Title: All the Shades of Red and Green
Author: MissAnnThropic
E-Mail: miss_annthropic@yahoo.com
Spoilers: Requiem
Summary: Mulder is returned and one good thing resulted from his abduction.
Disclaimer: I own nasing! Really, I don't. All you see here (that you recognize, anyway) is the creation of someone else. I take no credit.



Dana Scully strode swiftly through the halls of Portland Memorial hospital in Oregon, every step was two seconds away from breaking into a run. She was able to keep her pace even (barely) though as she moved quickly through the halls.

As she moved, her breath coming in fast and nervous gasps, she chanted to herself in her head, 'let it be him, let him be all right; let it be him, let him be all right.'

A report had surfaced twelve hours earlier of the Jon Doe (discovered disoriented and suffering from mild exposure naked in the woods outside of Bellefleur, Oregon), who had come out of unconsciousness and had uttered a name... nothing more, but enough for people to start tracking down the desired person.

Scully had been in the office with Doggett when the telephone rang. It was Portland, Oregon police who had been running the search for the mystery man's muttered name. They finally got through to the FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. and down to the dinky basement office wherein all but Doggett awaited this call with baited breath.

When, on the phone, Scully simply heard that an unidentified middle-aged male brought into the Oregon hospital had woken up to utter faintly 'Dana Scully', the woman in question had broken down into tears, phone trembling in her now suddenly weak hands.

Doggett had jumped over to her, scared half to death... he'd never seen calm and cool Agent Scully suddenly break like that... as if for once she were frail. He took the phone from her, soon deducting what had happened from the officer on the phone as Scully sank into the chair behind Mulder's desk and wept, a smile on her face and a whisper on her breath, "Thank you, God... thank you."

Doggett had immediately gotten hold of Skinner, leaving Scully alone completely as she was still shaking and crying in the large seat that was soon to be hopefully filled by its rightful owner. Scully had (in what Doggett first thought was an onslaught of stress-related delirium) covered her lower abdomen with one hand, rocking faintly in the seat while beaming brightly and muttering, "Daddy's home... daddy's home..." It took Doggett a good moment to realize she WASN'T speaking deliriously, and then only a second more to put together what she meant. She was PREGNANT?! AND WITH FOX MULDER'S BABY?!

Skinner, before Doggett had practically hung up the phone after calling his office, was down in the basement office, striding quickly to Scully.

In a show of deft ambidexterity and multiple tasking mentality, Skinner got on his cell phone and the office phone and started making flight arrangements for the first plane out to Portland, canceling his appointments for the next few days, requisitioning a car, and relieving Scully of active call for an indeterminant amount of time. Doggett was left standing aside, watching the A.D. in a flurry of activity and the suddenly very breakable Agent Scully who was celebrating alone with what he now knew to be an unborn child.

Finally, Skinner had finished his many calls, setting down the office phone and shoving his cell in his pocket. He looked down at Scully, for the first time his commanding voice becoming gentle as he beckoned her, "Come on, Dana... let's get you to him."

Scully had shifted to move from the chair that had been her daily link to him in his absence, but stopped. She turned to the desk drawers, opening the second one and removing something. Doggett recognized it immediately... the nameplate that read 'FOX MULDER.'

With a smile that could have brightened the night, Scully leaned forward and set the nameplate down on the desk in its rightful spot.

Skinner ended up having to help Scully rise from the chair, her suddenly so overcome with emotion that her knees were weak.

Doggett watched them leave, not even attempting to stop them or join them as they rushed out of the office. He knew better... this was something both of them, particularly Scully, had lived for these last few months. Scully's every breath and heartbeat had been about finding him... Doggett was not about to step in on that... this was one breath and beat that she had to find without him... had to find in Mulder.

Instead, he had turned and quietly started packing up his things, as he'd been mentally prepared to do from the start... knowing that the 'man of the house' was coming home and therein cause him to have overstayed his welcome should he linger.

Scully had managed to calm down on the ride to the airport and the plane ride itself (Skinner reminding her to remain calm for her baby's sake helping a great deal), and that time alone in her head past frenzied excitement had started to give way to doubt. It had to be him, right?

By the time she got to the hospital, she felt as pale as she looked, knowing beyond doubt that all would be well again if she could just see him.

She pushed through the halls, not even excusing herself as she brushed past office staff, eyes intent of finding one door... the one door to her final salvation... her absolution after months of aching.

