Iunctio ut Redimio - Book One - Part 1
by Kay

Feedback: kay101342@gmail.com
Spoilers: IWTB
Time Span: Post IWTB; February 2008
Disclaimer: Characters that are not mine do not belong to me.


Friday, 6:45 p.m.

Dana Scully walked through the quiet house, wondering where he
could be. His office was empty, but there was a note taped to the
computer screen that read, "Gone out. Do wonders never cease, or
what?"

Rolling her eyes and rubbing the back of her neck, she wandered
back down the hall and into her bedroom. He had made the bed
that morning. Wonders indeed. She kicked off her shoes, let her
hair down, and dropped backwards across the bed.

When the front door opened ten minutes later, she was still lying there
on her back with the back of her hand resting across her eyes. From
the doorway she heard, "What's up, Doc?" Like that didn't get old at
the end of every day.

She moved her hand up to her forehead and opened her eyes. He
was leaning against the doorjamb, new haircut, new clothes, and a
big smile on his face. She raised an eyebrow at him. "You look
happy, Mulder."

He stepped forward and took her foot into his hand, reaching up the leg
of her slacks and pulling off her knee-hi.  As he began to massage the
foot, he replied, "You don't look happy, Scully. Long day?"

She closed her eyes again and sighed deeply. He repeated the
process with her other foot, this time reaching his hand all the way up
her slacks and stroking the back of her thigh before removing
the stocking. Her eyes drifted open. "Looking to get lucky before the
evening news? You are just full of surprises tonight, now aren't you?"

Dropping her foot, he sat beside her on the bed, running a
fingertip along her side. "Why don't you rest while I make dinner? You
look really wiped out."

She wrinkled her nose. "That's just another way of saying I look like
crap, Mulder."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Scully, even on your
worst day, you take my breath away."

She ran a hand along his smooth cheek and looked into his eyes for the
first time that day. What she saw there made her heart pound and her
stomach tense. That look was back. She hadn't seen it in years. "Oh,
Mulder." As she sucked in her breath, a sob caught in her throat.  She
curled onto one side, so he couldn't see her face. Slowly, she forced
her breathing back to normal.

Sensing her vulnerability, he stretched out behind her, spooning
his body around hers. He could feel the quivering all along her body. It
had taken him a long time to figure out. It was how Scully cried - or at
least how she tried NOT to cry. The first few times he felt it, it
reminded him of that night in Oregon when she knocked on his door
and said she couldn't get warm.  The very first time it happened, he had
been lying there in New Mexico, almost asleep, when he felt the
quivering start. He had asked what was wrong, but her only response
had been even further tightening of her body. It was the breathing that
finally gave it away. She took deep, quivery breaths in and out. It had
scared him half to death that first time. From then on, he never asked;
he just wrapped his body around hers and held her until her breathing
returned to normal and she fell asleep.

Tonight she quivered for a lot longer than usual before relaxing. When
he thought she was finally sleeping, he started to slip out of bed. A small
hand clamped onto his forearm. He dropped his head down to kiss her
cheek. "Sleep, Scully." Still the hand held tight. "Scully?"

"Mulder?" she whispered.

"Hmm?" he asked, nuzzling her cheek.

There was a long silence. He waited. Sometimes, it took her
several false starts when she wanted to talk. He was used to this as
well.  He could see the veins in her hand she was holding his arm so
tight. She took one more deep, shuddery breath. "I love you." The
hand loosened.

His heart started pounding. Scully never said that. It scared him to
death.  He hugged her into him again, almost too tightly.

He rubbed her cheek gently and felt a teardrop. "Ah, Scully." You are
breaking my heart, he thought.

She kissed his fingertips. "Even though I don't show it. Even though it
doesn't seem like it. I do. I have. I will. Always. No matter what,
Mulder."

She would not turn to face him, so he rolled over the top of her to the
other side. He needed to see her eyes. The sadness in those crystalline
depths sucker punched him every time he saw it. Forcing her to hold his
gaze, he held both of her hands to his lips. "You do. It does. I know.
Me too. Forever." Finally, he stood up and tucked a blanket around
her. "Sleep, Scully. I'll wake you when dinner is ready." As he walked
out the bedroom door, he stopped. "And Scully?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hmm?"

He hesitated. "I hate to bring it up. But I can't not...When you said you
weren't coming home...it's just...Scully, I don't know what home means
to you. But to me, home isn't a place. To me, you are home.  You have
been for a long time."

The hurt in his voice tugged at places she just couldn't go right now.
She shut her eyes tightly. "I'm sorry.  I just don't know how to be right
now. Nothing feels right, Mulder."

He sighed deeply. "Don't be sorry, Scully. I'm not asking you to
be something you aren't.  Just...I do worry...that you've already
given up." He abruptly walked away.

But she heard the knot form in his throat.  That was something that had
taken her a while to learn about him. When he abruptly ended
a conversation, turned his back on her or walked away, it was
usually because he was getting emotional and needed to regain his
composure. For the first time, it occurred to her that she never really
did anything to comfort him anymore.


Friday, 9:45 p.m.

She stretched, noting that the only light was coming from the flicker of a
candle across the room. Her stomach rumbled as the smell of food
made its way to her. She sat up then realized that he was sitting in the
dark, looking at her. "Hi."

He smiled a little. "Hi."

"You said you would wake me." 

"I couldn't bring myself to."

She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes. "Is the power out?"

He shook his head. "No."

She wrinkled her brow. "Oh. Something smells really good." He
had become a top notch chef these past few years. "I'll warm it up," he
said. They ate by candlelight, neither saying much. The food, however,
was great. She ate more than she had in the past month. As she began
to clear the table, he stopped her. "Let's leave the dishes. I promise to
do them in the morning."

Normally, she would not stand for this...but..."What'd you have in
mind instead?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Bubble bath for two?"

She tilted her chin up towards him. "By candlelight?"

He nodded. She took a deep breath. This wasn't your
everyday seduction. This was seduction of the mind, of the emotions, of
the heart. This was Mulder at his most terrifying. He wanted to talk.
Really talk. And he knew the best way to get her to let her guard down
when she was wide awake was in a darkened room, where she
felt warm and safe - hence the bubble bath and candlelight. She
had known this was coming. He had just given her a reprieve these
last several days. May as well try to delay it for as long as possible.
She reached out and snagged him by the waistband of his
jeans. "Okay, Mulder. But I get to undress you first."

Finally, she settled into the bathtub, perfectly sized for the two of them.
He lay back on one end, she on the other, bubbles up to their chins.
She wedged her feet beneath his thighs. "Tell me about your day,
Mulder."

He shrugged. "I joined the gym. Played some B-ball. Got a
haircut. Shopped. Saw a movie. Had my nails done." He said all this in
a singsong voice.

She gave him the patented Scully look, one eyebrow lifted. 

"Not THAT kind of movie, Scully." He twirled his fingers in the
soap suds. Suddenly, he spoke seriously and quietly. "I know
you're worried about me coming back to the land of the living. I
know you've worried all week about what will happen next, what I'll
do, whether you'll be able to cope with it. I think you already know that
I'm not going to open a private practice and charge some desperate
housewife $200 an hour to tell her that her husband still loves her. "

She looked at him for a long time. "So I take it you decided all this
without me. That this is a unilateral decision."

He was getting aggravated. "Scully, I haven't MADE any decisions. I'm
just stating the facts that we already both know. Surely you didn't think
that we would continue as before, with me sitting here all day and half
the night waiting for you to come back."

She bit down on her bottom lip. "I liked our life, Mulder."

He sat forward. "That is not fair, Scully. Our life was out of necessity.
Not choice. In fact, you were the only one who had anything
resembling a life. Besides, you didn't like our life, Scully. You haven't
smiled in months. You haven't laughed out loud in...God, I can't
remember when. "

Tears formed instantly in her eyes. She knew what he was saying
was true. "Don't put me through this, Mulder."

He felt the trembling start. This time, he couldn't comfort her. "Scully,
you talk about the darkness. How you don't want to chase monsters
anymore. I'm not asking you to. Medicine is your career now. But let
me ask you this. Is there not darkness at that hospital? Aren't there
monsters lurking around every corner, fighting you for your patients?
You ARE chasing monsters in the dark. They just come at you in a
different way."

She tilted her head defiantly. "I don't risk my life every day, Mulder.
When I walk out that door each morning, you know there is a good
chance I'm coming back in one piece that night. You've already started
again. You run off half-cocked and get yourself into a jam. If I'm not
there with you, who is going to make sure you come back home to me?
I don't want to get that phone call saying you aren't coming home. I
have lost everything else, Mulder. I can't lose you, too." Tears slipped
freely down her face. "And I hate this person I've become, Mulder. I've
never been this way. Nothing makes me happy. I hate to go to work. I
dread coming home and finding that you're not here. I am afraid all the
time."

He was out of the tub and wrapped in a towel. He made her stand
up, and wrapped her thick, furry robe around her. "Look at me.
Think back, Scully. You WERE always afraid of our work. The
difference was that you didn't let the fear paralyze you. Anyone in our
lives can be gone in an instant. We have to make the best of the time
we have. I have to be me, Scully. I have to keep fighting the fight. Now
that I can, I have to go back out there." He tilted her head gently up to
look at him. "But I promise you, Scully, that I will ALWAYS come
home to you as long as I'm alive. I'm in this completely. I told you that
when we settled down here. Would I like you out there with me? Of
course I would. But I can't ask that of you anymore. I don't know how
much I can even stand to do without you. It won't be like before, if
that's what you're afraid of. But I have to try to do something." He
pulled her close to him.

She shoved against his chest, still shaking. "You have to
promise, Mulder. When you go out there," she waved her hand in an
all consuming gesture, "that you will remember that you have a
commitment to me, to us. There are truths in this room between us that
are just as important to me as the truth about the rest of the world."
She crossed her arms over her chest. "I know it's wrong of me,
Mulder, to ask you to forsake your feelings about your sister for me. I
know that's what has driven you all these years. But, Mulder, I'm
here and she's not."

He sighed deeply.  "Scully. You always come back to that. I'm
not doing any of this for Samantha. Not anymore. How many times do
we have to go through this? When I said that...about finding
Samantha being all that matters...that was fifteen years ago. You helped
me come to terms with all that, to find closure. You were always there."
He dragged her down onto the bed beside him. Propping himself up, he
stared into her eyes. "I will always be drawn to those kinds of cases,
but Scully, that has as much to do with you now as it does my sister.
When I think about what scares me most in the world, it's the idea that
you may not come home one night. That if it happens again, I may not
be able to bring you back to me. Just like Samantha. And I can't just sit
back and let that happen. I have to fight. I don't know how else to be."
He caressed her cheek. She buried her nose in his chest. After holding
her for a long moment, he kissed her forehead. "There's something else,
isn't there? I can see it in your eyes, in the way you carry yourself these
days."

A half laugh escaped her. "Oh, Mulder. There is so much more, I don't
know where to start.  You know how awful I am with feelings." She
sighed deeply. She took another shaky breath. "It's just...I think about
him all time, Mulder. Where he is, if he's happy, if he knows about me,
if they ever tell him that I gave him to them because I loved him too
much not to. And Mulder....there is something else. I've been afraid to
tell you. I know I've been awful. I really am trying. It's just an effort to
get through the day right now, Mul-"

He draped one leg over hers and put his fingers to her lips.
"Look, Scully...what's wrong here can't all be fixed in one night. Does
it make me feel awful knowing I don't bring you any joy? Yes, it
does. But if we weren't together, wouldn't that make you worry more?
Never knowing where I was? I know I would worry more. I would
worry whether you made it home okay from the hospital late at
night...And just answer one question: is there somewhere else you think
you would be happier right now? Other than here with me?" 

She kissed his fingers.  "Of course not, Mulder. Having you here at
night is the only thing that makes my days bearable. That's why I don't
want you running off trying to save the world. I worry it will destroy
my world. And I guess I thought it would be better to willingly give you
up than..." She paused, licked her lips, then started again. "I don't know
how much I can take, Mulder. I know it's who you are. And I know it
doesn't make sense because I'm the one who pushed you to get back
out there." Her voice broke. "It has always been this way with you,
Mulder.  What made me love you has always been the thing about you
that caused me the most pain."

