And Then The Pain Was Gone
By: Jenn Nistor

Disclaimer:: Hi!! This is a REVISED story. I wrote this about a year
ago but never posted it. This story isn't part of my Fates Wrath
series. (For those of you who don't know what that is the stories in
that saga are "Peace, Be Still", The Judgment Of Fate and "When Love Be
Done" This is simply something I thought of one night and forgot about
until I dug it up out of a box. The character Dana Scully and Fox
Mulder are the property of Chris Carter and 1013 productions. No
copyright infringement is intended.

Note: A character dies. I think, or actually it depends on how you
interpret it. My mother read this and she thought got an entirely
different meaning out of this. All comments, suggestions, flames
ect...should be sent to Jenn6092@aol.com.

And Then the Pain Was Gone
By Jenn Nistor
Jenn6092@aol.com

12:03 A.M.
Mulder's Apartment.

Alone. He was alone. Forcing his eyes open he reached out for the
phone. He couldn't reach it. His pulse began to quicken as panic
washed over him.

Pain. Pain. Pain and more pain began to serge through his body. He
suddenly began to fear dying alone, with out knowing the truth. With
out Scully knowing the truth. He knew that he should have called her
when he first started having problems, but his pride and stubbornness had
held him back. He had just called in sick for the past week, hoping
that Scully would have enough decency to leave him alone and let him
suffer in peace.

After all, he had broken his promise to her. He had gotten a call from
someone saying that they knew the location of his sister, but it had all
been a hoax. He had left without saying a word to his partner. Then
they had given him a shot of some sort of poison and it was slowly
taking it's affect.

The phone fell from it hanger and landed on the floor with a soft thud.
The low hum of the phone rang in his ears as he fell further and further
into unconsciousness. There was nothing.....he could see nothing as
darkness washed over him, pulling him de eper and deeper into it's curse.

The single image of his partner danced before him as he tried to grasp
onto something familiar, anything that would guide him back to the light.

Nothing......darkness.

************************
Scully's Apartment
Same Time

Something was wrong. Really wrong.

Mulder. Her thought's were of Mulder. Something was wrong with
Mulder. She had been alarmed when he had run off so suddenly and then
when he had called in sick for the past week. She had been angrily, but
after the first day of his absence she had beg un to become worried.

Turning on the lamp beside her bed, she picked up the phone and dialed
her partners number.

Nothing.....busy.

Grabbing her jacket and keys, Dana Scully rushed out of her apartment
and to her car. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong. She
did not know why she was in such a hurry to see her partner, she just
had a feeling that he needed her.

She hated the feeling.

Her life, her skepticism, traffic laws were all forgotten as she made
her way to Mulder's apartment. There was a nagging feeling, tugging at
her heart as she approached the darkened building.

'I'm coming, Mulder.' she thought to herself as she pulled into a space
next to his car. She was hardly to his door when she heard a shrill cry
of pain. She pounded on the door loudly. She was almost sure that she
heard some of his neighbors open their doors to see what the racket was.

Not waiting for him to answer the door, she pulled out her key and
pushed the door open. Her heart skipped.

"Mulder!" she cried. She saw him laying on the floor. "Mulder!" she
cried again, this time falling down next to him.

His breathing was shallow and labored, his skin was an ugly graying
color, and he had deep, dark circles under his eyes. Fear clenched at
her heart.

"Mulder?"

Silence.

"Mulder." she said again. She quickly ran to his kitchen and grabbed a
wet cloth, then went back to his side.

His eyes were open, but glazed over with fever. "Poison." he
whispered. He reached out to her. "Help me back to the couch."

Scully nodded and gently eased him up. "What poison?" she asked. Her
hand went to his forehead. He was burning up.

"Injected." he choked. "Not sure...." his words were short and choppy
as he struggled to catch his breath. All he wanted to do was hold onto
something, anything familiar. He was almost sure that doing so would
keep him alive.

Scully pulled out her phone. "I'm going to call an ambulance." she
said, but Mulder stopped her.

"No..." he cried. "You...you can't. They'll be waiting for me." he
closed his eyes. "Help me Scully. Help me." his hands went out to
hers. "The hospital won.....won't help. Only you."

"Tell me what to do." she whispered. "Tell me and I'll do it. You just
have to tell me what I can do." She hated seeing her partner in so much
pain.

Mulder squeezed her hand tightly. "Wait it out." he whispered. "The
only way to get through this is to fight it, but...."

"But what?" Scully felt her heart sinking deeper and deeper into a pit
of loneliness. "What?"

'I'm not going to let him die.' she told herself calmly.

"I'm so.....so tired of fighting. All of my strength is gone." he
closed his eyes. "You were always my strength, but now I don't feel any
strength coming from you."

Scully fought back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She
couldn't let him see her cry. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "I always
thought you carried the strength for both of us. Don't give up now."
she pleaded. "Our search has only just begun. God, Please! Mulder!
You can't leave me. You can't leave me now. Please.....please don't
leave me now. I can't do this with out you."

Mulder's grip loosened on hers slightly as he took in a ragged breath.
"I'm sorry too." he whispered. "I'm sorry for running off and causing
you so much pain. I never listen even...even though you said it was all
a hoax." he flinched as a pain shot through his chest and through his
abdomen. "I should have listened to you, I shou....ld have called when
I first started having problems with this.......this poison."

The only thing Scully could think of doing was sitting next to him as he
lay suffering. As he lay dying.

'Oh....., death.' she thought miserably. 'How can I continue with out
the man who never feared it. I won't be able too.'

Mulder took another labored breath and opened his eyes in time to see
what he dreamt of seeing.

Tears.

Scully's tears, her tears for him. She was crying for him, for his pain
and his loss.

Reaching out slowly, he touched her cheek. He could feel the warmth of
her skin through his icy fingers. "You don't have to cry for me." he
whispered. "I'm glad that you have tears to shed for me, but I don't
want to see them. My pain shouldn't be your pain."

Scully shook her head. "My pain is your pain and yours is mine." she
kissed his hand gently. "We shouldn't deny it. We shouldn't deny our
pain and suffering."

Mulder smiled, "Does that mean my search is your search?" he asked
hopefully. If she said 'yes', then he knew that he could rest
peacefully, but if she said 'no', then he knew that he would never truly
rest.

"Yes." she replied. "I'll never stop searching. I'll find
Samantha......., I promise that I will never rest."

Mulder nodded and closed his eyes.

And then the pain was gone.

**********
The End.