Finally, she was there... the room number given to her at the desk by the nurse now emblazoned on the tab in front of her that sat flush with the doorjamb. Scully's heart was beating like a rabbit... probably as fast as her fetus's, as it was just old enough to have developed one. Hearts racing together... soon to be joined by a third and finally complete a family.

Scully was floored by the thought, pausing a moment at the door from the stupefying shock of the thought that passed through her in a matter of seconds. She had actually called herself, Mulder and their unnamed infant a 'family', and now that she said it there was no turning back... they had become a family, leaving behind mothers and siblings as the primary family to form another one composed of each other. A family that had not knowingly existed when he'd left was to be reunited in his return.

Scully took a deep breath, closing her eyes as her head became light. She felt like she would throw up if it wasn't him. For one of the many times after his disappearance when she let herself believe in the power of prayer, Scully pleaded with God, "Let it be him, please... I need this more than anything... even more than this baby. If you have to choose, take the child, but please give Mulder back to me. Let it be him, please God, please... let it be Mulder."

Scully took a shuddering breath, then stepped through the door.

Like an apparition sent on behalf of an angel incarnate, the light from the hospital room window filled her unadjusted vision the moment she stepped through, seeming to bathe the small room in a nearly heavenly light.

Scully blinked, the burning light beginning to fade back as her pupils contracted... and then, from the glorious light, he appeared.

Lying in a semi-upright position in the elevated hospital bed, eyes shut gently in the calm serenity of sleep. He looked like an angel, the manifestation of something divine as he lay softly in bed, unaware of the world around him.

Scully's tears came anew, casting the light from the room into streaking prisms of color as the rays refracted through her watery tears. Never could she have imagined such a profound, spiritual experience as seeing Mulder again as he was now... a sleeping grace of God.

It was a moment before she found her motor functions again, but when she did it was to take slow, hesitant steps closer... careful not to wake him. She so wanted to see his eyes... see him see HER, but she could linger in forever watching his face just as he was now.

He'd been cleaned up by the nursing staff, given a shave at some point. His hair had been combed, though as was typical with Mulder it had started to rebel against its subdued taming. He looked a little thinner than when he'd left, but still plenty healthy... more lean now like he'd look when they were first partnered together eight years ago.

Scully soon found herself at his bedside, standing over him... looking down upon the man she'd sought so fervently for three months... the man she discovered she couldn't live without.

His hands rested at his sides, those soft and tender hands capable of so many brute things in the line of duty, and yet able to cradle her heart and soul as if she were a downy feather or crystal shard. Scully stared down at his hand for a long time, lost in so many memories that flooded over her like hurricane ocean waves. Reaching down with her own, she touched him.

Scully faltered, finding herself having to perch on the edge of his bed... her balance and wind taken from her in a rush. His touch, so familiar and reassuring... oh god, he was home.

Scully sat a long time, the minutes seeming to stretch into an eternity but still never feeling long enough. She gently moved her fingers over his hand, savoring the contact so deprived for too long.

She startled when his fingers opened and moved to capture her small hand in his own.

She looked up at his face, tears falling once more when she was met with deep hazel eyes. He was looking at her, joy forbidden to such a haunted man as it threatened to spill over. He recognized her instantly... and remembered just how much he had missed her.

Scully smiled, nearly breaking into exuberant sobs but instead biting her lip, chin quivering, as she whispered, "Hey."

Mulder's lips moved, curling up in a smile. He suddenly moved, sitting up away from the bed and tugging her closer with his hand that en capsuled hers. Scully did not need to be told twice... she leaned into him, nearly folding into his bulk like a tired child to a father.

Father... oh, he had so much to learn of now that he was back.

Mulder brought his arms around her, holding her closely to him, a weak from emotion croak escaping his throat, "Scully..."

Scully curled against him, burying her face in his shoulder, closing her eyes and letting the rest of the world fade away. In that moment, Mulder was all she knew, and for now that was more than enough for her. To prove it so, she brought her arms around him and clung to him as though to never let go. He reciprocated in kind.

They sat huddled together as such for three entire minutes... not a word spoken outside of the sparking body language. Bodies which screamed, 'I'm home again in you, the only one beside myself I've ever known so completely... you're here now and the ache is finally gone.'

Scully was the one to pull away, needing to see him again, to reaffirm with her eyes that he was back.