He rubbed her arms. "Scully, you and William are the only things that
matter to me now. I know he isn't here. But I have to try to make this
world safe again - for you and for him. I have to believe that there is a
way. That's the only reason I get up in the mornings. You have been by
my side for fifteen years. You have never wavered. Give me four or five
more, Scully. Please. I really will try to be everything you've always
wanted, try to make your world right, try to make it so that we can be a
part of William's life again in the future, if..."

She did that funny little thing. That half sigh, half exasperated laugh.
"Oh, Mulder. If what? If you can save the world? I should have known
the truth wasn't enough for you."

He was a little sheepish. "Of course it's not, Scully. I'm a true believer. I
only wanted the truth so I could use it to save us. I want it all. For us.
For you. For our son. For the rest of the kids in this world. I will die
trying to get it. You have always known that. I've just been on...a
necessitated hiatus. The truth is that I've been here licking my wounds
these last few years because there was nothing else I could do. I have
always lived in the dark, Scully. But ever since I met you, you were my
light, my beacon. I just wish I could be yours."

She kissed him, on the lips...another rarity. "Oh, Mulder, you are. Why
do you think I'm so afraid? I don't know if I will be able to go on if you
go and get yourself killed.  The last time, the only thing that kept me
sane, Mulder, was knowing I had to think of the future of our child.
Why do you think you have to save the world? Why can't we just be a
normal couple, who goes to work and comes home, and...and..."

He never had understood this desire of hers to have a "normal"
life. How could she claim that's what her heart desired and at the
same time think she loved HIM? Why hadn't she just settled down with
some schmuck all those years ago? It's like to make her happy, he'd
have to be someone else. "Scully, we can do normal things now. We
can go to dinner, movies, vacation, parties." She gave a half laugh at
the look of distaste on his face. "But you can't ask me to ignore my life's
work. I want there to still be human life on this planet when our son is
all grown up. I can't just sit back and hope someone else does it. When
did you become like this? What made you give up hope? Why won't
you keep fighting this?"

She sniffled. "Mulder...I just...I can't. Don't you ever want just a few
years of peace? So what if the world ends in four years. Why can't we
just be us for now? Not worry about everything else?"

He looked at her like he didn't even know her. "Because,
Scully...that wouldn't BE us. I don't know who this person is saying
this. That's not the woman I fell in love with."

She rolled away from him. "Mulder...maybe you just don't know
me anymore."

They lay in silence for several minutes. He tucked a stray strand of hair
behind her ear. "No, Scully. Maybe you just don't know yourself.
Maybe that's why you're so miserable all the time. You know that you
feel a compulsion to do this, too. But you're fighting it because you're
so afraid. But Scully...you don't have to. I will do this. For you. All you
have to do is be a doctor. But I have to go back out there." He lay
behind her again, thinking he spent more time looking at her back than
her face these days. Finally, he spoke. "So...are we okay? For now?"

She took another deep, shuddery breath. "WE are fine, Mulder.
I'm just not. I just...I need more time. I feel like I'm going to fly apart
into a million pieces. I never did finish telling you..."

A knock at the front door startled them both. "What the hell?"
He jumped up and grabbed his gun from his bedside drawer.  "Stay
here," he commanded her, pulling on sweatpants and a t-shirt.

No one had knocked on that door for pretty much the whole time
they had lived there. She listened for voices. When she recognized
the low pitched voice, she dropped back onto the bed. Skinner. "This
is not happening," she muttered. For half an hour, Mulder did not
return. She refused to go out there. So she paced like a caged animal.
Finally, after great internal debate, she donned Mulder's favorite silky
long nightgown and matching robe and went in search of the voices.
She found the two men in Mulder's office. She braced herself in the
doorway, leaving her robe open in front, crossing her arms across her
chest.  "Mulder, I'm cold. When are you coming back to bed?"

When Mulder looked up from the file, his jaw dropped and
eyes narrowed. She wasn't indecent, but still...He walked over to her
and pulled her robe closed in front. "Soon. I promise." He leaned
down and kissed her soundly.

She kissed him back. Really kissed him. "You'd better, Mulder.
And you'd better be staying there all night." She was not going to
make it easy for him to run off and leave her. She wanted him to
realize what he was leaving behind every time he did. She leaned
around him and eyed Skinner. "Would you like a cup of coffee for the
road?"

Skinner cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, that would be great."

Scully left the doorway. She returned fifteen minutes later with
a steaming Styrofoam cup, handing it over to her former boss.
She perched herself on the edge of Mulder's desk, refusing to look at
the photos scattered around the file. She ran a finger up Mulder's
arm. When she crossed her legs, the slit in her nightgown rose up
to reveal her thigh. She looked at Skinner. "I guess I never did say
a proper thank you for your help the last time I called you."

He cleared his throat again, clearly uncomfortable. "No
thanks necessary, Dana. I guess I should head out. Mulder, if you come
up with anything else, call me."

Mulder stood up and followed him through the house. Once out
of earshot, Skinner looked at Mulder. "Listen, man, I'm sorry to
just show up unannounced like this.  I can tell Scully wasn't
thrilled about it."

Mulder shrugged it off and stepped out onto the porch. "She's
going through a rough time right now. I don't know what all is going
on with her."

Skinner nodded. "Yeah, she hasn't seemed herself the last few
times I've seen her."

Mulder looked at him oddly. "You've seen her? I mean, other
than when she called and asked for your help?"

Skinner looked at him strangely. "Well, yeah. I mean, we meet for lunch
every now and then...look, I thought you..."

Mulder shook his head.  "Don't worry about it. Let me get back inside.
I'm either about to take a big ass chewing OR get really lucky..."

Skinner nodded. "Yeah, well, from her body language, my money's
on the OR... in which case, you can thank me by calling with info in
the next twenty-four hours."

Mulder looked around. "Uh, Skinner? Where's your car?"

Skinner scowled. "I climbed around the fence and walked up the drive.
At least I have coffee in a handy to-go cup to keep me warm for the
hike back."

"Why didn't you call the house? I could have come down and
opened the gate."

Skinner gave him a look. "Well, I didn't want to risk Scully answering
the phone and telling me to call back at a decent hour...or worse."

"Ah."

Mulder locked the door, turning out the lights on his way back to the
bedroom. Scully had the light off and the candle lit again.  He looked up
as she came out of the bathroom. "Well, well, Daaaana. That was quite
a show you gave. I just wish Skinner hadn't enjoyed it so much."

She gave a delicate snort. "Oh, please."

He crossed his arms. "Seriously, Scully. I have always thought Skinner
was halfway in love with you."

She raised an eyebrow as she lifted her gown over head, leaving
her hair a wild mass of waves and the rest of her completely
naked. "Only halfway? Huh. I'll work on that." She came right up to
him and stripped his t-shirt off.  "If you do check out on me,
Mulder, you can eat your heart out from the other side because the next
time I have a man in my life, he will definitely have a desk job."
She shoved his sweatpants down his hips and pushed him back onto
the bed.

"You would die of boredom, Scully," he murmured as she straddled
him. To himself he thought, thank you, Skinner. I owe you a profile
first thing tomorrow.


Saturday, 9:00 a.m.

She stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes with the back of
her hand. 

He looked up at her. "Morning, sleepyhead. Whoa, you look pale." He
leaned forward and touched her cheek. "You okay?"

She looked at the eggs on his plate, "Ugh. No, I feel really queasy. I
have to go make rounds at the hospital, though." She eyed the
gory photos spread out on the breakfast table. "Mulder, my kitchen
was carefully decorated to be light and airy. Please don't bring that kind
of thing into this room."

He scooped the stuff back into its folder and kissed the top of
her head. "You're the boss, babe. I'll make you some toast and
drive you to the hospital, okay?"

She nodded. "Thanks. I'll throw on some makeup and clothes, try
to tame my hair."

He looked over at her. "Your hair looks nice tousled and wavy.
It's long enough now you can get away with it. Plus, it's Saturday.
I'm sure your patients won't mind."

A smile shaped her lips. Had she known that being the initiator would
tame him, she'd have done it much more frequently.

She dozed in the car on the way to the hospital, her head
leaning against his shoulder. While she checked her patients, all of
whom were under the age of 14, Mulder followed her around making
small talk with them, showing them cool tricks. When she went down to
the lab, he stayed upstairs in the rec room playing Wii bowling with
one 12 year old. When she returned, he was happily playing
against another child who wasn't her patient. Four others watched
and cheered. She smiled. "Hey, you ready?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I have two more sets promised. Do
you need to work some?"

She nodded. "I could stand a half hour of paperwork. Come up
and find me if you finish first?"

He waved her away with his left hand. As she rounded the corner,
she him yell, "Strike!" She shook her head. He would no doubt be
the talk of the nurses' station later.

Time slipped away from her. When she looked at the clock, it
was almost noon. She closed up her office and started up to find
Mulder. He was still in the rec room, and as she expected, there were
two nurses and an aid peeking in the doorway. She cleared her throat
so they would let her through. 

He was just finishing his game when he caught sight of her out of
the corner of his eye. "Hey, Doc...we should get one of these
Wii's. Seriously." The boys looked at her, then back at him.

"Are you married to Dr. Scully?"

"Cool."

"Can you come back next weekend?" 

The kids were all talking at once. "I'd love to come back. Maybe not
next weekend, but soon, okay? Right now I'm going to take Dr. Scully
out to lunch."

On the way out to the car, he asked if she minded driving to D.C. with
him that afternoon to see Skinner.  She sighed deeply. "Mulder, I don't
want to spend the whole afternoon in the car." The look on his face
changed her mind. "Fine. Tell him we're going to that little Thai place I
always liked. He can meet us there because I will be starving by the
time we get there."

He wrinkled his nose. "Thai? Scully, I've been locked away for years. I
should get to pick the restaurant."

She shook her head. "No way. I brought you food from anywhere you
wanted."

"But that doesn't make up for the atmosphere." He gave her a pleading
look.

She backed down. "Fine. Anywhere you want to go." She leaned
her head back and slept all the way to D.C. Mulder wondered if she
was getting sick or if this was just part of the depression she
was sinking into. He'd never seen her sleep as much as she had
these past couple of weeks.

At the restaurant, Skinner was already waiting with a younger, brunette
woman. She stood up when they walked in and threw her arms around
Scully. "Hey, Dana. Seems like I keep missing you when I'm in
Richmond. I stopped by your office a couple of times this week."

Scully hugged her back. "Yeah, it's been crazy. Wait, what are you
doing here?" She stopped and looked at Mulder. "Oh, wait, sorry.
Mulder, this is Kate Carter. She's a fellow doctor. Kate, this is Fox
Mulder."

Kate shook his hand. "Hi. It's nice to finally meet you."

"You, too." He kept looking at her, trying to figure out where he knew
her from. "Is this the first time we've met?"

She nodded. "Yep. Pretty sure."

Mulder studied her features. Thin but athletic looking. Long, chestnut
brown hair. It was the eyes, though, that stood out. They were a
strange, pale shade of green, startling in contrast to the dark hair. He
was sure he'd seen her before.

She sat across from Scully and pushed a plate of appetizers towards
her. "Eat. You look like you've lost more weight. So anyway, I was at
the dry cleaner's and saw Walter coming in.  He said he was meeting
you guys here. Hope you don't mind that I crashed." She glanced at the
two men, who had moved to another table to spread out the file Mulder
was carrying. "So...what did he say?"

Scully sucked in her breath and puffed out her cheeks. "I didn't talk to
him yet." She noted the look Kate gave her. "Kate, I'm trying. I just
can't get a handle on everything. Please. I was about to talk to him, but
then I got interrupted, and then I lost my nerve. Just give me a little
time."

Kate leaned forward. "No, Dana. You have to talk to him.
This weekend. You can't keep this up. Keeping secrets was never easy
for you.  Promise me."

Scully nodded. "I promise."

Kate stared at her for minute. "Okay. I believe you. Change
of subject... listen, I have to tell you about this weird case I had
come through my office this week..."

