Title: Infallible Author: Nichole Rating: R Keywords: Cancer Fic, MSR (I'm telling you, there's no point in writing fic that isn't MSR!) Spoilers: Redux Summary: A guilty Mulder and a lonely Scully find a common ground. Archive: Sure can! Just ask first. Feedback: Treasured like a good episode of "The X-Files" scoob4u@yahoo.com Disclaimer: I don't own Mulder or Scully. I don't get anything from the use of these beautiful characters other than self-esteem, (they boost mine, LOL!) so please don't sue me. I'm poor, and all you'd get is my crappy '92 four-door Saturn that doesn't run, and a whole lot of college textbooks. Oh, and I don't own the snippet of dialogue from "Redux" at the beginning, either. Author's Notes: Okay, the words "...on one lonely night you invited Mulder into your bed," just REALLY stuck with me. Plus, this was a challenge fic, so here you go! :) XXXXXXXXXXXX INFALLIBLE XXXXXXXXXXXX Scully walked into her apartment and locked the door. In the darkness, she walked to her answering machine and checked it. There were no new messages. She took off her coat and walked into her bedroom, where she began to take off her shirt. "Keep going, FBI woman." She quickly recovered herself and turned to see Mulder's outline sitting in her chair. "Mulder? What are you doing? Why are you sitting in my bedroom in the dark? "It was too crowded in my apartment, I couldn't sleep," he answered. "I'm not kidding, Mulder." "Good, cuz neither am I. There's a dead man on the floor of my apartment, and it's only a matter of time before he starts to stink the place up," he said rather nonchalantly. "What are you talking about, Mulder? What's going on?" she asked, her heart beginning to beat a little louder. He stood from his chair in the corner and walked to the window. After looking outside, he shut the blinds and turned on a lamp. "Apparently somebody thinks my life is interesting enough to put on video tape. My apartment's been under an electronic surveillance for at least 2 months. Look at this," he said, handing her Ostelhoff's ID card, "courtesy of the US government." "That's the dead man in your apartment?" she asked. "Yeah, he works ... he worked for the Department of Defense." "How did he die, Mulder?" she asked, beginning to fear the worst. "Gunshot wound to the face." "Have you contacted anybody at the Bureau?" "I can't do that, Scully. I can't go to the authorities with this." "What are you talking about?" she asked. "This man, Ostelhoff, worked for the military. Are you beginning to get the picture? Do you see what's happening here?" Her mind went into action as she began to put two-and-two together. "That the hoax is connected to the military, just like Kritschgau said it was." "This hoax, your cancer, everything! It just doesn't lead back to the military, it leads right back to the FBI!" "What?" Together, they walked into the dining room. Mulder switched on the light and Scully sat at the table, waiting for him to further explain. "This man, Ostelhoff, was set up in the apartment directly above mine. I caught him trying to destroy phone records on which the same number was called 17 times." Scully looked at a phone log that he showed her. "This is a PBX operator at the Bureau," she announced, as if he didn't already know. "Yeah." "Who would he be calling at the FBI?" she asked. "I don't know." "Mulder, how long has this been going on?" "Maybe since the beginning, since you joined me on the X-Files." "That would mean that for 4 years we've been nothing more than pawns in a game, that it was a lie from the beginning. Mulder, these men... You give them your faith and you're supposed to trust them with your life," she said, still trying to comprehend what was going on. Mulder knelt down beside her. "There are those who can be trusted. What I need to know is who among them is not. I will not allow this treason to prosper, not if they've done this to you." "Mulder, we can't go to the Bureau making these accusations." "No, but as they lie to us, we can lie to them. A lie to find the truth," he said with such conviction that it scared her. "And what if this truth robs us of all we have? Life, health? Are you that driven to get back at them that you are willing to overlook the consequences of your actions?" she asked, moving a hand to his upper arm. "No crime should go unpunished, Scully," he said with sad eyes. "No innocent man should suffer, but it happens," she countered. "Mulder, what will you do if we fail?" "We won't fail, Scully," he answered with a confident smile. "Why not?" "Because together we are infallible. And if they succeed in tearing us apart, for whatever reasons, we'll crumble. I'm sure of that." Her hand slid up to the side of his face. "They could never do that, Mulder," she said, staring deeply into his eyes, "Cancer or no, I will always be by your side." His eyes smiled at her as he shifted closer. Her arms opened to him as he leaned in to her. She held him for several long moments, gently running her fingers through his hair and resting her head atop his. He pulled his head back from her