It
was a much smaller airport but they both felt better here than flying into DC. They were a little surprised to find Skinner
waiting instead of the other guys. They
hurried to the car and once there Mulder had her take the back and stretch out. When he realized she was asleep, he turned to
Skinner.
"I'm
not complaining, it's good to see you, but we weren't expecting you."
"I
know. They, uh, they're a little hesitant to
see you."
"What?" He turned then to make sure he hadn’t
disturbed her, and lowered his voice. "They're
avoiding me, us?"
Skinner
glanced in the mirror to make sure she wasn't stirring.
"They didn't think either of you would want to see them."
"I
told them I wasn't upset with them. I should
have told her, I'm the reason she was blindsided. I
thought I got through to them."
"Frohike's
drinking."
"Damn." Mulder sighed, "I'll . . . I'll talk to them,
but I have to get her settled first."
Skinner
nodded and he kept the rest of his questions to himself for now. She didn't rest long, despite her weariness.
When
they arrived at her mother's house, rather than go to the front door, Skinner used the
keypad, with her supplying the code, to let the car into the garage. Skinner entered the kitchen first and found Mrs.
Scully hurrying into the room.
"Walter? What are you - "
"I'm
sorry to startle you Maggie, but we need to keep a low profile." He moved over to her.
"We? Low profile?"
She turned as she heard the door open again.
Her breath caught in her throat. "Da
. . . Dana? Oh my god! Dana!" She
flew across the kitchen and threw her arms around her daughter. Mulder moved closer to make sure she wasn't
bowled over by the enthusiasm. When she could
release Dana, she turned to Fox and held him just as tightly.
When
she finally stepped back, Walter took hold of Maggie's shoulders. "They're okay, Maggie. They're not going anywhere."
"But
how? All those tests!"
Mulder
looked over at Scully, who had closed her eyes and taken hold of the back of a kitchen
chair. "You should be in bed. Come on."
"Mulder,
no. I just need to sit down."
Mrs.
Scully really looked at her daughter then. She
turned and looked the question at Walter, who looked away.
"Let's go to the living room."
She watched Mulder seat her daughter on the couch and lift her legs to the
coffee table. The look Dana gave him didn't
even faze him. Mrs. Scully had several
thousand questions but now obviously wasn't the time.
After
a moment she rose again. "You should eat
something, right Fox?"
He
smiled up at her, "I could always eat from your kitchen."
"Can
I help?" Skinner started to rise from
his seat.
"No,
Fox can help me." She moved toward the
kitchen.
Mulder
squeezed Scully's hand and rose. Skinner saw
her eyes follow him out of the room. He
wasn't sure what to say to her. He couldn't
debrief her, not here. She turned to him. "I guess your life was a lot easier without
us around."
Skinner
grinned, "Yeah, dullness has its place. Of
course, it can get old after a while."
*****
Mrs.
Scully knew she was babbling, but she couldn't stop.
She had the refrigerator open and had the pickle jar in her hand when she
realized how badly her hands were shaking. Mulder
took the jar from her and seated her at the kitchen table.
She dropped her face into her hands.
"Mrs.
Scully?" He knelt beside her.
"I
can't believe this. I thought she was dead,
both of you were dead. I've mourned you for
months."
"She's
alive Mrs. Scully."
"She's
been ill." He looked away then,
"Okay. Not tonight, but I need to know,
is it the cancer?"
"No,
not the cancer." He stood. "Why don't you sit there and guide me though
this food fixing process?"
"No. I need to do something." She stood as well and hugged Mulder again.
*****
When
he carried the tray of sandwiches into the living room, Scully was asleep on the couch,
with Skinner watching over her.
"Should
we wake her Fox?"
"She
should eat, then I'll take her upstairs." He
stood over her, watching her soft breathing.
"Fox,
do you have a place to stay?" He looked
up startled.
"I
guess I don't have an apartment, do I?" He
gave a half grin.
"Mulder,
you're welcome to stay at my place until you get settled." Skinner spoke up immediately.
"No, Walter. He needs to be here."
Skinner
and Mulder exchanged glances and Mulder nodded, then leaned down to wake her. He helped her sit up and fixed a plate for her.
"Dana,
I've asked Fox to stay here until things are settled, I didn't think you'd mind."
Scully
chuckled at that. "No, I don't
mind."
"I've
thought of you two together all along." Tears
formed in Mrs. Scully's eyes, but she didn't let them fall.
"Mom
. . . "
"Sorry,
I . . . I thought about . . . “ She glanced over at Walter. "What do we do about the graves?"
