"Mulder Unbuttoned"
by qIra julIyan
qira@bellsouth.net


It was a star-spangled Washington night. Dead of
night, in fact. Dani wasn't sleeping, unlike the
others sacked out on benches and under bushes.
She was the only thing moving. Even the streets
were dead at this small hour.

No telling what kept her awake. Something buried
deep in her brain simply wouldn't let her fall
unconscious. So she walked. A dangerous habit in
the wilds of DC, but there was nothing else for
it. So, what, if someone shot her? Adrift in the
world, she would go unmourned. No big deal.

Ahead stood the Lincoln Memorial. White steps
just like everywhere else. So much white here;
as if the designers would deny the filth of this
town.

On those steps huddled yet another cold figure,
but this one sat in the center rather than
leaned against the stone sides. Here was someone
not even trying to sleep. A young man, thirtyish
or so, the collar of his overcoat flapping
against his cheek in the gusting breeze. As she
approached, Dani could see his eyes dart here
and there in search. Of what? Dawn was three
hours away; what could anyone expect to see in
the middle of the night?

She approached quietly. He had to know she was
there, but he didn't glance in her direction.
Her steps slowed as she neared, but his gaze was
still distant.

Who was he? His overcoat was fine wool. Gray.
His hair was government regulation, common
around here. Dark but not too, it fell over his
forehead and danced there in the breeze. Light
from the pole nearby glittered in his eyes as he
searched for God-knew-what.

Dani stopped walking. The man's eyes shut. Her
natural curiosity struggled with the realization
he was waiting for her to move on. He wanted to
be alone.

But curiosity won. She went to him, her sneakers
silent on the concrete. Figuring she was
undetected, she waited for him to open his eyes.

He sighed. "Can I help you?" The voice was soft.
Precise. By the intonation Dani could tell he
was FBI in spite of the sneakers and jeans. But
when he opened his eyes she saw he had the face
of a wounded puppydog. There was trouble in him.
Fool that she was, trouble attracted Dani and
her heart came alive as her body responded to
him. It was all she could do to keep from
letting go a sigh.

"I said, can I help you?" The second time his
voice held no more tension than the first. Dani
admired patience; there was so little of it in
her.

"Kinda late isn't it?"

"Or early. Depends on your perspective, I
guess." Was there a smile in the corner of his
mouth? It was hard to tell. The pain in his eyes
was so deep...

"You've been stood up, haven't you?" She always
knew these things.

Bald surprise made his jaw drop. Then he
recovered and said, "Not yet."

"Yes, yet. You've been here in the cold for a
long time. She was supposed to meet you here
about an hour ago, I'd say."

"Not a she."

Dani's heart fell. "Oh."

A quick stammer loosened the man from his
huddle. "Not like that. I mean, I was waiting
for a colleague. I'm afraid something happened
to him. I had some questions..."

"I see." Things brightened. Especially now that
he was talking to her instead of past her. "What
questions?"

This time he really did smile. Kind of lopsided.
"You can ask that in this town?"

"I ask all sorts of things. Not much gets past
me."

His reaction was a simple "Huh." Then he
gathered his coat around himself and stood. "I
guess it's time to head home. Which way are you
going? I'll walk you; it's not safe out here."

"I'm just wandering. Can't sleep. I live about a
mile that way." She pointed with her chin.

There was a moment's hesitation, which told her
his place was the opposite direction, but he
said, "Me, too." He took a couple of steps, then
paused to let her catch up.

As they walked, she learned he was, indeed, an
agent for the FBI. But he sounded doubtful of
his role in it. As if he were becoming
alienated. She could sense the struggle in him
to reconcile his identity as an agent with his
perceptions of the world around him. Like a
priest who wasn't sure there was a God. The man
never said any of this, but with Dani he didn't
have to. Hers was a talent useful among
bureaucrats; the only drawback being the
frequent sleepless nights.

"My name is Dani, by the way."

He let go a quick, embarrassed smile. "Fox
Mulder." He held out a hand and she took it. His
palm was soft but dry. And warm.

"Fox, huh? Well named, I'd say." Her own smile
was bright and shameless. And she relished the
redness of his face as he glanced at the ground.
His grin showed white but slightly crooked
teeth.

"Well some wouldn't agree with you. They call me
'Spooky' 'cause I chase UFO's." A dry fatalism
crept into his voice. He felt he had to humor
those who didn't believe. Dani smiled; he was
incredibly easy to read.

"Was that what you were doing out here in the
middle of the night?"

He shook his head and left it at that.

She said, "I'm out here because someone was
shouting in my brain. I'm sensitive to others'
thoughts, and someone..." she peered at him,
"...SOMEONE was keeping me awake."

