And—okay, this is about to be controversial, and younger me would be horrified—but I also just wish they would have committed one way or the other with the Diana storyline. Like, if you want to show us that Mulder has a thing with Diana, then just show it. If you want him to obviously suspect her after Scully’s warnings, show that. Go one way or the other, but choose a lane and commit. While you’re at it, give more definition to Diana’s character, too. Is she sincere in any way—or no? What are her motives?

That’s not even focusing on the most frustrating part of One Son, which is that at best Mulder and Scully painfully miscommunicate, and at worst Mulder treats Scully very badly. There’s not really ever a direct resolution of that. We don’t ever get to see that put right in any satisfying way. But … that’s definitely where fic steps in. (It also helps with giving the decontamination shower scene more of a spotlight, and I'm in favor). 

I’m focusing my recs on One Son fics particularly, but I’ll include a few more generic Diana angst fics, too. There’s absolutely no way I’m going to create a complete list of these, so please forgive any obvious omissions. Hopefully people can chime in with other favorites. 

The Recs

Absolution - SlippinMickeys (@slippinmickeys)This fic fits within the events of One Son perfectly. Scully is still angry, obviously. Angry sex and apology sex. Completely lovely. 

Car Ride by JLB The awkward car ride back from the hangar. Poor Scully’s suffering as she has to deal with Mulder’s continued obliviousness.

The Coldest Night of the Year - oohnotvery This is not One Son specific, but it is some angsty angsty Diana angst. When a snowstorm hits town, Scully goes to Mulder's to shelter in place, but discovers Diana is there with them. World's most awkward sleepover.

Deluge - OnlyFoxMulder While taking shelter from the hurricane in Florida during Agua Mala, Mulder pushes Scully to talk about her anger towards him. I like the dialogue in this, and it’s a good balance between allowing Scully to be angry and still caring about Mulder.

the guts - wtfmulder This fic and its sequels are dark chocolate angst, the kind that says 80% bitter on the wrapper.  It’s not for the faint of heart: both Mulder and Scully behave badly, and the pain, the pain. It starts when Mulder accidentally drops an empty condom wrapper after One Son. It does go in more hopeful directions eventually. 

Hot Shower - Suzanne Barringer This is an AU version of the decontamination shower scene. Interestingly, this is because it was written when the scene was rumored but had not yet aired—and given that, it’s closer to the actual scene than you might think. Still, it focuses on… some different aspects of the scene. A fun and hot read.

Hurt’s Hopeful Plunder - DarlaBlack This is a very satisfying wrap-up to the Mulder being an asshole plot of One Son. 

in this metallic silence - light_loves_the_dark In the aftermath of One Son, Diana manipulates an oblivious Mulder and it results in Scully being physically hurt. This is Angst Level High, but it has a happy ending. It also includes a scene of Mulder really comprehensively taking Diana to task, which is something the author points out is fairly rare.

(In)Visible - 13starbuck42 A shorter piece in which Scully drinks a bottle of wine and plausibly takes Mulder to task in a satisfying way. 

Mulder, Scully, and Diana Fucking Fowley - Sarie_Fairy This fic is post-Milagro, but it is really about the damage wrought during One Son. Sarie_Fairy can construct such a good emotional build-up in her dialogue.

Never Cold With You By My Side - Baroness Blixen Diana requires Mulder and Scully to stay overnight in Fort Marlene after their decontamination shower, which has … effects she may not have intended. 

Pilgrims creeping towards the dawn- softnow  This is one of my favorite Diana angst fics. It's not One Son specific, but still. This one gives it to you pure and unfiltered. Beautifully written little heartbreaker. Ouchy ouch.

Sinking Ships - Benduini A post ep written right after the ep. Scully makes peace with the fact she’s going to lose Mulder to Diana, only to have things turn out unexpectedly.

the waffle house index - audries Subtle, beautifully written story about the aftermath of One Son. It doesn’t mention the events of One Son, yet somehow is entirely about them. It’s also about a partnership that is straining under years of failure to communicate well and a tendency to lean too hard on comfortable patterns. This fic has one of my favorite tags: “Waffle House is a metaphor, Hazel Grace.” (The author says in notes she’s never been to a Waffle House, which is unimaginable for me, honestly.)

A Winter’s Tale - Anjou Scully and Mulder are chilly post-One Son. When Mulder is oddly absent, Scully is not even sure he isn’t secretly meeting Diana. He isn’t, and the truth takes them on a tense cross-country trip. This is a satisfying MSR adventure.

wishbone - light_loves_the_dark This fic imagines a scene where Mulder and Diana go to pick Scully up to go to El Rico. In an intense, angsty conversation, Mulder tries to convince Scully to get into the car. Talking about his feelings just feels manipulative to Scully. Painful, moving, satisfying.

One Hand Tied - me me me (cecilysass) This is my own take on post-One Son with some canon divergence. After One Son, Mulder and his suitcase disappear, last seen with Diana. Scully assumes they have gone away somewhere together, but there’s more going on than that.  Other fics of mine that feature Diana prominently, but not necessarily in One Son context: Honest Man, Pause, The Kaleidoscope, The Marriage Spectacular, Unobserved.

What'd I miss?

alright I'm gonna be honest and tell you most of my recs will be smut with feelings 😂 but here are some of my comfort fics —

all of @leiascully's stuff but particularly this and this because they're for meeee 🥰 nuptiae sub rosa by @sisterspooky1013 and @xfmaweezy i really want to say something about all these fics because the authors deserve it, but i truly am so bad at this, i don't know what to say besides i love it the best of you by @sisterspooky1013 i really love post-breakup/revival first time stories. also. the mailbox 😭 una via by bluesamutra I loooove reading about msr from someone else's point of view and was amazed that this even applied to Bill Jr. first time for everything by @admiralty-xfd There are three admiralty fics that I've been reading over and over and/or switching between. I really love first time stories so this is a dream for me. there's also one chapter with a letter/note, and I love stories with those. culmination by @admiralty-xfd in particular, I really love the part about daggoo and when they first start to see each other again. i love revival-era fics (not that this is specifically revival-era, but daggoo) but can also become easily defensive because of the mental health aspect of it (in particular, mulder's depression being one of the named causes of their split in the show), and i really love this story. an unremarkable dog by @admiralty-xfd again, I love reading about scully and mulder from anyone else's point of view... even a dog's. this is so cute and I love the way it works with the events of first time for everything/culmination. tryst series by @admiralty-xfd and @gaycrouton no surprise here, I love multiple works by each individual author so of course I'd love this. the musings of a concerned mother by scullytoyourmulder another outside POV story that I love <3 partners with benefits by @gaycrouton this is so fluffy, i was literally smiling while i read this. anyone who knows me also knows my favorite book is The Language of Flowers, so this one felt meant for me <3

AntarcticaFic

Terra Australis - @sisterspooky1013 A  little hurt/comfort, naked bodies generating heat, actual research into base stations in Antarctica, bunk bed love. This has it all. SisterSpooky1013 does not miss. You will not regret this read. Four Days on the 63rd Parallel - @frostbitepandaaaaa This imagines the practical details of surviving in a Snowcat in a plausible way (she says with utter confidence like she has any fucking idea how to survive in a Snowcat). A completely enjoyable read.

Certitude - Justin Glasser A more casefile-y survival story. After Mulder rescues Scully from the spaceship in Antarctica, they end up in a military hospital in quarantine. Good, right? Maybe not. The hospital is not perhaps what it should be. A suspenseful adventure plot, and also, very sweet MSR. (Author sometimes is listed elsewhere as Justine Glasser – not sure which is preferred or came first, and if anyone knows, please let me know.)

Good Old Fashioned Snowed-In plus Chilly One Beds

It Could Be a Heart-Shaped World, If She Let it, And If He Asked - @mldrgrl This one is one bed and snowed-in trope, but with heart and brain. Our agents are stuck in a honeymoon suite in the Poconos. There’s some character-revealing conversation.

How Many Tropes Can One Story Hold? - @mldrgrl Listen, call me a simple girl, but it turns out I love a story that is crammed with as many tropes as one story can hold. Snowed in, sickfic, drunken confessions: the story of stories.

Keep Christmas With You (All Through The Year) - @leiascully  A not-really-Christmas story that uses Christmas as a metaphor. It’s also got good juicy tropes (first time, snowed in, just one room) but this is especially sweet, hot and sensitively written. It’s just so atmospheric. And there are some character choices that are surprising but in character, too. Mulder POV. 

Let it Snow - @leiascully Scully rescues a partner who makes bad choices (in other words, The X-Files.) Short but absolutely perfect, perfect dialogue.

a cabin in the woods - @monikafilefan They’re stranded in the snowy woods, worried about the dropping temperature, and oh look, a hunter’s cabin! Snowed-in and super hot first time. Classic set-up done beautifully. A delight. 

Cold Is The Night - oohnotvery I debated whether this was classic snowed-in trope or not—it’s really a slight variation, more “we’re in a very cold outdoor tent and need to share”—but I went with this category because it’s the right spirit for sure. Delicious Diana angst. The cold / Diana angst combo is this one of this talented author’s specialties – see below.

The Coldest Night of the Year - oohnotvery Mulder and Scully snowed in … with Diana. Angsty, jealous times. (But ultimately very sweet MSR.) This author is gooooood at this. All the Warmth in the World - oohnotvery  One more oohnotvery story about cooooooold Diana angst and waaaaarm MSR. The three of them have to share a cold jail cell overnight. Diana offers to share a cot with Mulder (booooo). Is Mulder going to get his shit together in time?

Just Getting Warmed Up - @xfmaweezy They’re still early partners, there’s a rare March blizzard, and there’s a chance to get one another better. So sweet, gentle and full of little well-observed details / Easter eggs. 

Frozen - @dashakay After a case, two new friends offer to share a weekend cabin with Mulder and Scully so they can unwind, and even to their surprise, they agree. The weather takes this plot in another direction. This is a tropey set-up and absolutely gorgeously written, by the badass author of the classic Blinded by White Light, which you should also read if you haven't. 

Still Feeling My Father Ascend - cecilysass (me me me) I wrote this one and I always inelegantly include my own work on rec lists. Post-Beyond the Sea. A more serious snowed-in about daddy issues and grief. 

Snow or Cold Involved Substantively In Plot

By the Wind Grieved - Karen Rasch Mulder returns six months after his abduction with complete amnesia. Scully is eager to help him remember who he is, but for noble / misguided reasons conceals the nature of their relationship and his connection to her visible pregnancy. All this and they have a snowy Christmas in a safe house.

white winter hymnal - audries Twelve Christmases over twelve years, a series of vignettes – many which involve snow. Plus the name of this lovely work, hence its inclusion here. 

A Winter’s Tale -  Anjou Scully and Mulder are chilly post-One Son. When Mulder seems to be disappearing oddly, Scully is not even sure he isn’t secretly meeting Diana. He isn’t, and the truth takes them on a tense cross-country winter trip. This is a long, satisfying MSR adventure.

adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication  

This is a special one that explores how the trauma they have experienced might weave its way into their physical relationship. 

Rating: M

Words: 2,051

Summary: Sex is easy for them, after all the years of lofty intellectual foreplay. Sex is difficult for them, too. Arousal and fear walk the same paths.

Favourite line: Gooseflesh ripples her skin and she forgets to breathe, and it feels like love, and it feels like terror. They both have their too-tender places where the nerves are laid bare. There are times he starts to move against her and then shies like a skittish horse.

the alchemy

Delicate IVF fic that breaks and heals your heart all at once. 

Rating: M

Words: 1,401

Summary: This is the moment, he understands. This is what could make or break them, after everything they’ve endured. Total honesty or nothing.

Favourite line: There’s something primal about how territorial he felt about her during the IVF process. He felt larger, heavier, tangibly aware of her relative delicacy. He prowled at her side, showing his eyeteeth to Skinner, sensitive to any attempt to invade their pride of two.

And They Lived

Family fic perfection complete with William squeezing an apple cider doughnut with his chubby baby hands. 

