Takes place in Season 2 immediately following the episode Irresistible.

Summary: Mulder comforts Scully after the serial fetishist/ killer abducts her. Mulder takes her home.

Spoilers: Irresistible

Thanks to Strbck23 for the beta

Comfort
By MonikaFileFan and WildwingSuz
Rated PG

"It's been said that the fear of the unknown is an irrational response to the excesses of the imagination, but our fear of the everyday- of the lurking stranger and the sound of footfalls on the stairs- the fear of violent death and the primitive impulse to survive are as frightening as any X File, as real as the acceptance that it could happen to you."

Fox Mulder

Her wrists were red and looked painful from the cord that Donnie Pfaster had bound her with. I could see the the scrape on her chin and facial bruises even in the dimness of the car. Tonight, I was scared. Honestly, scared shitless for my partner and friend. Knowing what we did about Pfaster, we hadn't had much time to find her in one piece. Plus, we'd had no idea how badly she'd been hurt in the car accident; despite her protests I'd made sure the EMTs had checked her over thoroughly. She was, luckily, not injured except for a few bruises and bloody scratches across her chin. I had expected much worse after seeing her car.

Pfaster was a sick son-of-a-bitch who took pleasure in defiling women. My stomach roiled just thinking about Scully having her fingernails ripped off. I gritted my teeth and forced that disturbing thought from my head.

I gripped the steering wheel and thanked the sky above for her sitting next to me as we drove home from the airport. After Scully chased the paramedics off, she gave her statement and I told her we would take the next flight back. She'd slept most of the plane ride and had suggested I drop her off at her apartment. I refused to just leave her after what happened. Mostly for her sake, but to be honest, a little bit for myself as well. She didn't argue when I told, not asked, her that I was going to stay over-and that in itself told me a lot.

Scully said she was fine which was her usual answer to my questioning. I knew she wasn't, even though she walked around her apartment and made us tea like it was any other day after work. Being a psychologist I figured that after the shock and adrenaline wore off, reality would set in. I would be here with her when it did.

Around ten o'clock Scully took a quick shower and went to sleep in her bed while I claimed her couch. Insomnia was my friend again tonight and for once I didn't particularly mind. The memories that invaded my mind however, I did. Memories of when Scully had been forcefully taken not that long ago. That had been hell on Earth and I knew for a fact that I could never survive long enough to bear having her gone like that again. I had way too much on my mind to sleep and Scul-

"AHHH… NO! No, stop. Don't!"

Her screams pealed through the dark like a siren. I leapt off the couch barefoot, the afghan that had been over me flying away into the dark room, and ran to her bedside. I leaned over to brush the hair away from her eyes, seeing that she was still asleep. "Scully!"

"Don't touch me you sick bastard," she yelled, thrashing around and hitting me on the nose while I tried waking her. Stars flashed before my watering eyes, but I didn't stop.

"Ouch, hey! Scully it's alright, it's me." I gently and carefully grasped her shoulders, not holding her down but hoping to reassure and ground her as well as keep her flailing arms away from my face. My heart was pounding so hard I almost couldn't catch my breath.

"Mulder? Oh, Mulder, thank God it's you," she said, breathless, as her eyes popped open. Next thing I knew she was in my arms, the side of her head bumping my sore nose and making me wince. I bit back an exclamation of pain, not wanting her to worry about me after what she'd been through. Plus, it felt so satisfying to just hold her. The emotional embrace at the scene was just not enough for either of us.

I sat down beside her and reached around to flick the light on. "Sounds like it was one hell of a nightmare?" Her chest was heaving with her panting breath and the white silk pajamas were melted to it, damp with sweat.

She didn't answer, but then she didn't need to. I could see her trembling. Once again I carefully pulled her to me as she cried it out, letting her sob and wet my shoulder with her hot tears. I'd brought my overnight bag up from the car and was wearing a clean t-shirt and sweats, and didn't mind in the slightest. I held her loosely, trying to ignore both my throbbing nose and the feel of her firm yet soft body against me for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

Finally she pulled away, and I let her go almost unwillingly. She leaned back against the headboard of the bed, wiping her eyes with both hands, not looking at me. I sat by her side and waited patiently, wondering if I should get her a tissue or something. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but if her tears kept falling I might've started to cry too.

