A/N: I know people aren't going to like this chapter, and I know it seems strange, and just... weird and stuff, but that's okay. It's going somewhere. At least I hope it is...

Mulder sat heavily in the hospital chair, tipping his head back and sighing. Scully had been admitted four hours ago. She was covered in bruises and cuts, was severely dehydrated, but her face had been scrubbed clean, and she would be okay.

He slid his hand into hers and she opened her eyes slightly, squinting from the small lamp next to her bed. He turned it off, then squeezed her hand.

"I didn't mean to wake you up."

She shrugged and he threaded his fingers through hers. She had yet to say a word to him or to anyone else. He knew that was not a good sign, but he just didn't have it in him to push her.

"Are you feeling okay?"

She nodded and reached for the cup of water that was next to her bed. He handed it to her and she drank a few sips before handing it back.

"Can I get you anything else?"

She shook her head, and he continued to stroke the back of her hand.

"Go back to sleep, Scully. I'm going to go make some phone calls and-"

He knew her well enough to read the panic in her eyes.

"Do you need me to stay?"

It was either the thought of him leaving or the realization that she needed him to stay that caused her panicky breathing. He moved from the chair to her bed, stroking her hair back from her face.

"I'll stay, Scully. I'll stay."

Her breathing slowed a little and she closed her eyes.

"Scully, I'm going to lay down with you, if that's okay."

She nodded and he scooted in next to her, laying on his side so they could both fit on the bed. He propped his head up with her extra pillow and held her hand gently. Her eyes didn't meet his until he leaned over and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"I wasn't sure we'd find you this time, Scully," he confessed. She nodded in agreement and he snaked his arm under the pillow so he could pull her closer. "You weren't sure we would find you either, were you?"

She shook her head and closed her eyes, more in avoidance than exhaustion. He remained quiet, watching her face closely.

"Scully, I will always come for you. No matter what. You know that right?"

She gave him a small nod as a tear slipped down her cheek. He brushed it away and ran his fingers through her hair, hoping it would soothe her back to sleep, even just for a moment. He could feel the tension she carried as his fingers ran over her neck. It shouldn't be like this. It should never be like this. Not for Scully and not for anyone else.

He was going to catch this guy, and hopefully he would be alone when he did so he could deal with the problem in his own way.

Mulder was getting frustrated. It wasn't like he didn't understand, he just couldn't believe that it was happening to Scully. She still wasn't talking, and now that her eyes had adjusted to the light, she hated being in the dark. She didn't want to be alone, and a nurse sitting wither her wasn't good enough. It had to be Mulder. He'd only asked her once or twice about what happened, but each time she just shook her head and looked away.

She'd given up. She was letting Gavin win. And that is what frustrated him the most. His Scully would never let someone else win.

Either she had let him destroy who she was, or he did it by force. Either way, Scully didn't seem interested in getting better. She was content to lie in bed and stare out the window.

It was late on the third day when Mulder decided that this had to come into an end. He knew that he had to be careful of what he did and what he said, but he also had to remind himself that this was Scully. She wasn't a stranger, and he was probably more privy to the inner workings of her mind than she would be comfortable with.

He'd been pondering all day how to use that, when it finally dawned on him that the best conversations, the most important reveals, the biggest rescues had come from instinct. So he threw caution and his training to the wind and instead put faith in his knowledge of his partner.

He stood up from his chair, and her hand frantically grabbed for his.

"Scully, I'm just going to go for a while. You're perfectly safe here."

She shook her head and tightened her grasp.

"Scully, you can't avoid this anymore. I know you're hurting and confused and scared, but this isn't you. No matter what has happened, it was never able to change you like this. You have never just lay down and surrendered to what had happened. I can't help it along anymore. If you want me to stay, you have to say something. Otherwise, as much as it hurts both of us, I have to go."

He pulled slowly out of her grasp, kissed her forehead and headed for the door. He forced himself not to look back, told himself this was for her own good, but it really did hurt. It was quite possibly the worst thing he had ever had to do to someone. He knew that asking him to stay was not in her nature, but she'd been on the verge of asking him many times before. His right foot was halfway out the door when she finally made her decision.

"Please."

He whipped around at the sound of her voice. He hadn't heard it in almost two weeks, and just that one word was enough to make his heart leap into his throat.

"Please what, Scully?"

"Please...don't go."

He returned to her side and gathered her now shaking body in his arms. He rocked her back and forth for several minutes before she started to calm.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, Scully. I want to help you and I want to make this better but..."

"I know."

She drew in another shuddering breath, then looked up at him, the lamplight giving her hair a gentle glow.

"I want to disappear," she whispered. "Just forget and be forgotten."

"Why?"

All she could do was shrug. He wiped the tears off of her cheeks, then kissed their remnants away.

"Go to sleep, Scully. I'll stay."

"Thank you."

It was a long time before she fell asleep. Mulder laid there with her, wondering what was going through her head. Why did this event mark her so deeply? Why now, after all these years? And how long was it going to last? How long would it be before she could sleep without a lamp on? Would she ever return to the person he knew, or would she become a retreater, always hiding within herself when things got too hard? Would she always want to disappear? Would he always feel like part of her was missing?

He leaned down and kissed her forehead while letting out a sigh.

"What did he do to you, Scully?"