Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center
501 S Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA
10:13 A.M. Thursday
Mulder was taken for an extensive evaluation upon arriving at the hospital an hour previously. The hospital staff was overwhelmed by the sudden influx of nearly fifty patients at once, but it soon became apparent that only a handful of the men were actually injured and required immediate attention.
Scully flashed her badge alongside the mourning police department, and explained that they were going to need a room designated for the women and children, and a separate room for the men. She wasn't meaning to segregate them like they had been at the compound, but Scully found it vital to call in several rape crisis counselors so the women could all be evaluated.
Many didn't have immediate physical injuries, but Scully wanted them to have an opportunity to speak with a doctor and a counselor so they could start processing what happened to them. Plus, most of these were arranged marriages in the first place, and Scully didn't want any of the women to start panicking and going back to the person they were forced to be with out of any sense of Stockholm syndrome. She wanted them to know everything that happened from this point forward would happen on their own accord.
All of them had to change and deposit their cult clothes for evidence. All of the women except herself were given hospital gowns because they would be going into an appointment as soon as it was their time, receiving the same sweatshirts and sweatpants as Scully after their exam.
She noticed a lot of the women were rubbing their legs together and it took her awhile to realize it was because they hadn't experienced what pants felt like in so long or, in some cases, ever. Scully noticed several small things like that as she watched them. The extreme fascination with magazines, the children's abundant joy playing with the hospital's toys, small things she'd always taken for granted that she hadn't even thought twice about before.
"Kent Shocknek here with breaking news. A local cult has been raided by the FBI. Reports of fugitive harboring, domestic violence cases, aggravated assaults, are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the crimes being committed by 'The Hallowed' group members. All led by a man named Victor Miller who was pronounced dead on arrival."
Scully looked up and noticed the story had gone public, the small television in the corner of the room broadcasting the story that had been the painful reality for everyone in the room. An awkward tension fell as everyone stilled in their seats, merely the mention of the leader and the cult enough to put them all on edge.
"Can you turn that off?" Scully asked softly, walking up to the nurses station.
The nurses were already on it, quickly scrambling for the remote and turning the station. They ended on PBS as the theme to Arthur started playing, captivating the attention of all the kids in the room as they watched television for the first time. Hell, it was probably the first time they'd ever seen a cartoon.
"Bunny!" one of the kids squealed in excitement when Arthur's friend popped on the screen.
Scully smiled at their enthusiasm as they all started beaming, overwhelmed by the bright colors and cute characters. "What's that mama?" one of the kids asked.
"I-I don't know," the woman shrugged.
"He's an anteater," Scully replied, walking past them to go to talk to the police.
"Ew! He eats ants," a girl yelled in exaggerated disgust as the door closed behind her.
Scully walked a few doors down, knocking lightly before walking in. Sitting in the middle of the bed was an awake and alert Annabelle framed by a parent sitting in a chair on either side of her bed. "Hello everybody," she greeted quietly. Checking to see if they made it was one of the first things she'd done when she got to the hospital, and she was pleased to see she was taken care of right away.
Lorraine and Ed beamed at her as she stood at the edge of Annabelle's bed, picking up the girl's chart once more. "They said she wouldn't have made it another day," Ed stated, his voice wavering slightly.
"They said without the antibiotics she might've not lasted this long," Lorraine replied.
Scully looked at the chart and nodded at the assessment. Annabelle's vitals were extremely low, but she was getting fluids put back in her system with a good dose of medicine. "I'm glad I could help," she smiled, setting the chart down.
"Has anyone given you any updates about the case?" she asked, looking between them both.
"No, I've been scared to ask," Ed replied.
"I've explained the bind many people were put into, how impossible the cult made it to leave lest someone you love suffer," Scully stated, noting how nervous they both were.
"But..?" Lorraine asked, trailing off.
Scully smiled reassuringly. "It's convoluted, and we'll need to get testimonies from everyone since it's very much a case by case basis, but I imagine most people will be given clemency due to the circumstances."
