Damaged

Rating: Teen, for language.

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Files, Mulder, or Scully. Suck on that.

Summary: "I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say, and you can't take back what you've taken away."

A/N: Totally had this idea months ago and Andrea's making me finish it, because she's forced me to believe that everyone will like it. LOL. Whateverness.

Scully had enough. In the past few days, Mulder had completely pissed her off beyond reason. She was already annoyed with him that he had dragged her out into the middle of no where, again, for no reason. Of course, his excuse had been, "Scully. This is an X-File. This is important. I wouldn't ask you to come with me if I didn't think it was extreme."

And as usual, she gave in to his plea and allowed herself to be dragged into the hot heat of the Nevada sun. All day long, she had followed Mulder everywhere. She hadn't slept, she hadn't eaten, she hadn't even had a chance to change out of her business attire since she had arrived in the dry state. If there was one thing she knew about her partner, it was that he was determined.

She loved and hated that about him all at the same time. His passion inspired her. His ignorance annoyed her. It was that simple.

"Scully? What do you think?"

"Mulder, you know what I think about this."

"No, I don't actually. Mind telling me?" She snapped off her latex gloves and led them away from the local law enforcement sharing the scene with them.

"What are we doing here? Seriously?"

"We're investigating a case. You see all the evidence. What more do you need?"

"The only evidence I see around here are the tumble weeds blowing past us, which tells me we're wasting our time. I thought we agreed on this, Mulder. No more pointless investigations. I don't think I can take this anymore." The words hit him like a ton of bricks. He had his fair share of hearing his partner complain about the cases they worked, and he had always ignored her complains, but maybe it was time to listen to them.

He forced himself to nod his head and he shrugged, not knowing what to tell her. He was running out of excuses to keep her here. If she really didn't want to be here, what was the point of forcing her to stay?

"Well then... I'm sorry to hear that." He began to back up, feeling the need to get away from her. She could feel her heart drop in her chest when she realized how bad she had hurt him with her words. The X-Files meant almost everything to him and to deny him of that, it was like taking cartoons away from a child.

"Mulder, wait."

"No, Scully. You were right. I brought you out here in a hundred degree weather just for my own selfish needs. Just forget about the fact that you're my partner and I can't do this without you. While you're at it, forget about the fact I even asked you to come here. Leave if you want, I won't hold it against you."

"Mulder, you're misinterpreting what I said. I didn't mean it like that," she called out to him as she struggled to catch up with him. She was hot, sweaty, thirsty, and tired. Mulder ignoring her just pissed her off even more. "Mulder, STOP!" A few detectives turned their heads to see what the commotion was about, but returned to their intended business. But it was too late. He had already got into their rental car and sped off, spitting rocks and sand everywhere.

Later that week, when the case had come to a close, the two of them made it back to their apartment with their bags in their hands. Mulder unlocked the door and shuffled in before Scully, not even bothering to hold the door open for her. He tossed his own bags into their bedroom and began undoing his tie.

Scully checked the messages on their answering machine while she waited for Mulder to cool off, but little did she know, it would take far longer than she expected. She shrugged off her trench coat and hung it up on the coat rack besides the door. She was toeing off her heels when Mulder came out of their bedroom, dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She stood in her place as she watched him dig through all of their cabinets and through the fridge. He slammed the fridge door when he realized they didn't have anything appetizing to eat. She jumped a little and she stiffened.

"We don't have a damn thing to eat in this apartment, do we, Scully?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping." She took a spot beside him and started to search through the cabinets again, making sure he didn't miss anything. "I didn't really have much time to shop this week after you dragged me out to Nevada, now did I?"

"That's right. It's my fault. Me and my fucking 'pointless investigations', right?" She gasped at him and slammed the cabinet door shut herself. Never had he talked to her in such a tone and with such language. And she wasn't going to start tolerating it now. She wasn't afraid of him and she sure wasn't intimidated by him, but he could sure challenge her for what she was worth.

"No," she stressed. "I didn't have much time to go shopping to begin with. It was my fault. I'm sorry." He pushed past her and walked to the other side of the kitchen. "Mulder, we need to talk about this."

"What's there to talk about?"

"A lot of things if you would just listen to me for once," she yelled at him, fed up with his stubbornness. He turned around and opened his mouth, but closed it when he realized he had nothing to say back. "What's going on with you? You've been so distant. It's like..." She trailed off, afraid of only deepening their argument, but she knew that if she didn't tell him, that he'd never understand. "It's like I don't even know you anymore." He nodded, as if he were almost expecting something like this. 'Typical Scully', is what he would be thinking. "Why can't you just talk to me? Talking, for us, used to be the easiest thing in the world. Now it's like we're forcing ourselves to hold a conversation." She paused, her bottom lip trembling. "I mean... is it me? Did I do something wrong? I just don't understand, Mulder. I've wanted this for far too long and I'm not about to lose it all because we're having trouble communicating."

As angry as Mulder was, with one look at her troubled face, he took a few steps forward to where he was standing directly in front of her. There was no way she could escape him now. She tensed when he got closer and it was like a stab in the heart. She was afraid of him. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to not touch her, not until she was ready to be touched. One wrong move or word could turn this thing into a downward spiral.

