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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-05
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1,232
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1/1
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4
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767

Not Alone

Summary:

“You’re not alone,” he whispered into her ear. And somehow, his warm breath tickling her earlobe was all she needed for reassurance. “You’ll never be alone.”

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:



“Not Alone”
By Justine B.

...teamwork…

She fumbled the familiar keychain in her hand, studying it as if she had never seen it before, as if it fascinated her more than anything else. Four years ago, when he had given it to her as a gift for her birthday, she had never imagined it would see the pocket of her dress suit every day for the rest of time. In fact, as sweet a gesture as it was on his part, it was only a keychain, after all, and immediately the future she saw for this keychain was it sitting in the dusty bottoms of her dresser drawer at home, probably to be found by her distant relatives when they auctioned her belongings off after she was long gone.

Clearly she was no psychic, because the future had been unclear.

Her eyes and hands had taken in every detail, memorized and rememorized, only to still find the same fascination that she had years prior to this very moment. Even her ears took part in the photographic mind-games she played with herself; the jingling of the chain against the medal was music to her ears, and the sound instantly caused recollections of his smirking face as he watched her open her birthday present. “I’m touched.”

…because no one gets there alone…

She clamped her hand around the keychain. It was hers and no one was taking it away from her. Everything else had been taken away from her. Well, not quite everything else.

She laid a hand on her full stomach as the life inside began kicking, longing to escape from the confines of her womb and discover the wonders of the world. A smile touched her lips, but departed in the same haste that it came. What replaced the smile, however, was moisture building behind her heavy eyelids. She blinked and two tears rolled down her cheek, like waves crashing onto the shore from a deep blue ocean.

…we cannot forget the sacrifice of those who make these achievements and leaps possible…

“Oh Mulder,” she cried into the darkened office space, “I can’t do this alone.”

“And you don’t have to.”

A shadowy figure emerged from the doorway and stepped into the dimly lit office. Even though it was nearly impossible to see the details of his face, she could make out a smile—the same smile she’d seen four years ago.

“Then why do I feel so lonely?” Her voice was a mere whisper, cracking from the tears that rolled down her flushed cheeks.

He approached the desk and reached for her hand, kneeling down beside the chair she sat in. His thumb stroked the sensitive skin on the top of her hand, causing shivers to arise in her neck and travel down to the small of her back—the part of her that he had come to own over the years and that she rightfully submitted to him.

“Dana, don’t cry. Please don’t cry.” He reached up with his other hand to gently wipe away the tears staining her cheeks. But his voice worked against her, causing all her emotions to rush into one large sob. She leaned over in her chair and into the safety of his embrace, still gripping the keychain with all her might as if it was the one thing she had left in the world. “You’re stronger than this,” he whispered.

“But I’m not,” she sobbed, burying her face in his shoulder, entangling her arms around his neck. “I give up! I can’t do this anymore.”

He drew back suddenly, startling her a bit.

“Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully…admitting defeat? It can’t be. Dana Scully has—and will forever be—the strongest woman I know.” He smiled at her, his hazel eyes twinkling with all the hope in the world. And damn it, she wondered how and where he could find hope in the darkest of times. “In you,” he spoke, as if reading her thoughts. “My hope is in you. The truth is in us, Dana. Don’t you see? We need to have hope in each other, in what’s left of us.” He lowered his ear to her stomach and listened. She imagined that he could hear the heartbeat of their child, beating strongly of the love they shared for each other.

“I love you,” she told him, her voice muffed as she nuzzled her face into his hair. She left a kiss there, right above his neckline, and then proceeded by planting feather kisses all along his jawbone. “Please don’t ever leave me,” she begged.

“I won’t. I’ll never leave you, Scully.”

A promise. He’d promised her all that she could possibly want and need. He’d always be with her, she thought with a sigh, looking down at her stomach and then back up at him. She opened her hand to him to reveal the keychain she’d been grasping ever so tightly. He smiled at the thought that something he’d given her so long ago could have such important meaning to her.

“This gift you gave me for my birthday.” She nodded towards the keychain. “You never got to tell me why you gave it to me or what it means…but I think I know. It symbolizes teamwork, partnership…that no one gets here alone.”

They both smiled and he planted a kiss on her forehead.

“I still think it’s a pretty cool keychain.”

A rare moment of laughter filled the emptiness of the Hoover basement.

“So about those X-Files. How have you been doing with those? Closed any cases? I figured all those years by my side, lurking into the unknown and getting into the heart of a global conspiracy would have deepened your knowledge of the paranormal enough to make you the rightful maintainer of such important, top-secret cases.” He grinned, opening the file cabinet and taking out a folder. He threw it on the desk, probably intending to review it for whatever reasoning his photographic memory felt the need to.

“It’s been…okay,” she lied, standing up and moving next to him, intentionally leaning into him.

“I wish I could help you out.” He sent her a warm smile. “But I’m sure you manage just fine without me.”

“No! No…” her voice trailed off, and tears began to well up in her eyes again. “I need you, Mulder. I need you in so many ways that only you alone can satisfy. I need your touch, your voice, your embrace. I need your help,” she confessed.

“You have me right here, Scully.” He reached out his hands for her, and she complied. For a moment they were joined. “You’re not alone,” he whispered into her ear. And somehow, his warm breath tickling her earlobe was all she needed for reassurance. “You’ll never be alone.”

“I know,” she whispered back, her tears subsiding.

“Hey! Good morning, Agent Scully, how are you feeling today?”

She looked up to the door to find Agent Doggett standing there, smiling at her. She opened her mouth to protest and glanced back to the filing cabinet, then around the empty office. Sadness weighed down any happiness she may have been feeling, and she glanced back at the keychain in her hand. Placing a hand on her stomach she managed a smile and looked back at her partner.

“I’m fine.”

…because _no one_ gets there alone…

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author Justine B.
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