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Lightning lit up the sky. The mountains seemed less dense and otherworldly. Mulder had to notice these things as he drove the two and half hours back to DC from Cumberland. Scully had nominated him to drive because she was an ocean girl and driving through the passes and high altitudes made her sick to her stomach. Mulder didn’t have the courage to admit they made him queasy too, especially after the case they’d just finished. It had involved a group of white supremacists putting on monster masks and attacking citizens for no damn reason other than to prove their weak, dwindling power. They’d been slipping mickeys in local bars and taking out entire swaths of people.
He’d worked for the FBI for almost ten years now and despite everything he’d been through he could never fathom the evil that people possessed. Maybe that’s why he was drawn to the X Files. He didn’t want to believe that human beings were the worst of them all. Worse than werewolves, sea monsters, and demons. Worse than anything that would go bump in the night.
Scully sniffling and shifting in the passengers seat brought him out of his pessimistic thought train.
“Mulder? How far?”
“About two hours. We only just passed the Polish Mountains.” He said quietly, popping another sunflower seed into his mouth. Scully groaned in annoyance and curled up tighter facing the window.
“You cold, Scully?”
Silence filled the rental car and for a moment he’d thought she’d fallen back asleep, but his question was answered with a grumble.
“If you can reach, my coat’s in the back seat.” He knew she couldn’t, but it was worth a try anyway. From out of the corner of his eye he watched her stretch her sinewy arms above her head. He heard a snap, crackle, and pop from what he assumed was her back. The radio couldn’t cover her little sigh as she draped herself around the back seat like a shawl, trying to reach his coat. He loved that little sigh so much. She did it in the morning when she was making coffee and as she was getting dressed. She did it when he kissed her chest and cupped a hand around her hip. It was filled with reverie and contentment. When it was released from her lungs he couldn’t help but think of her soft skin-
“Mulder, I really can’t reach it.” Her voice knocked him out of his tired, slightly horny trance.
“I’ll get it, hold on-”
“No, it’s fine, you really don’t have to.” She wanted him to. He could hear it without even seeing her face.
She made no move to stop him as he pulled over onto the shoulder. She looked at him fondly as he reached into the back with long, slender arms and concentrated eyes. It felt like back in the eighth grade when he’d gone to a carnival with his first ‘girlfriend’ and won her a teddy bear. He didn’t have to and he probably shouldn’t have, but he did it anyway.
He tucked the coat around her and when he’d finished he placed a kiss between her eyebrows.
“I would’ve been fine, Mulder.” Her one eyebrow cocked, the other flat.
“Your arms are just so short. It was a little sad watching you try to reach all the way back-”
She leaned forward and placed her index finger over his lips. He felt the light pressure of her perfectly manicured nail against his philtrum.
“Shut up, Mulder.” Her cheeky smile was that of an angel and so he listened dutifully. He pulled back on to the highway, back into the bustle of life with the ghost of her finger still haunting him.