Gift of Light (PG-13)

He'd made a trip into town.  He didn't go often, though now that his record had been expunged, he could go.  He just didn't want to. 

After all this time, he felt good about hanging out at the home they had created.  She was right about not wanting the darkness to find them here.  This was their oasis in the world that usually didn't give them what they wanted. 

It had given him her and there was very little else he could think of that he wanted.  A slight smile took over his face; and she seemed to want him too.

Things had been strained after the case.  He wanted to fix that, but it wasn't his strong suit.  She'd been right about so much.  The case had invigorated him, reenergized him.  The monsters were still out there.  Maybe he couldn't delve into international conspiracies with impunity now, but there were other cases, other X-Files that they had investigated that had given him satisfaction.  Hell, Scully had appreciated working on those more anyway. 

The supernatural frightened her, but not like the conspiracy had.  That made perfect sense.  While the monsters had hurt her - Schnauz, Pfaster, they hadn't done the truly major damage that the conspiracy had caused.  Her abduction, her cancer, her infertility . . . and the loss of their son.  Not dead, but lost to them in any case.

No, it was past time that he opened up, explained to her where she fit in his life.  The center of it, the reason for it.  Nothing else was as important.  She needed to know that.  He just wasn't good about that kind of thing.  He needed help.

*****

She pulled up in front of the house.  She was weary.  Father Ybarra had been even more in her face for some reason.  It was subtle, but since she'd taken it upon herself to go over his head and treat Christian - successfully by the way - he had been nearly stalking her.

It had just been a long day and she couldn't be sure Mulder would be in a good place.  She'd been kind of afraid to press too hard lately.

They were together.  They had never been a 'normal' couple but they did love each other.  Oh hell, she couldn't live without him, he was everything to her.  She had to make sure he understood that.  He knew it, but she needed to make sure he understood.

She exited the car and looked up at the front door.  Her life was inside that door and she needed to open up and make sure he knew.

She opened the door and started to call out to him, but stopped stunned and looked around the room.

There were red heart shaped balloons floating near the ceiling, red roses, at least a dozen in a crystal vase, and a heart-shaped box of candy beside them on the table.  What the - 

"Will you be my Valentine?"

Her mouth dropped open; it was Valentine's Day.  All of those decorations around the hospital suddenly made sense.  It hadn't even occurred to her.  What kind of a partner was she?  She jumped, spotting him leaning against the door jam to his room.  "M-Mulder, I . . . "

He grinned.  "Open the box."

"The box?"

"The candy box.  Open it."

He was watching her.  She made her way to the table, dropping her bag beside it.  She picked up the box and looked up at him.  He nodded.  She pulled the ribbon free and opened the box.  She started to put the lid down, but saw the red envelope taped inside of the lid.

"I didn't get you a - "

"Open it."

With her eyes on him, she slipped her finger under the flap and pulled it open.  There was no card, but two airline tickets fell out.

"An X-File?"

"A vacation, in a place with a lot of light."

"Mulder - "

"We're together.  I need you to know that, to understand that.  And I agree, the darkness doesn't belong here, not in our home."

A smile was growing on her face.  She nodded.  "I'll go anywhere with you."