Rating: M

Words: 1,815 Summary: Mulder, Scully, Emily, and William enjoy a nice day at the pumpkin patch as a family.

Favourite line: “Mom, you never let us have two sweet treats in one day.” Emily was suspicious, but it didn’t stop her from taking a big bite of her doughnut. Will was already plowing through his, squeezing it in his chubby fists. He knew better than to argue.

April 25th Is The Perfect Date

Sweet little number in which Mulder gets rejected over and over. 

Rating: T

Words: 769

Summary: Mulder keeps trying to ask Scully out on a date, but she seems oblivious.

Favourite line: “There was clear intent,” she teased. “I saw how you licked that whipped cream off the fork before you handed it to me. It was clearly foreshadowing of your lingual abilities.”

Breakfast & Bed

A perfect morning after, they deserve to be this happy.

Rating: T

Words: 912

Summary: Mulder cooks breakfast for Scully after their first night together.

Favourite line: Something about the morning light made him look like a cloud had passed, leaving everything about him brighter. She had done that. They had done it together.

Caller ID

Companion piece to Light Refreshment 😉

Rating: E

Words: 770

Summary: When Bill called, Scully was a little distracted.

Favourite line: “Well,” Mulder said, “I know it’s not Easter yet, and I know you had a pretty, uh, full morning, but I’m happy to report a miracle: he is risen.”

Common Pleasure

The old five times and one format on the excellent subject of cunnilingus.

Rating: E

Words: 3,604

Summary: Many times Mulder and Scully went down on each other.

Favourite line: “I’ll eat you up, I love you so,” she says, slithering down the sleeping bags on her belly.

Consume

We all know that Mulder eats pussy like a champ and I love how Leia’s Scully gives as good as she gets.

Rating: E

Words: 1,026

Summary: She hadn’t tasted him yet. The thing between them was too new and they’d been focused on more mutual pleasures.

Favourite line: There was enough good Catholic girl left in her to relish the rebellious ambiance of black leather, even if, in the end, Mulder was more lost boy than bad boy.

Control

Emotional post-Pusher pegging fic. Scully taking care of Mulder in more than one way.

Rating: E

Words: 1,728

Summary: Putting herself between Mulder and the world was all she could do, knowing that one day, it wouldn't be enough. But tonight, she'd taken control. Tonight, she'd been the one who shaped Mulder's reality.

Favourite line: "When I can't trust myself, I can trust you," he said, and buried his face in her shoulder.

Days of Rain

We’re with Scully throughout this beautiful season 7 fic, full of bittersweet loveliness. It’s an oldie and it’s absolutely a goodie. 

Rating: M

Words: 6,141

Summary: She was Heisenberg's uncertainty: Mulder's skeptical disciple, a professional woman in love, a barren mother.

Favourite line: I love this fic and could choose so many but this one (written 16 years before we met) seems designed for me: She wasn't his first love. How could she be? He had a heart as defenseless as Belgium: women rolled right over him in three days.

Decompress

Written for me when I had had a long day. 

Rating: T

Words: 920

Summary: Scully's had a long day. Mulder orders takeout.

Favourite line: He did this for her: saw her aching inarticulate need and brought her gifts to nourish her, body and soul.

Don’t Rub Me The Wrong Way

I adore this Syzygy fic, they are so angry but Leia keeps it the right side of mean. They fight so hard because they care!

Rating: E

Words: 2,101

Summary: He expected Scully knocking on the door to his motel room. What he didn’t expect was for her to kick the door closed behind her and shove him up against the wall.

Favourite line: It’s all my favourite line. The whole fic. But this is iconic: ​​He drank her down like he was some motherfucking pussy sommelier: notes of citrusy tang balanced by the musk of a long day’s sweat.

Dress-Up

Very hot and fun with Mulder in some male lingerie. Maybe one day– if we’re very, very good– we might be blessed with another chapter.

Rating: E

Words: 6,674

Summary: Mulder wishes Scully still had those white cotton panties from the Pilot. Scully wishes Mulder would slip into something black and sexy and do some funky poaching.

Favourite line: She leans up on one elbow and watches him ogle her breasts as they shift. Mulder, unsurprisingly, is extremely visual. If she opened her legs a little further, he’d follow his own line of sight all the way into the V of her thighs and bury his face in her cunt.

Endeavors Too Short Of Desires

Full of season 6 Mulder yearning. 

Rating: T

Words: 4,523

Summary: Not all wisdom has benefits, he thinks: too wise to woo, they are stuck in the stasis of longing and denial.

Favourite line: Every now and then he remembers she is someone's little sister.

Fever Dream

This fic makes me keyboard smash. Love a horny meeting fic, this one is short but it has everything you need.

Rating: M

Words: 966

Summary: Scully is distracted in a meeting by thoughts of what happened the previous night with Mulder. Skinner is not amused.

Favourite line: "I'll make sure she gets what she needs," Mulder assures him, putting one hand on her back. Skinner knows, Scully's sure of it, but he just lets them pass without another word.

Get Lucky

I love how comfortable they are with each other in this SOSS fic.

Rating: E

Words: 2,688

Summary: “Come on,” she said, pausing with her fingers on the last button of her shirt. “For once we agreed. The guy was lucky. The luckiest man on earth.”

“He can’t be,” Mulder said. “I’m the luckiest man on earth.”

Favourite line: “Mulder,” she said, and he savored the sound of his name on her lips. “I want your mouth.”

“Where?” he asked, because she liked it when he acted like a little shit, to a point.

Grand Slam

A season 8 fic that allows them to be human and angry and messy and unfair on their way to reconnecting.

Rating: M

Words: 2,555

Summary: Maybe he'll kiss her, maybe he'll storm out: either way, they'll have reached a tipping point.

Favourite line: "You never miss a chance to needle me about my tattoo," she says. It's a completely unfair statement, the kind of deranged nonsense that only couples say to each other, and she didn't even mean to put "needle" and "tattoo" in the same sentence.

Have It Your Way

Tasty little morsel of our lil guys out after a long day.

Rating: T

Words: 1,104

Summary: She sees the white and blue sign of a Culver’s looming like an angel. Her stomach growls. On top of everything else, she’s on her period, and the idea of a burger stokes a need deep inside her. “There,” she says.

Favourite line:  He picks up his shake and his jacket and tips his head inquisitively, and Scully follows him, feeling the eyes tracking them out of the restaurant. She ignores them. They always draw attention, regardless of what they’re doing. She’s just glad no one’s hit on Mulder yet. She’s not sure she’d tolerate that well today.

Heaven Is A Place On Earth

I’m such a slut for Mulder is huge fics, this is one of my favourites. A perfect example of Leia’s incredible talent for writing smut.

Rating: E

Words: 1,331

Summary: No if, ands, or bees; or: what would have happened if the FTF outtake kiss (tongues edition) was real.

Mulder and Scully's first time, set during Fight The Future.

Favourite line: I knew you were…substantial,” she said. “But I can’t say I expected this.”

He knows. Phoebe used to drag her palm down the length of him when they were out with friends. Showing him off, she always said, but it was embarrassing. He’s not embarrassed when Scully touches him.

Here’s A Hand In Thine

Early MSR, they were just babies! 

Rating: T

Words: 3,798

Summary: After their Firewalker quarantine, Mulder invites Scully to the Lone Gunmen's New Year's Eve party.

Favourite line: God. Mulder. Most of the time she was ambivalent to his charms, recognizing them but relatively unaffected. Then there were nights like these, where everything he did dragged over her libido like a bow across cello strings. She didn’t even have a full moon to blame. If she was turning into some kind of were-Scully, sniffing at his trail and sinking her fangs in deep, she had only herself to blame.

Hurl Clichés At Me

I love this “surprisingly unprudish” and composed Scully and this blushing but very up for it Mulder. I will never get over my favourite line.

Rating: E

Words: 3,153

Summary: "You do have some pretty bad pickup lines, Scully."

Favourite line: "Go make sure your room is locked," she says. "And maybe put your weapon away."

He glances down automatically at his pants, and she laughs at him. It's more like a snort, honestly, but it's still pretty damn hot.

"The one the Bureau issued you," she clarifies.

I & love & you

Short and sweet, exactly what it sounds like: Scully telling Mulder she loves him.

Rating:

Words: 305

Summary: She tells him every day.

Favourite line: All the times she’s watched him walk away and known it could be the last time, and she never said it until now, by accident, apropos of nothing as they’re about to go to lunch.

I Can See You (Up Against The Wall With Me)

Poor Skinner. We get to see them through his eyes during the SOSS and it is HOT.

Rating: M

Words: 1,464

Summary: Skinner goes out to a bar and catches Mulder and Scully there on a date during the Season of Secret Sex.

Favourite line: Six years of restraint, abandoned. I mean, goddamn, I’d seen them make a handshake look like a hard fuck. I could only imagine what they were actually getting up to in the bedroom. Or the bar bathroom. Or, and I don’t know why this hadn’t occurred to me before, their isolated basement office.

if the truth forgets about us

Oh the pain of the cancer arc. Gets you between the ribs.

Rating: E

Words: 2,628

Summary: Both of them understood this was likely to be a singular encounter. They were running out of time.

Favourite line: He hissed between his teeth, a sound of pain. “Don’t.” Tears rose in a hot rush behind his sinuses. He could see one gleaming in the corner of her eye too. He wanted to kiss it away, to ingest the salt of her.

The Inequity of Lingerie

Lovely revival era fic where Scully is treated to a gift and a little striptease. 

Rating: E

Words: 3,215

Summary: A very early or very late birthday present that doesn't involve a batting cage.

Favourite line: He throws in some groovy moves that he knows look more goofy than suave. Anything to keep his hands off himself. She’ll tell him when she’s ready.

Keep Christmas With You (All Through The Year)

It’s delicious. The fetch quest grocery store trip, the buying dish soap to wash the newly bought mugs, the banter, the consorting, all of it.

Rating: M

Words: 6,512

Summary: Mulder and Scully are snowed in at the end of a case. Will they consort in the same hotel room while on assignment? Will they ever!

Favourite line: “I’m not a hurricane, Scully.”

“And yet you come with a flash flood warning.”

He frowned. “Because of the tears when we leave town?”

“No,” she said. “I was thinking more about the inundation of local basements.”

The penny dropped. “Scully!”

Light Refreshments

I love it when Leia takes the pals yapping and turns it into gems of fic like this one.

Rating: M

Words: 572

Summary: When Skinner called for an update on the stakeout, Mulder was a little distracted.

Favourite line: She had a Cheshire cat smirk. “I’m amazed you held off, and frankly a little disappointed in myself.”

One Day I’ll Wish Upon A Star

Post Rain King delightful first time fic. 

Rating: M

Words: 2,106

Summary: There was only one bed in Scully’s room.

Naturally.

Favourite line: It was unfortunate that every time she’d straddled him up until now had been for medical reasons.

“I know you’re checking for symptoms,” he mumbled as she gazed into his eyes, kissed him, gazed again, tipped his face from one side to the other with her dexterous little fingers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied cheerfully.

One Lonely Night

A first time fic full of tenderness born out of one brave decision.

Rating: E

Words: 2,574

Summary: "Why have we been lonely for so long?"

Favourite line: “Scully,” he whispers. "Is this happening?“

She sits back, her hand still splayed over his chest. "Do you want to stop?”

“No,” he says immediately, and then calms himself. "No. I just want to make sure it’s what you want. I think you know I’ve wanted this for a long time.“

"I know,” she says. "I haven’t wanted it any less than you have.“

"You never said anything.” He looks a little lost. The trepidation in his eyes strikes her somewhere undefinable, maybe even in her soul. 

“I thought you knew,” she says.

The only thing I ever wanted will be standing at my door

The logical outcome of the closet worm check in Ice.

Rating: E

Words: 2,660

Summary: The logical part of her knew her hunger for him was honed by the terror she’d felt earlier, “fight or flight” transmuted into “fight and fuck”. But they hadn’t fucked in the storeroom where Mulder had been imprisoned, and the impulse had gnawed at both of them for the rest of the day.

