Title: Homecoming
Author: ML
Rating: Adults only
Distribution: okay to archive. Please keep Pts 1 and 2 together. If other than Gossamer or Xemplary, please let me know, and please keep my name & email attached.
Spoilers: S7, and a few indirect S8 references, through “Roadrunners.”
Classification: A, MSR
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance
Disclaimer: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen, and FOX. I mean no infringement, and I receive no remuneration for writing this.
Author’s Notes: Part of the “Gray Morning” series. Picks up right where “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” leaves off. If you haven’t read that one, you may want to read it first. A few notes, and a listing of all titles in this series at the end.
——————-
For about a minute, Mulder just gazed at Scully in the hallway. The spell was broken when the elevator door snicked shut.
Scully had an overnight bag in one hand and a take-out food bag in the other.
<She’s brought me food and clothing. I guess she means for me to stay away.>
He gestured for her to lead the way to his door. He was afraid at first that she would hand over the bags and leave again, but she walked ahead of him and waited for him to unlock the door.
“I brought dinner,” she said, holding the bag up. She set the overnight bag down by the door.
“You can stay awhile?” Mulder asked, trying not to sound too eager. “Who’s with the baby?”
“Mom’s staying with David,” Scully said. “Skinner’s there, too.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask what Skinner said about me not being there,” Mulder said.
“Well, he wasn’t happy, but he’s okay with it now,” Scully said, smiling the barest bit. Mulder wished he could have seen *that* conversation.
They were still standing awkwardly at the door. Mulder reached behind her and closed it, and took the food bag out of her hands. She followed him into the kitchen.
Mulder wanted to touch her so badly his hands ached. He turned to the sink to dump the water out of the kettle and started fresh water boiling. Scully leaned against the counter, watching him. Neither of them said anything. He could feel Scully’s eyes on him. <Okay, you wanted to talk. So why aren’t you? Ask her about anything. Ask about Doggett–no, maybe we should work up to that later. *So what do I say to her?* You need to tell her what you’ve been thinking about. And you need to tell her *everything*.>
He was concentrating so hard on his own internal argument that he almost missed Scully’s question.
“Mulder, were you on your way out when I came up?” Scully’s eyes were puzzled and a little worried looking.
Every time he looked at her, he realized all over again that the defining emotion of his time away was missing Scully. Sure, he knew that there had been pain, both physical and mental, but it was the loneliness that he remembered most now. He had always heard that the memory of pain faded with time, and he’d been injured enough through the years to know that this is true. Whatever pain They inflicted on him, the memories were now vague and distant. The memory of her absence was not fading. Being alone all day made him remember lots of things, but what he remembered most was his anguish over Scully, his fear that he’d never see her again. He’d come to himself that afternoon screaming her name, just as he had so many times before when he was in the grip of a nightmare. Just as he must have done while They had him.
“Mulder?” Scully prompted. He realized that he was still looking at her and she was waiting for an answer. Her worried frown deepened.
“It’s okay, Scully. I was just remembering something.” <How do I talk to Scully?>
“Something about..?” Now she looked scared as well as worried.
“My abduction, yes. Nothing of any use to anyone, I’m afraid. Mostly remembering a feeling.” He shook his head slightly. He was afraid that any talk about his experience would be even more difficult for Scully, in light of her own abduction. He didn’t want to give her a fresh reminder of that terror.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She was trying to display a brave and determined air, but he could see her lip trembling ever so slightly.
“I’d like to, at some point. But I don’t think I can right now.” <And I’m not sure I should discuss it with you ever, Scully.>
“Okay.” With a shamefaced air of relief, she changed the subject briskly, back to interrogating her partner on more earthly matters. “You didn’t answer my question. Were you going somewhere?”
“You gonna report me to Skinner?” he teased a little. “Still being sent to spy on me, Agent Scully?” He grinned to show he was joking, and Scully looked a little pained at this, but smiled briefly back. He took her hand, wanting at least a little contact with her. “Actually, I was on my way to grab a taxi back to your place.”
This bit of information really made her smile, though she tried not to show it. “Why did you want to do that?” she asked.
He shrugged a little. “I dunno. I wanted to see you, see how you were doing.” He took her hand in both of his, playing with her fingers a little. <say it, say it! his inner Mulder urges> “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” she said softly. She squeezed his hand and smiled a little more warmly. He moved closer, thinking maybe he could kiss her now, and the kettle started to hiss and whistle. With a muttered word he let her hand go and turned back to the stove.
