Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully don't belong to me. Bummer. Don't sue.
Spoilers: Well, this is set right after Requiem, but that's pretty much it.
Scully had fallen asleep, for once. That hadn't happened much in the days since Mulder's disappearance, and she fully intended to enjoy the reprieve while it was available to her. It could get so tiring sometimes...more so now than ever. So she floated blissfully through the velvet caresses of the darkness, unaware that someone was watching her even now. A hand reached out hesitantly to touch her face. She smiled gently at the ethereal contact, even as it was broken. Mulder was here, too. He watched her sleep.
She looked peaceful, the trials that she endured nearly forgotten. But he was alert even in sleep, ever observing and drawing conclusions. At the moment, he had something to tell the sleeping beauty before him. It needed to be said now, in the realm of dreams and fleeting sanctuary, before the real world could intervene. It needed to be said now in case he never got the chance to say it again.
'I love you.' Though he spoke silently, she stirred at the admonition. Her lips began to move, but Mulder shushed her tenderly, placing two fingers over her mouth. 'Not now, Scully,' he whispered. 'Rest now.'
He regarded his best friend with an air of affection and sadness. He knew she loved him as well, though she had never said the words. She had said it in a thousand other ways, that was proof enough for him. He didn't know what would happen now. Everything that they had worked for could be lost now, or maybe he would be returned to live out his life as he chose. He had no idea which would happen.
'I want you to know that I'll always be here. With you, no matter what happens to us. As long as you remember.' How could she forget? He knew that she wouldn't.
I'm letting her go, he thought. After seven years, I'm throwing it all to the winds. But he was doing it for her. What if he never returned? He didn't want her to live in the shadow of his abduction any more than he wanted her to live in the shadows of the X-files. She wasn't made for shadows.
'Don't name her Samantha,' he whispered. 'Name her something that you would have thought of before you met me.' A tear ran down Scully's face, and he brushed it away. He felt close to tears, himself. 'When she cries, hold her, and tell her about us. Sing to her like you did for me that one night. If I don't come back, tell her I'm watching her from the skies. Watching you both.' Now tears spilled from his eyes, a testament to the utter sincerity of his words.
'I found the truth, Scully, it's you. You're...' he closed his eyes, searching for an appropriate word.
For a moment time froze. The image of a tall, dark man bending over the woman of steel and fire burned into the skies. The world held its breath, and the universe paused in reverence to the star-crossed lovers.
'You're my angel.' Mulder broke the still, lifting his head as he spoke to Scully's soul. He brushed a tendril of hair out of her eyes, wanting to see her face clearly. It could be the last time. He prayed that it wouldn't be, but the choice wasn't his to make. We would have parted eventually anyway, he thought. But the memories, and this stolen moment of shared dreaming, would last forever. They would remain even if the earth crumbled from the weight of colonization. The bond between them was strong enough to survive anything. 'You and I will go on forever,' he whispered solemnly.
Slowly he rose, after the short eternity that they had shared. He thanked the relentless darkness for the chance to see her again, and they drifted apart. He gazed at her for as long as her could, but turned away when he could no longer see her face. Then he faced her again, and spoke to her.
'Good night, my angel.'
He was gone. Scully drifted, alone again in the void, her smiling face moistened by tears. It was a long time before she returned to the world.