Skinner and Mulder moved back to their table after they
ordered. When Scully went to the bathroom after they ate, Kate caught
Mulder's eye. "I know you think you know me, but you don't. I can see
the wheels turning in your head."

"I know I've seen your face." 

She nodded. "Look. I've known Dana a long time. You've probably
seen a picture of me or something."

Recognition dawned. He had seen a picture of her. It was in a wooden
box with the few things of William's that Scully had kept. "How long
have you known each other?"

"A long time, actually." Her phone rang. "Oh, I need to take
this. Excuse me." 

Skinner looked at Mulder, answering his unspoken questions. "She
spent some time at the CDC in Atlanta, does some cutting edge
genetics research. She consults for me at the Bureau sometimes. She
and Scully lectured together some at Quantico after Kate first moved
back here. Anyway, she was a good friend to Scully after William was
born."

Mulder nodded. It amazed him how he always thought he knew Scully
so well, but then something else would come up and he'd realize all
over again just how closed off she kept herself.


Saturday, 4:45 p.m.

Driving back home, Mulder looked over at Scully. She'd been
quiet since they left the restaurant. "You okay?"

She kept looking out the window. "I'm fine, Mulder."

He grimaced. "I thought we banned that phrase years ago?"

She smiled slightly. "What did you think of Kate?"

Mulder shrugged. "She seems nice. How do you know her?"

"We met at a medical conference back in...oh, ‘98, I guess.  I actually
used to call her quite a bit for consults on our cases. She was always
curious about things that were medically hard to explain. She was
respected in the medical field, even for someone so young, but she was
also really open to..."

Mulder prodded, "X-files type stuff?"

Scully nodded. "Yeah. It was hard for me in those days, Mulder. When
I needed support from the medical community, I couldn't turn to just
anyone. Very few serious people would take me seriously." 
She paused, lost in thought. "Anyway, she moved to Richmond
after leaving Atlanta and eventually to D.C., but she still spends a
couple of days a week in Richmond. She has a steady patient base
there. I usually see her when she's in town."

He glanced over at her, huddled down in the passenger seat. "I
think I've seen a picture of her."

Scully looked at him. She knew he had already placed Kate from that
picture of her holding William at the zoo. It was one of her favorites.
William had just giggled out loud in delight from Kate blowing
raspberries on his cheek and his toothless grin was huge. A lump
formed in her throat. "Yeah, you have. Can we not talk too much about
it right now?"

He sighed. Sometimes, he really wanted to talk about William,
but Scully never seemed to be willing. He wanted to know about
those months she'd spent taking care of William. He needed to hear
about the good times she spent as his mother. There were only a few
photos - no videos - and she kept those tucked away in a small
wooden box along with a blanket and one baby outfit. He felt like he
was doing something wrong any time he pulled the box out. "You never
want to talk about it," he muttered.

She was suddenly exhausted. "I know Skinner wants you to go out
of town on a consult soon. When do you leave?"

He shook his head. "I told Skinner you needed some time to get
used to things. That, for now, all I could do was consult from home."
He paused a minute. "Scully, I'm not dying to get back in with
the government, you know, even just consulting on a regular basis.
It doesn't feel right anymore. I told Skinner I would only help on certain
types of cases. He understands."

She let out a breath that she didn't realize she had even been holding.
Maybe they could still have a somewhat normal life.

"Speaking of Skinner, why didn't you tell me you had seen him over the
last few years?"

Feeling guilty and not knowing why, Scully looked down at her lap. "He
and Kate are good friends. They meet for lunch at least once a week,
sometimes in D.C. and sometimes Richmond if he has business there or
out at Quantico. I usually met them every few months or so when they
were meeting in town and weren't talking about a case. I figured people
would seem less suspicious if I tried to maintain normalcy in the day to
day things."

Mulder glanced over at her. "I didn't ask how often - it doesn't bother
me that you had contact with him. And I'm glad you have friends. I
want to know why you thought you couldn't tell me."

Scully finally looked at him. "Mulder, you settled here - in Virginia - for
me. So I could have a normal life again. Somewhere else, maybe you
could have had a more normal life. I didn't tell you because I felt guilty
having a life that you couldn't. Skinner was your friend, too."

Mulder shook his head. "That was the whole point of us moving
back here. So you could be near friends and family."

Back at home, Scully's mom called. She had been staying out
in California for weeks at a time these past several years.  She liked to
be near Matthew, and Scully also thought it hurt her too much to be
nearby. She never had agreed with or accepted the adoption. In fact,
she never had really agreed with any of her daughter's decisions, though
she loved her unconditionally. While Scully suspected that her mom
knew Mulder was still with her, Margaret Scully had never asked. Not
once. Sometimes, Scully thought that was probably for the best. She
knew it hurt Mulder, though.

After talking with her mom for about twenty minutes, she handed
the phone to Mulder. "Mom, hang on. There's someone here who I
know wants to talk to you."

Mulder looked hesitant as he put the phone to his ear. "Hi, Mrs. Scully.
It's Fox."

Scully could hear her mom through the phone. "Fox. It's good to hear
your voice again."

Mulder gave a dry chuckle. "Sure it is."

Margaret Scully hesitated. "Fox. I have always known that
you wouldn't be very far from Dana. I just never asked because...well,
I figured Dana would tell me if she thought she could. Listen, you
are not what I would have picked for my daughter. Every mother has
hopes and dreams for their children. They never want a child to suffer
the kind of hurt Dana has. But that does not mean I don't love you
all the same. I know we don't get to choose who we love. And
for whatever reason, my daughter loves you more than anything else in
the world. That makes you family. I'll see you soon, Fox.  Take care of
my baby girl."

Mulder's eyes were tearing up. "I will, Mrs. Scully. I will do it better
this time. I swear I will." He handed the phone back to Scully then
walked out onto the back porch. The sun had set already.

Back inside, he found Scully wrapped in an afghan by the fireplace.
 Her eyes were vacant, and he knew she was slipping away
from him...putting a wall around herself. Something else was going on;
he just couldn't figure out what. "Scully." He knelt in front of her. "Tell
me. Please. What's wrong?"

He could have guessed a million times and never come up with what
she said finally said to him. "Mulder, I didn't even know if I was
going to tell you. I had thought a hundred things. I really had decided to
just leave - you jumping into that case and not willing to back away
panicked me that bad on top of this. I was just going to go away, not
come back home. At least until I figured out what to do." She looked
down at the man kneeling here, his hazel eyes searching her blue ones.
She knew this was going to change everything. She didn't want to hurt
him anymore. "Mulder... I'm pregnant again."

He stared at her. It was like the neurons were firing too fast. He could
hear the rush of blood in his ears. Time seemed to expand. Finally, he
managed, "How?"

She didn't say anything for a long while. "You know what they
say, Mulder. Life will find a way."

He moved onto the sofa beside her, pulled her into his arms. "My God,
Scully." He kissed her cheek. "Everything's going to be all right."

She started the weird shaking. "How do you know?" 

"I just do."

She shook for a long time, and then, "I don't know if I can stand to lose
another child, Mulder."

He knew there would be no calming her fears tonight. Tonight,
he would just hold her.

She spoke again. "I hate myself for this, and you probably will, too. But
I have to tell you. I even considered having an abortion - without even
telling you. I've been completely out of my mind, Mulder.  Kate made
me promise to tell you before I made any decisions. And I don't think I
could have done it without you knowing. I've just been..." 

Mulder hugged her tight. "Scully. It's okay. But I'm glad you didn't. This
is something we need to deal with together. Ultimately, it's your body.
But that's my baby." He paused a moment, stunned by the news.
"Scully, this child...it's as much a miracle as William was. How can we
take into our hands what...fate...or... destiny...or...God...has taken out
of our hands? This child must be meant to be, Scully. Look at the odds
it has already overcome. Just like William."

She met his eyes. "What if...what if it's not fate...or destiny...or
God? What if this child wasn't meant to be? What if it's the work
of something more sinister...of someone? That's my biggest fear."
There. She had said it. It was out there now.

Mulder shook his head again. "No, Scully. I feel it." He put his hand
under her shirt, on her stomach. "This is life at its most miraculous. You
were always the one with faith, Scully. Don't let it falter now."

She breathed her first easy breath in over a month. "I'm trying.
I just...Mulder, this is taking a lot out of me. I'm too old to do
this again. Too much can go wrong."

He ran his fingers through her hair. "We will deal with that when
it happens, as long as YOU aren't in any danger." He paused and
looked at her. "You're not in danger, are you?"

She shook her head. "My life isn't in danger. But, I mean,
anything could go wrong as the pregnancy progresses, Mulder. I didn't
have an easy time the first time, and I was almost a decade younger."

For a moment, he didn't say anything. He ran his fingers along the inside
of her arm. "I don't want anything jeopardizing your life. If it comes
down to you or the pregnancy, I'm going to choose you."

She kissed his palm when he caressed her face. "Look, there are
two issues here. The first is whether or not to terminate the pregnancy."

He ran his hands along her jawbone, not believing they were
actually having this conversation. "Could you live with it? An abortion?"

She chewed her lip. "I thought I could...when I was in pure panic
mode. Now, I don't know, Mulder. It would be hard for me to look in
the mirror each morning. But I COULD do it. The truth is that I have
trouble looking in a mirror now."

He shook his head. "No. The point is to work through all of that,
Scully. Not add to it. No abortion. End of discussion. The only way we
abort is if you're in danger, then it's my call. Not yours." His eyes
closed, then reopened. "Okay. See? One issue dealt with. What's
the other?"

She breathed deeply. "If I have the...baby...what happens after it's
born? I've thought a lot about it, Mulder. I was thinking we could ask
the adoption agency if they could contact the people who have
William....you know? See if they want his, um, sibling? That wouldn't
be as hard for me, you know? If I knew the baby would be with its
brother..."

Mulder wrinkled his forehead. "Wait. Why would we do that?
Why would we give it away?"

She licked her lips. "Why would this baby be any safer than
William? Besides, Mulder, I can't raise a baby knowing I gave my first
one away. I couldn't live with that." Her voice cracked. They
were dangerously close to things they had never really talked about.

He didn't meet her eyes. "You have had a little longer to deal with this,
Scully. I guess I need to think through it all. It's just....okay. Look, for
starters, lots of people have children after putting one up for adoption.
Adoption is the best thing you can do for a child that you aren't sure
you can take care of. I will always support the decision you made for
William. You are his mother. You did what you thought was the only
way to keep him safe. I will never question that. To be honest, Scully, I
have always admired that you were able to do it. I don't know that I
could have been that selfless in your absence. Now, though, WE have
to decide what the best thing is for this child that you are carrying. Our
situation is a lot different now, Scully."

Big tears formed in her eyes. She bolted from the sofa and
started pacing the room. "No. Don't say that. You don't know what
all happened. You don't know why I really did it. You don't know
at all, Mulder. You would hate me if you really knew. Please." She was
sobbing now, the words not coming out very well. Her whole
body shook with sobs. She wrapped her arms around herself. 

Mulder was truly bewildered. He had always known there was a lot of
emotion pent up inside her, just below the surface, but he didn't
understand why she was saying these things. He tried to grab her; she
pushed him away. Finally, she collapsed back onto the sofa, and
sobbed. Every time he tried to get near her, she cried harder and drew
away from him. Her phone was ringing incessantly. Not knowing what
else to do, feeling shell-shocked, he searched for the offending
phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mulder, it's Kate. Dana is expecting my call; can I speak with her,
please?"

He looked over at the sofa. "Uhh...Kate, now is really not a good time.
Can you call back?"

"Is she sleeping?"

"Umm...no."

Kate said nothing for a second. "Mulder. I need to talk to her. Just tell
her I'm on the phone."

He walked away from the living room. "Kate, she's really upset
right now."

The woman on the other end did not sound happy. "All the
more reason to tell her I'm on the damn phone, okay?" She gave him a
few seconds to respond. "Mulder, you either put Dana on the phone,
or I'm coming out there." She paused. "In fact, I'm actually on my
way to Richmond and not even 20 minutes away from you guys. You
decide. Put her on the phone or I'm on my way."

