From: "Elizabeth Robson" Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 17:00:43 -0500 Subject: Hear No, See No (1/1) Source: xff Hear No, See No (1/1) Lyz magicwillow@eznet.net Spoiler: slight Amor Fati Summary: When Scully goes blind (and deaf) Archive: Xemplary, Gossamer, aywhere else, ask first please. Classification: MSR, S Rating: PG Thanks: Thanks to Mary for helping me out. Dedication: Well, this is a present for Hayley. Author's Note: I wondered what would happen if Scully went blind. I even acted it out in my head for months. This isn't exactly what I was looking to put on paper, but what I acted was really confusing, so I guess this is the next best thing. :) Hear No, See No Fox Mulder returned to his partner's apartment after taking her mother home. He dared not to switch on a light. It was five in the morning. Scully admitted she was past exhaustion. The tests performed by the neurologists at Georgetowm Memorial ruled out any serious clonic event and released her to his care for the night and to her mother's care for the next day when she was due back for more evaluations. Sometimes exhaustion caused the oddest symptoms for as long as they lasted. As he walked past the couch, heading towards her bedroom, he heard a movement behind him. He turned to see her on the couch, eyes wide open, but she didn't seem to be able to see anything. He made his way over to her and squatted down beside her. She was definitely awake, but she looked petrified. He took her hand in his, but she pulled away. A tear ran down her face. "Who are you?" she asked, whispering. "It's ok, Scully, it's just me." "Never mind," she suddenly said, "don't answer me. I can't hear you anyway." "Scully?" Mulder snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, but she didn't flinch. She didn't even blink. Scully started crying harder. She was so terribly scared. He started to put him arms around her, but she pulled away. "No! Don't touch me!" This didn't make any sense. Of course nothing seemed to make sense anymore in their lives. But the case hadn't been anything dangerous. It was just a murder case that was thought to be odd in some way, but wasn't. "Wait," Scully said, seeming to smell the air, "Mulder? Is that you?" "I'm here, Scull..." "It won't do any good to answer," she went on. "I can't hear or see." Scully reached out to touch him and her hands fell on his chest, running her hands all over him. "Mulder, this'll sound strange, but I need you to take off your shirt." Mulder was about to say something, but Scully knew him too well. "And if you are Mulder, don't say anything or I'll kick your ass later." Mulder laughed. "And let me guess, you're wearing your gray shirt and jeans." Scully felt the chest under her hands shake, knowing it was laughter. Mulder took off his shirt and put Scully's hands on it, letting her know he was ready. She felt around his upper right hand shoulder. And there it was. The scar where she'd shot him when he'd tried to kill the man who'd killed his father. Scully collapsed into Mulder, looking for sanctuary in his arms. She couldn't stop herself from crying and Mulder just sat there, embracing her, stroking her soft, auburn hair. 'Oh, Scully,' he thought, 'What have I let happen to you?' Scully shook her head and replied, "No, Mulder, it's not your fault. How come you..." Suddenly, Scully lifted her head. "Wait, did you say something? And if so, How did *I* hear it?" He looked confused, then seemed to understand. 'Scully,' he thought towards her, 'can you hear me?' Scully nodded. "I *can* hear you, Mulder, but how? I can't even hear myself speak." Mulder smiled a bit. 'I'm not speaking, Scully, I'm thinking. What happened? How did you get like this?' Scully didn't quite understand these strange occurrences, but she would take anything she could get to talk to him. "I don't know. I woke up about three to get a drink, and I couldn't see. I got over to the couch here all right, but I banged myself a few times. I didn't hear anything fall over; much less my legs hit the tables. I clapped and stomped, but I still couldn't hear anything." That explained why she hadn't heard him come in, or seen him walk past her. 'Scully, can you think of anything in our work that could have made you like this? Did you take any drugs or anything?' Scully sat up, trying to remember. Her eyes were still open, yet they stared past him in an eerie way. They seemed almost dead even though her eyes were still that bright blue he loved to see every morning he walked into the office. "No," she said, answering him, "No, not recently. And, Mulder, sorry I cried on you." 'Don't worry about it, Scully. You're scared and have the right,' he answered, 'But how is it I'm able to talk to you?' Again, Scully thought back. She remembered that he had told her about his ability to read minds and how one person could hear him. Maybe now his 'gift' was kicking in. But that gift wasn't really real, was it? And even if it was, it was Mulder who could read minds, not her. "I don't know," she replied. "I'm really not sure." 