Scully got out dishes and cutlery while Mulder steeped the tea. They sit at the kitchen table. Mulder noticed that instead of the usual spicy chicken, Scully helped herself only to steamed vegetables and rice. She took one sesame chicken skewer and left the spicy dishes for Mulder. He made no comment, though he looked a question at her. She gazed back steadily, calmly, declining to answer the unasked question. They ate in silence for a while. Mulder let his mind wander a bit, between shoveling in the food and watching Scully pick at hers. He’d always loved watching her eat. She was so intent on her food. Sometimes she stabbed at her salad like it was a living thing, intent on doing her harm. She almost always finished before him, and then looked longingly at whatever he had that she denied herself. Many times in the past he ended up letting her snatch half his French fries. Not that he begrudged her a bite. He would have fed them to her himself, if she would have let him.
As he sat daydreaming of memorable meals past, he missed Scully asking him another question. He shook his head a bit and looked at her. “What?”
“Mulder, are you okay?” Scully’s concerned look was back again, and she reached a cool hand to his forehead. He leaned into it, closing his eyes, savoring her touch.
“I’m okay, just woolgathering, I guess.” He banned the image of Scully, her lovely red mouth open like a baby bird’s, accepting a French fry from his fingers. “What did you ask me?”
“I asked what you did all day,” Scully repeated, letting her hand trail along his temple and through his hair before removing it.
“Oh, you know,” he said. “Watched a little TV, snooped around in the cupboards, sat around and stuff.” He caught his breath. God, how could he have forgotten this? He told Scully with some urgency, “We’d better call Skinner. Or maybe we should go back to your place. Krycek came by here this afternoon, making threats.”
Whatever reaction he expected from Scully, her calm concern wasn’t it. “Threats against whom? Against you?”
He took a deep breath. “No, against you. And the baby. To make me cooperate.”
“Mulder, it’s okay. Doggett picked up Krycek not long after he left here.”
He expelled his breath in a snort of surprise. “You *knew* he’d been here?”
“The Gunmen have been monitoring your building since you were taken,” Scully explained. “They alerted Skinner and Doggett as soon as they saw him.”
“And Marita?” he asked. “Did they get her, too?”
Scully looked a little shamefaced. “No, she got away. They, uh, we, kind of weren’t paying attention after we got Krycek. We weren’t expecting anyone else.” She looked down at her plate, gathering her thoughts, then looked up at Mulder again. “That’s why Skinner was upset that you’d come over here without telling him first. He knew Krycek would surface when he found out you were back and he wanted to set up a trap for him.”
“Well, it sounds like it worked out okay after all,” Mulder observed, a bit stung that all this was going on that day without his knowledge, while he sat in his apartment, brooding.
“Don’t be upset, Mulder. I didn’t want to stop you from coming over here, if that’s what you needed to do, but I had to tell Skinner. And I guess it’s good that I did.” She looked at him warily, as if afraid he’d lose his temper over this.
He was upset about it, sure, but also relieved that for now, Krycek was not a threat. He realized that he couldn’t afford to be so indulgent with his temper as he once was. There was more at stake than his wishes now, and he felt a grudging gratitude that Skinner and the others have been looking out for Scully while he was unable to. Hadn’t he told himself earlier today that he’d have to make a place for himself in Scully’s life again? This seemed a good place to start. He said, “Scully, I realize that I’ve been gone for some time, and I have a lot of catching up to do before I know what you’ve been through. All I’m asking is, don’t shut me out of what’s going on. I want, I *need* to be a part of this, not as a liability or something that needs guarding.”
“Oh Mulder, we–I–didn’t mean for you to feel this way. I never intended to keep anything from you. But I didn’t want to dump everything on you at once.” She looked distressed. “It’s bad enough that you didn’t know about the baby, that you had to learn about him after the fact. I wanted to be the one to tell you about the other things that happened while you were gone.”
“Well, there’s no time like the present, if you have the time.” He knew he still sounded a little petulant, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
She nodded, but didn’t say anything for a long time, just pushed her remaining food around on her plate. Finally, she said, “That’s why I came over here, Mulder. So we could talk about things. Mom says she can stay overnight with David. We can talk all night if we have to.”