Favourite line: Mulder’s grin was probably a controlled substance in at least six states. She watched his eyes calculate the number of condoms and then rake over her body again. She shivered, letting him see the need in her. Yes, she wanted to use them all. Yes, she wanted him anywhere. Everywhere. She’d wanted him since she met him. She wasn’t going to die in an Arctic research facility without having her fill of him.

palimpsest

A shortie but goodie about Scully’s adoration of Mulder.

Rating: M

Words: 795

Summary: When Mulder moves in her, it’s like poetry.

Favourite line: All this time later and she still feels such profound gratitude when he touches her. His tenderness seems infinite; she’s never found its bounds. She flings love into the well of him and never hears an echo.

Pink Pilates Princess

When Spotify started spewing out its nonsense and dubbed me a pink pilates princess, Leia wrote this perfect little treat for me. Mulder in full himbo gear, being a very silly, very sweet man.

Rating: T

Words: 933

Summary: Mulder's hiding something, so Scully follows him.

Favourite line: “It’s good for my core,” he says mournfully.

POÄNG

The fic that started it all. I love everything about it. Horny Scully, yearning away. Playful Mulder, driving her insane. Their weird mating dance, how they’re still getting their signals slightly crossed all the way to consummation. They’re such freaks (affectionate)

Rating: M

Words: 4,435

Summary: The solve high hits Scully right in the libido. A trip to IKEA doesn't help.

Favourite line:  She wonders if her pupils are dilated as she gazes up at him. She wants to push him up against the wall, but there’s a cabinet in the way. He’d hit his head, and he’s had enough cranial trauma. She’s his doctor. She knows better.

Relax

Completely G rated caretaking porn. 

Rating: G

Words: 925

Summary: "Sit back, relax, and enjoy your quarter 'til Valentine's pampering, Scully," he told her. "And if you need any help undressing, I'm here for you."

Favourite line: There were moments now when she felt like they had the normal, perfect life she'd dreamed of when she was younger, but phase-shifted into something approaching reality. She hadn't known herself then, not the way she did now. She hadn't known what she needed her life to be: here, in this unremarkable house, with this wholly remarkable man.

Siren Song

This fic is something a bit different to Leia’s usual recognisably human Mulder and Scully and it’s pure magic!

Rating: E

Words: 4,403

Summary: Navy sailor Dana Scully, in disguise as Daniel, has a very close encounter of the mer kind.

Favourite line: She blushed, wondering if he’d felt her wonder at being held, the tiny ember of desire he’d kindled in her belly. A ripple again, as he gave her a one-sided smile: yes, he’d noticed. He’d felt it too.

Sláinte 

This one stings real bad and is technically Scully/Other which is really not normally my thing, but at the same time you will never, ever convince me that this isn’t MSR at its core. 

Rating: M

Words: 13,611

Summary: Despite the occasional passing interest in dating, she passes the majority of her time with him. He's aware that he likes it that way, has been engineering Scully-traps since the slides he showed her the day they met. He baits her with conundrums and impossible questions and then sits smugly, luxuriating in her company. He has let her leave or lose anyone else who mattered to her. Maybe he can offer her the boys from the lab as a stopgap, a seawall built against her loneliness.

A slightly alternate Season 4.

Favourite line: He loves her more than he has ever loved anything in this world, including the memory of his sister; his envy battles with a genuine contentment that there is some comfort for her here, in this place he disdains, with this man he resents.

Take It Like A Champ

I love how annoyed, endeared, adoring, horny, loving and irritated Scully is in this fic. And how Mulder takes it like a champ, of course. 

Rating: E

Words: 9,162

Summary: Scully thinks they're on vacation. Mulder thinks they're on a case. Good agents don't consort while on assignment, but they really, really want to.

Favourite line: “I’d stay there again,” he said. “Recreationally.”

“Oh? Are you seeing someone?”

He stopped suddenly in the middle of the passageway. She stopped too and looked at him curiously. He took her face between his hands and kissed her. It was profound. It was passionate. It was making her weak in the knees in the middle of a fucking airport. She put her hands on his waist to steady herself.

“It wasn’t because this is a secret, Scully,” he said. “I’d get your name tattooed in five inch letters on my ass tomorrow if that’s what you wanted.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I know. The work matters. It was just weird not to be on the same page.”

Wide Open

This absolutely happened, you will never convince me otherwise.

Rating: E

Words: 1,447

Summary: "You came and you cracked the case."

Favourite line: "What about a system of tunnels?" she asked. "A link to the outside world."

"Scully," he said, raising his head a little. "I'm a little busy."

adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication  

This is a special one that explores how the trauma they have experienced might weave its way into their physical relationship. 

Rating: M

Words: 2,051

Summary: Sex is easy for them, after all the years of lofty intellectual foreplay. Sex is difficult for them, too. Arousal and fear walk the same paths.

Favourite line: Gooseflesh ripples her skin and she forgets to breathe, and it feels like love, and it feels like terror. They both have their too-tender places where the nerves are laid bare. There are times he starts to move against her and then shies like a skittish horse.

the alchemy

Delicate IVF fic that breaks and heals your heart all at once. 

Rating: M

Words: 1,401

Summary: This is the moment, he understands. This is what could make or break them, after everything they’ve endured. Total honesty or nothing.

Favourite line: There’s something primal about how territorial he felt about her during the IVF process. He felt larger, heavier, tangibly aware of her relative delicacy. He prowled at her side, showing his eyeteeth to Skinner, sensitive to any attempt to invade their pride of two.

And They Lived

Family fic perfection complete with William squeezing an apple cider doughnut with his chubby baby hands. 

Rating: M

Words: 1,815 Summary: Mulder, Scully, Emily, and William enjoy a nice day at the pumpkin patch as a family.

Favourite line: “Mom, you never let us have two sweet treats in one day.” Emily was suspicious, but it didn’t stop her from taking a big bite of her doughnut. Will was already plowing through his, squeezing it in his chubby fists. He knew better than to argue.

April 25th Is The Perfect Date

Sweet little number in which Mulder gets rejected over and over. 

Rating: T

Words: 769

Summary: Mulder keeps trying to ask Scully out on a date, but she seems oblivious.

Favourite line: “There was clear intent,” she teased. “I saw how you licked that whipped cream off the fork before you handed it to me. It was clearly foreshadowing of your lingual abilities.”

Breakfast & Bed

A perfect morning after, they deserve to be this happy.

Rating: T

Words: 912

Summary: Mulder cooks breakfast for Scully after their first night together.

Favourite line: Something about the morning light made him look like a cloud had passed, leaving everything about him brighter. She had done that. They had done it together.

Caller ID

Companion piece to Light Refreshment 😉

Rating: E

Words: 770

Summary: When Bill called, Scully was a little distracted.

Favourite line: “Well,” Mulder said, “I know it’s not Easter yet, and I know you had a pretty, uh, full morning, but I’m happy to report a miracle: he is risen.”

Common Pleasure

The old five times and one format on the excellent subject of cunnilingus.

Rating: E

Words: 3,604

Summary: Many times Mulder and Scully went down on each other.

Favourite line: “I’ll eat you up, I love you so,” she says, slithering down the sleeping bags on her belly.

Consume

We all know that Mulder eats pussy like a champ and I love how Leia’s Scully gives as good as she gets.

Rating: E

Words: 1,026

Summary: She hadn’t tasted him yet. The thing between them was too new and they’d been focused on more mutual pleasures.

Favourite line: There was enough good Catholic girl left in her to relish the rebellious ambiance of black leather, even if, in the end, Mulder was more lost boy than bad boy.

Control

Emotional post-Pusher pegging fic. Scully taking care of Mulder in more than one way.

Rating: E

Words: 1,728

Summary: Putting herself between Mulder and the world was all she could do, knowing that one day, it wouldn't be enough. But tonight, she'd taken control. Tonight, she'd been the one who shaped Mulder's reality.

Favourite line: "When I can't trust myself, I can trust you," he said, and buried his face in her shoulder.

Days of Rain

We’re with Scully throughout this beautiful season 7 fic, full of bittersweet loveliness. It’s an oldie and it’s absolutely a goodie. 

Rating: M

Words: 6,141

Summary: She was Heisenberg's uncertainty: Mulder's skeptical disciple, a professional woman in love, a barren mother.

Favourite line: I love this fic and could choose so many but this one (written 16 years before we met) seems designed for me: She wasn't his first love. How could she be? He had a heart as defenseless as Belgium: women rolled right over him in three days.

Decompress

Written for me when I had had a long day. 

Rating: T

Words: 920

Summary: Scully's had a long day. Mulder orders takeout.

Favourite line: He did this for her: saw her aching inarticulate need and brought her gifts to nourish her, body and soul.

Don’t Rub Me The Wrong Way

I adore this Syzygy fic, they are so angry but Leia keeps it the right side of mean. They fight so hard because they care!

Rating: E

Words: 2,101

Summary: He expected Scully knocking on the door to his motel room. What he didn’t expect was for her to kick the door closed behind her and shove him up against the wall.

Favourite line: It’s all my favourite line. The whole fic. But this is iconic: ​​He drank her down like he was some motherfucking pussy sommelier: notes of citrusy tang balanced by the musk of a long day’s sweat.

Dress-Up

Very hot and fun with Mulder in some male lingerie. Maybe one day– if we’re very, very good– we might be blessed with another chapter.

Rating: E

Words: 6,674

Summary: Mulder wishes Scully still had those white cotton panties from the Pilot. Scully wishes Mulder would slip into something black and sexy and do some funky poaching.

Favourite line: She leans up on one elbow and watches him ogle her breasts as they shift. Mulder, unsurprisingly, is extremely visual. If she opened her legs a little further, he’d follow his own line of sight all the way into the V of her thighs and bury his face in her cunt.

Endeavors Too Short Of Desires

Full of season 6 Mulder yearning. 

Rating: T

Words: 4,523

Summary: Not all wisdom has benefits, he thinks: too wise to woo, they are stuck in the stasis of longing and denial.

Favourite line: Every now and then he remembers she is someone's little sister.

Fever Dream

This fic makes me keyboard smash. Love a horny meeting fic, this one is short but it has everything you need.

Rating: M

Words: 966

Summary: Scully is distracted in a meeting by thoughts of what happened the previous night with Mulder. Skinner is not amused.

Favourite line: "I'll make sure she gets what she needs," Mulder assures him, putting one hand on her back. Skinner knows, Scully's sure of it, but he just lets them pass without another word.

Get Lucky

I love how comfortable they are with each other in this SOSS fic.

Rating: E

Words: 2,688

Summary: “Come on,” she said, pausing with her fingers on the last button of her shirt. “For once we agreed. The guy was lucky. The luckiest man on earth.”

“He can’t be,” Mulder said. “I’m the luckiest man on earth.”

Favourite line: “Mulder,” she said, and he savored the sound of his name on her lips. “I want your mouth.”

“Where?” he asked, because she liked it when he acted like a little shit, to a point.

Grand Slam

A season 8 fic that allows them to be human and angry and messy and unfair on their way to reconnecting.

Rating: M

Words: 2,555

Summary: Maybe he'll kiss her, maybe he'll storm out: either way, they'll have reached a tipping point.

Favourite line: "You never miss a chance to needle me about my tattoo," she says. It's a completely unfair statement, the kind of deranged nonsense that only couples say to each other, and she didn't even mean to put "needle" and "tattoo" in the same sentence.

Have It Your Way

Tasty little morsel of our lil guys out after a long day.

Rating: T

Words: 1,104

Summary: She sees the white and blue sign of a Culver’s looming like an angel. Her stomach growls. On top of everything else, she’s on her period, and the idea of a burger stokes a need deep inside her. “There,” she says.

Favourite line:  He picks up his shake and his jacket and tips his head inquisitively, and Scully follows him, feeling the eyes tracking them out of the restaurant. She ignores them. They always draw attention, regardless of what they’re doing. She’s just glad no one’s hit on Mulder yet. She’s not sure she’d tolerate that well today.