"I'll
take care of that Maggie. Don't worry about
it for a minute."
Mulder
glanced over a Skinner, "I guess I should get up to the Vineyard."
"Uh,
well no -” Skinner started, but Maggie interrupted.
"Fox,
you don't need to go up there. I . . . I
couldn't separate the two of you. Fox, you're
. . . “ She shrugged, "I had the body we thought was yours buried beside Dana,
in our family . . . "
Mulder
was stunned speechless. He felt Scully's hand on her arm and managed to close his mouth. "Th . . . thank you, Mrs. Scully."
"Maggie. It's way past time you called me Maggie." He nodded, his voice gone again. This was not the homecoming he had imagined. To be honest, he hadn't thought of his own
homecoming at all. He'd just known how much
Scully needed it. With his own family gone,
he hadn't thought about it on a personal level.
Scully
felt her own eyes fill as she watched his reaction to this information. She reached out and took hold of her mother's hand
and squeezed it.
After
a moment, Skinner cleared his throat and stood. "I
need to get out of your way. You guys take a
couple of days - no one knows that you're back and I'd like to keep it that way right now. Mulder, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Maggie
walked Skinner to the garage, leaving them alone for the first time in hours. "Mulder are you okay?"
"Isn't
that my line?"
"Too
often. But are you?" She moved closer to him on the couch.
"I'm
a little overwhelmed, you know? Your mother .
. . "
"She's
pretty great, huh?" She smiled up at him
and his heart clutched. It was the first real
smile he'd seen on her in too long for him to remember.
When
Maggie returned to the room, he stood again. "She
needs to get some real rest."
When
Scully didn't protest, Maggie realized how exhausted the young woman was and nodded. "The front bedroom is made up."
Mulder
helped her to her feet, "Do you want me to carry you?"
"No
Mulder, I can walk." But he held her
tenderly as she climbed the stairs. Maggie
watched them and said another prayer of thanksgiving.
He
returned downstairs after getting her settled. "I
made up the other room for you Fox, just across from her room. We'll be able to hear her if she needs us."
He
glanced back up the stairs and nodded. "Fox,
you don't have to stay up with me. You're
probably exhausted yourself. I'll be heading
up myself shortly."
"You
don't mind?"
"No,
not at all." She moved over to him then,
and hugged him again. "I know I don't
have the details, but you saved my daughter again. I
can't thank you enough for that."
"I
don't know about that, but she certainly saved me again.
I appreciate you letting me stay - "
"Fox,
you're always welcome here." He nodded,
not knowing what else to say and returned upstairs. He
hesitated just outside of her door, but this was her mother's house and she'd fixed him
another room.
*****
She
woke frightened and disoriented. Her first
realization was that he wasn't there beside her in the bed.
Her fear escalated until she recognized the room as the guest room in her
mother's house. It only helped a little bit;
she had grown used to having his hard body pressed up against hers, for comfort and
safety.
Humiliation
accompanied her tears as she faced the extent of her dependence on another person. She'd always been the strong one, the one who
didn't need anyone else. She'd allowed him to
get so close, he’d been so supportive of her during the preg . . . during her
situation. Supportive? Was that the only word she could come up with? He'd been . . . he'd been loving and . . . No! She couldn't allow it, not any more.
She
needed to get back to work, she needed . . . she needed to put this whole thing behind
her, move on. She desperately wanted to
forget any of this had ever happened. Yes,
that was the only way to keep going.
After
a long time she dozed off again, but all night she continued to wake and reach for him,
long for him.
When
morning finally came and she knew once again he wasn't beside her, she rose from the bed
and pulled her robe on. She headed
downstairs, slowly but on her own.
He
turned when he heard her come into the kitchen. "Scully? I was hoping you'd sleep for a while longer. How are you feeling?"
"I'm
fine Mulder." She turned toward the
refrigerator.
He
stared at her for a minute, "Scully?" She
hadn't used that tone with him since . . . since they'd found out about the preg . . .
that she was ill.
She
didn't respond, pouring herself a glass of juice.
"Scully,
what's wrong?" He moved over closer and
touched her arm. She stepped away and his
eyes widened. "Scully?"
"Mulder,
nothing's wrong. We're home now, my body has
healed from the . . . the experiment. It's
time we got back to work."
"Back
to work? Scully, you are not healed, not physically, and -"
"I
am Mulder. And I want to get back to work,
now. I'm going to call Skinner and tell him
I'm ready. As my partner you should be -
"
"Partner?
