’,” Mulder gritted out between clenched teeth. “I’m going to break your wrist if you don’t stop fighting!”

Scully didn’t pay the fight any attention, trusting Mulder to handle himself. She crawled across the concrete as fast as her wobbly arms and legs would allow and grabbed the gun. With a swift move, she turned on her back and raised the weapon towards John. “Stop, or I’ll shoot!” she shouted. John raised his head and looked straight at her and down the barrel of the gun. Resignation spread over his face, and he closed his eyes in defeat, dropping his head to the floor.

Mulder took a deep breath and looked over at Scully. Her arms were shaking, and she was clearly fighting to stay focused. He quickly got up and pulled John up by the arms. The taller man grunted.

“Come on, Scully. Let’s get out of here,” he said gently. “We need to call for backup and get you to a hospital.” He shoved John onto the mattress, making sure to never get in the line of Scully’s aim.

Scully pushed herself to her feet and moved backward towards the door, the gun still on the man lying on the mattress. John watched the agents with a resigned expression on his face.

They backed out of the room and Mulder locked the door behind them, letting out a relieved sigh when the lock clicked. Scully lowered her arm and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. A cold sweat was forming on her forehead, and she felt the nausea from earlier returning.

Mulder tenderly put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards the stairs. “Let’s get out of here, partner.”

Scully let him pull her along, needing all her strength to walk up the steps. She’d spent all her remaining energy on fighting John, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay upright.

Mulder’s brow furrowed in concern as he watched her. “Scully? Are you okay?”

Scully didn’t raise her head and concentrated on taking one step after the other. She did a mental check of her body’s symptoms. Cold sweat, racing heart, dizziness, disorientation, she ascertained. She was also sure, she had a fever. Her blood pounded like a drum behind her temples, and the steps seemed to move back and forth, before her eyes.

Scully swallowed and balled her hand into a fist to distract herself. Something was wrong. This was something other than the drugs, she analyzed detachedly. The drugs had made her loopy and the hallucinations had made her nauseous. All of that made sense, she reasoned. But cold sweat and fever were not something she attributed to having been medicated. She wished she knew what John had injected her with.

Well, no sense in dwelling on it, Scully thought. We need to get out of here. There’ll be plenty of time to get checked out later. Just concentrate on walking up those steps.

“I’m fine, Mulder. Let’s just get out of here,” she said determinedly, placing her hand against the cold wall to support herself.

Mulder pressed his lips together in annoyance but placed his hand on her lower back instead to support her going up the steps.

*****

They crossed the office where Mulder had handcuffed John to the desk a few hours earlier, and Mulder gave it a grim look. What a stupid thing to not have checked it for any tools or keys. Scully could’ve been safe hours ago, he groused silently. The guilt hit him like a bucket of hot water, and he cast a glance at her face. She was clearly sick. Her face was pale as a ghost’s, and she was struggling just taking one step after another. Her ‘I’m fine’ had not fooled him for a second, and he knew he needed to get her to a hospital as soon as possible.

He steered her across the empty production hall towards the door he’d come through earlier in the night. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d sneaked through that door. He gently took Scully’s hand and was surprised when she gripped it tightly. “Come with me, hurry. We’re nearly at the car, and we can call for backup then,” he said with a false cheerfulness that made him cringe. He gave her a sideways glance to see if she had noticed his false display of positivity, but she only nodded her head wordlessly.

They quickly crossed the overgrown factory yard and Mulder opened the passenger door to his car one handily, supporting Scully with the other. She was getting worse, Mulder noted. She was swaying on her feet, her eyes vacant and sweat was glistening on her forehead.

“Come on, Scully, sit down. We’ve made it,” he whispered in her ear and guided her into the seat.

Scully raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were far too bright and despite being deathly pale her cheeks were flushed. She’s got a fever, Mulder thought grimly, and his jaw clenched in anger. He wished he could go back inside and get a few extra minutes with John Egan.