"It's not you. You haven't done anything wrong."

"Then what is it, Mulder?" He took a shaky breath and looked down at her. Her eyes were filling with tears and her lips were trembling. He sighed and let his shoulders slump. It was the one thing he wanted to avoid in this relationship. Drama. "What," she asked in a soft voice.

"Don't... do that."

"Do what?!"

"Act that way! This isn't a big deal. You take one inch and stretch it into a mile!"

"This is you and me. Me and you. Our relationship isn't a big deal to you?"

"That's not what I said!"

"Oh, but it is!"

"You're doing it again," he accused her, pointing a finger in her face and taking a step back.

"Mulder, I have done nothing but give all I could give for this to work out. Lately, it feels like you haven't been... so committed."

"Well it's not like we're married or anything!" The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them. Her head jerked back as if he had actually hit her.

"No. No... you're right. We're not married." With every word, her voice grew louder. "But we are a couple and it would be nice for you to acknowledge that!"

"You... deserve better than me," he whispered. "You deserve someone who can make you feel like you're in a trusted relationship. You don't need someone like me, who's constantly putting both of our lives into danger. That's not the life you want and you know it."

"Mulder? You can't be serious." She took bold steps closer to him and grabbed his hand. He couldn't stand to feel his rough, weathered skin against her soft, silk like skin. His hand balled up into a fist and he practically yanked his hand back, but in the process, she leaned forward.

Only the sound of flesh against flesh could be heard in the apartment. It almost seemed to echo in his mind. They both froze. Scully's face contorted in pain but she made no attempt to move. His breathing became shallow and he could feel his anger rise in him again, but not at Scully, at himself. His fists balled up again and she closed her eyes tight. He pressed his lips together, then took a deep breath.

"Scully," his voice was dry.

"Don't," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. She could feel the pain throbbing in her left cheek and wondered how bad the bruise would be the next morning. She turned and headed towards the bedroom, passing their suitcases that were still on the floor near the front door. By the time she reached her closet, the tears were rolling down her eyes. She was too upset to stay here, too afraid something worse would happen between them. She had to get away from him.

She pulled out a black bag and began stuffing clothes into it. She was so focused on her task and so upset, that she didn't even notice Mulder, who was leaning against the door frame of the bedroom, staring down at his hands as if they had been lit on fire. When she was in the bathroom, packing her toothbrush and personal effects, she dropped her bag and fell against the sink. Her head hung over the cold, white glass as she continued to cry.

He was confused. She knew he would never harm her, not on purpose. It was an accident. A simple accident. From past experience, he knew things were only going to get worse if he didn't put an end to things now, to get things sorted out the way she had wanted to from the beginning. It took everything he had in him to push himself away from the door frame and walk into the bathroom.

"Scully, it was an accident." She shook her head and sniffed, her tears falling into the sink and down the drain. Everything seemed to remain still. No one was moving, no one was talking, nothing was happening. When the silence finally became too much to take, Mulder walked up behind her and grabbed her by her waist, then spun her around and pressed her up against the bathroom counter. She gasped in shock, amazed that he would actually have the courage to touch her after what he had just done. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his face, and the truth was, she didn't want to. Everything he needed to say was all in his eyes, and she knew deep down that he would never hurt her. He loved her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I know."

His hands were now gripping the edges of the counter, trapping her within his arms. She cupped his cheek gently and as always, their lips connected with no hesitation, no doubt. The kiss was slow and filled with passion. It was cut short, due to Scully's already lack of breath from crying, and Mulder patiently waited until she calmed down. She blushed, embarrassed from making such a scene, and tucked her head under his chin. He pressed a kiss to her temple and leaned lower to whisper into her ear.

"I love you. You know that, don't you? That I would never hurt you, ever. I'm so sorry."

"You said yourself it was an accident," she whispered back. He shuddered when he felt her hot breath seep through his shirt. "I guess I just over reacted a bit. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"All you wanted to do was talk about things and I couldn't even do that. What kind of a boyfriend am I?" She giggled at the word 'boyfriend'. She had never really used the term to describe him to other people. "Well actually..." She felt him pull away from her and her head snapped up. He kneeled down on one need and reached into his pocket with one hand, while grabbing her left hand with his other. "Dana?"

Just as she had stopped the tears from coming, they came back easily. She gasped when he opened the little black box to reveal a silver band with three simple cut diamonds resting on the top. The middle one was biggest, and two smaller ones complimented it beautifully. It sparkled in the bathroom light and suddenly, she felt like a child in a candy store.

"Marry-"

"Yes!" He laughed and slid the ring onto her finger slowly. He admired his work before he stood up and took her into his arms. They kissed and hugged for what seemed like hours until Mulder's stomach growled... loudly. She giggled, remembering that neither one of them had eaten since yesterday. "I guess I should go cook dinner, huh?"

"Now what kind of a husband would I be if I didn't treat my wife out to dinner?"

A/N: OmG. This totally SUCKED. lol. Review if you think otherwise.