Title: Inching Forward Author: FirePhile (FirePhile@aol.com) Rating: PG-13 Classification: VHA Spoilers: Arcadia Keywords: M/S UST Summary: Mulder and Scully have a little talk after the episode. Archive: Anywhere. Disclaimer: They don't belong to me they belong to CC&Co, 1013 productions and FOX. Author's Note at end. "I thought that worked out well," Mulder announced after they drove through the gate and left the peaceful community of Arcadia Falls behind them. "You have to be kidding," Scully's thoughts were already turned towards her own home, and the idea of being alone suddenly seemed quite appealing. "We survived without needing medical attention and caught the criminal - a successful undercover mission." He paused for a moment. "Yes, it was nice to have a few days of relative peace. A simple conspiracy of silence, after..." she'd slipped up and gone into uncharted waters. They had a silent agreement to forget about the quest and the conspiracy which they could not stop in order to concentrate on their cases until more leads surfaced. A quick flash of pain crossed his face, "I know what you mean," was all he said and they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. They were each lost in their own thoughts and memories about what had happened, the spilled blood and betrayals they'd each tried to put behind them. Scully silently cursed herself, nice way to stop conversation, she thought and stared out at the road. She shook her head slightly and tried to change the subject, "So, where did you get the idea for the 'thought form'?" She leaned her elbow against the door and rested her head on her palm. "I guessed?" Mulder smiled slightly, "It fit the clues, inanimate turns animate, we've seen something like it before...only this was a different culture. Sometimes things have an easy explanation, even an X-File." She could practically feel his eagerness to start another case. "It certainly was different," she couldn't say for sure what part of the assignment she was thinking about. It felt very comfortable to be Agent Scully again and not Laura Petrie. The worst thing about being Laura, to Scully, was having to live with Mulder. It wasn't that he annoyed her, it was that she had to be his wife and to her horror she found herself having to force herself to not like it. It would have been so easy to get swept up in her role, get too used to his familiar touching and the feel of his arm around her body. Having him hold her and invade her space in such ways was entirely uncomfortable. Mainly because she knew she shouldn't enjoy it, but yet...part of her did. Mulder was certainly in his role as a doting husband and if she allowed him to think that she was having fun or wishing that they weren't just playing, that could only lead to trouble. She knew it and as usual it was up to her to be the level headed partner. Well, it wasn't as if anything would have happened if she'd laid down in bed next to him, or at least that's what she tried to tell herself. However, touching was one thing, feeling his body against hers before sleeping and after waking was quite another. Even with all his habits, and it had been so long since she lived with anyone that she forgot what men were like to bathrooms and how they usually treated clothing, she started to see herself in this new possible role in his life and it terrified her. "I used to wonder how it would feel to be normal -- just like everyone else. The three car garage, beautiful home, friendly neighbors, wearing polo shirts instead of suits, trying to be as happy as humanly possible on the outside, essentially taking all of my problems and history and shutting them into a dark corner of my mind." Mulder's voice broke into her thoughts. "But I was bored during this case, I couldn't bring myself to care about the disappearance of three couples or the dark underbelly of a planned community. Also in that place, we were the normal people and the rest of the residents were the strange ones. That was an unusual situation." He smirked and then became serious. "I wonder why people would live like that - willingly." "Well, it was a safe neighborhood..." she started to explain. "As long as you didn't anger the garbage monster." Scully shot him a look, "regardless, there was probably a certain comfort in being just like everyone else. A certain freedom that conforming to the CC&R's held. There is a reason why people live in communities like that in the first place. They're all pre-packaged." "It's also a way to keep out the undesirables." Mulder stopped at a traffic light and turned to look at her. "You think, under normal conditions, we'd ever be accepted into a community like that?" To her surprised look he quickly added, "I mean in general." Her gaze met his for a second and then she looked away, "I strongly doubt it. You're not quite as nice to your neighbors and I can't see you ever passing that initial interview." "You think gunfights would be against the CC&Rs?" The light changed and he started to drive again. She hid a smile, "Mulder..." she didn't have an answer for him. "I still think you'd fit in there well Scully," "Why do you say that?" He shrugged slightly, "Just a feeling. I could see you living there with some rich dentist." "A dentist?" she said incredulously, recognizing the teasing undertones in his voice. "Maybe not a dentist, but a professional of some sort. Plastic surgeon?" "Maybe I could marry a fellow pathologist, we would have lots of interesting dinner conversations." She countered, her eyes glittering with barely disguised humor. "You'd