I was sent the prompt on Tumblr "I won't let anyone hurt you, you're safe with me." I wanted to take another crack at Early MSR, and I thought this prompt fit really well with it. I always wished we saw more after Scully was almost raped in Gender Bender. I feel like that wasn't given the weight and importance it deserved. So here we go.
He doesn't know her all that well. He wished he did, but the honest truth was that she was still a bit of a mystery to him. These few months of partnership hadn't done much in the way of unraveling the enigma of Dana Scully. He could confidently say that she liked to get Diet Root Beer and the occasional pack of choco balls. He could describe in detail how to tell if she was overworked. However, ask him what brought her joy, what she liked to do on her days off, hell, even what her dreams in life were, and he wouldn't know where to begin. She had built up walls of defense out of mortar and bricks and, aside from the occasional moment of weakness, the walls were built to stay.
With that being said, Mulder knew her well enough to know there wasn't a chance in hell she'd blow off following a lead to screw around with a potential suspect.
After he got over the initial shock of seeing her sprawled out on an old twin mattress, her shirt opening a few buttons too low for his modest partner, a man hovering over her with the intentions of their position clear; he remembered that fact. Scully would never fuck around on a case. Then he started to register just exactly how wrong the scene in front of him was. Something was off in her far-away stare, even from his position at the door he could see her eyes were glassy and unfocused. She looked completely prone and lifeless on the bed as this man, with his knee shoved in between her thighs, loomed over her.
Suddenly an overwhelming surge of protectiveness shot though his body as his fury at Brother Andrew grew. She'd called him territorial in the past, and hell, maybe he was, but he was going to put a stop to whatever this was. The man seemed almost contrite as Mulder yelled, "Get off of her!" Moving away from her, but not fast enough for his taste.
After shoving Brother Andrew away, he grabbed her hand, expecting her to jump up off the bed now that she was freed from his weight. Instead, his move just resulted in him tugging her body a little off the bed before it fell back down like a sack of potatoes. The worry that had been gnawing at him became overwhelming, if it wasn't for the way her eyes were trying to lock on him, he might've thought she was dead from her complete lack of response.
He needed to get her out of here. Now.
He bent down and wrapped his arms around her, hoisting her against him and supporting her full weight with so much ease it scared him. Did Brother Andrew pick her up like this and throw her down on the bed? He didn't have much time to ruminate on the thought because he felt Scully's feet move against his. He placed a hand on her stomach to stable her on her wavering footing and led her out the door, not giving the stunned man a second glance. His only priority was swaying in his arms right now.
"Are you okay?" he whispered to her as he continued to support her down the hall. She was leaning heavily on him and her footsteps were sluggish and clumsy.
"M-mu-" her whimper was so quiet it was practically just air passing through her lips masquerading as a plea, but he knew that's what it was. He bent down so he was closer to her height and brushed her hair back. He didn't even realize his hand was shaking with adrenaline until he saw it mid-air. His nerves were the last thing on his mind as soon as his eyes met hers. She still looked dazed and confused, but tears were brimming against her lashes, threatening to spill over. It was like he was holding the shell of a woman who was internally screaming.
She looked like she was trying to communicate something through her gaze that her voice couldn't. "Help," if he hadn't been looking at her when she mouthed that he would have missed it, as she didn't utter a sound. The tears spilled over and it tugged on something inside him. The same something that was initially filled with jealousy at the sight of her in the arms of another man. The same something that wanted to take her far away, hold her tight, and tell her everything was going to be alright, and have the confidence to actually mean it.
His desperation wouldn't be any help to her, so he did all he could think of and just continued walking her down the stairs step by step. As much as he wanted to carry her, he didn't think the Scully he knew would appreciate it. When they got to the main floor, he took her by the hand and tugged on her to follow him. She seemed a little steadier now, but confusion looked to be taking place of the dazed expression she had been wearing.
Tugging on her arm made her shirt shift and he realized it was still unbuttoned lower than he knew she'd want. At the same time, he heard someone moving on the stairs and didn't want her to have to see him again, so he quickly buttoned her shirt up a bit as he backed up, throwing flaps over her chest for good measure as his back opened the patio door.
He didn't have a chance to be relieved for getting her out of there though, because as soon as his foot hit the grass he saw a group of the Kindred standing in a group in front of them. They stood there for a second in a charged staring contest until one of the women spoke up. "I told you not to interfere." A small part of him was aggravated. Scully wasn't supposed to go off on her own. She was supposed to be his back up and help him; he could have really used her help back there, but instead she was putting herself in danger going off alone with a suspect.
