From: "Thomas R. Collins" Date: Sat, 11 Apr 1998 21:41:55 GMT Subject: "You Give Me Strength" 1/1 (ringfic that I can agree with) Title: "You Give Me Strength" Author: Marissa, a.k.a. White Miasma Rating: G -- nothing racy in here ; ) Classification: a little bit of MSR, not really, just some close friendship Spoilers: Patient X, The Red and the Black, Travelers Summary: A ringfic story that supplies the only explanation that *I* want to believe. Setup: This happens right after The Red and the Black. Disclaimer: I don't own Mulder. I don't own Scully. I don't own the Miss Congeniality pageant. I don't own the NFL. Are you all very happy now?!?! For my sister, for keeping her nose out of what I'm "always working on." For the shippers and their determination. And for Mulder and all of the other believers. (Have we got Scully on our side yet?!?) Special thanks to Daisy (a.k.a. Dayflow) for the Ring Archive. "Y O U G I V E M E S T R E N G T H" by Marissa Collins, a.k.a. White Miasma The knock at his door startled him. He wasn't expecting any visitors. It coukd be Men in Black, it could be a monster, it -- Another knock, this time a little bit louder, but still gentle somehow. Scully. He got off his couch and opened the door without even bothering to look through the peephole. There she stood, radiant as usual, but looking the tiniest bit uncomfortable. "Hi, Scully. What brings you out to this neck of the woods?" "Um, well . . . ." "Come inside, come on in," Mulder said, grinning as if he was aspiring to be Miss Congeniality. "How are you feeling?" "I'm much better, thanks. The doctor says I am now 'fully mobilized.'" Scully sat down on the sofa, staring at the blaring television screen. "Some game, huh?" He wouldn't have thought that a football game would hold her interest. When she gave him no answer, he pushed the POWER button on his remote. Scully shook her head once, rapidly, as if sh had been mesmerized by the TV. "Sorry, I was just . . . daydreaming," she said apologetically. "No problem. Any particular reason that you're here?" "Yes." She sighed and turned to Mulder. "I came to thank you." "Thank me? What did I do?" "Everything. Everything, Mulder. But specifically, you came to save me at the bridge." The Bridge. The place where she had nearly been killed, and where some people had been killed (and some abducted?) "I had to. You're my partner." "Thanks for being at the hospital, too." She showed no signs of hearing his last remark. "It was nothing." "It was something, alright, and -- I -- I have something for you." "You don't have to give me anything, Scully." "I want to. Here." She thrust her hand nervously into her coat pocket and emerged with a small, black, velvet box in her hand. Her trembling fingers opened the box, and she displayed the contents to her amazed partner. "Scully, it's -- I don't quite know what to say --" "Then don't say anything. Just take it." With infinite tenderness he lifted the ring out of the niche in the box. The silver glinted in the moonlight that seeped through his window. "It's beautiful," he breathed. He took a closer look, and saw there was an inscription on the inside. "You give me strength," he read aloud. He looked at her. "You do. Whenever I need you, you're there. I just want you to know -- I trust you. And I need you." "Scully --" "I have to leave, Mulder. I have something to do." She gathered up her long coat and swept out the door before he could utter a word of protest. He put the ring in his pocket. He wasn't quite ready to wear it. *** A week later *** "He died saying my name . . . what could it mean?" Mulder mused, reading the death report of a very strange person. Later, he learned there was one man who could help him on this case. He was leaving his apartment to see him when a host of troubling thoughts assaulted him. He was scared about seeing this man, especially without Scully there. What would he be like? Would it be safe to visit him alone? The ring glistened, a reminder of his conversation with Scully a week ago. Mulder grabbed it off of his bureau and read the inscription again: "You give me strength." He paused a second, then said to no one in particular, "No, Dana. *You* give *me* strength." Then he walked out of his room, smiling. T H E E N D So, how did you like it? Good? Bad? Ugly? Stupenderifficous? Okay, just tell me how you feel. Send me an e-mail at Or go to my web site at to see other fan fiction stories I have written, including Threats, The Darkness and the Light, and, um, well, that's it for now, but I promise there will be more soon! Oh yeah, I forgot, the site's more than just f.f. I've got pictures, sounds, movie info, and other stuff. So e-mail me or go to my site. Farewell, believers! Ring slogan -- "It never happened. It never happened. AAAAHHH! It happened! Gosh, better write a story about it." "You're not me, therefore you're irrelevant." -- Dogbert