"What do you think? Want to make a run for it?" Mulder's grin made him look like a mischievous little boy.

A blindingly bright flash of lightning answered him before Scully could open her mouth. It was followed almost immediately by a crack of thunder that seemed to shake the ground under their feet. The soft shower grew to a driving downpour in seconds.

"I think we missed our opportunity." She felt ridiculously happy, almost giddy. There was an honest-to-God giggle trying to force its way up from the warm glow that had taken up residence somewhere deep inside. She let it go.

Mulder turned toward her, his delight at her little-girl giggle bringing a much-too-rare light to his eyes. His voice took on a throaty softness that she could almost feel on her skin like a caress. "I'll have to take you out in the rain more often."

Their eyes met in the diffused glow of the streetlights for a long moment until the door opened suddenly behind them. The couple who emerged from the restaurant and joined them under the canopy made the quarters much too close. Someone was in imminent danger of getting soaked.

"Let's make a run for it." Mulder repeated. "Whose car is closer?"

"I'm just around the side of the building." She released his hand to fish in her purse for the car keys, then jiggled them under his nose. "Ready?"

He nodded and grabbed her hand. They ducked their heads and dashed out into the driving rain, soaked to the skin before they had gone twenty feet. Mulder sprinted to the passenger side and squinted at her over the roof of the car while she fumbled briefly with the key, and they were inside.

"Your upholstery is wrecked." He was literally dripping wet.

She slipped the key into the ignition and started the car, turning toward him with a damp but brilliant smile. "It'll dry, Mulder." She felt a little shy all at once. "Where to?"

"Somewhere dry." He ran both hands through his dripping hair, then brushed futilely at his jacket. "Your place is close."

She couldn't see his face clearly in the dimness, but his voice had a smokey quality that sent a pleasant shiver down her back. "Okay." Shyness again. Where was *that* coming from?

They drove in companionable silence, enjoying the storm from the warm safety of the car. When they reached her apartment building the rain had abated somewhat, but their sprint to the front door still managed to drench what few dry threads remained of their clothing.

"Whatever happened to *warm* rain?" Mulder commented as she unlocked the door. He was beginning to shiver slightly, acutely aware of the wet weight of his suit coat against his back.

She smiled at him over her shoulder as she opened the door and stepped inside. "Not this early in the year, Mulder. Here, give me your jacket. And take your shoes off. You're squeaking."

He handed her his dripping coat with a grin, then bent over to untie his waterlogged shoelaces. "I think these shoes might be a total loss. Can you ever remember getting this wet so fast?" Shoes discarded on her door mat, he pulled off his soggy socks and padded barefoot out to the kitchen so he could drip on the tile floor instead of her carpet.

"Where are you, Scully?" He was really cold now. A sneeze caught him by surprise and he sniffed loudly, grabbing a paper towel as a makeshift handkerchief.

She reappeared from the back of the apartment carrying a large, fluffy towel in one hand, a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt in the other. "You need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch pneumonia." She handed him the towel and placed the dry clothes on the kitchen counter. "I'm going to grab a quick shower. Why don't you make some coffee?"

To her surprise, he didn't seize the opportunity to fire one of his patented smartass responses to her 'get out of those clothes' request. Instead, he took the towel from her with a shy smile. "How about tea? That sounds better for some reason."

"Sure. There's some herbal tea in the cabinet over the stove. I'll only be a few minutes."

***

The sweatpants were actually a little too long for him and he wondered who they belonged to. One of her brothers, he hoped, but he wasn't about to ask. He had no idea what he was going to say when she came out of the shower but he was definitely not going to start the conversation with 'Who's pants are these?'. The thought made him smile, and that's the expression Scully saw as she rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"What's so funny, Mulder?" She was comfortably clothed in her favorite white sweatpants and baggy blue sweatshirt. He looked adorable with his towel-dried hair standing up in spikes all over his head.

He ignored the question, instead holding up two mugs, each sporting a tea bag string hanging over the side. The sweet aroma of her favorite orange spice tea wafted across the kitchen. "Mmmm, that smells wonderful. Would you mind taking them out to the living room? I want to hang your wet clothes on the shower rod." She picked his still-dripping clothes from the sink where he had left them and returned to the bathroom.

As she was shaking out his jacket, she noted that his boxers and undershirt were included in the soppy pile. She could feel herself blushing and shook her head, irritated by her reaction. Of course he took off his underwear, you idiot. He was as wet as you were. Did you expect him to put on dry clothes over top of cold wet underwear?

When she came back to the living room, Mulder was perched tensely on the edge of her couch, a mug of tea clasped in both hands. His smile was full of questions.

"Feel better? I heard you sneeze." She crossed to the sofa and sat in the corner facing him, legs tucked up underneath her.

She took the mug of tea he offered and held it under her nose, eyes closed, savoring the aroma before she took a grateful sip. "This is sooo good." She looked at him for a moment appraisingly. "So, do you feel better?"

