Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1998

Welcome Home
Flickfic by Barbara Barnett
Barbara462@aol.com

Summary: post FTF vignette
Disclaimer: Not mine. All belongs to CC (and deservedly so for creating
these wonderful characters and context)
VA (UST-y/MSR-y--but only by natural extension of the movie)
Rated G
Feedback--of course
Archive--no problem...just let me know!

It was the smell that first struck Mulder. The unmistakeable sweet, wet smell
of fresh latex paint. It made him nauseous. He looked at the unopened cup of
Sumatra blend coffee warming his hands, fresh from Starbucks. He shrugged
once, understanding the negative effect of the smell on his enjoyment of the
aromatic brew, and grimaced as he set it down on his new desk. He'd only just
taken in the empty, almost Spartan appearance of the office when Scully walked
in, screwing up her face at the same aroma.

"Hi. Well, here we are: back in the basement." She smiled only a bit sadly,
placing her briefbag down on a second desk. She noticed how dwarfed the
furniture appeared in the now uncluttered office.

She stared briefly at the furniture arrangement and sighed. "Well, maybe we
can put the them face to face and have a great setup for battleship...or maybe
put a chessboard between them." In all honesty, she thought, the room looked
too huge for the two desks, three file cabinets and two credenzas that now
inhabited the room. "Guess with all that clutter gone..." She didn't finish,
as she glanced up at Mulder, who was looking quite injured at the direction
she was taking her thoughts.

She sat on the edge of her desk, shrugging out of her trench coat, laying it
next to her. "C'mere, Mulder." There was affection in her voice and other,
more subtly nuanced emotions. She extended her hand toward him. "It'll be
home soon enough, you know. At least we're back in business."

Mulder hadn't said a word, but took Scully's proffered hand. He held it,
twining his fingers in hers, glancing nervously around the newly remodeled X-
files office. "Yeah, but where do we begin, Scully? How do we begin? It's
all.." He gestured broadly around the room. "It's all gone. All my...our.."
he corrected himself, anticpitating Scully's protestations. "...work. How do
we find a place to start?" He sighed deeply, shakily.

Scully made a grab for his other hand, hold both of his in hers between them.
She looked up into his eyes, capturing them, holding them, so he would know,
so he would understand. "I have faith in this. In you; in us. Mulder, I
have never met a man like you. Your passion, your focus, your
determination..."

"I know all that, Scully, you've told me before. But it's different now.
It's gone." Mulder looked desolately around before casting his eyes downward,
finding the floor suddenly quite interesting.

"Mulder, you didn't let me finish. It's not just your passion and your sense
of determination. It's more than that. You have a gift--a strength of spirit
that defies anything logic would have to offer. I can't explain it further
than that. I only know that it's rescued me more times than I care to
explain. I have drawn on it time and time again." Now Mulder was listening,
listenting for anything patronizing in her tone, and finding there only
sincerity, compassion and devotion.

"When I had cancer. When it was bad..." Now she looked away. Why was she
doing this now, she wondered. But it was now beyond her control. "It was you
who brought me home. Back from the abyss of death, of despair. You wouldn't
quit, wouldn't give up on me, even when everyone else, including myself, did.
Even when I pushed you away, you risked..." She placed one cool palm on his
cheek, forcing him to look into her eyes again. "Mulder, you didn't care.
You risked my wrath, rejection, even your heart. No matter how badly I'd
hurt you, you didn't let go. I've never told you, Mulder. Never told you how
much that meant to me, once I'd had the chance to really think about it. I
hurt you, pushed you away, berated you, even betrayed your trust, but you
stood firm, ever at my side. That strength, that compassion--it will see us
through this. Of that I'm more than certain."

Mulder started to look away, not wanting her to see his moist eyes. But she
refused him this privacy, this moment. "You need to hear this Mulder. You
have for a long time. It dawned on me a couple of weeks ago, in your
apartment corridor. You'd said that it was me who made you whole, that I owed
you nothing. Your words stung me, I think harder than that bee did, in a way.
I realized I'd never told you what you meant to me, and how hard it was to
walk away. To give you your freedom. Freedom that you had earned. God,
Mulder, we are both such idiots." She smiled at him then, a 100 megawatt
smile, tears in her eyes, threatening to spill onto her cheeks. He closed his
eyes, breathing in slowly as he stood, his hands mingled with one of hers, her
hand gently caressing his cheek with her thumb. He was surrounded by a warm
blanket of emotion. He did not want to move. Ever. He bowed his head in
reverence of her. She freed her remaining hand from his grasp, moving it to
cradling his other cheek. She drew her forehead toward his, gently touching
his. He moved slowly toward her to prevent her from falling off her perch on
the desk, placing his arms gently around her back, drawing her into a light
embrace as they nuzzled foreheads, slowly, unware of the intimacy of the act.

"Mulder, we'll get through this. Together. Each part of the whole that is
us."

"I know, Scully. I know." Mulder sighed, bringing her head to his chest,
embracing her more fully now. He buried his face in her hair, drinking her
in, kissing the top of her head, her hair, almost desperate in his need for
this, for her. Her arms slipped around his waist.

Scully jumped abruptly. Mulder pulled away. "Sorry. Oh God, Scully...I...."
He was embarassed at his lack of control.

She smiled up at him, remembering the last time. "No...no. It's not...I
forgot. I ran into Skinner. He wants to see us. He has a special assignment
for us. A special project. I told him we'd be up in 15 minutes." She looked
at her watch, smiling broadly. "We still have a few minutes, anyway."

She leered at him, one eyebrow arched. Still embracing, Mulder pulled her
close again, kissing her tenderly on the lips. Once. "Any more than that,
Agent Scully," he whispered into her ear. "Anymore than that and I'll never
make it to that meeting." As it was, it was a seal placed on a solemn vow.

Reluctantly they broke apart, Mulder grabbing his coffee as they exited toward
the elevators. Scully heard the low rumble of Mulder's voice under his
breath. "Welcome home, Scully. Welcome home."

end