New Beginnings 20: Final Chapter

The Lone Gunmen let Mulder stay in the parking lot in front of the demolished church as they went to gather their equipment for the trip home. They knew he needed to mourn. The police who had interviewed witnesses along with the firemen whose presence was of little use were long gone. Mulder just sat and thought. About Scully. About how many times he had lost her. About how many times she had been returned to him. About how silly it was that she lost the battle through such a trivial means, considering the monsters she fought one-handed. Fate had done her no justice.

As he sat, he moaned and whimpered. Mulder sighed, but the whimpering continued. He paused and listened. It sounded like…a baby's cry. Mulder burst into the church, trying to follow the sound of the cries. Mulder hoped that God had been kind enough to leave someone with Mulder. At least he would not be alone.

Then he heard it. That voice.

"Mulder?" it called, tentatively.

"Mulder?" it called, a little louder, but from another location.

"Scully?" he answered, almost to himself.

"Mulder!" she replied, stepping into his view.

"Scully!" he yelled as he ran to her side. She immediately followed his voice.

He held her shoulders securely in his hands and, examining her body, asked, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mulder," Scully chided.

"Oh God, it's you," he whispered, surprised beyond words.

Scully smiled, "No, it's Scully."

Mulder chuckled softly. "Let's go home."

After phoning the Lone Gunmen and telling them the news, Mulder and Scully drove back home. Tired from their draining experiences over the past eighteen months, Scully and William slept most of the way. Mulder loved the three-day drive. He loved watching his lover sleep next to him. He loved seeing his son and knowing it was the best parts of both of them.

When Scully awoke after the first day of driving, she noticed something was amiss, but she kept this knowledge to herself, though she knew he would eventually find out.

She followed him into their motel room. It was the first time that they only asked for one room, and while neither mentioned it, they simultaneously reached for the other's hand as he told the receptionist "One room, please."

Scully dreaded this damper this discovery of hers would put on their contentment. As she predicted, Mulder was quick to learn of the problem.

They held hands as Mulder grabbed his overnight bag (Scully's was left at Gordon's house) and Scully held William in her other arm. Mulder let go of her hand to unlock the motel room and ushered her in by the small of her back. Scully sat on the bed as Mulder took a sleeping William from her arms and set him in the baby carrier.

"I'm going to use the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Okay," Scully replied.

Scully lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. After everything that's happened to her, spanning a time period of almost two years, Scully was glad it was over. And she knew that it was over. Things would calm down, but her life has changed forever.

William awoke and announced so with a long wail. "I'll get him," Mulder yelled from the bathroom, "just give me a second." William stopped crying as his tiny thumb found his mouth.

Scully called back, "No, it's okay, I'll get him."

When Mulder came out of the bathroom two minutes later, William was still sitting in his carrier. "Oh, did you decide to just leave him…." The words from Mulder's sentence just fell away as he took in the sight of Scully. She was sitting on the floor, grabbing at the air around her.

"be?" Mulder finished his sentence in a whisper.

Scully spun around, "I…uh."

Mulder cocked his head to the side, taken aback at the woman before him. His words came out slowly and painfully, "Scully…can…you….see me?"

Scully did not answer him, but her reply spoke volumes. Mulder collapsed onto his knees next to her. Scully fumbled nervously with her hands. "Scully…" was all Mulder could get out. Neither knew what to say. Finally, Mulder continued, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't want your pity. Or your protection," Scully mumbled to Mulder.

"I would never insult you like that, Scully. And I've always protected you. I just can't help it."

"But why?" Scully asked, her blindness no longer the topic of conversation. "What makes you feel like you have to protect me? Haven't I proved myself to you?" Scully asked despite knowing that her current situation proved otherwise.

"It's not a matter of whether you can take care of yourself, Scully. You have proved that. I just feel- " Mulder's voice quieted to an almost inaudible whisper, "that it's the least you deserve, especially because of the times I've failed you."

"You have never failed me," she replied. "You haven't failed because you never gave up."

"I'd never give up on you, Scully."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while. "Why do you think Donald wanted to burn down his own church?" Scully asked out of nowhere.

"He knew that allegations were circling about his church. The state had already filed polygamy charges against him. And Linda Osborne, who was abducted six months after you, was also found there. He knew it was just a matter of time," Mulder replied.

"Is that why CSM was there? To warn him about Linda Osborne?"

"As far as I can tell."

How did you escape out of the fire anyway?" Mulder asked.

Scully paused. "I never thought about it…I guess I just followed your voice."

"You could hear me?" Mulder asked, genuinely surprised.

"No with my ears, I guess. Maybe with my heart." Scully concluded, glancing over to smile at Mulder, who returned the smile.

"How did you get William?"

"Well, I guess there was a time when I was me, but I still had my eyesight. So I grabbed him out of the baby carrier, which was by my feet, and well…here we are."

A few minutes later, Scully asked Mulder a question, "How did you find me in the warehouse?"

Mulder smiled, "The same way, I guess. I followed my heart."

"Hmm…an X File." Scully mused. They laughed.

Mulder took her clenched hands in his own and kissed them. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Scully smiled.

"Let's go to bed," Mulder whispered as he led her to the bed.

He turned around, and Scully wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him, "Thank you," she whispered before pulling back the covers and sliding into bed. Mulder walked around the bed and climbed in next to her. As they shifted in the bed, Mulder wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"For what?" he whispered into her ear before kissing her neck.

"Everything. For you," Scully mumbled as she was falling asleep.

"No, Scully. Thank you. You made me better," he replied before drifting off to sleep.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Epilogue:

Mulder, Scully, and their son returned to Washington, D.C., four days after Mulder's discovery of Scully's blindness. The Search and Rescue Unit of the FBI for which Mulder had been working prior to Scully's reappearance questioned Mulder on his unexplained absence. Mulder told them of Scully's recovery and the links between the Syndicate, Donald Gordon, and the Mob. His boss threatened to dock Mulder's pay, but Mulder had already decided to quit.

Three months later, the FBI reopened the X Files. Mulder and Scully returned to their original positions in the division. However, due to Scully's blindness, the field work she could due was severely limited. Most of her work was done in office and as a consultant. A third agent was assigned to the X Files. His name was Jake Thomas. Two months later, another partner joined the X Files department. Her name was Martha Francis.

Agents Thomas and Francis covered most of the long distance cases. Mulder and Scully focused their attention on alien conspiracy cases, leaving the liver-eating mutants and the fetishists to the other two agents.

Scully's eyesight never returned, but neither did Dana Gordon. Both seemed lost forever. A doctor's visit and eye examination showed Scully's blindness was due to the excessive smoke and searing heat of the fire in the church. Though Scully visited a number of psychologists, counselors, and psychiatrists, no one could account for Dana Gordon or her disappearance.

The Mulders (as the trio were now known) adapted. Their lives resumed a somewhat normal pace. Scully learned to read Braille, and even taught it to William when he was seven. William, though he never learned about Dana Gordon or Scully's abductions, he was well educated in the paranormal.

XX THE END XX