He walked back to the doorway. "Hang on, Kate." He walked close
to the sofa. "Scully, Kate is on the phone. Can you talk to her?"
She was still sobbing, though maybe not quite as hysterically. She
gave no indication that she'd heard him. He tried again. "Scully, Kate is
on the phone. She says you either have to talk to her or she is going to
come here."

Another minute crept by. Finally, he heard something other than
the strange keening sobs. "Tell her," sob, "that I," sniff, "can't talk,"
hiccup.

He put the phone back to his ear. "I heard her." Kate sighed. "Tell her
I'm on my way there. You need to see if you can get her to breathe
deeper. Give me directions from the exit?"

He rattled them off and she repeated them back. "Okay. I'll be there in
twenty; and Mulder? This is a good thing. She's needed to do this for a
long time. Whatever set her off is probably not your fault. She has been
a time bomb lately. I'm just glad she was at home."

He threw open the front door twenty-five minutes later, hair standing up
all over his head. "What took you so long?"

Kate raised both eyebrows. "I had to pick the lock on your gate.
It took a few minutes."  She swept inside with a medical bag in her right
hand and a backpack on her left shoulder.

Following the sobbing sounds, she made her way to the sofa and
pulled Scully upright by tugging on the afghan wrapped around her.
She stared into the swollen bloodshot eyes. "Hey, Mulder? Hold
her upright for a second." She shined a pen light into Scully's eyes
and put a hand on her forehead. The sobbing was almost silent now,
but the tiny body was still shaking. "Let's put her to bed. I'll give her
something to calm her down."

Mulder lifted Scully into his arms. "Can she have anything? I mean, with
the baby?"

Kate's sea-green eyes met his. "Yeah. It's fine. I promise." She waited
as he settled Scully into the bed, wrapping her in the comforter with the
afghan still around her. "Hold her arm still." She injected a small amount
of liquid into Scully's upper arm. "Can you bring me a cool washcloth?"

When Mulder returned with it, Kate rolled it lengthwise and pressed it
lightly over Scully's eyes. Sitting on the bed beside Scully, she started to
speak quietly. "I know you feel like you're falling apart, Dana, but trust
me on this. I have been right where you are. Not for the same reasons,
but in the same state of mind. Anyway, though it may not feel like it
right now, this is the first step in putting your life back together. There is
no reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed by this. I know you talked
to Mulder about the pregnancy. That took a lot of courage. I know you
were terrified.  He's still here, though, isn't he? You told me once that
way before he was your lover he was your best friend. I think you are
going to find that you are a lot harder on yourself than he will ever be
on you.  You cannot keep projecting your feelings onto him. It's not fair
to him. And Dana, if I am taking up for a man after well, let's not
dredge that ancient history up. Anyway, I can see in his eyes that he
would literally crawl through hell for you." When she finally realized that
Scully had stopped shaking, Kate removed the cloth from her eyes.
She noticed that Dana was holding onto her sleeve. 

Kate patted the hand with her own. "Go to sleep, Dana. Just relax.
Everything is going to be fine."

Scully shook her head, eyes still closed. Her breathing was quivery and
uneven but more normal than it had been ten minutes ago. It took her a
long time to get out because she was still sniffling between breaths.
"Kate. You're...my ... friend, too." She opened her eyes.

Kate wrinkled her eyebrows. "Well, of course I am."

Scully's eyes drifted closed. "Talk to him for me.  Please. Tell him how
hard it is for me.  Make him understand. I know he wants to know all
about those months, with William. I can give him everything else, Kate.
Anything else. But those are my memories. I need to keep them close
to me. But you tell him. For me. Give him your memories. Try to make
him..."

Kate nodded simply. "Okay."

Scully squeezed Kate's hand. "Thank you." She dropped off finally. 

When Kate walked out the bedroom door, Mulder was sitting in
the hallway, with his back braced against the wall. Kate reached out
her hand to help him up. "She's asleep. I know you'll want to check
on her, though. Can I make myself at home in your kitchen?
I'm starving. I haven't had dinner." She wandered down the hall
without waiting for an answer. In the kitchen, she dug in the pantry
and toasted some bread. Spreading it with butter, she shoved half of
it in her mouth before pouring a glass of red wine. She whipped out
her cell phone and hit redial. When the man answered, she said,
"Hi. It's Kate. I hope you got my message earlier...." She sighed as
she listened. "I know. Well, it's not like I stood you up so I could wash
my hair. It really was an emergency..." She looked up to find Mulder in
the doorway. Rolling her eyes, she cut the man on the phone off.
"Okay, well, look. I have to go. What? No. I'm not going to
apologize....that's okay; I don't want to reschedule the date." She
flipped the phone shut. "Asshole," she muttered. Looking at Mulder,
she talked with the other half of the bread slice in her mouth. "Beer or
wine?"

He went to the fridge. "Beer." Twisting the top off, he took a swig and
pressed the cold bottle to his head. "Sorry about your date."

Kate shrugged. "No big deal. He was a jerk, as it turns out. Better to
know on the 2nd date than the 5th, huh?" She swallowed more wine.
"Of course, Dana will owe me big time." She snagged a bag of wheat
pretzels. "Come into the living room. I brought some stuff to show you."

Mulder followed her down the hall, noting that she wasn't too
much taller than Scully. Tonight, her dark hair was more wavy
than straight.

She dropped onto the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. "Sit. I
had a feeling about this today, believe it or not." She was digging in the
backpack she had brought with her. She pulled out a photo album and
handed it to him.

Mulder opened the album. All pictures of William. His eyes were glued
to them. The first page was how he remembered William from the few
days he was with him.  The next few pages showed a baby who still
looked pretty much the same but was rapidly becoming more alert.
There were lots of pictures of Scully with William, several of Kate with
William, pictures of Scully's mom with the baby, pictures of William's
Baptism, and there was actually a picture of Skinner holding William at
three months looking rather uncomfortable. He looked again at the
photo of William grinning at Kate that he remembered from Scully's
box and pointed, "Tell me about this one."

Kate looked at it. "The day was gorgeous. I made Dana take him to the
zoo, even though she balked at first, saying he was too little to know
the difference. We had stopped in front of the elephants so that Dana
could put her hair into a ponytail. He was starting to fuss, so I picked
him up and started blowing raspberries on his chubby little cheeks. He
laughed out loud for the first time."

This went on for over an hour, Mulder turning the pages back
and forth, her telling him little stories when he asked for them. As
he finally turned to the last page, he saw a disc there. "Is that what I
think it is?"

She nodded as she picked up her empty wine glass. "Yeah. I was
the worst kind of godmother. Always sticking a camera in his little face.
Dana used to groan every time I pulled it out. In fact, that's probably
why she had so few, you know. I was the designated memory keeper." 
She put the DVD into the slot and handed him the remote. "I'm going to
let you watch this in private, okay?" She stopped on the threshold. "Oh,
and Mulder? That whole album is yours to keep. I made it knowing
Dana would want it one day. I have duplicates."

He looked up at her. "Thank you. For this - for the memories. I...didn't
even know you were his godmother."

Kate shook her head. "Mulder, I get Dana. Believe it or not, she gets
me, too. When you lose a child, for whatever reason, you do whatever
it takes to keep yourself sane. So...don't worry.  There is no debt here.
I'll be in the kitchen."


Saturday 9:30 p.m.

When he walked back through the kitchen door, Kate was at the
table working on her laptop. She looked up at him and smiled. "Hi."

He grabbed another beer from the fridge and leaned against
the counter. "So...why do you think Scully freaked out?"

Kate rubbed the back of her neck. "Well...I wasn't here for the
conversation, but I think it's obvious to anyone who knows her even
remotely that Dana still has not really come to terms with giving William
up. I think she still has mixed feelings about whether she did the right
thing." She wrinkled her eyebrows. "Well, actually...I think she worries
that she didn't do it for the right reasons."

Mulder tapped the side of his bottle. "See...that's what she was talking
about. About how I didn't know what really happened, why she really
did it."

Kate took a deep breath. "Look. I don't know how much she wanted
me to tell you. Okay. So, when things got crazy
with William...especially after the incident with Spender - I was out
of town on business at the time, but Skinner called and said she
had freaked out and was thinking of giving William up. He also said
that he did believe they wouldn't just leave William alone. Anyway,
long story short...Skinner was just trying to help. It tore his heart
out, you know, to think of Dana giving that baby away? So...he offered
her an alternative. He could arrange for her to take William and
start over somewhere else...as someone else." She rubbed her
forehead.

Comprehension dawned on Mulder. "Why do you think she didn't
do it?"

Kate broke eye contact and looked away. "I don't know. Several
reasons, I guess. Most of them probably boil down to fear, though.
Fear of the unknown, fear that she still couldn't keep him safe, fear that
she would no longer be herself, fear that they would still find her, and
fear that...you wouldn't." She rubbed her eyes with both palms.
"Mulder, it was a lose-lose situation. If she left with William, she may
never see you again, not to mention her mom and brothers. If she gave
him up, she may never be able to forgive herself - or worse - you'd
never forgive her. It was a decision no woman should ever have to
make alone.  Anyway, I believe that Dana thinks that if she had been
stronger, less afraid, maybe she would have made a different decision
all those years ago. So...she spends every day trying to make up for it,
trying to save every other child she can, living in fear that she made the
wrong decision, and punishing herself for not being able to do things
differently." Kate stood up and put her hand on his upper arm.
"Knowing Dana, she's too afraid to let herself even think about wanting
to keep this new baby....so, she's already convinced herself that it's
impossible." She yawned.

Mulder stood there, lost in his own little world. Finally, he spoke. "This
time, she won't have to make any decisions alone. I'll be right here the
whole time."

Kate's eyes were watering from exhaustion. "Don't promise what
you may not be able to deliver, Mulder. I think Dana is right about
you. Your quest is the most important thing to you. Before you try
to convince her that the heartache is over, you had better be damn
sure that you aren't going to cause her more hurt." She sucked in
a breath and shook her head to try to rouse herself. "Look, I'm beat. I
have early rounds in the morning at two different hospitals in Richmond.
I'm going to head out. Turn Dana's phone off. Let her sleep this off. Tell
her that I will take care of her patients in the morning and to call me
when she's up and moving." She rolled her eyes. "Oh, damn. Can you
come out and deal with the gate for me? You need to get a keypad or
remote and an automatic gate for that thing tomorrow."

He felt sorry for her. She looked way beyond tired. "You pack
your stuff up. I'll get shoes and take you out to the gate."

Kate stretched and went in to check on Dana. Her forehead was
cool, and she had thrown off the extra blanket. Satisfied that her
friend was fine, she went out to the living room to wait for Mulder.

When Mulder came out of his office several minutes later, he
found Kate dead to the world on their sofa. He tried to get her alert
and awake, but she didn't budge. Exhausted himself, he threw a
blanket over her and went back to the bed where Scully was now
sleeping soundly on her back, her arm flung above her head. He
crawled in beside her, hooked an arm around her waist, and pulled her
close. Dropping a kiss on her cheek, he breathed in the scent that he
always associated with her. Why couldn't she just let her guard
down? Fifteen years later and she still hid her innermost feelings.
He brushed the tear stains on her cheek with his thumb. Dana
Scully. Master of making his heart pound since the early 1990's. She
seemed really out of it, sleeping soundly. He put his hand under her
shirt and spread his palm across her belly. He could swear the skin
there felt warmer than anywhere else. Scooting down in the bed, he put
his face to her tummy. "You're going to be Daddy's little girl. I
just know it." He dropped a kiss there, then turned his cheek against
the warm flesh.

Scully's hand came down and her fingers twirled at the nape of
his neck. "Mulder," she murmured. "Love you."


Sunday, 11:00 a.m. 

Scully sat up, realizing she must have slept for well over twelve hours.
She heard someone in the kitchen, but she also thought she heard
Mulder on the phone in his office. When she peeked in the kitchen
doorway, she saw Kate pouring coffee into a mug. "Hi. Did you never
leave?"

Kate wheeled around. "Good morning. Would you like some juice or
something?" 