Scully sat back, looking at him. He was so beautiful... people might not say men are, but he was, because 'handsome' did not encompass the way he looked to her right then. She stared at him a long time, eyes roving over his face as if to memorize every single detail, though the permanent imprint of his visage was already branded in her mind.

She smiled, "Mulder... I missed you."

Mulder smiled gently, reaching out to touch her hand again, "I missed you too."

"Do you... know where you were?"

Mulder nodded, smile dropping, "Yes, I remember everything... the tests..."

Scully cringed, not surprised that a person with a photographic memory did not respond to their attempts to suppress the experience. "Oh Mulder... I'm so sorry."

Mulder was silent a moment, then looked up at her. His eyes turned to her hair, studying it in great detail.

Without provocation, he broke out into a huge grin.

"What?" Scully asked, squeezing his hand in concern.

Mulder answered, "All those tests and experiments they did on me... they were worth it... oh, you're so beautiful."

Scully looked at him quizzically, "What are you talking about?"

Mulder reached up to her face, threading his fingers through her hair and coaxing a lock forward by her face, "I can see your hair," he said, his eyes shining and smile glowing.

Scully glanced over at the section of hair he held in his fingers, "See my hair... what do you..."

Mulder spoke again, "I see it... I mean REALLY see it."

Scully suddenly gasped, eyes jerking to his and asking pleadingly to verify what she thought.

Mulder smiled, "At last I can see you in all your glory, Scully... I never knew red hair was so beautiful before."

Scully gripped his hand, asking, "You really SEE red and green? But you're... you're red/green colorblind, Mulder."

Mulder's hand left her hair to rest his palm against her cheek, thumb grazing across her lips... her red lips.

"I was, but I see now, Scully... I can see your lips, your hair... if it's not red that I'm seeing than I don't know what it could be... god, I've never seen a color like this before."

Scully sighed, closing her eyes. For a moment, she was willing to put aside her scientific skepticism in exchange for actual content. She would allow it to be true to her for now on blind faith, if only to wallow in the idea that (though she didn't think it was possible) the man who'd been perfect in her eyes had been returned improved. She never knew she regretted him not seeing her true hair color so much until he proclaimed now that he could... and that he loved that too. A new thing to love in him when she thought she had it all... she was willing to believe it if only for a second, maybe a minute. For now, she truly believed in a perfect moment.



****



Scully sat back, stunned. It couldn't be true... it was IMPOSSIBLE, but yet there it was right in front of her. She was sitting at Mulder's side, watching the doctor at the foot of Mulder's bed who was holding up cards... colorblindness testing cards. He was currently holding before Mulder a card full of dots... red and green dots. All were green except for red dots in the center that made up the number '8'... which to someone who was red/green colorblind as Mulder HAD been, would have been completely indistinguishable.

And yet, Mulder proclaimed with confidence, "Eight."

Scully was stunned, staring at irrefutable proof that, by some miracle, Mulder's vision had been corrected completely.

The doctor nodded, "Well, Mister Mulder, that's three out of three... I don't know how to explain it, but there is no way I'd say you could be red/green colorblind."

Mulder turned to Scully, his eyes once again falling to her hair... seeing it in a proven new glory to him as he'd never experienced it before.

The doctor excused himself, leaving Mulder and Scully alone. Scully looked him in the eyes, vivid in the back of her mind how recently she had been forced to only picture his eyes in her mind.

Seeing his hazel eyes again in the flesh, however, suddenly reminded her of a game she used to play with herself... something to try to make the nights without him bearable. She tried to imagine what their child was going to look like... mostly wishing that he or she would have his eyes.

"Mulder," Scully began seriously, "I have something I need to tell you."

Mulder hushed her gently, closing a finger over her lips, "Whatever it is, it can wait."

For the first time, Scully agreed to put it in the back of her mind... she had six months before they needed to worry about it, anyway (although before that long, Mulder would have no choice but to NOTICE what it was she wanted to tell him).

Mulder grinned at her, saying honestly, "I can't wait to have my first Christmas with you... the first one with all the shades of red and green, that is."

Scully smiled, standing and moving closer to his bed. Grinning like a fool, Mulder scooted over... daring her to join him in an actual public display of affection... something very out of character for Scully.

Scully, for the first time in her adult life throwing any and all caution to the wind for a man, crawled into bed beside him, lying beside him as she had only done in dreams for the last three months. Mulder was facing her, an undeniable joy in his eyes at her uninhibited move. Scully smiled back at him, touching his face softly as she promised, "ALL the shades of red and green."



END