"Home" 

By Phenyx@aol.com 

AKA Michele Blankenship 

2/20/95 

 

 

    Scully sat quietly in the aisle seat on the plane, flipping randomly

through an old magazine.  They still had several hours to wait before

the plane landed.  Mulder was sleeping soundly in his seat by the

window. 

    Scully watched him sleep for a while.  He was still a little pale.

Just the walk from the waiting area at the airport up the ramp and into

the plane had exhausted him.  He had  limped down the aisle with his

cane, into his seat.  The slightest exertion left him winded and

gasping. 

    The doctors had released him from the hospital at Eisenhower's

field only because Mulder had assured them that he would go home

and get plenty of rest.  And now,  the first thing he does is not to catch

a flight home, but to fly to Massachusetts instead. 

    Scully was upset with him of course.  She had been feeling

terribly protective of him since he had woken in the hospital.  She

wasn't quite sure if she was reacting out of guilt over the death of the

psuedo-Samantha, or if she was acting out of relief that Mulder was

still alive.  Regardless of her reasons, the result was that Scully had

insisted upon going to Massachusetts with him. 

    "You're not going to ditch me this time, Mulder." she had told

him when they argued about it. 

    "You are going to wish I had when you meet my father."

he had answered. 

    Ultimately, Mulder hadn't stopped her from coming along.

He didn't seem to have the strength to worry about it. 

    Scully pulled Mulder's blanket back up and tucked it in around

his shoulders.  She would have to wake him in another hour so that he

could take his medications.  The carry-on bag that Scully had stored in

the overhead compartment contained more than half a dozen different

little bottles.  The doctors had prescribed two antibiotics, an

anti-coagulant, a couple of painkillers, and a sedative to help him

sleep.  Mulder didn't realize that he was being sedated twice a day.

He thought that the painkillers that he'd been given for his separated

shoulder and wrenched knee were causing the drowsiness.  His body

needed sleep in order to recover fully and Scully knew that.  So, she

handed him his medications at the prescribed intervals and he, 

surprisingly, took them from her dutifully without question or

complaint. 

    Dana smoothed a large wrinkle in Mulder's blanket and went

back to her magazine. 

 

    "Are you sure you don't want to get a hotel room and wait for

me?" Mulder asked Dana. 

    She studied him carefully.  Mulder was staring out the window of

the cab, watching the scenery of Martha's vineyard roll past.  She

wished that she knew what he was thinking.  "What do you want me

to do?" she asked him gently. 

    Mulder shrugged.  They traveled the rest of the way in silence. 

    When the cab finally stopped in front of the Mulder residence,

Scully paid the driver and grabbed their bags as Mulder slowly pulled

himself from the car.  They stood on the curb for a moment and stared

mutely at the two people standing on the porch. 

    Mulder seemed to concentrate on the ground before him as he

limped slowly up the walk.  Scully trailed behind him.  She noticed

that Mulder gripped his cane so tightly that his knuckles were white. 

    Mulder's parents waited for them on the porch.  Only when

Mulder had hauled himself up the stairs and onto the porch did his

mother say anything.  "Fox?  Are you all right?" 

    "I've had a rough couple of weeks, Mom." Mulder

smiled weakly. 

    They all stood staring at each other for several long moments

with only the sounds of Mulder's labored breathing between them.

A cold gust of wind blew through Scully's hair.  She realized that

Mulder's weakened condition would leave him terribly susceptible

to bronchial infections or even pneumonia. 

    Scully cleared her throat and said, "Could we go inside?" She

turned to Mulder and added, "You need to get out of this cold air."

Mulder nodded as Mrs. Mulder ushered them all into the house. 

    Dana dropped their bags near the door then followed the trio

of Mulders into the living room.  Mulder sat heavily on the couch.

Scully stood beside him. 

    "Um." Mulder started. "This is my partner Dana Scully.  Scully?

These are my parents."  He introduced. 

    "Partner?" Mulder's father said sharply. "So, you're the one he

traded her for." 

    Scully raised her chin defiantly at the older man's remark.  She

crossed her arms on her chest and glared at him.  She didn't care for

this man's attitude. 

    "No!" Mulder replied. "That's what I came to tell you.  That

woman wasn't Samantha."  He looked from his mother to his father. 

    "What do you mean, Fox?" his mother asked fearfully. 

    "They were trying to manipulate me.  They knew that they could

get to me by using that story.  It wasn't Sam." He repeated. 

    Mulder's father frowned.  "Exactly who are *they*?" 

    Mulder looked down at the floor.  "I can't tell you that." He

suddenly glanced up hopefully. "But I can tell you that Samantha *is*

alive.  I don't know where, but I know that she is alive." 

    "She's alive?" Mulder's mother asked in a quavering voice. 

    "Now see what you've done?" Mulder's father asked loudly.

"First your sister's alive then she's dead. Now you want us to believe

that she's alive again?"  Mulder sat mutely on the couch and cringed. 

    His father leaned close to him and growled, "Don't you realize

what this uncertainty is doing to your mother?" 

    Scully glanced at the other woman.  Mulder's mother was

shaking slightly and staring into the space above their heads.  Scully

wanted to say something, anything. 

    Mulder stared at the floor.  "I'm s-sorry." he whispered.  "I...

I thought you should know." 

    "You thought that you would come in here with some far-fetched

story and get yourself off the hook for her death."  Mulder's father

stated bluntly. 

    "That's not true!" Scully stepped forward.  She hated this.  She

hated seeing Mulder cringe that way.  She felt her innards shiver as

she thought of Mulder growing up in this atmosphere alone.  "None of

this has been his fault!" Scully added defensively. 

    "This is no concern of yours, girl.  No one asked you here."

