Georgetown Park Mall

October 31st

5:30 p.m.

"Whoa," Scully said with a chuckle as a mummy and a goblin ran past her.

"Sorry. They're very excited," their mother said, smiling as she pushed a stroller with a pink cheeked baby dressed as an angel, hurrying to catch up to the kids.

"Understandable," Scully said as she smiled and watched them enter the next store and yell out "trick-or-treat!" as candy was dropped into their pumpkin buckets.

It's a good idea, Scully thought as she looked at the families at the mall with their children, especially the younger ones, going from store to store to get candy. It's well lit, not scary, and offers places to sit and rest. Plus it creates foot traffic for the stores. Pretty smart.

"Just wish I would have known before I got here," she murmured to herself as she dodged past a ninja wearing squeaky white sneakers. "I might have dressed up."

Laughing at that idea, she entered the store where she would be purchasing a new coat, her other one set to be retired. Taking the escalator, she arrived in the women's section and started looking around.

The clearance section was first and she spent some time looking for new work shirts or anything else that struck her fancy. A few items were selected and then she moved on to pants and skirts, before checking out the coats even as she thought longingly of her old one.

Her arms full, she made her way to the changing room.

Her phone rang as she was trying on a black skirt with a side zipper, which she liked much more than when it was on the back as it was easier to reach.

"Scully," she said, answering her phone as she looked in the mirror, seeing how it fit.

"Did you know that people consider chocolate to be an aphrodisiac?" Mulder asked and she rolled her eyes as she smiled at her reflection.

"That's not exactly true," she said, resting her phone against her shoulder as she smoothed the skirt with both hands. Yes, this was a nice skirt, definitely something she would be buying. "Chocolate contains the chemicals phenylethylamine and serotonin, which people believe are mood boosters and also mild sexual stimulants. Chocolate tastes good, yes, but the aphrodisiac aspects of it are more from the way it melts in your mouth than an actual sexual stimulus."

Silence on his end had her thinking she had lost connection with him and she held the phone in her hand, staring at it before placing it back to her ear.

"Mulder? Are you there?"

"Jesus," he breathed. "You gotta warn a guy before you say stuff like that. Christ."

"That chocolate tastes good?" she asked innocently, unzipping the skirt and letting it fall to the floor, leaving her in her bra and panties. He snorted and she smiled as she picked it up and laid it on the bench seat.

"You know what you said," he said with a deep sigh. "Christ."

"You brought it up," she laughed, picking up a green sweater she was not entirely sure about, the color not one she was usually drawn towards. Holding it up to her chest, she made a face, but decided to try it on.

"I only asked if you knew people considered it as such."

"And I explained why they did, nothing more," she said, readying the sweater and then quickly slipping it over her head as she transferred her phone from hand to hand, hearing him snort again.

"Yeah, that's all," he said and she smiled, knowing that she did know how her words would be received.

Stepping back, she looked at the sweater in the mirror, smoothing down her hair and tucking it behind her ears.

"Hmm," she said. "It's not too bad."

"What's not?" Mulder asked and she was surprised to realize she had spoken out loud.

"Oh. Nothing. I just… I'm trying on coats at the mall here."

"Georgetown Park?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"No reason. Just remember you saying you liked the shops at that mall and I figured you'd be needing to get a new coat and so you'd probably be there."

"Okay…" she said, shaking her head as she still contemplated the sweater. "Well, if you simply called to discuss people's opinions on chocolate, I think we've covered that topic."

"And then some," he mumbled and she laughed softly.

"Right. So, I have a few more things to try on, so I'm gonna let you go."

"Okay," he agreed. "Talk later then."

"Yeah. Bye."

She hung up and laid her phone down, giving the green sweater one more appraising look and nodding.

A few more minutes and she walked out with the items, keeping the ones she wanted and hanging up the ones she did not on the rack outside of the dressing room.

As she stepped back onto the sales floor, she noticed a man standing near the coats with his back to her. Shaking her head at the thought that of course he would be there and know which store she was in, she walked over and tapped him on his right shoulder as she quickly moved to his left side. He looked to his right and then his left, smiling at her as she raised her eyebrows at him.

"So are you stalking me, or do you normally shop in this store, and more specifically in the women's section?"

"It all depends on how I'm feeling," he said with a shrug. "I've recently found that stockings sometimes feel better than dress socks, you know?"

"Oh, I do know. You in stockings though, that's something I think I need to see, Mulder. Do you prefer full coverage or thigh high? Because if you're not sure, I could show you my favorite brands and then we could compare notes," she said and he put his hands up as he abruptly turned and walked away from her.

"As if the discussion about chocolate wasn't bad enough," he said and she laughed as she followed him.

"Once again, I'll point out that you brought it up."

"And you made it-"

"Harder?" she asked and he stopped walking so abruptly, she nearly ran into him.

"Just…" he said, putting up a finger and shaking his head as she laughed silently.

