Title: Beauty
Author: TeaL
Talitha_1121@yahoo.com
Flames will be read by my psychic surgeon and I will have no power over how he replies to them....
::starts typing::
Spoilers: Milagro
Rating: PG
Classification: A/V/R
Keywords: M/S friendship,Post-ep fic

Summary: Post-Milagro. What happened after the screen faded to black....

AN: I don't like making Scully out to be the victim but sometimes I falter and write mushy crap like this. I wrote this fic a while ago but never posted it because I came across a fic very similar and I was scared that ppl would think I couldn't come up with my own ideas and had copied that authors. I finally decided that *I* knew that wasn't true and I didn't care what other ppl thought. I know I wrote this before coming across that fic and that's all that matters :) Also I think ppl who read my fics know I'm capable of coming up with my own ideas lol Dedicated to: Iris, the best little adopted sis in the world. And to Lyss who is doing her best to get me out of PGLand :)

BEAUTY
By TeaL
Talitha_1121@yahoo.com

My shoulder was damp, my legs were a little stiff, my heart ached, my soul almost died. She'd almost died.

I'd stayed in this position, crouched on the floor, holding her tight, for a while now but I didn't mind.

It felt good to feel her against me, to know she was alive. I didn't want to move from where I was; I was afraid if I broke the contact for a second I'd lose her.

I wasn't sure how long we'd been holding each other for but at some point Scully had stopped crying and now I simply held her close unaware of what exactly she had just experienced but comforting her as best I could. Fearing my legs were about to give out I acted on impulse.

Securing her in my arms I pulled her up off the floor without even a hint of grace and stood on wobbly legs, the cause of which not being her weight but the sight of her chest stained with dark, thick blood. I carried her into my bedroom and glanced at her face as I did so. Her eye's were closed but her beauty shone through the pain imprinted on her features, making me feel like a prince carrying a fallen maiden to a sanctuary.

But I was no prince, had I been I never would have let this happen and would have been there to protect her. Deep down I knew Scully didn't need protecting, there had been too many moments in the past when she had rescued me from the hands of death but I hated feeling so helpless.

I was good at torturing myself with 'what ifs'. I know why I do this, most fears can be traced back to childhood. The fear of losing everyone I get close too; ultimately causing me to not allow myself to get close to anyone.

I couldn't protect Samantha, my own sister, from the force that stole her away. Now I fear I will lose the best thing to come into my life since Samantha. As gently as I could I placed Scully on top of the waterbed that had mysteriously appeared in my life out of nowhere one day.

Her eye's fluttered open and locked onto mine for the briefest of moments but I recognised the spark I saw in their ocean blue depths.

Thank you.

I let the smallest of smiles escape my lips before I stepped into the bathroom.

You're welcome.

Returning with a damp face cloth I noticed her eyes were once again closed. I knew she wasn't sleeping, as exhausted as I knew she was, but to me she looked just like Sleeping Beauty and I wished I could lean over and kiss her and make all the pain go away, make everything all right.

If only real life was that simple.

I sat beside the bed and touched her face lightly with my finger tips causing her to open her eyes. Silently asking for her trust and permission and receiving it from her with the smallest of nods, I reached over to undo the top two buttons of her blouse, exposing only the top of her chest, and began to gently wipe away the blood that still clung to her skin.

When all traces of the events had been removed from her skin I handed her one of my old shirts and left her to give her as much privacy as I could, considering.

I was exhausted, more emotionally than physically. I did feel slightly responsible, Padgett had moved into *my* apartment complex, Scully had tried to tell me there was more to it than I thought there was, that it wasn't solely Padgett. If I'd listened perhaps I could have reacted faster, reached her before any blood was lost. As tired as I was I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

I wanted to leave the couch and go back into my room to see how she was, I wanted to know what had happened. I needed to know.

But I didn't, I stayed where I was knowing that when Scully was ready to talk about it she would.

A figure dressed in white chose that moment to appear beside me, I hadn't expected to see her so soon.

"Thank you," she whispered as she sat and curled her legs under herself on the vacant spot on the couch. It was the first she'd spoken since I'd found her on the floor, it hadn't felt right for either of us to speak until now.

"You don't have to thank me for anything," I told her gently, "Just seeing you alive beside me is all I need."

She nodded and I felt her side press against mine slightly, as if she was proving to me she really was alive and whole and it would take more than that to break her.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"My chest feel strange, tight almost," she answered honestly, her voice barely above a whisper. I carefully reached over and placed my palm above her heart, she flinched a little at my touch but then relaxed and placed her own hand over mine securing it to her skin. I'd been worried I might hurt her but she didn't seem to be in any physical pain; I knew she had plenty of fresh emotional scars that would take their time to heal completely.

I felt her heart slow to a more steady, relaxed beat and just as she took comfort in my touch, I took comfort in hers.

She held my gaze and seemingly out of nowhere she asked, "Do you ever get lonely Mulder?"

I looked at the emotion stirring in her eyes and answered honestly, "Yes."

From one simple question, all the walls we had built up at the beginning of our partnership began to crumble. It saddened me to know it had taken such an event to spark their collapse.

"Why do we make it a choice?" she sighed, "Mulder, I don't want to be lonely tonight."

Gently removing her hand from mine, I lifted my hand from her chest and took her body in a soft embrace. "We can change that choice," I whispered into her hair.

Scully's arms went around me and she pulled me closer; together we sank into each other's warmth.

"You never have to be lonely again," I told her, "We never have to be."

It was an invitation to move on in our relationship and she smiled up at me, her way of saying she understood the statement and accepted it. I listened as her breathing slowed, leaning down I placed a quick chaste kiss on her cheek. I stayed awake for as long as I could, keeping watch for any monsters that might try to take my Sleeping Beauty away, knowing we would never be lonely again.


THE END


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