Title: A Night of Remembrance Author: Erin M. Blair E-Mail: eblair@sonic.net Classification: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst Content: Mulder/Scully Romance. Rating: PG Spoilers: One Son. One Breath. Archive: OK to Gossamer, Xemplary, and any list archives that I'm on. Others: ask me first. Please forward to ATXC. Disclaimer: They're not mine. Chris Carter owns them. Summary: What would Mulder do if he meets someone from the past? --------------------------------------------- A NIGHT OF REMEMBRANCE Written by: Erin M. Blair ---------------------------------------------- Fox Mulder walked into his apartment, and he saw the chaos that the Center for Disease Control had done to his apartment. It looked like a tornado had damaged it as he surveyed the damage. Books were thrown, papers were on the floor, and it reminded him too much of when *they* were trying to find what he knew about Dana Scully's abduction. He started to pick up some of the things, and then he saw a photograph on the floor. He picked up the photograph; it was of himself with Scully in their early days of their partnership. He gently touched Scully's face. She looked so young and innocent then, and he remembered the photo was taken shortly after their first meeting. *So much has happened since then,* thought Mulder, as he gently placed it by his computer. He frowned, as he recalled what had happened earlier at the Lone Gunmen's apartment. *Oh God, I'm so sorry Scully!* He crumbled down to the floor, and put his hands to his face with tears flowing down. "Scully, will you ever trust me again?" "You better hope so." Mulder looked up to face a younger version of himself. "What the--?" "Yes, I'm you," said young Fox Mulder. He looked at his older self. "I came in here, and saw my apartment trashed." "The Center for Disease Control came here." "No. They trashed it looking for the X-File on Scully!" Mulder frowned. He looked at his younger self in pure disbelief. He thought that he was losing his mind. "I must be seeing things. Perhaps, I need to get my eyes checked." "You're not seeing things. I'm real--just like you." Young Mulder said with a pause, and then he frowned. "I don't have much time for blabbing to you. All I want to know if Scully's going to be all right. She's in a coma. Her family pulled the plug on her, and it's only a matter of time---" His voice cracked with emotion. His eyes became misty with tears. "You don't understand how I feel about her." "Yes, I do." "You don't act like you do." "What do you mean?" "You're acting like a complete jerk." Mulder sighed. *My own self thinks that I'm a complete jerk.* "You're one to talk. Instead of having a few shots of vodka on the night when Scully was abducted, you should have been here to save her!" He saw his young self's face grow white with shame, and he knew it wasn't fair to attack him. "I'm sorry." "Well, it's true. I should've been here when Scully needed me," Young Mulder said, as his hazel eyes focused on him through his tears. "Of course, you're not here to talk about her abduction. Are you?" "No." "Why are you here?" "I'm here to remind you of a time when you almost lost Scully." "So? Scully didn't die," Mulder said. Young Mulder didn't like hearing his older self's ungrateful tone at all, and he gave him a look of disgust. *I can't believe he used that tone!* "You're a self-centered-son-of-a-bitch! I can't believe you! You don't even *care* about Scully! What's wrong with you?" "I do care." "You don't even show it," Young Mulder said with a sigh. "You're blowing off Scully as if she's yesterday news. I'm extremely pissed off for the way you treated her." "What do you mean?" "Do I have to tell you?" Mulder's face darkened with pain as he remembered the arguement between Scully and himself at the Lone Gunmen's office. His stomach turned as he remembered the slam of the door after Scully left without him. With a deep sigh, he answered his younger self. "No, you don't have to tell me." Young Mulder knew that he finally got through to his older self. "You know what you have to do, right?" Mulder nodded. "I know what I have to do." He decided to talk to Scully. * * * Scully was sitting on her sofa, thinking about the events which happened during the past few weeks. Although she didn't regret how she felt about Diana Fowley, she knew that her relationship with Mulder had been sacraficed back at the Lone Gunmen's office. A thought echoed throughout her brain: *Could their relationship be repaired?* She heard a knock at the door and rose to answer it. She knew who it was---Mulder. She opened the door, and Mulder walked in. "Mulder, I think we need to talk." Mulder nodded. He followed Scully to the sofa, and knew they had a long conversation ahead of them. "I agree." "You agree?" "I think it's for the best, Scully. There's so much we need to talk about." "Then let's get started," Scully said as she motioned him to sit down on the sofa, which he did. "All I could think about was you." "You too? You didn't have any visions of---?" Mulder inquired. "What visions?" "Never mind," Mulder said with a laugh. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." "Try me." Mulder drew a deep breath and gave her a Cliff Notes version of what had transpired in his apartment. "Well, what do you think?" "You actually saw your younger self in your apartment?" Scully asked. Her eyebrows lifted in amazement. She couldn't believe her ears. "Are you sure?" Mulder nodded. "For once, I couldn't believe it either. He wanted me to tell you that I do care about you." "Really? Is there more?" "Yes." "What?" "He'd shown me how much you're an integral part of my life. I can't imagine how life would be without you, and I don't want to try." He paused. "What started as my quest had become *our* quest. I had always known that, Scully, but sometimes...you don't realize anything until its almost too late." Scully's blue eyes grew misty as she listened to Mulder's emotional admission to her. She leaned towards him and gave him a warm embrace. "You don't know how much this means to me." "I think I do. I know how much it means to me to realize how much I love you. It took me a night of remembrance of the time when I almost lost you," Mulder said with a sigh. He watched a few tears slid down Scully's cheekbone, and he brushed them away. "I hope you'll forgive me for being such a jerk." "I forgive you," Scully murmured. "I forgive you." She paused. "Mulder?" "Yes?" "I love you too." * * * Epilogue Mulder and Scully remained strong as a couple and no one--not even Diana Fowley--could tear them apart. With their strength, they successfully searched for the truth. And never again will they doubt their love for each other. End of Story Feedback: Positive, critical feedback only. No flames. Send to: eblair@sonic.net Author's Notes: I'd written this story about the time "One Son" aired. It was almost finished when I put it on the backburner when I decided to work on "To Start Again." In this story, I decided to use the events on both "One Breath" and "One Son" to paint a picture of Mulder's regret at what happened in the Lone Gunmen office with Scully. I hope that you'll enjoy this story as I did.