CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Eight Hours Later

Dana Scully sat on her hospital bed and took a deep sigh of relief. She pressed her hand against her leg injury and felt the bandage below her trousers.

As she turned to look out the window, she saw the early morning sunshine appearing in the distance.

Scully tucked her hair behind her ears and slowly pushed herself off the bed, putting some weight on her injured leg. She winced slightly as the blood rushed to her injury, then it settled down and she managed to place her whole foot down on the floor.

Rising from her sitting position, she made her way towards the door to check on Mulder, but as soon as she put her hand on the door handle, someone else was coming into her room, surprising her and knocking her back slightly.

She cried out and took a quick step back, making her injury burn with hot pain.

'Dana!' Skinner exclaimed as he pushed through the door. Scully grabbed onto the side of her bed to regain her balance. Skinner immediately felt guilty, and ran to help her. 'I'm so sorry!'

'It's all right, it's ok Sir. Just… bad timing.' She said with a small smile, brushing her pain away. Skinner was blushing in embarrassment. Scully placed a hand on his arm in response and squeezed it gently. 'Really Sir, I'm fine. Don't worry about it.'

'Are… Are you all right?' He asked finally, an awkward expression on his face. Scully let out a deep breath.

'Yes sir, thanks to Mulder.'

'I had a whole search team ready for you. He called me as soon as he realised you were gone.'

'Yeah? Well..' Scully said, unable to keep a smug smile from erupting from her lips. She felt her heart rise with affection as she thought of her loyal partner. He would literally travel across the earth to save her, she knew that.

'That's Mulder for you, he never changes.'

Skinner studied her for a moment and then frowned in thought.

'So Robert is dead?'

'Mukder had no choice Sir, he was going to abduct me. He admitted to murdering Olivia and Tom. Mulder and I tried to reason with him. He was attracted to me because of...' She broke off, embarassment setting in, 'oh it.. it doesn't matter..'

'Mulder explained everything to me, I hope you don't mind.'

Scully paused now, unsure how to react.

'No.. Not at all Sir.' She said in a low voice.

'If you want any time off Dana, any time at all, you just let me know.'

Scully felt as if time had stopped as Skinners words echoed in her ears.

She stood in front of him and didn't know what to say. She always threw herself into work when she was upset. It was her way of coping.

'Thank you Sir. I will keep that in mind.' She said finally with a fixed smile. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and check on Mulder.'

Four Days Later

FBI Headquarters Washington DC - 8.45am

'Morning.'

Scully smiled as she entered the office. She wore patent flats, pencil skirt and a crisp blue blouse.

Her leg injury had healed up nicely and she was able to walk better now. She had tried to put on her stilettos that morning, but had been forced to give them up after a trial run. Her leg wasn't quite ready for that yet.

She studied her partner as he watched her enter. Mulder still had a nice graze on his forehead, but he had rested for the past few days, at Scully's adamant request, and he was nearly fully recovered.

'Hey partner.' Mulder said, rising from his desk and smiling himself at the beautiful sight of her. How did she always look so beautiful? So perfect?

Scully walked towards him slowly, being careful on her feet. She made her way towards the chair, but before she could reach it Mulder was reaching out to her and grabbing her gently, supporting her weight. Scully felt her heart race as he held onto her. She blushed slightly and couldn't help but smile again. Mulder looked down at her protectively.

'I see you haven't got your heels on today, good choice.' Mulder said with a smirk.

'I'm even shorter than usual..' She said jokingly. Mulder nodded.

'I will just have to put you in my pocket.' He said playfully. Scully hit him in the chest mockingly, pretending to be offended.

'Very funny.' She said, then tried to pull away from him towards the desk, but to her surprise Mulder grabbed her hand gently and stopped her. She paused, her heart racing with anticipation. But she already knew what was coming.

'Scully..' He asked in a soft voice. Scully closed her eyes for a second. She knew that voice. He was about to ask her something that she didn't want to confess.

'Mulder…' She started defensively.