Scully nodded. "Yeah. So have you been here all night?" She still felt
groggy and disoriented.

Kate took a sip of the coffee. "Well, I did fall asleep on the sofa for a
while, but I woke up around four this morning and drove to Richmond.
I made rounds early this morning for both of us, so you could have the
day off. Your patients are fine, by the way."  She placed a glass of
orange juice in front of Scully, along with a plate of toast and some
honey. "That little Nathan kid is a piece of work, though. I swear he
pinched my butt on my way out of his room."

Scully smiled. "That sounds about right. He's a trooper, for sure." She
took a bite of toast and a sip of juice. Finally, she made eye contact
with her friend. "I'm really sorry to take over your weekend. Did you,
uh, talk to Mulder last night?"

Kate tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Yeah. I brought him all of
the pictures and stuff I had of William." She looked up to see the tears
sparkle in her friend's eyes. "Dana. You are killing me here. What can I
do? Don't you know that I would never have let you give that baby up
if I had thought you truly had a choice at the time?"

The tears spilled over. "Really? I always thought you would have done
things differently."

Kate reached for Scully's hand. "Dana....I probably WOULD have
done things differently. I'm a different person. But that doesn't
mean that I would have done things better, you know."

Mulder walked through the doorway. "Hey. I thought I heard
you. How do you feel?" The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile
as he reached out for her hand and pulled her up and against him.

Scully wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry."

He lifted her off the ground. "Don't be. I'm just glad you're
all right....that you and the baby are both all right." He kissed her cheek,
her forehead, her palm before he let her go. "Listen, I've booked a trip
- like we talked about before. For just the two of us. Kate has already
said she'd make sure your patients were taken care of. I think Christian
will be fine in your absence. I'm not taking no, Scully. You, me, sun,
sand, and surf...ten days. We leave tomorrow morning."

She hugged him tightly. They could definitely get through this. "Okay."

He kissed her. "Okay."

Kate made a gagging sound. "Spare me, okay? I'm leaving soon.
You can make out then."

Scully laughed as Mulder released her. "Kate's just jealous
because she's not getting any these days."

Mulder cringed. "Scully, I'm sure Kate does not appreciate..."

Kate interrupted, shrugging. "It's true, actually. But it's my own fault.
Since I refuse to put out on the first date..."

Scully nodded as she polished off her toast. "And since you can't seem
to get any second much less third dates..."

Kate glared at her friend. "That's not true. I can get them.  I just can't
get them with men I actually want to have sex with."

Swallowing the rest of her juice, Scully asked, "What about
that investment banker? I thought for sure you would sleep with him."

Kate rolled her green eyes. "Sleep is right. He was a snoozer."

Mulder looked at the two women curiously as he cracked open
a sunflower seed. "I didn't think women talked about sex."

Both women raised their eyebrows. "That's a total myth," Kate
said, finishing her coffee and rinsing the mug in the sink. "We may
not think about it as much as men, but we talk about it a lot more.
In fact, I know all about your coital strengths and weaknesses,
Mulder."

Mulder glared at Scully. "See, I know you're lying because I
don't HAVE any weaknesses, do I, Scully?"

Scully smiled at the look on his face. "Of course not." She looked back
at her friend. "Kate, stop tormenting him."

Mulder flicked the back of Kate's head as he walked by. "See, I
am the perfect male specimen. Stay for lunch. I'm cooking, as
usual, and Skinner's coming out to clear up some details on this case
I've been looking at."

Kate nodded. "I never pass up a meal that someone else has cooked.
Oh, Dana, I have your patient files in my car. I knew you'd want to
look at them before you leave. That way, you can tell me what you
want me to do while you're gone. That's actually why I came back out
here."

Scully looked grateful.  "Can I take a quick shower first?"

"Sure."

A half hour later, Kate was lying on their bed, reading a journal article,
while she waited for Dana to finish drying her hair. Mulder had run her
out of the kitchen. Apparently, he did not like people watching him
cook. It was like some kind of weird therapy for him, Scully told her.
She heard a knock at the door, then Mulder yelling, "Can someone else
get that?"

Kate rolled off the bed, pushing up the sleeves of her sweater. "I got it."

When she opened the door, Walter Skinner stared back at her.
"Kate, what are you doing here?" He sounded annoyed.

Kate gave his cheek a pat. "Great to see you, too, Walter. Mulder's in
the kitchen. Follow the smell."  She wandered back to the master
bedroom, still reading the article.

Mulder looked up as Skinner entered the kitchen. "Hey.
Almost finished here. Have a seat."

Skinner crossed his arms. "What's she doing here?"

Mulder stared at him. "Who, Kate?" He shrugged. "She's going to fill in
for Scully at the hospital this week - just like I told you earlier. What's
the problem?"

Skinner shook his head. "You know how I asked if that other
agent could stop by later? The one who was just recently assigned
to me?"

Mulder nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"Well ...he's Kate's ex..."

Mulder looked at him expectantly. "Ex...what?

Skinner sighed. "Ex-husband. And I don't think she's going to be happy
to see him, since I haven't told her yet that he's back in the area."

Mulder smirked. "Well...this is better than Dr. Phil. What time is the
ex-husband scheduled to make an appearance?"

Skinner looked at his watch. "Not for about an hour." Peering into the
pot Mulder was stirring, he asked, "When the hell did you learn to
cook, Mulder?"

Mulder gave a wry laugh. "I've watched a lot of daytime
television recently." Mulder yelled to the other room,
"Scully...Kate...lunch is ready. Hurry up."  He looked up as Scully
came into the room, wearing jeans and a sweater, feet bare. She
looked more relaxed than he'd seen her in ages. There was a sparkle in
her eyes, and her cheeks were flushed.

She came around to the stove and peeked into the pots. "Ooh,
smells great. Thanks for cooking." The top of her head didn't even
come up to his shoulders without heels.

He leaned over and smelled her hair. "You know I don't mind. Can you
butter the bread?"

She nodded, pushing red hair back off her face. "Sure. Hi, Walter.
Help yourself to something to drink. There's tea, soda, water, wine,
beer..."

Kate wandered back in to the kitchen. "Smells good, Mulder. If I had
known you had this in you, I would not have had bread for dinner last
night. I'll set the table." She grabbed a stack of dishes and went into the
dining room.

After lunch, Kate made coffee. Scully declined, but Mulder
and Skinner had a cup. "So, Walter, what's new with you?" Kate pulled
a leg into her chair and wrapped an arm around her knee.

He sighed. "Well...I've been meaning to talk to you."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, yeah? About what?"

He took a deep breath. "Kate...Nic has been reassigned to one of
my divisions at the Bureau."

She looked at him for a long time, a stunned look on her face.
"Not...my Nic."

Skinner nodded. "Well...Agent Cruz requested to be transferred back
to D.C. a while back, and I was informed last week that I would be
his superior. I was going to tell you, Kate, but we haven't really talked
lately. I hate to break it to you like this, but...he's coming here soon to
talk with me and Mulder about a case..."

Kate jerked her head up. "He's coming here? Walter...how could you
do this to me?"

He sighed, exasperated. "I didn't know you were going to be here
today, Kate. I thought I could talk to you sometime this week...Look,
I'm sorry. It's obvious this is bothering you more than I thought it
would."

Kate shook her head defensively. "No. It doesn't bother me.
I'm surprised. That's all. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me
before now. And why does he have to be assigned to you?"

Scully interrupted. "Yeah, why couldn't you ask that he be assigned to
another person?"

Skinner rubbed the back of his neck. "He's a good agent. You
both know that."

Kate covered her mouth and looked down at her lap. "He's a great
agent. He was even a great father...but he..."

Skinner blew out a breath. "Kate...I really am sorry. This has to
be done. And it's time for you to deal with it."

She pushed away from the table and threw a killer look Skinner's way.
"That's really not your place to say, Walter, now is it? Look...I'll clean
the kitchen, Mulder. Lunch was wonderful. I just...I need a few
minutes, okay?"

Scully glared at Skinner. "Kate...if you want to avoid him, you can go.
I'll come to your house later..."

Kate shook her head. "No. Seriously. It's fine. I just...I need to take a
walk." She threw on her coat and walked out the front door.

Scully narrowed her eyes. "Walter, you should have said
something before this."

He rubbed his face. "I know. I just...it's been one thing after another
these last couple of weeks."

Scully threw her napkin down on the table. "Still. Nothing should have
been more important than this."

"I know, I know. I'll go out and talk to her." He stood up and slipped
on his coat.

Mulder watched him catch up to the smaller woman on the path
through the kitchen window. As his former boss reached out and
grabbed Kate's hand, locking his fingers with hers, Mulder turned to
Scully, stunned. "How close are Kate and Skinner?"

Scully slipped beneath his shoulder and looked out the window. "Pretty
close, Mulder, why?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "Like sleep together close?"

She shook her head. "No way. Just...friends close. You know? He has
always looked out for her."

Mulder moved his head slowly back and forth. He watched as
Kate pulled away from Skinner and waved her hands around wildly.
Skinner grabbed her shoulders. Kate closed her fists around his coat's
lapel and pushed him away. She finally stopped fighting him and let
him put his arms around her. Mulder watched as Kate composed
herself and walked away from Skinner.  He paid close attention to the
way Skinner closed his eyes and clenched his jaw when she turned her
back on him. Mulder looked at Scully. "No, Scully. They've
been lovers." 

She looked out the window. "Kate would have told me..." She sounded
uncertain as her eyes tracked between Kate and Skinner, seeing
something she'd never noticed before. "Well....maybe."

Mulder nodded. "Definitely." He heard a car door slam out front. 

About the time Mulder and Scully reached the front door, they
saw Kate round the corner of the house. The man who stepped out of
the government-issue Ford and onto the front porch was tall and
dark. Kate stopped in her tracks as Nic's eyes landed on hers. She
glanced behind her, then at him again. He cocked his head to the
side. "Kate? What are you doing here?"

She backed up a step as the man on the porch came back down the
steps and walked towards her. "Nic," she finally managed
breathlessly. "I'm...visiting a friend." Scully came out onto the porch, but
Kate didn't hear her.

Nic seemed not to hear the front door open either. He advanced
on Kate rapidly and drew her into his arms. Burying his face into
her neck, he breathed deeply, opening his mouth against the skin there.
"I've missed you," he muttered.

Scully watched as Kate went slack in his arms. She saw Skinner
come around the corner just in time to get a glance of Nic Cruz trying
to inhale Kate. Confused, Kate pulled away and looked into the
brown eyes staring down at her. "Nic...I..."

He wrapped his arms around her tightly and lifted her off the
ground. "Shut up, Kate. You can resume hating me later."

Kate closed her eyes and melted into the spot where she'd spent
so many nights. As she was lifted off the ground, she felt him
drop kisses on her face, her jaw, and her lips. Finally, he was still
and placed his lips on her forehead. "Oh, God, Kate."  He noticed
the tear drop onto her cheeks. With one thumb, he wiped it away.
Kate almost never cried. "It's okay, baby."

She pulled away. "Don't call me that. You don't get to call me that."

He leaned forward to speak into her ear. "You will always be my
baby." He took her wrist and kissed the inside of it. Dropping Kate's
arm, he noticed Skinner at the corner of the house. "Good afternoon,
sir." He looked back into the eyes whose depths he once knew so well.
"We'll talk later, okay?" He turned around and finally noticed the two
people on the porch. He stuck his hand out to Mulder. "Nic Cruz."

Mulder shook his hand in return. "Fox Mulder. This is Dana
Scully." Scully nodded at him and shook his hand. "Let's go into my
office," Mulder suggested.

Skinner stopped beside Kate. "Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Just go away." 

He touched her cheek. "You don't know how sorry I am."

She turned her lips into Skinner's hand. "I have an idea," she muttered
shakily.

He looked up to make sure the other two men were inside the
house. His eyes caught Scully's, but he deliberately looked away and
back at Kate. "You never loved me like that, Kate. No matter what he
put you through, you know that's true."

She leaned back against the house. "Just go, Walter. Please. I can't
handle any more today." As he walked away, she called him back.
"Walter?" 

