TITLE: House Call (1/1) AUTHOR: Sister Moon ARCHIVE: Yes, but contact me first so I'll know where it's going E-MAIL: Dhcmoon@aol.com RATING: G CATEGORY: MSR (Sorta), UST (Major), DAL (Always) SPOILERS: None, although I would place the events here *after* "Triangle" SUMMARY: Dr. Scully makes a house call DISCLAIMERS: The characters of Mulder and Scully belong to 1013 Productions, CC, DD and GA; I'm just having a giggle; please don't sue! (and Sting, please don't sue me for using the title of your exquisite song as my nom de plume.) FEEDBACK: Would be greatly appreciated and warmly welcomed as this is the first story I have ever posted. Direct your comments to the above e-mail address. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is for Dee, who got me started-and for Marina, whose invaluable support and encouragement keeps me going-Danke! HOUSE CALL (1/1) Scully rang Mulder's doorbell again and called out, "Mulder, are you okay in there? Should I use my key?" The door opened abruptly, and Mulder's arm reached out to pull Scully inside. Mulder shut the door behind them and turned to face her, breathing heavily. "Did anyone follow you?" "No! I just came to check up on you, see how you're doing-." She could see that his fever was much worse; his breathing was raspy, his cheeks were flushed, and his eyes glittered as he stared at her. She reached up to feel his forehead and clucked in sympathy; his skin was burning hot. He whimpered and pressed his forehead against her palm. "Mulder, get back on the couch, come on." He followed her weakly and slumped down on the couch. "Are you sure no one was out there, Scully?" his voice was agitated. "Yes, Mulder, why do you keep asking me that?" "There's an alien outside trying to get in, Scully." For a moment, Scully felt a cold knot of fear in her stomach. Mulder's eyes were wide and serious. "He wants to come in here and paint me yellow-." Scully let out a relieved breath and stifled a laugh; his fever was giving him delusions. "No, Mulder," she said patiently, coaxing him to lie down. "There's no one out there-..I swear to you. " "But I HEARD him-" "Mulder, you have a very high fever and it's making you hear things that aren't really there. Just relax." Mulder breathed out in frustration and shook his head. "You never believe me-" he whined. Scully started to walk towards Mulder's kitchen and he grabbed her hand frantically. "Don't go back out there!" "I'm not, Mulder-I'm just going to get a cold washcloth for you, I'll be right back. Just hang on-" Mulder turned his face into the couch childishly, pulling his blanket over his head. Scully came back a moment later with a cold washcloth, a glass of water and two aspirins. The blanket was still over Mulder's head. "Mulder." "What?" came his morose reply, muffled by the blanket. "Can you sit up for a second, I want you to take some aspirin." "No." Scully stood over him and pulled the blanket off his face. "Will you stop being such a baby, Mulder? It's just aspirin, and it will bring your fever down. Come on-." He sat up and took the aspirins, followed by sips of water. "You never believe me, Scully", he sulked. Scully stuck a thermometer in his mouth. "Alright, Mulder-..I believe you-..I'll make sure he doesn't get in here, okay?" He nodded solemnly, the thermometer bobbing up and down in his mouth. After a few seconds, she took it out----104 degrees. Scully picked up the washcloth and held it against Mulder's forehead and he moaned in pleasure. "That feels good, Scully-" "Good-..lie back down, Mulder." "Sit on the couch with me?" As soon as Scully sat down at the end of the sofa, Mulder laid down with his head on her lap and sighed in satisfaction. He looked up at her with a dazed smile on his face. "Feeling a bit better now?" Scully kept one hand on the washcloth against Mulder's forehead, and rubbed his cheek affectionately with the other one. He nodded happily. "Hey Scully-.wanna hear a secret?" "Sure" "I like being sick." "What? Why?" He put his hand over hers against his cheek. "Because it's the only time you touch me." "Oh," she said quietly, shocked at his answer. "I like it when we play `Doctor', Scully." Mulder closed his eyes and grinned. "Oh Doctor, My Doctor" he intoned woozily, and laughed to himself. Scully shook her head and smiled; he was getting goofier by the second. "Do you know why I love you, My Doctor Scully?" he opened his eyes and looked up at her in drunken affection. "Why?" "Because you make house calls--.and that's SO rare these days," he said in mock seriousness. "Mulder---go to sleep." "Hmmmmm". He closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them again. "Scully--.do you love me?" She knew he'd most likely forget everything they'd said once his fever broke, so she gave him an unguarded answer. "Yes." "Say it." "I love you, Mulder. Now go to sleep." He closed his eyes again and smiled to himself. "I knew it," he mumbled, before falling asleep. *************** After four hours of restless sleep on Scully's lap, Mulder's fever broke and he looked up at her, blinking in confusion. "How are you feeling?" Scully asked him. "Better-..what happened?" "You had a bad fever; you were a bit incoherent for a while." She smiled tiredly at him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, and Scully stood up and stretched her aching limbs. "Listen, Mulder, if you don't need anything, I'm gonna get going," Scully said, yawning. "Yeah--.no, I don't need anything-..I'm okay, thanks." He walked her to the door and opened it for her. "Hey, Scully?" "Yeah?" "Uh--I didn't say anything rude to you or anything, did I?" "No, Mulder-you were a perfect gentleman." "I must've been at death's door, then," he joked. She smiled and said nothing. "So-..I didn't say anything to you, huh?" Scully hesitated for a split second. "No, Mulder. You just slept, mostly. I'll call you later to see how you're doing, okay?" "Yeah, okay, Scully-..thanks again for coming over." He shut the door after her and leaned against it. "Liar." He said out loud, and smiled. End.