TITLE: Baby, It's Cold Outside
AUTHOR: Piper Sargasso
Keywords: MSR             
Rating: PG
Archive: Absolutely. 
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing with them. ;-)
Summary: Scully needs to leave; Mulder doesn't want her to go. A 
Christmas story based on the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
A/N: This is dedicated to two wonderful women: Gina Rain, who 
encouraged me to dip my feet back in the water even though I 
thought my XF muse had gone on a permanent vacation to that place 
where inspiration goes to die, and Sallie, who is a fantastic 
person, generous soul, and my personal angel. 
Love to you both, and a very Merry Christmas to all my listies 
at Beyond the Sea and Believe the Truth! 
~*~
Snowflakes danced in the evening wind, covering the world in a 
blanket of peace. The streets were sparsely dotted with last-minute 
shoppers, and one by one, stores began to close down for the 
holiday. A sense of calm descended upon the earth, and even the 
less than picturesque surroundings at Hegel Place were beautiful 
when draped in glittering white. Christmas Eve had come to 
Alexandria.  
The frozen tranquility of the night was lost on the pair inside 
apartment twelve.
Well...mostly.
~*~
"Mulder, I really need to go," she said again.
"But Scully, it's cold outside."
"Very astute, Mulder," she laughed and shifted her position on 
the couch. He moved closer. "Seriously, I need to go. Mom's 
expecting me in less than an hour. Everyone's going to be here 
for Christmas this year."
"But it's freezing out there! I couldn't live with myself if 
you caught a sniffle or something."
"My hero," she snorted. He nudged her hair aside to nuzzle her 
neck, and she couldn't help the grin that came upon her face. 
Oh, she could definitely get used to this.
"I was hoping you'd come by, Scully," he whispered against her 
hair. "You wouldn't leave me so soon, would you?"
She closed her eyes. "I...I have to go."
His hands snaked down to her lap and grasped hers. "Your hands 
are like ice. Let me warm you up." 
She sighed. Though she was loath to leave the coziness of 
Mulder's warm living room, the way she saw it, she had two 
choices: she could stay and enjoy this newfound intimacy and leave 
a happy woman in the morning, or she could leave now and avoid the 
mingled irritation and jibes of her family tomorrow that would 
ultimately drive her to drink too much eggnog and pass out in her 
too-small childhood bed by midnight.
Decisions, decisions.
"My mother will start to worry," she said, with less conviction 
than before.
"A few more minutes. What's your hurry?" He placed a gentle kiss on 
her neck. 
She sighed again. "My brother will be pacing the floor." The 
excuses began sounding lamer and lamer to her ears.
Mulder blindly reached behind her to retrieve the remote, and turned 
the volume up on the channel showing a Yule log burning in a decked 
out fireplace. "Listen to that fireplace roar," he murmured against 
her skin.  
"I should leave."
"You keep saying that." Another nuzzle, another teasing nip of her 
neck. Her sweater hugged the shoulders, leaving an irresistible 
expanse of skin exposed. He trailed his kisses to her shoulder. 
Her breathing hitched.
"Maybe just a half a drink more."
He smiled against her skin.
"By the way," she began as he filled her glass almost to the brim 
with the mystery concoction he'd made earlier. "Your neighbor gave 
me a strange look while I was knocking on your door. I think he 
thinks something is going on."
Mulder laughed. "Scully, we aren't in high school. No one's gonna 
rat us out to our parents."
She took a swig from her replenished glass to cover her 
embarrassment. Warmth suffused her body instantly. "Hey, what's in 
this drink?"
Mulder shook his head. "You're never going to find a cab out there."
"Mulder, I drove here."
"Agent Scully," he exclaimed, feigning a shocked expression, "You've 
been drinking. It would be irresponsible of me to allow you to drive 
in this weather in your condition!"
She huffed in indignation, but he was already back at her neck, 
nuzzling with such tenderness it brought goose bumps rippling 
through her. Her eyes fluttered to half-mast, and she prayed she 
would be able to resist Mulder's spell.
"Your eyes look like starlight with this fire going," he told her. 
She laughed and spoke to the top of his head. "The TV firelight? 
Mulder, I think that would be more convincing if you were actually 
*looking* at my eyes."     
"I've seen 'em before. Beautiful. Could write sonnets about 'em." 
She snorted. "And your hair is like... like the fiery halo of the 
afternoon sun just before it sets. The autumn sun. It's like..."
"Okay, that'll do," she ground out between peals of laughter. "No 
more, please, I'm begging you."
He lifted his head, resurfacing long enough to shoot a rakish grin 
up at her. "Mind if I move a bit closer?"
"Oh, so now you want my permission? You can't get much closer."
"On the contrary, Ma'am. I can get *much* closer."
Her face flushed with heat. "I thought we agreed to hold off for a 
while." It was all still so new, and the decision seemed to be for 
the best. At the time, anyway. Now she wasn't so sure.
At least she could say she *tried* to put up a fight.
"C'mon, Scully. You're hurting my fragile pride."
"I...I really can't stay."
"Ah, but it's so cold outside." He pushed the cashmere down her 
shoulder a bit, kissing the flesh bared to him as he went. 
"Mmm. No, I have to go."
"You can't go out in this," he murmured.
"Mulder, please. I should leave." Her half-hearted pleas fell on 
deaf ears as Mulder worked his way across her breastbone and to the 
other shoulder.
"I'm so lucky you came by," he said. "I was hoping all day that 
you would."
"Mmm, so nice and warm."
"Look at that storm out there. Should stay in."
"My sister-in-law will be suspicious," she gasped as he nibbled her 
ear. "You don't know how she can be."
"Your lips look delicious," he whispered in her ear. She shivered.
"M-my brother will be standing watch at the door."
"Sinfully delicious."
"And my aunt, her imagination is vicious. She'll have my mother 
thinking all kinds of atrocities have happened to me if I'm not 
there in time. The woman's a gossip monger of the first order."
He silenced her concerns with a kiss. "Mmm, you taste as good as 
you look."
"Well, maybe just a few minutes more," she said breathlessly.
He glanced out the window at the gently falling snow. "Good 
decision. Never seen such a blizzard before."
He kissed her again. After a few moments, she pulled back and 
stood abruptly. "I'm going. Do you have a brush?"
"Ah, Scully, you'll freeze to death. It up to your knees out 
there."
"This has been nice. Better than nice, really. But I have to 
leave."
"Let me touch you again. You're incredible."
She smiled. "You're drunk. You know I have to get over there."
He frowned, but it looked more like a pout. "What if you catch 
pneumonia and die? How can you do this to me? I'll mourn you for 
the rest of my life. You're a cruel, cruel woman, Dana Scully."
"Drama queen."
He grinned and sidled up to her. Caressing her cheek with one 
hand, he whispered into her ear, "Stay."
She bit her lip and considered this as he kissed the hollow 
behind her ear. "Well...it *is* cold outside..."

The End