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Agents Mulder and Scully rushed down the halls and past Assistant Director Walter Skinner who was talking to two firemen. When they entered their office in the basement, they couldn't believe their eyes. It was blackened by the fire, the smell of smoke still strong, burning their eyes. All their hard work ruined. Five frustrating and difficult years of work went up in smoke. Mulder's eyes slowly scanned the room. The filing cabinet near the door was black and rusty. Part of him wanted to look into a drawer to see the files but another part of him didn't want to see the damage that had been done. His eyes continued to scan the room, resting upon the poster. Now black and charred around the edges, the memorable words "I Want To Believe" were still legible. Mulder had wanted to believe and had risked his life many times before. This time he hadn't risked his life but they had succeeded in destroying it another way. His quest for the truth, his life, had been demolished in one single fire. One single fire had destroyed a man's hopes and dreams of finding his sister, Samantha. Possibly started by Agent Jeffrey Spender or even the sinister Cigarette Smoking Man.

Scully, who was on the verge of tears, slowly walked towards Mulder. She gently placed her hand on his arm and rested her head against his chest to show that she was here to comfort him. He made no attempt to move, to embrace her. He was in shock from what had happened, possibly even trying to deny that this had happened. Scully knew this was extremely difficult for him. She couldn't imagine him ever being the same again. Their lives would never be the same again. Two souls thrown into a web of lies and death. Scully wished for the old Mulder to come back. The Mulder who would hold her as she held him. The Mulder full of hope. The determined Mulder who would stop at nothing and would never let anything get in his way. Who would put his life on the line to save her. Who had downright "spooky" ideas and beliefs. Who believed in the existence of extra-terrestrials and government conspiracies. Who believed his sister had been abducted by aliens. Who believed she, too, had been abducted by aliens. Who had risked his job and life to find a cure for her cancer. Who had a dry sense of humor that made her want to smile. But she knew that it would take some time. She knew that they would get through this, together. Scully could feel his pain penetrating her body as she rested against his chest. She let her tears fall freely, silently, as she clung to Mulder. She was the only one who would ever understand what he was going through.

"Mulder?" she said softly, barely audible. Mulder again made no attempt to acknowledge her.

"Mulder, whatever you may think, it's not over. They haven't won yet. Not when we're still here. Together." Scully pulled her head away slowly and looked up at Mulder. He had a distant look plastered to his face. His eyes were full of emotion. Only Scully could decipher them. His eyes held feelings of pain, of guilt, of anger. Scully then noticed the tear trailing down his cheek. She reached up and wiped it away with the back of her hand. "Mulder, we'll get through this. To give up now would show them that they've won. That's what they want. We can't give them what they want."

After a few more minutes but seemed more like hours, Mulder pulled away from Scully's embrace. He walked towards the wall which once held miscellanious articles that he had clipped out of the newspaper about UFO sightings and stuff about the cases he and Scully had solved. He removed a photo carefully so that it would not crumble in his hands. It was a photo taken of Scully and him. They were beside each other holding a file. He loved this picture. He had kept it to remind himself about what good partners they made. He remembered earlier that week when he had come into his office and unexpectedly saw Skinner looking at it. That was when Skinner had told him about the case Spender hadn't wanted him to be involved in. The case about Gibson Praise. The kid that had the ability to read people's minds. He wished he had never gotten involved in this case. Maybe it would've been better off leaving this case to Spender. Then maybe Diana wouldn't have gotten shot protecting Gibson and the X-Files wouldn't have been set on fire. Mulder studied the picture. He noticed Scully had a slight smile on her face. He loved when Scully smiled. It made his spirits soar. Like when she had smiled at him when he was in the hospital bed after being exposed to a virus in the Artic. It gave him the strength he needed to heal. Like when she smiled at him after he had hugged her and been there for her after Penny Northern had passed away. Carefully, he slipped the charred photo into his pocket. He then looked up at Scully. She was looking at him with a worried look on her face.

"Scully...," he said slowly and quietly, "Thank you."

Scully's blue eyes met his gaze. They were not full of life as they usually were. "For what?" she asked with a quivery voice.

"For being here....for me."

Scully smiled slightly. Mulder walked towards her. He put his hands on her shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes. Scully could tell that he had heard her every word before, even though he hadn't acted like it. Mulder then brought her into his arms, this time embracing her tightly. Scully slipped her arms around his waist and pressed her head into his chest once again. She could feel Mulder's tears as he cried into her hair. She could feel him vibrate against her as he cried his heart out. Just the thought of him crying was enough to bring tears to her eyes once again. They held eachother until each had no tears left to shed. Mulder realised that maybe this wasn't the end. It was just the beginning.

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There, thats it. I wrote this story while listening to Sarah McLachlan. hehe... Is it any good? Pleaz send all comments and constructive critism to xphile_42@yahoo.com Flames will be used to light the fire. (No, just joking....)

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