Coming Home (2/6)
Part two
by Nessy and Cirglas
Disclaimer and everything you need to know is in part one, please
read it beforehand. This chapter won't make much sense standing on
it's own.
It really was Mulder! She still couldn't quite believe it. And yet,
here she was, dancing with him, holding him in her arms. No, she knew
she wasn't hallucinating. She felt him, smelled him and heard him.
"Scully, close your mouth before something flies in." Actually not
the nicest thing to say, but for Scully it was the most wonderful
sound in the world. Mulder was back.
Way too soon the song was over. Even before they stepped away from
each other, Scully found Mulder's hand with her own and preceded him
back to her students' table. Suddenly she felt a little embarrassed
because of the faces that were looking expectantly at her.
"Um, listen, I'd like for you to meet someone." She waited a moment
to gather her thoughts and sort out what she could tell them and what
she'd rather not. "Well, this is Mulder. We used to work together.
Mulder, these are some of my favorite students: Jack, Lisa, Matt,
Gwen, Ryan, Chris and Daniel." She introduced them in the order in
which they sat.
"Hey, we thought we were your favorite students, not just some of
them." Jack's mock disappointment made her smile. As always he simply
couldn't resist the opportunity to tease her. In that way he was a
little like Mulder. And that had helped her a lot on some of the hard
days when she had missed Mulder more than usual. /But now I have the
original back./ Scully and Mulder slid onto the bench. While part of
the conversation lit up again, Jack, instinctively knowing that this
Mulder set a claim on their Doc, continued his joking:
"And you know, Doc, I am disappointed. I thought you would allow me
the first dance." He noticed with interest Mulder's questioning side-
way glance at her.
"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry to disappoint you!" Scully replied and
leaned her head against Mulder's shoulder smiling a happy smile. And
to her surprise - but nevertheless delight - Mulder draped his arm
around her shoulders. They really needed to talk later. But right now
she just wanted to enjoy his company. She was overjoyed that this was
possible once again after such a long time.
One hour - and millions of jokes and monster stories later - Scully's
belly and face muscles ached from laughing so much. She hadn't
laughed this much in years. Of course, her students were curious,
especially about her former life, or so it seemed. And Mulder was
more than happy to supply them with stories about it. They had
accepted Mulder quite willingly which pleased her, although she could
see that a few had recognized him as the 'Spooky Mulder' he was. But
they really didn't seem to mind. Scully had to chuckle. /Now they
don't think I'm that 'out there' anymore. Compared to Mulder I'm
really tame./
Mulder leaned back and pulled Scully with him, his arm around her
shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder again while he begun
another anecdote. She was thrilled that he hadn't moved his arm from
around her all evening.
"Well, you see, Scully was quite a skeptic and so my main goal during
each and every case was to convince her of the 'extreme
possibilities'. I had a hard time, though. Her stubbornness didn't
even diminish in the least. She was the worst case of skepticism I
had ever seen. But I knew that eventually her mind would open up." He
turned his head and smiled down at her. "So I kept on trying. And
although she'll never admit it, I think I succeeded, regardless how
small the success was."
"Oh, really? And what about the times when my logic and skepticism
saved you? And I do not only mean those horrible creatures we
encountered. I mean Skinner."
Mulder smiled and Scully smiled back at him then he turned away
again. "I told you she wouldn't admit it." She rolled her eyes and -
overcome by happiness she felt frivolous - stuck her tongue out at
Mulder. That caused another fit of laughter at the table. He shrugged
apologetically at her and she ruffled his hair.
Scully couldn't remember the last time she had been this silly. It
felt terrific! Usually when Mulder and she were together there had
been a case to solve, a life to save or only the fear of crossing
that invisible line between them... He pouted at her, for she knew
perfectly well that he didn't like his hair to be ruffled. She had
already thought of a worthy retort but then noticed the look in his
eyes.
/How can someone's eyes show so many emotions?/ She saw so much in
those deep hazel eyes: happiness, relief, friendship, protectiveness,
sorrow, giddiness, compassion. All the emotions swirled around in the
deep pools of brown and made her breath catch. She lost herself in
his eyes, the sight of them bringing back long-forgotten memories of
short moments between them.
Scully snapped back to reality and realized where they were. Her
cheeks blushed slightly at being so easy to distract. Mulder smiled
at her and turned his head to her students. She gave herself a mental
shake. How could she have spaced out like that? But then she thought
/To hell with caution. Mulder and I deseve some careless happiness./
Determined to follow that plan she snuggled up a little closer to
Mulder, and his grip tightened on her shoulders. She turned her head
back towards the others. They were all grinning at them. /Hmmm.../
"So what did you think of our fave Doc here when you met her?" Jake
just couldn't get enough information on them.
