Chapter Text
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Mulder tapped his pen against the styrofoam coffee cup as a voice droned on in the background. Scully glared at him from across the table, but he knew she was just as bored as he was. A foot knocked against his under the table and Mulder glanced up from his pen to see Skinner glaring at him. He stopped tapping, but he shifted his focus to nudging Skinner's foot in the attempt to get the other man to play footsie. He watched Walter out of the corner of his eye and was rewarded with a twitch of the lips that might have turned into a smile if they weren't at a table full of agents. Instead, it turned into a frown and the foot that had been near him was suddenly withdrawn as the A.D. straightened in his chair.
Mulder suppressed a sigh and the urge to tap his pen against the cup again. The voice was still droning on without a change in subject - budget meetings were the fifth ring of hell and Mulder was sure he hadn't done anything so bad as to be trapped there. If Walter hadn't personally reminded him last night of this very meeting he'd be on a case in the middle of Wisconsin or in a dentist chair having his teeth randomly drilled right now. Anything, but the budget meeting.
The urge to tap his cup was becoming stronger again, but a sudden flare of pain stopped him this time. Wincing, he dropped his pen and rubbed at the temples. The voice didn't stop, but he could feel some of the other agents turning to stare at him. Mulder wasn't surprised - any kind of activity would be entertainment just now - but he couldn't summon the strength to care that he was the new spotlight at the moment, his head was splitting open.
"Agent...are you all right?" Walter's voice was soft, but professionally distant and proper. Mulder moved to nod his head, but the slightest movement made him gasp. The agent on the other side of him was putting a hand on his shoulder while Scully got up to walk over to his side. The voice seemed to finally realize no one was listening and faltered in mid sentence.
"Mulder?"
"Is he okay?"
"I think he should step out, sir"
"Kim, call an ambulance -"
Mulder found enough strength to speak up at that, "No - no, I'm fine. Just a headache..." he squinted up at Skinner's concerned face and then promptly shut his eyes. The light peeking from behind the blinds was enough to send new spikes of pain through his brain. There was a moment of argument amongst a few of them, but Scully finally won and led him out of the office and down to the basement. He was relieved to get out of the room and away from the noise of other people, but just as they reached the silence of his office, Scully was dragging him back out of it.
"What are you doing?" he grumbled - not whined.
Scully handed him his coat and put her own on before leading him by the arm again. "I'm taking you home. I think it’s just a migraine, but I'll stay with you to make sure it doesn't get worse. You wore yourself out on this last case, Mulder. I told you to take some time off."
Mulder had just spent the last week working 20-hour days on an important serial killer case that VCU had asked his help for. Scully had worked nearly as hard at his side, but Mulder was the one that had to get into the killer's head and he hadn't slept even when he'd gone home for a few hours rest. He hadn't thought it was too much at the time - he'd done that sort of thing all the time before he'd had the X-Files, but maybe she'd been right. Maybe he'd gotten too damn old for that kind of work - his head felt like it was going to explode at the slightest touch. He couldn't argue with her so he let her drive him home and tuck him into bed.
The pain wouldn't let him rest at first, but eventually sleep came over him like an oppressive fog that wouldn't lift. He slept heavily and exhaustedly for what felt like days. Scully was reluctant to leave him, but he managed to mumble to her sometime around midnight that he was just going to sleep and she should get home. Mulder promised to call her as soon as he woke up the next day and sighed with relief to hear the door shut behind her before falling back into an unnaturally deep sleep.
He was startled some time later by a hand on his forehead. He'd told Scully to go home and he was annoyed she'd tricked him until he opened his eyes and squinted at the blurry sight of a bald head and glasses.
"Walter?" he croaked, voice gone dry and rusty.
"Sorry - I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have a fever." Skinner leaned over to his bedside where Scully had left a bottle of water and offered it to him.
Mulder drank thirstily and then leaned back into the pillows. The pain wasn't gone, but it was dulled and bearable. He sighed gratefully at both the company and the lower level of pain. "Scully said it was just a migraine from overworking...those budget meetings would give anyone a splitting headache."
Skinner rolled his eyes and stood up to take off his trench coat. "Those meetings are a necessary evil for our work, Mulder - besides you barely ever attend them. You can stand to show up once a year and pretend to give a shit." He dropped the coat on a chair overflowing with folders and newspapers and loosened his tie.
Mulder grinned at the familiar sight and shifted over in the bed to make room. They didn't often get to spend the night together, but apparently he was being indulged tonight. Too bad he still wasn't up to anything more than cuddling.
Tomorrow was a Saturday and he was sure he could convince the man to take the day off for once and stay in bed with him. It was a pleasant night for Mulder as he listened to Skinner breathe deeply next to him in bed - the pain was nearly gone and he could almost pretend it hadn't happened.
Unfortunately, he couldn't pretend for long.
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