"What does that mean?" Ed asked, a glimmer of hope passing over his eyes.
"It means the violent offenders and people who committed crimes while in the cult are the only people who need to worry," Scully affirmed. "Everyone else will get assistance from the local women's and family shelters to start reintegrating with society and start their new lives."
"B-but I helped recruit people. Without me, Victor wouldn't have had people to choose from and bring in," Ed murmured.
"What would've happened if you said no? Or tried to get out?" Scully challenged.
Ed said nothing, but Lorraine spoke up, "He would've been hurt or worse and I would've been punished for it."
Scully nodded firmly, "And that's exactly what I told the DA who agreed you were a victim in this as well."
"S-so we're okay?" Lorraine asked, her voice cracking. "We can stay together?"
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Scully turned to see one of the family crisis counselors, "Agent Scully, is this the family you were telling me about?"
"Yes, it is," Scully nodded before turning to Lorraine with a smile. "You'll stay together."
Lorraine stood up with a sob and rushed over to Scully, throwing her arms around her. "I can never repay you for what you've done," she whispered, her voice quivering.
Scully hugged her in return. "You and your family deserve a second chance," she replied, rubbing her hands up and down her back.
She let go and watched as Lorraine went over to Ed, whose head was in his hands as he sobbed in relief. "I'll let you guys talk to the counselor. She's going to give you my card, and I want you to know you can always call me if you need something."
"Bye bye, Katherine," Annabelle called from the bed, waving her chubby hand in the air. The girl still couldn't quite grasp that 'Katherine' was an FBI agent, and Scully didn't mind.
"Bye bye, Annabelle. Feel better, okay?" Scully replied in a high pitched voice.
She walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Turning around, she was met with the sight of a group of people frantically hounding the policeman stationed a few meters away. They were holding a piece of paper up to his face pointing and looking around in desperation. "I-I can't tell you anything yet. Please, can you take a seat and I'll get you with someone as soon as I can."
"Is everything alright?" Scully asked, walking towards them.
Before the man had a chance to reply, one of the women rushed up to Scully. "Do you know my daughter? Her name's Norma. We-we saw her on the news broadcast. I-is she here?" she asked frantically.
"You're… You're Norma's family?" Scully asked in shock, looking around at all the people.
"Yes, we haven't seen her in years," the woman sniffed. "We feared the worst, but we never gave up hope."
Scully felt her chest tighten in emotion. "Norma didn't know how to find you all," she replied.
A man standing behind Norma's mother asked, "So you know her? Is she here?"
Scully turned and asked the guard, "Is there a free room?"
He pointed to a room across the hall and she asked them to wait in there while she got their daughter. All but running, she opened the doors to the main room and said, "Norma can I see you?"
The woman had been sitting in the corner of the room all day, nervously looking out the window while biting all of her nails off. She turned her head and, upon seeing it was Scully calling for her, smiled and walked over. "Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I just have something I want to show you," Scully replied. She didn't want to say anything to give away the surprise, so instead, she took the woman's hand and led her down the hall.
"Your bruises look like they're healing," Norma stated, letting her hands gently stroke Scully's wrists.
"Your ice packs definitely helped," Scully replied kindly, before stopping a few feet away and pointing at the door. "You should go in there," she requested softly.
"A surprise?" Norma said with a skeptical laugh walking forward and pointing at the door.
"Mhm," Scully nodded.
She watched as the woman smiled, opening up the door, only for her smile to disappear as her face contorted into a sob. Her legs gave out as she fell to the ground, her sobbing family swarming around her. "Mom," Norma cried, clutching onto the woman hugging her.
Scully turned away, not wanting to invade, but she felt her heart threaten to burst from her chest at the sight. Her attention was caught by Rosemary who was talking to an officer at the end of the hall, looking around like a caged animal while shaking her head.
"Hey, what's going on?" Scully called out.
Rosemary looked from her back to the officer and Scully motioned for the officer to leave. Which he did, only after saying, "Okay miss, but he's in the waiting room when you're ready."