be very popular at those dinner parties." "I strongly doubt it...I don't think I'd get past that initial interview either, did you notice that women in that neighborhood were like throwbacks to the 50s?" "Now that you mention it, the welcome woman asked me what I did for a living -- not you." "Add sexist to Gogolak's list of faults. Honestly, I think a life like that would drive me insane. Could you see me as a stay at home wife?" She could tell his hesitation was because he was considering what kind of harm would befall him if he said yes. "Scully...I can't see you as a stay at home anything." Mulder said finally and made the turn onto the highway. She smiled slightly, correct answer, she thought and turned up the air conditioning. "It'll be odd having to wear sweaters and heavy jackets again," Scully said after a few moments. "What?" "The weather in DC. It was nice to wear early fall clothes in the middle of winter." "Oh, yeah. I'm thinking of wearing that pink polo shirt into work Monday, would it match my trench coat?" He asked lightly. The image of Mulder walking through the FBI in a pink short sleeved shirt and black trench coat almost made her laugh. "With the sweater tied around your neck?" "Of course, it makes the outfit," he said matter-of-factly. Scully turned towards the window to keep herself from starting to giggle in a most unprofessional manner. "Mulder..." she looked at him again and was struck by the mental picture of him strolling down a hallway in the FBI building in the trench coat and shirt while carrying a bag of golf clubs and smiling. "They'd think you really went off the deep end." She felt herself starting to shake slightly with held in laughter. "Are you okay Scully?" he asked, suddenly serious. She tried to answer but began laughing as she saw the looks yuppie Mulder was getting down the hallway. It was rare to hear her laugh, so much so that Mulder almost hit the car in the next lane at her first peal of laughter. He swerved and barely avoided an accident. She leaned against the window and tried to catch her breath, but she couldn't stop laughing and soon the hiccups arrived. "Hold your breath," he suggested helpfully, unable to stop himself from chuckling softly. She shot him another look and covered her mouth with her hand. After a few moments she removed her hand and tried to take a deep breath, failing miserably. "I'm a doctor, I know how to cure hiccups," she tried to say, but each few words were punctuated by the familiar sound. "Don't speak." "I need to regulate my breathing. It's caused by an involuntary contraction of my diaphragm and the sudden closing and opening of my vocal cords is what causes the hiccup sound. I just have to wait it out." Her words were barely distinguishable from the hiccuping sound. He turned down the air conditioner and turned up the radio, some pop song blared from the speakers. They all sounded alike to her. She'd forgotten how uncomfortable this affliction could be and after trying to hold her breath for a few moments she realized it wasn't going to work. "Mulder, could you..." Scully could tell he was forming a plan of attack. Suddenly, he pulled the car over to the side of the road. She glanced at him quizzically as he bent down and lifted her left leg out of her black high heeled shoe. "What are you..." she hiccuped again. Mulder grinned at her and held her heel gently, then ran the back of his other hand over the pantyhose covered sole of her foot, his nails barely touching her. He repeated the action. Scully shivered slightly and her hiccups stopped. He felt the tremor run through her leg and saw her toes flex involuntarily. "Better?" he asked softly, almost seductively. "Much, thank you," she answered after a moment, but she was unnerved by her reaction to his touch. It was so intimate and her body really wanted his hand to slide up her ankle, caress her knee, travel to her thigh and then... She stopped the thought before it could reach its logical conclusion. Their eyes met for a moment and time slowed down...his hand caressed her foot again and started inching up her leg. His fingers were hot even through her pantyhose and her breathing sounded loud and unnatural to her own ears. She knew she couldn't allow him to continue. "Mulder, if we don't leave now we'll be late for our plane." Her voice came out as strong as she could make it, but she hoped he couldn't sense how she felt. He dropped her leg as if it was a small lit match and turned quickly towards the windshield, placing his hands on the wheel and squeezing it a little harder than necessary. "Right...we don't want to miss our plane, Scully." He drove back into traffic. She leaned back against the window, considered for a moment, turned off the a/c, then lowered the windows. A cool breeze drifted into the car and brought Scully back to her senses. Eventually, all of the touches and the aborted kisses would lead to something, she knew it, and that knowledge was enough to give her the strength to deny her true feelings, still...it was hard. She glanced at him, resisting the urge to touch him was even harder. Reluctantly she turned her attention back to the road. It was much safer to focus on the white line and the wind in her face. Much safer. END Author's Note: This was my reaction to Scully's actions in Arcadia...a bit of continuity and rationalization. And yes, I did waver between smut and no smut, let me know if I made the right choice. Thanks to my beta readers Jen, Anna, Ash, Sue and Amanda. Please send all feedback to FirePhile@aol.com, thanks for reading!