I picked Scully up from her apartment early this morning. She looked drained. I tried cracking a joke, but I got a strained smile. I know Charlie's news was hurting her deeply. But, she had already discussed it. She wasn't going to bring it up again. Now, she had to work through it herself. Honestly, I am not sure it's going to be all that easy. I have a terrible feeling she's going to break again.

Usually Scully bounces back quickly. She will show one second of weakness, then she will deal with it herself. Sometimes that is a great thing, but I also just wish she would lean on me. God knows I lean on her.

So, once we got on the plane and tucked into our tiny ass seats, it was no surprise when I felt her head hit my shoulder. I knew that this was just the beginning. Scully was going to be a vulnerable mess for a while. I had no problem with that. I can handle just about any kind of emotion Scully has. I love everything about her. But, I hate to see her go through it. She despises being vulnerable. It makes her feel foolish and weak. Try as I have, she won't believe me when I call nonsense. She's stronger than any woman I have ever met. But, she doesn't care what I think. She is her biggest critic.

I look down at her and hurt for her. I silently asked myself why her life has been like this. She hasn't ever had it easy. She's had so much taken from her. Will she ever be happy? Will she ever have kids, a dog, or a husband. What about that white picket fence she claims to hate, but I know she secretly wants? Will she ever have that? I wish she could. I would give anything for her to have those feminine fantasies that I know she possesses somewhere deep down.

I bend my head down and kiss her forehead gently. I rest my lips there for longer than necessary and she moves a bit. I panic, but she seems to have fallen back to sleep. Just then, a stewardess walks up.

"Would you like something to drink," she says in a peppy voice, also too loudly.

"No, thank-you," I try to be polite. I know she has just woken Scully.

I look over at her and she looks irritated. I give her my apologetic eyes.

"It's alright, Mulder. I woke up a bit ago," she says. I freeze. She must have felt my kiss.

"I'm going to try to get some more sleep. Wake me up before we land, please." With that, she puts her head back on my arm and falls back to sleep.

I look at her for a second, just sitting there in shock. She knew I kissed her, but she said nothing. Instead she cuddled back into me. This was not my Scully. This was a Scully who was crying out to be loved. I guiltily smiled. I could do that. I could love her and take care of her. Maybe this was our window of opportunity. This was it. We just had to get past this hell first, much like a test.

"Scully, we are about to land, wake-up," I gently nudged her. She hummed awake and I watched her eyelashes flutter while she tried to remember where she was. Once she figured out where she was, she looked up and smiled at me.

"Well, that didn't take too long. I fell a little better too. Are you ready for this case, Mulder. It sounds like it's going to be a hard one," she asks, trying to start a conversation.

"As long as you're here with me, I'll be just fine," I smiled at her. I don't know if sweet talking was going to get me my way, but I thought I'd give it a whirl.

"I know what you mean, Mulder," she replied quietly and with a smile. The first real smile of the day. I made a mental note to say more cheesy things. Apparently Vulnerable Scully liked that. I know Independent Scully hated that, but maybe the tide as changed.

After our plane landed, and we grabbed our luggage, we agreed to head to the police station immediately. We were both pretty excited to meet the little girl.

We called ahead, letting the sheriff know that we were on our way, to have the girl ready for us. He had agreed, and I saw how jittery Scully got. I looked away, trying not to let her see that I was on to her.

Scully was the first to be in the room with the little girl. I thought it might be better. Usually children respond to women before they will men. Plus, Scully was great with kids. She always got them to talk.

I looked at the social worker and she filled me in. "She hasn't spoken a word. So I am afraid you aren't going to get much out of her." I nodded my head, knowing better. Scully was going to get this girl to talk. Kids gravitate to her.

I walked in on a beautiful scene. Scully was sitting across from this adorable little girl, with her teddy bear. She was even more beautiful than her picture. Isabella looked as if she was in a trance. Scully was calm as ever, using her soft voice. A voice I rarely hear. It was her tender, mother voice. I only ever heard the discipline voice.

"Hi Isabella, my name is Dana. How are you doing today?" Scully tried, but the girl just stared at her.

"Isabella, can you tell me what happened? Did you see anything?" The girl still said nothing.

I thought I would try and help before Scully's feelings got hurt. I sat down next to Scully, shoulder to shoulder, much like a married couple would do. I can't explain it, but I think it triggered something for the little girl.

"My mommy and daddy call me Belle," she said, quietly. I had to strain to hear it.

"Belle. That's a beautiful name," I tried. "My name is Fox."

"Fox isn't a name," she looked at me in the eyes, using a Scully like tone.

"That's what I told my mom, but she disagreed. Maybe you can tell her for me," I tried again.

She looked at Scully and said nothing, but she reached her hand out and grabbed Scully's hair. Then she grabbed her necklace.

"My mommy had shinny red hair like yours. I like your necklace. It's pretty. My daddy always bought my mommy necklaces. Did Fox buy you that," she questioned.

I quickly realized what was happening. Belle was comparing us to her parents. We reminded her of her parents and that was why she was so at ease with us. This was going to be a problem.

"Yes. Fox did buy me this. He bought it for me for Christmas," Scully lied. I looked at her and she gave me the look that meant 'shut up and I will explain later.'

She didn't need to explain. I knew that Scully had caught on, too. She didn't want to mention anything about Belle's mom. Belle didn't want to talk about her parents death. We got her talking, and if we mentioned anything about the murder, she would clam up again.

"Well, it's pretty just like you. That must be why he bought it. Right, Fox," she looked at me. I looked at Scully and could tell she felt guilty for lying.

"Yes. Dana is very pretty. I should buy her more necklaces." The little girl smiled at me. This was good. She trusts us. Just a little bit more time, and she will tell us everything we need to know.

"Belle, Fox and I are going to step outside for a second. Will you be okay in here by yourself," Scully asked.

"Yeah. I am always by myself," the little girl looked down. I saw Scully's eyes water. She was dying inside.

Outside, Scully had the talk I knew she was going to give me. "Mulder, she is not staying here for another second. If we have to lie or pull a fast one, she is coming back to our motel with us. Do you understand me," she used her tough, FBI voice.

"I completely agree with you, Scully. We are the only one's she is going to trust. Probably for a long time, too. You do realize we remind her of her parents. She probably even thinks we are married," I pointed out.

"Mulder, we can fix that problem later. For right now, I want to get her out of here. This isn't where she belongs."

"Alright, Scully. I will go pull a fast one on the social worker, while you let Belle know we are taking her with us," I informed her with a smile.

"Go put all those years of lying and sneaking around to use," She said, and she reached out and grabbed my hand giving it a firm squeeze. As I looked into her eyes, I saw happiness. I could tell she had just made this personal and she was falling in love. At that moment, I made it personal too.

TBC

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

RED