He stopped and looked at her eyes. "Yes?"

"I couldn't love you like that. I'd lost too much by the time we..." she
trailed off, then looked up again. "But I did love you; I do."

He walked back to her and kissed her cheek. "I know. I
understand." He traced her cheek with his palm.

She let out a huge breath as he let her go and walked back up the steps
to the house.

He passed Scully on the stairs. "You make sure she's taken care of."

Scully saw the depth of the hurt in his eyes. "You know I will."  He
opened the door and disappeared into the house. She watched
her friend lean heavily against the outer wall of the house. "Ah, damn it,
Kate. Why didn't you tell me?"

Kate wrapped her arms around herself.  "I don't know, Dana."
Scully started to laugh the more she thought about it. "I really
haven't slept with him recently," Kate said sincerely, stifling a
laugh herself now.

Scully laughed harder. "I believe you." She sniffed. "It's freezing out
here. Let's go inside."

Kate followed Scully inside. "I know you have a thousand
questions, but you know you owe me a reprieve on this. I talked to
Mulder for almost two hours last night for you."

Scully shed her winter boots by the front door. "I know. I guess you
can call us even."

Kate laughed dryly. "Okay. We're even."

Scully dropped down onto the sofa and pulled the blanket there up
to cover herself. "Wait, no. I take that back. We are not even. Talking
to Mulder for me doesn't even come close to cancelling out the fact that
you slept with Skinner and never told me."

Kate fell into the armchair and slouched down. "Dana...I am
really sorry. It just...it felt too weird. I didn't want to make
things awkward."

Scully dragged her patient files into her lap and started sorting through
them. "When did it happen?" 

Kate knew she wasn't going to let this go. "A long time ago, Dana. It's
ancient history now."

Scully pressed. "When, Kate?"

Kate sighed deeply. "During the investigation."

Scully looked at her incredulously. "Ten years ago? You had an affair
with Skinner almost ten years ago and never thought to mention it?"

Kate rubbed her temples. "You have to understand.  Nic and I had split
up not even a year before. I had lost custody of my daughter. Then she
vanishes. Seemingly into thin air, right out of Nic's parents' house. I was
a basket case. And Walter was there. He was brought in as the ASAC
because the case was so high profile and because she was the daughter
of another agent. I would not have survived those weeks without him.
Besides, I didn't even really know you then. Why would I have told
you? And it wasn't an affair."

Scully shook her head. "So...when you moved back here...you've been
just friends these past eight years?"

Kate shrugged. "Dana, it's...complicated." 

"Spill it, Kate. How long did you sleep with him?"

Kate chewed on her bottom lip. "We never really stopped, okay?"

Scully's eyes widened. "You HAVE to be kidding me. You've
been screwing Skinner the whole time? So, what, do you just
sleep together when neither of you is seeing other people?"   Kate
threw a pillow at her. "Oh my God. Keep your voice down,
would you? I haven't even really dated anyone else until the past
several months."

Scully batted her eyes trying to process this, remembering that
Kate had started dating in strange spurts about six months ago. "So
what happened back last summer?"

Kate shook her head. "Dana, please. Some things are too private."

Scully shook her head adamantly. "Bullshit, Kate. Tell me."

Kate debated. Did it really matter now? "About a year ago, I found out
I was pregnant. Can you imagine? It was totally unexpected.  I was
completely bowled over. But Walter was...I can't even describe it. I've
never seen him so out of sorts. He did NOT want that baby, Dana. I
wasn't even sure I did. He just...shut down." She looked at her friend's
disbelief. "I didn't hear from him for almost a month after I told him. I
was actually just getting ready to tell you, but you got called out of
town, remember? To give that lecture in Philadelphia? Anyway, I had a
miscarriage. It was fairly early in the pregnancy, so it wasn't really bad.
That was a Thursday night. Sunday, Walter shows up at my door. He's
all jittery. Can't sit still. Tells me he just doesn't think he can be a dad.
But that he'll try - if he has to. I could tell he was beside himself.
The way he said it really upset me, though, but I kind of let it
go. Anyway, after that, I just figured that we shouldn't be
sleeping together if we weren't that committed."

Scully looked at her a long time. "You could have told me you were
seeing him. You know I wouldn't have judged."

Kate nodded. "I know. I just...Dana, he was my compartment. Does
that make sense? The way you have to compartmentalize some things?
That's what Walter was to me. He is STILL my friend. He will always
be my friend. I've gone to some Bureau functions with him over the past
several years; you've always known that. He was there for me on nights
I just couldn't stand to be alone. Neither of us could handle a real
relationship with expectations during those first few years. There were
no strings attached. I never expected anything from him. And I
honestly wouldn't have expected him to take part in that baby's life if
he wasn't comfortable with it. Things feel strange even now,
though. When we're alone, it's awkward. But we're getting better again.
Or at least, we were before this."

Scully bit her lip. "Huh. So...what was the sex like? Was it good?"

Kate felt a little awkward, then laughed it off. "Dana...I didn't look
elsewhere for eight years. What does that tell you?"

Scully looked back down at her patient files. "Well, then." They heard
the door to Mulder's office open.

Nic came down the hallway and stood in the doorway. "It was
nice meeting you, Dana. Kate, would you mind walking me out?"

She wrinkled her brow. "Nic...it's cold out there. If you're living in
D.C., we can talk any time."

He gave her a look that said he didn't believe her. "Just come sit in the
car with me. Don't make me beg."

Kate met his eyes with hers. "Fine." 

Scully watched as he helped her with her coat and put a hand at
the small of her back. She went back to her files when she heard two
car doors slam.

She glanced up as Skinner came into the room. "Mulder's making
a couple of calls." He shoved his hands into his pockets and
walked over to the window.

Scully studied his face while he stared outside. She knew that he could
probably see Nic's car from where he stood. She couldn't help but
notice the muscle tensing in his neck. "Did she tell you everything?"
Scully jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Enough to know that this probably isn't easy for you either."  

He shook his head. "Did she tell you...about the baby?"

Scully nodded. "Yeah."

He sighed. "Weird to think I could have been a first time father at my
age." He rocked back on his heels. "I blew that, Dana. I was
so shell-shocked that I handled it all wrong."

Scully shook her head. "Walter...Kate seems fine about it. Really. Don't
beat yourself up."

He was quiet for several minutes. "It's just..." He trailed off.

Scully lifted her eyebrows. "What?"

He dragged his eyes away from the window, glanced at Scully, then
away again. "Did she tell you that I asked her to marry me? She must
have thought I was a complete idiot. I had agonized over that decision
for a month, you know. I felt like...she'd been through so much else
alone; there was no reason for her to raise that baby alone. I even
bought her a ring. I never even returned it. It's still in a drawer at my
condo." He paused.  "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

Now that she wasn't expecting. Funny how Kate had conveniently
left that part out. Scully looked up as Mulder came to the door.
She waved him away. "What did she say when you asked her?"

Skinner worked his jaw. "Basically, she said she'd had a miscarriage,
so I was off the hook. And she said that she would never get married
just because of a baby." He looked Scully in the eye. "I know it has all
worked out for the best. I'm more than fifteen years older than her.  But
at the time, I had convinced myself that what we had together could be
enough for her." He gestured towards the car in the driveway. "She
never looked at me that way."

Scully stood up and put her hand on his arm. "Walter, you don't want
her to ever look at you the way she looks at him. The emotion in her
eyes isn't just great passion; there is a wealth of pain behind the way
she looks at him. He was her first great love.  And he broke her heart.
He broke her heart long before his family broke it again by taking her
daughter away from her." She paused for a moment. "If you miss her so
much, why'd you let her go?"

He shrugged. "I don't guess I even realized how much I miss her until
I saw her look at him. Obviously, she didn't feel like we had much of a
relationship. You're probably her best friend, and she never even told
you. What does that tell you?"

Scully shook her head. "It tells me that you probably mattered to her a
whole lot more than she let on. Kate is open about everything except
what's closest to her heart." She patted his arm again and walked away.

He called her back. "Scully? Please don't tell her about
this conversation. Just...don't."

Scully walked into Mulder's office. He was bouncing a tennis ball off of
the wall. "Hey."

He cut his eyes at her. "It's like a 90210 midlife crisis around here."

She laughed. "Tell me about it." She rubbed a knuckle under her eye.
"At least we're normal."

He jumped out of the chair quickly, shoving it back. Catching her off
guard, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up against him.
"Dana. Katherine. Scully. NEVER call me that again." He didn't bother
to remind her that last night she was distraught because they weren't
normal. He kissed her neck quickly.

She smacked his forehead with her palm when he dropped his hands
to her butt. "Come on, Spooky. Let's see if we clear this drama out
of our house."


Sunday, 3:00 p.m.

Kate closed the front door behind her and went to the kitchen to do the
dishes as she had promised. Skinner came in as she was loading the last
plate into the dishwasher. He offered to dry as she started hand
washing the larger cookware. The silence was awkward. He hadn't
realized how easily they made conversation until it was suddenly
missing.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Cruz seemed really glad to see
you."

Kate shrugged. "I guess."

Skinner looked over at her. "Was it hard seeing him?"

Kate wrinkled her nose. "I don't know. Maybe not as hard as I thought
it would be." She handed him the last of the dishes and dried her hands.

Skinner could tell she wasn't going to talk much.  She started gathering
her things from the table where she had worked that morning and began
stuffing them into her laptop bag.  She bumped into Scully going out of
the kitchen. "Hey. I have to go. Are your files ready for me?"

Scully nodded. "Yeah, I'll get them." She returned moments later.
"Thanks again for doing this, Kate. Are you sure you're okay?"

Nodding, Kate shoved the stack of files into her bag. "Yeah. Just tired.
Plus, I have to stop by my office for a couple of hours. Have fun and
call me when you guys get back."

Mulder came to the front door. "Here are extra keys to the house
and gate. Remember that you only need to come once to water
the plants."

"Got it."

Skinner walked her out, opening the car door for her. "Do you think
maybe we could get together Wednesday evening and you look at a
case for me?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure where I'll be this Wednesday, but I'll
try. I have a pretty packed week. Can I call and let you
know Wednesday afternoon if I'm in Washington?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sure." As he watched her drive away, he knew
that she was distancing herself from him.


Wednesday, 8:40 p.m.

Kate sat down at a quiet booth and sipped a sweet tea while
she waited for her order to be ready. She looked up as a shadow
came across her. "May I join you for a minute?" Nic asked when she
made eye contact.

He sat down opposite her without waiting for a response. "I'm
just getting something to go," she told him. "I can't eat any more hospital
food this week."

He studied her face. There were dark smudges under her eyes.
"You look exhausted, Kate."

She nodded. "I am. Some weeks are crazier than others." She changed
the subject. "How's your caseload shaping up these days?"

For a few minutes, she watched him talk to her. She had always
loved the way his mouth formed his words. When a woman brought
over both of their orders, Kate stood. "It was nice seeing you, Nic." 

He followed her out and was surprised when she headed in the
same direction as the Hoover building. He trailed her all the way
there, perplexed to see her disappear into the building. He heard her
tell the security guard she was there to see Walter Skinner. The
guard nodded at her and addressed her by name. "He's expecting you,
Dr. Carter."

She corrected him. "Just Kate, Tom, remember? Thanks. How are
those boys these days?"

When she rounded the corner, she saw Skinner heading towards
the elevator. "Hey," she called to get his attention. "I haven't had time
for dinner yet. I brought enough for two. Can we eat in your office, then
I'll look at that file for you?"

He smiled a little, glad to see her. "Sure. I was just on my way back up
there."

In his office, she kicked off her shoes and spread the food out on the
conference table there. He rolled up his sleeves and sat at the head of
the table near her. "Chinese. I should have guessed."

She shrugged. "When you buy, you pick." After eating all of her sesame
chicken and noodles, she glanced at his food. "Can I have your egg
roll?" Without waiting for a response, she snagged the egg roll from his
plate, then stuck her feet out and propped them in his lap. He had
always liked the way she did that when they were just sitting and
talking.

"Make yourself at home," he teased.

