Chapter Nine:

Scully wasn't one to feel disorientated after waking for very long. So once she realised she was, yet again, in a hospital bed – she looked for Mulder. She saw him sitting in bed, reading a magazine, a smile on his face. She felt a sharp pain in her belly, and winced as she tried to move so that she could see what he was reading.

She hissed through her teeth in pain as the blankets rubbed against the bandaged wound. Mulder looked over to her, and his smile grew.

But memories rushed back, and the panicked feeling filled her once more. Before she had a chance to cry out, Mulder was sitting on her bed, holding her close, and letting her take in his scent (Discreetly of course) It calmed her, and the memories seemed like nothing as he tucked her hair behind her ears, and cupped her cheek in his hand.

"It's okay Scully, he's dead…" Mulder said consolingly.

"H-how…?" She cursed the shake of her voice, and leant back into the pillows, willing her breathing to go back to normal. Why was she so afraid?

"Scully, relax… You're allowed to be scared and upset – you've just been through a huge ordeal." He frowned and smoothed her hair down, brushing his fingertips across her face. "Officer Clyde will probably come and speak to us about it soon." She nodded and winced as pain shot through her head.

"I don't remember much, apart from the panic, the fear…" She trailed off blushing. "Can you fill me in?" Mulder looked pained, emotionally, not so much physically when she asked.

"I tried to save you, I really did…"

"I know you would've Mulder." She touched his face, realising to any other FBI agents all this touching would be considered strange. To her, it seemed normal. She needed to feel him close to her right now.

The door clattered open, and Scully peered around Mulder to see her Mom standing in the door, worry creases on her forehead. Mulder went to slide off the bed, but she shook her head and sat on the other side of the bed taking Scully's hand in hers.

"Hello, Fox…" She said kindly, and touched his shoulder with her free hand. Mulder smiled and looked uncomfortably between the women.

"I'll just-"

"No," both the Scully's said at the same time. Mulder raised an eyebrow, but as Scully chuckled softly, he relaxed and smiled at her slightly happier face.

--

Maggie stayed for a little while; she kept asking Scully if she was okay, until Scully told her she'd kick her out of the room if she didn't stop asking. Mulder was included in on the conversation, and he hadn't felt so comfortable with Scully and her mother before. Mostly because he spent more time with Maggie Scully when Scully had cancer than any other time…

"Goodbye Dana, call me as soon as you get home." Maggie kissed her daughters forehead, and then Mulder's forehead, Mulder whom blushed furiously.

--

Scully sighed and leaned back into the pillows. They'd both just received their revolting hospital meals, and Mulder was back on her bed again, lying on her good side so that he didn't bump any of the bruises she had received.

He seemed to have fallen asleep. She dragged her finger slowly down his jaw, and her eyes sparkled with happiness. They'd caught him; they'd caught, and killed the sick bastard who killed all those people.

Though; it still bugged her, how, how did he do it? But she supposed Officer Clyde would visit them the next day and tell them. Or she hoped he would, now that she was feeling a little better – she wanted answers.

--

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder." Officer Clyde said, looking a little uncomfortable at the current arrangements. Scully raised her head off Mulder's chest, and it took her a few seconds to realise she was curled up against Mulder.

"Oh," she extricated herself from Mulder's arms, and shook his shoulder gently. "Mulder, hey Mulder…" He didn't wake. She looked over at Officer Clyde who stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"You can sit down; I know how to wake him." She smirked at the officer and yanked a chunk of Mulder's hair making him sit up with a start.

"Scully," he whined rubbing his head. "That was mean."

"Officer Clyde would like to speak to us," she said, trying to ask Mulder with her eyes what they should tell the Officer as to why they were in the same bed.

She realised she probably looked crazy, her eyes flicking quickly between the officer and Mulder, and the nodding of her head. Mulder didn't seem to get it, he just shrugged. "We're – um." Scully pointed to Mulder and herself. "I-" she stuttered, and looked at Mulder for help.

"She had a nightmare, I must've fallen asleep," Mulder said nonchalantly. She turned to Mulder and glared at him.

"Oh, okay," the Officer nodded awkwardly, and then in the short silence that followed, Mulder shuffled over so there was a little more space between them.

"Er, his name; Trevor Cormac." Scully nodded, they already knew this. The Officer gave them a funny look. "You already knew that?"

"Yeah," Mulder agreed. "We found his file. His ex-wife and child died in a homicide last year. I guess that's the why answered." He paused. "Though…" and he trailed off. "Why did he remove their uterus?" Scully touched her bandaged stomach, and felt Mulder's hand cover hers under the sheets.

"His wife had a hysterectomy." The officer shrugged. "I suppose he was making his victims more like his wife…"

"How, how did he do it…? How did he kill them?" She had to know.