Mulder was elated to realize that the overnight bag was for *Scully,* not him. He didn’t let this show, but nodded very seriously. “I’ll talk, I’ll listen, whatever it takes,” he said. “But there’s something I have to do first.” He took her hand and pulled her to stand up. He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips against hers. He ran his thumbs along her jaw line, and let his hands slide down to her shoulders and along her arms until he reached her hands, twining his fingers with hers.
“Oh, Mulder,” she whispered against his mouth, “you don’t know how much I’ve missed this.” She pressed her mouth against his again, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. It wasn’t until they lost balance and staggered against the counter that they broke the joining of their mouths. Mulder’s hip jarred against the edge of the sink and he flinched.
“Ow,” he said, smiling down at her. “Love hurts.”
“Smartass,” Scully teased. “Hey, I asked you what you did today, why don’t you ask me what I did?”
“Well, I thought I knew. Catching the bad guys? Keeping me safe?”
“Well, besides that,” she smiled mysteriously. It was so unlike Scully not to get directly to the point that it took him a minute to realize she was teasing him.
“Okay, I’ll play along. What did you do with your day, Scully?” he asked.
“Well, I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon,” Scully told him.
“Are you okay?” As usual, Mulder couldn’t help the feeling of panic when he heard about Scully and visits to doctors.
“Mulder, I’m fine.” They both grimaced at her choice of words. “Really. The doctor said I could resume all normal activities, as long as I don’t try to lift anything too heavy or over exert myself.” She brushed her hand up and down his arm as she spoke, a little gleam of mischief in her eyes.
Her touch sparked a reaction in nerve endings all up and down Mulder’s body. He made an effort to marshal his brain to answer her in the way he thought she expected. “How `bout if I do the heavy lifting, Scully?” He gave her a seductive look and raised his eyebrows. He locked his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest, lifting her slightly off the floor for emphasis. He let her slide down his body until her feet touched the ground again. Then he raised his hands to her face and leaned in to kiss her once more. She opened her lips to him and pressed close, her hands wrapping around his middle in a fierce hug.
His lips left hers to kiss all along her jaw line and behind her ear, a place he knew was particularly tender on her. Her reaction was gratifying. She murmured against his ear, “Do you have clean sheets on the bed, Mulder, or should I go hide in the bathroom and give you a chance to check?”
He grinned at her reference to the first time she stayed here with him. “Why don’t we go check together?” He twined his fingers with hers and led her into his bedroom.
They stood next to the bed for several long moments, continuing the kisses they started in the kitchen. Mulder eventually broke away to turn down the bed. It was made much more neatly than he’d ever do it, with hospital corners and all.
“I don’t think it’s been touched since I made it up,” Scully whispered at his side. He turned to look at her. “I kept the old sheets on it for a long time,” she confessed. “I would come over to feed the fish, and sometimes I took a nap on your bed.” Her voice fell even lower. “It made me feel closer to you. When we decided to sublet your apartment, I cleaned everything and packed up what I could to keep at my place.”
Mulder turned and pulled Scully close to him again. His lips found hers and he kissed her softly, tenderly, as he felt her sob against him.
“I never cried, the whole time you were gone,” she sobbed. “Now I can’t seem to stop. I’m sorry.”
He kissed the tears tracking down her cheeks and tilted her head back to look into her eyes. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Scully. You kept the faith, you kept me alive.”
She was shaking in his arms, a deep trembling that had nothing to do with her tears. Was she cold? Was she scared? He guided her to the bed and made her lie down, pulling the covers over her. He climbed onto the bed next to her, intent only on giving her comfort, nothing more. He hugged her close against his body and rubbed her arm, laying his head just behind her so he could whisper in her ear. It felt comforting and familiar to him. He did the same thing in Oregon, and again on the night he returned to her. It seemed to calm her. “It’s okay, Scully,” he told her, his breath stirring her hair. “Just relax, get warm. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, and neither are you.”
Gradually her trembling stopped and her breathing became slow and regular. He kissed her cheek softly. “Are you feeling better?”
She nodded against him and he could feel the tickle of her hair against his cheek. “I’m okay now. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I suddenly reacted that way.”
“You’ve been holding things in a long time, haven’t you?” he asked. She nodded again. “You had to be strong, to show Skinner you could handle it, to prove yourself to your new partner, is that it?”
She started to speak again, but the words came out as a sob.