"Yeah, much warmer. Thanks." He shifted his position, mirroring her posture from the opposite corner of the couch except for the leg tuck. His long legs wouldn't accommodate a full tuck, so he brought just the left one up on the couch, tucking his foot underneath him. He stretched his left arm along the back of the couch and rested the mug in his right hand against his thigh.

Silence, a bit less companionable than in the car, stretched between them for several minutes while they sipped their tea. Mulder spoke first.

"Scully? I would like to hear the rest of it. About the procedure. And what made you decide to have it done. And why you want me to... uh, help you." His voice trailed off at the end, betraying his discomfort, as did the way he suddenly couldn't seem to meet her eyes.

"Mulder, look at me." She waited until he did. "I want to have a baby now because the longer I wait, the less likely it becomes that anything will work. I think you've known for a long time how much I want to have a child."

He nodded, his expression telling her that he was thinking of Emily just as she was at that moment.

"I've carefully considered the impact it will have on my life... on our lives... and our work. It won't be easy, but I don't think any parents would say that having a child hasn't changed their lives totally. Things have happened over the past year that made me realize how fragile life is... how easily it can be snatched away. I also understand how precarious a situation the world is in... has always *been* in. Having a child is an expression of faith, I suppose, that the world will get through this crisis and continue on. You give me that faith."

She took a long sip of hot tea to clear the lump that had formed in her throat. "And as for why I want you to help me..." her eyes held such tenderness that Mulder couldn't have spoken even if he'd been able to find the words, "...I... I love you, Mulder. It's as simple and as complicated as that."

Mulder set his mug on the coffee table and reached for her right hand with his left. She set her mug down and crossed the distance between them, nestling against his chest. As his arms pulled her close, she closed her eyes, savoring his warmth, the scent of him, the gentle beating of his heart. He kissed her hair and rested his chin on the top of her head in that familiar and much loved posture.

His voice was a caress, "I love you." He paused for a moment, then cupped her chin, raised her face to his and brushed his lips against hers in a soft kiss. Then he kissed the tip of her nose, drew back and gazed into her eyes with an expression that made her heart twist in her chest. "I don't want a single day to pass from now on without you hearing me say that."

The rush of emotion put a catch in her voice. "Mulder... God, I love you so much it hurts." Her smile was more than a little watery, "But it's a good hurt."

And suddenly the moment that had been holding its breath for seven years exhaled softly, warming them from the inside out.

She pulled back from the warmth of his arms and stood next to the sofa, everything she felt shining from her eyes. She tugged gently on his hand until he stood and pulled her into a near-crushing embrace that evolved into a deep, breath-halting kiss. It was everything they had ever imagined and nothing they could have expected.

Too filled with emotion to speak, they walked arm in arm to her bedroom, undressed without a word and met again under the soft down comforter, eyes sharing the joy of a long journey completed.

They lay side-by-side, hands gently exploring, each touch a potent blend of childlike innocence and trembling need. The heat shimmered between them.

Mulder moved to his right until he was braced above her. He leaned down and kissed his way across her cheek, then whispered breathlessly against the exquisitely sensitive spot behind her ear, "If you don't stop me now, Scully, there's no going back." He would stop if she said the word. He pulled back to look at her.

"Mulder, I love you... and I want this more than you can possibly know..." and she pulled him down into a kiss that erased all doubt from his mind.

He settled into the cradle of her parted thighs and shifted his hips. The slight movement was enough to push the head of his penis inside her and he stopped, trembling with the effort. Scully looked up into his eyes and wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed her forehead softly and pushed forward in a long, smooth stroke that didn't stop until he was fully buried in her warmth.

The avalanche of sensation was so breathtaking that neither could move for a moment.

Then Mulder pulled back, almost all the way out, and the sweet friction made them both gasp. When he pushed back in, her hips came up off the bed to meet him and the rhythm was set. Slow, deep strokes gradually quickened, buiding the aching tension until Scully threw her head back and gasped his name. She raked her nails lightly down his back and grabbed his hips, holding him tightly against her as she panted softly. "Oh. Oh, Mulder..."

The sound of her voice combined with the way her internal muscles were pulsing around him made it impossible for him to remain still for long. He pulled back out of her grasp then thrust forward, increasing his urgent movements until the power of his own release arched his back and drew a strangled cry from lips parted in wonder. He stilled for a moment, pressed deeply into her. Then his head fell forward onto her shoulder and his body went limp.

Long minutes passed while their breathing slowed and their hearts returned to a more normal beat. Mulder raised himself up on his arms and looked adoringly into her eyes.

She reached up to stroke his face. "My God, you're beautiful." She had never meant anything more in her life.

He rolled them gently back to their sides. "So are you..." He touched her face with trembling fingertips. "I love you so much..." his voice was choked with emotion.

She pressed her fingers to his lips. "Shhh. I know."

And they curled into each other and slept.

End 2/2

***