Muted
by bellefleur

Email: bellefleur1013@yahoo.com
Rating: PG

Spoilers: Post-ep for "Founder's Mutation" (10x05, aired as 
10x02)

Disclaimer: These characters are mine now. Chris Carter has 
created his own AU versions, and he and FOX can keep them. 
My Mulder and Scully never broke up and never will.

Summary: This is the scene that they were supposed to air 
at the end of "Founder's Mutation," but they ran out of 
time.

Notes: As far as I'm concerned, "My Struggle" never 
happened. Mulder and Scully got an apartment in D.C. to be 
closer to the F.B.I., but they still own the unremarkable 
house in rural Virginia, so they're working on packing it 
up and selling it. After the case was over, Mulder headed 
out to work on the house for the weekend, while Scully 
stayed in the city.


*****

As he sat at the kitchen table, Mulder was too distracted 
by his turbulent thoughts to notice the sound of someone 
entering the house, until he heard the distinctive click of 
heels coming up behind him. He hastily pulled the photo 
under the table and tucked it against his leg as he turned 
to meet her.

"Hey, Scully. I thought you weren't coming out to the house 
this weekend."

"I changed my mind. I didn't want to be alone."

He could tell that at some point she had been crying. He 
stood up to meet her, deftly shoving the photo into his 
back pocket. He reached for her, and she easily fell into 
his arms.

Mulder gently rocked her from side to side. Scully sniffled 
now and then, but either she was holding back, or she had 
already expended most of her tears in the car on the long 
drive out here.

Finally, she pulled away. He held her loosely around the 
waist as she dabbed at a damp spot she had left on his 
shoulder.

"Besides," she said lightly, "it wasn't really fair for me 
to let you pack up the house by yourself."

He shrugged. "It's mostly my stuff that's left. And some 
things that will probably just end up in the yard sale."

She looked up at him. "What's yours is mine. Remember, 
Mulder? And I'm a better packer than you are anyway."

"No arguments there."

They shared a bittersweet smile. There was so much left to 
be said, and yet so much they had already said too many 
times. The wound of their son's absence would always be 
raw.

Scully stood up on her toes to kiss him. He got lost in the 
moment and forgot about her habit of tucking her hands in 
his back pockets, until she pulled away to look at what her 
hand had just encountered there.

"What's this?" she asked as she turned over the photo to 
look at it.

"Scully - "

She stared at the picture of their baby for a long moment, 
and then turned those sad eyes up to Mulder. He wished he 
could erase that sadness from her eyes forever. But no 
amount of kisses could chase it away - and he'd tried.

He leaned his forehead against hers, and they both closed 
their eyes. "Maybe I haven't put it behind me as much as 
I'd like to think I have," he said, his voice raw.

"Will we ever see him again, Mulder?" she whispered. It was 
the question they were always afraid to ask.

After a long moment, he answered, "I want to believe that 
we will."

She sighed. "Me too."

Mulder gathered her up in his arms again and held on tight, 
bending his head down to the crook of her neck.

"You'll never be just anything to me either, Mulder," she 
said into his ear and then kissed him on the neck. "You'll 
always be my anchor."

"Always. I promise."


*****