A/N: This prompt was sent in by tumblr user deanwincherter. I'm not sure how much I like how this turned out, but I've been working on it for a while so I'll let it out into the world for now. I think I'll probably return to it later though. Her promt was "Nightmare: (Right after season 9) Prompt: They weren't used to sharing the same bed on a regular basis. Each night they learn something about the other that they didn't know before: Scully hogs all the covers, Mulder snores, little things at first. But when it comes to nightmares they learn things about each other that the didn't necessarily want to know"
My Touchstone
The only thing consistent about the years right after Mulder and Scully left was each other's presence. They took great solace in the time that they shared together, but ,even 9 years later, they still had things to learn.
On their first night together in bed Scully ended up with all the covers, something he teased her about when they woke up, despite the circumstances. She'd never done it before when they'd spent the night together, but after a month 'on the run', so to speak, he found she was prone to it. So he made sure he always had an extra blanket within reach so he didn't have to disturb her or be uncomfortable.
Scully discovered that when Mulder is sleeping deeply, he snores. Loudly. Usually a light bop on the head with a pillow is enough to stir him so that he stops, but not so much that he wakes up. The first night it happened she complained to him about it over breakfast and he refused to believe her.
There were other things they had to learn though.
Nightmares at that point seemed inevitable, what, with all the suffering the duo had been through. That didn't make it any easier on either of them though.
Scully had more nightmares than Mulder, although that was probably because she slept more than him. Her breathing would quicken at first, and then her hand would instinctively fly out to her left, to find Mulder. Scully, if asked, would claim that was because she used to sleep on the left side of her bed and she was reaching for her gun on her nightstand, but she knew better, and so did Mulder.
Once he had woken her up he always held her and kissed away every single tear. Once she cried until the sun rose. He cried too then. For her, for both of them, for everything they had lost, for everything they had left behind.
Mulder's nightmares were less frequent, but in Scully's opinion they were more extreme. Unlike her he always wanted to talk about them. Talking helped him, so she listened, even though she didn't want to. Often they were about his abduction, about the horrors inflicted upon him. Hearing him talk about the light, the pain, it brought back her own memories, ones that she had fought hard not to remember.
The nightmares changed everytime though, one was never exactly like the other. They would both close their eyes wondering what sort of horrors would await them that night, but one thing kept them calm. Knowing that when they woke up the other would be there for them. Their constant.
And, together, they knew they would be okay.