TITLE: How Do I Love Thee?

AUTHOR:  DreamerFiles

EMAIL ADDRESS:  dreamerfiles@yahoo.com

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT:  Please ask

SPOILER WARNING:  For Sure, anything past the end of
Season 7.

RATING: R

KEYWORDS:  MSR

SUMMARY:  Mulder assures Scully how much he loves her
after she is hurt in the field.

DISCLAIMER: Same old, same old...Mulder and Scully
aren't mine...if 

they were...I'd be rich..they belong to Chris Carter. 


 

 

"Scully, head around back! I'm going to try to head
her off up here..." 

Agent Fox Mulder shouted to his partner from the roof
of Polo Industry 

Inc. The two agents had been chasing Jaylen Hutchinson
for the past 

two hours on foot. And minutes earlier Mulder had
followed the 13 

year old into the abandoned warehouse. 



Agent Dana Scully had been not far behind, and was now
canvassing 

the parameter so that she and Mulder could contain the
child. A child 

whom they suspected as an alien/human hybrid. 




Mulder had climbed to the roof after the child, and
was attempting 

capture when he heard Scully's authoritative voice
boom into his 

conscience. 



"Freeze!!! F.B.I., don't move or I'll shoot!" 



Running to the roof's ledge he peered over catching
sight of his partner. 

Scully, her 9 mm Sig Sauer in hand, was being returned
the favor by a 

large blonde man decked out in black. The man's gun,
trained on Scully, 

Scully's gun trained on the stranger...and Mulder out
of reach. He could 

tell the man was aware of his presence. So not an
option of surprise. From 

Mulder's stand point, Scully didn't seem her regular
solid structure at that 

moment. She seemed to realize that this situation
could go bad at any 

second, and she didn't have Mulder beside her for
cover. 



Reaching behind his back for his weapon, Mulder was
shocked not to find 

cold metal. Then fear overcame him. If he couldn't
help Scully, she would 

have to do help herself. He had to get down to her!
Racing against time, 

he made his way back through the building looking for
the quickest exit.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Outside, Scully was having a stare down with the
large, blonde man holding 

a gun to her head. She would have directed her gun at
his head...except the 

difference in height and the length of time they had
been having their 

stand-off...had required her to lower her weapon to
directly into his chest. 



"Drop your weapon now!!!" Scully ordered.



"I think you should follow your own advice. We
wouldn't want you be get hurt 

in all this, now would we?" The man sneered.



Scully made a split second decision and decided to put
all those self defense 

courses, defense tactics, all the training she had
received from Quantico, 

and every single re-qualification she had gone through
into effect...she was 

going to fight her way out of this!



Before the man could realize what she was doing,
Scully was dropping down 

to a squatting position and let one leg go flying....
'Didn't they always say I 

could take down anybody, regardless of size, if I put
my mind to it and used 

my skills?' Scully asked herself, as the man grabbed
her leg after her kick 

had been issued. Then he had her on the ground and was
showing her, HIS 

self defense. 



After the eighth or ninth punch and kick, Scully heard
Mulder's voice cut 

through her cries of pain. She hadn't heard what
Mulder had said, but 

whatever it was, the man stopped and stepped away. She
could now hear 

other voices...sirens...the police had come...for the
first time in her career, 

Scully was relieved to have local law enforcement move
in on their case. 

Hands lifted up her head and she could hear several
people yelling for a 

medic.



"Scully? Dana? Honey, open you eyes for me...I need
you to open your eyes 

for me..." It was Mulder, who else would it be. Who
else would be so gentle 

with her but him.



After much effort, Scully pushed her eyelids open. "I
thought..we agreed, 

not to call each other that at work?" She whispered
with as much of a smile 

as she could manage.



"What's going on here?" A paramedic asked as he knelt
down beside Scully 

and Mulder. "Are you having any pain?"



"I'm fine, I just need some help...getting off the
ground..." Scully hissed 

in pain as she tried to sit up on her own.



"Dana, you're not fine. Now lay still and let them
take a look at you," 

Mulder ordered.



"Ma'am, something could be broken, we need to make
sure you're really 

ok..." The paramedic reasoned.



