Title: Don't Leave Me
Author: Erin M. Blair
E-Mail: eblair@sonic.net
Classification: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst
Content: Mulder/Scully Romance. Mulder POV. fake "character" death.
Spoiler: Duane Barry, Ascension, One Breath, and Firewalker
Rating: PG
Archive: Anywhere.
Disclaimer: The characters of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully aren't mine, but they belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and the FOX network.

Author's Note: I was inspired by writing this story after I read "Metallic Taste" by Lili Blue. However, this story is very different from hers, and this story takes place in my "Discovery/A Twist Of" universe that I had created. It's not in the series per se, but it takes place before they got married and Scully got pregnant. This story is between "Discovery of Hope" and "Discovery of Love". There are some spoilers from the stories, but it's not necessary to read them. All you need to know is that Mulder and Scully revealed their feelings for each before Mulder's car accident. Feedback: Much appreciated and welcomed. Summary: Scully attempts suicide after she thought that Mulder had died in a car accident, but she is saved by someone who helps bring her back.

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DON'T LEAVE ME
Written by: Erin M. Blair
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Something was wrong... I could feel it. The door to Scully's apartment was ajar. I know that she would be upset at me for ditching her like that.

I hope that she never finds out what happened to me, but I do owe her an explanation. How I remembered nothing of the car accident which almost tore Scully and I apart?

Yes, a *car* accident. Normally, I'm a good driver. I'd told Scully several times that I always have to drive to our cases. Rarely, I let her drive. I know I'm getting off the subject here... When I came to, I was being held somewhere. I remembered nothing of my name, my life, and I had forgotten the love that Scully and I shared together.

To make a long story short, I found out who I am. Now, I need to find Scully...

Something was wrong... I saw a bottle of sleeping pills which was almost empty and then I saw an empty glass. I sniffed at it, and it smelled like alcohol.

I know that I'm not a doctor, but I have always known that if you drank alcohol and take sleeping pills that it would be lethal. Scully's a doctor, and she knows that mixing drugs with alcohol could be very lethal.

I saw her laying on the ground, and I immediately went to her. I checked her pulse--it was steady, but weak. "Don't leave me, Scully..." I gave her hand a caring, but firm squeeze just so she knows that I'm here for her. I want her to know that I'm alive...

I'm not a ghost.

I'm not a monster...

I'm not a vampire...

And I'm especially not a clone.

I'm the real Fox William Mulder. That's right, I'm back. It's like what Scully had told me when she returned from her abduction. Her words came back in my head, and I remembered her determination after I asked her to take some time off. <"I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere... I've already lost too much time.">

I can see how it's true. I just hope that you'll come back this time as well. Last time, your sister told me that you were in a dark place, and I had to reach you. Somehow, I reached you to pull you to ashore.

And I will again.

I reached for the phone, and I called 911. I gave them my name, and I heard a little crack saying, "Aren't you dead? I thought that you died in that car crash..."

"No, but I have an agent down. It's an emergency... She swallowed some sleeping pills and some alcohol," I replied. I gave her the address, and hung up the phone. I went back to Scully, and I grasped her fingers.

The paramedics arrived, and they loaded Scully into the ambulance. With much begging from me, I had climbed into the ambulance with her. I wanted her to know that I'm here. I just hope that she knows how much I wanted her to come back to me...

Don't leave me, Scully...

I need you so much. After you shared the news with me that you can have children, we revealed how much we love each other. Don't give up on me, yourself, and our future children. Don't give up on our love.

As soon as we reached Northeast Georgetown Medical Center, I watched them take Scully to work on her. I decided that I needed to call her mother.

"Fox?" Mrs. Scully inquired. "You're alive? We all thought that you had died..."

"I'm alive, Mrs. Scully. However, I'm here at the hospital with Dana." I rarely called Scully "Dana", but I felt that I needed to. Before that car accident, Scully and I were starting to call each other "Fox" and "Dana" in private.

"I know that she hasn't been like her normal self, but I'd never thought that she..."

"That she wants to die," I finished for her. "I know, Mrs. Scully. I wish that car accident never happened. We were so happy..."

And we will be again...

"I'm sure that both you and Dana will be happy again. I know it," Mrs. Scully replied, with a hopeful sigh. "I'm coming." She paused. "Aren't you going to tell Skinner? Or do you want me to do it?"

"I'll do it," I replied.

I can hear Scully's voice inside of me. <"It's not your fault, Mulder. The events were out of our control. Please don't blame yourself for this...">

An hour later, Skinner and Mrs. Scully walked into the waiting room to see me.