Heaven Is A Place On Earth

I’m such a slut for Mulder is huge fics, this is one of my favourites. A perfect example of Leia’s incredible talent for writing smut.

Rating: E

Words: 1,331

Summary: No if, ands, or bees; or: what would have happened if the FTF outtake kiss (tongues edition) was real.

Mulder and Scully's first time, set during Fight The Future.

Favourite line: I knew you were…substantial,” she said. “But I can’t say I expected this.”

He knows. Phoebe used to drag her palm down the length of him when they were out with friends. Showing him off, she always said, but it was embarrassing. He’s not embarrassed when Scully touches him.

Here’s A Hand In Thine

Early MSR, they were just babies! 

Rating: T

Words: 3,798

Summary: After their Firewalker quarantine, Mulder invites Scully to the Lone Gunmen's New Year's Eve party.

Favourite line: God. Mulder. Most of the time she was ambivalent to his charms, recognizing them but relatively unaffected. Then there were nights like these, where everything he did dragged over her libido like a bow across cello strings. She didn’t even have a full moon to blame. If she was turning into some kind of were-Scully, sniffing at his trail and sinking her fangs in deep, she had only herself to blame.

Hurl Clichés At Me

I love this “surprisingly unprudish” and composed Scully and this blushing but very up for it Mulder. I will never get over my favourite line.

Rating: E

Words: 3,153

Summary: "You do have some pretty bad pickup lines, Scully."

Favourite line: "Go make sure your room is locked," she says. "And maybe put your weapon away."

He glances down automatically at his pants, and she laughs at him. It's more like a snort, honestly, but it's still pretty damn hot.

"The one the Bureau issued you," she clarifies.

I & love & you

Short and sweet, exactly what it sounds like: Scully telling Mulder she loves him.

Rating:

Words: 305

Summary: She tells him every day.

Favourite line: All the times she’s watched him walk away and known it could be the last time, and she never said it until now, by accident, apropos of nothing as they’re about to go to lunch.

I Can See You (Up Against The Wall With Me)

Poor Skinner. We get to see them through his eyes during the SOSS and it is HOT.

Rating: M

Words: 1,464

Summary: Skinner goes out to a bar and catches Mulder and Scully there on a date during the Season of Secret Sex.

Favourite line: Six years of restraint, abandoned. I mean, goddamn, I’d seen them make a handshake look like a hard fuck. I could only imagine what they were actually getting up to in the bedroom. Or the bar bathroom. Or, and I don’t know why this hadn’t occurred to me before, their isolated basement office.

if the truth forgets about us

Oh the pain of the cancer arc. Gets you between the ribs.

Rating: E

Words: 2,628

Summary: Both of them understood this was likely to be a singular encounter. They were running out of time.

Favourite line: He hissed between his teeth, a sound of pain. “Don’t.” Tears rose in a hot rush behind his sinuses. He could see one gleaming in the corner of her eye too. He wanted to kiss it away, to ingest the salt of her.

The Inequity of Lingerie

Lovely revival era fic where Scully is treated to a gift and a little striptease. 

Rating: E

Words: 3,215

Summary: A very early or very late birthday present that doesn't involve a batting cage.

Favourite line: He throws in some groovy moves that he knows look more goofy than suave. Anything to keep his hands off himself. She’ll tell him when she’s ready.

Keep Christmas With You (All Through The Year)

It’s delicious. The fetch quest grocery store trip, the buying dish soap to wash the newly bought mugs, the banter, the consorting, all of it.

Rating: M

Words: 6,512

Summary: Mulder and Scully are snowed in at the end of a case. Will they consort in the same hotel room while on assignment? Will they ever!

Favourite line: “I’m not a hurricane, Scully.”

“And yet you come with a flash flood warning.”

He frowned. “Because of the tears when we leave town?”

“No,” she said. “I was thinking more about the inundation of local basements.”

The penny dropped. “Scully!”

Light Refreshments

I love it when Leia takes the pals yapping and turns it into gems of fic like this one.

Rating: M

Words: 572

Summary: When Skinner called for an update on the stakeout, Mulder was a little distracted.

Favourite line: She had a Cheshire cat smirk. “I’m amazed you held off, and frankly a little disappointed in myself.”

One Day I’ll Wish Upon A Star

Post Rain King delightful first time fic. 

Rating: M

Words: 2,106

Summary: There was only one bed in Scully’s room.

Naturally.

Favourite line: It was unfortunate that every time she’d straddled him up until now had been for medical reasons.

“I know you’re checking for symptoms,” he mumbled as she gazed into his eyes, kissed him, gazed again, tipped his face from one side to the other with her dexterous little fingers.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied cheerfully.

One Lonely Night

A first time fic full of tenderness born out of one brave decision.

Rating: E

Words: 2,574

Summary: "Why have we been lonely for so long?"

Favourite line: “Scully,” he whispers. "Is this happening?“

She sits back, her hand still splayed over his chest. "Do you want to stop?”

“No,” he says immediately, and then calms himself. "No. I just want to make sure it’s what you want. I think you know I’ve wanted this for a long time.“

"I know,” she says. "I haven’t wanted it any less than you have.“

"You never said anything.” He looks a little lost. The trepidation in his eyes strikes her somewhere undefinable, maybe even in her soul. 

“I thought you knew,” she says.

The only thing I ever wanted will be standing at my door

The logical outcome of the closet worm check in Ice.

Rating: E

Words: 2,660

Summary: The logical part of her knew her hunger for him was honed by the terror she’d felt earlier, “fight or flight” transmuted into “fight and fuck”. But they hadn’t fucked in the storeroom where Mulder had been imprisoned, and the impulse had gnawed at both of them for the rest of the day.

Favourite line: Mulder’s grin was probably a controlled substance in at least six states. She watched his eyes calculate the number of condoms and then rake over her body again. She shivered, letting him see the need in her. Yes, she wanted to use them all. Yes, she wanted him anywhere. Everywhere. She’d wanted him since she met him. She wasn’t going to die in an Arctic research facility without having her fill of him.

palimpsest

A shortie but goodie about Scully’s adoration of Mulder.

Rating: M

Words: 795

Summary: When Mulder moves in her, it’s like poetry.

Favourite line: All this time later and she still feels such profound gratitude when he touches her. His tenderness seems infinite; she’s never found its bounds. She flings love into the well of him and never hears an echo.

Pink Pilates Princess

When Spotify started spewing out its nonsense and dubbed me a pink pilates princess, Leia wrote this perfect little treat for me. Mulder in full himbo gear, being a very silly, very sweet man.

Rating: T

Words: 933

Summary: Mulder's hiding something, so Scully follows him.

Favourite line: “It’s good for my core,” he says mournfully.

POÄNG

The fic that started it all. I love everything about it. Horny Scully, yearning away. Playful Mulder, driving her insane. Their weird mating dance, how they’re still getting their signals slightly crossed all the way to consummation. They’re such freaks (affectionate)

Rating: M

Words: 4,435

Summary: The solve high hits Scully right in the libido. A trip to IKEA doesn't help.

Favourite line:  She wonders if her pupils are dilated as she gazes up at him. She wants to push him up against the wall, but there’s a cabinet in the way. He’d hit his head, and he’s had enough cranial trauma. She’s his doctor. She knows better.

Relax

Completely G rated caretaking porn. 

Rating: G

Words: 925

Summary: "Sit back, relax, and enjoy your quarter 'til Valentine's pampering, Scully," he told her. "And if you need any help undressing, I'm here for you."

Favourite line: There were moments now when she felt like they had the normal, perfect life she'd dreamed of when she was younger, but phase-shifted into something approaching reality. She hadn't known herself then, not the way she did now. She hadn't known what she needed her life to be: here, in this unremarkable house, with this wholly remarkable man.

Siren Song

This fic is something a bit different to Leia’s usual recognisably human Mulder and Scully and it’s pure magic!

Rating: E

Words: 4,403

Summary: Navy sailor Dana Scully, in disguise as Daniel, has a very close encounter of the mer kind.

Favourite line: She blushed, wondering if he’d felt her wonder at being held, the tiny ember of desire he’d kindled in her belly. A ripple again, as he gave her a one-sided smile: yes, he’d noticed. He’d felt it too.

Sláinte 

This one stings real bad and is technically Scully/Other which is really not normally my thing, but at the same time you will never, ever convince me that this isn’t MSR at its core. 

Rating: M

Words: 13,611

Summary: Despite the occasional passing interest in dating, she passes the majority of her time with him. He's aware that he likes it that way, has been engineering Scully-traps since the slides he showed her the day they met. He baits her with conundrums and impossible questions and then sits smugly, luxuriating in her company. He has let her leave or lose anyone else who mattered to her. Maybe he can offer her the boys from the lab as a stopgap, a seawall built against her loneliness.

A slightly alternate Season 4.

Favourite line: He loves her more than he has ever loved anything in this world, including the memory of his sister; his envy battles with a genuine contentment that there is some comfort for her here, in this place he disdains, with this man he resents.

Take It Like A Champ

I love how annoyed, endeared, adoring, horny, loving and irritated Scully is in this fic. And how Mulder takes it like a champ, of course. 

Rating: E

Words: 9,162

Summary: Scully thinks they're on vacation. Mulder thinks they're on a case. Good agents don't consort while on assignment, but they really, really want to.

Favourite line: “I’d stay there again,” he said. “Recreationally.”

“Oh? Are you seeing someone?”

He stopped suddenly in the middle of the passageway. She stopped too and looked at him curiously. He took her face between his hands and kissed her. It was profound. It was passionate. It was making her weak in the knees in the middle of a fucking airport. She put her hands on his waist to steady herself.

“It wasn’t because this is a secret, Scully,” he said. “I’d get your name tattooed in five inch letters on my ass tomorrow if that’s what you wanted.”

“I know.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I know. The work matters. It was just weird not to be on the same page.”

Wide Open

This absolutely happened, you will never convince me otherwise.

Rating: E

Words: 1,447

Summary: "You came and you cracked the case."

Favourite line: "What about a system of tunnels?" she asked. "A link to the outside world."

"Scully," he said, raising his head a little. "I'm a little busy."

“See you next week Dad,” Will says, hand on the car door as he pushes it open. 

Mulder turns away from the front door. “See you next week,” he answers back. He watches Will run up to the door and that’s when he finally sees her. 

God, he misses her so much. 

He clutches the wheel, forcing himself to stay put. He should be going in with Will. Hell, they should both be at the Unremarkable House with him. Home. Together. 

But they’re not. He lives alone, in a house too big, and she lives here, in a house too far away. 

But they don’t because he fucked up five years ago. 

“Go inside Will,” he hears her say. “I wanna talk to your dad for a minute.”

Christ, what has he done now? As she approaches, Mulder goes through a list of things he could’ve forgotten to do. He even checks the time again, thinking maybe he’d read it wrong and it was actually half 7 instead. Yet as she gets closer, he notices she isn’t actually mad. 

Maybe he had got something right for once. 

He exits the car just as she gets there. In flip flops, she is so much smaller than he is. He’d almost forgotten how much so. 

Mulder shoves his hands in his pockets to keep them from wrapping around her. 

“Hey Scully,” he greets trying to sound casual when inside his heart was doing flips. 

“Hey,” she says, sounding just as casual. “Um…William has a parent-teacher conference on Friday,” she tells him. 

“Okay…?” Mulder half asks, wondering about its significance. Surely he’s had many of those before. 

“Well I usually drop him off at your house at 4. The meeting pushes it back.” 

Right, it interferes with her perfectly designed schedule. 

“That’s fine,” Mulder says, finding no issue with it. “Friday nights our movie night anyway, doesn’t make a ton of difference to us.” 

If Scully feels anything at the mention of ‘movie night’ she doesn’t show it. A long time ago when cases were packed up neatly and they had no other commitments, Friday night belonged to them. Rock, Paper, Scissors played for who chose what they were watching. Mulder was still yet to admit he let her win on purpose. 

“That’s nice,” she says. “So you’ll be at the school?”

“At 4?” 

“At 3. For the conference.” 

