He's drug-addled, though maybe not as much as they think he is, and he's sleepy and delirious. He's gotta tell her, though, tell Scully before he forgets in a wash of fever and medication. He's got you, you understand, because how many times have they almost died and he's kept it to himself? Maybe next time one or both of them will die. So he's got to tell her.
The others – Skinner, the Lone Gunmen – leave, telling him to get better soon. He barely notices. Scully lingers, making sure he's not going to do something stupid like jump out of bed and making sure he knows how irritated with him she is.
"I would've never seen you again," he tells her. There's still that mysterious wonder in his voice, and she a little unnerved. Doesn't matter. This is important. "But you believed in me."
"In your dreams." That's his Scully, fierce and independent. Her eyes soften, just a little. She switches to the kind of voice she would use around children. "Mulder… I want you to close your eyes… and I want you to think to yourself there's no place like home."
He makes an agreeable sound and chuckles. That's his Scully. She's starting to leave. She can't do that. Not yet. He manages to prop himself up on his elbow. "Hey, Scully."
She comes back instantly, her hands on the edge of his bed. Very close. "Yes?" Maybe a little too close, but since when has he ever cared about personal space? That's her thing, and she's ignored those rules for a long time now. Still, he's staring at her, and she's staring back and waiting patiently for whatever this life-changing announcement is.
…Right.
"I love you."
There's a pause. A heartbeat. She looks heavenwards. Mutters, more to herself than to her, "Oh, brother." Walks away.
He's a little confused. A little hurt. Does she think that he's just saying things because of the medicine? Does she think he's lying to him? Does she think he's a bother? His head's spinning, so he starts to lie down.
Ow. His jaw hurts. Right where Scully – the Scully in that dress- punched him. Where she punched him after he kissed her and she kissed him back. He glances up to see her retreating figure slip out the door, shaking her head at his antics. She's not really mad, though – not about that. He knows that. He knows his Scully. So he smiles.
It would be like Mulder to spit out a confession like that, right when he's very, very drugged. Mulder does some very strange things when he's drugged, she'll give him that. Rapping, for instance. That was a strange experience. This one takes the cake, though. Scully, saving the day in 1939, and Skinner with the Nazis. How long was he in the water?
Per usual, he has wandering hands, stares so intense they're probably inappropriate, and he says the worst things in front of the wrong people. Well, almost. The others have left before the real kicker comes out.
"I love you."
"…Oh, brother." She can't help herself. It's so typically Mulder, and she gets herself out of there before she gets caught up in his soul-piercing gazes and says something very silly that he probably won't remember later. It's not that she doesn't believe him. It's that he's saying it after they fished him out of the water and pumped him full of god-knows-what.
She'll see if he's still so interested in saying it after he's sobered up a bit.