"I need to pay for these. Can you please keep moving?"

"As long as you just…" He waved his finger and she gave him a gentle shove to get moving.

"So you found a coat then?" he asked, changing the subject as they headed towards the register and she smiled.

"Yeah. Plus a few extra things."

"Is that a green sweater?" he asked, reaching out to touch it.

"Yeah, I wasn't so sure about it, but it looks good. Not sure how often I'll wear it, but…" She shrugged and he looked from her to the sweater and nodded.

"It's a good color. Goes well with your skin. Oh, that sounded super fucking creepy," he said, snapping his fingers and hitting his right hand on top of his left.

"You wanna try that again, or leave it there, stalker?" she asked with a laugh.

"I think you chose a good color to accentuate your assets. Oh Christ, that's even worse," he said, shaking his head as she laughed harder.

"Give it one more go. Third time's a charm and all that," she said with a smile and he stopped walking as she did the same.

He reached out and extricated the sweater from under the coat. Holding onto the hanger, he held it out at her shoulder height, looking at it and then her. She smiled and waited to hear how he would dig himself out of this one.

Nodding, he handed it back to her.

"It's a good color for you. You should wear it more often." Nodding again, he pursed his lips and shrugged as he put his hands in his coat pockets.

"Well," she said, touched by his words. "And here I was expecting it to be worse than the others." She smiled and he smiled back.

"The plain truth of it is, Scully," he said, sighing deeply as he looked her in the eyes. "It would be hard to find a piece of clothing that didn't enhance your beauty."

"Oh… well, thank you," she whispered, taken aback as she remembered his words from the motel, her heart suddenly beating faster.

"You're welcome."

They stared at each other until a child dressed as a little red devil ran past them and his mother came running after him, calling out and telling him to stop.

"Would you like to get some dinner?" he asked and she looked at the mother and then at him.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said with a smile and he nodded.

Her items purchased and bagged, they walked towards the main hub of the mall and paused as they watched the families going into stores so their children could receive candy.

"It's actually a really good idea, you know," he said. "Especially for the little ones who lose interest quickly. Plus it's warm in here so they don't have to wear coats over their costumes. That was always the worst. Weeks of planning the perfect costume and then you were forced into a puffy coat that made you sweat."

"Yeah," she said with a chuckle, remembering those nights of begging to take off her coat and being told no.

A little witch walked by with a plastic black cauldron full of candy and Scully smiled as an even smaller witch joined her, grabbing onto the older one's long purple cape.

"They won't get away with this," the bigger of the witches said in a high pitched voice.

"Nod diss time," the small witch said, her voice also high, and they both cackled as they walked to the next store, the older witch taking the smaller one's hand.

"So cute," Scully said, smiling and then sighing with a shake of her head at the realization that she would never have children to dress up and bring trick or treating on Halloween.

Swallowing down the sudden lump in her throat, she felt Mulder's hand on her back. His touch was gentle and she knew he had noticed and was silently asking if she was okay. She nodded and he rubbed her back before moving his hand.

She took a few cleansing breaths and glanced over at him, needing to speak about something else. Something that had been weighing on her mind.

"I've been thinking," she said, switching her bag to her other hand.

"Yeah? What about?" he asked with a chuckle as he stepped out of the way of a trio of older kids dressed as blind mice, who kept bumping into one another and making people laugh.

"About Sarah."

"Hmm," he said, now giving her his undivided attention. "What were you thinking?"

"Some things are still not clear to me."

"Some things, Scully? Only some?" he teased. "It's taken a while, but I think my belief in extreme possibilities is beginning to have its effect on you."

"Hardly," she said, bumping his arm lightly. "Seeing as how you most likely won't be curious about the same things I am, seeing as you believe almost everything, no questions asked."

"I don't think that's necessarily true."

"No?"

"No," he said, shaking his head and smiling at her. "I'd say we're probably thinking about the same things."

"Go on then. Enlighten me," she said and he nodded.

"How'd she choose Peter?" he asked, and she raised her eyebrows. "How did she know he needed help?"

"Yeah. Exactly," she said, thinking about Leonard Betts and how he had known about her own cancer before she ever did.

"The mirrored injuries between Peter and Trevor," he continued, stopping her from walking and looking at her. "I think that she was taking from Trevor in order to treat Peter, but I don't know how to begin to explain the logistics of it."

"Because she couldn't take from either of them, Mulder. Not physically. She couldn't touch or administer anything to them."

"That's true. But, I don't think she needed to touch them physically."

"Thank you, that makes perfect sense," she said sarcastically.

He chuckled and nodded as he looked around and then back at her.

"I think what she did was more of a feeling or a thought. If she needed to move them, treat them, let them go… she simply thought it and it happened. If they needed to be in a particular place, she pictured the place and they were there."

"She pulled them to her somehow," she said and he hummed as he shook his head.

"No. Not exactly, as that makes it sound sinister. I'd say she enticed them somehow. Maybe with a feeling of calm and safety. Once there, I'm sure they did feel afraid as things were not "normal" for them."

