By: Ten
kristena@ocean.com.au
 

CATEGORY: V, Mulder & Scully angst
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: Mulder reaches his "I'm fine" limit regarding
Scully's condition.
TIMESPAN/SPOILER WARNING: Set after "Momento Mori",
refers to "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" and
"Herronvolk", minor spoilers for "End Game" and "Fearful
Symmetry".

DISCLAIMER: The X-Files and the characters of Mulder and
Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions
and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without permission. No
copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be
gained.
 

The X-Files: "Clyde, Did You Lie?" (1/1)
by Ten, May 1997
 

"How are you, Scully?"

How she dreaded that question. She had got to work before
him today and a nose-bleed hit. She had put the tissue in
the bin with every intention of covering it with some
other rubbish, but got distracted. His sharp eyes picked
out the stain.

She breathed in, using the effort to pull her face into a
smile. "I'm fine, Mulder."

His hand slammed down on the desk. "No, DAMMIT! Stop
saying that! Stop shutting me out!"

She jumped and looked up at him. Tears were beginning to
spill out of his eyes. He breathed in sharply and swiped
at one eye with the back of his hand. He stared at the
salty moisture with as much alarm as if it were her
blood.

She opened her mouth to speak but he pushed away from the
desk and bolted out the door. Scully raced after him,
"Mulder!"

He didn't stop. She was just in time to see him disappear
into the safety of the mens room.
 
 
 

The mens was empty, thankfully. Down on basement level
Mulder seemed to be the only regular user. He had proven
this theory one day by putting a bumper sticker on the
front of one of the stall doors. It read: "BIG BROTHER
MAY NOT BE WATCHING YOU, BUT SMALL GREY ALIENS ARE". It
had not been graffittied once in the week it remained up
before the cleaning staff got around to removing it. (And
mentioning it to Skinner, who'd ticked him off.) The
other agents wouldn't have been able to resist ridiculing
him.

He had vowed he wouldn't lose control in front of her.
And look what had happened. She couldn't be strong enough
for them both in her condition. He was so caught up in
trying to control his sobbing that he didn't hear the
sound of heels on tile.

"Hey..." her voice came gently from the other side of the
stall door.

"HEY!" he yelped, alarmed. He leapt up and peered over
the top, forgetting his blotchy face. "You're not
supposed to be in here!"

"Mulder, I've followed you to the frozen wastes of
Alaska. Gone into an elephant carcass for you. Do you
really think I'd draw the line at the final frontier?"

"I guess not..." he chuckled and sniffled at the same
time.

"Though I must admit I am glad there's no one else here
at the moment." she admitted. "Come out."

He opened the stall and stepped out.

"Come here."

He entered her arms. They hugged tightly. She took a
deep breath and spoke, "When I say it, I don't mean to
shut you out. Well, I guess it does shut you out...but
you mean so much to me, I don't want you to get upset.
And I AM fine when I am with you." He nodded and she
heard him try to hold back more sobbing. That wouldn't
do. "Now let it out."

"What if someone comes in and catches us like this?"

"Honestly, Mulder - I've locked the door. We just have to
keep our voices down and when we get out of here, you'll
have to go first to make sure the coast is clear. Come
on, I think we could both do with a good cry."

They both allowed their worry liquid release, their arms
to comfort. Mulder realised that if they were strong for
each other, that was okay. He let his mind drift a
little, then focused in on a thought that made him
furious.

/Damn it, Bruckman! You could see our fates - you warned
me about the killer attacking me in the kitchen, I was
able to change it. Why didn't you tell Scully about the
cancer? You liked her, why didn't you help her?/ Mulder
took a deep breath and tried to think about it
objectionably. /...I guess since it was inoperable he
didn't want to worry her before time.../

"Mulder?" Scully was worried. He'd been quiet for a long
time.

"I was thinking about Bruckman."

"Oh."

"We're going to save you, Scully. You're not going to
die."

"That's what he said."

"That you weren't going to die?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's true."

"Mulder, I'm not an immortal. He was just being kind by
not revealing my death."

"Kind? You call that kind? ...Well, perhaps he knew that
you'd be okay. That we're going to find another
Jeremiah."

"Mulder - I know what you're trying to do, but no false
hope, please. We have no evidence -"

"My mom."

" - did make a remarkable recovery. It happens. But we
don't know it was Smith. We don't know for sure if he can
heal people with a touch. Believe me, Mulder, I want to
believe."

"You believe in miracles. And you've come back before
when they said it was hopeless."

"And you always come back to me - somehow."

"Because I AM hopeless! And because I have you."

"Then let's hang onto that; both of us. And each other."
 

THE END.
 

 
The X-Files and the characters of Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Broadcasting, and are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be gained.
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