"It's Agent...and I'm fine, really. I'm a doctor, I
will determine if I need to 

be checked out...Now, if the two of you are refusing
to assisting me to 

my feet...I will have to ask you to step back so that
I may have room to 

make it up on my own!" Scully growled. 



Both Mulder and the paramedic took hold of Scully's
arms and gently lifted 

her to her feet. "Thank you...Mulder, would you please
take me home now?" 



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mulder hadn't wanted to bring Scully home. He knew she
should have 

been seen by a doctor or at the very least a
paramedic. But true to form, 

Scully had demanded that she knew the medical field
and herself better 

than anyone else.



After getting her home, he had sent her to bed which
amazingly she agreed 

to. She had laid down, and had immediately drifted off
into slumber. 

Wanting to keep an eye on his partner, Mulder had
decided to turn on the 

t.v and wait for her to wake up from her nap. But
about two hours later, 

when she still hadn't woke up he thought he better
check on her. As he crept 

quietly down her hallway and into her bedroom he heard
a muffled sound...

She was awake. How long had she been awake? Walking
into her bedroom he 

went and sat down on her bed. 



"Dana?" He said sweetly, intentionally using her first
name. 



They had been in a personal relationship for about
three months now. It was 

hard on both of them, having to keep it a secret from
all at work. Having to 

call each other by their professional names at work,
then coming home and 

making an effort at sticking to first names.



"I'm ok, I just need to rest Fox..." Dana sobbed as
she tried to stop her 

crying. Both of them knew she didn't like to cry in
the first place. Crying in 

front of someone just made things even worse for her.
It made her feel weak.

She had her arms wrapped around her stomach and Fox
could tell she was 

wincing with each breath. "Where does it hurt?"



"It doesn't hurt..."



"Dana, you don't have to be tough for me. I already
know how tough you are. 

Where does it hurt? Do you need something for the
pain?"



She gave a faint nod and Fox went to get some pain
killers. Coming back into 

the room he came around the bed so that she could see
him. In one hand he 

carried her black doctor's bag and in the other a
bottle of Tylenol. "How bad 

is it? Do you need something out of your bag for it?" 



"No, just give me some Tylenol to down and I'll be ok.
Thanks...why don't you 

give me four of them..."



At the request Fox jerked his head up to meet her
eyes. "I thought the pain 

wasn't that bad? You know you can't have four of
them...You don't weigh that 

much, you're small, and two is all I'll give you. If
you need something stronger, 

then I think I should take you to the hospital..."



"No! I'm fine, geez...give me two Tylenol and leave me
alone!"



He handed her the two pills and she swallowed them
without anything to wash 

them down. He never knew how she could do that. It
would make him gag if he 

even attempted that trick.



"Roll onto your back," He ordered with a motion of his
hand. "Somebody has to 

make sure you're ok. And if you won't go to the
hospital, then I'm going to do 

it..."



Dana gave a loud sigh and grunted as she rolled from
her side to her back. 

Kneeling on the bed beside her, Fox started to
unbutton her blouse. After 

unfastening four buttons, he pushed aside the thin
silk to expose large 

bruises along Dana's side and rib cage. 



"I'm going to go get you some ice, stay there." Fox
ordered as he left the 

room and returned holding several ice packs. Carefully
he placed the frozen 

water on her dark purple bruises.



"Now just lay there and keep the ice on Dana." He knew
she most likely 

wouldn't listen, but he needed to give instructions
any way. "You rest, I'm 

going to go out and give you some quiet space. I'll
just be in the living room 

if you need me. Ok?"



Dana nodded to let him know it was ok for him to leave
her. After making 

sure she was comfortable, he returned to his place on
the couch in front of 

the t.v.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Fox opened his eyes to the darkness of the room. 'I
must have fallen asleep', 

he thought to himself. Standing up he stretched for a
few seconds before 

heading to find Dana. He was surprised she hadn't come
to get him herself. 

Opening the bedroom door he looked in at Dana on her
bed. There was a light 

on in the corner of the room, and he could see that
she wasn't asleep. Walking 

closer, Fox could see that she was turning pages of a
photo album. 



"Any good pictures?" He asked as he lowered himself
onto the bed beside her. 

