The Five Minute Rule

Disclaimer: They're not mine. My world will never be complete without them. tear

A/N: This is the closest I've ever come to writing smut, and it's still pretty PG-13. I forget when or why I got this idea, and it took forever to finish (I do remember writing pieces of it in psych…) but finally I'm posting it. Let me know what you think.

Mulder sat on the edge of his hotel room bed; shaking and shivering and completely drenched.

What's taking her so long? He wondered.

Mulder was with Scully on a case; one that had taken them north into a pretty terrible ice-freezing-rain-snow storm.

They could tell from the driving conditions that the major roads would be shut down soon. They weren't going to make it to their destination; at least not that night.

A little past eight the agents began looking for a place to stop. The parking lot of the hotel they found was packed. Mulder dragged their luggage out of the trunk and the wet snow flurried around them, sticking to their clothing and melting on their hands and faces.

They reached the hotel lobby, freezing to their cores and soaking wet. Mulder went to the desk and the receptionist gave him a smiling look of sympathy.

"Looks like you two got here just in time!" She chirped.

"Yeah, we're already pretty soaked, and it's hard to believe it's getting worse out there by the minute," Mulder answered.

"It's horrible out there, isn't it? That's why you guys are so lucky to get a room. You do want one, right?"

Scully rolled her eyes. She hoped to God that Mulder wasn't attracted to this woman in any way shape or form…she was so dim. She also hoped that they could get a room…wait a minute.

"Did you say room singular? We need two rooms," Scully interjected.

The receptionist looked at her with blank surprise. "We only have one room left, and when you two take it, we'll be completely booked…which is why you're so lucky!"

"Well, we'll have to take it. We can't keep driving."

Scully sighed, and seriously considered punching the receptionist as the she handed Mulder the room key.

"Enjoy your stay!" The receptionist bubbled.

Mulder and Scully got on the elevator and pressed the button to their floor. Mulder noticed Scully didn't seem to be too happy with the arrangements…or was it her usual dislike of blonde bimbos?

"Come on Scully, it won't be that bad rooming with me, will it? It'll give us a chance to get closer." He winked at her, eliciting another eye rolling.

"There had better be two beds…" She muttered as they padded down the hallway toward their room.

"Why, honey? You don't wanna curl up with me and get all warm and cozy?" Mulder teased her.

Scully gave him a Look, but found to her relief that there were in fact two beds, and plenty of room. Scully threw down her stuff on the bed and prepared for her shower…then she realized.

"Mulder, there's only one bathroom…who gets to shower first?" Scully sighed, knowing that they both needed the warm water to shake off their chills.

"You take it," Mulder offered without pausing, politely ceding the shower to Scully. Hopefully her mood would be improved when she was done.

Scully breathed a sigh of relief. She was so cold she couldn't think about anything but a shower. She knew that Mulder must be equally as cold, so it was really nice of him to wait.

"I'll only be five minutes, I promise," Scully said, disappearing into the bathroom.

Well, those were the words that sealed Agent Mulder's fate. Here he was, sitting on the bed, wet and cold, a full fifteen minutes later and still waiting for Scully. She showed no signs of finishing any time soon.

She'd pressed his patience at ten minutes, and he yelled in for her to hurry up twice. After three more minutes, he told her that it had been thirteen minutes. Now it was fifteen.

"Breach of contract!" Mulder yelled again, getting up from the bed.

The water was still running. It felt like heaven touching her aching, frozen muscles. She'd heard Mulder's five minutes warning; ten; thirteen and then this last one. She had intended to get out after five, but the water was so inviting that she couldn't bear to go back to the cold hotel room air. Her body revolted at the very idea and refused to move.

Mulder looked around the room, gathering his things for his shower. That was, assuming that Scully ever got out and allowed him to get one. His skin was cold and clammy, and he kept shivering. If Scully wasn't going to get out, he was going to have to get her out. He had a plan…a drastic one, but maybe that was what it would take to pry her away from the shower…

Scully heard the door to the bathroom click open, and turned in surprise. She could see Mulder's familiar shape through the frosted glass doors. She was disturbed by the fact that he could see her too, since she didn't have a towel around her at the moment.

Mulder had stripped off his clothes and wrapped himself in a towel. His blurry image appeared to her, naked from the white towel on up to his blurry face.

Scully couldn't help but be intrigued by that. Her partner was a decent looking guy, and he had a nice, fit body. Inappropriate, she thought to herself, but looked nonetheless, no longer caring if he could see the same distorted image of her.

"Dana Katherine Scully," Mulder yelled at her, breaking her intrigue. "Bath time is OVER!"

Scully got over her shock and burst out laughing. She could see Mulder with arms crossed tapping his foot in mock anger. She covered her chest with her arms and turned away from him.

"Mulder, what do you think you're doing in here anyway?" She scolded, once again conscious that he could see her.

He smiled. "Getting you out of the shower by force," he said, seriously.