She smiled a little sadly. "Sorry. My feet are killing me. I have worked
three 16 hour days in a row." She started to remove them from his lap.

He reached down and held the small feet. "I was kidding, Kate. Leave
them." As she opened the case file he needed a consult on and began to
read, he started to rub her feet through the thin socks.

She groaned. "Oh, you do that for ten minutes, and I won't even charge
you for this consult. Can you take the socks off and rub them?"

He looked hesitant.

"Please, Walter? No one has rubbed my feet in...geez, since the
last time you did." On nights when he used to come to her place, he
would almost always sit on her sofa watching the eleven o'clock news
and she would stretch out to read medical journals with her feet in
his lap. If she dug her toes into his thigh long enough, he would finally
get a clue and rub them.

They talked about the case for a long time, and she made some notes
for him. Finally, she closed the folder and leaned her head back against
the headrest. He resumed the foot rub from earlier.

"Sorry to have you out so late. I know you should be home in bed and
that you probably have to leave the house by six in the morning." 

She moaned again. "By five. But this has been worth it. Believe me. Tell
me about your week. Anything exciting?"

From the doorway, they heard, "Excuse me, sir..." the voice trailed off. 

Kate opened her eyes at the sound of Nic's voice.

Skinner stopped the foot rub. "Yes, Agent Cruz?" 

Nic cleared his throat, unsure of what to make of the situation in front
of him. "I have that report you wanted. Do you have a few minutes to
go through it?"

Slowly, Kate withdrew her feet from Skinner's lap so he could stand
up. She started putting her socks and shoes back on. "Walter, I need to
get going anyway."

He shook his head, his eyes pleading with hers. "If you wait a
few minutes, I'm leaving, too. I'll walk you to your car. Give us
five minutes."

Kate's phone rang then. She dug it out of her coat pocket. "Kate
Carter...oh, hey, Dana...is everything okay?" She listened for a minute,
then laughed. She stepped out into the receptionist's area to tune out
the sound of Skinner and Nic talking. "I haven't been out to the house
yet. I'm planning to go Friday evening or Saturday morning." They
talked for a few more minutes. "I'm so glad you're feeling well and
relaxed, Day. So, any reason you called?" She paused to listen. "Well,
I'm at the Bureau now. Hang on, I'll ask." 

She stuck her head back inside the door to Skinner's office and put her
hand over the mouthpiece. "Walter, Dana's on the phone. She said
Mulder's been uneasy and wants to make sure nothing strange is going
on."

Skinner gave her a funny look. "Tell Mulder that everything has settled
down nicely and that I will let him know if anything strange happens."

After relaying the message and hanging up, she started cleaning up the
Chinese takeout. She ate hers and Skinner's fortune cookies. Finally,
she couldn't stand it anymore. "Walter, I'm exhausted. I'll just call to let
you know I made it home, okay?" She stopped at the door. "See you
soon. Thanks for the foot rub. Goodbye, Nic."

Nic stared after her as she left. Finally, he made eye contact with his
superior. "I didn't realize you knew my wife so well."

Skinner gave him a long, stony look. "I didn't realize my personal life or
that of your EX-wife was any of your damn business, Agent Cruz."


Thursday, 11:21 p.m.

A knock at Kate's door startled her just as she was going to crawl into
bed. She made her way downstairs to the door and looked out
the peephole. When she saw who was there, she opened the
door immediately. "Walter? What are you doing here?"

He had his hands in his pockets. "Can I come in?" He followed her
through her brownstone. He noticed she was dressed in pajama pants
and a t-shirt, hair all tousled. "Did I get you out of bed?"

She shook her head and fell across the sofa. "Nah. I was just about to
get into bed, though." She yawned. "Sorry. I'm dragging this week. So,
tell me what's up."

He shrugged and walked the length of the room. "I just...I haven't been
sleeping." He noticed her eyes closing again as she pulled the blanket
from the sofa around her. "You're too tired. I'm going."

She shook her head. "No. Tell me why you can't sleep? Nightmares?"

"No. I just can't fall asleep and stay that way. You know how I get."
He sat on the end of her sofa and pulled her feet over into his lap. He
smiled at the thick wool socks she always wore at night in the winter.

She couldn't really relate because she never had trouble sleeping
at night, but he had always had trouble sleeping. That was what
had brought him to her door a lot of nights...he had always been able
to sleep at her place. She stood up and tugged his hand. "Why
don't you sleep here tonight?"

He was unsure. "I didn't come here looking for an invitation."

She tugged again. "Shower. Then bed. Your pajama bottoms are still
in the drawer."

Fifteen minutes later, she could feel him standing by her bed. "I'll sleep
in the guest room, Kate."

She drew the covers back on what she considered his side of the bed.
"That's stupid. You know you won't sleep well in there. Get in bed,
Walter."

He could just make out her face. "You're sure? I don't want you to be
uncomfortable."

She opened her eyes. "Get in the damn bed. I'm too tired to think
tonight." She felt him slip into bed, carefully trying to stay on his side.
After a couple of minutes of feeling his tension, she rolled towards him.
He was facing away from her. She scooted towards him and twined her
warm socked feet with his bare cold ones. "I had this little boy come
through the other day - nine years old. He said he wanted to be an FBI
agent when he grew up. I told him my best friend was an FBI agent.
He's hoping for your autograph the next time he comes in. Can you put
together a kit for him or something?"

Grateful to her for making him feel more comfortable, he shifted to his
back and put a hand on her thigh. "I've missed you," he whispered so
quietly she could barely hear him.

She knew he slept best with one hand touching her. She wrapped her
hand around his upper arm to let him know the contact was okay.  "I've
missed you, too."


Friday, 4:30 a.m.

Kate woke slowly.  As she became aware of her surroundings, she
felt the warm hand on her lower stomach.  She hated to move and
wake him up. Through the years, he had rarely touched her outside of
the bedroom other than to rub her feet. But in the bedroom, even
while sleeping, it was like he needed human touch to relax.

Debating whether she needed to get up or could lie there until five, she
heard a phone vibrating. It was coming from his pants in the chair.
Slipping out of bed, she pulled it out of his pocket. She did not
recognize the number. She nudged him gently. "Walter? Phone."

He rolled over groggily. "Answer it."

She pressed the connect button. "Hello?"

There was silence, and then, "I'm looking for Walter Skinner. Is this not
his number?" The gravelly voice sounded vaguely familiar to Kate, but
she couldn't place it.

"It is. Hold on." Kate covered the mouthpiece, "Walter. Phone." He still
didn't move. "Can I have him call you back?"

The man spoke again, and this time she recognized the voice
immediately. "Yeah. This is John Doggett. Can you have him call me as
soon as possible? Tell him I've stumbled onto a case that I really need
to talk to him about."

"Hang on." Her heart did a funny little beat. What would Doggett be
calling about? He didn't even work in D.C. anymore. She covered the
mouthpiece again. "Walter. It's John Doggett on the phone." That had
him up and moving immediately.

When he hung up, she was out of the shower and putting on
makeup. "What is it?" she asked him.

"Doggett got a call about a couple found burned to death in their home.
Problem is that the house does not show signs of fire. And the couple's
young son is missing. He said there was something about the photos
that weirded him out."

She paused in applying eyeliner and lifted her eyebrows to him in the
mirror. "Weirded him out? He didn't get over that after all that time he
spent on the x-files?"

Skinner worked his jaw as he finished putting on his belt. "That's what
freaked him out. Said the bodies of the adults looked like an x-file he
remembered."  After putting his weapon in its holster, he leaned against
the doorway. "Kate. Thanks for letting me stay." He watched her in the
mirror. He had always liked lingering around the bathroom in the
mornings to watch her get ready for work. It was something he had
paid no attention to when he had been married. He was almost always
out the door before Sharon was even in the shower. 

She smiled at him after hastily putting on her mascara. "You needed the
sleep."

"I have to go. Doggett booked a flight for me. He said he really thought
I should come out there."

She nodded. "Walter, I have a funny feeling about this. Will you call me
later?" 

He nodded back at her. He had the same feeling. "I will."

As he walked out of the bathroom, she called him back. "Wait.
Where are you headed, just so I'll know?"

He looked down at her. "I'm meeting Doggett somewhere in
Wyoming."

She straightened his tie and smoothed it. "Just be careful, please."


Friday, 1:15 p.m. 

Kate rounded the corner of the hospital to put Scully's patient
charts back. Only two were still in the hospital. She was relieved to
see Skinner's name pop up on her caller ID when it rang. "Hi,"
she answered.

"Hey." His voice sounded crackly and far away.

Anxious, she asked, "What's going on there?"

She heard Doggett's voice in the background, and then heard
Skinner say. "Kate. The kid who's missing from here? It turns out he
was adopted."

She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "How old?"

Skinner knew she had already made the same leap that had Doggett
dragging him out of bed that morning. "Almost seven. We're trying to
get the adoption records now."

Kate licked her lips.  "I have a friend I can call. Give me the couple's
info." She paused to write it down. "Walter, don't call Mulder until
you're sure."

He was on the same page. "Glad to hear your say that. Doggett
wanted to call him in earlier. He said if it were his son..."

She shook her head. "No. I agree. You should wait until you're sure."

"Kate, listen to me. Don't go out to their house yet. I'm nervous
about this. There's been a similar incident at a research facility in
San Diego. I have people checking into it now. There are no reports
of children missing, but there are several bodies burned the same way
as these and no damage to the rest of the facility." He paused.
"You need to be careful. Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital in Richmond but about to head back and go to my
office."

"I'm going to have an agent meet you at your office. As soon as
we confirm the identity of this little boy, we'll regroup."

She hung up and walked quickly out of the hospital to her car.

When she got to her D.C. office a couple of hours later, she made
the phone call she'd promised Skinner. Ten minutes later, she
heard someone at the front door and went to check. She opened the
door to let him in. "What are you doing here?"

"Skinner sent me," Nic told her.

Kate sucked on her lower lip, not exactly thrilled with Skinner's choice.
Her phone rang back. She listened for a moment, closing her eyes in
disbelief. She called Skinner immediately. "Walter. My friend just
verified who the Van de Kamp's son was. I can forward you the
adoption file by email. You're going to have to call Mulder."

Skinner blew out a breath. "Did Cruz show up?"

"Yes. What were you thinking?" she demanded.

There was a short silence. "That I wanted the person I knew would
protect you no matter what. Put him on the phone, please."

She handed the phone to Nic, disgusted. "Sir?"

"Cruz, don't let her out of your sight.  She's supposed to go out
to Mulder's house tonight, so you can look around then and make sure
no one has been there. Call me if there's anything suspicious. If anything
happens to her, you're a dead man."

Cruz turned his back to Kate. "We'll be fine, sir. Is there anywhere I
shouldn't let her go?"

Skinner barked out a half laugh. "Cruz, if you can stop that
woman from doing something she has set her mind on, please let me
know how it's done."


Friday, 6:15 p.m.

On the way out to Mulder and Scully's house, Nic tried to
make conversation with Kate as she drove. She seemed to be in her
own little world, though. And she drove the rural roads way too fast
for his taste. She'd always driven like a maniac. Finally, she spoke up.
"It will kill Dana if they don't find him."

Nic looked at her for a long moment. "People can survive more than
we think they can. We never found Emma and you survived."

Kate sucked in a breath and glanced at him. "Sure. I survived. That
doesn't mean that every day when I open my eyes, I don't remember all
over again and hope that today's the day something gives besides my
sanity."

Nic reached across the seat and touched her shoulder. "You were
so angry with me when it happened, Kate. I couldn't get close enough
to you to find out how you really were. I know you probably
don't believe me, but I worried about you all the time back then."

She flashed him a dangerous look, momentarily taking her eyes off
the road.  "Why didn't you worry about me when you were having
that affair? Why didn't you worry about me when your parents were
suing me for custody of our daughter?" She was trying hard to hold on
to her composure. Pulling herself back together, she started over. "Nic.
I have worked very hard not to be angry anymore, to try to understand
some of this from your point of view. But I don't think this is something
I want to talk about with you."

