September - October 1998

For two days now, they had been stuck in this tiny town, the background checks becoming monotonous and their emotions getting the better of them. Last night, he had slammed the door to their adjoining rooms, telling her he was fed up and she needed to stop trying to put a positive spin on it. She had sighed as she put away their notes and files, turned off the lights, crawled into bed and hoped for a better day tomorrow.

His mood resembled the sky the next day however; dark and grumbly, as they silently walked to the diner near their motel to eat breakfast and get some much needed coffee. He had stewed through their meal, snapping at the waitress when she gave him the wrong meal. Scully had apologized to the girl, who seemed on the verge of tears as she walked away with his plate of food.

"I understand you're upset and a bit on edge," she said, looking at Mulder with anger in her eyes. "But there is no reason to yell at someone for making a mistake." He stared back at her and she shook her head, as the waitress came back and quietly set down his plate, before walking away.

"Eat your food," she stated, raising her eyebrow as he sighed. They both picked up their forks and started to eat, both still upset.

After they finished, he picked up the check and left a large tip for the waitress, looking at Scully with apologetic eyes. She nodded and stood up, ready to leave the diner and finish the case.

Opening the door, the weather darker than when they entered, she walked to the car and waited for him. He was silent as they drove to interview a woman who had been on their list, but whom they were told would not be home until today.

She could feel his agitation throughout the interview, as he sighed and paced the living room. The woman frowned at him and Scully forced a smile.

"Could I possibly trouble you for a cup of tea?" she asked kindly, and the woman left to oblige.

Standing up, she walked to where he stood and grabbed his arm, pulling him a little further away from the kitchen and out of her ear shot.

"What in the hell is the matter with you?" she hissed. "This is an investigation and you're acting like a petulant child! Knock it off, or go wait in the car."

"Investigation? This is a waste of time," he seethed. "All these "cases" Kersh has us investigating, they're busy work and a way to prove his shitty point. He wants to show how my work has been inconsequential all this time."

"Then you are feeding right into that, by behaving like some entitled brat who should get everything because they stomp and shout! If you cannot act professionally, if you cannot take this seriously, then wait out... side," she said through gritted teeth.

He stared at her and she saw the inner battle going on inside his head. He knew she was right and yet his anger at being on this case, and all the others they had been assigned recently, was beginning to wear him down.

He nodded curtly and she let go of his arm. Walking back to the chair she had vacated, she sat down. He sighed heavily as he sat beside her, straightening his tie and fixing his jacket.

"Thank you," she whispered, as the woman came back with tea for all of them on a tray. He exhaled and she knew that was all the answer she would get from him.

Forty five minutes and two cups of tea later, they were back at the car. He took off his suit jacket and threw it in the backseat. Rolling up his sleeves, and loosening his tie, he sighed loudly and got in the car.

She joined him, leaning her head back against the headrest, and closing her eyes. "I know, Mulder. I get it, but these are our assignments now." She looked at him and he nodded with his eyes closed and head down. She touched his arm and he turned his head to look at her and she gave him a small smile.

"It's just…" he began and she squeezed his arm.

"I know. But if we quit now…" Her smile widened and he nodded as he exhaled a tiny chuckle.

"Yeah. I know." He placed his hand on top of hers and squeezed as he nodded again. She moved her hand and he started the car, driving away as the rain began to fall.

Thunder cracked loudly overhead as they got onto the highway and they both jumped.

"Seems about right," he muttered and shook his head.

Lightning flashed a few seconds later and suddenly they were in a deluge of water. It poured down so hard, it was almost impossible to see. They slowed to nearly a crawl, the wipers running on the highest setting.

"This is ridiculous," he said loudly and she startled. "What else can possibly go wrong?"

"Don't ever ask that," she scoffed in a teasing tone. "Especially you."

"All of this is such a fucking joke. It's worse than the case out in Nevada, at least that led somewhere and changes were made to stop others from being hurt, but this, Scully..." He shook his head as they inched along, the rain falling harder than before, if that was even possible.

"The case in Nevada, wasn't a case until we interfered. Hell, it wasn't even our case, Mulder. It was you, following a hunch…"

"And I was right!"

"In the end… yes, but that doesn't mean it was right to go off like we did. We've slid under the radar recently, but we can't… Mulder, I feel like I say this way too often these days, we can't keep playing a hunch and hoping it will turn up with something," she said, shaking her head and staring at him.

"My hunch in Nevada was correct," he said obstinately and she sighed, turning her head to look out the window.

They both fell silent as the rain continued. Giant raindrops that seemed near impossible, pelted the car noisily, as they drove slowly down the road, no other vehicles in sight.

Just before the turn off to the motel, the car shuddered to a sudden stop. She looked at him as he lifted his hands from the steering wheel, and put it in park, with a perplexed look on his face.

"What the hell?" he asked, trying to start the car. It clicked and clicked but did not turn over.

"Did the battery die?" she asked as she turned on the hazards and looked behind them, making sure no one was approaching, in order to avoid an accident.

"How in the hell am I supposed to know that?" he asked looking at her, his face annoyed. "It just stopped. I don't know what to tell you."

"Well yes, Mulder, I know the car just stopped. I am sitting here with you," she retorted, shaking her head. The rain was still falling hard and she realized, with a sigh, that they did not have any umbrellas in the car.

"My phone is dead," he said with an angry bite to his tone, shaking his head and rubbing at his forehead. "This is just fucking perfect."

Taking out her own phone, she saw that though her battery was not dead, she had no service to make a call for assistance.