He shook away the thoughts as soon as they came. He couldn't think like that. He didn't know the circumstances that led her there. All he could focus on right now was the way everyone in the group seemed to be staring at Scully, looking as if they all knew what had almost taken place up there and she was some tainted being. It made him uncomfortable, so he drew her closer to his side and glared.
He didn't know what changed, but the Kindred seemed to step down and made a path for them to leave, gazes never leaving Scully. Mulder wasn't going to let the opportunity to get her somewhere safer pass by, so he took her by the hand and led tugged on her to follow. Once they were away from the kindred, she seemed to pick up the pace, walking much faster than she'd been able to a minute ago.
He took a glance back to make sure they weren't being followed, and, upon seeing them retreating back into the farm house, felt safe enough to finally ask her the question that'd been at the forefront of his mind since seeing her on the bed. "What the hell were you doing back there?" It came out a little harsher than he'd intended, but it was purely out of the fear he hadn't been able to shake off.
"I don't know," she mumbled as if she were in a trance. He had an arm wrapped around her, trying to stabilize her uneven footing. He kept her tucked into his side as he bent down to try and get a better look at her face. Was she drugged?
"You don't know?" he repeated. He didn't understand what she meant by that. She didn't know what he was going to do? She didn't remember?
"No," she stated, in the same monotone voice. She stopped suddenly and punctuated it with a cough. He bent down again to see what she was doing, but she swerved under his arm. She made a little sound in the back of her throat before stumbling, trying to use the fence to stabilize herself, as the coughs racked her small frame.
"Are you all right?" he called out, feeling useless because he had no idea what that bastard did to her and she was seemingly unable to tell him.
As an answer, she bent down at the waist and dry heaved. He ran the remaining few feet and grabbed her waist gently to keep her from falling. She sounded like she was choking on her sobs and vomit, so he ran a hand up and down her back to comfort her. The thick coat couldn't hide the fact she was trembling.
She heaved a few more times, seemingly unable to get anything out, before spiting onto the wet earth and standing up straight. For the first time since he found her, she was able to meet his eyes, and the despair he saw broke his heart. She kept looking at him before glancing back at the house, as if expecting to see someone coming for her. "W-what happened to me?" she asked in a voice uncharacteristically meek for his tough as nails partner.
"You don't remember?" He'd assumed she'd been drugged, but this didn't really match up with anything he was familiar with. She was too active for it to be Rohypnol, even though that did cause memory loss, and she clearly wasn't drunk.
"I just remember I was with Brother Andrew-" He could tell she still wasn't fully with it and her confusion was just serving to upset her more.
He moved one hand so it was gently holding her bicep as the other cupped her cheek. "Do you remember why?"
She looked like she was trying her hardest to remember, but was just drawing a blank. She choked back a sob and shook her head, glancing back in fear again. "He was on top of you when I busted in-"
She surprised him when her eyes pivoted back and locked on his with such an intensity it shook him to his core. Her tone of voice didn't match the strength of her gaze when she asked, "Di-Did he ra-". The trembling of her chin stopped the sentence from forming fully, but he understood it regardless.
He shook his head confidently and reassured, "No, no. When I got there, you were still fully clothed. He didn't rape you."
But he almost did.
And that unspoken end of the sentence was louder than anything and it made her face crumble as he drew her closer to him. They were close tonight. Too close. Scully was almost assaulted, and Mulder almost was too late. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself. He stroked her hair, ever so slightly matted in the back from the bed and he tried to smooth it out as if her fear would go away with it. It wouldn't, and he knew that. So he offered her words of comfort instead.
"I won't let anyone hurt you, you're safe with me." He hoped she'd take his words for more than just empty promises because he vehemently meant them. They'd covered each other more times than he could count in their short partnership and he just hoped she didn't feel like he'd let her down this time. He was blaming himself enough for the both of them.
He felt her trembling let up and she wasn't checking behind her anymore. With a shaky smile she nodded. He hadn't asked her anything, so he took it as her confirming she believed in him. He gave her a weak smile in return before taking her hand once more. "Let's get out of here, okay?"
Hope you enjoyed! I want to thank Ao3 user Scullylovesqueequeg for helping beta me! Her stuff's dope as fuck so you should check it out. Okay, but truly I did NOT like how Mulder tried to come at her in the car scene after this. Like homegirl was honest to god almost sexually assaulted and you're being a dick, but I digress. I was probably too generous with this depiction of their early relationship, but I just wanted to justify his actions, lol.