Scene 39
by bellefleur

Email: bellefleur1013@yahoo.com
Rating: PG

Warning: Here be spoilers for episode 10x01.

Disclaimer: Chris, if Mulder and Scully are still together and 
really do touch and kiss in this scene, then I'll let you have 
them back. If not, I'm keeping them.

Notes: This is my take on the parking garage scene from the 
leaked call sheet and the two brief lines of dialogue in the 
trailer released on July 23. I'm making use of a lot of 
people's speculations, including mine that Mulder and Scully 
aren't really separated, and adding a dash of MSR for flavor.

*****
*****

As Mulder paced behind Scully's car, he rang her cell phone 
again, even though he knew it was futile. She often turned her 
phone off when she was in surgery or doing rounds. Or 
sometimes she was just ignoring him. But he knew her shift had 
ended ten minutes ago, and her car was still in the parking 
garage, so sooner or later he would catch up with her. 

Mulder punched the off button, cutting off her voicemail 
message, and he considered heading inside to her office. He 
was about to call her office phone when he heard the elevator 
doors open and a pair of heels clicking against the cement, 
echoing through the garage. A moment later someone came around 
the corner--it was Scully. She was looking down, searching 
through her purse as she approached, but as she pulled out her 
keys, she caught sight of him. Her steps faltered a moment 
before she continued her steady stride. 

"Mulder, what are you doing here?" She came to a stop in front 
of him.

"You weren't answering your phone."

"Couldn't you wait until I got home?" She checked her watch.

He knew she was tired and hungry, as she always was at the end 
of a double shift, but this was important. "No, this is 
something that can't wait." He took a step closer and lowered 
his tone. "Scully, Sveta's dead."

"What? How?"

"Car bomb." He took a deep breath, trying to keep a rein on 
his emotions. "She came to me for help, Scully, and I couldn't 
protect her."

She sighed. "It's not your fault, Mulder."

"No, but I'm done being helpless. I should've been able to get 
her into protective custody. But the least I can do now is try 
to bring to justice the men responsible for this."

"How?" 

He could tell by the look on her face that she already had a 
good idea.

Mulder replied, "Skinner wants to reopen the X-Files, and he 
wants us back on the job."

"I thought you wanted nothing to do with the FBI after 
everything you've been through."

"This is different, Scully. Skinner's still in there, fighting 
the good fight, and what am I doing? Hiding in the shadows? 
I'm not helping anyone this way. Skinner needs us. And so does 
Sveta."

Scully hung her head. "Mulder, you know I can't do this. I'm a 
doctor now. I have patients depending on me."

He stepped closer and gently grabbed her shoulders, causing 
her to look up, so she could see the determination on his 
face. "Scully, I need you on this. And this isn't just about 
me, or the X-Files, or Sveta. It's about you, and everything 
they've done to you. It's not in the past. It's still going 
on. You saw the evidence of that for yourself. How many more 
Svetas are out there? How many more pregnant women and unborn 
children are being used for experiments? Who's going to fight 
for them, if not the two of us?"

Her shoulders sagged, and he dropped his hands. "It may not be 
that easy, Mulder. I can't just walk away from my job 
tomorrow. It will take time for me to hand over my patients. 
Two weeks' notice might not be enough. And the FBI won't 
reinstate us until we're recertified and pass the fitness 
test, and jump through who knows how many other hoops."

"Well, as long as they don't make me do a new psych screening, 
then we should be good to go."

Her lips twitched in a half-hearted smile, but her eyes 
remained sad. He knew he had swayed her, even if there would 
be more discussion in the days to come. This was the first 
time they'd actually said the words, but he knew she had been 
contemplating this idea ever since they met Sveta. The whole 
situation hit too close to home and reminded them both that as 
long as they were still Mulder and Scully, the X-Files and all 
its implications would always be a part of their lives. But he 
needed to make sure that this was really what she wanted.

He asked her seriously, "Are you ready for this, Scully?"

She shook her head. "I don't know there's a choice."

He reached out and took both of her hands in his. "I know it 
won't be easy. And I know there are things about the FBI that 
you never wanted to go back to. But I also know your 
frustrations with being a doctor, and that you wish sometimes 
you could prevent the assaults from happening instead of just 
patching people up, or that you wish you could get justice for 
the victims. This is your chance to make a difference again. 
To protect the next person from becoming another patient."

"I don't know if we can ever really protect them, Mulder, or 
if we can ever truly find justice."

"We can try." He smiled at her a little, and got a small smile 
in return. "If we quit now, they win, remember?"

She released one of his hands and ran her fingers over his 
scruffy cheek. "You're going to have to start shaving again, 
every day. Think you can handle that?"

"Shaving has its benefits." He leaned in to kiss her softly on 
the lips.

"And it's taken you how many years to realize this?" She ran 
her thumb over his cheek again and then stepped away, still 
holding his hand. "Can we go home now? I'm exhausted, and I 
haven't eaten anything but a yogurt in the last five hours. 
And it sounds like we're going to have a very busy few weeks 
ahead of us."

He squeezed her hand before letting go and nodded. "It's time 
to go home again."

*****
*****

Visit my stories at their new home: 
https://bellefleur1013.wordpress.com/