Title: Surrender II Author: RM >lebontrager@iname.com< Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully belong to CC, 1013, and Fox. No fringe is intended. see first one for other ~~~~~ Surrender ~~~~~ She walks into his apartment quickly, nervous anticipation clutching baby hands at her, dragging her down. His place is dark, reeking of stale deli turkey and mayonaise set out too long. She slips into the shadows and makes her way to the couch. He lays there, sweating, shaking, shivering. Tightly curled, Mulder closes his eyes to the fever. "Mulder?" His eyes jerk under his eyelids and he makes a grunt. "Mulder, this isn't a hallucination. I'm here." He gives a quirk of a smile and opens his eyes. "How'd you know?" His voice is rough, scratched with the claws of sickness. "I didn't, I just got worried." He nods and his body suddenly tenses as a violent cough racks his frame. "Mulder, you need to see a doctor. . ." "I am seeing one. And she's beautiful. . ." Scully shakes her head and strokes the sweaty hair from his face, remembering her little girl in a hospital bed with the same feverish look. He shudders hard and clutches her hand. She extricates herself from him and stands, heading for the kitchen and his well-stocked supply of extra strength Tylenol. Grabbing the pills and a glass of water she eases back to him, sitting gently beside him and touching his cheek to wake him up. His eyes open to reveal an intense heat there. "You got your hair cut," he says. She smiles, touched with his notice. "Here, Mulder. Drink this." He takes the medicine, eyes still trained on her shorn hair, absorbing every small detail of it. His hand reaches out sifts through the colored pieces of her hair, snaking through like a comb. "Scully . . ." "I'm here, Mulder." He sighs and his eyes drift shut again, his hand falls limply back to his side, and his body relaxes. He falls back into fever dreams about doctors with haircuts and little white pills that dance down his throat. And in it all he feels tender hands, and small fingers, and light kisses. Healing. Healing. He surrenders to the touch. ~~~~~ end adios RM