From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:28:48 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Magnetism (BTC) by Erica
Source: direct

Reply To: eir643@aol.com

Title: Magnetism
Author: gweaz@gmail.com
Classification: VR - Vignette/Romance
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: The X-Files is owned by Fox; no infringement of
 copyright is intended. 
Feedback: Of course!  My first foray into X-Files 
fanfiction, so feedback is mucho appreciated :)
Spoilers: Genderbender.
Summary: For the Bad Touch S1 Challenge.  Missing scene 
from Genderbender.

Magnetism

It wasn't cold inside the car, but Scully still felt a 
chill. The goose bumps on her arm tickled her fingers as 
she thoughtlessly rubbed her wrist.  It was like there was 
a fog in her head.  It felt like intoxication, or something 
close that she couldn't put her finger on.  Her fingertips 
and toes were buzzing.  The driver's door opened suddenly 
and shocked her out of her silent meditation and Mulder 
handed her a steaming cup.  She hoped the coffee would warm 
her up.  

'How're you feeling?' he asked as he got into the car.

'Better,' she replied, opting to skirt the truth of how she 
actually felt.  The truth was that Scully had no idea how 
she felt.  She was usually so composed.  She prided herself 
in her professionalism in the field and her dead on 
instincts, but she couldn't explain how she ended up in bed 
with Brother Andrew.  Even if she had been attracted to 
him, she never would have let that happen under normal 
circumstances.  Scully was always so in control.  even stone 
drunk she would never have kissed someone involved in a 
case, let alone a suspect.

'A little embarrassed, actually,' she added.

'Why? You don't remember any of it.'

'It's like I don't remember-'

'Why didn't you get out of there before he...' Mulder
 trailed off, wanting some type of explanation.

'Because he told me he knew who the killer was,' Scully
 replied.  It wasn't the whole truth, but she had no better 
explanation.

'And that's all?'

'That's all,' she replied.  'I don't want to talk about it, 
Mulder.'  She looked away, trying to avert his gaze.  
Mulder was silent for a moment as he looked at her profile.  
It took some effort for her not to return his gaze.
 Instead, she took an unmeasured sip of her coffee and 
winced as she burnt her tongue on the hot coffee.

'What if there was another explanation?' he asked.  Scully 
smirked.  She could clearly imagine Mulder as a small child 
driving his mother insane with unending inquiries into the 
mysteries of the world.  Mrs. Mulder must have dreaded the 
words 'what if.'  

Scully had never in her life met anyone so innately 
curious, and she found that she enjoyed the continuous 
repartee that stemmed from Mulder's insatiable appetite for 
knowledge.  Today, however, she was not in the mood to 
question, analyze and explain.  

'Like what?' Scully asked with a sigh, resigning herself to 
the inevitable.  It was a moment before he responded.

'What do you know about pheromones, Agent Scully?' he 
asked. The corner of her mouth twitched as she turned to 
face him again.

'Well,' she began, not looking forward to where this 
conversation was going, 'I know that they are chemical 
signals sent out by an organism that illicit a social 
response in members of the same organism.'  He nodded.  
 'There has been documentation that they can indicate 
danger, food, marking territory...' This was obviously not 
the answer Mulder was looking for.  

'Go on,' Mulder said.  He waited.  

'Sex.'  By the look on his face she had hit the nail on the 
head.  'Well, there has been some evidence that sex 
pheromones help organisms identify male and female members 
of the same species and indicate when a female is ready to 
breed or whether or not a male would make a good mate.  But 
Mulder, there has absolutely never been conclusive proof of 
human pheromones having any such affect.  It has only been

documented with insects, bacteria, other mammals to some 
extent... The human physiology doesn't allow for such 
drastic response to biological chemicals from other 
humans.'  

'But how different are we from the birds and the bees, 
Scully?  Isn't that why we use monkeys in the lab instead 
of poking and prodding at John Doe?'  Scully was shaking 
her head before Mulder even finished his statement.   

'Of course there are advantages of using animals similar to 
humans in the lab, and you are right that anatomically and 
physiologically, the difference between humans and other 
mammals is minimal.  It's evidenced by the way we teach it
 in school, I suppose; I learned human anatomy from a cat 
dissection as an undergrad, but, Mulder, it's not the 
same.'  She was exasperated, but at the same time was aware 
of a hint of enjoyment somewhere in the back of her mind.

'Why not?  We all are governed by the same laws of nature,' 
he said.  'Why should humans be excluded?'  She knew that 
he was grasping for straws, with little scientific 
knowledge, but she found she couldn't interrupt him in his 
tirade.  'Wouldn't it be plausible, Scully, that one 
population, isolated from the general public and left alone 
for generations, developed some type of mutation where 
something like a sex pheromone could have evolved to have 
such an effect?' he asked her.

'It would be plausible, yes,' she conceded, 'but that would 
be like saying that people are just magnets and have no 
control over whom they are attracted to or how they act on 
such an attraction.  You can't simply send out these 
chemical signals whenever you want a quickie, Mulder!'

'Then how do you explain what happened with you and Brother 
Andrew?' 

'I can't!' she responded violently, spilling coffee as she 
jerked her hand in frustration. 'Ouch! Shit,' she cursed 
under her breath as she looked for something to clean up 
the mess.  Not finding anything, she began to wipe the 
offending liquid onto her dark coat.  Mulder reached over 
to stop her and brushed her hand with his thumb as he 
handed her a napkin.  She felt a jolt at the contact.  He 
didn't let her hand go as he cleaned off the coffee.

'There has to some reason I walked in on you about to do 
the wild thing with some stranger...'

