Title: Everything and Nothing
Author: Shadow's Echo (also known as Cindy from CindyandSandy)
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-files or anything. I do own any character's not on the X-files and the plot, so if you want to use any of that, you better be askin' first.
Chapter 7 – A New Day
Scully awoke the next morning in her bed, still fully clothed. Tears still stained her pillow. She must have been crying in her sleep. She heard the clatter of dishes in her kitchen. It was then that she remembered Mulder had brought her home that night. It had been exhausting, calling Bill and Charlie to let them know what had happened. Going to the morgue to identify the remains. Far too much had happened.
And she barely noticed that Mulder had been there with her, through it all. He hadn't said a word. Just held her every time she began to cry. Brought her cups of water when she was thirsty. Forced her to eat something, anything, just so she wouldn't feel sick the next day. It was only now that she remembered his presence.
She stretched herself awake and climbed out of bed. She changed her clothes and walked out to the kitchen. The Lone Gunmen were wandering about her kitchen mumbling to themselves. Mulder was nowhere to be seen. She gave a confused look.
"Good Morning?" she said, attempting to get their attention. Frohike looked her way as Byers jumped and nearly dropped a plate.
"Well, good morning to you, the beautiful agent Scully," Frohike said. Scully rolled her eyes. If Mulder had sent them to her apartment in an attempt to cheer her up, it had certainly worked.
"What are you guys doing here? Did Mulder send you?" She asked.
"Actually he sent for us, then he went to get eggs to make you breakfast," Langley said from the fridge.
"I think he just ditched us, and left us to make you breakfast by ourselves," Frohike said.
"So we just started to look for the stuff we would need," Byers finished. Scully thought to herself that they resembled triplets, finishing each other's sentences.
"Right," Scully responded while sitting down at the kitchen table. "Why don't you just wait until he gets back? I doubt he ditched you. Besides, you can't have breakfast without eggs."
"That's what Mulder said." Frohike pulled out some frying pans from the bottom cupboard and set them on the stove, and Byers found the vegetable oil. They all turned when they heard the door open and close. Mulder walked into the room and stopped when he realized everyone was looking at him. Mulder broke the silence.
"Scully, you were supposed to stay in bed so we could surprise you with breakfast," He said. He looked at the Lone Gunmen. "And you guys were supposed to make sure of that, even if you had to tie her down."
He looked back at Scully and gave a slight smile. She smiled back. She was glad that he was there for her. She didn't know what she would do without him.
Mulder started to prepare breakfast. Every now and then he would glance at Scully out of the corner of his eye, while she chatted with Langley. He was glad she needed him, it gave him an excuse to be around her, and this time he knew she wanted him around. He could tell by the way she would look to make sure he was there. The way her voice was quietly pleading to him 'don't leave, don't leave'. He hoped it wasn't his imagination.
They all had breakfast together. Everyone was silent. No one knew what to say to Scully. It was difficult to comfort her, and impossible to make light of the situation. Afterwords, the Lone Gunmen left, and it was then that Scully began to cry. She was able to keep the bad memories of the day before away while the Lone Gunmen where there. They kept things light hearted, but Mulder knew she needed the tears.
For once, Scully was able to let her weaknesses out. She was able to let someone take care of her. Let someone else be the strong one. Let someone else carry the burdens. It was refreshing to her. She just didn't know until now that that person had to be him.
A/N: Ok. It's been a long, long time, but I've gotten a couple of reviews lately which has brought this story back to my attention so I'm going to continue writing it again. I had kind of forgotten about it until now, so I'm sorry if it isn't as good as it was before. I may even change this chapter after a little while. But please review if you can! It would be very helpful to know what you think!