Disclaimer: You know who -- CC, 1013 Productions and Fox Network own Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and one other member who will remain nameless until he/she/it shows up later. The lyrics are from "You and Me - Him and Her" a duet written and sung by Dolly Parton and Pardon Wagoner. I only heard the lyrics against the backdrop of The X Files and this story popped out overnight which are both a definite rarity for me. Author notes: Thanks go to Mystic who wrote 'Meditare Mori' which inspired me to write a more emotional story and then wrote the challenge in '15 ways to save Scully'. It was then hard not to write it. Thanks also to Vickie Moseley for her editing skills and pointers. Please also be aware that the episode Memento Mori has not screened in Australia and this story is only loosely weaved in with the discoveries made therein. Summary: Scully gives Mulder a gift as a memento for him to keep once her life comes to an end and in the process they find an ever greater gift. Spoilers for Memento Mori. Rating: G. No violence, no sex, just characterisation. Archives: S, A (sort of) **************** The X Files Me and My Friend by Michelle Creek missy@ipax.com.au **************** When I am unhappy and feeling lonely And this whole world of mine comes tumbling down, You are the someone on whom I can depend, It is nice to know that I have you my friend. You and me, the two of us together, We go on and face the world whatever happens, No matter what gets in our way, We see it through, from day to day, Right up until the very end, It's gonna be, me and my friend. **************** Droplets of rain trickled down the pane of glass in small trails mirroring the tears that slowly created jagged streaks as they rolled from the large blue eyes gazing out into the evening darkness. Dana Scully has faced death plenty of times in her career but she had not envisaged the pain that she would have to endure in dealing with her imminent end. Not so much her own fears, she had faced them many years ago when her life was held in the balance. That time she had a choice and she had chosen life to stand side by side with her partner...... her friend. Her tears were not for herself but for her mother, family and most of all, for Mulder. She knew the pain she would go through as the cancer ravaged it's way throughout her body. This was the reward of having studied medicine. You knew the facts. But they just don't prepare you for the time when it would be you diagnosed. The way your family and friends would look at you, the pain, sorrow and sympathy held in those eyes. That's what had prompted her visit to the mall during her lunch hour. The lunch hour she usually designated for Mulder where they would amble their way through the park, sit and enjoy each other's company for the time she had left. Try as he would to not smother her, Mulder was still protecting her. At least he had ceased his persistent offers of different avenues for treatment. Dana smiled as she thought about his inquiries, even into New Age remedies. Memories came flooding back of Melissa regaling Mulder's thoughts on 'New Age mumbo jumbo' making her smile even more. For such a believer, Mulder could certainly also be a skeptic. Focusing back on the present, Dana looked at her watch noticing that it was only 8.30 p.m. After a moment's hesitation she picked up the phone. If she was going to go ahead with her plans, she had better do something about it. **************** Just before he pressed the doorbell, Mulder thought over Scully's request to come over and watch a video. While this was not unusual, her husky voice betrayed more than what she would have wished. At first he had panicked but he had gotten a hold of his emotions, thinking about how she had been that day. No, if there had been something wrong she would have told me. Giving himself a shake, he finally pressed the doorbell. In a flash it was opened. "Scully, were you waiting for me, my love." Mulder quipped. There had not been many times when he had felt like he wanted to continue his teasing but Scully wanted things to go on as normal, so he made the effort for her sake. "Yes, sweetheart." she responded in kind, her words softened by the laughter in her voice. Entering her neat apartment, he removed his wet parka hanging it on the hat stand behind the door. "I've just made some coffee. Would you like a cup?" Scully asked from behind him in the kitchen. "You've never known me to refuse a cup of black sludge." "No, but mine actually resembles coffee." Walking into the kitchen, he leaned up against the counter as she poured out the coffee from the Mr. Coffee, the aroma filling the air combining with the sweet smell of freshly popped corn. "What movie do you want to see? I've got The Rock, Forrest Gump and LadyHawke." she asked as she passed him his cup before picking up her own, the bowl of popcorn and following him to the lounge. "Such a choice. What about LadyHawke?" Mulder deliberately chose the more sensitive of the three, hoping it might give him the opportunity to speak to her more about the journal entry he had read at the hospital. Scully turned off the overhead lights for both the kitchen and lounge leaving only a side lamp on. With the aroma of freshly popped and buttered corn for company, they sat on the two-seater settee with the bowl between them. As the movie continued and the bowl of popcorn finished, the two of them gradually gravitated towards each other, as if magnetised, finally finishing slumped warmly against each other, taking comfort in the other's presence. "Mulder, do you believe in eternal life?' she asked quietly. He took a while before he answered. "I'm not sure what I believe. I know that there is something beyond life here. Albert Holstein and the Blessing Way ritual proved that to me but whether there is eternal life as taught in the churches, I don't know. What about you?" "It's difficult to say. Even though I don't go to Mass what I was taught is