Title: Soul's Battle

Author: Angel

Disclaimer: Following characters belong to Fox, 1013, and CC. No infringement intended.

Rating: PG-13 for imagery… I guess

Spoilers: Post Closure, but before X Cops and anything else.

This is just a little idea I had… nothing big, just needed to get it out of my head.

She’s been watching him slip away. Inch by precious inch. She can feel the rope that bonds them thinning away somewhere in the middle. Everyday a small thread spins away from the rest. Falling to the ground unseen. But not forgotten.

Scully steps into Mulder’s building and makes her way to the elevator with a horrified knot in her belly. He didn’t show for work this morning, he wouldn’t answer her calls or messages. Stepping out of the elevator she speeds up her strides.

The knock on his door is painfully real, stinging her knuckles, startling her mind to the fact that the rope is about to break. Her knock goes unanswered. With a deep breath she puts her key into the lock with trembling fingers. The door swings open to a darkened apartment.

She walks in to the living room where Mulder is kneeling calmly, too calmly.

"Get out of here Scully." His deep raspy voice makes her jump.

"Talk to me Mulder." She pleads for the hundredth time in the last two weeks. She takes a step around to face him. "No Mulder." She whispers.

"Go away." His voice is stern.

"I’m not going anyway. Put the gun down and talk to me."

He lets out a humorless snort. "Why? About what? About the fact that all these years I was looking for Samantha and got no where because there was no finding her? I've spent years risking my life, your life, for nothing. About the fact that my mother killed herself and I didn’t get to say goodbye because I didn’t call her when she asked me to? Is that what you want to talk about?" He finally lifted his eyes to hers. She shuddered. The man she knew and loved wasn’t there. He was buried under years of grief and heartache. No hope shone back at her.

"It wasn’t for nothing Mulder, and you know that. You are amazing, you have brought families together, brought out the truth. Are you going to throw that away now?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact I am. Now get out of here."

She shook her head realizing for the first time that tears were running done her cheeks. "No. I’m not leaving. You’ll have to do it in front of me."

Anger flashed over his features and his gun whipped to point at her, Scully jumped involuntarily. "Get out!"

"No!" She screamed at him and dropped to her knees in front of him. "Go ahead! Shoot me Mulder. Because killing yourself is killing me. You’ll just be saving me the time of doing it myself." She held her arms open inviting the bullet.

He pressed the gun back to his temple. "Leave me Scully. I mean it. I don’t want you to see."

Scully shook her head violently and reached behind her pulling out her own gun. She pressed the cool metal to her temple. "You want me to go first?! I will!"

"Stop it Scully!" Tears ran down his face. Tears from Mulder. Not the lost man that had taken over his soul a few weeks ago.

"You think I’m joking?" Her teary voice strained out. "Because I’m not Mulder. You pull that trigger I pull mine. Do you understand? I’m not joking here. You die, I die with you. There’s no reason for me without you." Her gun shook in her hand, her finger tense and ready.

Mulder swallowed roughly. She could see him returning to her. His gray eyes slowly realizing the truth in her words, the truth in her.

"I’m not leaving you Mulder. Never again." She whispered as she inched closer to him still on her knees. Still holding the gun to her temple.

His hand jerked away from himself slightly.

Scully moved hers to match the distance.

"Please put the gun down Scully." He whispered.

She nodded slightly. "When you put yours down." She watched his mind battle with itself. Mulder trying to gain control over the anger, the regret, the pain. "Come on Mulder. I don’t want to die, I don’t want you to die. They go hand in hand."

The fact hit Mulder. He threw the gun from his hand like it was on fire.

Scully let a loud sob of relief out and threw hers with his and moved the two feet separating them in an instant. She pulled his head against her shoulder and they cried together once again. Tears of sorrow and tears of hope. Hope for the future, hope for the world, and most importantly hope within themselves.

The end

Just a scene I needed to get out cause I felt CC jumped over the emotional trauma Mulder had to be dealing with. But that NEVER happens…. *rolls eyes*