Without looking at him she answered with a sad sigh.
"Not really...They just 

help with memories..."



"Good memories or bad ones?"



"That could be debatable. Some are good...some are
bad...and others are a 

little of both." Tears formed in her eyes now and she
broke into a soft cry. 

'Don't touch her'... 'But she needs me, I can't just
sit here and watch her 

destruct without helping her'. He argued with himself.
Finally one side over 

powered the other and he pulled her into a tight hug,
her head resting on his 

chest. 




"I was thinking about today and..." She sobbed.



Cutting her off he tightened his arms around her, "I
know, it's ok." After a long 

pause Fox pulled her away from him so that they were
face to face. Reaching up 

he brushed stray strands of auburn locks behind her
left ear. "Dana, we need to 

talk about something. And I know this isn't exactly a
good time, due to all that's 

gone on today. But it's the first time we've been able
to really talk in a week. And 

I think we need to take the opportunity and go with
it..."



Her sobs subsided and she raised an eyebrow in
concern. The phrase 'we need to 

talk' was never a good sign. She knew that. And after
the day they had 

experienced she could just imagine him saying life was
too complicated as a 

couple. "Ok...what do we need to talk about?" Dana
asked, her hesitation 

noticeable in her voice.



"I've been thinking about us a lot and..."



That was it she couldn't just sit there and shut up if
Fox Mulder was going to 

say he wanted to just be partners again! "Listen
Mulder, I know the drill. 'It's 

been fun, I had a real great time while it lasted.
We'll still be friends. And of 

course partners.' So if you don't mind I'd like to be
left alone now." 



Dana was already up off the bed and half way across
the room before he realized 

what she was thinking. In no time flat he was behind
her and wrapping his arms 

around her waist holding on for dear life. Both could
tell he was trying his best 

to avoid contact with her injuries, but she wasn't
making his mission any easier. 

She was still making a half way attempt at getting out
of his grasp and out of 

the bedroom, but his arms were locked. "Let me go!"
She shouted in the 

toughest, most demanding voice she could muster. 



"Hold on a minute there..." Was Fox's only reply as he
gently picked her up and 

carried her back to the bed. Placing her on the bed,
he then crawled in beside 

her. But she was still trying to get away from him so
he had to hold her small 

form against the bed.
"I...am..not..breaking...up...with... you." He
punctuated 

every word to make sure she heard him right. Leaning
in he brushed his lips 

against hers. "Always jumping to conclusions, Agent
Scully."



She probably would have apologized for her assumptions
and rash reactions, 

but he didn't give her time to respond.



"Now, I'd like to have that talk...The talk I wanted
to have...On the subject I 

wanted to discuss...But I want to make it clear to you
that I am not breaking 

up with you. Do you understand?" Fox asked and slowly
nodded his head as if 

telling her she should be agreeing with him. To him
there was no other answer.

Licking her lips, she slowly nodded her head and
closed her eyes.



"Ok, now that that's taken care of. I'm not going to
ask you if you know how 

much I love you...because obviously we've had some
communication problems 

with that. And the reason I know that is because of
the conclusion you just 

made. So instead of asking you if you know how much I
love you...I'm going to 

tell you how much I love you..." Fox paused to see if
there were any arguments 

from his audience. Dana's eyes were studying him now,
she was listening intently 

to what he had to say. So he continued. "When I first
met you I knew you were 

sent to 'debunk' me. To put an end to the X-Files, to
my work in them, to my 

commitment to finding the truth....No, I didn't like
the agent at first. But I liked 

the person. I liked Dana, even though I didn't know
her that well. You were 

beautiful! First thing that caught my eye was that
hair. Man that hair..." Fox sighed 

as he studied the woman in front of him, and the
wonderful flare of auburn strands 

that seemed to spread everywhere around her face.
"Next were the eyes. Did you 

know that you have the most entrancing eyes Dana? They
are like a ten thousand 

memories put together. The ocean, the sky, piercing
blue at times that turn to green 

when you wear certain colors. I get lost in those
amazing eyes, my love. Those 

gorgeous lush lips...I swear I wanted to taste those
lips the first day I met you..."

