Title: TINH...A Moment Unseen (1/1)

Author: Ms. AM

Rating: PG

Spoilers: For episodes not seen, read with caution, please.

Keywords: Angst, MSR

Archiving: Ephemeral, Gossamer, everyone is welcome to it,

I was taught to share.

Disclaimer: These characters, such as they are, are still

owned by CC, 1013 and numerous other divisions...not me,

nuff said.

Little Note: Someone had to do it and maybe I'm not the

first, but this is my idea of a missing/post-ep for the

Feb. 25, 2001 of X-Files.

Summary: All the days and hours looking, hoping and praying

were in vain. It was time to let go.

Feedback: Aww jinkie's if you want to. (This is a 3:00 a.m.

typing job, so it's beta free, all mistakes are my own.)

Remember SPOILERS! Do not proceed if you're at all

squeamish!

TINH...A Moment Unseen (1/1)

It wasn't supposed to end like this. How many books held that phrase? How many actors and actresses had let those words pass their lips as part of their dialogue?

How many hours had she hoped and prayed for the happy ending she knew deep within her would not come?

Skinner had led her to the woods in silence.

A line of police officers and fellow FBI agents formed a line she couldn't see through. John Doggett pushed through the crowd. "Agent Scully...I..."

He tried to grab her shoulders, but she wouldn't allow it.

The crowd parted, the fevered whispers had stopped. All eyes seemed focused on her and her reaction. A white sheet covered something, a body. Scully knelt down, lifting the edge and studying the form underneath. She stood up quickly and aggressively made her way back through the crowd, her eyes locking on first Skinner and then Doggett.

"It's not HIM. This is some trick to throw us off the track."

Skinner glanced at Doggett before speaking, "We're taking the body back to the lab...do you want to be there?"

"Of course."

"They've already taken blood and tissue samples...Agent Scully those results should be done by the time we get there."

"Fine, let's go, I have to stop by the facility quick and have another chat with Jeremiah Smith."

* * * * *

She saw Jeremiah Smith and in a split second he was engulfed by light from above and vanished before her eyes. Helplessness was quickly setting in at losing another avenue of information.

Autopsy Bay

3 Hours later

Skinner, Doggett, Scully and a pathologist stood around a table.

"No...no it's not true...it's not HIM," Scully shook her head in the negative and then in a tiny whisper, "I would know."

"Agent Scully, we ran the test three times, we have his dental records...I'm sorry, but this *is* Agent Mulder." The pathologist quit speaking when he received a glare from both Skinner and Doggett.

Skinner cleared his throat, "I want a complete examination of Agent Mulder's body. I don't want anything missed."

"Of course," The man replied with, his tone bordering on offended.

"No." Scully stood shaking her head.

Skinner gently laid his large hands on her shoulders, "Scully...this has to be done. You know it does."

She looked up finally, tears glistening, her voice was soft when she spoke, "Okay...but I need a few minutes...alone." Skinner nodded and the other two men filed out ahead of him.

Scully pulled the sheet back, fully exposing the body. Her hands trembled as her fingers traced the scar on his left shoulder. She found the raised scar on his head, his hair didn't grow back so he had trained the locks to cover the spot. Her thumbs lingered over the wounds on his face, it looked like hooks had been embedded in his skin. Maybe punctures of some type. Her gaze took in the long jagged scar on his sternum, it was probably 8 inches in length and had obviously been infected at some point.

Scully shuddered at how much it reminded her of the first cut when performing a Y-incision. Her hands kept moving, palpating and cataloguing every bruise and scab. They stopped when she took in the sight of his groin, tears began forming and she covered him back up. To keep him warm, she thought. He's cold. She stared into his face, so peaceful. She knew the look was deceptive as her mind flashed to dreams of him writhing in agony, screaming out her name. Her thumbs caressed his lips before she surrendered and attempted to warm them with her own. Pulling back finally, a tear landing on his cheek, she knew he wouldn't open his eyes.

Scully knew her pleas of help would go unheeded, twice was too much to ask. Her love wasn't enough to bring him back from the brink, when death had already left him cold before she could find him. "Mulder..."

Skinner came back in with Doggett and the pathologist close behind. "Scully...let's get this over with, find some answers."

"No," She said with steel in her voice.

"Agent Scully?" Doggett's voice held the unmistakable question of whether or not her mental state was in jeopardy.

Scully's eyes flashed at them, "I said no. Look *I* am Mulder's POA, he doesn't have any family left to handle things."

"Look, Dana...I know how you must feel..." Skinner began.

"I'm sorry sir, but you don't have a fucking clue how I feel. This man has so many scars and bruises from whatever it was they did to him, I couldn't even begin to count them all. I'm not going to put him through anymore."

"Agent Scully, listen to what you're saying."

"I am perfectly sane, Agent Doggett. I can't do this to him. He's been butchered enough."

Scully laid her hand over her abdomen, "It's one of the only things left I can do for him."

Skinner stepped closer to her, he reached out his finger placing it under her chin, "Sir...I am begging you, please--Please don't force this, let what they did to him be the end."

"Alright."

"Thank you," she got out before losing her battle with her emotions. Skinner encompassed her in his embrace, until her sobs quieted. She was speaking so low he could barely hear her.

"All the days I spent looking, hoping and praying were in vain. How do I let go? I only told him once..."

Skinner kept his voice pitched low, so the others wouldn't hear. "That you loved him."

He felt her nod into his chest, "I wish I hadn't waited so long, I wish *we* hadn't...I wish I told him more. How do I know if he believed me?"

"Oh, Scully. If Mulder believed in anything...he believed in that."

"Oh, God...I'm going to miss him..."

"I am too...Let's get you home, you have one more thing to do for Mulder...and you need to stay healthy to do it."

As Skinner led Scully out he turned to Doggett and nodded. Without a word, Doggett knew he had fulfilled his goal, finding Agent Mulder. It was a hollow victory, he always tried to keep his promises, this time he wished he hadn't...

The End?

Authors Notes: I was getting the heebee-jeebie's from these

spoilers so I exorcised a few demons...hmm...why don't I

feel better? Well maybe a little. *G*