He peered back at her. "Someone? You don't mean
me, do you?" Again the dry fatalism. But the
humor was real this time.

"More than likely. You don't seem too surprised
by that."

"I'm not." A plain statement. As if there could
be no reason for him to doubt her. This was a
pleasant change from the usual skepticism. She
was beginning to like him a lot.

Her apartment building was just ahead. On a whim
she slipped her hand into the crook of his
elbow. He looked down at it and his lip curled
into a tentative smile. He kept hidden his
rising pulse, but she could almost hear the
blood surge. Her own body tingled with his
energy. This was going somewhere. She could feel
it.

"This is it." Dani paused before the building
but didn't let go of Mulder's arm.

He looked up at the one lit window. "Let me
guess; you're on the fourth floor."

"You didn't have to be a special agent to figure
that out."

"No, I suppose not." He gazed down at her, his
smile gentle. "Can you tell me what I'm thinking
now if I'm so loud I kept you awake?"

She took a glance down. "I can look at your
jeans and tell what you're thinking now. Come
upstairs, Fox Mulder. I have coffee or wine,
whichever you prefer." She tugged on his elbow.

Mulder stepped toward her and leaned down for a
kiss. A test. He wanted to know if she was
serious or just jerking him around.

The lips were much softer than the rest of him.
Her response was to open her mouth to him and
press her hand to his neck. His breath warmed
her cheek. She slipped a hand into his overcoat
where it was even warmer. The heart in his chest
pounded like a jackhammer. This boy hadn't been
laid in a loooong time.

"Come with me," she said.

"Good choice of words." Again with the dry
humor. He followed her upstairs.

Inside her apartment, she went to the kitchen.
"Relax. Take off your gun and stay awhile."

"I left my holster at home," he called. His
overcoat went over the chair nearest the door.

"But your gun is in the back of your pants.
Remove it please."

He came to the divider between the kitchen and
the living room as she rummaged through her
cabinets for coffee. "Is that an order?" It made
him nervous. Probably that she knew where his
gun was.

"I hope it will become necessary whether I ask
it or not." She threw him her sweetest smile and
held up a package of hazelnut flavored coffee.

He nodded and his smile showed his teeth again.
With a wry grimace he reached behind into his
jeans for the gun which he laid on the counter
before him. The ugly, gray revolver clunked onto
the Formica with that peculiar threat of deadly
force all guns possess even when unloaded. This
weapon was filled with bullets. It had killed
people in the past. Dani shuddered.

The motions of making coffee done, she stopped
before actually flipping the switch on the
machine. There would be no coffee tonight, for
it was time to move on to the real reason Mulder
was there.

She went around the counter to kiss him. His
hands went to the sides of her head and held her
there as if he were drinking from her. His
pleasure warmed her. So sad for normal people
who only felt their own pleasure.

He leaned back to gaze into her eyes. "They're
so dark," he said. "I've never seen anyone with
eyes so dark."

A giggle escaped her. "Yours are so...hazel. I
think."

He smiled and kissed her again.

She guided him to the sofa, big, soft and wide;
the most comfortable piece of furniture she
owned. She lay back on it, holding his neck so
that he eased down with her. One leg on the
cushion, she drew him down until he lay between
her legs. His eyelids drooped, and he couldn't
help pressing the rock in his pants to her. A
sigh rumbled from so deep inside him it might
have come from those loins.

"Untie my shoes," she said.

There was a hesitation. He wanted to bang her
through the clothing. But both knew some
unbuttoning was necessary, so he turned to pull
at her laces.

Shoes and socks off both of them, Mulder pulled
his faded blue T-shirt over his head. He had a
nice body: well-muscled but not too. Strong
enough to hold onto, but not too bulky for her
to make an impression on him. She liked give and
take. Equal partnerships made the best sex.

He helped her slip her jeans off, then her
panties. A tiny kiss to the inside of her thigh
made her back arch. Another brush of his lips
closer in made her sigh and look down at him.
Lips still against her skin, his eyes were on
hers. She smiled, and he turned his head to
touch his tongue to her labia. Feathery light,
it made her tingle. Then his eyes shut as he put
his mouth full on her. His tongue searched every
corner of her.

Her fingers played in his hair as his tongue
brought her closer and closer to delirium. Her
knees splayed and her back arched. Just as she
voiced her pleasure, he moved his mouth away and
up her torso. He unbuttoned her blouse to taste
a nipple. Then her neck. He kissed her mouth,
and she tasted herself on him. She didn't like
it at first, but it excited him and she felt the
charge go through her as if it were hers.

His jeans pressed hard against her, almost to
the point of pain. Gasps came from him. He
reached down with one hand to unbutton himself,
and with that same hand shoved his pants down
just far enough to free his penis. In an instant
he shoved it into her.