Scully turned to Rosemary with excitement. "Neil's here?" she asked.
Rosemary looked like a skittish doe, her eyes wide and wet as she nodded. "Aren't you happy?" Scully asked, her tone dropping in confusion.
"W-what if he's disappointed?" Rosemary whispered.
Scully's brow furrowed as she shook her head in disbelief. "How coul-"
"I'm different now," she replied, scratching her arm nervously.
Realization hit Scully like a train and she shook her head adamantly. "N-no, Rosemary. Don't think like that, he just wants you to be okay," she reassured, placing her hand on the woman's to halt her movement.
"But I'm not," Rosemary sobbed. "I've always been so happy with him, b-but I feel broken now, and Jason did so much to me. I'm just scared he will expect me to come back like I was and I don't know if I can ever be her again."
Scully cupped one of Rosemary's cheeks before brushing a strand of hair behind her face. "Rosemary, Neil thought you were dead," she admitted.
"What?" she whispered in horror.
"When he came and they couldn't find you, he's been fearing the worst. I don't know him personally, but I'm willing to say the man I saw is still recovering from his own trauma too," Scully assured.
"Really?" she asked, chewing on her lip.
"He wouldn't speak unless someone gave him permission, he was meek, he seemed uncomfortable having any form of attention on him," Scully replied. "Does that sound like the Neil you know?"
"No," Rosemary replied, worry painting her features.
Scully rubbed the woman's arm comfortingly. "There's no way someone can come out of something like this without mental scars. The man called up the FBI just to avenge what he thought might be your death. I can't see him being anything other than elated to see his strong wife came out on the winning side of this and is surviving."
Rosemary chuffed a nervous laugh. "I don't know if I'd say strong."
"Rosemary, if you hadn't called the police or saved me and my partner, it's likely Victor could have escaped and tricked them all into following him. Everyone here owes their life to you," Scully stated firmly before adding, "I never properly thanked you for saving my life."
"I never properly thanked you for saving mine," she replied sweetly.
"Rosemary?" a voice called from down the hall.
Scully recognized the voice without having to turn, so she just watched Rosemary as her face lit up. Tears pouring down her cheeks immediately. "Neil!" she called out, emotion overtaking her. Scully let go of her and watched as she ran down the hall, all but jumping in Neil's outstretched arms as they swayed in place, clinging onto each other like they were afraid to let go.
"Agent Scully?" a voice called from beside her.
Scully turned and saw a nurse standing next to her. "Your partner wants to see you."
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Room 316
501 S Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA
10:45 A.M. Thursday
Scully. She was the first thing he thought of when he woke up, and the only thing the nurses and doctors heard until one of them was sent to go find her.
"Where's Scully?"
"Is she okay?"
"I need Scully."
He wasn't sure what day or time it was, but he knew she was somewhere close.
He felt significantly better than he had in a while, and he trusted it was because of the IV attached to his arms. Though part of it he had to attribute to finally getting away from that godforsaken place.
He heard someone scurrying down the hall and smiled when he heard Scully breathlessly ask, "Is he in here?"
The door opened and Scully rushed in, wearing a pair of hospital-sweats that she still managed to look radiant in. "Hey, partner," he greeted.
"Hey," she replied, relief at seeing him washing the worry from her face. She closed the door behind her before walking over to the foot of his bed and checking out his chart.
"They told me it was exhaustion," he informed her, even though he knew she could tell as much from the form.
She nodded, adding, "Your electrolytes were out of whack." Scully set the chart down and walked over to the bed, hopping up so she could sit by his hip, grabbing his hand in hers and tapping his thumb.
"I feel better now," he stated softly, squeezing her hand.
"Me too," she nodded. "It seems everyone's getting a happy ending. Almost everyone is getting assistance transitioning out of the cult, the people who were cruel are getting detained, and Victor can't hurt anyone anymore."
"Did he hurt you when you were in the basement?" he asked.