'No Scully. I wanna know what you dreamt about. I know that you dreamt about us. I wanna know what happened.'

Scully didn't breathe.

She counted to ten then slowly turned back to him and was faced with his wide, concerned eyes.

She felt helpless, he was impossible to say no to.

Taking a deep breath, she began...

'I dreamt about our wedding day.' She breathed.

There was a deafening silence in the office and she felt her heart rise into her chest.

She couldn't bear it. Hot tears welled in her eyes as she saw Mulder go to putty, his eyes darted around, trying not to meet hers. He exhaled heavily and to her sadness, pulled away from her and rested his arms on the nearest filing cabinet.

Scully blinked back tears as she saw his reaction. It was as if she had been stabbed in the heart.

'Mulder… You.. You asked me!' She exclaimed desperately. Mulder raised a hand to stop her.

'I know, I know Scully. It's ok… Please continue.' He said breathlessly. She didn't really want to, but she decided what the hell..

'Look Mulder, I don't know why I dreamt about that, I mean, I never imagined us getting married. I can't control my dreams!' She said. Mulder glanced up at her with sympathy. She looked at him with tearful eyes and he suddenly felt terrible for reacting in the way he had. He started towards her again, then pulled her into a tight embrace before she had chance to move away.

'Scully…' He breathed as he felt her small frame against his. He squeezed her gently and closed his eyes, enjoying every second of her scent and touch. 'I'm so sorry for what I did to you, for what I did to us. You deserve…. Deserved.. So much more. You always did.' He said painfully.

Scully let out a sob and he felt the overriding guilt flow over him again. It consumed him daily, it had been one of the main causes of his depression and their eventual separation.

'Mulder..' She mumbled into his shirt, then Mulder felt her rising her head and she was then looking up at him with wide, sad eyes. He couldn't help himself as he raised a hand to her face and brushed a tear away lovingly. 'Mulder you have got to stop this. Stop feeling guilty for what you haven't given me..' She started, as she saw Mulder grimace at her words. She wasn't going to let him do this to himself again. She placed her right hand on his chest gently. Mulder held his breath as he gazed into her beautiful but haunting blue eyes. '-and focus on what you have given me..' She gushed lovingly.

Mulder searched her face for answers. She never ceased to amaze him.

'Scully, I haven't given you anything….' He said, his voice cracking with emotion.

'Mulder stop it! You have tortured yourself for years over nothing!' She exclaimed in frustration. 'What you are forgetting is that our friendship and partnership is what you have given me. You have given me my best friend, my constant.' She finished, her voice turning to a whisper.

'You have given me yourself, and my son… Even thought he may not be in our lives…' She said, her voice breaking momentarily. Scully took a breath and tried to gather herself, but Mulder rescued her as always.

He cupped her face in his hand and stroked her cheek gently. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but he had no idea how she would react.

Leaning over, he kissed her firmly on the forehead.

'Thank you.' He whispered to her gently as he pulled away. 'But I still think that you could do better..'

'Shut up Mulder.' She said with a tearful laugh. She was relieved that he had lightened the tone.

They held each other's gaze for a few moments longer, Mulder smiling down at her lovingly. Scully held onto him for as long as he would let her. These moments were rare now after the break up, and in a few minutes it would be back to business as normal.

She just wished that they could find a way back to each other's hearts, before it was too late.

THE END

Thank you for the reviews and all your kind words! I love you guys..!

As my regular readers will know, I stick to the storyline, so I really hope you're not disappointed with the ending. I would have loved to get them back together and even married, but CC won't let me.. At the moment anyway!

However...

My next fic will be my own version (the one that is in my crazy head) of what happens after the season 10 finale, as I cannot wait until 2017-18 for season 11!

I know that everyone is writing it, but after putting it off for this long (I have tried to resist the urge), I just need to get it OUT

Watch this space!

If you liked this fic, please feel free to read my other lost episodes of season 10

mulder and and scully forever

Xxxx