Disclaimer: All of these characters belong to CC. I don't claim them. There are references to a couple episodes in here: "Drive" and "Triangle" so there is a spoiler alert.

CHAPTER 6

FBI Offices

Washington D.C.

First he was confused. Then he was angry. Now he wanted to understand. And because he wanted answers, it would only make sense that traffic would be tied up, it would take forever to find a parking spot and now the damn elevator was moving at a snail's pace.

When the blessed doors finally did open and released the tightly packed occupants, Mulder walked quickly to his desk, hoping that Scully would be there and she would be ready to answer some questions.

Half of his hope came true, his partner was at her desk but she was deep in conversation on the phone. Seeing her, however, made him take a few mental steps back.

"What the hell am I doing?" he berated himself. "This is Scully. Not Mata Hari. She would never betray me."

His conscious eased a little bit but the fact that she had took a flight to California and not mentioned anything about it to him was still troublesome. For the most part, they told each other pretty much everything, if for no other reason so that the other wouldn't worry.

He gave her a small smile as he approached his desk and she regarded him with her eyes. Her gray jacket highlighted her ocular blues, which also appeared to be very tired. Finally she hung up the phone.

Mulder rolled his chair closer to her desk and as he did, he noticed her body stiffen, but her expression did not.

"Long weekend?" he asked her in his usual office banter way.

She nodded. "Bad weekend. Forgive me, but I really don't want to talk about it right now." Her body seemed to relax a bit and she leaned forward.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving town," she said slowly, earnestly. "I had something I had to take care of and I need you to respect that I can't talk about it now."

Mulder leaned back and crossed his arms.

"Can't or won't?"

She didn't respond, she just stared at him.

"Maybe she didn't find what she thought she would," he thought to himself as she stood up and walked around her desk. She never answered his question.

"Kersh wants to see us, something about checking out fertilizer orders in Idaho," she said flatly.

Her partner grimaced but followed her. Whatever had happened, she looked worn down by it. He had seen it behind her eyes: hurt. Something had caused her pain and if she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't make her. He trusted that in time, she would tell him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that she had done so much for him that he respected and cared about her too much to throw this back in her face.

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"You can always quit."

She could tell Kersh wanted nothing more but for them to do just that. But THAT wasn't going to happen. Even as she stood there and defended her partner she knew no reasoning would ever justify their intentions. Kersh wanted them gone. A lot of people wanted them gone.

Some days, it really felt like all they had was each other and their faith in their work. And while she had felt far away from her partner when they left the office three days ago, knowing what he went through to help that poor man awakened the admiration she had long felt for him. Now, as he stood next to her, ever strong in his convictions, she felt more empowered, merely by his presence. She would always find the strength to keep fighting as long as he could.

There was still a distance between them, but not as much as there was before. One thing she was certain of, they were still a team. Even if the FBI didn't want them to be. And as for all of the garbage Kersh threw at them, well it was only…

"Big piles of manure."

She stood by his hospital bed watching him sleep and thanking God that all of his tests had come back okay. As long as he wouldn't suffer any long-term physical damage, she could kick his butt without feeling guilty.

When the Gunmen had told her what he had done, all she wanted to do was get to him before it was too late. He would have done the same for her, of that she was sure.

But then she wouldn't have pulled this type of stunt.

As she paced by the bed, one nagging element of this whole thing came back to her. When she was in the X-files, whoever had called for Spender had thought she was Agent Fowleywhen she picked up the phone. She couldn't get the voice or the words out of her head. She had no doubt of Spender's duplicity, and now…..why else would he tell Fowley about the note?

But that didn't matter now. She walked back to the bed as Mulder started to stir. She reached out to take his hand as he woke up.

"Oh….I feel……like hell." He said, lifting his head slightly then plunging it back down on the pillow.

Now it was time for her "You did something incredibly stupid" speech that she had been reciting over and over in her head, but then he started rumbling about 1939 and Nazis, and how she had been there and Skinner and something about a boat. It sounded like he had watched "The Wizard of Oz," one too many times. She easily deduced the painkillers must have been doing their magic.

"You believed me," he finally said, as sleep started to take hold of him again. She was just glad to have him back in one piece. "In your dreams. Mulder, I want you to click your heels together and say 'There's no place like home.'"

She was happy to have the levity in such a serious situation. As his eyes started to close she turned to walk away.

"Scully!"

His voice was urgent so she came back quickly, only to see him sitting up in bed. She leaned close so that he could understand she was still there.

"Yes?"

His appearance softened and he looked into her eyes. If she hadn't known that he was under the influence of some heavy drugs, that look would have reminded her of that moment in his hallway, before the stupid bee stung her.

"I love you."

She wasn't ready for that. Technically, it was the first time he had ever revealed any type of real feelings but admissions of affection shouldn't be taken to seriously when they are drug-induced. Given this, all she could muster was "Oh brother," as she turned and walked out.

As she walked down the hall to the vending machine, she passed the nurse who had been taking care of Mulder. She couldn't help herself.

"Excuse me, can I ask you what painkillers or sedatives are being prescribed to Agent Mulder?" she asked, flashing her badge. "They seem to be working very well."

The nurse looked at her then to the chart she was holding. After a second she responded.

"Mr. Mulder is being given a saline drip and aspirin, but that's all. His injuries didn't appear to be that serious. No painkillers have been prescribed."