Is that what . . . partner?" His voice
was rising and Maggie hurried into the kitchen to see that the outrage in his voice didn't
come close to conveying the outrage he was suppressing.
"Fox,
Dana, what's wrong?" Maggie looked
anxiously from one to the other.
"Why
don't you ask her? She's not making a whole
lot of sense to me right now."
"Mulder,
stop!" She called after him as he left
the room.
"Dana,
what is it?" Scully wouldn't face her,
just shaking her head. She hadn't meant to
hurt him, just make him see that things had to go back to the way they had been. She could probably have done it better. Maybe he was right that she wasn't completely
herself.
She
started for the door, but her mother stopped her. “Dana,
please, what’s going on?”
“Mom,
not right now.” They both looked up at
the sound of the doorbell and Maggie let go of her arm.
Scully
pushed open the door to the dining room and Maggie followed.
Mulder
had been just at the door when the bell rung. He
glanced back toward the kitchen, still so disturbed by Scully’s actions that his
reactions were off. He shook his head and
approached the door, pulling it open.
“You?” Mulder didn’t have time to react before the
fist landed solidly on his jaw. He staggered
back and caught his foot on the leg of the small table in the foyer. That took the rest of his balance and he crashed
back onto the floor.
“Mulder!” Both women were racing toward him and it was
Maggie who acknowledged the man at the door.
“What
in the world do you think you’re doing, Bill? How
could you?” She glanced down at Scully
who was kneeling beside Mulder.
He
was already sitting up, his hand on his jaw. “Mulder
you’re bleeding.”
He
tenderly wiped his lip and shying away from her help, got to his feet. “Well, I guess it’s unanimous.” He turned then and headed up the stairs without
another word.
“Mulder!” Scully took a step toward the stairs, but Bill
took her arm.
Mulder
let himself into the room he had used the night before and pulled out his cell phone to
call for a taxi. He threw his clothes into
the bag, not bothering to fold anything. Then
he grabbed his toiletries from the bath. He
was ready to leave in less than ten minutes, then sat down on the bed to wait.
He
purposely kept his mind blank. Thinking
wouldn’t help right now. He tasted blood
in his mouth again. It seemed appropriate
somehow. He stared into nothingness until he
heard the horn blow in the driveway. Then he
roused himself and stood, taking hold of his suitcase.
Scully
pulled away from Bill as she saw Mulder coming down the stairs. “Mulder, what are you doing?”
“It’s
time, like you said, we’re home. We need
to get back to our lives.”
“Mulder!” She stepped toward him, “You can’t just
leave.”
“Let
him go Dana, it’s the best thing that could happen to you.”
“Bill,
stay out of this!”
“No,
Scully. He’s right.”
She
looked up at him stunned. “Where . . .
where are you going?”
“I
don’t really know, but hey, I’m a big boy.
I’ll find some place.” He
looked toward the door as the cab honked again. “I
guess I’ll see you at work.”
Her
mouth fell open at that, and she watched him move away from her. He missed the look of total panic as he actually
opened the door. She lurched forward to stop
him, but Bill put his arm around her and held her back.
Maggie stood helpless, watching her daughter’s agony.
*****
He
picked up the private line, “Skinner.”
“Is
that offer of a place to stay still open?”
“Uh,
sure. Are you okay?” He didn’t have a clue what to say.
“Great. So, I can stay?”
“Oh,
oh yeah. I’ll call the super to let you
in.”
“I’m
already in. Thanks.” Mulder broke the connection and Skinner sat
looking at the receiver in his hand. When the
dial tone returned he replaced it in the cradle, then immediately picked up again. He dialed quickly.
“Hello?”
The
male voice caught him off guard. “I . .
is Maggie Scully there?”
“Yes,
just a minute.”
Maggie
was on almost immediately. “Hello?”
“Maggie,
it’s Walter. Is everything okay?”
“Oh,
Walter, thank God. No, nothing is okay. Fox and Dana had some sort of fight, then Bill
showed up and assaulted Fox, so he left. Dana
won’t speak. I don’t know what to
do.”
“Calm
down, Maggie. Mulder’s at my place, so
don’t worry about him. He and Scully had
a fight?” Skinner’s brow was
furrowed; he wouldn’t fight with her, not with what she had been through. It didn’t make sense.
“Apparently. I walked in on the tail end of it.”
“Maggie,
they argue all of the time, could it - “
“No
Walter. This was a fight; this was personal. I had to put her to bed. Bill was no help whatsoever. I wish I could understand why he feels such a
personal animosity toward Fox. Nothing that
has happened has been his fault.”
