From: Sara Bowen <sabo727@tampabay.rr.com>
Date: 1 Jan 2006 09:32:27 -0800
Subject: [all-xf] Reconnection
Source: atxc

Title: Reconnection
Author: Sara B. 
E-Mail: sabo727@tampabay.rr.com
Website: http://sabo727.tripod.com/
Feedback: Author is desperately seeking feedback
Spoilers:  One Breath
Category: MSF - MSR (very slight)
Rating: Anyone
Summary:  Scully's first day home after her abduction.
Disclaimer:  The recognized characters are used Without Prejudice and
are the property of C. Carter, Fox and the wonderful actors who breathed
life into written words, most notably G. Anderson and D. Duchovny who
were able to make us believe in the improbable.  No Infringements of
these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.
The story and before unknown characters belongs to me.
Gratitude: To Kim Knight, you are the best, thank you.  To my Dennis for
just being who you are.  To CC and Company, who created the X-Files.
Lastly to the readers. 
Archive: I'd be honored.  Please keep my name attached and let me know
where it will be.  Thank you. 
Author's Notes:  Don't have a clue where this one came from.  I remember
watching one of the episodes after Mulder's return and thinking 'damn,
they made him a cold bastard then.'  Then I remembered how they dealt
with Scully's return.  In hospital dying.  Wakes up, no longer dying.
Back in the field by the next show.  I also think that this was the time
that Mulder and Scully started taking each other seriously (Chris
Carter's nightmare began).
 
Reconnection
Sara B. 12/05 
 
Scully shut the door behind her mom; she was alone.  
Her mom had brought her home from the hospital and had found any number
of reasons not to leave.  Finally Scully had to nearly kick her mom out.
She felt guilty but this was necessary and she needed to do it alone.
She leaned against the now locked door and surveyed her home.  She stood
up and walked around.  Touching the bric-a-brac that made up her life;
the life she had before her body was violated.  The destruction from the
night that Duane Barry kidnapped her was long cleaned up but she could
see it all in her mind and her scream for Mulder's help echoed in her
ears.
Scully turned on the TV and realized it was on the same channel that
she'd watched the night before her abduction.  She turned it off and
flung the remote dejectedly.  
She wandered to her desk and saw the neatly arranged mail.  The bills
were missing, presumably they'd been paid, but the catalogs, magazines
and the minutia that makes up junk mail sat there, in three large piles.
Not one piece of 'personal' mail in sight and that made her sad.  She
hadn't realized until that moment the people she'd left behind.  
Her eye caught the date on the desk calendar and she was lost.  It had
not been advanced and remained on that horrible day when she'd been
stolen from her life.  Scully gripped the desk chair just to keep her
footing.  Her father's voice invaded her mind, 'buck up, Starbuck, you
need to stay strong if you want to feel safe again.'  Her grip tightened
on the chair back, she needed to be strong; she refused to give in to
the calling comfort of the chair.
Scully jumped at the knocking at her door, not knowing how long she'd
stood there.  She took a tentative step forward and was happily
surprised her legs carried her weight.  Checking the peep hole she
smiled to see Mulder standing on the other side; grateful that he was
there.
"Hey, Scully, I just. . ."  Mulder stopped his excuse for dropping by in
mid sentence and raised his hand to her cheek.  He held out his wet
finger for her to see, remnant of a tear she didn't know she'd shed.
Mulder guided her to the couch.  "Want to talk about it?"
Scully knew he wouldn't press her but he deserved to know something that
might affect his partner.  "It's silly really."  He gave her a look that
spoke his concern louder than words ever could.  "I finally got my mom
to go home.  She wanted to stay but I needed to," she shook her head,
not knowing exactly what to say.
"Reconnect," Mulder offered.
"Yeah, reconnect."  Scully touched his hand.  "I just walked around
looking at everything.  I was doing fine, nothing really bothering me.
Then," she expelled a large breath.  "Then I made my way to the desk.
The calendar was still turned to, to 'that' day."
Mulder moved the short distance and pulled her into his embrace.
"Mulder, it was like this place ceased to exist for three months; just
like I ceased to exist.  Everyone in my life moved on and I'm where I
was three months ago."  She pulled back enough to look in his eyes.
"For three months everyone I love didn't know if I was alive or dead or
even if they would ever see me again.  My mom, Missy, my brothers, my
friends, you."  She pulled him close again, "oh, God, Mulder, what it
must have done to you.  Another person from your life taken.  I'm so
sorry you had to go through that."
He loosened his hold and placed his hands on either side of her face and
smiled.  "Only you, Scully.  Only you would worry about me after going
through such an ordeal."  He kissed her forehead and hugged her close
again.  "I missed you, Scully.  Nothing had meaning, not even the work."
She pulled back and he saw the question in her eyes.  "Guess no one told
you.  Skinner reopened the X-Files.  I've been working them alone but I
can't wait till my partner comes back to work."
Scully's face brightened.  "We're back, Scully, We're back."
She nodded, "yeah, we're back."   For the first time since her return,
time began to have meaning.
 
End