chest and looked up at her. "What did I ever do to deserve you, Scully?" he asked, holding her with his eyes. She smiled at him and held his face as she pressed her lips upon his forehead. "I didn't know you had me, Mulder." In that moment, she felt the sickening loneliness of her life melt away. He leaned his head back and reached for her cheeks with his palms. "Scully..." She grazed his bottom lip with the pad of her right thumb and slowly blinked at him. Using the strength of his thighs, he rose up to his knees and covered her lips with his. The kiss was gentle and testing, but quickly turned urgent when he placed a hand behind her head to hold her to him. Her right hand moved to the side of his head to play with his hair as the other one went to his shoulder to steady herself. "Mulder," she said, breaking away for only a moment before he assaulted her mouth once again. She was becoming pliant beneath his touch; her lips were moving fluidly across his and her body became limp in his arms. She surrendered herself to him, just as she always knew she would. Breathing heavily, Mulder pulled back to look into her eyes. She saw the fear in them, and began to realize that he was regretting what had happened. It tore her apart. She couldn't stand the thought that Mulder felt guilty about wanting to love her. She hated that he felt guilty for her cancer; she didn't need him to feel guilty about this. She stood from her chair and held his eyes with hers. Without a word, she reached down to grasp his hand and smiled at him. The confusion in his face made her nervous. She didn't think that she needed to explain her intentions, but he appeared to need her to tell him what to do. "Come to bed with me, Mulder," she said, her voice strong and determined. His eyes smiled at her as he rose to his feet. The happiness that she saw there made her quiver with nervous anticipation. She knew for sure that she had been lonely for no reason at all. She turned, still holding his hand in hers. Her feet wouldn't move at first, but after she closed her eyes and evened her breathing, they began walking towards her bedroom. A nagging voice in the back of her mind screamed that she shouldn't do this, that he didn't want her this way, but the light squeeze of his hand as they stepped into her room gave her a renewed feeling of confidence. When they reached the side of her bed, however, he stopped. Her heart began to beat loudly as she turned to face him. Don't reject me, Mulder, her heart screamed, please don't reject me! His face was void of expression, but she could feel the fear radiating off of him like an oven giving off heat. "Don't be afraid of me, Mulder," she said, her eyes beginning to tear-up. "I'm not afraid of you, Scully," he answered, beginning to smile. He reached out to cup the side of her face with his hand. "We don't have to do this, you know," he said, his smile slowly disappearing. "I'd be happy just to hold you." Never before had she felt so fragile. Mulder had a way of making her feel inadequate, loved, and needed all at the same time. She wasn't about to back down this time. Not after all they had gone through to get where they were. She needed more from him this time. She wanted to loose herself in him, to hide from the fear and pain that she felt. She didn't want to be lonely anymore. She wanted to forget that she had cancer and that she was going to die. But most of all, she wanted him not to feel guilty anymore... He bent forward again to lightly kiss her lips. Her hands wrapped themselves around his head and pulled him to her, demanding that he love her, demanding that he not reject what she was offering him. Her kisses were crushing, urgent and painful against his mouth. She slipped her tongue between his lips and ran the tip of it over the front if his teeth. He opened his mouth and met her tongue with his, grazing over its soft flesh. She moaned and moved her hands to his shoulders and pulled his body to hers. Together, they backed up until the backs of her legs bumped against the bed. His hands wondered over her all-too-thing sides, his palms gliding over the material of her shirt. She moaned into his mouth and her hands down his arms. His hand wrapped around her and stopped at the slight indent at the bottom of her spine, his fingers reaching beneath her shirt in search for skin. She pulled away from him and impatiently pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her hair mused in its wake. Her body was small, and frail-looking to him. He knew that she hadn't been eating, and for the first time he saw what affect it had on her body. All the treatments had wasted her away to nothing. He reached out for her and she cupped his face in her hands, meeting his urgent kiss with a passion she never knew she had. She needed it. She had needed it for so long. Her hands soon made their way down to tug on the bottom of his shirt. She pulled it up his abdomen, and he broke their kiss in order to pull it over his head. She stared at him for a few moments before reaching out to trace the sparse hairs on his chest