She shrugged, "Not really. I'm a little tired, but you know the feeling."
"So you did go to the other side," he replied. He knew she'd experienced Victor's power, but he hadn't been sure if he just took away her senses or if she got to experience what he had.
"I-I," she stammered as if she was moving to try to justify the experience before shaking her head in acceptance. "I did," she admitted, sounding surprised herself.
"What did you see?" he asked, then clarifying, "Who did you see?"
Randy made it sound like you could see multiple people at once and he was curious if Scully might've. He knew there were a lot of people Scully missed in her life. Mulder was curious about who would have been the most important for her to see if it was only one.
Though the name that came out of her mouth took his breath away.
"Samantha," she stated gently.
He felt his mouth fall open before shutting again, barely able to wrap his mind around it. "Samantha?" he repeated in disbelief.
She nodded and he still felt shocked. "Why did you see her? Not your dad? Or Melissa? Or Em-," he paused a moment before apologizing. "I'm sorry." Even though it had been over two years, he knew Scully thought about her often. Every time they passed a little girl he could see the mourning in her eyes.
She shook her head to dismiss his guilt. "You're fine. I was wondering the same thing myself."
"Randy told me he thought you'd see someone you had unfinished business with," he offered.
"That would make sense, remember Neil's anecdote? He said he wanted to apologize to the cyclist. He didn't even know her," she nodded. "I don't think it's whomever is closest to you, I think it was people you needed to say something to. He needed to apologize, you needed to know what happened to Samantha. I think it's an opportunity for closure, and I think that's why I didn't see them," she explained slowly, clearly unfamiliar with being the one with an unusual explanation.
"There's nothing you'd say to your dad? Melissa?" he asked.
"I, um," she paused, swallowing her emotions. "I've spent a lot of time worrying about if my father was proud of me, and I'm not sure if I'll ever stop thinking about what might've been different if I hadn't left my apartment that night Melissa came. But... I know if I'm being honest with myself, my dad would be happy as long as I am, and I know Melissa would never blame me for what happened."
He nodded, digesting her words before softly asking, "Why did you need closure with Sam? You didn't know her."
She paused, staring off into the distance before meeting his eyes. "You mean so much to me, and she means so much to you. I wasn't lying when I told you I'm in this with you, I want to know the truth too," she replied, giving him a soft smile.
Mulder felt his heart threaten to burst in his chest with adoration for the woman in front of him. "Thank you," he whispered, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it.
"I still don't know what it was or how he did it or why it felt so real, but everything seems to point to Victor playing with our subconscious desires," Scully replied with a sigh.
"But it felt so real," he replied, shaking his head.
"I know, but there's no way to explain it," she replied.
"I guess we'll never get to find out," he replied with a sigh. It seemed to always work out that way. "Can I ask you something though?" he added, gently. "Um, what did you and Sam talk about? I'm just curious. I mean, if it was him playing with our mind, you don't even really have memories to go off of." He was curious what her subconscious would've wanted to get from talking to Sam.
"She wanted you to be happy," Scully replied, with a somber smile.
"If your theory is right, was that your subconscious speaking?" he asked, challenging her.
Scully mused thoughtfully on his comment, looking at the wall in front of her as if the answer might manifest before her eyes. "I think," she began, inhaling slowly. "I've always feared you wouldn't want to have a life outside of trying to find her," she admitted.
"What do you mean?" he asked, his brows furrowing.
Mulder could tell whatever she was summoning the courage to say was something that had been on her mind for a while. "I've imagined having something more with you for a while now, Mulder," she stated softly, grinning as he smiled reflexively. "I imagined what it would be like to be partners in every sense of the word, what it would be like to have a home together, to spend our lives together," she mused.
He swallowed nervously, "But?"
"But," she repeated. "I always feared I might not be enough. That I'd always come second to your work," she whispered her admission while looking at his hospital gown and he felt his heart break.
The woman he'd loved for years was sitting in front of him telling him that she wanted a life together, but he'd been so stubborn he'd been hindering his own chance at happiness.