"I was going to get out…" She lied.

Mulder laughed. "Oh yeah, you were getting out fifteen minutes ago, or did you forget the five minute rule?"

"Well you got to go second, so you could stay in as long as you want," She said in her defense.

"Then if you wanted a longer shower, you should have waited. The cost of going first was five minutes," he told her.

"And how exactly are you planning on enforcing that rule?" She asked, laughing. He couldn't do anything to her, since she was in the shower and naked. "I'm not ready to get out, and you can't make me!" She told him with the mentality of a five-year-old.

Mulder had been ready for that. He had an extremist plan, and he was about to put it into action. "If you don't want to get out, then don't." She smiled at her victory. "But I'm coming in."

Scully's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Mulder!" She shrieked. "You wouldn't!"

He knew she'd doubt his determination. "I think I would," he replied, sliding the glass door back and releasing the shower steam.

Scully jumped behind the other half of the door, embarrassed that he could see her. She was so self conscious about herself, but she didn't mind seeing his body. The white towel hung so low on his hips; Scully breathed out slowly, not knowing how to deal with the feelings that this brought to her.

"You gonna get out now?" Mulder offered, giving her one last chance.

Scully was too interested as to how far he would take this little game. She was seven again and playing a game of chicken…although this was more fun than darting across the street between cars…

"And what're you going to do if I don't get out?" She asked him, menacingly.

Mulder dropped his towel, revealing his entire body to her, unashamed. Not that he had anything to be ashamed about…

Scully gaped, unsure of what to do now. Everything she thought he wouldn't do…things she thought he could NEVER do, he had.

Mulder climbed into the shower and was finally rewarded by the warm water. Seeing Scully naked was also a nice benefit.

The water rolled down his body as he moved closer to the shower head and closer to his naked, beautiful partner.

"You're not getting out?" He asked her, still daring her to leave. He didn't exactly want her to go…a hot steamy shower with her might be kind of nice.

Scully stood frozen, watching him, and shook her head, completely unsure of what she was doing.

He slid the door shut, shrugging, and went back to the water. She watched him, and realized that he was unbelievably sexy, standing fully naked and wet before her eyes. She bit her lip, knowing that this entire situation was completely unexpected, and totally inappropriate. They had never been in a position like this before. True, they had seen each other naked, but they were never in a sexual situation, it was always when one of them was in serious trouble. And they had never, to her knowledge, been naked in the same room at the same time.

"I can't believe you did that," She breathed, incredulously.

Mulder looked her square in the eyes. "I can't believe you didn't sprint out of here like a deer…" He laughed, studying her face. She wasn't embarrassed anymore, she was very clearly looking at him. He was looking her up and down as well, studying her body. He'd never taken the time to really do that before…not when she was naked at least.

"Why did you stay in?" He asked her, curious as to where this situation was going, although he had an inkling.

Scully's voice caught in her throat before she could find the words. "You were trying to scare me because you were certain I'd react by running away. So, the only way to beat you was to do the opposite of what you thought I'd do, and see if you would raise the stakes yourself."

Mulder laughed at her. "And here I just thought you liked nekked-shower-Mulder."

Scully blushed, immediately, hoping that the bad lighting and the steam of the water hid it, at least a little. She felt more comfortable, and decided that she had the power to raise the stakes too…

She moved out of her corner, and back towards the water, and toyed with him. "Maybe I do…"

Mulder's emotions went crazy the instant she said that. She could have been messing with him, just to get revenge, but he didn't care. The thought of her digging his body was definitely a positive one.

Scully took one bad step, and slid on the slick tile of the shower, losing her footing and falling forward out of control.

Mulder stretched out his arms in reflex, catching her around the waist in a half hug as she fell into his chest. He braced himself, to keep from falling backward himself.

Scully could feel his hands on her bare hips, and it thrilled her body, though her mind still screamed, "Inappropriate!" scolding her. Her body fought back fiercely, quieting that thought and she got more and more turned on by his touch.

"I don't know, Scully. I think this is fate at work right here," he told her, unable to resist the urge to stroke her hip.

It wasn't fair to do that, she thought, as it excited her even more. It was this amazing little ticklish spot that did wonders for her. She could feel that Mulder wasn't unaffected either.

Getting firmly to her feet, she put her arms on his chest, and ran them slowly down his sides and around to the front, shocked at what she found.

Mulder pulled her closer into his body, bending his head to find her lips, and kissing her fiercely, and running his hands around her tiny frame and through her wet hair.

She couldn't believe this was happening…none of it. She couldn't believe he'd gotten into the shower, or that she'd slipped, and she certainly couldn't believe what they were about to do.

"Scully," he gasped, in between kisses. "Are you okay with this?" He asked.

She wanted to laugh. After going this far, how could she not be? She just looked up at him with a smile of pure angelic intent on her face and replied, "As long as I can have more than five minutes…"