She woke with a startling gasp.

"Sssh, it's me," He whispered and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and gracing it with a delicate kiss.
"Wha… Mulder, what happened? Where were you? Skinner-" She looked around the hospital room hurriedly. "Earlier today you… you were gone," she looked for his eyes. "Mulder, I thought… Skinner saw you get taken. Mulder how do I even know that's you?" she sat up and pressed herself back into the pillows behind her, taking her hand back and crossing them on her stomach.

"Skinner was right. Although about five minutes later I found myself in the middle of the woods by myself, probably about two miles from where Skinner and I found the ship. I can't really explain it. Scully, it was surreal. But something held me back. I… I don't think I have the capacity to explain it. I don't even know if I could explain it if I did have the capacity to understand it." He looked around the room. "As soon as I made it back to the road, after going the wrong direction for an hour," he searched for her eyes in the dark hospital room "I flagged down a car and got to the nearest town. The man let me use his phone. I called the gunmen to see if they could hook me up with a flight home. They told me you were here." He scooted towards the bed, taking her hand once more. "What happened? Scully last I saw you, you were feeling faint,. Is it…. Are you… Scully?" he whispered.

"Mulder… I… I'm fine," she responded. "It's not what you're thinking." She gripped his hand harder and brought it down away from his face.

"And yet you're still making me sit here and think about all the possibilities," He matched her soft tone. "Scully what is it? What did the doctors find? Why have you been collapsing?" She rested back against the pillows and observed his face. Just five or six hours ago, she was sure she would be searching for this man for as long as she needed to. Just five or six hours ago, she didn't have to think about how she was going to tell him. And now, she didn't have any words. "I think… Mulder, for right now…" she glanced over toward the window. "Can you just accept hearing that I'm okay? The doctors only wanted me to stay overnight… I'll be able to go home tomorrow. Can we talk about it then? I'll explain…" she looked back to his face.

"I…" he closed his mouth and met her eyes again. "I get to choose the movie."

She laughed and attempted to hide the fact that her eyes might betray her before she could tell him. "Mulder… I… " she took a deep breath. "I just can't find the words to tell you… I was worried sick! I was convinced you were going through tests-" He kissed her hand again.

"It wasn't like that. It was different. We'll talk about it tomorrow," he stood up and kissed her forehead. She didn't let go of his hand.

"Where are you going?" she barely managed.

"Well, it's three in the morning and I haven't fed my fish in 12 hours." He laughed and pushed a wandering tendril out of her face. "I'll be back in the morning," he leaned down and kissed her. She didn't want it to end. "Mmm, Scully, this is not the place-" she interrupted him with a finger on his lips. They had a silent conversation with their eyes. He didn't know exactly what he saw, but he saw that she was happy. He kissed her again. "I… I love you," it was barely audible. She put both of her hands on his face and smiled.
"I'll still be here in the morning," she responded. "And I'm picking dinner if I'm going to have to sit through a movie of your choice," she said as he began walking toward the door. She held tight to his hand, arms extending to their limits. He pulled his hand away and saluted to her.

She lay back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Unsure of any of the emotions she was feeling, the only thing she could place was that it felt good.