Title: A Man Who…: Speechless

Author: DC Luder

Disclaimer: FM, DS, MS, WS belong to them crazy CC and Co. out in LA.

Summary: Mulder's take on the night he plans to reunite with Scully after years apart

X

I shouldn't have even been there.

Was it fair to interrupt another's life in order to right your own fault-ridden existence? I had thought so, and that this action would make my life easier, but as I sat in the car with the November wind whipping around me, self-doubt had settled in the pit of my stomach.

My car was parked ten yards down the street from her front porch. She had been sitting on a swing, enveloped in a thick blanket and holding a steaming mug. I envied her almost as I stared at my cold coffee cup. Would that be a good introduction?

Hey, Scully. How have you been? Any coffee left?

She seemed to be in a state of extreme serenity. Her icy eyes were mostly closed and her refined face tilted slightly in my direction. Even after all of this time, she was beautiful. Her hair was longer and she went by a new name, but other than that, she was still my Scully. I cringed every time I thought of her like that, in the possessive. But it was true. She had been mine and I had been hers. After so many years of being at each other's side and protecting one another, we had been invincible together…

Almost invincible.

I could hardly recall any of my missing time. Those months spent with forces unknown have been taken from me forever. My memories end with Skinner and I in the woods and begin with waking up to a very concerned Skinner in a hospital four months later. And when he had told me that Scully had moved on…

My chilled fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter, which brought me back to the present. I stared at her as she rose suddenly and began to search the porch, as if something had caught her eye then vanished. After retrieving my binoculars, I focused on her face as she collected her belongings.

The placid features had died out and were replaced with worry and sadness.

Was this "Dave" the cause?

Or perhaps another problem…

With my minimal connections with the Bureau since my forced "retirement", I had learned quite a bit about the man who stole my soul mate. Educated at Brown as well as Indiana State. A Midwesterner. I could just picture a twangy accent calling her name. He was a tall man at six-four and one hundred and eighty pounds of evil Scully-stealing flesh.

Optimism had never been one of my strong points.

I even called a favor into IRS and found household earnings of the Baker household to average at about ninety thousand a year. That didn't strike me as odd. The part that put anxiety into my heart was under the section of dependents, where I saw the name of their child.

William S. Baker.

At that moment, I had been determined to find a way to get to her. I had to see to believe, just as with anything in my life. Skinner pleaded with me to rethink my actions, but his words had fallen on deaf ears. I wasn't about to lose her again.

After six years, I had finally been re-licensed to drive, approved by numerous doctors to be of sound body and mind and of course, most importantly, emotionally prepared to face my worst nightmare come true.

I waited another minute or so before getting out of my car. I brushed back my bangs once more, straightened my jacket and then retrieved the roses form the passenger seat. With each step that I took towards her door, my insides churned and boiled even faster. Countless thoughts and scenarios flooded my mind.

What if she doesn't remember me?

What if she hates me?

What if he answers the door?

Even worse, if the young boy did…

Suddenly, I found myself at the door, with my finger pressing the doorbell. My mind screamed for me to run as fast as possible, but my legs were frozen in place. I heard a telephone ring within and then the soft patter of footsteps on hardwood floor.

The door pulled away suddenly, revealing her, dressed in the same garb as five minutes ago. Her hair was still mused by the wind but a smile had returned to her beautiful mouth. Her eyes glowed with anticipation. But the second she looked at me, it all went away. The smile rapidly was displaced by an expression of shock and her eyes widened in fear.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't speak. Instead, I rested a leg and smiled at her.

And offered her the bouquet of roses and baby's breath.

X

"I made this!"

X