From: wildafox0619@yahoo.fr   
      
   *NO ARCHIVE*   
      
   Title: Mirror   
      
      
   Author: wildafox   
   E-mail:  wildafox0619@yahoo.fr   
   Feedback: Yes, please!!   
   Rating: NC-17   
   Beta-Readers: Tali, xdksfan   
   Category: MSR-Post Ep   
   Spoilers: Tithonus   
   Disclaimer: Not mine; XF characters belong to 1013 Productions.   
   Summary:  "Oh, brother," he answered, mirroring what she'd said a   
   few months earlier…   
   Notes: Written for Fandomonium Virtual Season of Smut Challenge-   
   Season 6. Big thanks to Tali and xdksfan for their constant support,   
   their patience with my dysfunctional English and their wonderful job   
   at beta-ing this fic. Believe me, it wasn't a walk in the park.   
   Without you, this fic wouldn't be.   
      
   ~   
      
   New York Hospital   
      
   Mulder watched through the hospital room window with a growing sense   
   of outrage, as the young agent engaged his partner in a rather   
   intense conversation. He tried to keep his anger in check, even   
   though all he had been thinking about since he had discovered Scully   
   laying in a pool of blood was putting his hands around Ritter's neck   
   and squeezing the life out of him slowly. Very slowly. But he   
   wouldn't do that, because he'd promised Scully that he wouldn't harm   
   him. She didn't need him behind the bars for killing a co-worker. It   
   didn't stop him from thinking about it though. Luckily, Skinner had   
   seen to it that the OPR dealt with the case quickly, and the young   
   and self-confident Agent Ritter was finished. Mulder was glad that he   
   would never have to meet the man in the Hoover Building again.   
      
   Ritter left the room and met Mulder's murderous glare. If looks   
   could kill, the young man would be dead. Mulder took a deep breath   
   and said flatly:   
      
   "You are a lucky man."   
      
   Ritter didn't need to ask what the other agent meant.  He didn't   
   have a death wish, and what he saw in Mulder's eyes told him that he   
   needed to leave. Quickly.   
      
   Entering the room, Mulder smiled warmly at Scully.   
      
   "Morning Sunshine." He tried for a cheerfulness he didn't feel.   
      
   "Mulder,"  she sighed.   
      
   "That's my name."   
      
   "I was shot in the stomach, not the head," she said, raising an   
   eyebrow. "Have you slept at all?"   
      
   "Don't worry about me."   
      
   "If I don't, who will?"   
      
   "Look at those beautiful roses!" he said, trying to change the   
   subject.   
      
   "Don't do this, Mulder. I'm safe here. I'm not going anywhere."   
      
   "I can't go. See what happens when I'm not here to cover your back."   
      
   "Please, Mulder, don't beat yourself up over it. It's not *your*   
   fault."   
      
   "I should have known better."   
      
      
   "How could you? Kersh tried to separate us by assigning me Ritter.   
   If you want to blame someone, blame him. Not yourself."   
      
   "You were supposed to be safe with him."   
      
   "What are you talking about?"   
      
   "Kersh gave you a chance to leave Spooky Mulder behind, to have the   
   career you deserve."   
      
   "I'm exactly where I want to be, Mulder."   
      
   "Would you have considered it?"   
      
   "What?"   
      
   "Leaving me."   
      
   She took his hand and gently squeezed it. He sat down next to her   
   and squeezed back. She looked him straight in the eyes to make sure   
   he was looking into her eyes when she answered.   
      
   "I once said that I wouldn't change a thing. I meant it. I still   
   mean it. I won't leave you, Mulder. We're in this together: finding   
   your sister, finding out what happened to me, to Emily. Finding the   
   truth. You're not getting rid of me that easily, Agent Mulder."   
      
   His eyes filled with tears. She was alive and was staying with him.   
   The tension of the last few days abated and he suddenly felt so   
   tired. Nothing was more appealing than Scully's bed right now.   
      
   Her hand left his and rose to caress his hair. He closed his eyes,   
   enjoying the tenderness of the moment.   
      
   "You should go back to your hotel and sleep."   
      
   "I didn't book one."   
      
   "Where did you sleep last night?"   
      
   "In the hallway."   
      
   "Mulder," she sighed.   
      
   He raised his head and their eyes met. She looked so tired it hurt.   
   There were dark shadows under her eyes and her cheeks were pale, but   
   when she smiled tenderly at him, he knew everything would be all   
   right. Her hands slid to his cheeks, caressing, soothing.   
      
   "I should go and let you rest," he whispered.   
      
   "No, you should go so *you* can rest."   
      
   He laughed at her statement. It was so like Scully, worrying about   
   him when she was the one in the hospital bed.   
      
   "Let's make a deal, Scully. If I go rest, will you rest too?"   
      
   "They give me the good stuff, so I'll be resting whether I want to   
   or not."   
      
   "Then  it's a deal, partner."   
      
   "So move it, go rest then come back to have dinner with me."   
      
   "You're not supposed to eat."   
      
   "I can have some fluids while you eat."   
      
   "It's a date." He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and started to   
   leave.   
      
   "Hey, Mulder."   
      
   He walked back to her and leaned in close. "Yes?"   
      
   "I love you, too," she whispered, blushing slightly.   
      
   "Oh, brother," he answered, mirroring what she'd said a few months   
   earlier after the incident in the Bermuda Triangle. But instead of   
   rolling his eyes and leaving the room, he lowered his mouth to hers   
   and gave her a chaste kiss.   
      
   It was just a promise of things to come because she needed to   
   recover, but he had his answer. She loved him. She was in love with   
   him. His declaration of love had been too much for her. She had   
   needed time to weigh the pros and cons before making her move, and he   
   was glad she finally accepted her feelings for him.   
      
   "I love you, too. I'll be back later. Rest now."   
      
   They exchanged another kiss and he left the room.   
      
      
   ~~   
      
   Weeks later   
   Scully's Apartment   
      
      
   Leaving the steamy bathroom clad in a only bath towel, Scully slowly   
   approached the mirror in her bedroom. Undoing the knot holding the   
   towel tight around her, she let the material pool at her feet. Her   
   left hand slowly traveled south, toward the scar on her abdomen. This   
   ritual had become part of her morning routine since leaving the   
   hospital.   
      
   Although, the doctor in her knew that healing was progressing   
   nicely, she still couldn't help but examine the wound each morning.   
   It was a testimony to how close she had been to death.  The knowledge   
   that Alfred Fellig had taken her place on that fateful day had rocked   
   her to the core, although she could barely admit it to herself, never   
   mind anyone else.   
      
   The experience had been a turning point for her. It had made her   
   realise that her life was what she made of it. Up until then, leading   
   a single life had been her choice. Denial time was over. She had also   
   come to realise that Mulder had told her the truth when he'd told her   
   he loved her.   
      
   During the case, he had been jealous of Agent Ritter, for being her   
   partner on that case, the one to have her back. His actions spoke   
   volumes; he loved her as much as she loved him. The proverbial ball   
   was in her court, as she knew for a fact that he would never make   
   another overture.   
      
   Her decision was made when he visited her in the hospital, tired and   
   feeling guilty over what happened to her. One look into his eyes and   
   she knew what needed to be done. Saying "I love you" had been hard.   
   At least for her. But once the words were out, she was relieved. It   
   felt right.   
      
   They had flown home together after her release from the hospital.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)