"Any news?" Mrs. Scully asked, as she gave me a hug. She was happy that I was alive, but I know that she was concerned for her daughter.

"No, I haven't heard anything since we arrived here," I said, with a sigh. I broke off the embrace, and turned towards Skinner. "Sir, can you please tell me how---?"

"How she was like while you were gone... And I'm sure that you want to know about the X-Files?"

I nodded.

"Agent Scully thought that you had died, and she was grieving for you," Skinner replied. He took a deep breath and continued. "We all thought that you were gone. I gave the X-Files to Scully, but she's currently on a leave of absence. Scully has your badge and gun. I have to reinstate you, but I'm sure that by the time..."

I know what he's going to say, "By the time Scully recovers, everything will return to normal."

"Mrs. Scully, why would she do this?" I asked, with a cry. "She would never do this to herself." Swallowing sleeping pills and drinking alcohol isn't something that my Scully would normally do. It was so...incomprehensible. So *unlike* her.

"I know," Mrs. Scully said, softly. She took out a few tissues to dab at her eyes. "She was under so much pain...so much stress. You know how much she loves you, Fox, but she thought that she had lost you forever..."

"I know the feeling," I replied. "I can't lose her like this... This can't be happening to us again."

The doctor had walked into the waiting room, and he approached us. "Are you related to Miss Scully?"

"Yes, what happened to Dana?" Mrs. Scully asked. I could tell that she was concerned for her daughter. She paused. "This is her fiance, Fox Mulder." She paused. "And this is her boss, Assistant Director Walter Skinner."

I blushed at the mention that I was Scully's fiance. It wasn't technically true, but we were thinking about getting married and having children.

"Miss Scully--"

"You mean, Special Agent Dana Scully, MD," I said, with a small smile. I wanted that doctor to know what Scully was and is. "What is Agent Scully's condition?"

"We had her stomach pumped, and she's in a coma. In her medical file, she has a living will... She wants you to cut her off when it reaches her time."

"I know that. In fact, I was her witness when she wrote it. She was in a coma a few years ago, but I do think that there's a chance for her to recover," I said, with determination. "Can we see her now?"

"Yes, you can."

I watched the doctor leave the waiting room, and I turned to face Mrs. Scully and Skinner. "Mrs. Scully, you can go in to see her first..."

"Nonsense, Fox, you're the one who found her. If it wasn't for you, she would have been dead. You should see her..."

"Thanks," I replied to her, as I walked towards her hospital room. She was in the ICU, and she got the corner room where there was privacy. Not that she needed it, but it's good to know that no one will be listening to my tears and the love that I have for Scully.

I saw Scully, and she had life support equipment entering her. It looked so much like the time when she returned from her abduction. I had to keep reminding myself that she wasn't taken this time by them. "Don't leave me, Scully... I'm here. Please wake up..."

I grasped her hands tenderly. "I know why you had done this to yourself because you thought that I was dead. You probably want to join me, but you won't see me there... I'm alive, Scully."

Every day for the past two weeks, I had waited by her bedside praying for her to wake up and recover from this. By this time, they had taken her off life support per her living will. However, she was still breathing on her own. "I need you, Scully..." I held her hand, and gave her a squeeze. Anything to show her that I'm there for her. I want her to open her eyes, and gaze into my eyes. I want her to know how much I couldn't live without her. "You always had the strength of your beliefs, but I'm here."

She opened her blue eyes, and she looked at me. "Mulder? Am I dead?"

"You're not dead, Scully, and neither am I," I said, with a smile. I was so happy that she was awake. "I was held against my will, and lost my memory. As soon as I gained it, I wanted to see you...but then, I saw you collapsed on the floor. I called 911, and here you are..."

"I thought that you were gone," Scully whispered, in a low voice.

"I'm alive, Scully. I was so afraid that you'll leave me," I replied.

"I know, Mulder. I was afraid of the same thing. The reason that I came back was that I had the strength of your beliefs," Scully said, with a sigh. "What's that?"

"Your cross necklace. They gave it to me while they took you to get your stomach pumped," I replied. I handed it to Scully, and she smiled at me. "I know. It's sort of like deja vu, doesn't it?"

"When I came back from my abduction, and you returned my cross to me after I woke up. Yes, I remember it well. That was when I realized how much I love you, Mulder."

"Do you still love me?" I asked, gently.

"Of course, I do. I still love you..."

"Scully, don't ever leave me..."

"I'll never leave you. I love you so much, and you're the only one I trust."

End of Story.


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- Erin Blair
- eblair@sonic.net
- "And if I quit now, they win."
- from the X-Files: Fight the Future Movie