You're Still Here
By Patricia L. Bryans
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story (except the random FBI employees I guess), and the song used is not mine either. It's You're Still Here by Faith Hill, off of her album Cry. The story is set in season nine.
Dana Scully marched down the street, her hands firmly grasped onto the baby stroller that held her son William. She maneuvered down the familiar streets, waving to people she somewhat knew and stopping at traffic lights. At one street corner, she looked over at a building that was being remodeled. She had to squint as she looked at the additions because the sun was so near to it. That's when she caught something even she couldn't believe.
"No," she told herself, "It's a just a visual illusion triggered by the glare of the sun." She continued on home with her son. Even though there had been a completely logical explanation for what she saw, for some reason she couldn't shake the feeling that he had really been there. In her line of work one learns to doubt logic.
Thought I saw you today.
You were standing in the sun and then you turned away.
And I knew it couldn't be
But my heart believed.
Oh it seems like there's something everyday.
How could you be so far away
When you're still here?
Scully reached her apartment door and unlocked it. She wheeled in William, shut the door, and took him out of the stroller. She could tell that he needed a nap, so she set him down gently in his crib. She was about to go take her coat off and lock the door when a picture of Mulder caught her eye. It was the same picture that had always been there, nothing new, but she still picked it up. As she looked back at her sleeping son, she hoped that some way, somehow, Mulder was watching over them.
When I need you you're not hard to find.
You're still here.
I can see you in my baby's eyes.
In the laugh and cry.
You're still here.
…………………………
Scully woke up the next morning and looked all around her. In a few seconds her mind was able to separate the real world from her subconscious. It had all been a dream, of course. She looked over at William, who was sleeping peacefully. She then looked over at the same picture of Mulder and sighed. Recently, she'd been coping with him leaving pretty well, but for some reason today she just wanted him back.
Had a dream last night
That you came to me on silver wings and I
I flew away with you in a painted sky.
And I woke up wondering what was real.
Is it what you see and touch or what you feel?
'Cause you're still here.
…………………………
Scully shuffled into the cramped little X-Files office and wandered aimlessly around it. She looked at the I Want To Believe poster and the name plate reading "Fox Mulder" in the desk. She could almost picture him sitting there again, throwing pencils up to the ceiling or something.
Scully decided to go get a drink, so she headed down the hall to the water fountain, past a group of other agents. They were talking about something they'd seen on TV the previous night. As Scully finished drinking, they started laughing about a joke made in the course of the show. Scully whipped her head around to face them. They stared at her for a minute while she stared at them. That was so stupid of her, why did she do that? It was obviously just her imagination again. The men continued to talk. Scully walked past them in the direction of the X-Files office, but didn't go in. Instead she leaned against the wall and listened to their conversation.
Oh you're everywhere we've ever been.
You're still here.
I heard you in a stranger's laugh and
I hung around to hear him laugh again.
Just once again.
Oh.
…………………………
Scully arrived home and took William from her mother, thanking her again for lending a hand. Margaret Scully left. Dana rocked her son gently. She looked over at another picture of Mulder, and then looked out the window.
Thought I saw you today.
You were standing in the sun and then you turned away.
Away.
THE END