TINY LITTLE CROSS By Lynn Keslensky Oct 9th 1997 SPOILER WARNING: Major One Breath spoiler. Must see the episode! RATING: G (Surprising ain't it!) CONTENT WARNING/CLASSIFICATION: V, MSR—admit it, there is no substitute. SUMMARY: After Scully wakes up . . . DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully are formally owned by Chris Carter and 20th Century Fox, but are really creations of David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson. How existential! * * * Dana looked at the tiny cross in her palm. The little gold cross that was given back to her in the hospital by Fox Mulder. He smiled at her as he handed it back. Dana only turned to her mother with a perturbed look. Margaret Scully looked back at her youngest daughter with a small smile in her eyes. The youngest Scully in the room of three looked back at a fond memory of her youth. It was her sixteenth year and in a frenzy to find something to wear with her blue party dress, she tossed clothes and books around her room searching for her necklace first given to her by her mother. Her Ahab was home, especially for the sweet sixteen party of his baby girl, and she wanted to look her best. Dana looked over at the open door and saw her father looking down at her. "Starbuck?" "Yes, Ahab?" "You dropped this in the living room." In his hand he held a gold chain with her tiny cross at the end. She jumped up and embraced her father in a bear hug. Her savior had saved her once more. First from her youthful nightmares of snakes and other monsters, and now from the adolescent fears of appearance. He was about to place the talisman of Christianity in her hand when he decided to unclasp it and secure it around her neck. Dana watched as her mother came up to see how she was doing. Untwisting the chain and placing the cross flat on her chest, Dana smiled up at her father. He kissed her forehead and held her cheeks in his hands. "Starbuck, next time you loss your strength, someone that loves you will be there to return it." At the time, Dana thought nothing of her father's cryptic message. She was flippant as a teenager, but as she received the necklace from Mulder it started making sense. Dana clutched the chain in her hand. It felt warm, like Mulder had been wearing it. Suddenly Mulder was knocking lightly at the door again. "Um . . Mrs. Scully? Could I speak to Scully alone?" "Sure, Fox. Come on, Missy." The two Scully women left through the door behind him. Mulder looked at the bed and saw Scully looking back at him. She was pale, no makeup touching her face so she looked completely terrible. Somehow he couldn't get the thought of how happy he was to see her out of his head. Stepping closer, he sat down on the edge to Scully's bed. "I couldn't leave yet. I wanted to know how you were. Make sure you were fine." "I'm fine, Mulder. Maybe a little tired." She let out the little skeptical laugh Mulder heard on rare occasions. "How about you?" "I'm just happy to see you awake." He reached for her hand to hold in his and saw the gold chain flicked in the light. Rolling back her fingers, he took the necklace from hand and held it in his. Using his thick fingers to stabilize the chain, he unclasped the catch. He reached forward and circled his hands around her neck. Dana, if not so tired, would have shivered from how familiar this was. Deja vu. Especially when he pulled his hand back but not before cupping her cheeks in them. "I'll let you get some sleep. Your mom and sister went to get something to eat. I'm going to be at my apartment if you need anything." Dana watched as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. Smiling just for her, he pulled away and walked out of the hospital room. Turning to the window, she thought about the implications of what just happened and raised her hand to her throat. Her strength was returning, so perhaps the other part of Ahab's prophecy was coming true as well. END **This was pure for MY pleasure, but you can tell me if you like it. **