In his sleep, he feels her there. "Speak of the devil."
"I can't sleep, Mulder."
"What's the problem?"
"Something about this case is getting under my skin."
"We've had stranger cases, Scully."
She's rehearsed it to herself a few dozen times. "Can you hold me?"
"Yeah. I can do that."
He pulls back the sheets, and anchors her against his chest in one fluid motion, perfected over so many years.
"What's gonna happen," she asks. But it is not really a question.
"What's gonna happen when?"
"When we're old."
His shoulder aches. "What do you mean, 'When'?"
"I mean, sooner or later we're gonna retire." And she adds almost wistfully, "And… are we gonna spend time together?"
"I'll come push your wheelchair. With my wheelchair." He pulls her still tighter.
"That's not what I mean."
"Oh, I'll always be around, Scully. Offering bullet proof theories of genius that you fail to assail with your inadequate rationality."
In his arms, she slowly unwinds. As it has always been. "And I'll always be around to prove you wrong. Promise. But that's not what I mean."
"Then what do you mean?" He waits for her. As it's always been.
She hesitates. "What if you meet someone?"
"That's what you mean. You could do the same. You could meet someone. I can't believe you haven't met someone already."
"Mulder, that's not gonna happen."
"That's nonsense!" For so many reasons.
"No, it's not. Anyway, I'm talking about you."
"You want me to meet someone?"
"Well, I just… I figured you would."
"Because you left."
"You don't want to be with someone?"
"At the risk of stating the obvious, Scully, I have somehow managed to get you into bed."
"Mulder."
"Scully, if you haven't figured out by now that there will never be anyone else, we all need to question your credentials as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
"I walked away from you, from us."
He turns her to face him, his arms circling her. "Because I screwed us up, Scully. I've been screwing us up for 25 years. How many times have I walked away? I left you alone with our son, to chase 'truth' that doesn't even exist, while trying to convince myself I was keeping you safe. Walking – more like running away from me is something you should have done years and years ago. I never deserved you, Scully. I still don't."
And she sees his soul laid bare in his eyes. "Yet here I am. And I'm not running. At the risk of stating the obvious, Mulder."
"So neither one of us is leaving." Mulder brushes a stray hair away from her forehead and behind her ear. "Then what do we do?"
There is no hesitation. "We'll think of something."