It takes him a moment but then he realises what she’s asking. 

“Oh, you want me there with you,” he says surprised. She nods. “Sure, yeah, I can be there.” 

She smiles and it’s been so long since she’s smiled at anything he’s said that he’ll take it. 

“Okay then. Make sure you don’t forget.” 

“I won’t.”

They stand there then, albeit in an awkward-ish silence. Mulder wants to reach out to her, ask her to invite him inside, ask her to be a proper family again. Would she want that?

Will calls out from the front door. Mulder retreats, the coward. 

“Mom! Can I have ice cream?” He shouts out into the street. 

He sees Scully cringe. She won’t yell back, not out here. Maybe if he was in another room or up the stairs, but never in the street. 

She turns away from him, no goodbye or anything and walks back over to Will. He doesn’t hear what she says but Will is ushered back inside and the front door slams shut. That’s it. That’s all he sees of her. 

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

A buzz comes through on his phone. 

Mulder ignores it. A news notification or some update surely, nobody ever talks to him.

He ignores it. 

It buzzes again. 

Strange. 

He picks it up. 

Scully: We need to talk. 

Then the other messages. 

Scully: Mulder? 

Scully: Hello? 

Scully: Mulder, it’s me. 

He’s about to type a reply when her name takes up the screen and his phone starts chiming. 

“What’s the point of you having a phone if you’re not gonna look at it?”

She sounds pissed. At him? 

“Hello to you too, Scully,” he mutters. 

“What was that?” Her voice comes through sharp. 

“Nothing,” he dismisses. “What’s up? You said you needed to talk to me.” 

A long sigh exits Scully before she talks. “William got into a fight at school today.” 

Shit. Mulder thinks he knows where this is going. 

“Uh-huh.”

“He decided to practice karate on some classmates,” she explains. 

“It’s called Kung-Fu,” Mulder hears Will’s voice call through distantly. “And it was only one kid.” 

Scully’s voice, dimmed as she moves the phone away to talk to Will. “I don’t care what it’s called. You shouldn’t be fighting.” Then her voice much clearer. “Do you have an explanation for this?” 

In another world, another time, he would be asking her that only it would be in regards to mothmen and fluke worms, not 9 year old boys. 

“Yeah, last Friday we watched a couple Jackie Chan movies.” 

He hears another sigh. 

“Sorry,” he adds. 

“It’s fine.” She sighs again. It’s so not fine. “Because of it, they’ve moved his conference. You need to be here now.” 

Mulder’s head whips side to side, trying to locate some pants. Can’t very well turn up to school in his boxers. “Like,  now-now?” 

“Like, as soon as possible, yeah. They’re anxious to get started.” 

He cradles his phone between his ear and shoulders and starts pulling on the first pair of jeans he can find. “Yeah, just give me half an hour.” 

“Half an hour, Mulder, or we start without you.” 

Half an hour it is. 

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Martial arts training aside, Will was doing pretty well in school though Mulder suspected that had more to do with the half Scully inside him. He was good at all subjects but was specifically excelling in Science even if he did ask some ‘out there’ question. Mulder grins at Scully but she’s staring straight ahead and misses it. Mulder deflates a little. 

With the promise of no more fighting they are free to leave. While Scully talks to his teacher some more, Mulder pulls Will aside. 

“So?” He asks to Will’s intrigue. “Which kid was it?” 

Will grind. “Troy Johnson,” he says. 

Mulder cringes. That kid’s been giving Will a hard time since kindergarten. In Mulder’s eyes, he had it coming. 

“What he do?” Mulder asks thinking he simply gave Will a Wet Willy or something. 

Will’s grin drops, he looks towards Scully before turning back and talking to the floor. 

“He called Mom a name,” he says. 

Mulder’s insides grow cold. He frowns. “What sort of name?” 

Will fidgets. “I dunno what it means but…he called her a milf.” His face contorts in disgust. “I didn’t like it.” 

Mulder tries not to laugh. He does not look towards Scully. Instead, he ruffles his son’s hair. 

“I tried to tell Mom would she wouldn’t listen.” 

“It’s okay, Will. You did good.” 

“Did I?” He asks, unsure. 

“Sure. Well, maybe keep the physical violence to a minimum but keep up the sentiment.” 

Will nods, stands straighter, proud of himself. Then falters, a confused look falling across his face. “What does sentiment mean?” 

Before Mulder can answer, Scully walks over to them. She gives Will a reproachable look. “I suppose we should get you to your dad’s,” she says to Will. Then to Mulder, “Do everyone a favour and keep the Kung-Fu movies to a minimum.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” he answers, giving a mock salute. She glares at him as she passes. An idea strikes him then. “We should go out for food,” he suggests. 

Will immediately perks up. “Wendy’s?” He asks. 

“No!” Scully immediately shoots down. Then looks at Mulder. “We are not rewarding this.” Will deflates. 

“Come on Scully,” Mulder urges. “The kid has learned his lesson.” (Will nods; “I will keep my hands to myself in future,” he says like an oath) “Let’s get some food.” 

It doesn’t take much, surprisingly, for Scully to relent. 

“Okay, fine. But then I need to go home.” 

Mulder smiles. It’s a win he’ll take. 

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

They end up in Wendy’s.

Mulder gets a burger, fries, and treats himself to a banana milkshakes. Will gets virtually the same only the shake is chocolate. He can see Scully wanting to protest but Will is enjoying himself and that’s what matters overall- Mulder has to remind her. 

Scully declines having anything and Mulder surmises she’s on a health kick again. He takes a sneak peak at her body, to make sure her clothes aren’t dangling from her body. They aren’t, he makes sure to take a good long look. 

About 15 minutes in, she’s eating his fries anyway. 

Mulder leans back, watching, enjoying how normal it all is. How much he wants this to last forever. 

“I need to go drain the lizard,” says Will and Mulder barks out a laugh, the moment ruined. 

“William!” Scully admonishes, pulling a face. 

“What? I need a wee.”

“Just say you’re going to the bathroom. Is this one of your sayings?” She asks Mulder. 

Mulder, half laughing-half choking on a fry replies, “No, I would never say something like that.” 

She eyes him suspiciously, not believing. Then turns back to Will. “Do you need one of us to come with you?” 

Now it’s Will’s turn to pull a face. “No Mom, I’m not a baby.” 

Mulder watches Scully watch him go. She has a weird look on her face; like she’s mad at him but also deeply fond of him. 

“You ever gonna stop being mad at him?” Mulder asks. He tosses his napkin down, pushes the basket of fries towards Scully who brings them closer to her automatically. 

“Eventually.” 

“Well I don’t know if this changes your mind at all but I think you should know your son karate-chopped that kid today to defend your honour.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Troy Johnson, the little shit, called you a MILF.” 

“Seriously?” 

“Yep. I think Will overheard and punched him.” They see William walking towards them now. “Don’t be so hard on him, okay.” 

Scully lets out a small, “Okay.” Then looks towards her phone, grimacing. 

“Everything okay?” Mulder asks with concern. 

“Yeah,” Scully answers though she sounds distracted. “It’s just time for me to go home.”

“Already?” Will asks sounding disappointed. 

“Come on,” says Mulder, a hand on Will’s shoulder. “It’s getting late. Mom’s probably usually in bed by now.” He feels a pinch to his elbow in response. 

They climb into the car; Mulder driving, Scully next to him, Will in the back seat. They could almost all be going home together. 

“I’ll drop you off, okay?”

“Okay,” Scully answers. She smiles but it doesn’t look as natural as the others have. 

They’re pulling into her drive when they hear Will from the back seat. “Damn…” he mutters just loud enough for Mulder to catch it. He waits for a reapproach from Scully but one doesn’t come. “Can I get my DS from the house?” Will asks. That seems to spurn Scully. 

“Yes but be quick, your dad wants to get home.”

His dad didn’t want to get home. His dad wanted to stay here, in this moment, pretending this is where they all lived. How normal this day had felt; going to school, going out to dinner, the banter, the easiness. How Will seemed so much happier having both parents together. They forget but this can’t be easy on him. 

Scully enjoys his company, he knows she does. She wouldn’t have gone out with them tonight if she didn’t. 

“I should go,” she says but Mulder reaches out towards her, his hand falling lightly atop of hers. The first he’s touched her in over 5 years. He’s missed this, missed her so much. 

Stay, he wants to say. Come back with us. We can be a proper family again. 

“Scully…” he says and she turns ever so slightly and he can see it, how much she wants this too. 

He doesn’t know who kisses who first. When their lips touch it’s magical and magnificent at once. Everything he can remember and more. 5 years of memory that never lived up to the real thing, 5 years of wet dreams, waking up soiled and disappointed, ashamed and heart broken all over again, missing her even more than the day before. 

His tongue invades her mouth, wrapping his hands around her waist, trying to pull her closer to relieve the ache hardening between his legs but the stupid console is in the way. 

Mulder pulls away, fighting for breath, for words. “Invite me in,” he whispers. Into her home, into her heart, he’ll take anything he just wants more. 

“I want…” she begins but the front door is open, light from the hallway illuminating them. 

They jump away from each other, burned by the light and by the words that fall innocently from William’s mouth. 

“Mom! You didn’t tell me Scott was here.” 

A coldness runs through Mulder. He looks from Scully (who has some decency to look ashamed at least) to the stranger that stands in her house like he owns it. 

Who the fuck is Scott? His brain demands. 

...

@suitablyaggrieved/ScullyLovesQueequeg's Fictober Day 10

“Sir, with all due respect… why can’t I have Scully back?”

“We’ve gone over this, Agent Mulder. We’re a little short on forensic pathologists. You’ll have Agent Scully back in no time. Now do you want to tell me why I’m getting several complaints that you’re making things down there a hostile environment?”

Post Little Green Men Mulder is alone.

Snits's Here, Now

"He's resting his ankle," Scully lied smoothly. A woman on her left, Laura, giggled suddenly, leaning into the conversation. "I saw him, hopping about earlier," she said wickedly, "how'd he do it?"

"Chasing ghosts," Jacobs supplied, provoking laughter. "Ruh-roh, Scully," a man across the table mimicked Scooby-Doo. "Nah, he probably just fell after the aliens let him off the space ship," another woman sniggered, reaching for the wine bottle. "Seriously, Scully, any time you want to be out of that nuthouse, you just mention it," the man beside Jacobs said solemnly, as though he were the voice of reason in the group.

Scully finally understands why Mulder never goes to FBI parties.

Philiater's The Stronger Monster

The strongest, that's what Mulder had said; the monster had taken the strongest of them.

For a moment that comment had dug at her a little bit; a part of her had automatically protested that *she* was strong. But she was a fish out of water in a deep forest.

Detour Scully is willing to be a monster for Mulder.

@starwalker42's (Ao3)

febuwhump day 23: "you'll have to go through me"

As the creature approaches him, creeping forward so slowly it’s almost like it’s biding its time, almost as if it’s enjoying toying with him, Mulder wonders how long it might take to bleed out from a bite wound. Maybe the pain will be strong enough that he won’t make it that long, anyway – maybe he’ll pass out before it gets to that point. Maybe those jaws will tear right through him, and he won’t feel anything but a flash of pain and the sensation of his body being ripped apart.

Bang! A cloud of dirt flies up into the wolf’s face, and it turns away, whining in surprise. After a moment of confusion, Mulder realises someone’s fired a gun.

Scully stares down a wolf.

Anonymous's (mulderscreek, annex-files) Silence, Sea and Sky

Dana Scully watched her partner closely but his face betrayed no emotion. If she didn't know him so well she wouldn't have noticed the tiny tremble of his hands, the dull look in his usually expressive eyes.

Mulder (and Scully) is invited onto a case where he has to work alongside an old VCU foe.

@o6666666's (Ao3) Phoebe takes a job at the fbi

“Mulder is incredibly passionate.”

“He’s myopic. Small-minded for anything that’s ever shown him tenderness.”

“I think he’s a genius.”

“Do you show him tenderness, Agent Scully?”

With that, Scully shoves her chair back from the table.

