Title: TINH Revisited
By: Vickie Moseley 
Spoilers: This is Not Happening
Summary: Imagine if it were Skinner abducted instead 
of Mulder at the end of Requiem. Now, imagine the 
rest of season 8. 
Category: A, RST
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: We won! You lost! I'm happy! But I'm 
still not making money, so I guess money can't buy 
happiness after all.
Archives: yes
Author's notes: Fuzzy, this is the one you asked 
for! Hope it lives up to expectations. And thank 
you to the many people who have written me to 
encourage me in this series. I love you all!
If you want to keep up, it helps to read
Requiem Revisited and it wouldn't hurt to have a 
general working knowledge of season 8. Or maybe it 
would be better if you never saw any of the episodes 
on television. You might prefer this option.
Feedback and requests to: vickiemoseley1978@yahoo.com

TINH Revisited
By Vickie Moseley 
vickiemoseley1978@yahoo.com

A motel room in Montana
2:35 am

She sees him. He's lying in a darkened room on some 
kind of chair. Blood drips from wounds at his wrists 
and feet, hooks pull back his cheeks. He's deathly 
pale and unconscious. 

Gasping, she jerked awake, sitting up straight in 
bed. Her action caused an immediate counteraction in 
the person sleeping next to her. He was up and had 
his arms wrapped around her before she even realized 
she was sobbing.

"Scully, shhhh, it's all right. I'm here, it's all 
right," Mulder murmured in her ear. He stroked her 
hair, noting that it was damp and sticking to her 
face. "It was a bad dream, baby. Just a dream."

"Oh, god, it was so real. Mulder, it was so real!" 
she sobbed.

"What, Scully? Can you tell me about it? Sometimes 
it helps to talk it out, see that it's just a figment 
of your imagination," he reasoned, still maintaining 
her in a comforting embrace.

"I feel sick!" she warned him and pushed him back as 
she fled the bed and ran into the bathroom, getting 
there just in time.

Mulder was up like a shot, standing behind her, 
holding her hair back. The dream really had to be 
bad for her to react to it like she was. When she 
seemed to stop vomiting, he reached over and wet a 
washcloth, holding it gently to the back of her neck. 
She reached behind her and squeezed his hand where it 
rested on her shoulder.

"Can we take a walk?" she asked weakly.

He frowned. "Scully. It's the middle of the night," 
he reminded her.

"I need fresh air, Mulder. Please. Just for a 
little while," she pleaded.

He could deny her nothing, especially when she asked 
in that voice. 

"Let me get some clothes on," he responded. Helping 
her to her feet, he walked her back to the bed, then 
let go of her hand long enough to pull his pants from 
the back of the chair and pull them on. He grabbed 
the extra blanket from the closet and wrapped it 
around her shoulders before pulling her to her feet. 
Then he unbolted the door to the motel room and they 
walked out into the star-filled night.

The motel was in the middle of nowhere and there was 
no 'urban light pollution' to conflict with the 
canopy of diamonds above them. Scully took his hand 
and kissed it tenderly, then lowered both their 
locked hands to rest by their sides. He stood 
silent, giving her time. He knew she would tell him, 
he just had to be patient.

"It was Skinner," she said quietly when they'd stood 
for a few moments.

"You saw him in your dream?" Mulder asked, his voice 
almost a whisper.

She nodded, her face breaking into tears. "They were 
doing . . . horrible things . . . Oh, god, Mulder, 
what if he's dead?"

He took her in his arms again and she rested her 
cheek against his chest. She broke the silence of 
the night again. "You once told me about starlight. 
How it's billions of years old."

He nodded, his chin resting on her head. "I 
remember."

"Stars that are now long dead whose light is now 
traveling through time. It won't die, that light."

"Scully," he sighed, stroking her head.

"You said that was where souls reside, because the 
light never dies, maybe it's the only thing that 
never does."

He kissed her on the crown of her head. She turned 
her face up toward him. "I hope you're right," she 
said, breaking into tears.

He kissed her cheeks and then her lips. "Scully, 
please. Don't do this to yourself."

"He would look for us, Mulder, I know he would."

He nodded solemnly. "We will find him, Scully. 
Together, we will find him. I promise."

The end.