with the tips of her fingers. He claimed her mouth again and crushed her to his chest. She could feel his heart thumping beneath his flesh, and she smiled against his lips. He pulled away. "What?" he asked breathlessly. Breathing heavily, she pressed the side of her face against his chest and listened intently to the loud "lub-dub" of his heartbeat. She could feel the warm thumping of his heart against her ear. His arms remained around her as he bent his head and laid his chin on top of her head. "I love you," she whispered so quietly that he barely heard her. He smiled and raised his hand to brush back the hair from her face. She raised her head and looked at him. Her cheeks were flushed, and he could swear that her eyes had become an even brighter shade of blue. "I love you," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He moved his hands to cup her face. She smiled just as his lips came down on hers. They slowly moved to lay on the bed, Mulder covering her body with his. They worked together to disrobe, neither one caring how long it took because every moment revealed something new to them. Her hips were bony, and her waist was thin, but she looked beautiful in his eyes because she was Scully. Everything that she gave him made him happy; everything that she was only made him love her more. When he finally slid into her body, they gasped in unison. An almost painful expression painted his face as he felt himself become one with his partner and friend; his touchstone. She held onto him as if he would leave her at any moment. The whole experience seemed so surreal to her that she didn't know if she would wake and find that it had all been a dream. As she neared the highest point of pleasure, she pulled her knees back to deepen his penetration. When the time came, she called out his name and thrashed her head back against the pillow. She squeezed his hips with the strength of her thighs and he painfully stilled, watching the mix of emotions play across her face. Her body went limp and she laid her head sideways against the pillow. He brought his hand up to caress the side of her face and leaned down to kiss her cheek. She turned her head to kiss him, and he jerked back in horror upon seeing the blood streaming from her nose. "Scully," he said, moving his thumb to swipe at some of the blood above her lip. "What?" she asked, still breathing heavily. He pulled his hand back and showed her. She quickly swiped her fingers over the bottom of her nose and pulled her hand back to examine them. "I'm fine," she said reflexively. "Mulder," she said looking at him, "I'm fine!" "No, Scully..." he began, pulling away from her. "Mulder, please," she pleaded, beginning to cry. "Please don't stop." The painful sting of loneliness had begun to come back. "Please." He froze and looked at her. Scully, his strong partner, was in pain. His heart ached for her, but he didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to stay and make love to her, but another part of him wanted to stop and honorably put aside his own pleasure just to hold her. It was all his fault. "I need this," she said, pulling him to her with all the strength she could muster. "Please, Mulder. I don't want to be lonely anymore... I want you to stop feeling guilty for me." That weakened him. Please, Mulder, he thought. "Forgive me, Scully," he sobbed, hiding his warm face in her neck. "Mulder, you're the reason I'm alive," she said, holding the back of his head. "Please don't stop. I don't think I can survive another day of not having this." With that, his hips began to move again. His warm puffs of breath hit her skin as she eagerly met his slow thrusts with her hips. "Scully," he whimpered, steadily increasing his speed. Her breath became labored as his hand slid down to the place where they were joined. He sought out her most sensitive area and rubbed it in small circles. She soon reached the proverbial edge and fell hard. This time, however, he did not stop to see her face. He sped up and rode through the tidal waves with her, prolonging her pleasure and increasing his. He soon stilled mid-stroke, and bit on his bottom lip to avoid biting her neck as he came with a force that made him half-dizzy. She gladly accepted his weight on top of her as his body went limp from exhaustion. She sought out the side of his face with her lips and kissed his cheek, his ear, and his temple as she lowered her tired legs onto the bed. He soon rolled to his side, still breathing heavily as his pulse began to slow. She reached down to drag the sheets over them and laid on her side with her back against his chest. His arm went around her side and he covered her small stomach with his hand, splaying his fingers across her warm flesh. "Thank you Scully," he whispered in her ear. "For what?" she asked, closing her eyes to the feeling of his breath against her skin. "For loving me." She smiled and covered his hand with hers. Before long, his breath evened and she heard a light snore coming from behind her. "Infallible," she whispered, curling her fingers between his. tha end