This had Dana blushing now, how could it not? Fox
Mulder was in love with her and 

he was giving her a testament of it, face to face. 



"I love the way you tuck your hair behind your ear. It
just makes your ear lobes 

even more irresistible. You have the sexiest legs I've
ever seen...muscular, petite, 

shapely..."



"I thought my little legs were a problem for Agent
Mulder. He seems to think they 

can't reach the gas peddle," Dana chided.



"Shhh, you proved you reach the gas peddle quite
nicely. Those legs lead up to 

that firm, tight..." 



Dana had to interrupt him again here, she couldn't
resist. "I thought this was 

supposed to be about how much you love me. Sounds more
like one of your videos 

to me Fox. Where's the video camera set up?"



"They aren't my videos! They're Frohike's...Ok,
skipping over some of the rest of 

your body and how perfect your chest is...mmmm, gotta
love that chest....I don't 

know when I actually fell in love with you. It could
have been the first case when 

you lowered your robe and stood before me, so
vulnerable to me. You trusted me 

back then, and I felt so guilty that I couldn't trust
you. You stood there in your bra 

and panties, robe lowered around your waist...I always
think back and have to wonder 

why you didn't just lift up one side of your robe
Dana..." 



He was genuinely asking her a question now. And it was
a legit ament question, 

why hadn't she just lifted a corner of her robe
instead of lowering the entire thing? 

It had exposed her for the first time to him. Why
hadn't she felt uncomfortable. "I 

guess I was just so scared I just wasn't thinking
rationally at the time."



That seemed to satisfy him, "you do know you gave me a
hard on when I saw you 

in your bra and panties don't you?" He didn't wait for
an answer, but he could see 

she was blushing. "You remember the Eve clones? For a
short moment...I mean a 

fleeting moment...before the girls turned into
murderers and tried to poison us...

I felt like a family. You, me and our twin daughters.
Of course that dream was shot 

and I never want to have twins ever now." 



They were both laughing now. "Fox, I think this love
confession has turned into 

an X-Files memories story." Dana sighed.



"No, just keep listening. When you were taken my heart
was taken too. I lost 

everything. Everything was hopeless. I can't even
begin to explain the horrible 

feelings I encountered while they had you Dana. I just
know that when you 

returned, I had you back, and I never wanted to let
you out of my sight again. 

I wanted to hold you in my arms like I have today, and
never let go. And because 

we're on the subject...I'm going to get the other part
of that story out too...since 

it's along the same lines and I know it's hard for
you..."



Dana knew where he was going with this and she didn't
want him to finish. 

"Fox..."



Too late, he was plunging into deep waters, and there
was no way of retrieving 

him until he was finished. "When I found out that you
couldn't have children...It 

tore me up inside. Because even back then I knew that
if you couldn't have 

children, then that meant I couldn't. I knew the only
children I would ever have 

would be with a person I loved with all my heart and
trusted with my life. And 

the only person on earth that fits those two
categories is you, Dana."



That was it, he had taken her breath away. If he had
wanted to prove that he 

loved her he had done it and more. He had proved he
loved her six times over 

with that statement. 



"And then came..." Fox went on.



What?! He still thought he had to prove something to
her? Didn't he know that 

by now she knew he'd never leave her? Of course he
doesn't Dana. You haven't 

responded to what moved your heart so much. And what
you have responded to 

so far had been wisecracks to lighten the moment.
Wisecracks so you, Dana, don't 

have to deal with the emotions of your heart. 



"...then came that Christmas..."



Oh God, he wasn't going to bring her into this. He
wouldn't...Dana was already 

being flooded by the emotions of the day...
remembering past tragedies, her 

murdered sister, thinking Fox was breaking up with
her, his revelations of love...

and now, he wanted to throw her daughter into the
shuffle? A daughter she had 

refused to talk about since the child's funeral? 



"Please don't..." She pleaded with him to ended the
conversation immediately.

But good old Fox Mulder ignored her wishes. "The
Christmas you found out about 

Emily. Oh that angelic face, Dana. She was the spiting
image of you. And you were 

such a wonderful mother to her for the short, brief
time you could be. When we 

crashed into social services that night and found her
sick...You were in doctor 

mode...but somehow, you stayed in motherly mode as
well. The love you showed 

her was unbelievable. And then at her funeral, when
you lifted the coffin lid...

my heart broke for you. It wasn't a missing piece of
evidence, and we both 

knew it. It was a family grave disturbed..."