quite ingrained. Balanced against what I have seen with the x-files, it has challenged my belief and faith not only in science but in God. Essentially, I have not lost my faith but only found a new way to look at them both." While she spoke, Scully eased up to look at him eye to eye. "Mulder, there was a reason I wanted to see you tonight. In the past few months, I have been forced to look on life from a different perspective, as a patient, fighting for my life against a silent enemy. In my fight, you have been my rock on which I can depend for strength, knowing you are there by my side. But I am also gradually losing that war and I want you to continue our search for Samantha, for the truth." Mulder reached out to her, one hand gently framing her delicate features, wanting to deny her words, not wanting to acknowledge that the end of their journey together could be so near. "This is difficult for me but I know in my heart I must." She brought her hand up to cover his, tears glistening in her eyes. Her other hand sought out a small object in her sweater pocket. " I want you to have this." Entwined between her long slim fingers was a new long gold chain and her cross. He looked down at her neck and noticed that her own necklace was minus the ever present cross signifying her faith. Reaching up, Mulder fingered the fine gold cross that had held such hope for him over a period of three months, now which was coming back to him without the attachment of hope but love and loss. Tears slowly pooled in his eyes as he realised how much of herself that Scully was giving to him. "Scully....." he was speechless, unable to find the words to express his emotions. His early life had not been one littered with a show of emotions and he now felt at a loss to express himself. "Shhhhh...." she said putting her fingers to his lips and then reaching up she slipped the chain around his neck. "Remember me with this and remember our journey." "Thank you" these were the only words that came to him. Such simple words but loaded with the deep pervasive emotions flooding his being. "That's okay." Scully was also a woman who held her emotions in check and now felt it was time to break the heady atmosphere. "Do you want another coffee." "A shot of brandy would probably do better." he said with a quick smile. Scully smiled in return, putting her hand on his shoulder as she got up to make coffee, feeling that maybe, just maybe, her partner would go on with their search. Running the gentle even words through his mind, he let them fill his head embedding themselves into all corners of his brain. Shattering glass broke his reverie. He was up in a flash racing for the kitchen, hoping that Scully had just dropped a glass. Finding it was a decanter on the ground did appease his fears for only a moment when he found his partner lying in the middle of the crystal catastrophe, blood pouring at a steady pace from her nose. "Scully.... Dana" Heedless of the crackling of shards of the sharp glass below his sneakered feet, he bent down beside her. It appeared that she had just fainted, there was no bruising to her temple and amazingly no cuts from breaking glass. Quickly he picked up her small still form, worry puckering his brow. Taking her into the bedroom, he gently placed her on the double bed. She was beginning to rouse as he knelt beside the bed. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he did his best to wipe away the majority of the blood before rolling Scully onto her side to prevent her from choking on her blood. "Dana" he whispered gently near her ear as he slowly stroked her face with his index finger. Eyelashes fluttered for a moment before gingerly opening, taking in the familiar lines of her bedroom. Attempting to roll over, she was held firmly in place by his hand. "Just lie still for a moment. Your nose is still bleeding." "Did I faint?" Dana's voice trembled with the knowledge of her loss of control. "Yeah. Don't worry about it Scully. Your blood pressure's probably down and combined with the blood nose.... well it's inevitable." A slight nod of her head. A tinge of colour was beginning to infuse its way into her face, giving a touch of warmth to her blanched skin. Noticing her concern about the blood getting onto her chintz bedcover, Mulder went into the bathroom for a dark towel. Returning with towel in hand, he found silent tears rolling gently down his partner's face, mixing with the tiny red trickle still coming from her nose. "Dana, lift up your head." Shuddering a moment, she quickly wiped her eyes before raising herself slowly into a sitting position allowing him to lay the towel on the bed behind her. He also had grabbed a wet wash cloth and wiped away the tears and blood, pinching the bridge of her nose firmly to finally staunch the flow of blood. "Thanks Mulder." "It's okay. Now why don't you lie down and get some rest. I'll stay here." "You don't have to." "I want to." He smiled as he helped her to lie down, pulling the soft downy cover from the end of the bed over her petite form. **************** When I get crazy, you understand me, You overlook the things that I don't mean to say, You lay beside me when things go wrong, I am never lonely knowing you're along. You and me, the two of us together, We go on and face the world whatever happens, No matter what gets in our way, We see it through, from day to day, Right up until the very end, It's gonna be, me and my friend **************** Having pulled up the wooden rocking chair from the corner of the room, he sat in the darkness by her side watching the gentle rhythm of her breathing in the moonlight seeping in from the window, taking comfort in the fact that she slept soundly. Fingering the cross, he thought over the words he had discovered in her journal linked with those she had spoken tonight. It was so like Scully. She had sacrificed everything in their chase for the truth, the dark journey against a veritable yet invisible enemy. She knew him well, how