Four years later…

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"Hurry up, Mulder." Scully's voice filtered through as Mulder guiltily turned his laptop off.

"Coming, Scully."

Scully tried her hardest to forgive him. She had always believed she was a magnanimous person, but she was finding her patience had lately been running thin. This would be their first night out in ages and Mulder was not taking anything seriously. He had barely looked at her all night, engrossed in the things he had promised her he would give up for at least one day. For her sake.

He was always gone, off on some new witch-hunt. Never there on the cold nights she needed his comforting touch. Never there when he promised he would be. Never there if his conspiracies needed him instead. Never there when the clear blue sky reminded her of…

"Ready." Mulder announced, clad in a suit. He grinned at Scully.

"Finally." She sighed reproachfully.

Mulder's smile faltered. "Please. I'm trying."

Neither of them wanted another fight. "Let's go, Mulder."

Doggett watched Reyes out of the corner of his eye. She was mingling, chatting, laughing with every person she met. She socialized as if it was the last party she would ever attend. She was in her element.

And she had brought him here for what reason? If anything, he was a blot on her spotless record. A deadweight husband who had barely spoken two words.

Reyes politely excused herself from another conversation and took a seat next to Doggett.

She smiled at him, her voice bright. "Are you having fun?"

"I'm having a blast." Doggett deadpanned.

Reyes frowned. "John, I brought you here to cheer you up. The people here are kind and they are all good friends of mine. All you have to do is try a little harder, that's all."

"I'll get right on that." Doggett mumbled.

"Please?" She asked again, placing her hand on his. "For me?"

He nodded silently and she squeezed his hand in appreciation. But before he could get another word in, she was off once more.

Scully revelled in the pleasantries and the polite small talk. She eyed Mulder, who was joking with the guys, and smiled inwardly. It had been a good idea to come out for once, for them to enjoy themselves.

Lost in her thoughts, Scully did not notice the person walking toward her, drinks in hand. Fortunately for Scully, the other woman caught sight of her, narrowly avoiding disaster.

"I'm sorry about that." Scully apologized.

The woman smiled back at her, dismissing the apology with a pleasant shake of her head. "Don't mention it. These crowded parties can get a bit hectic, don't you think?"

Scully laughed and nodded in spite of herself. It had been ages since she had heard herself laughing, yet this woman seemed to bring out the bright spirit in her that she thought she had lost.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Dana Scully."

But the other woman's eyes were elsewhere. Scully watched her pause, her mouth slightly agape, before she spoke in shock.

"Fox Mulder? Is that you?"

Scully turned around to find her husband staring back in surprise.

"Monica Reyes?"

Twenty minutes into a dreadfully boring conversation about global warming and Doggett was certain he was not feeling any better.

"John!" Reyes called out to him excitedly. He was grateful that she had given him a reprieve, an escape route. He excused himself and made his way over to her.

Before Doggett could even begin to grasp at any sense of solid perception, he felt himself hit by striking blue eyes that had haunted him for the past four years. Eyes he had believed he would never see again for the rest of his life. The same eyes that made him want to drown into a world he knew would never let him go.

"John, this is Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Fox and I go way back. We actually met while I was at the FBI academy in Quantico…" Reyes explained, her smile even wider now, her voice that much brighter.

Scully shifted uncomfortably at the mention of Mulder's job, her past life. She shifted once more as she felt Doggett's gaze fall upon her.

"Nice to meet you." Mulder gave Doggett a strong handshake. Doggett nodded back as politely as he could.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, Fox." Reyes said.

A flash of dread crossed Scully's face and she excused herself, her demeanour suddenly sour once more. But neither Mulder nor Reyes seemed to notice.

So Doggett traced her steps, finding himself sitting next to Scully once more. Alone.

He was content to sit in silence.

"Four years." She whispered.

"What?"

"It's been four years since we met." Scully repeated, raising her voice above the noise around them.

Doggett paused before looking toward the ground. "I didn't think you remembered me…"

Scully watched him, opening her mouth to reply. Instead, she decided against it, turning her attention elsewhere, to Mulder and Reyes.

"Your wife is very kind and loving. You're lucky."

Doggett scoffed, causing Scully to turn back to him.

"Sometimes perfection isn't all it's cracked up to be." He mumbled, causing her to stare harder at him with her stone cold eyes.

Scully absent-mindedly tugged at the ring on her finger. "But I'm sure she's there whenever you need her."

He watched the light reflect off of the gold band, colours playing soft games on his mind.

"…You would be surprised."

Their eyes locked for a brief moment in quiet understanding.

But the night was quickly over and their homes were miles apart. It was a harsh and long divide that separated them.

Yet they could not deny the tempting lure.