Doggett lay with Reyes sleeping over his chest. The rhythmic beating of his heart had lulled her to sleep when they had finally collapsed from their exertions. But Doggett couldn't sleep. He was replaying their argument again and again in his head. He was trying to understand it, to make sense of what they had said to each other.
Occasionally it got too hard to figure out and he'd let himself think about the making up process again. That part was easy to understand. But he had been mean, he was not that kind of guy, had that been what Reyes wanted more of in him? She said he was being a 'puppy dog' around her. He'd been animal enough for one evening.
He stroked her back without thinking about the act of doing so and he couldn't begin to think about not having her in his life. Did he really have to let her do this whole independent woman thing to get her to come back to him? He wanted them both to be back at his place, he didn't want them to be apart like this. But he wasn't going to fight anymore. If he wanted her to respect him and his feelings he had to do the same for her.
Reyes woke up and hadn't slept so well for days, she felt so relaxed and peaceful. At first she wondered why she seemed to be raised slightly from the mattress beneath her, but then she looked up into the big blue eyes looking down at her and she simply smiled. She climbed onto Doggett and lay on him to hug him, he didn't know what to do or to say so he just put his arms around her as she did the same with him.
Making love with your partner could be amazing, but sometimes just being close and holding one another was all that was needed. Doggett could smell her hair, he knew he'd remember that smell all day, her scent would be all over him, even after a shower he'd be able to smell her on him, she'd drive him crazy all day without even knowing about it.
Doggett was still confused and a little upset at how things had gone the night before. He slid from underneath Reyes gently and sat on the edge of the bed. Reyes sat up behind him and kissed his shoulder. When she got no response she sat back and pulled the sheets around her. This was the part she hadn't been looking forward to.
"John..."
"You're not coming home with me are you?"
"No..."
"Well then I should go. I should let you do whatever you need to do." Doggett stood up and searched around for his clothes. He threw them on hurriedly and didn't stop to look at Reyes as she watched his every move. A big part of her wanted to rush back with him to his place right that second, but she had to stick with her gut instincts, and she believed that this was right for them as this point in their relationship.
Reyes threw on a pair of pants and a t-shirt to see Doggett to the door. They hadn't said a word to each other and both of them were trying to figure out what the right thing was to part with.
"I'm sorry John."
"I know. Me too." He kissed her softly on the lips and stroked her face with the back of his hand.
"Just promise me one thing Monica, promise me you'll remember that I'm waiting. I'll always be waiting, no matter how long this takes."
"I promise. I love you." He kissed her again and then turned to walk back to his own place where the only living thing waiting for him to get back was his dog. The thought of that made him walk slowly rather than catch a taxi.
Reyes watched him walk down her street until he was out of sight. She went into the very empty kitchen and rummaged around in the boxes marked 'kitchen' for some coffee. She couldn't find it. She didn't want to find it. Why was she even thinking about coffee? She caught her reflection in the mirror and shouted out at herself as she threw the boxes across the room and watched as everything that could have broken broke. She fell to her knees in tears and ignored the telephone as it rang in the other room. She didn't care who it was or what they wanted. She just didn't care.
"Try her again!"
"Mulder I've called her five times in half an hour, she isn't home."
"Well try Doggett again!"
"Also called five times and no answer. Would you relax please?" Scully watched as Mulder threw things haplessly into a bag on the bed. He'd booked tickets for he and Reyes to fly to Mexico at four that afternoon. He had booked them with a bad feeling in his stomach that Reyes would change her mind, and now that she was apparently unreachable he was sure his gut feeling had been spot on.
"I just don't want this to go wrong. I want us to be in and out of there in a few days at the most."
"Monica will see that we've called and she'll call back, just take it easy before you give yourself a heart attack." At that moment William came bounding into the room full of energy and only stopped when he was faced with the challenge of walking through the bed. Mulder picked him up and William looked from his father to his mom and then at the bag on the bed.
"Dada go away?" Scully smiled. Her intuitive three-year-old son was impressive, although she was slightly concerned with how perceptive he was. She didn't say it to brag but William had intelligent parents and was brought up around a lot of complicated words, stories, and theories. If they weren't going to shield him from things like this then he was bound to start picking up on things. But should he really know that kind of things that he was clearly showing an understanding for?
"My boy's bright aren't you buddy?"
"Dada stay with mommy." Scully's smile faded as she walked over to the two most important males in her life. The three of them sat down on the bed and William looked concerned. This was another one of those times where they'd talk to him and try and explain something that was important by saying it wasn't a big deal.
He loved his mother but she wasn't the best at hiding fear when it came to his dad. And his dad always went over the top with reassurances supposedly for his benefit but William knew these references were to allay his mother's fears more than his own. Hell he was three years old; so long as wherever he was going his dad came back he was ok with the whole situation.
"So you see William, it'll just be you and me for a couple of days."
"Yeah, you and your mommy will have tons of fun, and you can tell me all about it when I get back." William wriggled free from them both and managed to land on his feet rather than his head when he slid from the bed. He left the room but came back quickly with his new train.
"Dada have it."
"Sure Will, dada will take good care of it."
"No, choo choo take care of dada." William ran off again and could be heard playing with his less favourite trains on the train set that he hadn't left alone for a second since his birthday.
"I'm gonna have severe words with Doggett for turnin' my boy into a train geek."
"Mulder..."
"I'm kidding. This choo choo might save my life."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well at least this time whilst I'm away from him I'll have something of his to remind me of him."
"Oh Mulder..."
"Hey, don't cry ok? I'll be back before you know it. But, I wouldn't mind a little something to remember you by..."
"Now! Oh... oh, ok now..."