His surprising size and energy made her cry out.
The pleasure he felt made the room spin for her.
He moaned into her neck. Ecstasy was like a
feedback circuit through the both of them, each
cycle bringing them closer to each other and to
infinity.

The world exploded in stars. A universe of stars
that spun out forever. Mulder shuddered in her
arms, and she felt his orgasm as well. He
continued to move, slowly, until he wound down
to a stop, gasping and covered with sweat.

They rolled and he lay beside her on the sofa.
As an afterthought he kicked off his jeans, then
kissed her forehead and laid his head on his
arm. One hand arranged the hair over her eyes.
Light kisses lit on her face and shoulder. He
clung.

Relaxed, he seemed at peace. His mind drifted
off, the mysterious pain more bearable now.
Finally she could sleep.

Only a couple of hours later, she awoke again to
the smell of hazelnut coffee. Rising sun was
just making the sky distinguishable from the
earth outside. The living room lamp was off now,
but she could see a blue outline of Mulder on
the chair across the room. He stared out the
window at the fading stars. A coffee mug sat on
the lamp table by his hand. She went to him and
sat before him on the floor.

Still staring at the stars, he pushed his
fingers through her hair and stroked her eyebrow
with his thumb. "Let me ask you something
totally off the wall. Do you think there could
be life on other planets?"

"Yes." Then she caught herself. "There could
be."

"Do you think they come here?"

"Could be." His naked body was beautiful in the
starlight. She kissed his knee.

He was silent for a long time. Staring. Off in
some other world Dani could only guess at. There
were so many.

Then he took her face between his hands and
leaned down to kiss her. Long and soft.
Grateful. He was grateful to her. "I gotta go."

"I know." She stood to let him up so he could
gather his clothes. It was a pleasure to watch
him dress. "Don't forget your gun."

He threw her a wry smile and slipped the pistol
into the back of his pants before donning the
overcoat. Then he came to her for a quick kiss
that turned into a long goodbye. His face didn't
seem so wounded any more when he glanced back at
her on his way out.

Dani pulled on her panties and started to clean
up some. But her heart fell at the high, musical
sound of a transporter beam behind her. She
turned toward the window to see the red uniform
of a 24th century Starfleet Commander.

"Riker, go away."

"You're coming back with me, Danyara. And put
some clothes on, for crying out loud." He
reached for her jeans and started to toss them
to her, but paused to examine the studs and
button fly first. Then he tossed them.

She caught them. "I'm staying right here, you
horse. I have every right." This guy was hard to
read. Too much experience with Betazoids, she
supposed.

"Computer, lights." When nothing happened he
glanced around the room.

Dani reached over and snapped on the lamp.

Riker said, "You don't have a right to put
yourself and the rest of the universe in danger.
Don't you know there are DISEASES in this time?
Sexually transmitted diseases that wiped out
whole populations on the African continent
before they took hold in North America. You
can't stay here; you could die.

"I'm not going back."

"Dani..."

"No. Tell Starfleet that my research is not
done. I'll be back when it's finished."

Disgust filled Riker's eyes. "Research. What's
so special about the people of this time?"

Dani couldn't answer that. There was just
something about these people that made her come
alive. She turned away from him and pulled on
her jeans.

"I can make you come."

She faced him. "No, you can't. You never could."

The commander's blue eyes glittered and
narrowed. His chin went up and his fists were
knots at his sides. He dared not speak lest he
say something vile enough to be heard back at
Starfleet.

"Kidnap me and there will be hell to pay with my
father. And his cousin, your captain."

"Even your father can't make Captain Picard
condone violating the prime directive.
Particularly the provisions concerning time
travel." His voice was level though his eyes
danced with unexpressed venom.

"No, but he must first prove I'm violating it.
Take me back, and I'll see you in the brig."

Riker was stymied, and he knew it. She smelled
his defeat, and his anger. Riker was not
accustomed to being thwarted. For a long moment
he glared at her with all the fury of offense to
be summoned by the Federation flagship's first
officer. But finally he was forced to make his
retreat. He tapped his com badge. "Riker to
Danube; one to beam up."

The computer on his runabout engaged the
glittery, musical beam and Riker disappeared.
Forever, she hoped.

But as she stared at the place where the
commander had been, she saw outside the window.
There, on the lawn in front of her building,
stood Fox Mulder...looking up at the window
where he'd just seen a man from the future
disappear before his eyes. His jaw was dropped
open.

Slowly, though, his eyes narrowed and the bald
surprise left. His mouth closed then formed a
smile, white under the street lamp. He kissed
his fingertips then turned them toward her. She
did the same. He stuffed his hands into his coat
pockets and walked away.


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