“Shhh,” he soothed her, stroking her arm. “Just relax, don’t try to talk. Just be here with me. We can talk about this later. I think you need some rest now.” He kissed her cheek again. “Close your eyes and try to get some sleep. I’ll be right here.” He pulled her against him in a hug, then relaxed his grip a little, continuing to trail his hand up and down her arm in a soothing motion.
He could tell when she fell asleep finally, from one breath to the next. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep as well. Between the little sleep he got the night before and his broken rest that afternoon, he felt pretty exhausted too.
-x-x-x-x-
He wasn’t sure how much later it was when he woke to feel her stirring next to him. She turned toward him.
“I’m sorry,” she said before he could say anything.
“Scully, I said it before, and I’ll say it now. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He kissed her forehead. “You feeling better?”
“Yes, thanks. I think that’s the longest I’ve slept since I don’t know when. Since the baby was born, anyway.”
“Really? This can’t have been more than a couple of hours, Scully.” He squinted at his watch. “It’s a little past one. What time did you come over?”
“A little after seven, I think.” Her voice still sounded drowsy. “David gets me up about every three hours, like clockwork. He likes regular meals.”
“So how long is that going to go on?”
“It varies. The doctor says he could start sleeping through the night any time, or maybe he never will. Some babies are more restless than others.” She kissed his chin. “Like father, like son, I guess.”
“Humph.” Mulder looked down his nose at her. “I’ll have to have a talk with him about that. He can’t be waking you up all hours of the night. That’s my job.”
“Depends on what you’re waking me up for,” she said. “If it’s alien chasing, forget it.”
“I can think of other, better reasons for waking you up in the night.” He loomed over her and brushed her hair away from her face, angling his lips over hers and pressing his body against her in such a way as to leave no doubt of his meaning.
She turned toward him and ran her hands over his shoulders. “You’re still dressed.”
“So are you,” he observed. “You got to see me naked yesterday. Don’t you think it’s time you returned the favor?”
-x-x-x-x-
Scully seemed a little hesitant. He had to remind himself that while his mind believed that only a few days have passed since he was last with Scully, for her it had been almost a year. She had been a little shy around him in the past few days, and only now did he realize why. She turned her back to him and pulled her clothes off, sliding back under the covers quickly.
He had done the same while her back was turned, and now he pulled the covers back and turned her so that they were face to face once more.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said softly, surveying her from head to toe. She had changed–even before being granted this privileged view, he could see it in her face and the way her body moved. He was entranced by the fullness of her breasts, her darkened and enlarged aureoles. Her hips seemed to flare a little more, her torso was not so lean–
she just seemed softer, somehow. He could see the new scar low on her abdomen from the C-section, a pink crescent below her belly button.
He reached a tentative hand out to touch her and she put her hand over his, guiding his fingers to the scar.
“Your latest badge of courage,” he murmured tenderly. He traced its length with his index finger, then drew his hand up her body to caress her breasts. She gazed at him hungrily, her eyes wide and dark. She closed them slowly as he leaned in to kiss her again. He took his time over this, allowing his tongue to explore fully, to reacquaint himself with her mouth, and the contours of her face.
She reached for him in return and allowed her hand to drift down over his muscled chest and his flat stomach, lower still to run her fingers along his erection. He gasped against her mouth. He wanted her so badly, but he didn’t want to rush this. It had been too long for both of them.
He tried to remember that physiologically at least, it has been the same amount of time for him as for Scully. His brain didn’t know the difference, however, and after a few moments it didn’t matter either way. Here was something else he hadn’t forgotten–how wonderful it felt to be with Scully. Two days or twelve months, it made no difference. For the first time, he felt well and truly home again. He kissed every inch of her flesh, whispering his love against her skin as he touched and teased his way the length of her body.
He was pleased to note that Scully obviously felt the same way. She was as eager as he was. She showed it in her reactions to his touch, in the way she touched him. Then there was no longer any conscious thought, or need for it. There was only sensation and emotion as they kissed and clung to each other, their bodies joined in mutual joy and completion.
-x-x-x-x-
“Mulder, why is it so hard for us to talk to each other?”
Scully’s voice drifted up to him from where she lay against his chest.
He thought for a moment. “Well, before, we were trying to ignore the inevitable, and now that the inevitable has happened, we have better things to do. Sound about right to you?”
“Mulder. Be serious for a moment.”
