Scully picked up her phone, cradling it between her head and shoulder. "Scully."

"Hey, Scully, it's me. How is she?" He asked with trepidation.

She took a deep breath. "She's...she's gone."

She heard him sigh over the phone. "Oh, Scully, I'm so sorry."

"She wasn't meant to be, Mulder," her voice broke.

"I'm coming to take you home, okay? Please don't argue with me on this, Scully."

She nodded, hanging up.

Mulder came in quietly, softly brushing her shoulder with his fingers. "You ready?"

She nodded faintly, not tearing her eyes away from the motionless little girl in the hospital bed. Mulder placed a hand on the small of her back, turning her away and down the hallway. She didn't speak a word in the car, but stared straight ahead for the entire ride back to her brother's house. Mulder walked her in, quietly informing her mother of the situation and telling her to be careful with Scully. He turned sadly to leave, but Scully's arms encircled him from behind.

"Stay, just for a minute, please."

He touched her face. "Yeah, okay. What do you need?"

She buried her face in his chest, finally giving in to her grief. She sobbed shudderingly, her whole body wracked with the severity of her sobs. Mulder held her, safe and secure, as she murmured unintelligible nonsense into his shirt and grasped handfuls of the fabric in an attempt to hold onto something, anything. They stood there, in her brother's house, her weeping and him calmly running his fingers through her hair.

His eyes caught Maggie Scully's across the room and she nodded, understanding. She smiled sympathetically at him, as if to say "thank you".

He broke off eye contact and dropped a kiss to Scully's hair as she started to breathe normally again. He looked her in the eyes as she pulled away. "Feel any better?"

She shook her head. "Not really. It'll take time." She laughed sadly. "I feel so silly. I only knew her for a couple of days. Why am I so upset about this? It's so stupid, Mulder. How did I let myself get so attached? I should have known it was too good to be true."

He took her hand. "Scully, don't be silly. You're not being stupid." She avoided his eyes. "Dana, she was your daughter, for goodness' sake. You have a right to feel this way, you know. It's okay to let yourself fall apart every once in a while, I don't think any less of you. You know that doesn't change how I see you, don't you? Vulnerability can be a good thing every once in a while." He gently wiped her tears away with his thumb. "You were right to hope. That's what anyone would have done. Heck, I was hoping, too. I saw how much you loved her, how much you wanted to be her mother. I wanted that for you so bad, Scully, you have no idea."

Her lip trembled. "I never knew how much I wanted her until I couldn't have her."

"Me too."

She looked at him questioningly. "What?"

"I wanted to be there for you, and for her, to help take care of her and everything. I know you wanted to raise her and all. I just wanted to be around to help if you wanted me."

She tried for a smile. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around him in a short hug, then pulled away, awkwardly playing with a stray piece of her hair.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll, um, I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I can help with the funeral arrangements, anything you need. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

She nodded. "I would appreciate the help tomorrow, if you're not too busy."

"I'm not doing anything. I'll come over around ten?"

"Yeah, okay. That would be good."

He turned once again to leave. "Mulder?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."