Overweighted
Chapter Twenty-Three
By RocketMan

~~~~~
"the fox came every evening to my door
asking for nothing.  my fear
trapped me inside. . ."
-- 'telling our stories' Lucille Clifton
~~~~~

When the noises intruded, he realized he was somewhere else.

There was the sound of buzzing, like a doorbell, and then the pouding of
his blood through his tender head.

A voice was calling him and he reached out suddenly, catching the person
who was murmuring his name.

The skin was soft and warm, and the smell of the person reminded him of
something he should be familiar with, but he couldn't get his brain
un-fuzzed.

"Mulder?"

His eyes managed to open and there she was.

"Scully."

He pulled himself up and glanced around, confused, unsure of what all he
had experienced, of what was truth and what was dreams.

"What . . . where . . . Helen?"

Scully motioned behind her and he turned his head to see Helen, sitting
quietly watching them, her eyes wide and blinking as she attempted to make
sense of the images she now saw.

"Are you all right, Mulder? You've been out longer than us."

"How long?"

"At least thirty minutes. I couldn't even get you to the couch."

"The couch? Where are we?"

"Your apartment," she said and her face was just as confused as his.

"How'd we get here?"

"I guess . . . guess they returned us, Mulder. I don't know . . . I
don't understand why."

Mulder glanced over to Helen, holding out his hand to touch her leg,
reestablish some contact with her. She took his hand and squeezed it
tightly, signing hello into his palm.

He pulled her to him and pushed her head to his shoulder, kissing her
forehead, then glanced to Scully.

"They changed her back, Scully. They 'fixed' her and now they can be sure
she won't ruin them. We have no evidence of anything."

"I don't care what they did, Mulder. I'm just glad she's alive . . .
glad you're alive."

Mulder stood and carried Helen to the couch, tugging on Scully's shirt
to get her to follow him over. As soon as she was sitting, he touched
her cheek, softly following the contours of her face with a reverent
hand.

"Maybe they'll leave us alone now. We're no threat to them anymore,
right?"

She watched the frantic play of emotions across his face, the way his
eyes still held doubts about her, and the twitch of his finger as he
smoothed over her skin.

She took his hand and kissed his knuckles, shaking her head.

"We're no threat. We're a family," she said and leaned in to him, glancing
her lips across his with a hint of seduction.

He smiled and nodded his head toward Helen, winking at Scully.

Taking Helen by the hand, he pulled her up from the couch and led her
towards her room, signing bedtime into her palm and promising her that
everything was all right now.

When he opened the door, a dog barked and bounded over to them.

Helen skirted away, backing into Mulder's legs as he laughed.

Scully came in from the living room and saw Sam, wagging his tail
excitedly and barking with excitement.

Scully signed 'Sam' to Helen and scooted her forward, letting the dog
sniff around her and thump his tail in greeting.

Helen buried her face into his furry side and began crying, clutching at
the dog like a lifeline. Mulder quickly went to her, rubbing her back and
asking what was wrong.

She shook her head and signed nothing, then pulled on Sam's collar, urging
him to the bed with her.

Scully tucked them both under the covers and kissed Helen's cheek, then
stroked her forehead, smiling and saying out loud, "I love you."

She signed as she spoke and Helen's eyes went wide, then she held her arms
out and hugged her mother fiercely, making a furious attempt to say the
words back.

She mumbled out something that, to her, was 'I love you' and Scully beamed
brightly, wiping tears away with her hand. Mulder kissed Helen's cheek and
signed and spoke the same words.

Helen turned over in bed and buried her face into Sam's side, shutting her
eyes tightly and relaxing into the bed.

Mulder crept out with Scully as she clicked off the light, realizing that
they had always turned off the light, and only now would that matter.

She could see.

She could hear.

Scully turned to Mulder and smiled radiantly, standing on her tiptoes to
kiss his mouth.

He grabbed her roaming hands and brought them to his lips.

Then, staring straight down into her soul, he signed "I love you" across
her cheek, following the words with kisses across her face.

She closed her eyes and whispered, "I love you too."

He nuzzled her neck and breathed in the gentle smell of home and her.

"They won't come after us again. We're safe."

She hugged him against her.

"We're safe."

~~~~~
end
adios
RM

THIS ENDS IT ALL!!