'Well, it's not pheromones,' she said absentmindedly as she 
watched him pat her hand dry.  

'I wouldn't count it out, Scully,' Mulder said, glancing up 
at her for a moment.  'I've seen people do some pretty 
uncharacteristic things under the influence of physical 
attraction.' She felt herself flush as he looked up at her. 
 'In fact...' He began to lean toward her.

'Mulder, what are you doing?' she asked, quickly leaning 
away from him.

'I'm conducting a scientific experiment,' he said still 
closing the space between them until she didn't have 
anywhere else to go.  ' You should appreciate this as a 
scientist and a medical doctor.'  Her eyes left his for a 
second as, unbidden, they flickered down to his lips.  He 
stopped leaning toward her when his face was a few inches 
away from hers.

'This isn't appropriate, Mulder,' she said quietly.  She 
inwardly scolded herself for not being more assertive.

'I promise not to move another inch,' he said.  She did not 
take any comfort from his assertion.  

'Will you please back up,' Scully said without much real 
conviction.  She was still acutely aware of his hand on 
hers.

'Not an inch.  This is a bona fide scientific study.  You 
say there is no such thing as inexplicable attraction.  I 
am determined to find out.'  Mulder was as good as his word 
and hovered just a few inches away from her with no sign of 
surrendering.  She tried to string together some kind of 
argument, but was frustrated by how easily his proximity 
affected her train of thought. Finally, she pieced 
something together.

'I didn't say inexplicable attraction, Mulder.  people are 
attracted to inappropriate people all the time.  I said that 
there is no such thing as human sex pheromones that could 
have the effect that you are describing, it just wouldn't-'

'Are you attracted to me, Scully?' he asked in the same 
whispery tone with which he spoke to her on the day they 
first met, as if her belief in extra-terrestrials was
 somehow comparable to plausibility of her finding him 
attractive.

'That's beside the point, Mulder,' she argued.  'We are 
partners on assignment.  That's all.'

'Then you wouldn't have a problem resisting an advance like 
this,' he inferred.

'No, Mulder, I wouldn't.  Now, please stop.'  She didn't 
feel threatened at all, but his proximity was sending 
sparks along her spine.  He didn't back away, so she 
continued, trying quite hard to ignore the physical 
closeness between them.  'This little experiment won't 
prove anything about pheromones, and it certainly won't 
help us find this murderer-' 

'So you're saying that you don't feel anything with me 
close to you like this? No magnetism?' he asked.  She 
raised her eyebrow.  She did not appreciate having her own 
words used against her.

'No.'  She could deny it out loud, but inevitably her body 
would betray her.  She was certain that he could hear her 
heartbeat quickening and feel the tremor in her hand.  

'You could just get out of the car,' Mulder suggested.  It 
was true; there was nothing that was keeping her from 
leaving, or smacking him for that matter.  But the truth 
was that she did feel something, and as much as she didn't 
want to admit it, magnetism wasn't far off the mark.  She 
found herself looking at his lips again as he continued 
speaking.

'No one is stopping-' he was cut off as Scully closed the 
distance between them.   She kissed him and told herself it 
was the only way to get him to give up.  or shut up.  For a 
moment, she tried to convince herself that he had not given 
her an alternative.  But the truth was that she couldn't 
resist.  

For a second, all the possible consequences of this kiss 
were flying through Scully's mind, but they were soon 
replaced by the overwhelming sensation of his lips on hers.  
Scully felt Mulder intertwine his fingers with hers as he 
reached up with the other hand to cup her cheek.  Her free 
hand automatically reached to the back of his neck as the 
kiss deepened.  There were no thoughts in her mind, just
 like a fog had smothered her consciousness.

Suddenly, as shockingly as if a grenade had gone off, 
Mulder's phone rang.  Scully was jolted back into the 
present and she jumped out of the car before he could even 
retrieve the phone from his pocket.  

Scully paced rapidly back and forth while Mulder was on the
 phone in the car.  Her heart was racing and her breathing 
was erratic.  All she could do was concentrate on her 
breath, and eventually her pace slowed to match.  She was a 
few yards away when she heard the car door open.  

'There's been another attack,' Mulder said.  Scully took 
one final breath before turning to him.  His face was red 
and his hair was standing up on the top.  He looked at her 
with the unspoken question clear on his face along with the 
slightest amount of guilt shining through.  She nodded, 
silently accepting whatever apology or explanation he had 
that would forever be left unsaid.  

'Let's get to work,' Scully said as she reached for the 
door and pulled it open.  She settled herself in and made 
sure to point the vent directly at her face before Mulder 
joined her in the car.

'So what did you see down in that cellar?' she asked before 
he could say anything.  Ignoring the elephant in the room 
had always been on of her strong suits.  Mulder looked at 
her for a second before turning on the ignition and 
responding.

'Just Brother What's-His-Name buried in some gopher hole in
 the wall.  buried alive.'

'How do you know he was alive?' Scully asked.

'Because I was in there with him. And his face was 
different.  Even his hair was almost feminine.  It was like 
he was going through some kind of transformation.'

'Changing sexes?' Scully asked skeptically.

'That would explain the hotel security camera,' Mulder
 said.

'There's got to be some kind of scientific explanation,' 
Scully said without thinking.  it was her automatic retort to 
any of his wild speculations.

'Maybe we should conduct an experiment,' Mulder said 
without looking at her.  She was grateful that he didn't 
notice her blush as he pulled the car out of the parking 
lot and headed back toward the city.

Somehow, Scully didn't think riding in a car with Mulder 
would ever be the same.

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