Title: Samhain Night
Author: Leia Wolfe
Disclaimer : Mulder, Scully, Melissa, et al belong to
Chris Carter, Fox, 1013, and a partridge in a pear tree. The song,
"Samhain Night", is by Loreena McKennitt (another redhead!),  from her
CD "Parallel Dreams". 

Warnings: MSR, but nothing worse than PG. I figure I should wait until
I am 17 until I post something NC-17. And if there's *still* anyone who
hasn't seen "Paper Clip", there's a brief reference here. Enough of
this, on with the show! (What there is of it...)

Summary: Mulder and Scully spend Hallowe'en watching a horror 
movie marathon.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"When the moon on a cloud-cast night
     Shone above the treetops bright,
     You sang me of some distant past,
     That made my heart beat strong and fast-
     Now I know I'm home at last.

     You offered me an eagle's wing
     That to the sun I might soar and sing.
     And if I heard the owl's cry
     Into the forest I would fly,
     And in it's darkness find you by."


It was, Scully decided, by far the weirdest Halloween she had ever
spent. It had also been the best.

She glanced at the man sitting next to her on his beat-up old couch.
Spending Halloween with a man who had been nicknamed "Spooky" probably
had a lot to do with it. Although, she had to admit, he had behaved
himself- well, as well as Mulder could, anyway, which was something.
She had expected he would be the type to decorate in full blown
"haunted house" fashion, scaring the neighborhood kids half out of
their minds and pumping them full of enough sugar to send their
dentists' kids to college.  Instead, a rather sad example of what she
guessed was supposed to be a Jack-o-Lantern was the only decoration,
and Mulder's apartment looked the same as it did all
 year round, which was scary enough. She was somewhat surprised when
the doorbell didn't ring all night, especially when she could hear the
kids passing his door and their cries of "Trick or Treat!" echoing up
and down the hallway.  When she asked, Mulder had grinned and told her
that after the first two years of passing out sunflower seeds, they had
stopped coming. 

     
It had been Mulder's idea to spend Halloween together. He had broached
the subject as he always did, that "Oh, by the way Scully, I just
happened to be thinking..." way that made even the hardest subjects
easier to bring up and discuss as if they were no more than small talk.

"Hey, Scully, you know what Friday is?"

"The Miss Reticula Pageant?" 

He grinned. "Nope, it's *Halloween*," he said in his best "Spooky"
voice.

She rolled her eyes.

"Did you know," he said in his 'Mulder's bedtime story' voice, "that in
many cultures the night of October 31st is considered to be the night
when the veil between the worlds is thinnest and it's easiest to
contact the dead?" He was busy searching in his desk for his sunflower
seeds, so Scully was able to hide the quick flash of pain that crossed
her face. When he looked up, however, his eyes were so full of
compassion and empathy that she knew he shared her grief.

"So what, you're going to hold a seance and you're afraid your
'negative vibes' will wreck the ceremony?" she asked, raising an
eyebrow, and extremely proud of how steady her voice was.

"Ouch. No, but I heard they're having a horror movie marathon on
channel 5.  I figured it was either invite you, or end up watching it
with Frohike."

She shuddered. "I'd rather eat razor-laced Hershey bars."

He grinned again. "So, what do you say?" His eyes held hers for a
minute.

She smiled, a little sadly. "Halloween was always Missy's favorite
holiday."


Now they sat in front of his TV, the remains of their Chinese takeout
on the table in front of them, watching the requisite "Halloween" movie
marathon on cable. Scully, who had never really liked horror movies,
actually found herself enjoying them after a while. Not that she still
didn't hide her eyes at the sight of anything even remotely gross, much
to Mulder's amusement.

"Scully, you cut up dead people and chase mutants for a living, and a
bunch of spilled ketchup upsets you?"

"Shut up, Mulder," she said, peeking out from behind her fingers, then
quickly hiding her face again at the sight of more of that "ketchup".
"You watch this stuff for *fun*, and you still can't watch me cut up a
dead body?" she shot back.

He had teased her mercilessly after that, telling her the coast was
clear so that she opened her eyes to some disgusting scene. Finally,
Scully threatened to put the next liver she dissected in with his
"video collection". 

