Title: Step #2: The Realness of Red Hair
Author: Susan Frankovich
E-mail: sus...@ticnet.com or filesfa...@yahoo.com
Classification: vignette
Rating: PG, possibly R
Spoiler: all things
Archive: No.
Disclaimer: These characters belong to each other,
not me.

Author's notes: This is the second in a series of
vignettes occurring late in season seven that
chronicle the start of Mulder and Scully's romantic
relationship.

You can find all of the stories in the Steps Series
at Ephemeral or at my site here:
http://members.tripod.com/sfrankovich/index.html
******************************************************************

The Realness of Red Hair
by Susan Frankovich
~~~~~~

When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is red
hair, and lots of it.

Apparently Scully's sleeping on me, the top of her
head resting right below my chin.

If I would have awakened like this before last night,
I would've sat up in bed and blinked my eyes several
times, trying to snap myself out of yet another dream,
but not this time.

This time it's real.

Scully's here sleeping beside me, her soft cheek
pressing against my bare chest.

And she's definitely real.

Just like the growing hardness between my legs.

"Is that a gun in your pocket, Mulder, or are you
just happy to see me?" she says sleepily, lifting
her head up from my chest and gazing up at me in
the dark.

"I didn't bring my gun to bed with me tonight," I
reply as I lift my own head from the pillow and
kiss her forehead. "But I do have something that's
loaded and ready for action," I tease, running my
fingers through her hair.

She lays her head back down and giggles into my
chest, then kisses me there not once, but twice.  

Her lips feel soft and warm and wet, and if I don't
change my position in about two seconds, I'm afraid
my 'gun' will be emptying its bullets before I even
have a chance to fire it.

"Ready for action, huh?" she asks as her hand slowly
slides across my belly and down the inside of my
thigh.

"Prove it," she purrs.

And I am completely undone.

The next time I open my eyes, it is morning, and the
red hair that greeted me before is gone.

I immediately sit up and blink my eyes, then look
around the room, hoping to see her clothes still
lying on the floor.

But they're gone too.

Flopping back against the pillow, I glance over at
the empty side of my bed and let out an exasperated
sigh.

Maybe she wasn't real after all.

~step two completed~