"I wondered how somebody so small could be so smart." That earned him
a playful shove to his ribs. "Hey! That was a compliment!"
"Well, sorry. Although I did like the second part of it...", her
voice trailed off. She had really missed that 'innocent look' of his;
the one he threw her way when he knew all too well he had done
something that would get him into trouble.
"What, you don't like 'shorty-jokes', Agent Scully?"
"No, Agent Mulder, I don't. And I don't know how many times you've
bumped your head on one case or another. The bigger you are, the
better the target you are. Your hospital records are undeniable
proof."
"Ha. Ha. Ha."
Yep. She really had missed him.
But Scully started to notice her possessive streak. She started to
get restless. She needed to talk to Mulder. Alone. Without all those
listeners. There were so many questions to ask, things to tell him.
And she wanted his undivided attention. /You haven't seen Mulder in
over two years. And now he's been here no more than one and a half
hours and he's already the center of your life again?/
/Probably always was./
So she needed a plan. "Well, folks, Let's call it a day. Remember,
there are classes tomorrow..." A sound of protest ran around the
table as she lifted herself from her seat. "Sorry, but I'm getting
old. And old people gotta go to bed early." With a look over at
Mulder, "That goes for you, too, old man." And then, as an
afterthought, "Can I drop you off anywhere, Mulder?"
"Yeah, Scully, that would be great." He stood up, ready to leae. They
bid their 'good-byes' and left the bar.
Gwen followed the couple with her eyes - Mulder helped Scully into
her trench and guided her to the door with a hand at the small of her
back - until they stepped into the crisp winter nights' air.
/They're cute together. Maybe my self-assigned task at finding Doc
Scully a boyfriend won't be as hard as I had originally thought. Look
like she's able to take care of herslef, afterall. And the only thing
that really is 'spooky' about them, is how they act together. Like
in total partnership. Yep. They belong together./
/If I were her, I'd take him home with me./
She turned her head back just as Jack said: "Well, looks like my
chances with our lovely Doc have come to an end. That guy stole her
from me!"
Matt replied: "Sorry to tell you this, bud, but you never did have a
chance with her. And he didn't steel anything that didn't want to be
stolen. Anyway, he saw her first."
Jack feigned shocked and insulted face. They all reached over and
ruffled his hair with sounds of "oooo"s and "poor Jack"s. And then
roars of laughter rang through Berry's Bar.
"Mulder, I really can't believe you don't have a place to stay
tonight." Scully was fumbling with the door lock. Why did that damn
hallway light always have to be broken? She couldn't see what she was
doing.
"Well, Scully, I knew I could stay here. I'm irresistible."
"No, you're incorrigible." /Ah, finally./
The door swung open and Scully stepped in. She set her purse and the
keys down on the table next to the door.
"Do you want anything to dr--" Suddenly Mulder's arms encircled her
waist and hugged her to him. Her door banged closed. He must have
kicked it with quite a lot of force... or maybe just plain
carelessness. Scully's arms had risen at the shock and the surprised
gasp which had escaped, made him chuckle into her shoulder.
"Mulder?" What was going on?
She felt him shrug and then he simply answered: "Missed ya."
How could he 'confuse her speechless' with two words? Still, she
had to smile at his unusual display of affection.
Then he turned her around, took her left hand carefully and gently
pulled her towards the couch. Once there he sat down heavily and
tugged on her arm - hard enough so that she lost her balance and,
with another soft cry, she landed on his lap. His arms encircled her
waist and she leaned back against his arm, and letting her legs
dangle off the side of his.
Mulder smiled apologetically and asked: "So. How was life the last
two years without me?"
"Unh-unh. That's not fair. You had your spies on me. And I'm sure
Frohike just loved to give you the weekly report on my activities.
But I don't know about anything that happened to you." She
straightened his wild tie and smiled, eyes twinkling mischievously,
"but I can see your taste hasn't changed a bit."
They smiled at each other. Mulder leaned back and took Scully with
him, and losing her balance - again - she fell onto his shoulder.
They both closed their eyes and tried to relax. She gave a contented
sigh and gathered her thoughts.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Yeah, Scully, I finally did."
"And?"
"She's fine. She lives with her husband and her two children and a
dog in a big house, has a good job, lots of friends and - what is
most important to me - a future that I can be part of." And after a
long pause: "I...I want you to meet her."
"Why do you want me to?"
"Because you helped me look for her all that time."
"Mulder, I didn't do anything. You found her. We barely had contact
over the last two and a half years."
"I don't only mean that. I..." Somehow he didn't seem to find the
right words. "You helped me all those years. Even before I went off
to look for her two years ago. You... You kept me sane. Since the day
we met."
Tears were springing to her eyes at his touching words. She needed
something to change the subject or at least lighten the mood. "So,
you no longer think I am a spy?", she joked.
