"She was trying to tell you to stop. To stop looking for your sister."

Crouching to his level and resting her hand on his forearm, Scully choked on the words as her own tears began to flow.

"She was just trying to take away your pain."

Mulder let her grab his hand and pull him into her arms. With his face buried in her neck, he relaxed and finally released the dam of sobs that had been slowly building over the past twenty-four hours.

She held him firmly, telling him wordlessly that his vulnerability didn't scare her. She turned and kissed the top of his head, resting her face in his hair as he wept.

After several minutes, he pulled back, sitting up in the desk chair with his eyes still closed. He inhaled deeply, tear-stained face etched with profound grief.

Scully took his hand and pulled him gently towards the couch. He obliged and stood, letting himself fall lifelessly onto the soft leather. She sat down beside him as he bent forward and buried his face in his hands.

"It hurts so bad. It just hurts."

She rested her hand on his shoulder and waited, giving him the silence he needed. Finally, he sat up, lay his head on the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

"She was the last one, Scully. The last one. And now she's gone, and it's my fault."

He closed his eyes again. Scully exhaled and rested her elbows on her knees.

"Mulder, you know that isn't true. You know this isn't your fault."

Eyes still on the ceiling, he sighed. "Then why does it feel like it is?"

Scully took his hand again, lacing her small fingers in between his larger ones and squeezing once. "Because you loved her, and because you think you can save everyone."

He chuckled beside her and turned to meet her eyes.

She shook her head slightly, continuing. "But Mulder, if she was determined to do this, she was going to do it. I can't imagine there was anything you could have said to stop her. And she wouldn't want you to be blaming yourself. I think she ultimately did this to spare you the pain of watching her die a long and painful death."

Mulder nodded slowly, pursing his lips. He held her gaze for a few more moments before closing his eyes and leaning back again.

Scully kept her fingers locked in his and waited.

They sat silently on the couch this way as late night turned to early morning, and the muffled sounds of the neighbors' footsteps above and below slowly died. Periodically, Mulder would wince, look away and let a sob overtake him. The first few times, she gave him his space: she would let him turn from her while she rested her hand on his upper back, moving it in small, slow circles until the wave of grief would pass.

Finally, though, after several rounds of this, Scully felt his breathing quicken and knew another was coming on. She leaned forward and pulled his head to her chest, letting him cry into her shoulder as she held him. He reached his arms around her desperately and shook silently against her as he cried.

When his breathing slowed and the trembling stopped, she ran her fingers through his hair and sighed. She gently pulled his head from her shoulder and cupped his face in her hands. He stared past her, eyes dull and expressionless, eyelids drooping in pure exhaustion.

"You need to sleep, Mulder."

He chuckled, closing his eyes in resignation.

Scully stood, grabbing his hand and leading him toward the bedroom. He followed obediently, stumbling slightly as they crossed the room. She moved to place hands on his back and chest to steady him, but he waved her off and kept walking.

Reaching the bed, she put a hand on his shoulder and lowered him to sit on the edge. He stared forward blankly as she knelt to untie his shoes and pull them off one by one.

Scully lifted his legs onto the bed as he fell against the pillow and rolled onto his back. She pulled the dark navy sheets up to his chin.

"Thank you," he murmured, turning his eyes to meet hers as she rose to sit on the edge of the bed beside him.

She moved the sheets aside to find his hand again, pulling it to her lap and clasping both of hers around it. They stayed this way for a few minutes, eyes locked, her silence communicating all that needed to be said.

I can't carry this for you, but I can carry you.

Scully leaned forward and placed a long, soft kiss on his forehead. She let go of his hands and pulled the sheet back up to his chin, turning to reach for a blanket at the foot of the bed. Shaking it out, she placed it over him and sat back down. She ran a hand over his forehead and smoothed back his hair, smiling weakly and trying to fight back her own tears that had threatened to spill over again.

As she stood to turn off the bedside lamp, Mulder cleared his throat.

"Scully?"

She paused, lifted her eyebrows and lowered her eyes to his expectantly.

"Could you...would you stay?"

Her face softened and she nodded.

"Of course."

Kneeling to remove her own boots, she lined them up neatly beside his shoes. She folded her jacket and placed it on an armchair before moving around to the other side of the bed. He pulled back the covers and lifted his arm towards her.

Scully crawled in and lowered herself slowly alongside him, resting her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm over her back and around her waist. She draped her free arm across his belly and held him gently. She could hear his heartbeat quicken at first, and then gradually slow as she breathed in and out against him.

"It just feels better when you're here."

She smiled slightly into his chest, squeezing him once with the arm around his waist. She could feel the exhaustion overtaking both of them, and her eyelids began to droop as her head moved up and down with the rhythm of his slowing breaths.

"Mulder."

"Hmm?" he replied, half-asleep.

She paused and swallowed.

"She wasn't the last one."

He didn't respond. Scully buried her face deeper into his soft gray t-shirt, listening to the gentle thudding of his heart against her ear. Assuming he had fallen asleep, she was surprised to hear him sniffling again. She looked up, reached to wipe away his tears with her fingertips and waited for the wave to pass. He finally bent his head down, kissed the top of her hair, and lay back.

Scully wrapped her arm around his waist again, nestled into his chest and waited for his breaths to slow into the steady rhythm of sleep. Only then did she allow herself to close her own eyes and let go.

The End