A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far, you guys are awesome. For midheaven: In season five, there are two episodes, "Unusual Suspects" and "Travelers" that take place in 1989 and 1990. In those episodes, it's very easy to see that Mulder is wearing a wedding ring. It was never disclosed who he was married to, it was open to interpretation, but I always figured it was Diana because the timeline would place her in his life about that time. Which makes me hate her character even more… Thanks for the feedback!

Disclaimer: Play it again Sam: The characters, plot and all the fun stuff belong to 1013 Productions, Chris Carter and a whole lot of people who have more money than I do.

CHAPTER 11

Watergate Apartments

One hour later

Despite the fact that he was red/green colorblind, Mulder was pretty damn sure he was seeing red.

"Open up Diana!" he bellowed as he pounded on the door several times. His anger resonated through his arm and each time he struck the door was harder than the previous blow. When the walls started to shake, one of the neighbor's stuck his head out the door and threw a couple of obscenities at Mulder in addition to a cease and desist before security was called.

When the man shut his door, Mulder huffed, backed up and kicked the door in. While he half expected Diana to come running in from the other room, furious at him for damaging her door, what he found was a whole lot of nothing.

The rooms were bare. No furniture, no occupancy, no Diana. Mulder ran his hand through his hair and swore under his breath. He started checking the rooms. His hazel eyes dark with a fury that he had long ago thought was buried. Her ability to stay two steps ahead of him was unchanged and he had fallen for it: Hook, line and sinker. In his angry daze, he became conscious that there were other people in the room shouting at him.

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2:35 a.m.

It was a sound she had once been used to hearing at this time of night, but the sounds had ceased in the last months. So when the shrill ringing of her phone startled her from her sleep, she wondered who would be calling her.

"Mmmm….hello?" she said groggily.

"Hi Scully, it's me. Sorry to wake you."

There was something to be said for familiarity, as far as Scully was concerned. 50 percent of the time when Mulder called in the middle of the night, he was in some kind of trouble, the other 50 percent involved him wanting to talk himself out of a nightmare.

She wondered which half of the proverbial pie she would be indulging in tonight and if she even wanted to.

Never let it be said that Dana Scully wasn't a creature of habit.

"Mulder, what's wrong?" Try as she might, she couldn't hide the concern in her voice. It had become instinctual and while their 'relationship' may be tense, that didn't mean she had stopped caring about him.

However, it was the familiar sound of someone throwing up in the background that clued her into which percentage Mulder had fallen into tonight.

"Scully, I hate to ask this but I was wondering if you could help me out…."

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4 a.m.

They walked out of the police precinct together, neither saying a word. The air was brisk and cutting, much like the emotional lacerations the two had inflicted on each other in the recent weeks. They both knew there were major repairs to be made, the question was, did the other one think it would be worth trying?

"Thanks for posting my bail," Mulder said sheepishly as he buckled his seatbelt. "I owe you one."

Scully exhaled fastened her own seat belt. "Yes, Mulder, you do. And since I'm awake, I'm going to collect."

They drove to a 24-hour diner and sat in the back. Jail obviously didn't do anything to curb Mulder's appetite as he ordered a heavy breakfast. Scully on the other hand was interested in two things: Coffee and the truth.

"Mulder, I want to talk about this," she said slowly, focusing on the spoon in her cup. Mulder stopped chewing and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What do you want to know?" he asked after swallowing his mouthful of eggs.

Despite herself, Scully smirked and chuckled, her tired blue eyes more curious than angry as she took in the jail fodder sitting across from her.

"Well, for one thing, why did you break into that apartment?"

Mulder sat back and looked around uncomfortably, hoping his partner would let him off the hook. However, the determination on her face was easy to read and he realized the time had come to pay the truth piper.

"I went to see Diana," he said slowly, not looking at Scully at first, but then turning to meet her eyes. "I was angry and I overreacted….on her door. But it doesn't really matter because she was gone."

Now it was Scully's turn for raised eyebrows. "What do you mean, 'Gone?'"

"Just that, 'Gone.' She moved out. Packed in it. Headed out. God only knows where or why."

"I could think of a few places I'd like her to go," Scully thought to herself and fought the urge to speak out loud. Instead, all she could come up with was "Okay…."

Mulder leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, staring at Scully. He knew if he didn't get it out in the open now, he might never be able to.

"I don't know on what level or why she betrayed me in this thing, Scully. I only know that for some reason, she did and that I should have given your instincts more merit. For that I am truly sorry."

Scully didn't know why she asked, but before she could stop herself, the words came tumbling out.

"Why didn't you tell me about your marriage to her before?" She bit her lip, not wanting to really know the answer.

Mulder sighed, but never broke eye contact.

"The situation is not something I am proud of. Diana and I were married in 1989. She left me in 1990, right after we discovered the X-Files. We didn't even make it a year. The work became my life and I pushed her out. She wanted me to make a choice."

Scully swallowed hard. "You're asking me to make a choice?" The memory was still painfully clear, just as the big picture was starting to become. Mulder continued with his confession:

"I chose the work. I chose my only existing connection to finding out the truth about my sister. I chose to be 'Spooky' Mulder the FBI's Most Unwanted, tucked away in the basement with my flashlight and my UFO poster."

Scully nodded and unconsciously started leaning forward on the table herself.

"I thought about it for a long time after she left," he explained. "I began to question it. My desire to know the truth outweighed the vows I made to this woman, so I began to wonder if I even loved her at all, or if I loved the idea of having someone there. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to be the latter. That was tough to stomach. It's hard to look into a mirror and see someone who can be that cold, Scully. Over the years, I fought hard to get away from that, so when she showed up, I guess I felt I owed her something."

He finally broke his eye contact and began to study his hands.

"But in proving that to her, I betrayed your faith in me," he became very quiet. "I made a choice, a wrong one. And while the work has been my life and may always be until I find Samantha, there has never been a day that I have regretted working with you. I can only regret not telling you this before."

He looked up and Scully caught her breath. There was such pain behind his eyes, such anguish and something else, something she rarely saw in him.

Desperation.

"Dear God, please give me the strength…" she prayed silently to herself as she reached across the table and took hold of one of his hands, giving it a tender squeeze accompanied by a small smile. Her mother's words repeating over and over in her head. When all was said and done, Dana Scully knew of one thing: She wanted Fox Mulder in her life and she would fight for him.

"Mulder, I wish you would have told me all this sooner, but I can understand why you didn't," she said slowly, knowing the ghosts of her own past. "I would be lying if I said that all was right and forgiven, but we both know it's not going to be that easy. We both said and did somethings that were pretty harsh."

Mulder nodded and gave Scully's hand a small squeeze in acknowledgement.

"Faith is a strong bonding thing. Like trust. My faith in you is still there, I think it always will be, I…. 'We' just need some time for these wounds to heal," she said. "I'd like to work at going forward. There's too much pain in the past."

"Okay." Mulder gave her hand one final squeeze and then pulled away, reaching for his wallet to pay the bill as Scully stood up to put on her coat. The idea, the belief that they would face the future together, no matter in what capacity made her more warm than the thick wool of her coat. For the first time in a long while, she was looking forward to tomorrow.

"Um…Scully?"

She turned around to see the panic face that she so cherished. "What is it Mulder?"

"I think I left my wallet at the jail."

Scully glared at him for a second and then burst out laughing hysterically.