"You are," he responded, she stared at him in shock, and he
continued, "but, thankfully, I now know that you are on my side." He
flashed her a big grin, then added quietly: "You know, I'm happy now,
Scully."
"Mulder... I'm glad. I really am. And I'm sorry that I didn't believe
you that last night."
"That's okay, Scully. It was a little unbelievable."
Scully nodded against his shoulder vehemently. He chuckled. After
another long pause she asked quietly: "So... that means ... you won't
go away again?"
He hugged her closer and replied: "You won't get rid of me that
easily ever again. Promise." It was supposed to be a joke but her
answer was a thoughtful nod.
"Um, Mulder? You want anything to drink?"
"Yeah, thanks. I'll take whatever you're having."
She got up and nodded smiling at him. She disappeared into the
kitchen.
"So, how did you find out where I was tonight?"
"As you said, Scully, I sent spies on you." She reappeared with two
cans of iced tea.
"Yeah? Did Frohike follow me all the time, so that when you came back
you could find me right away?", she joked.
"Yeah, pretty much.", was his solemn reply. She swallowed the lump in
her throat. /Maybe he did miss me as much as I missed him./ She went
back over to him, plopped back down on his lap and handed him one of
the cans. She ignored Mulder's astounded look, put her right arm
around his neck, played with the hair at his temple and started
swinging her legs.
"Oh sure, Scully, make yourself at home."
She took a swig of her tea, then smiled at him. "Hey, it's comfy
here. And you made me sit here in the first place." After a short
pause she added: "And this is MY home, not yours..."
Their gazes locked and they smiled at each other. Scully put her can
onto the coffee table and surprised Mulder another time that night:
She leaned back against his chest, rested her forehead against his
temple and said with a voice so soft he almost couldn't understand:
"I wanna sit here a little while longer. Please?"
"Sure, Scully. Whatever you want." He replied even quieter.
Mulder shifted to make himself more comfortable. He was so glad he
was finally back again. He had missed her smile and her voice and her
scent and her eyes and ... actually he had missed her, period. As
he had entered that bar and spied her sitting there... His heart had
doubled it's efforts at the mere sight of her copper hair. He had
barely restrained himself from running towards her or at least
calling out to her.
But he had taken the time to observe her, to refresh his memories of
her. At first she had vividly talked with her students but when she
had become quieter and that nice soft song had begun he had given up
his resistance and had finally asked her to dance with him.
As she had turned her head and looked at him... he had lost himself
immediately in those baby-blue irises. But when she had smiled at
him... during their dance ...that small but so happy smile... he was
certain his heart had missed a few beats. And even now, as her
forehead rested against his temple, he still couldn't quite believe
that he was back again.
It had been like coming home. And when you are gone a long time, you
value your home much more than you would if you had never gone away
in the first place. And he valued this time with Scully now. There
were lots of things that needed his attention: Finding an apartment,
a car, a job... But he just wanted to enjoy Scully's company now. He
could take care of everything else tomorrow.
Mulder broke out of his reverie. He heard Scully's slow and steady
breathing.
"Scully?", he asked softly. No answer. She was sleeping peacefully in
his arms.
"You're getting old." He smiled.
He contemplated what he should do now. She felt good in his arms and
he was afraid to wake her by moving her. But then he decided that
sleeping in her own bed would be much better and more comfortable for
her. So he got up - still holding her to his chest - and carried her
to her queen-sized bed.
As he laid her down she wouldn't let go of his shirt. So he had to
pry her fingers away. He tucked her in securely and made sure she was
in a comfortable position. Then he seated himself on the corner of
the mattress. He brushed a lock of fiery hair out of her face,
smoothed her frown away with a finger and caressed her cheek with the
back of his hand.
He leaned over and brushed his lips over her forehead: "Sweet dreams,
Scully."
Mulder got up and went to the closet on the other side of the room.
He took out what he needed. A pillow, a throw blanket. Everything was
still where it used to be. Waiting for him to come back. /Well, I'm
back now./ On his way back to the living room he left her door open.
He knew it would have been nicer to allow her some privacy, but /I
need to make sure everything's all right./ He moved the couch to the
side a little so that he could keep an eye on her from where he
slept.
Then he flopped down and enjoyed the view until he fell asleep.
-------------------------------------------------------------End part 2
Ahhhhh... yes, yes, we know, a little sappy... but, hey, aren't they
cute? -- Nessy & Cirglas
When the shadows are closing in
And your spirit diminishing
Just remember you're not alone
And love will be there
To guide you home.
If you just believe in me
I will love you endlessly
Take my hand
Take me into your heart
I'll be there forever baby
I won't let go
I'll never let go
---- Mariah Carey (Anytime You Need A Friend)