"Well, you did ask what else could go wrong," she muttered.

"Are you serious right now? Are you seriously saying those words to me?" He looked at her and she saw fire in his eyes. "Do you think this is my fault?"

"Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief. "I was just trying to lighten the mood. You need to calm the hell down."

"Scully, we are on a highway where a car has not driven past us for at least 15 minutes. Neither of our cell phones are working, it's pouring rain outside, and we are at least a mile away from the motel. Please tell me how lightening the mood would make any of this any better?"

She stared at him, her eyes now as angry as his appeared. She was so tired of his mopey attitude. No, they were no longer working on the X-Files, but they were FBI agents who had a job to do, and god dammit, if she was not going to get the job done. Opening her door, she stepped out into the pouring rain.

"Scully! What the hell are you doing?!" She heard him shout as she slammed the door.

She was immediately soaked to the skin, and nearly regretted her decision, but could not have handled one more second in the car with him. She started to walk away, when she heard his door open and close.

"What the fuck, Scully?" he yelled above the rain, and she turned to look at him.

His blue dress shirt was plastered to his skin and his black dress pants appeared shiny from the water.

"I'm sick of this, Mulder!" she yelled, throwing her hands up. "Do you think I want to be doing this? Do you think that I want to be out here in these towns questioning these people about the purchases they made, or phone calls they've placed? Running someone down because they ordered five bags of fertilizer as opposed to two? Do you think this is what I want to be doing?" She stared at him, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes. He shook his head and beads of water went flying.

"No. No, I do not want to be doing this, but here we are. We have a job to do and while it is not one that I want, we have to get it done," she shouted, her clothes weighing heavily on her frame.

He tipped his head back and she watched his chest rise and fall as he took a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she did the same, opening them to find him staring at her. He stepped closer to her and sighed.

"I know this isn't what you want," he said, no longer shouting, but his voice still a little loud. "And I know I've been… less than enthusiastic…"

"Understatement," she said, rolling her eyes and he shook his head, water flying again.

He smiled slightly and she watched the rain running down his face. He reached out and moved a strand of her hair back, tucking it behind her ear, his hand remaining on her neck and his thumb stroking her cheek.

Thunder cracked and she jumped, but his hand did not move. His eyes dropped to her lips and she began to breathe hard, their stance reminiscent of months ago in his hallway.

"I'm sorry. Sorry I've been… me," he said and she smiled. He nodded and moved his hand as he took a step back.

"No," she said, and he frowned.

"No? No what?"

"Not this time," she said and he shook his head in confusion as lightning flashed.

Grabbing a hold of his soaking wet tie, she pulled him toward her and then down, their lips crashing together. A moment of surprise and then he opened his mouth and deepened the kiss, a hand going to the back of her head.

She wrapped his tie in her hand, keeping him where she had wanted him for so long. Her tongue slid into his mouth and he moaned. Paying no attention to the rain as it fell hard upon them, they gave in to the moment that had been denied to them.

"Hey!" A voice shouted as a car honked and they broke apart with a jump. Both wiping at their eyes, they saw a man in a black pickup truck, full of items covered with a tarp, staring at them with his window rolled down.

"You having car trouble?" he yelled out and nodded toward their car.

"Yeah!" they shouted back, walking toward him.

"Hop in! I'll give you a lift!"

They looked at each other, at their soaking wet clothes, and then back at him, shaking their heads.

"We don't have far to go, just to the Sleepy Inn motel," Mulder said, nodding toward the back of the truck. "Seeing as how we are already as wet as we could possibly be, how about we just sit on the tailgate?"

"Suit yourself," the man said with a shrug and they walked toward the back of the truck, Scully slipping a little, but remaining upright as Mulder gripped her elbow.

He pulled the tailgate down and they climbed on, scooting back to sit as far from the edge as possible. Mulder hit the side of the truck to let him know they were ready and they started off down the road.

As they went over a bump, Scully's hand flew out and landed on his thigh. He looked at it and then at her and they both started to laugh. He grasped her hand and they laughed even harder, the craziness of the day overwhelming them.

"Bees, rain, men in pickup trucks… the world does seem to conspire against us a lot," he said, and she stared at him, the rain still falling at an unbelievable rate.

"I'd say this time we got lucky," she stated, squeezing his hand.

"Do tell," he said with a grin.

"At least we don't have to walk." He laughed again and nodded his head before staring at her, his eyes once more dropping to her lips, and she swallowed hard.

The truck came to a stop and they looked around finding that they were at the motel. Either it was closer than she thought, or they had been not paying attention for quite some time. As Mulder slid from the tailgate, and reached for her hand, she would chalk it up as both.

"Thanks!" they yelled, as the tailgate was closed and the man drove away with a wave.

They walked towards their rooms, finding a reprieve from the rain as they stepped under an overhang from the floor above.

"Oh," he said, patting his wet pockets. "My room key is in my jacket. In the car." He looked back in that direction and sighed.

"Guess you'll have to wait out the storm in my room," she said, sliding the key in the lock. He looked at her, his eyes asking questions.

"But I need to get out of these wet clothes and I don't have anything else to wear," he said, in a low voice that made her insides feel like jelly.

"Shame," she said, biting her lip, and opening the door. "We'll have to see what solution we can come up with to rectify that." Stepping inside, she turned to find him standing in the doorway, a look of shock on his face.

Grabbing his tie, she pulled him into the room, a smile replacing the shock, as the door closed and locked behind him, her fingers already undoing his buttons.