"You wouldn't!" he gasped, feigning horror

She smirked. "Try me."

A mischievous light appeared in his eyes.  "Well, just for *that*," he
answered, and then he pounced on her, tickling her mercilessly. She
gave a short scream of surprise, and then protest.

"No! No tickling! Mulder, stop!" she cried, laughing almost too hard to
speak. "Please, I take it back, OK? Just...." she shrieked as his hands
found a sensitive spot. "Aaah! No fair! Mulder! Stop!" She broke off,
too out of breath to protest. Instead, she tried to push him away.
Unfortunately, she was no match for him. She fell backwards onto the
couch, Mulder following, still tickling her sides relentlessly.

Mulder grinned down at her. Her hair, which had earlier been pulled
back with a rubber band, had come loose and floated around her face.
Her cheeks were flushed and she was laughing harder than he had ever
seen her.  She was desperately trying to lever him off her, and even
trying to get in some of her own. Lucky for Mulder, he wasn't ticklish.
     
Scully's sides ached, except where Mulder's hands tormented her. He was
obviously enjoying this, she thought ruefully. Her attempts at
retaliation were apparently having no effect, because he just kept
grinning down at her. His hazel eyes had taken on the greenish hue they
had when she had first seen them, coolly appraising her from behind
those glasses of his. Only now they glinted with humor, and...
something else.

Neither was quite sure when it happened. Slowly it came to them that
they were kissing. Mulder's hands had ceased their playful teasing and
were now lightly stroking up and down her ribs, while Scully had given
up on her efforts to push him away and was now trying to pull him even
closer. And their lips...

Mulder hadn't even realized how long he had wanted to do this, how long
he had waited to fell Scully beneath him, her arms around him, to be
tasting her mouth... he had no idea how he had lived this long without
her.

He felt so good on top of her, his legs twined around hers, his hands
tormenting her in a different way, and his lips... God, his lips
caressing hers, firm and sure, leaving no room for doubt or hesitation
as they met, again and again. She pressed up to him, pulling him down
to her, wanting to bring him closer and closer.

He was drowning in her, drowning in the sensations that rocked him,
from these simplest and gentlest of kisses and touches. His hands
hadn't even left her sides, for God’s sake. But she was rubbing her leg
against his, slowly, and it was driving him out of his mind.

Oh, God, he had a fabulous mouth! As their kiss deepened, lips parting
and tongues caressing, she arched against him, her breasts, her thighs,
her whole body singing at his touch. A soft whimper escaped her lips as
she moved her leg against his, delighting in the soft friction of their
jeans, his low moan against her mouth.

They were the kinds of kisses and caresses that could be appreciated
for themselves, and not just as preludes to lovemaking.  Slowly, their
passion eased, their kisses grew less fervent, more tender, their hands
stroking and soothing rather than arousing. Mulder rolled off her and
turned her in his arms in one fluid motion, so that he lay back against
the couch and she lay half on top of him, nestling spoon-style into his
chest. One of his arms circled her and she covered his hand with her
own, lightly stroking the long fingers as his other hand combed through
her hair, fingering the soft red strands.

They spoke quietly, gentle pillow talk that seemed an extension of
their earlier embraces. They murmured endearments, teased each other
gently, and shared all the thoughts they had harbored for so long, the
dreams and wishes that they had never before dared voice. Both seemed
to realize that this was *their* night, and there was no room for
anything else. Tomorrow was time enough for doubts, for fears, for
expectations and rules and reality to intrude, but tonight was for them
and their love for each other.

Gradually, the pauses grew longer, their voices lowered, their hands
slowed their soft stroking. Scully was drifting in a pleasant, dreamy
haze of happiness, lulled into sleep in the arms of the man she loved
more than life itself. Just before she drifted off, she thought she
felt his arm tighten around her and his voice whisper in her ear three
words that made her smile.

"Trick or Treat, Scully."


     "So our love's not a simple thing,
     Nor our truths unwavering,
     But like the moon's pull on the tide,
     Our fingers touch, our hearts collide,
     I'll be a moon's breath from your side."

--end--