Mulder slowly turned around and looked into the eyes of the man standing behind him.
"What? Did you really think I'd just leave you here?" Mulder managed a small smirk and for the first time since he'd met Doggett, he understood him. They were very similar men in that they only wanted the best for the people that they loved. He should've known that somehow this was a man he could've depended on for more than he had been.
"What can I say; I'm not all that familiar with camaraderie. Escaping impossible situations by myself, that I can handle."
"From what I read about you when I first started on the X-Files you could've used a comrade over the last decade."
"I had one, my only hope now is to get back to her," both men observed each other and knew that there were people they had to see again, to be with and to protect.
"So what's your plan Mr Mulder?"
"I say we get the hell out of here."
"Monica took William with the Lone Gunmen; my car's parked about half a mile from here."
"Getting to the car is the easy bit, getting out of this house unnoticed is where we're going to find problems."
"Oh you're not wrong there Mulder," both Doggett and Mulder turned to the voice behind them and they both knew that the odds were against them.
As Reyes stood waiting for someone to answer the door at Scully's mom's house she had never felt her heart race so fast. Her escape with William and the Lone Gunmen had gone without interruption but she was livid that Doggett had made her do what he had. How could he have just expected her to be okay with leaving him behind like that? It was absurd! But of course she'd had no choice because of the small child she held in her arms.
William was every bit as wonderful as she remembered him being, and she knew that ultimately she was doing the right thing, and that Mulder stood a better chance of making it home with a friend by his side. But that didn't make it any easier for her to wait for either of them to return.
As she stood with the Lone Gunmen watching her back, making sure that they hadn't been followed or traced in any way, the front door opened and Scully was looking out at them. Reyes kissed William's cheek and passed him over to his mother as everyone stepped inside the house.
Scully cradled her son in her arms and cried as she was able to release all of the regret she'd harboured since the day she let him go. And as if William knew and understood everything she was feeling, he rested his head on her shoulder and knew that he was home. That this was his mom and that everything she had done and would do in the future was because of how much she loved him.
Scully didn't think this day would ever truly arrive. She never believed for a second that somehow, her son would be in her arms, that his safety and wellbeing would be in her hands and that her family would be back together. As her own mom appeared and put her arm around her daughter, they made their way through to the living room until Scully stopped and turned round to Reyes.
"Where's Mulder? And Agent Doggett?" Reyes hesitated before saying anything. There was no easy way of explaining that they had both been left behind, and as she stood in the silence, Scully knew why she wasn't saying anything and quickly turned with her son and went into the living room.
No matter what happened she had William. And no matter what it took she would protect him. She owed it to Mulder. If he didn't make it back, she had to make sure that the efforts he went to to bring their son home weren't in vain. But as she sat now with silent tears flowing down her cheeks, she just wanted him beside her. To hold her and to tell her that he would always be by her side. At the moment, there was a good chance he'd never be by her side again.