he would react when she succumbed to the silent invader encompassed within her body, gradually sapping away her tangible strength. She wanted him to go on but how could he, without her to remind him of the science, pull him back when he pushed too hard, remind him to look deeper. So many things she had brought to the X-files, to him. As these thoughts weaved their way through his head, he finally dropped off to sleep slumping awkardly on the chair. ***************** We share the good times, we share the bad times, We meet life head on with its ups and its downs, Some people tell you that life is a lonely ride, But not for us, we travel side by side. You and me, the two of us together, We go on and face the world whatever happens, No matter what gets in our way, We see it through, from day to day, Right up until the very end, It's gonna be, me and my friend. **************** Low voices whispered to each other, one more insistent as the two dark shadows stood outside Apartment 5. A few more small precise actions and the sound of the lock clicked open. Both looking around fervently before entering the apartment. Allowing their eyes to adjust to the darkness enshrouding them, they stealthily moved in the direction of the bedroom. "I don't like this. What if she wakes up?" the older man in black cloth asked quietly. "Well let's just pray she doesn't because I don't really want to have a fight on our hands." came the softly spoken response from the younger man. Actually, he was only really a boy of about fourteen years dressed once again in black. "She saved my life once when everyone else didn't believe but she did. Now it's my turn to give her life." Kevin Kryder tip-toed his way into the bedroom, a bit embarrassed at the thought of seeing Dana Scully in her nightwear. This lady portrayed an image to the public and here he was going to see her bereft of all those barriers. Entering the room, his eyes took in the bed with the red-head lying on her side and then froze when he noticed the slumped figure in the corner. Silently, he swore to himself. Father O'Leary, not being able to see behind the door the reason Kevin had suddenly stopped, bumped into him. "What is it, lad?" he asked his lilting Irish accent caressing the words. Craning his neck to look around the door, he noticed the figure in the chair. "This is not good, is it?" Kevin shook his head, then made his decision. This trip had been planned for many weeks now and they had just been awaiting the right time. Stigmata and the associated power of healing came in God's time not at will. He had trouble with this fact. Father O'Leary chastised him often about waiting and being patient. Everything comes in it's own time. As does death, he had thought to himself. Coming up beside the bed, they had to carefully manoeuvre their way between the two partners without disturbing either. Without words, they each laid a hand on Scully and then clasped their other hand together, the blood intermingling with the other's. No words were needed as they projected their minds to intercede with God for the healing of Dana Scully. Mulder jerked awake, wincing at the pain in his neck from the cramped position he had fallen asleep in. His eyes widened as he watched two figures standing over the body of his partner, locked in a trance of some sort. he thought making an effort to reach for his gun. Only to find that a calming presence came over him and her voice floating through his mind. "Mulder, it's okay. It's Kevin and the other man is Father O'Leary. They have come to heal me." Confused he looked over at his partner to find she was still in deep slumber. Shaking his head to clear the wool that seemed to flood it, only to hear her voice again "Mulder, why can't you believe. You believe in conspiracies, aliens and paranormal activity but yet can't you stretch your mind to the miracles of God." Her voice gently chided him, containing none of the harshness that some of her arguments had previously had. "But there is no evidence." "You want evidence, Mulder?" Gentle laughter flooded his brain. "There is evidence out there, but you just have to know where to look." came her cryptic response flashing him back to his first meeting with the enigmatic Dr. Scully. "So you want me to broaden my horizons." "Mulder, within reason." she admonished him lightly as his thoughts got a little off track. This was really hard when your partner could actually read your mind. But then again, he had never had this sort of communication with his partner before. "Now Mulder, I want you to settle yourself comfortably in that chair and go back to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake." How could he resist the beautiful soft calming voice flowing through his being and he shifted more comfortably on the seat slipping off into a peaceful slumber where there were no thoughts of abduction or death. The pair beside the bed slowly opened their eyes, the power that had been flowing between them and Dana Scully was overwhelming giving a rush of adrenaline and a high that challenged some of the worlds street drugs. Kevin bent over the quiet figure of Dana Scully, feeling a compassion and love for the very intense and smart lady who had once saved him from evil. Now he had faith that he had managed to give her back her own. Brushing back the strands of fine red-gold hair from her face, he gently placed a kiss on her forehead before pulling back and leaving silently once again into the very early rays of dawn. You and me, the two of us together, We go on and face the world whatever happens, No matter what gets in our way, We see it through, from day to day, Right up until the very end, It's gonna be, me and my friend. The End. Okay, now I disclaim the ownership of Kevin Kryder. I always liked the boy and remembered that CC always had it that Dana Scully and he would meet again someday. Thanks for reading. Any comments and constructive criticism, please send your comments to missy@ipax.com.au.