AU-- Phoebe Green is back, as an FBI agent.

@wendelah/wendelah1/avesuvianface’s (Gossamer, Live Journal) When light is put away

While Mulder stepped into his trousers, she walked over to the window and peered out through the shattered glass. "There's no sign of it—him—anywhere."

Mulder nodded. Whatever he was, man or monster, Pincus moved fast. He pulled a T-shirt over his head.

"This time—" Her voice was firm. "—I'm not leaving here without you."

Folie a Deux Mulder is rescued by one Dana Scully.

Dawn’s (Ao3, Gossamer) Broken (Ao3) and Restored

I turn around to face the now-thoroughly-irritated officer. "Agent Mulder has been through quite an ordeal tonight and is feeling under the weather. I'm taking him back to the motel now. We'll come down to the station tomorrow and you can finish asking your questions."

The kid can't be more than twenty-five, baby-faced and lacks the self-assurance of Detective Webster. Still, he actually scowls and opens his mouth to argue with me until I flash him what Mulder refers to as "The Look."

Folie a Deux Scully and Mulder's thoughts after the bug flees and the cops show up.

Wylfcynne's Imagine

"You aren't getting free until we have a clear MRI," she said calmly.

Mulder exploded in rage, screaming, cursing, struggling violently. On the status monitor, everything began to escalate. Three Project doctors came running in, alerted by the system alarms, and stopped, awed at the violence they were witnessing.

Post S.R. 819 Mulder and Scully are captured while on a Kersh detail; and Scully must break out, somehow sound the alarm, and purge Mulder from a black oil invasion.

@baronessblixen's (Ao3) imagine some other agents playing a trick on Mulder

"I was getting coffee for us and then this one guy, Agent Peters, he said I didn't need to bother because, because," he stops, panic slipping back into his voice. Scully squeezes his hand to let him know she's here. "Because you were in a car accident and that... that you were... didn't look good." Tears fall from his eyes as he looks up at her. The way his bottom lip quivers breaks her heart.

Mulder rushes down to the basement, distraught.

Pattie's They Call Him AGENT Mulder

"I guess you're not too proud of me today, Scully. Sorry I reacted the way I did."

"Don't be sorry," I told him, as we got into the car. "He had it coming. It was a rotten thing for him to do to you."

S6 Mulder and the various methods of aggravation fellow FBI agents use.

LuminousPie's

Five Times Mulder Got Injured and One Time Scully Did

She looked up and frowned, debating whether to answer. She much preferred it when Diana didn’t speak. “I was just thinking about how many times Mulder has been in the hospital in the last 5 or so years.” She didn’t allude to her own ailments. She suspected Diana already knew.

Diana put down her magazine and crossed her arms, “Is it a lot?”

“I’ve lost count.”

“Mulder was never injured when I was with him.”

Various Mulder injuries through the years.

What Goes Up Must Come Down.

She whispers softly in his ear as she assesses him, “It's going to be okay Mulder, I’m right here.” She almost calls him ‘sweetheart’ but it’s not just Diana that stops her, it's the fact she also has to be a doctor now.

Mulder and Scully try to hide their secret relationship from Diana while all three are trapped in a malfunctioning elevator.

@seek-its-opposite​ (Ao3) nothing to hide (Ao3)

"Your irresponsible theories nearly got my officer killed, Agent Mulder.” The sergeant gestures at the crack house, the door splintered on the floor. “To say nothing of how my department looks on camera for taking you seriously.”

“But you did take him seriously.” Agent Scully’s voice sharpens to a stiletto point. Her partner absorbs chaos; she refracts it.

Post X-Cops Scully is incensed when the local cops lay blame at her partner's feet.

ScullyLikesScience's He is the Master of His Fate, She is the Captain of Her Soul

Mulder and Scully sat in their rental car in the parking lot of the Sheriff’s department. She sat, shaking her head. What a waste of a perfectly good weekend. He cleared his throat. “Okay, so he was actually crazy. For real crazy. Do you think the Phoenix bureau called me as a joke?”

Scully sighed, clicked one of the overhead lights, and opened the file on her lap.

Spanning from Amor Fati to IWTB, this series tracks the growth Mulder and Scully experience as they come into their own.

@neednottoneed/neednot's Unnamed

What she can't get over is the staring.

Mulder keeps tapping his fingers on the table. They sit across from each other, her foot occasionally brushing his, and it really does feel like everyone in the building is watching them.

Post all things Scully decides to hold Mulder's hand at the FBI.

@brenayla's (Ao3) and @leiascully's midnight gold and moon shadows

Scully brushes past the group to get to the trash can, where she tosses a paper takeout coffee cup.

Agent Chang nods at her in greeting. “Agent Mulder,” he says with all the confidence of a recent Academy grad.

The being before him gives a wary look.

“It’s Scully, actually.” Not cold but certainly not friendly either.

Mulder and Scully, cryptids.

@mldrgrl's (Ao3) Tumblr drabble prompts of various shades of MSR

She heard laughter as she approached the door to the office. A cluster of agents surrounded Mulder’s desk with handfuls of files, laughing together. One of them was wearing a hat that was clearly not his own. Scully bristled. Her heels struck the ground with angry blows as she strode across the room.

“Take it off,” she said, holding her hand out to the agent with a withering glare.

S8 Scully will not stand for Mulder mockery in his absence.

Gina Rain/gina rain's Circular File

They were all assembled around the conference table. Creative bookkeeping couldn't solve some of the problems that appeared in the past year's budget. Explanations had to be given. Even Agent Scully had to attend to justify costs that were incurred during her time with the X-file division. She entered the conference room and some people stopped talking and looked up at her and then, with small smiles or sidelong glances, resumed their rapt attention of the closed files in front of them.

But Agent Scully did not sit down.

AU-- S9 Scully is having a hard time letting the FBI go (or, as she realizes, go without speaking her mind.)

@slippinmickeys/SlippinMickeys/Slippin' Mickeys's Three Part Harmony (Ao3)

“ --der ,” he heard, in what was unmistakably Scully’s voice. But he didn’t hear her voice with his ears, but rather in his head, where the buzzing was emanating. It was remarkably similar to when he could hear others’ thoughts, pushed into what bordered on madness by an alien craft. But this didn’t feel like lunacy; it was warm and euphoric. 

“ Mulder, ” he heard again in Scully’s voice, this time more clear, the buzzing lessening. “ Is that you? ” 

AU-- Mulder and Scully save their son while on the run; and the three of them continue perpetually forward with the FBI on their heels.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

@scenes-in-between/scullywolf's TXF: Scenes in Between (Tumblr)

One scene per episode: Mulder and Scully and the mysteries they encounter. 

@cecilysass's (Ao3, Gossamer) The Boy on the Beach (Ao3)

Post Amor Fati Scully is trapped in the past-- and believes she can save Mulder's future by sacrificing her own.

Keleka’s Gray Ghosts 

Post Theef– Mulder, Scully ,and TLG investigate the violent deaths of the 47th Brigade. As Mulder plunges headlong into the alternate dimension of a vengeful demon (undeterred by his earlier proposal and recent injury at the hands of a possessed soldier), Scully grapples with her faith in religion, her father, and her military-- all of which comes to a head when she witnesses a cathedral full of praying ghosts.

Jenna Tooms/misslucyjane’s (Ao3, mulderscreek)

An Acceptable Level of Happiness (Site)

AU-- Post Requiem Scully is helping Mulder adjust to a world post-trauma. Fatherhood may be a breeze, but ptsd, triggers, and others' judgments are not.

Shooting Star (Gossamer, mulderscreek)

AU-- Post Requiem Mulder is returned to "his angel" seventeen years later, waking to an addled brain, clone confusion, and a distant son.

And last but not least: long-form fic series spanning the first nine seasons of the show.

OTHER RECOMMENDED LISTS

Anasazi– Shot and Emotionally Fraught

Cuddling for Warmth

Diana Fowl(ey) Play-- All Parts 

A Tormented Man, At Last, Is Comforted

Cleaning Out the Vineyard House

Crazy X-Cops (and Watching the Tragic Ep. Later)

Thanks for reading~

And So It Goes

I sat up, heart pounding, gasping for breath as Mulder stumbled into the room. His hair was sticking up in the back like a rooster's comb, and if I wasn't having a breakdown, I would have laughed. "A bad one?" he asked.

"I give it a nine." I ran a shaky hand through my hair as Mulder brought me a glass of water from the bathroom.

"Yeah, but I bet you can't dance to it," he quipped as he handed me the glass and sat next to me on the bed. I took a long drink and wondered why people bring you water when you're upset. He rubbed my back as I took deep breaths and felt my heart try to escape my chest. "Which one was it? The one on the examining table?"

I bitterly regretted telling him about that particular horror show.

Post One Son Scully and Mulder investigate another abductee case.

Jabberwocky by bcfan & MaybeAmanda & Amy & Tesla & msk & Marchmont, Lucy & Kmom 

Mulder's eyes moved from Sybil to Scully. "Fro--Melvin said you had information. What's up?" he asked, the lack of expression in his voice expressing the utmost suspicion.

Sybil leaned forward, and the lazy drawl was nearly gone from her voice. "I think the company I work for is running insurance scams with the undead."

Post Bad Blood Scully and Mulder find themselves-- courtesy of the Lone Gunmen-- investigating another suspicious Texan town.

Mezzo Luna

"I think Carmela's emotions were carried through the food she cooked to the people who ate it. She was angry when she made the ravioli, and the people who ate it became enraged." He sat back and folded his arms, as if daring her to take her best shot.

Scully took a sip of her club soda and fought a smile.

Mulder and Scully investigate a town embroiled with heightened emotions (and confront a few of their own.)

"The Freedom Squad Birthday by Kel & msk 

"He wants a Freedom Squad Battle Fortress."

"I'm sure he'll like that mitt just fine."

Mulder was grinding the ball into the glove, forming the pocket. Which really wasn't necessary, but still, that's what a guy does with a new glove.

"I went to World O' Toys and Big Box Toys in Alexandria. I called a couple of stores in Arlington. I didn't get very far."

"He didn't give you much notice," Doggett said. As in, maybe if you talked to him more than once a month, you would have known earlier.

AU-- Post Existence Mulder is unstable, flaky, and constantly in and out of Scully and William's life.

mimic117's

Supermarket Sweep

Why don't they include this in the training? Especially for guys. It's gonna come up at some point. It's inevitable. You get comfortable with each other. You trust each other. You'd even die for each other. So why shouldn't you do this one little thing, too? Easy, right?

Wrong.

There's too many choices.

S1 Mulder is sent on a period shopping expedition.

One Another's Best

"I miss her, Mulder."

He places his hand on her sleeve.

"I know."

Post Paper Clip Mulder understands why Scully is snappy at work.

War Stories

How do you burn a ring inside a shirt cuff? He just smirked when I asked about that one.

He does that a lot. Never really explains anything, just shrugs or smirks.

Post Bad Blood Mulder's dry cleaner is used to regular damage.

Imperfect Penance

It's a dangerous assignment, I won't kid you about that. I knew what I was getting into from the start, although I wasn't happy about going in without backup. Still, Skinner was right. I couldn't risk the operation just because I feel naked without her next to me. But she found out anyway. Wish I could have seen her worming the details out of Skinner.

Pine Bluff Variant Mulder is glad to have Scully on the "in."

Getting By

It took a moment to achieve upright and stable, but once she did, Scully found she could shuffle with the best of the octogenarians. She'd made it around the bed, on a steady course to reach the door in under twenty minutes, when she remembered two things. One, there was someone in her apartment. Chances were really good that it was just her mother, who'd called the previous night and used her maternal radar to deduce her child's state of health. But two, she couldn't be sure of that and her gun was safely locked away in her end table. She turned and looked. Way back there. On the other side of the bed.

She swiveled slowly toward the door again and caught sight of the baseball bat standing in the corner.

S6 (or S7) Scully is very sick... and very loopy.

Jersey-deviled

"So *anyway*.... I'd just gotten close to the door when it opened again. The woman standing there yelled, 'Hey! Come on in!' and hauled me into the room."

