TITLE: ADDICTED AUTHOR: SKK (Alien) RATING: PG (real sweet stuff) CATEGORY: Short Story KEYWORDS: MSR! DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Not even close. SPOILERS: For one of the most disgusting eps I have ever seen...Brand X SUMMARY: I'm picking up where the disturbing end left off. ARCHIVING: Anywhere, if you ask me first FEEDBACK: Positive *and* negative feedback is welcome at chinapatternsgrl@alienmail.com. I'd love to hear from you, just no spam, please. ~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~ "That's not all it did," Mulder said in his painfully raspy voice as he walked over to his desk. He help up a pack of Morleys. I thought my heart would stop beating right then and there. I barely managed to get the words "You're not going so start SMOKING are you?" out of my mouth. He stared at me hard for a second, then tossed the foul pack into the garbage. Two points...two million points. I sighed in relief and headed towards the door. "I'll be up in a minute." Okay, Mulder...just don't pick those back up. Please, please don't pick those out of the garbage. ~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~ What the hell *was* I doing? I couldn't start smoking. After all that smoke had symbolized to us over the years-that dark, ominous presence that had such control over lives. Cancerman and all the damage he had caused. How could I? I glanced down at the trash. Oh god...the most one of the most addictive substances known to man was calling my name. What Scully didn't know couldn't hurt her... I stopped and looked off in the direction my partner had gone. Yes it would. I had betrayed her enough, hadn't I? And yet, she still trusted me to leave those cigarettes in the pail. CRASH! The pail tipped over as my foot made solid contact. "Scully! Scully, wait up!" ~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X The elevator was taking forever to get down. Mulder was calling my name. "Scully!" "Hey...you okay?" "Yeah, fine. I-I just wanted to share an elevator with you." I smiled. "Thank you." "For what?" "For what? God, Scully...for everything. You saved my life. The doctors told me that they wanted to operate and you had convinced them I was too weak. You figured out how to kill those things. I don't deserve to have you for a partner.." My heart flip-flopped. I felt the water start to build in my eyes as we finally stepped on to the elevator. "Mulder...I can't imagine you not being my partner. I thought you were going to die-I thought I would never get to talk to you again.." Forget it, the tears were coming strong now. My face was slick with them. I looked up and was surprised to find that Mulder was looking a little teary himself. "Mulder, I have never been more scared in my life. I mean, you've been in life-threatening situations plenty of times before, but there were ways to keep you alive...we knew how to treat you. This time, I was afraid I couldn't save you." Now his arms were around me, and my tears soaked his shoulder as the elevator rose upward. It's where I wanted to stay forever, where I felt right. But he drew back. "I have never had any lapse in my faith in your ability to save me, Scully. You just saved me again five minutes ago." I blinked. "How?" He drew me close again and tilted my chin. God, he had such beautiful eyes...and lips. "You made me realize that I'm addicted to something other that nicotine, Scully. And you made me realize that if I smoked, you wouldn't want me to do this.." In an instant, his lips were on mine-soft and sweet and reassuring. The mouth that had been so ravaged over the past few days was now doing a very good job providing shelter for my tongue. But I had to pull back. I had to say it. "I love you, Mulder. And I was scared I would never get to tell you." "I love you too, and I never, ever want to lose what we have. You are everything to me, Scully, and more of an addiction than any chemical." "Stay high, Mulder. Stay high." And we were smoking each other when the doors opened. ~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X