God, he was stupid.
"Scully," he whispered, getting her attention. Her bright, blue eyes darted up to look at him and the intensity of her stare almost took his breath away. "There's nothing I want more in the world than to spend the rest of my life with you," he stated firmly. "I'm so sorry I've ever made you feel like you weren't important."
He watched her face light up at his words, and it was a sight he cherished. "I'm always happy when I'm with you," he added.
Her eyebrow quirked as she smiled, "Samantha said that too."
"Because you know it's true, Scully. You're my everything," he replied.
"And you are mine," she murmured. "I'll always be by your side, searching for whatever answers you need to find, I hope you know that."
"Even though we didn't get any definitive answers, I think I do feel a bit of closure from the whole thing," he admitted.
Scully smiled at him and nodded, "Me too."
Then Scully started chuckling lightly to herself and Mulder smiled in response. "What?" he asked.
"She called you Buttmunch," Scully laughed. "I don't know where my subconscious was there. I don't think I have ever heard that term in my entire life."
Her laughter faded when she caught Mulder's smile fall. "What?" she asked, clearly concerned she'd said something wrong.
"I-I never told you she called me that," he replied. He'd shared a lot of details with her over the years, but he was positive he never told her that. He never even mentioned it during his regressions.
"What do you mean?" Scully replied.
He sat up straighter and said, "That was what she used to call me because I used-"
"-to tease her all the time," they finished in sync.
"Who used to do her hair?" Scully asked, sounding like she was testing him.
"Me," he replied.
Scully nodded, as if expecting that answer. "She said your mom was too impatient."
"I've never told you that either," Mulder added, his heart starting to race.
They both shared a look. She couldn't have made up something so specific, let alone two things. "What else happened?" he asked, his voice a little breathless from emotion.
She looked a little shy, shifting in her seat before stating, "I promised her I would try to keep you from being sad, and it seemed to make her feel better. Then she just... shot up into the sky."
"Shot up into the sky?" he repeated quizzically.
"I don't know how to explain it," she replied. "It's like she turned into starlight." Then, with wide eyes she looked into his eyes and whispered, "You've always said souls reside in starlight."
He let his head fall back as he let out a low breath. It was comforting, but at the root of it was a possibility he'd been trying so hard to push aside. She was dead.
As if Scully sensed the conclusion he came to, she lamented, "I'm so sorry, Mulder."
A poignant smile quirked his lips as he looked at her. "I still want to know what happened to her, but it helps knowing she's not suffering at least. I think I've been expecting the worst all these years."
"You're right," she nodded, her bottom lip pouting. "Are you okay?'
"It's a lot to process, but yeah, as much as I can be," he smiled.
She seemed pleased by his answer as she idly smoothed out the hospital bedspread in front of her. The movement caused him to notice the bruises encircling her wrists and he was reminded of another topic that had been on his mind.
"Can I ask you something that's been bothering me?" he asked delicately.
"Of course," she replied, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand.
"What happened yesterday?" he asked gently.
Her head cocked to the side and she raised an eyebrow. "When?"
"When I picked you up from your friend's house and we went to check on Annabelle. I could tell you'd been crying. It looked like you'd been really upset, but you said we could talk about it later."
"Oh," she said softly, her demeanor shifting. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but the thought of her reddened face and wet eyes still made his heart sink.
She inhaled a long breath before exhaling slowly, looking down at her lap. "We don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want to," he offered, rubbing her back.
Scully looked over at him and smiled. "No, um. I want to tell you," she replied, though the words didn't seem to come out easily. "I've been having a hard time," she whispered, so softly he almost didn't hear it.
He sat up straighter, grabbing one of her hands to hold again. "With what?" he murmured.
"I haven't felt like myself since Pfaster attacked me," she replied, wincing as the words came out of her mouth.
He felt his hackles raise at the name, the thought of that man still affecting her from beyond the grave bothering him beyond measure. "Is it about what you had to do? You had no choice, Scully," he comforted, only for her to shake her head in response.