"Did you get her description?"

"I already told you I didn't. It happened too fast, and once I was inside the room, I was mobbed."

"Right. I forgot."

Mulder and Scully, on the road with concussion stories.

Jaded

"Well, you're not upsetting me, Miss, uh..."

Ms. Cool Cucumber doesn't like it when Hotshot has to remind her of my *real* last name. Wish I could see the look she gave him. She's the one in control here and she seems to think I'm hiding something.

First Person Shooter's Jade Afterglow has thoughts after Scully and Mulder's interrogation.

Coming up Roses

"Look on the bright side, Mulder."

"Is there a bright side?"

"Of course there is. This time you weren't hurt enough to need drugs, so I won't have to listen to your snoring at night."

"Sez you. And I do not snore."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

Mulder is scratched up by rose bushes.

Chip Off the Old Block, Chip Off The Old Block 02 - Serendipity, Chip Off The Old Block 03 - Veracity, and Chip Off The Old Block 04 - Duplicity

Trading glances with Mulder, Charlie took on the task of deflecting his sister's annoyance. "We were almost mugged coming out of the gym, Sis. No big deal. We just didn't want to worry you."

"Yeah." Mulder dove through the loophole he'd been handed. "It was just some hop-head trying to score a little cash. We got the bad guy, the cops took him away, and we're both fine. End of story."

Glaring from one man to the other, Scully crossed her arms and lowered her brows. "Why do I get the feeling there's something else you're not telling me?"

AU-- Post Existence Mulder, Scully, and William are awash in Charlie Scully misadventures. (Turns out, William's little powers are genetic.)

Emily Sim's

Aeviternal

He closed the door and scooped up his jacket and a sweater he'd left on the couch. They joined other discarded parts of his wardrobe on his bed. Good to know the bed was good for something.

Post Fire Mulder ruminates on the word 'love'.

Softly

I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. It thrums through his body with every beat of his heart, with every step that he takes towards her hospital room. How many times over the years has he done this? He’s only been gone a few minutes to grab some food for himself, but he can’t shake eight years’ worth of hospital visit paranoia from his shoulders.

Existence Mulder keeps watch over Scully and their son in the hospital.

Satchie's

Dancing with Mephistopheles

"You've sustained an injury to your left anterior cerebral artery, which has caused some hemorrhaging into your brain. That's why you're having speech difficulties and the weakness on your right side. We're going to repair the damaged artery and evacuate the clot."

Brain surgery? You've really outdone yourself this time, Mulder.

Post Demons Mulder realizes that it was Scully's blood, not her tears, on his shirt.

Renaissance de Mal 

Scully glanced back at the abandoned vehicle. "Don't move. I'll bring the car over here and get you situated. Then we'll go to the emergency room."

Mulder gingerly flexed his limb. "Nah. I think it's okay. I just need to work out the kinks. Probably twisted it funny or something."

"Uh huh. It's the 'or something' that worries me.

S5 Mulder adds another injury to his list while chasing after a demon dog.

Claimed

Scully frequently volunteered to handle this unpleasant task, but his misplaced guilt prevented him from accepting her gracious offer this time. For crying out loud, he nearly died simply because he went to an out-of-town basketball game. It was so senseless and humiliating. No, he would fight this battle alone.

Mulder's insurance company has no mercy.

In Extremis

The worst part of my decline is having to face my trials alone. So many times I've debated whether or not to tell Scully about my illness, but I can't seem to arrive at a decision. For crying out loud, she's a doctor. Sooner or later she's bound to notice the subtle clues of my deterioration. Do I honestly believe I can keep this from her until the bitter end? No matter how I check out, she's going to be heartbroken.

AU-- Pre-Requiem Mulder is too afraid to tell Scully about his brain disease.

Jenna's

IOU

We spend the next few hours reliving the past 22 years through my eyes. I tell her everything, but mostly about my time spent with Scully and all that has happened to us over the last two years. She finally has gained the nerve to ask "the" question.

"This Scully, is she is a "partner?" Or is she is a "partner, partner?"

AU-- Mulder and Samantha root around in their parent's attic.

Amy's

Where are You, China Blue?

"Listen to me."

He looked off, annoyed.

"You're not listening."

"Yes, I am."

"Then stop it, Daddy. Just hear me out. I don't care anymore. I don't care. It used to be fun. It used to be this great game. 'Don't get caught, Sammy', you'd say. It was great. My whole life was great. Until last week, I thought it was going to be that way forever."

AU-- Post Redux II Samantha is sick and tired of the games.

Through the Mist

You approach my body. I expect to find shock, horror and sadness etched within every line of the face I know better than my own. Instead you are smiling, you approach me as you have every other day of our friendship, your eyes take in my body with reverence, a small smile is dancing on your lips. Your arms are held behind your back and as you approach the bed I can see the little game you have intended to play. A date. The remembrance of the word is almost unbearable. Your smile grows as you present my corporeal self with the bouquet from behind your back. I can hear you lightly mocking me, laughing at the fact that I had said that fortunes would come between us and normality. You are out to prove me wrong, not out of vengeance or spite, but because that is how you and I grow and move forward.

AU-- Scully's spirit watches a broken Mulder take her body home.

Tesla's (Site)

Get Up, Mulder

He rolled onto his side. He still had his gun. What was the problem? He felt blood trickling from his scalp. Someone must have sapped him. He was such an idiot. He wiggled his fingers, tried to send a message to his feet. They moved. Good. Houston, we have movement.

"Scully?" he said, tentatively. He was in a parking deck. Something about a suspicious sale of fertilizer. Great. Wonderful. He knew Kersh wanted to kill him, but he had thought it would be death by boredom.

FTF and S6 Mulder's many "passing out" adventures.

After the Ship

"When a man has to start all over again----when a profiler, who sees evil everywhere, has to start over again- ---how do you rejoin the world?"

Black's eyebrows twitched once. "Ah," he said. "But I have a connection to the world. I have my daughter."

Mulder grimaced.

Black reached in his pocket for a couple of dollars. "Yes, Agent Mulder, I'm luckier than you. You have to find your way back without a lifeline."

Post Three Words Mulder remains disconnected, dully wondering if he's a clone.

Kel's No Longer at Ease Here

He looked over at me, nodded, and turned back to look out the window.

"If that's true, you have my deepest sympathy," he said.

If that's true. Like I'm a liar.

"Squamash, Pennsylvania. Sound familiar?" I asked him.

That got his attention.

Vienen Doggett tells Mulder about his own experience with death.

Kmom's How I Want The X-Files To End

"Scully? You awake?"

"Sure, Mulder, I'm awake." The voice is deadpan. "I'm always awake at... uh... 3:35 am."

"Well, I was wondering... "

"What else is new? Make it quick."

"Do you think it's possible for dinosaurs to still be walking the earth somewhere?"

Post Existence Mulder and Scully have an early morning conversation about reinstatement.

bcfan's

Party Line

At Mulder's hurt look, Scully swallowed and closed her eyes. Get a grip, she scolded herself. You usually love his brilliance and energy. Thinking back to yesterday's discussion - childhood report card comments - Scully remembered she'd shared "plays well with others." Mulder had countered with "has a low tolerance for repetition."

That's the key, Scully decided. I have to find a way to pull us both out of this miasma of snarkiness. I have to give Mulder something new and different to think about.

Post Firewalker quarantine slumber party.

Wired

"I'm enlisting your help on a field assignment, but it's going to be undercover. Can you get away unofficially for a few days?"

"Well, I have some back vacation time coming. Agent Scully, might I ask-"

"No. I'm on an unsecured line. Drop off whatever paperwork you need to fill out and meet me in your own car - not a Bureau car, Agent Pendrell - at the food court of the Key Mall in Frederick. It's about 40 miles from D.C. Do you know where it is?"

"I'm sure I can find it. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Scully nodded. She still had one friend in the FBI.

Wetwired Scully is on the run, calling up Pendrell for help and fleeing to her mother's.

Bon Voyage with an Open Book

"No, I'm thinking about early humans. It must have been confusing for the first people to dream - to go somewhere without going."

"I never thought of that before."

Mulder throws his arm over his eyes and murmurs. "I don't want to go somewhere anymore, Scully. It's too hard."

"Mulder, I'm coming over."

Post Paper Hearts Scully drops by with a present.

Hanukkah

Scully spotted it on a dusty shelf at a gas station QuikiMart, propped next to boxes of tinsel and faded red and green ornaments. A quick decision later, the miniature menorah was tucked into her plastic bag with sunflower seeds and a lottery ticket promising 38 million dollars.

Mulder looked surprised as he examined her offering.

"For good luck," she murmured.

Post Kaddish Scully buys Mulder a menorah.

Twin Paradox, A New Interpretation

"Perfect timing, Mulder. No haircut, but I just got rid of three days worth of beard. How are you feeling?" Scully again held the water to Mulder's lips as she spoke.

"Better," he quietly replied, then gestured weakly with his hand. "Roses?"

"From my mother. Don't worry, she signed my middle name on the card. I knew they were for you, though."

Mulder smiled, and Scully's heart turned over.

"I've been dreaming. Good dreams. You're in them, Scully."

Amor Fati Mulder recovers in an old folks' home.

The Breakfast Club

"I'm cooking this morning, Mulder. Do you have a toaster?"

"Of course. This place has all the accoutrements of civilized dining."

Scully stepped into the kitchen. "Where is it?"

Mulder squeezed around her and crouched low, fishing with long arms in the back of a bottom cabinet. "Ta da." He held up an avocado clunker from the 1970s, covered in grime.

Post Amor Fati Scully keeps Mulder well-fed during his recovery; and he begins to return the favor.

Pine-scented

The funny little Charlie Brown Christmas tree looked almost lovely if he squinted and turned his head sideways. Lights sparkled in the windows and soft music caressed the room. It was beginning to look a lot like happiness realized.

Will climbed on Mulder's lap as he sat cross-legged on the floor, taping wires to the branches so the baby couldn't pull on them. Will drooled on his shirt and grabbed his nose. "Gah."

Post Existence Christmas, with poop and romance.

Obfusc8er's

Mandates from Heaven by Obfusc8er & Xtreme Unction 

Mulder leaned against one of the columns, casually crossing one ankle over the other, and squinted. He was trying to make out the textual message in the shimmering, as he is wont to do every time he visits the Lincoln Memorial. As usual, the epistle hidden in the water eluded him. He and Samantha used to play this game as children, making up imaginary Pentateuchal directives during every visit to the national mall. He smiled at the memory of some of the more ridiculous mandates from heaven they pretended to see.

AU-- Pre-S1 Mulder sees a "happily ever after" doppelganger.

Spending Time

I close my eyes briefly, trying to blink away the encroaching fog. I bite my lip until it bleeds. Even as I fade, I want her badly. She winds her hands together and shoves rhymically on my chest in a futile attempt at resuscitation. How lucky I am that my doctor is the pathologist who never says die.

Post Dod Kalm Mulder and Scully swap music requests after a night of nightmares.

True Reflections

Over here! Don't forget me! Mulder shouts silently.

"Okay. If I'm leaving anything behind, I'll just come by tomorrow to pick it up. I'll leave you alone now." She turns to leave.

He cannot take seeing her walk away right now, and he swallows hard.

"I don't want to be alone."

Post Grotesque Scully stands by her shaken partner.

Russian Roulette by Obfusc8er & bcfan 

The next time he awakens, Mulder bites his lip hard to keep silent, but he can't prevent the shakes.

Terma Mulder's stint in the Russian gulog.

Kiss and Makeup

"I got here as soon as I could. You sounded...lonely."

He lowered his eyes before saying the last word, unable to meet her gaze. She nodded at him, noting that he was no longer making an effort to pretend that his visit was anything but personal. She backed away a couple of steps, leaving the door wide open. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He stood fidgeting with the cuff of his trench coat, waiting for a cue, for a hint of what she needed from him. He was willing to do anything for her.