“You think I’m not?” He tried to see her face without moving them from their comfortable position. She accommodated by tilting her head up to look at him. “Sometimes I think we do our best communicating without words.”
“Much as you’d like to believe it, Mulder, sex isn’t going to solve our problems or answer our questions.”
“It won’t?” He turned an innocent face to her, and gave her a deep, thorough kiss. “But I love this,” he said. “I love *you.*” He even loved saying the words, which surprised him somewhat. After so many years of not being able to say it, each time he did, he felt his heart expand a little more.
“My express purpose for coming over here was so we could talk,” she said in an admonitory tone, which was spoiled when he made her giggle.
“I don’t think anyone would begrudge us this,” he countered. “Certainly not your mom. You can’t deny she’s had her eye on me for years. Why would she keep inviting me to family gatherings all this time if she didn’t expect this to happen?”
“I’ll concede that point. But we still have to talk.”
Mulder pulled the pillows up against the headboard and shifted them both to a sitting position. “Okay, so talk. I’m listening. What has Skinner got going on in his shiny head? I know he’s planning something. Let me in on it.”
Scully sighed. “Skinner wants us to consider going to a safe house.”
This was not so big a surprise. Standard FBI thinking, that. Even if Skinner believed, he still relied on the old methods. “Just you and David, or all three of us?”
“Would you want to go with us?” Scully asked.
“Do you think I wouldn’t?” He was a little surprised she would question it.
“Mulder,” she said, not looking at him. “I never asked if you wanted a child. We certainly didn’t anticipate it, when we got–involved. It just wasn’t a possibility. It’s been sprung on you all of a sudden, an accomplished fact. I don’t want you to feel obligated–”
He was incredulous at this. “Scully, maybe I never asked for this, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t wanted it. Maybe I never said anything because I knew the only woman I would consider as the mother of my children couldn’t have any. What’s the point of expressing a want that you know can’t be fulfilled?”
She couldn’t seem to speak. She looked at him, her eyes filled to overflowing. He kept talking, to give her time to compose herself. “I’m sorry if you ever doubted that, Scully. I’m sorry I didn’t make it clear sooner. I love you, I love our child. I want to be a part of your lives, if you’ll let me.” It was still hard for him to comprehend that she couldn’t know that. He thought that maybe she hadn’t wanted him to be a part of her life. He supposed she was right–they *did* need to talk more. Non-verbal communication notwithstanding, sometimes the words had to be said.
He didn’t need her words to see how she felt about what he said. She smiled her special smile at him, and twined her fingers around his. “I love you,” she said softly.
He kissed her again, cupping her face with one hand as he clutched at her fingers with the other. Finally he pulled gently away. “Now. About this safe house. Just you and the baby, or all of us?”
“All of us, I think. He started talking about it as soon as the abductees started returning.”
“What makes him think we can be safe–any of us–if They decide to start the invasion, or if They want to take me again?” He held Scully a little closer to his side. “I finally understand, Scully. I understand the terror the abductees must feel all the time–that they’ll be taken again, that who knows what could happen to them at any time. I’ve tried to understand in the past–what happened to Duane Barry, to you–but there’s no understanding like experience.”
“You remember more about it now, don’t you?” she asked softly, holding one hand over his heart, and the other grasping his free hand.
“I don’t think I want to remember, Scully. I’m not sure They want me to remember fully. This is what I think: They are blocking the purpose of my abduction somehow. The only memories They are allowing to filter through are the ones I don’t want to think about, and that I don’t really want to tell you about.”
“Was it bad, Mulder?” She asked gently.
He said carefully, “You remember what Theresa Hoese said about her husband’s experiences compared to hers?”
Scully nodded, biting her bottom lip a little.
“I think the same applies to me. I think They really did a number on me, Scully.”
Scully said nothing but laid her head against his chest. He held her close, saying nothing more, knowing that what he said was painful to her, wishing he could take it back. He felt the trickle of her tears on his bare skin. “Hey, Scully, it’s okay. I’m back, and seemingly none the worse for wear. I guess Their surgical techniques have improved over the years, huh?” He put his fingers under her chin and raised her head to look at him.
“Is that why can’t I find any physical evidence of it, Mulder? I’m not doubting you, not at all, but I don’t understand. I saw the pictures of Theresa’s husband. I saw the scars, I saw his medical records. You have no new scars that I can see. Until we do an MRI, I can’t know about internal changes.”