“Is it over? Is it really over?” Scully asked, her voice cracking. Mulder abandoned his revenge fantasies immediately and refocused on his partner, softly brushing a lock of her hair behind her ear. Her skin felt warm and clammy against his cold hand.

“It is, Scully. Let me call Skinner and then we’re out of here.” He quickly walked around the car, got into the driver's side, and grabbed his cell phone from the center console, pressing speed dial number 3.

It took only a couple of rings for Skinner to pick up.

“Sir? This is Agent Mulder,” he began.

“Agent Mulder! What is going on? Where are you? I’ve been trying to contact you for several hours!” Skinner said sternly.

“I found Agent Scully, sir. I need a task force at Pearson Steel, I locked up her kidnapper in the basement,” he said tonelessly, the exhaustion of the last 24 hours hitting him like a wave. “And we'd like an ambulance,” he added quietly.

Skinner was silent for a moment. “Understood, Agent Mulder. I’ll send the ambulance and the team out right away.” He waited for a beat. “How is she, Mulder?”

Mulder glanced over at Scully. Her eyes were closed and her head was reclined against the headrest. She was breathing shallowly.

“She’s been drugged. We aren’t sure what she was injected with. She needs medical help ASAP,” Mulder said urgently, never taking his eyes off of his partner.

“I’ll meet you at the hospital, Agent Mulder,” Skinner said grimly before the line disconnected.

Mulder put the phone down and tenderly took Scully’s hand in his. “Skinner’s sending in the troops, Scully. The paramedics will be here in no time.”

When she didn’t reply, he squeezed her hand, trying to get her attention. “Are you with me, Scully?” he asked anxiously. She turned her head in his direction and opened her eyes into small slits. “I think I’m not fine, Mulder. I’m not feeling so good,” she whispered hoarsely.

Mulder felt his heart drop. For Scully to admit that much meant that she was doing really badly. “Just hold on for a bit longer, partner,” he said encouragingly and pulled her against his shoulder. She rested her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes. Mulder absentmindedly stroked her neck with his fingers, wishing he could speed up time with sheer will alone.

What could’ve only been a few minutes seemed like an eternity to Mulder. He finally heard sirens coming closer and watched an ambulance race into the factory yard, closely followed by two black cars. The cars sped past towards the entrance, and a group of six men in Kevlar vests rushed inside the building.

Mulder couldn’t have cared less about that, though. His only concern was the ambulance that was pulling to a stop next to their car. He gently pushed Scully back into her seat—she didn’t react at all—and jumped out of the car, waving wildly at the paramedics. “Over here! Hurry!” he called, running around the car and pulling the passenger door open.

One of the paramedics kneeled in the open door and started to feel for Scully’s pulse. “What happened,” he asked crisply.

“She was kidnapped and held hostage. Her kidnapper drugged her with an unknown substance. She’s been lucid on and off but had trouble telling reality from hallucination,” Mulder explained, hovering over the paramedic's shoulder.

“Sir, please step back. We’ve got it from here,” the other paramedic said and gently pulled Mulder away from the open door.

Mulder reluctantly stepped back and watched the two men load Scully onto a stretcher. She was shaking violently beneath the blankets.

When they pushed her into the back of the ambulance, Mulder jumped back into action and climbed in after her. “I’m going with her,” he said determinedly, his voice leaving no room for discussion.

The two paramedics looked at each other. “Sir, you can follow us in your car and wait for her in the hospital…”

Mulder shook his head violently, never taking his eyes off of Scully lying unconscious on the stretcher. “I’m not leaving, so you might as well stop arguing. We’re losing precious time,” he said stubbornly.

The second paramedic just shrugged and went to the front, while the first one got into the back as well and closed the door. There was no arguing with government agents or law enforcement, he’d learned over the years. If their partners were hurt, hell would have to freeze over to tear them apart.

***

Thank you so much for reading. You can also find this fic on AO3.