She was crying silently now. She knew he wasn't
meaning to upset her, or 

hurt her. He wanted to show his love, his respect, his
admiration for her. But 

she had refused this conversation for so long, and it
was unexpected now. 

Maybe closure was what she had needed though. She had
never received 

closure with Emily. She had just picked up her cross
from the coffin, closed 

the lid, and moved on in life.



"And every time you were in danger. With Donnie
Phaster, Tooms, Duane 

Berry...every time, I thought I had caused it and you
were hurt because of me. 

I thought if I could just take away your pain you
would be ok. Because your pain 

hurt me more than anything....Remember when I taught
you how to bat?"



"Mmmm, yes, sometimes I remember the details too
well..." Dana smirked.



"What's that supposed to mean?"



"It means...that bat wasn't the only thing hard on
that field that night..."

Mulder blushed. "I told you; you're gorgeous, sexy,
and I can get a hard on 

just thinking about you in your bra and panties. You
were kind of rubbing up 

against me, honey."



"Me? You were pulling me up against you! Not to
mention that very suggestive 

hand on my hip that got me sidetracked more than a few
times. All I could 

think of was, 'oh yea Mulder, move it onto my stomach
a little more and down 

a little'!"



Fox was shocked, and his eyes were saucers now. "You
thought THAT?" 



"Not to mention some other thoughts that ran through
my mind. Thoughts 

regarding the feeling of your cock hard against the
small of my back..."



"Which comes to our next subject...your interesting
choice in two things. 

Tattoos and places of putting tattoos..." Fox cleared
his throat and heard 

Dana trying to unsuccessfully suppress a giggle.
"Right where I was pressing 

against the small of your back...had been placed a
tattoo from the previous 

case. If I do remember correctly."



"You are correct, Agent Mulder. But don't give me a
hard time about it please. 

It was a symbol that I was in control, that life would
go on..." Dana sighed as 

she remembered the tattoo's significance. It
represented everything she knew 

she didn't have in life at the time. 



"You never did ask me if I ever got that tattoo on my
ass like I said I was going 

to." Fox whined. He knew she was thinking about her
cancer, he had to lighten 

the situation a little.



"Fox, I've seen your ass, I don't have to ask."



"Moving on to the final portion of all this...The past
seven months that our 

relationship has been on the personal level, my heart
has melted with love. 

Love for one person. Love for you. You have been my
world." Fox paused for a 

minute, but Dana didn't interrupt. She could tell he
wasn't quite finished yet. 

"When we were sent to Arcadia and got to play house, I
know I was a pain in 

the ass, but it was my dream come true Dana Katherine
Scully. I was able to 

wrap you in my arms. Call you all the loving names I
had longed to call you. The 

names my heart was shouting. I was able to sleep in
the same house with you..."

Ok, Dana was holding her breath. Breathe, Dana,
breathe!!!



"I was able to publicly display every feeling I had
ever had for you. And most

 importantly...I was able to show you my heart's
desire's...We've known each 

other eight years now...Dana Katherine Scully, would
make me the luckiest man 

in the world and be my wife?" 



Dana had heard it, she was stunned...and she was still
holding her breath! And 

besides that she had to hold herself back from
cracking a joke about his proposal...

ok, she couldn't control her actions any longer. "As
opposed to being the luckiest 

alien on mars Fox?" Dana quipped.



His face fell. 'Oh God, what have you done Dana?!?!'
She asked herself as she 

mentally assaulted herself. "I'm sorry Fox. Please
forgive me. That wasn't my 

answer...My answer is yes!"



His eyebrow raised as he tried to determine if it was
another one of her jokes. 

Was this the truth or was she making a fool out of him
now? "You want you be 

Mrs. Spooky, Dana?" He asked quizzically



"No," She replied as she wrapped her arms around his
neck. "I want to be Mrs.

Mulder...now who's going make my mom the second
happiest woman on earth 

by calling her?"

 

FIN



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