"No, it's not that," she sighed before turning to look him in the eye. "Did you read my statement?"
He'd wanted to. Every fibre of his being wanted to know every detail in and out of the case, but it felt like an invasion of her privacy - something that had been invaded far too often as of late. "I wanted to, but I decided I'd rather hear it from you whenever you were ready. You've told me the bare bones of what happened."
"Thank you," she smiled, but the smile faded fast as she licked her lips. "Um, when he had me pinned on the ground, he told me I was the one who got away."
Scully looked at his face, her pain exposed as her eyes bore into his. "He told me I was all he thought about."
Mulder felt goosebumps litter his arms. He hated that man almost more than anyone. He didn't have a chance to react before she continued: "What bothers me more than that is the fact that he's all I think about."
"What do you mean?" he asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I don't want him to have this hold over me, but I'm reminded of him constantly," she explained. "When I get in a bath, I have a momentary flash of him planning to put me there, or what he would have done if he had."
Mulder tried to swallow his discomfort. He'd had the same images flash through his mind and they made his blood boil. His nightmares were plagued by images of her body bobbing in ruddy water or finding Pfaster's morbid trophies. He'd toured her apartment while they were waiting for the police to come, he saw the bath and the kitchen scissors laying on the sink. It bothered him to no end, but he knew his discomfort was nothing compared to what she was feeling.
"When I open my closet I swear I can still smell him, and I always think of myself on the floor trying to open the door," she continued, using her free hand to wipe her face. "I ran into Tobe when I went back to our house this morning and he called me 'girly girl' and, even though I knew it was impossible, for a split second I thought it was Pfaster."
"You ran into Tobe?" he asked in alarm. He didn't want to interrupt her, but he hadn't known that piece of information before.
She nodded, "He tried to attack me, but I beat him up."
He smiled at her resilience, but it quickly faded when he saw she wasn't relishing in the victory. "I am sick and tired of people trying to do whatever they want with me," she sighed before turning to him. "And I hate that I feel like I continue to give them that power by thinking about what they've done over and over and over again."
Scully sounded exhausted and he wished he could go back in time and help protect her from the evil that seemed to follow them everywhere. "You're processing what happened, it's completely normal. You've survived so much, it's impossible to leave unscathed."
She exhaled a laugh through her nose and upon his look said, "Sorry, I uh, I just realized I essentially told Rosemary the same thing earlier. I gave the advice, but can't seem to take it."
"It's easier said than done," he replied, wanting so badly to say the right thing - to say anything that might ease her burden even if only a little. "Why didn't you tell me before that you were having a hard time?"
"I didn't want you to look at me any differently," she mused, looking at his expression for a hint of judgement that she'd never find. "I don't want you to think I can't protect myself or you."
The thought she might ever think he would see her any differently because of what evil men had tried to do to her made his stomach churn. "Anyone who would see you differently because of any of that doesn't deserve your time, Scully," he stated firmly, grabbing both her hands with his own. "You are the strongest person I know."
"Knowing you believe in me gives me strength," she whispered.
"Well then you should never have a moment's doubt, because that will never change," he reassured. "I love you, Scully."
Her chin quivered as her eyes grew wet. "I love you, too," she murmured. He felt a doofy smile spread across his face. Scully loves him. Despite the living hell they'd just been through, he'd never felt better.
He scooted over in the bed and she took the initiative to crawl beside him, wrapping her arm around him. He kissed her head before whispering, "I think our whole relationship has been built on helping each other get through bad things that've happened to the both of us. As much as I wish our lives weren't surrounded by such darkness, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you."
He felt her smile against his chest before kissing his collarbone. "That's all I need."
He lay there, her head on his heart when he remembered something. "Hey, Scully?"
"Hmm?" she murmured, the events of the day making her sleepy.
"They took all the clothes from the compound as evidence, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, why?" she mumbled.
"I think we need to collect your night dress, you know, for memory's sake."