She wanted to let him hold her, but a lump was growing in her throat. She was busy trying desperately not to cry in front of him.

Pre-Gethsemane Scully and Mulder have a frank conversation about her health.

Reverto Ad Noctum

I can smell your fear.

Detour-- the Mothman's perspectives.

Convergence

Everything is running smoothly, and it all results in a living being, itself interacting with other beings in much the same way the wandering atoms within it do. The organism moves, communicates with, and manipulates members of its own and other kinds to become a part of an always-jostling, writhing whole conglomeration clinging precariously to a tilted, rolling rock. The system is humming along nicely, taking care of itself quite well.

And then something goes terribly wrong. The steady fluid pressure inside the organism's network of blood vessels rises slightly, the heart pumping frantically. The adrenal glands release endocrine and adrenaline into the bloodstream, causing the blood to become a much more efficient oxygen carrier. The protein hasn't made it back to the lungs yet. The combination of speeding heartbeat and frantically pumping lungs makes the entire system shake and vibrate with anticipation.

Monday, and one of the many days Scully lived through.

Deus ex Machina

Her partner was staring at the low tree stump upon which Legere had been splitting wood. She walked toward him, stopping when she saw the subject of his inspection. The face of the stump was sawed off with a smooth surface. The gray weathered grains were stained black and brown in a starburst pattern. Scully leaned closer and squinted. The stain was more recent and thinned around the edges, revealing its true pigment. It was red.

"It's blood," she stated, mostly to herself.

S6 Scully (and Mulder) come face-to-face with a demon on one of Kersh's patrols.

Papercut

"Don't move, Mulder. I'm not yelling. You have a concussion...among other things."

He winced as he felt fat raindrops falling on him with stinging force. Everything before him was a blur. He waited, and Scully's form slowly took shape.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

He looked at her, but his thoughts were clouded by pain in his head.

"Yeah. Fingers."

Scully finds her partner after he narrowly escapes a tornado.

One Man's Journey

I sense a wave of trembling pass through her frame as I marvel at the implausibility of our circumstances. Her head rests against my chest, against the very place where someone, or something, split me open and tried to remove my faith in her. When they realized they could not have that, they took everything else?

Post Three Words Mulder is desperate to keep Scully around while (temporarily) helpless to re-situate back to "normal."

Waddles52 and Little Bullit 89's Spectacular Lights and Chili Nights

"The injection should make you sleepy. I'm going to talk to the manager and find out where the closest medical facilities are. You need to be seen by a doctor."

"You're a doctor," he said sleepily. The phenergan was beginning to take effect.

"That's true, but in case you haven't noticed, the vast majority of my patients are dead.

AU-- Mulder and Scully, emergency appendicitis, and an important "I need you."

bellefleur's

Kiss of an Angel's Wings

Every time he closes his eyes, he sees her face. It's been like this for months now, maybe years, but never like tonight. Never like this. The memory of those baby blues riveted to him is seared into his soul.

Post Tempus Fugit Pendrell's last, besotted thoughts.

Iced

After the fact, it was hard for Scully to describe just what had occurred since it all happened so quickly. Ernie had just finished a rousing rendition of "Rubber Ducky," and as the music changed, the other characters emerged from the curtain, one by one, for the final number. Her focus, of course, had been on Big Bird, hoping for his sake that the show could end without incident. But as she watched him glide gracefully along behind Elmo in the long line of figures circling the ice, suddenly he broke formation and made a beeline for Oscar. With a dive at the garbage can, he and the Grouch slid toward the center of the rink, in a mangled pile of feathers and fur.

Post Detour Mulder and Scully are sent on an FBI undercover mission... as Sesame Street characters on ice.

When Cows Fly

Scully froze. She stopped breathing altogether, hoping that complete lack of motion would prevent him from waking further so that she could surreptitiously pull herself away. Slowly resuming her breathing, she began to plot another run at the alarm clock when a nearby rumbling startled her.

"If you wanted to cuddle you could've just asked."

Rain King Scully is flustered by Mulder's oblivious consumption of her space.

42 Flavors

Scully turned at Mulder's voice to see him pull up alongside her, and then she followed him out the door. One of the tables they had passed on the way in was now vacant, so they took their places in the wrought iron chairs flanking the matching round table.

"So, was it a good birthday, Scully?"

"Best one I've had in six months."

Post The Unnatural Mulder whisks Scully away to get gelato.

Combustion

She and her partner had faced this situation too many times, with one possibly losing the other permanently. Had this become almost mundane for them? To someone who had never faced this trauma before, the occasion magnified lost moments and things left unsaid. But for Scully, such thoughts had not even occurred to her, until now. Was it possible that she may never see Mulder again and never have the chance to express how she truly felt about him?

Mulder survives a bomb blast cave-in; and reunites with a relieved Scully, ready to take the next step.

In Heels

You'd think by now I'd be used to getting ditched, but with Mulder, it was never about gender. Sure, he was trying to protect me from taking the same stupid risks he was, but not because he thought I was a liability. That doesn't mean it didn't piss me off, but this--this one was a personal insult. And I don't like being insulted.

Mulder's swollen ankle prevents him from joining Scully and a misogynistic detective on the field.

Mother Love

Scully had invited him to join her and her mom for brunch that Sunday, but he politely declined and explained simply, "There's something I have to do." She accepted his excuse without question, perhaps understanding, or simply respecting his need to open up to her in his own time.

Post Sein und Zeit Mulder visits Tena Mulder's grave for Valentine's Day.

Triple Returns

"The Son."

Scully and Hughes both turned to look at Mulder who had now moved into the living room and was standing over the tape outlining where the body had fallen.

"Pardon me?" Hughes inquired.

"The Son. Daniels was the only son in his family, just like the second victim of each trio before. The original killers saw themselves as an unholy trinity, and they killed along the same pattern."

AU-- S7 Mulder and Kristen Kilar meet again.

Visceral

Your focus turns back to the steel pan containing the most poetic of my earthly remains. You place it inside the frame of the scale then write down the weight. You set my heart on the cutting board and pick up a long knife, your actions practiced and controlled, almost mechanical. The blade presses against the mottled epicardium, expressing thick, clotted blood from the vessels. But you pause, held back by something invisible and unspoken, your masterful hands trembling. Turning, you look at my opened body, my innermost self exposed. A few clear drops run from beneath your mask, dripping onto the front of your gown, mingling there with a smear of red.

Post All Things Daniel Waterston selfishly watches Scully autopsy his dead body.

Then Comes Marriage

"C'mon, Scully, it'll be fun. The lights, the magic. There's no other place like it on earth."

AU-- Mulder and Scully accidentally get married in Vegas.

Arms Wide Open

It hits me again: We did it. We made a life. I can't believe it.

And once more I laugh to myself in disbelief and start crying. This seems to be an automatic response for me.

AU-- Requiem Mulder wasn't abducted; and bolts from room after being told the surprise news.

Easter Vigil

All she knows for sure is that he was dead. She held his lifeless body. She touched his decaying flesh. She stood watch as they sealed him in the casket and then lowered him into the ground.

He was dead. And then he wasn't.

He is risen.

Deadalive Scully thinks of her waxing and waning faith in miracles.

Simple Man

The moment was interrupted as Will emerged from his room and rejoined them. It was Mulder who first noticed him, and Scully followed his gaze. Their son was now wearing jeans, a Yankees shirt, a ballcap, and his baseball mitt--the way he usually dressed when his father took him to the park to play catch.

AU-- Post Existence Mulder and Scully discuss his childhood while William changes his Halloween costume.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Mulder was standing on his desk, holding something above his head, apparently installing...

"Ceiling tiles? Mulder, what are you doing?"

He almost fell off the desk, startled by her presence, but she quickly reached out to steady him. He smiled sheepishly and climbed off the desk.

AU-- IWTB Mulder keeps putting off his doctorate.

truthwebothknow1's

Natiruvaaq

He tried to cut through the fog that left his mind in a painful vice.

Mulder, caught in the fog.

Echoes

Her aunt had been bugging her for months about coming over to spend a few days and finally meet her.

S6 (or S7) Scully vacations in Ireland, where she not only finds her own X-File but runs into her partner.

Enchanted Shores

The soft crunch of feet through wet sand broke her out of her reverie as her partner approached her, grinning like a little boy bringing her a natural sea treasure.

The man with the child in his eyes.

S6 (or S7) Mulder and Scully take a lovely dovey trip to Maine.  

Home Alone

He stood at the lip of the stairs swaying and was feeling quite disorientated when the downstairs phone ringing tore a path through the cotton in his head. His good foot shifted inadvertently onto the first step but his toes could not dig into the carpet enough to stop his forward momentum. A final sway and his crutches slipped from his grasp with a clatter and he pitched forward, too shocked and slacked jawed to cry out. The hall flooring came up to collide with his nose at an alarming speed just as the answering machine kicked in.

Mulder gets into progressively worse scrapes on Valentine's Day, resulting in Maggie's arrival, Scully and Skinner's panic, and a reporter's opportunistic attempt to snap a photo.

My December

And then they found him.

Mainly because the puddle of red stood out in stark contrast to the endless white. Fortunately, they'd spotted his limp body wedged upside-down against a snow-covered rock before the last gimlet slither of light vanished over the next mountain. Only Mulder could render himself trussed up like some macabre raspberry ripple snowball....

AU-- S7 Mulder is wrapped up in barbed wire after a disastrous car accident. With no other recourse, Skinner and Scully prepare to pull it out themselves.

If I Close My Eyes Forever and Vortex

He was so excited at the thought of revisiting his old haunts and he hadn't really come down since. He called it his Oxford beat. Scully had nearly fallen out of the boat, laughing as he said it. They nearly both ended up in the river. Good memories, he was going to need them, they both were.

A sudden slither of melancholy caught her in the ribs. His hand tugging gently at hers brought her out of her reverie.

AU-- Mulder wakes from a dreamworld, nearly debilitated with serious injuries. Scully takes him to England to help him move on from the FBI; and the two-- of course-- stumble across an x-file.

Si la vie est un cadeau

I'm not the Close Encounter hero, but I'm close to something...terrible. I'm Fox William Mulder... the most colossal looser of all time. I am both found and at the same time irrevocably lost to you...to this. And I want...no need to think that I didn't have a choice, ...like Sam, that all this was inevitable for some universal goodness concept, which somehow got lost or derailed along the way. I made the choice Scully, but was it mine to begin with? Was this not ordained long ago by happenstance of my birthright? When I think of what I've cost you...

Maybe I deserve all this; perhaps everything was leading to this, in some divine plan that was kept secret from us. Though I'm sure you would be the first to tell me that, God doesn't use power tools against helpless living flesh.

S8 Mulder recounts the temporary bouts of reprieve he'd feel amidst the trauma of his torture.

BONUS

I can't bounce from this list in good conscience without mentioning Vickie Moseley and Donna and Sheryl Martin and RocketMan and Cecily Sasserbaum and prufrock's love, authors I've put a lot of hours into. However, since Tumblr has limits on links per post, I'll merely suggest you search their names (e.g. #Vickie Moseley) on this blog; and limit this rec to a fic I became reacquainted with today.

prufrock’s love/plenilune’s (Ao3, Gossamer, WBM, colonizationhq)  

Malebolge 

"I'm not eating a bat, Mulder. We don't have any food, no drinkable water, and you've got to be freezing. Better start climbing, partner."

"I wanted to wait until you were awake - to make sure you were okay before I left you." He's on his knees, facing me, very close. I can feel the heat radiating off him in the darkness like an aura and a warm hand touches my good shoulder. "You know I care about you, don't you, Scully?"

Something was very wrong if Mulder was saying this while kneeling on my wet trench coat, half-dressed, in a cave. Maybe he hit his head - that usually precedes declarations of his love.

"I know you do, Mulder. Just go."

"Do you love me?" He'd found my hand, holding it tightly in his.

Bad wrong.

"You know I do. What's wrong, Mulder?"

AU-- Mulder and Scully (and a tour guide) become trapped in an underground cave-in, and slowly realize they're not getting out.

Thanks for reading~