"Peter said he could hear and feel them."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. I wonder if he was mistaken and he was actually hearing Sarah. If he was sensing her pain and worry at how to carry out her plan."

"I hadn't considered that," she said quietly, looking down at the ground with a slight frown, then back up at him.

"Well, it's just a theory."

"But that does make sense. In its own way," she said as she shrugged.

"What?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling.

"Don't act so surprised. As if I don't often agree with you," she said and his smile grew as he nodded.

"You must say it in your head then because I've not heard it much."

"Mmhmm," she hummed and started walking again, watching him join her out of the corner of her eye. "So you think she healed him by thought? Persuasion? What?"

"That is a question I'm afraid I don't have an answer to, Scully," he said, shaking his head.

"Maybe it was through bright flashes of light like we experienced," she said with a smile.

"Flashes of light?" he asked, frowning at her. "You mean the candles you were using and the light glowing around Sarah?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I meant the bright flash of white light that happened when we left wherever we were with her."

"Scully," he said, placing a hand on her arm and stopping her. "There wasn't a white flash."

"Yes, there was."

"No. There couldn't have been. I didn't see one."

"What? It nearly blinded me. You had to have seen it."

"No, I didn't," he said and she frowned. "Tell you what, tell me exactly what you remember and we'll see if it's the same."

"Okay. I remember being with Fauna and the others and seeing the candles glowing in turn. The one you were communicating to me with went out just as a light appeared in the forest."

"A bright one?"

"No. Well, not overly bright, but enough to draw our attention to it."

"Okay. What next?"

"I ran to it and-"

"Got attacked by nearly every tree in the place," he said, nodding to her face.

"No shit," she said, touching her cheek and shaking her head.

"So then what?"

"I found you… and Sarah. Wherever you were, I found you," she said and he smiled and nodded.

"But no bright flashes?"

"Not until you and Fauna convinced her to leave."

"When exactly?"

"Just before she was gone. Fauna told her to find peace. You told her it was enough. That she had done enough and it was time for her to go."

"I remember the conversation."

"She reached out to touch your hand," Scully whispered and she was there again witnessing the sadness and worry on Sarah's face. But then Scully had seen hope flash in her green eyes when Sarah had looked at her and smiled.

"I think it will be enough," Scully breathed.

"What?"

"That's what Sarah said to me just before she touched your hand. Just before the bright light." She looked at Mulder and he shook his head.

"I remember all of that, but not the light."

"Then how do you remember coming back? If that's even the right word?"

"I… I don't know to be honest with you. I know that wherever we were with Sarah felt thick and warm and then suddenly it was cold, the air a lot thinner."

"The light was so bright, how did you not see it?"

"I don't know. But none of the others mentioned a bright light. I suppose we didn't ask directly, but I think that would be something they mentioned don't you?"

"Maybe they forgot? Maybe they didn't see it because of the other things happening? The high blood pressure, the agitation… Maybe it was forgotten."

"Maybe," he said with a smile, but her stomach dropped at the implications and her hand went to the back of her neck, feeling the spot where a metal chip had been placed when she had been on the brink of death.

"Do you… do you think that it…?" she asked, her breathing increasing as she began to imagine the worst possible outcomes.

"No," he said, her eyes widening at the harsh tone he used.

"It's possible," she said. "I could have-"

"No," he said again, his tone softer as he pulled her arm down gently and replaced her hand with his own on the back of her neck. "I refuse to believe in any scenario in which that is possible. I will not hear it."

"Mulder," she said and he shook his head, squeezing her neck tenderly.

"I don't want to hear it, Scully."

"But what if-"

"No," he said for the third time, his thumb rubbing her scar softly. He bent his head toward her and rested his forehead against hers, letting out a slow breath. "There are no scenarios where I will accept that."

She closed her eyes and wrapped an arm around his waist, his other arm going around her and they stood holding one another as families rushed past, calling and laughing to one another.

He took her bag from her when they broke apart and she sighed. He crooked his arm, inviting her to take it, but instead she trailed her fingers down the inside of his forearm and took his hand, threading her fingers through his and nodding with a small smile.

They continued on towards the restaurant, though the worry still lingered.

"I'll call and make an appointment in the morning, just to be completely sure," she said softly and he squeezed her hand as he nodded.

As she worried and tried to pretend that she was not and Mulder tried his damndest to make her laugh and bring them out of their funk, a healing was in fact taking place, but it was not one that either of them would have ever entertained. The thought of it, too raw and new.

It was a healing that would take time and when discovered, would leave everyone with more questions than answers. Theories would abound and they would ignore and deflect each one.

But one night they will know.

Sitting on her couch, a pizza congealing on the coffee table and an old family keepsake beside her, she will smile as she covers his hand where it lays on her rounded belly and she will whisper Sarah's name as she remembers and his wide eyes will meet her own as they remember.