'Scully, I'm going to phone Skinner and ask him for the day off tomorrow for you. I'll explain it to him.' Scully nodded her thanks. Mulder gently touched her arm and pulled her in for another hug, kissing her on the top of the head, before he went to her phone. He had had to leave a message because it was a little later than five. He gently picked up his partner who had collapsed into sleep on the couch and carried her to her room. He covered her with all of her blankets, making sure she was comfortable, and laid down at the end of the bed on the floor where he could watch her. When Mulder woke up, he looked on top of the bed to see how his partner was doing. Scully was sitting up, staring at something her eyes could not fix on and rocking herself. 'Are you okay, Scully?' Scully jumped a little, but shook her head to indicate that she was fine. 'I'm going to make some breakfast. Do you want something? Maybe some eggs or something?' "Could I get some aspirin? I'm getting a headache." 'You wanna eat something first? Maybe you're just hungry.' "I guess." Mulder nodded. 'Ok.' A half an hour later, Mulder walked back in carrying a tray. Scully smelled the food and felt her stomach growl. 'I brought some aspirin too, just in case.' "Thanks, Mulder." 'On the menu today, Mademoiselle,' he paused to see a small smile stretch across her face, 'we have scrambled eggs a la Mulder (that means with cheese and all), toast with or without butter, and orange juice.' "Thanks, Mulder. But, you didn't have to go overboard." 'Well, I could have made it so that you didn't know what, exactly, you were eating. But I decided to be nice today.' He helped arrange her in the bed so that she was propped up and the tray could go over her legs. He then sat on the side of the bed, taking the fork in his hand and got a glob of eggs on the fork. 'Here comes the choo-choo! Open the tunnel wide!' Scully felt a smiling tugging at the corners of her mouth. She opened her mouth and grabbed the fork where his hand was and helped pull it out. "Mulder, really, I can eat myself. All you have to do is scoop some onto the fork for me." He shrugged. 'Well, I guess Dana doesn't need a mom like me. Maybe I should get her her other mom. Yes, I see how it is.' "Dammit, Mulder. I would say 'shut up' except for the fact that you're thinking everything I hear." Mulder smiled and got another fork full of eggs. They finally got a system worked out and he helped and at the same time, let her do it herself. They just went like that for an hour more. When they finished, Scully said, "Mulder, that was great. Thank you." 'Sure, it was no problem.' Mulder leaned forward to pick up the dishes on the tray and took them into to the kitchen. He sat down again in front of her. Even though she just stared off, her eyes caught his attention. So blue and clear. Sometimes he mused at the idea of seeing down into her soul because they were so clear. "Are you okay, Mulder?" Scully asked, noticing he had been quiet for a while. 'I'm fine. I was just looking.' "At what?" 'At you.' Scully raised her eyebrow slightly and smiled. She hoped that was a complement. Mulder moved around her feet to the other side of her bed to sit next to her. He leaned his head against the backboard and took her hand in his. Scully carefully leaned her head towards Mulder to rest her head on his shoulder. Mulder lifted his head to look at his partner. She looked tired. He carefully helped her slide down to her pillow and he lied next to her on his side. She slid on to her side so that they were both facing inward. His hand slowly reached to her head and he moved away a strand of hair. "Such beautiful hair," he said out loud, hoping it had the same effect of thinking. And it might have, but he couldn't tell whether her sigh was a sigh of contentment or her reaction of what he said about her. He'd never thought he'd be right here like this with her. Her. Dana Scully. The woman that haunts his dreams, the one he fell in love with for the first time ever. Yes, he'd thought he was in love before, but this seemed to go deeper. Being next to her like this felt so right, so natural. A second later, he kissed her. Not the normal forehead kiss, and not the one kiss, their first kiss, from New Year's. This one was one he felt though his whole body. And the best part was that she was kissing back. He wanted to stay like this forever. Scully was having the same feelings. She had felt his hand brush back her hair and 'heard' his comment about it. When he suddenly kissed her, something clicked on that never had before. This was Mulder, wasn't it? She wished she could see him, hear him. When they took a breather, Scully opened her eyes though she couldn't see clearly. She blinked. Shadows. She could see shadows. Mulder saw her blink a few times when they broke from each other. Then he saw something in her eyes almost, well, focus. They sat up simultaneously. Scully smiled, her eyes seeming to think something since the previous night. 'Please, kiss again.' So he did and his hand moved to the back of her neck. Yes, this was right, they both decided. When they finally broke again, her eyes were completely focused on him. Scully could see again. His eyes had never looked this bright and green before. She broke and touched his face, her hands on his cheeks. Like they had before, her thumbs traced his lips. Last time she had done that, she'd wanted him so bad, there and then. And as she shut her eyes again and he kissed her neck, he softly spoke to her. He called her and told her he loved her. That he wanted her. Only this time, they weren't exposed in an open hallway. As Mulder came back to her lips, she softly whispered, "I hear, and I want you too..." He kissed her and she finished "I love you." ...the beginning