“I truly believe, Scully, that even then you won’t find anything. But I’m willing to be tested all the same. I don’t want you to be afraid of me, or to think some harm might come to you or David through me, or because of what was done to me.”
“I could never be afraid of you,” she assured him. “But I was told things, when you were gone, about your medical condition–”
“What things?” Something in her voice scared him.
“They showed me your charts. They said–” she took a breath that sounded suspiciously like a sob– “they said you were dying. That the brain surgery you had caused a decline.”
“Not to my knowledge, Scully. Before I was taken, I was as healthy as you would expect a forty-year-old man who’d been reamed by tobacco beetles, chewed on by zombies, and bitten by snakes could be. Not the specimen I was at twenty, certainly, but I think *you* can attest to the fact that I’m in pretty good shape.” He grinned and raised his eyebrows at her.
“I wanted to believe those charts were lies, Mulder, I did,” she said, her eyes still wet with unshed tears. “I didn’t know what to think, who to believe.” She paused, considering her next words, then went on. “I have something of yours I took from the desk in your apartment a while ago,” she told him. You made a tape at Arecibo where you said that you only trusted me, and I had been taken away from you. I only trusted you, Mulder, and you had been taken away from me.”
“They *were* lies, Scully. I don’t know to what purpose, but you would know if anything was wrong with me. You’re my doctor.” He put both arms around her, hugged her close. “And I’m back, and I’m whole.” He wiped the tears away from her cheeks and kissed her eyes. “I would never withhold something like that from you, Scully. You of all people should know that.”
“I-I guess I thought–especially after…” her voice trailed away.
“After what? Did you think that after we’d become lovers I’d lie to you?”
“No, Mulder, but if it was true, and you told me, maybe it would have changed things.”
“We would have found a way to fight it together. I’ve always needed your help, Scully, and if I were in a fight for my life, there’s no one I would want beside me more than you.” He kissed her again, a long gentle caress that sealed his words to her.
After a time, he returned to his questioning. “What about your new partner? Couldn’t you trust him?” He was ready to think the worst of Doggett.
“He’s the one who showed me the charts. He tried to make me believe that you confided in others at the Bureau, but not in me. We didn’t get off to a good start.”
“So you didn’t trust Doggett. Why is he involved in this now? I suppose, if Doggett knows I’m back, Kersh probably knows, too?” He had to grit his teeth to say either name.
“I didn’t trust him at first, Mulder. I still don’t trust him the way I do you. But I respect him, and he respects me. He’s come a long way since our first meeting. So no, I don’t think John Doggett will tell Kersh. He’s his own man. Don’t you know him? Did you ever work with him?”
“No, never did. He wasn’t in Behavioral much, and I never worked on any of his cases. I’m sure I’ve met him in passing at a meeting or some function or other.” He reviewed his memory and could call up a face, but not much else.
Scully nodded to herself at his answer, as if confirming something she’d suspected.
“So you’re okay with him being your partner now?” Mulder pressed for more information.
“He saved me a time or two, when I got in a little too deep, trying to be you.” She smiled. “I could never be you, Mulder, no matter how hard I tried.”
“I’m guessing these won’t be stories that you’ll want to tell David one day?”
“Maybe when he’s thirty or forty.”
“You wanna whisper one to me now?” He spoke in his most seductive tone. He felt rested, Scully seemed rested, so maybe they could…
“They’re not exactly bedtime stories, Mulder.” She turned toward him with half-closed eyes. He knew and loved that look. “Besides, I can think of something I’d rather do.”
He grinned at her. “Agent Scully, are you coming on to me?”
“Why, yes, I believe I am, Agent Mulder,” she replied, and pulled his head down to kiss him.
-x-x-x-x-
Later, with Scully asleep in his arms, he thought about the safe house idea. It had some appeal, but he wasn’t sure that hiding would be any safer than living out in the open, doing what they could to find out what they could. To forestall the invasion, if possible, and if not, to try and warn people of it. It will be a thankless task–the past several years have already taught him that. But he still had to try, regardless of the outcome.
He looked down at Scully, as peaceful as he’d ever seen her. It made him feel at peace, too. Whatever was done to him, whatever the future held for them all, he was home now. Home was not a place, he realized. Home was wherever Scully was, and now where his son was, too. He had known that for some time, and maybe now Scully knew it too. He would gladly spend the rest of his life telling her and showing her just that.
end.