Just as I was about to open my mouth, Scully looked up and stared right into my eyes with her baby blues shimmering with yet more unshed tears.

"Mulder, it's my job to protect others from predators. And I couldn't even protect myself." She was trembling with just as much anger as frustration.

"No Scully, you did nothing wrong." I shook my head and decided that I needed to share my thoughts on the subject. "I've been inside some of the most sick and twisted minds of the most vile people that walk the earth. You did everything you could have to escape the situation. I'm just sorry I wasn't there to stop him before he got to you."

"That's not your job, Mulder. I'm a trained law enforcement officer just like you, and I shouldn't need you to keep me safe." She was shaking her head, denying the chance to see herself as a victim in any of it.

"He drove your car off the road, Scully!" I was getting a bit frustrated and trying not to show it. I hated it when I couldn't get through to her. "I should have had your back!" I was emotionally kicking myself for not paying closer attention to Pfaster's growing fetish.

"Normally I can drive from an airport to a crime scene without some damn psycho chasing me!" she retorted with some heat.

"Normally being the key word here," I pointed out. "There's no way you could have known what was going to happen."

"Nor could you," she said, appearing to calm down. She knew that I had a habit of wearing my guilt like a badge. Exasperation was now coming from us both.

I brushed my fingertips carefully along her rope-burned wrist, her arm resting on top of the pale blue comforter. "Don't forget, you're not the reckless one who tends to disregard procedure." For that, I get a small smile that actually reaches her eyes.

I could feel her heartbeat start to slow at her pulsepoint. Taking a deep breath of my own, I felt as if I could start to relax enough to breathe easily now. Without thinking I reach up to touch my aching nose, then wince and pull my hand away.

"Mulder… is something wrong with your nose?" she asks hesitantly, eyes on my face. "It looks a little swollen."

"Are you making fun of my beak? That's not very nice, Agent Scully," I try to deflect her. My nose is still sore, though I'm pretty sure it's just bruised and not broken. I don't want to tell her that she hurt me, not even such a minor thing as unknowingly popping me one in the schnozz. She's got enough to deal with right now, even though I secretly like when Dr. Scully gives me her assessing attention.

She narrows her eyes at me, but doesn't argue so I push on. I've learned that late night confessions are my specialty and I have been itching to tell her how much she means to me.

"Scully, I've wanted to say this to you since our very first case together. Especially after you were returned in the hospital and woke up from your coma. You're the strongest, most intelligent and magnetic person I have ever met, and probably ever will meet. I don't think I can say enough amazing things about you to make you see what I see when I look at you." I paused, catching the pinkening of her cheeks. I added, "I knew you were having a hard time with this case before that sicko took you, so I think you needed to hear how I feel just as bad as I needed to say it."

The tears that were brimming in her eyes spilled out and she brushed them away before I could. "Thank you, Mulder. Thank you for finding me-and for being my best friend." Scully latched onto my fingers that were still touching her wrist. "I meant it when I said that I wouldn't put my life on the line for anyone but you, and I know that you feel the same."

God was she right about that. "I do. If at any point in the past, present or future, Scully, if there's a time that I could trade places with you and ease your burden, I would do it in an instant. No thought involved." I flashed her a real smile, even though I was slightly embarrassed that I'd let my best friend know how emotionally attached I had become to her. But Scully didn't let my confession affect her intention whatsoever.

She pulled me in for a surprisingly tight hug full of comfort for the third time tonight. Her hands slid up under my arms while her face was buried into my grey t-shirt. Her fingers pressed down into my shoulders keeping me from pulling away; I wondered if she was afraid I would disappear. I laced my own fingers together around her lower back and had no intention of moving any time soon. This time it wasn't just me comforting her, it was comfort shared between the both of us.

After a while she let go and laid back, and with a sigh I let her go. "See you in the morning, Mulder," she said softly, shifting around until she lay curled on her side. "Thank… thank you for being here."

"Anytime, Scully, anytime," I said, faking breeziness I didn't feel. Right now I desperately wanted to slide in that bed and hold her the rest of the night, but knew it wasn't the right move. Yet, anyway. As I went back out to the living room and hunted for the afghan in the dark, I wondered if we'd know when the time was right and when that could happen.

Somehow, I suspected that we would.

finis