Trial of Times

Chapter 10 (Scully)

I woke up the next morning with my jacket off and no recollection of anything past Mulder and I having our "moment". Wait a second, how am I here if the last place I was conscious was Mulder's room? I sit up in my bed and lean against the headboard. The only realistic possibility for me being back here is if Mulder somehow got me here. Aw, Mulder took me back so I could sleep, and even took off my jacket. I needed to talk to him, to thank him for looking after me yet again. I yawned and got out of bed.

The clock on the nightstand next to me read 8:24 am. About time I woke up. I walked over to my suitcase, grabbed my clothes and personal care items, and went into the small bathroom on the far side of the room.  As I turned on the shower, I began to recall a very strange dream I had last night involving Mulder and I. We were running from something that I couldn't see, but Mulder kept telling me was there. It was dark, and the only thing I could see was him. The next thing I knew, I couldn't even see Mulder. We had gotten separated. I shouted his name and he shouted mine, but I still couldn't find him. I was then grabbed by something strong, and I couldn't break free. I kicked and screamed for Mulder, and then I realized the thing holding me was him.

Maybe it was some sort of a sign that he'd always come back to me, some sort of a premonition, or that my subconscious was playing tricks on me. All I know was that it was a very strange dream, and that I should probably tell Mulder about it.
I took a quick shower so I wouldn't waste time getting to Mulder's. I did everything rather fast, drying my hair and doing my makeup. When I finally decided I was ready for the day, I scurried out of the room and locked the door behind me.

Mulder's room was right next to mine, so it didn't take long to get there. I knocked on the door, anticipating the moment when he opened the door. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps and the lock being opened. The door creaked, and there stood a very groggy and tired Mulder. "Morning, bed head. Planning on touring Lexington in your boxers?" I say while holding back my laughter. Mulder looked like a mess. His hair was sticking up everywhere, and he was in a white tee shirt and a pair of boxers. He had probably just woken up when he heard me knocking. Whoops. Sorry, not sorry.

"Scully, I hope you know that your knocking woke me up. Are you happy?" Mulder could barely keep a straight face.
"Mulder it's 9 in the morning, about time you woke up." I smirked at him. He laughed and motioned for me to come in. I sat on the couch closest to the door while Mulder walked over to his suitcase and pulled out some clothes. He took his shirt off and threw it into the suitcase. He almost seemed to be taking longer than normal to put a clean shirt on. Was he showing off perhaps? Either way I didn't care. Shirt or not, he was still cute.

Finally, he put his shirt on along with a pair of dress pants. I guess he was going to dress in normal work clothes too. Good, I didn't want to be the only one looking they came straight from the office. He threw his jacket onto his arms, and quickly tied his tie. He was lucky, it takes a women much longer to get ready. The last thing he did was shove a toothbrush in his mouth, and slip on a pair of socks and dress shoes. He spat out his toothpaste and grabbed his room key off of the counter, and opened the door for me. I smiled as I walked out. There weren't many gentlemen left in this world, and I was glad to have one in my life.

"Alright, Scully. Where do you want to go? Kentucky Horse Park? Keenland? I need ideas, Scully!" Mulder turned the key in his car as I semi gracefully climbed in. "Actually Mulder, the horse park sounds nice. I went there once when I was a kid, and I really enjoyed it." I smiled with nostalgia. I missed the days where my family would pile into the car and take road trips. Now with my dad and sister gone, it would never be the same. I felt a lump in my throat, but I forced it down. Mulder didn't need to see me get upset. "Alright, Sculls. The horse park it is!" Mulder smiled at me, and began to drive.

It wasn't going to take us a terribly long time to get to the horse park, so we didn't have to trade off driving responsibilities. The GPS said it was about a 25-30 minute drive, which was plenty of time to tell Mulder about my odd dream. Once we were both comfortable and there was no awkward silence, I said to him "Mulder, can I tell you something strange that happened to me last night?" His face got a little bit pale. "Sure Scully. You can always tell me anything." I took a deep breath and began. "I had a very strange dream last night. I get strange ones all the time, but this one was different. It felt more real.". Mulder nodded his head like he understood.

"We were running, you and me, from something that was invisible to my eyes. You kept reassuring me was there, but I didn't see it. It was very dark, and the only thing I could see was you. The next thing I knew, I couldn't even see you, and I knew we had gotten separated. I shouted your name and you shouted mine, but I still couldn't find you. I was then grabbed by something strong, and I couldn't break free. I kicked and screamed for you, and then I realized that you were the one holding me.". Mulder's eyebrows were furrowed, something he only does while thinking. "Well the only plausible thing I can conclude about that dream is that you really needed a vacation, Scully.".

Seeing the white picket fences and the horses in them made my heart feel all warm and fuzzy. I hadn't seen this in such a long time, and it was just as beautiful as I had remembered. The grass was so green here, and there were not very many buildings like in Washington. Mulder rolled down his window, and a wave of cool, fresh air filled the car. I deeply inhaled the sweet country air.
"Mulder?"
"Yeah Scully?"
"I never want to leave this place."
Mulder smiled at me and pushed my hair out of my face again.

When we finally got to the horse park, it was around 10:50. I could barely keep myself from leaping out the car, which made Mulder laugh. We first went over to the Saddlebred museum, which was very cool. My favorite part was when Mulder and I got on the mechanical horses they had. Mulder kept sliding off of his horse, and I could barely stay on I was laughing so hard. After we left the museum, we went into the horse park. There were lots of statues of famous racehorses like Secretariat and Man O War. Mulder insisted that I get a picture with them, so he pulled out his Polaroid and got a few pictures. I then forced Mulder to hand over the camera so I could take some of him.

We walked around everywhere in the park. And where we couldn't walk, we rode on horseback. Yup, horseback. Mulder surprised me with a horseback tour of the park. He rode a sleek bay gelding, and I rode a chestnut mare. It was almost like the picked the horses to match us. We saw each and every paddock and the horses who lived in it. The whole experience was amazing.

As we walked out of the park, I put Mulder's hand into my own and said "Wow, Mulder. I can't thank you enough for all of this. This day was amazing.". Mulder smiled and squeezed my hand. "For you, Scully, anything.".

a/n
aww, i hope you guys liked this soft sculder chapter! i definitely did! i wrote a whole lot this chapter, whoops!! anyways, i hope you all liked it!

- emma 🛸