Disclaimer: Chris Carter and the gang own The X-Files.
Spoilers: Seasons 7 and 8. Set to be post-series, but can be an AU of Season 9 as well.
The cold is like a blessing as he walks down the street.
Parked cars send back unfamiliar reflections, gashed and dirty limbs covered far too thinly for December in Vermont. But the chill doesn't freeze – it only provides relief from the heat he seems to carry, the blazing inferno he left behind.
The trip to California had ended in a hellhole. Strange, how he always got the worst out of places meant to be the best on earth. Did the gods figure he just wasn't fit for the good things in life and decide to warn him off? He'll never really know.
But the snow on the unswept sidewalk is mercifully cool and every crunch under his boots sounds like a benediction. You'll see her soon, it says. Another step, another tread, you're getting nearer and you can see her face...
Halfway he breaks out into a jog, tired as he is, and pumps his legs to go faster. There is a ragged gash down his side but it barely registers in his mind. Will she be waiting for him, he wonders. Will she peer out the window with worry lines furrowing her forehead? Will she sit down to dinner with their child and set an extra place, just in case he gets back today?
He is at the house now, sees her delicate profile and fire-red hair, but she doesn't seem to hear his knocking. As he presses his face against the glass he can see small shoulders shake with sobs, the burly ex-marine trying to comfort as best he can.
Strange, how she looks right through him as if he isn't there. Maybe those tears are blinding?
Scully, he cries, let me in. Can't you see me? I'm home, I'll never leave without you again...
The wound in his flesh gapes, but no blood drips to stain the snow.
I want to feel your face so badly it's like death, like death....
A/N: Thanks for reading!! This is a rewrite version of the original "Alone". Meant to be a drabble piece, the story has somehow spun out of control and has been bothering me for the last few days. I've added portions that hopefully clarify the plot, but the result is somehow unsatisfactory – especially the ending! So please give me your two cents on what is good/bad, how to make this better and I'll be eternally grateful (review please? pretty please?)
Also, thanks to Rach and Mei-Zhen and Wolverina for reviewing. I hope this version is better than the last one!