#2005ish

“Mulder?” She says softly, “Come here. Are you okay?”

He quickly snuggles closer to her, kissing her cheek several times to show how glad he is to be where he is.

“Bad dream?”

Mulder nods, his nose brushing up and down against hers. He mumbles, “...like the movie.”

“The Notebook gave you nightmares?” Scully says, not entirely hiding the amusement in her voice.

“I dreamed that I had dementia, and I didn’t remember what happened to... Sam. And I was all alone, trying to remember, trying to recall every detail, again and again, of what took place that night. The game we played, the light, the fight we had...”

Mulder rubs his nose and forehead against her neck, seeking warmth and reassurance.

Scully frowns a little and tilts her head so she can kiss his forehead and face. “You poor thing,” she coos.

He returns with light kisses and feels his heart settling back to a normal pace, feeling the jitters from his earlier slumber dissipate.

“I wouldn’t want to live forever if I lost my memory.” He sighs. “I hope that’ll never happen to us.”

“Yes, honey.” She soothes, “There are ways to prevent dementia, you know. Keeping a good blood pressure, exercising, eating healthy... It has both genetic and environmental factors. And I hope that when we’re in our old age, modern science will have tackled dementia...”

“Always the optimist for science,” he concludes, smiling. He loves how Scully can always be so hopeful for the future.

“And...if you do...get dementia, Mulder,” Scully begins, tenderly like she always is when she’s with him, “I’ll be with you, and we’ll go look for Samantha together. Every day.”