Skinner
sighed, he hadn’t really been aware of this complication in Mulder’s life; not
that it was any of his business anyway. “Let
me know what you need Maggie. I’ll keep
an eye on Mulder.”
*****
The
man actually wasn’t a bad roommate Skinner realized.
Not that he would want him around for the long term, but he was quiet, kept
to himself. Part of that was depression, but
he wasn’t ready to talk about it and even when he was, Skinner wasn’t at all
sure he’d be the person Mulder would want to talk to.
As
far as Skinner knew, he had not been in touch with Scully.
Skinner himself was uncomfortable calling Maggie and acting as a go-between. These people were adults, sort of anyway, and this
was personal, not business.
Skinner
was moving toward the office he maintained at home when he heard the doorbell. Mulder looked up from the couch, but Skinner was
already on his feet, so he headed in that direction.
“Maggie?” He opened the door wider and was aware that Mulder
had come to his feet. “Come in.”
“I’m
sorry to burst in like this, but I don’t have a lot of time. I don’t like leaving her alone.” Mulder’s eyes widened and he stepped closer. “I have to know what happened. She needs help and I can’t help her without
knowing. She won’t talk about it, so
I’ve come here. I’m not leaving
until I have some answers.”
Skinner
looked over at Mulder as he took the woman’s arm and led her to the couch. “Fox, please, you have to help me.”
“Do
you know if she’s taking her medication?” He
tried to sound calm, but Skinner could hear the tremor in his voice.
“I
haven’t seen her take anything. What
kind of medication Fox? Why does she need
it?”
Mulder
sent a helpless look over to Skinner. “She
needs to know Mulder.”
Maggie
watched Mulder’s shoulders slump and her fear for her daughter moved up a notch. “Fox, is it really that bad?”
Rather
than answer he pulled a chair closer to the couch and sat facing her. Skinner sat beside her. Mulder took a deep breath and started talking.
*****
Mulder
leaned back as he watched Skinner place the brandy in Maggie’s hands. The furniture was littered with used tissues and
her hands were shaking. Skinner helped her
get the golden liquid to her lips.
After
a couple of sips, Maggie took a deep breath. “What
was the fight about that morning in my kitchen?”
More? She wanted more information? Mulder couldn’t face her on this one. “Scully wanted to go back to our previous relationship. She wanted to be my partner, nothing more. I . . . I took that badly.”
“You
believed her?” That made him look
up quickly. “Fox, after all these years
and you don’t know her any better than that?”
“She
- “
“Fox,
look at her career choices - physician, FBI agent. Typically
male professions. She’s had to prove
herself over and over again in a man’s world. Needing
someone would show weakness. She
couldn’t allow that. She had to show
she’s as strong as any man.”
“But
I need her.
Does she think that makes me weak?”
“Maybe
she doesn’t know Fox. Maybe she
won’t let herself believe that you can need her.”
*****
He
let himself into the house with Maggie’s key. He
could hear someone in the kitchen and headed that way.
“Mom? Is that you?”
He
stepped into the room as she turned. She’d
lost weight, she had to be down to the size she’d been when battling the cancer and
her face was drawn. Was the pain physical or
emotional? He couldn’t tell. She
didn’t look like she’d been sleeping either; of course the same could probably
be said of him. “Mulder.”
He
stopped just inside the door, “Don’t talk for a minute, just listen.” He took a deep breath as she stared at him,
“I know you don’t need me in your life. If
you have any doubt of that, Bill can give you a thousand reasons why it’s true. You don’t.
And you know I survived without you in my life for more years than I want to
contemplate. So maybe, technically, I
don’t need you in mine. But the reality
is, I do need you. And if the only way I can
have you in my life is as my partner, okay. I’ll
take it. I just don’t want to be without
you anymore.” He stopped talking then,
just watching her. There was nothing else to
say.
His
heart sank as he saw the tears form in her eyes. He
had to hold himself in place as one escaped and trailed down her cheek.
“It
scares me how much I need you.” She said
it quietly, but didn’t look away, held by his eyes.
“Do
you think that’s something we could work on together?
I could sure use a good night’s sleep.” He held out his hand, but didn’t move close
enough to touch her.
That
startled a laugh out of her and she moved toward him.
“You need me?”
“You
don’t listen very well. How many times
do I have to tell you?”
“Constantly?”
“Okay.” He pulled her into his arms then and held her
tightly to his chest. Her arms snaked around
his waist and he felt her relax.
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