The desert is rushing by in blurs of orange and blue. They've been travelling for weeks,months; she has no sense of time or place anymore. Only of the man beside her,of his breathing, his scent, the sound of his voice. The pads of his fingersand the softness of his hair. His tongue, his lips, his eyelashes. Her world has narrowed until it is only him, until its boundaries are defined by the outline of his body. She exists only for him now. She hasn't spoken to her mother for weeks. Skinner may as well not exist. The Gunmen are dead. Doggett got messages to them at first, but that communication petered out long ago. And her son.
Her son.
'Mulder pull over,' she says suddenly, her voice rising slightly with panic.
'Scully?' He shoots a glance at her, notices that she's become deathly pale.
'Now!' she snaps, and she's already fumbling with the door handle.
'Okay, okay,' he mutters, skidding to a crooked halt on the side of the highway. They stop just in time, and she's already falling out of the car and onto her knees, crawling forward a few feet before retching violently into the sand. 'Jesus Christ,' Mulder says, launching out of the car and around to where she's kneeling. He drops beside her and tenderly smoothes the hair back from her face, gathering the red locks into his fingers, holding them tight. He sits there with her until she begins to regain her breath, drawing aimless patterns on the small of her back. He doesn't say anything. He waits for her.
'Mulder.' Her voice catches; it is thick with tears.
'I'm here,' he responds.
'Mulder it's his birthday. It's his first birthday.' He lets out a long, slow breath and releases her hair. He falls back against the tyre of the SUV and sits there, winded. She's still on all fours, and tears are dripping off her nose. He has no idea what to do. What to say to her. Their son. Their son is a year old today. And they have no idea where he is, and they will never see him again.
'Scully,' he croaks. She turns, and he is beckoning to her, legs outstretched in the dust, tears streaming down his face. 'Scully I'm sorry.' She crawls to him and curls herself beside him, into him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. They are silent for a long time, leaning against the car, staring out into the bleak horizon of the desert.