Mulder's father tried to intimidate her by stepping close to her and

talking down into her face. 

    "If it concerns Mulder, it concerns me." Scully answered

sharply.  She was beginning to get very angry. 

    The older man suddenly whirled to face Mulder, "Are you going

to let this woman talk to me this way?" his said disapprovingly. 

    Mulder swallowed hard.  He opened his mouth to say something

but was suddenly seized by a coughing fit.  He doubled over as he

coughed hard. 

    Scully quickly went to him and began thumping him firmly on

the back.  "Mulder," she soothed. " Try to calm down.  You're okay.

Just calm down." 

    Mulder's hacking slowly eased into gasps.  His parents stood

staring blankly at them. 

    Scully glared at the two older people with annoyance and asked

nastily, "Could *somebody* get him a glass of water, please?"

Mulder's mother blinked at Dana for a moment before she left the

room to fetch a glass. 

    Mulder glanced at Scully miserably.  "I told you." he said sadly. 

    Scully smoothed the hair on one side of his head and said,

"What are partners for?" 

    Mulder gulped down the glass of water that his mother had

brought him and began to breathe easier. 

    Mulder's father crossed his arms and said through pursed lips,

"We aren't done with this conversation." 

    Dana stood angrily to face him.  "Yes.  We are."  She walked

briskly across the room and picked up the phone.  She dialed

information and got the number for a nearby cab company.  No one

else in the room spoke as she called for a taxi. 

    "Come on, Mulder."  Dana said as she helped Mulder to his feet.

"We'll wait outside for the cab." 

    "Fox." His father ordered as the two partners began to cross the

room. 

    Mulder turned. 

    "You can't just leave your mother like this." the older man

scolded. 

    Mulder glanced from his father to his mother then to Scully.

He saw the determined, angry look in Dana's eyes and answered,

"I think we'd better go.  She carries a gun, Dad, and you're making

her mad." 

    Dana glared at Mulder in exasperation.  He couldn't stop the

smile that crossed his face.  He was using Scully as an excuse to flee

the house and he knew it.  The funny thing was that Scully knew it too

and she was letting him. 

    Scully hauled their suitcases up in one hand and used the other to

steer Mulder out the front door. 

 

    Scully slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a

moment.  When she finally pulled herself into a sitting position on

Mulder's couch, she saw Mulder sitting in a nearby easy chair with the

television remote control in one hand.  He was wearing sweat pants

and a T-shirt.  His cane was leaning against his leg and there was a

coffee mug resting on the arm of the chair in the sunshine filled

room.. 

    "Hey."  he grinned. 

    Scully rubbed her hand through her hair and said, "Now,

I know why you spend so many nights on this couch.  It's pretty

comfortable for a couch."  Scully stretched.  "What time is it?" 

    Mulder glanced at his watch.  "Nearly four o'clock." 

    Scully leapt up in surprise, "Four o'clock? Good grief I've been

asleep for 18 hours!" 

    Mulder studied the contents of his coffee cup.  "I get the

impression that you haven't gotten much sleep in the past couple

of weeks." 

    Scully smiled slightly.  "I've been busy." she said. "Did you

take your antibiotics?" she changed the subject abruptly. 

    "Yes, I took my medicine." he answered in a taunting voice. 

    Scully went into the kitchen and called from the refrigerator,

"Are you hungry?  I'm starved." 

    Mulder's answer was cut off by the ringing of the phone.  As

Mulder snatched up the nearby receiver, Scully entered the room again

with an apple in one hand. 

    "Mulder." he answered as usual. 

    A sudden, bright smile spread across his face as he listened to the

voice on the other end of the connection.  "I'm still sore,  but

I'll live." 

    Mrs. Scully was talking to him on the other end of the line.

Mulder glanced at Dana who was leaning against the doorway leading

to the kitchen.  He suddenly felt a twang of guilt in the pit of his

stomach.  Dana was wearing nothing more than an over sized jersey

that hung to her thigh.  Her hair was disheveled from sleep and she

was crunching loudly on the apple.  It wasn't until he was talking to

his partner's mother that Mulder realized what a compromising and

seductive situation this could become. 

    Mulder swallowed . "You don't have to do that, Mrs. Scully."

Mulder listened again for a few moments.  "Okay." Mulder grinned

again.  "Yes.  Do you want to talk to her?"  He paused again.

"Okay."  Then Mulder hung up. 

    Scully raised her eyebrows with a questioning look. 

    "That was your mother." Mulder answered.  "She's on her way

over.  She said to tell you that she's bringing chicken soup and

brownies?" 

    Dana laughed.  "She always made these awesome double

chocolate brownies when we were feeling badly.  It wasn't always the

best thing for us but it did make us feel better." 

    Mulder nodded.  "You ought to get dressed before she gets

here." he said nonchalantly. 

    Thirty minutes later, Scully sat at the table in jeans and a T-shirt,

her hair still damp from the shower.  Mulder sat on the other side of

the table, grinning at Dana over a mouth full of gooey brownies.

    "Thank you, Mrs. Scully." Mulder mumbled around his

chocolate as Dana's mom placed a steaming bowl of soup in front of

him.  He smiled at Scully again and said, "Do you think I could talk

your mom into adopting me, Scully?" 

    The two ladies smiled.  Mrs. Scully put one arm around

Mulder's shoulders and said "I already have, Fox." 

    Dana saw Mulder glance up at the older woman in shocked

silence.  He concentrated hard for a few minutes on the noodles in

his soup.  Both women heard him swallow hard. 

    Mrs. Scully patted him gently on the arm and said, "Eat your

soup, dear." 

    "Yes, Ma'am." he said obediently.  His eyes shimmered happily

as he ate his soup. 

 

 

end.