Things Forgotten
By Sis. Spooky
Disclaimer: Only the story belongs to me. The idea for this one came from the one word title of another piece of fan fiction, but I can assure you this idea is 100 Felicia. I intend to make no profit from this little work.
"Mulder, I told you, I'm fine. I don't need you to mother me, okay." Her tone was a little harsh and left no room for questioning or argument.
That, however, didn't stop Fox Mulder. "You aren't fine, Scully, you're sick! In case you didn't realize that, you are very sick!"
"Do you think I don't know that? I'm the one that deals with it every minute of every day! I'm the one that was told this cancer is inoperable! I'm the one that is faced with my own mortality, Mulder, not you! If I can deal with that, why can't you?"
The evening had started out nice enough when she stopped by his apartment to work on a case file that had been giving them quite a lot of trouble. He had picked up Chinese food on the way home and she had stopped off at her apartment to change clothes and pick up her medication before she forgot to take it altogether. "I think I'm dealing with it pretty damn well, Scully. It hurts me too, you know. To think that one day I may wake up and find out that I am completely alone in this world because my best friend, my partner, the only person I can trust in this whole God-forsaken world has died. To think that she's died because I didn't do everything I could to fix the very disease that was brought on because of me. Scully, why won't you let anyone help you with this? Why won't you let me help you, let me in?"
"You're here aren't you?" She really didn't feel like having this fight again. From the moment she told him she had cancer; he had hovered over her and mothered her to the point of madness. Tonight when he would barely let her lift a file without his assistance had been the final straw. When she insisted that she could do things for herself, he had managed to remind her – in a round about way – that she was sick and he didn't mind to help.
"Yeah, for all the good it does, Scully, I'm here. You get pissed off when anyone tries to help you. You bite my head off for trying to do anything to make your life a little easier or show concern."
She felt moisture on her upper lip and touched her finger to the skin just below her nose. It was a feeling she was beginning to know all too well and she shook her head slowly. "Damn it!" Scully said nothing more, but stood and walked back to Mulder's bathroom.
He felt horrible. Horrible and guilty, horrible that he had continued to fight with her and guilty that he might have caused her recent nosebleed. Mulder stood to go check on her and thought better of it. So he waited for her to finish cleaning up and would make sure she was okay when she returned. The door opened and he pretended to immerse himself in one of the files on his coffee table. "Is . . ."
She grabbed her purse from the edge of the table, spilling the contents onto the floor. "I'm . . ."
"Fine, okay Mulder, I'm just fine. I know Scully, forget I asked."
Stuffing everything back into her handbag, she tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. "I'm going home. We can finish this at the office."
"Sure, fine, whatever."
As Scully drove home, she thought about how she had possibly overreacted and considered calling Mulder to apologize. "No," she thought, "I'm not going to do it. I'm not calling to apologize." She hated to go straight home and decided to stop off at the grocery store for a few basics and maybe even indulge on a comfort food or two.
She was a third of the way through the pint of cookies and cream Haggen Das she had purchased when a familiar knock sounded on her door. "Just a minute," she called around another mouth full of ice cream. Scully opened the door and gave Mulder a 'what do you want' look.
He stuck his hand in his jacket pocket and produced a small tube. "You forgot your lipstick." He grinned.
"Thanks," she took the tube and walked back into her apartment, leaving the door open for Mulder to enter if he so chose. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Scully stepped into the kitchen and got another spoon bringing it back to Mulder. "Want some ice cream?"
"Sure, thanks. Listen, I owe you an apology. I know how you feel about being mothered. It's just that I can't help it sometimes. I don't know what else to do, Scully."
"It's not your fault. I overreacted; you were just trying to help in the only way you know how. It's just scary, Mulder. I've always been the strong one and I guess at times I'm a little too independent. I'm sorry, Mulder." She padded over to the couch and sat down, taking the ice cream with her.
"I'm here to listen if you want to talk. I want to help if you just tell me how to do it without pissing you off in the process."
"Having you here helps, a lot actually. That's the only way I know of that you can help. Just stay beside me through all of this, and try to accept things as best you can. Just please don't blame yourself, Mulder. This cancer isn't your fault, it isn't my fault either, but it's real and I have to face it the best way that I can. And if it should happen that I lose my strength and I need a shoulder . . ."
"You're going to beat this, Scully. We're going to beat this, somehow. I will find a cure if I have to go to the ends of the earth to get it." Mulder took the pint of ice cream from her hand and sat it on the coffee table. Taking her into his arms, he hugged her tightly. "I'll always be right by your side. For as long as you'll let me be, Scully, I'll be right here."
He stayed for another couple of hours talking and sitting in comfortable, sweet silence with the keeper of his heart. After Mulder left, Scully walked over to her purse to put the tube of lipstick into her bag. An identical tube rolled out onto the table and she opened the tube that was still in her hand. She smiled and shook her head. He had gone out and purchased a fresh tube, in a rather attractive shade, to stop by and apologize. He was indeed the best friend she could ever ask for.
The End