"We…" Officer Clyde looked at Mulder. "I think Mulder probably has a better idea than we do."

"Cormac had a powerful mind. He could picture something, and it just happened." He said simply, as if he was just telling her what the weather was like outside.

"Mulder," she said with exasperation. "I think that's one of the wildest theories you've come up with."

"Then you explain it," he argued.

The Officer stood, and waved to Mulder as he left, leaving him to fend of Scully's biting retort. But instead, she seemed to have come to some sort of conclusion in her mind.

"I can't explain it, your theory is ludicrous, but I see no other way he could do this." He stared open mouthed.

"Not even a minute ago you were saying it wasn't even possible."

"I said its one of the wildest theories you've come up with," she corrected. "I didn't say it was impossible."

"You know what I want to do right now?" Mulder replied with a grin.

"What?"

"Well you've finally come around to seeing things my way I just want to-"

"No, I just agree with you on this case. It doesn't mean I'll agree with everything you believe in." She looked at him, waiting for him to say something.

"As I was saying, now that you see things my way, I just want to do this." He leant forward and pressed his lips to hers.

The door opened with a click, and she pulled away, surprised at herself for returning his kiss, she doubted he'd expected it to be more than a quick peck on the lips. He looked just as shocked as she felt.

It was then she remembered why she'd pulled away, she looked over to the door and saw her mother and AD Skinner, both staring. AD Skinner looked shocked, and her mother was grinning broadly. Fear crept into her, would AD Skinner split them up? On seeing her face though, he seemed to read her mind.

"I saw nothing," he handed the two of them forms, already signed. "Here are your leave forms; I don't expect either of you back until you're fully recovered." He strode from the room and unreadable expression on his face. Maggie came over and kissed Scully, and then Mulder and handed Mulder the flowers she was holding.

"Fox darling you're-"

"Mum,"

"Yes Dana?"

"Nothing," she sighed, there was no point talking sense into her overly-excited mother. Her mother left after a few minutes, seeming to want to leave the two of them in peace.

--

"I've wanted to do that for such a long time," Mulder said leaning so close that their noses almost touched.

"I-" she took a deep breath, and leaned back again. "AD Skinner won't-"

"He saw nothing," Mulder said with a smirk. He waited, and she could see he was nervous despite the smirk on his face. "If you don't want me to, I won't do it again Scully." He said seriously.

"No, I liked it… I'm just not sure what it means, for us…"

"How about we see how it goes?" Scully grinned.

"How about we give it another shot, and make sure the doors locked this time?"

"Sure," he said, his eyes sparkling, and his lips were curving into a huge smile. "There's just one more thing Scully,"

"Yes?"

"I want to tell you this, because… I thought I was going to lose you, but also because I have wanted to tell you for a long time…" Scully waited breathlessly, what if he said he loved her? What would she say?

"If you die, can I have your Stephen King collection?"

"You want my books?" She asked her eyes wide, and disbelieving.

"No, well yes; but that's not what I was going to say. I was just joking with you." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Then what were you going to say?" Mulder licked his lips, and she realised she couldn't take her eyes off his lips, could she resist the temptation to lean forward and press her lips against his… She had to; he hadn't locked the door yet. But she didn't know how long she could hold herself back from him.

"I love you," he blurted out, and then looked shocked with himself, almost as shocked as she felt. "Oh, uh well that was what I was going to say, just not like that." He said, anxiously searching her face for her reaction.

"I do too," she said, with a grin. "I can't believe you made such a mean joke before saying that!" She babbled. "It's just like you though…" She trailed off. She always did that, as soon as she said something important, she felt embarrassed and nervous, and kept on talking. Mulder put his finger on her lips, grinning madly.

"The truth is out now," he said, eyes sparkling. "Just not quite the truth we were looking for in the first place," he finished with a raised eye brow.

"If you don't hurry up and lock that door-"

"I'm going, I'm going." He slipped off the bed and locked the door, his bare feet slapping the hospital floors. "You know in sappy romance novels, when they catch each others eyes, and then all the people around them disappear?"

"Yeah…?" Scully asked, with raised eye brows.

"That just happened."

"Do you know why?" Scully asked rhetorically. "Because there are no other people in here," they burst into laughter simultaneously, and Mulder dropped himself back on her bed.

…The End

A/n: I put Maggie Scully in here because I always thought if I was a mother, no matter how many times my daughter ended up in hospital I would be there to check on her… Lol.

Well this is my last chapter, I enjoyed writing this… I had to put a lot of MSR in here because… Well because I love MSR. But if you don't like it, I could always write an alternate ending without so much… Sappiness in it… Because I think it is pretty sappy…

But yesss: tell me what you think!

- Chrissy.