He sighed. "Kate, normal people talk through things, not avoid
each other for ten years."

"I don't want to be normal," she told him.

He kept staring at her, his eyes burning holes in the side of her head.
"She was my daughter, too, Kate. You left town after the search was
called off without even saying goodbye, and I never heard from you
again. How do you think I felt?"

Tears sparkled in her eyes as she turned onto the long driveway
and stopped at the gate. Both hands were gripping the wheel
tightly. "At the time, Nic, I was lucky to get through a day. At first,
I channeled all of my energy into searching for her. Later, I channeled it
all into just surviving. You were too painful for me.  I couldn't
remember us before Emma. I was too young and too ambitious, right?
Isn't that what your parents said about me? Oddly enough, they were
right. Only not about being a mother. Maybe I wasn't home as much as
some because I was trying to finish a residency, but I was a great
mother. What I was too young for was being your wife. I know I
wasn't a good wife. But I loved you, and I loved Emma. Christ, Nic.
All I wanted was you, our daughter, and my career. I never imagined I
would end up with only one out of three. The problem was that a third
of me wasn't enough for you. You wanted a perfect wife waiting at
home for you when you came home from a tough case. You knew that
wasn't who I was when we met." The anger in her voice was escalating.

He gave her an incredulous look. "Kate, at the end of our marriage, I
would have been thrilled if you had given me a tenth of yourself, much
less a third. You took a residency halfway across the country."

She threw her head back. "It wouldn't have been forever, Nic. Why
couldn't you see that?" She got out of the car to unlock the gate.

He got out of the car as well and grabbed her by the arms. "I see
it now. I screwed up back then. It wasn't even an affair, Kate. It was a
one night stand. Haven't I paid dearly for it?"

She tried to escape his grasp, but his fingers were digging into her arms.
"But haven't I as well? Your parents wouldn't have taken my daughter
as long as we were married." She looked at the stunned expression
in his liquid brown eyes. "And you are hurting my arms."

He still wouldn't let her go, but he loosened his grip. "You divorced
me, Kate. I screwed up, but I didn't want that divorce." 

She shook her head. He was so close to her. Her body still responded
to him like it did when she was twenty-one and they had first met, and
she hated it for betraying her.  She swallowed hard. "It wouldn't
have worked, Nic."

Leaning down as if to kiss her, he whispered against her lips, "I guess
we'll never know, will we?"

Breathing hard and trying not to let her tears spill over, she
shoved away from him and got back into the car.

After Kate assured him that everything looked in order inside the house
and he had checked out every room carefully, he went outside
to sweep the area. Kate was just coming out of the bathroom when
the house phone rang. She didn't answer, but it rang again
immediately. This time, she picked it up. "Hello?"

A quiet male voice startled her. "Is this Dr. Carter?"

Perplexed, she answered, "Yes."

The voice spoke quickly. "Dr. Carter, I have information I need you
to get to Mulder and Scully. I can't wait around for them to come
home. Can you come into the diner down on Hwy 12 when you leave?
I'll be waiting there. Don't tell anyone. Not even the man you're
with right now. It's really important."

She stared down at the phone as he hung up. There was something
about that voice. She knew it from somewhere.  Why couldn't she
place voices today? She rubbed her face with her hands. This day had
been so long already. Kate knew she was taking a chance, but she
couldn't help it. Some instinct told her to do it.

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the diner. "I need coffee; can I get
you anything?"

Nic shook his head. "No. I'm going to call Skinner."

Kate walked in and looked around. The place was almost empty,
but she saw a guy peeking around the corner of where the restrooms
were. Nervously, she walked that way. When she got closer, she
recognized the face.

She followed him into the bathroom, where he locked the door
behind them. "Oh, my God. Gibson?" Kate, astonished to see him,
hugged him. "You are supposed to be in hiding."

He nodded. "I was. I am. Listen, I have a, um, package I need you to
get to Scully and Mulder. I can't wait for them to get back, and I need
to move quickly."

She looked around, not seeing a package. "Where is it?"

He shook his head. "I can't give it to you here. I need you to meet me
later. You can't bring that man who's with you. I don't think we can
trust him completely. You have to get rid of him. I know
you're worried, but I swear you can trust me. I wouldn't do this to you
if I could think of another way. But more than my life depends on
this, Dr. Carter." He slipped her a piece of paper.     She went back
out of the bathroom and ordered coffee. Gibson never came out.
Outside, Nic was still on the phone. She pulled out of the parking lot
and drove home. Once inside, she went to her bathroom and read the
note. There was an address and the time 11:00 p.m. How was she
going to shake Nic by then? Okay. She had to formulate a plan. And
she really didn't think she should go alone tonight. She took out her cell
phone and made a call.


Friday, 6:42 p.m.

Mulder glanced at Scully as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder
and prepared to board the connecting flight in Miami. She had
been silent much of the time since Skinner had called. The days on
the island had been perfect, and he hated that it had to end this way.

As she walked through the terminal, he put his hand on her
back. "Scully, you don't have to go to Wyoming. I don't want you to
put the baby in danger. Skinner, Doggett, and I can handle this."

She gave him a steely look. "Mulder, my son is missing. The
only parents he has ever really known are dead. Do you think I can
just sit back and wait for news?"

He had always known that the only thing that could get her to reinvest
in this fight was William. "No, of course not. But there are things that
can be done from home, Scully. I'm worried about you doing all of this
while you're pregnant."

She lifted both eyebrows at him. "Mulder, I chased aliens for you while
I was pregnant with William. I will chase them again now for him if I
have to. End of discussion."

The fear in her eyes was unmistakable; Mulder could even hear it in her
voice. He reached over and gripped her hand tightly. "We will find
him," he insisted softly. "I will not stop until we find him."

She squeezed his hand in return, one tear making its way down
her cheek. "I know you won't."


Friday, 9:30 p.m.

Kate glared at Nic as she walked from her kitchen through the
living area. "Can't you stand guard outside the door?"

He flipped the channel on the television. "No."   She sat down on the
sofa. "Why would anyone come here anyhow? This doesn't even make
sense. I never even worked for the damn FBI." She was very antsy.
She had tried to call Skinner, hoping she could convince him to send
Nic packing. She stood up and started pacing again. Her phone rang,
breaking the spell.  She opened it quickly. "Kate Carter....Walter, hi.
Are you okay? What's happening there?" She listened for about a
minute. "Did Mulder say how Dana was?"

"Silent," he told her. 

She nodded. "That sounds about right. Are they coming
straight there?"   They talked for a few more minutes, then he asked, "Is
everything okay there with Cruz? You sound kind of funny."

She sniffed and walked into her bedroom. "Walter, I want him out of
my house. I don't want him here. There's no need for it. Call him off."

She heard him sigh. "Kate, please humor me for tonight at least." 

Kate knew he'd had a long, rotten day, but hers hadn't been
great either, she didn't have much time...and she was itching to pick
a fight, especially if it helped get Nic out of her house.  "Christ, Walter.
How about you humor me for a change? You send me all of these
mixed signals. Last night, you show up here, but then you throw my
ex-husband in my house for the night. You can't have it both ways, you
know. We're either just friends or we're something more. I'm tired,
Walter, and more than that, I'm tired of being alone."

There was silence on the other end of the line.  She knew he must
be confused. The whole thing was out of character for their relationship.
She held her breath, hoping there may be a spark of jealousy in him
somewhere and he'd make Nic Cruz get out. But of course
not....Walter Skinner would never behave emotionally. Finally, he said,
"I can tell you aren't feeling reasonable tonight, Kate. Please just stay
put and let's talk tomorrow."

"Reasonable? I'm tired of being reasonable, Walter. I've been
reasonable for the past eight years with you and look where it's gotten
me." She flipped her phone shut and threw it down on the bed. She
hoped Nic had overheard the conversation.  That would make him less
suspicious about what she was about to do. Walking back into the
living room, she could tell by his face that he had been listening.

"Since it looks like we're stuck together for the night, care to have a
drink?" Kate poured herself a glass of wine. "What would you like?"

Nic shook his head. "Nothing."

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm trying to be civil, Nic. I want you
to have a drink with me." In the kitchen, she poured him a scotch,
which he had always liked. Stirring in the contents of a capsule, she
took both her wine and his drink back to the sofa. 

He looked warily at her as she sipped her drink. "So...you and
Skinner?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "We're just friends."

He took a swallow of his drink. "Really? He seems a little possessive of
you."

She licked her lips slowly. "He's... a good friend." She tilted her head
back and closed her eyes, watching him finish his drink from beneath
her lashes.  "The thing is, Nic, I don't need a friend right now." 

He swallowed hard. "No?"

She shook her head. "No." She stood up and started to unbutton
her shirt. She watched his eyes go dark with desire. 

He looked at her body as she threw the shirt in lap and stepped out of
her slacks next, leaving herself bare except for bra and panties. "Kate.
Stop. This isn't you." He felt lightheaded.

She took his hand and led him slowly up the stairs. "I'm not the same
person I was ten years ago, Nic. I know how to ask for what I need
now. And tonight, I need you to make love to me."

She stripped him out of his clothes slowly, trying to buy time for the pill
to take effect. Leaving him in just his underwear, she pushed him
down on her bed. Stretching out beside him, she propped herself up
and watched him fight to keep his eyes open. She dropped a kiss on
his chest, then injected his arm with a sedative she had prepared.
The liquid going into his arm barely affected the haze he was in from
the pill and the desire. She looked longingly at the body before
her. How unfair. Two different men in her bed on two consecutive
nights and she still hadn't had sex in a year. She sighed as he passed
out completely. He would be pissed when he came to, but at least he
was tucked into a nice, comfortable bed.

She threw on her clothes and unbolted the front door. Monica
Reyes was waiting for her down the street a ways.  Kate headed for
her car. "Can you drive? I'm afraid they'll start looking for my car if Nic
wakes up."

Monica nodded. "I had almost given up on you getting out of there."

Kate put on her seat belt and straightened the collar of her shirt. "Tell
me about it."

Monica asked, "So...how did you get away from him?"

Kate smiled. "I drugged him and seduced him."

The other woman lifted her dark eyebrows. "In that order?"

Kate rolled her eyes as they stopped for a traffic light. "You know what
I mean. He passed out before I had to put out."

Reyes made a tsking sound. "Were you prepared to put out if he hadn't
passed out?"

Kate looked at the directions in her hand. "Hell, yeah. You be sure to
tell Dana how far I was willing to go for her. Get on the freeway here,
heading south." 

Laughing a little as she took the exit, Monica retorted, "Yeah. You're a
great friend."

They were silent for a couple of minutes, then Monica spoke
up. "So...how much trouble are you about to get me in?"

Kate told her the whole story so far. When she fell silent again, the
female agent pursed her lips. "How did John hear about this case?"

Kate shook her head. "I have no idea, Monica. I haven't talked to him.
Are you two still on the outs?"

Monica gave a wry smile. "I guess that's one way to say it. I haven't
seen him in almost a year."

"Wow. Really? Oh, take the next exit." Five minutes later, they pulled
into a somewhat seedy looking motel parking lot. 

Kate got out of the car. "Wait here until I let Gibson know you're with
me. Then, I'll motion you up."

As she reached the room, the door opened before she had a chance to
knock.  Gibson peered at her through the crack. "Tell Agent Reyes to
come on up."

Kate turned around and motioned for the other woman to come
up. Once they were both on the landing, Gibson opened the door
enough to let them in, then locked it back and put a chair beneath the
handle.

Getting nervous at his nervousness, Kate spoke again. "Gibson. What is
it?"

He motioned her through the little kitchen area in the mini-suite. As she
stepped into the main bedroom, her breath caught in her throat. A
young teenage girl was sitting on the edge of one bed, but what held her
attention was the small child sleeping soundly in the other bed, his arm
wrapped around an oversized stuffed frog.  Kate's mouth dropped
open as she looked at the child. His long lashes were dark as was the
thick, wavy hair on his head. She almost didn't make the connection; he
looked so different from what she thought he would.  The frog in his
arms, though...she had bought that for him at the zoo that time all those
years ago. "Oh, my God. Gibson. Where did you find him?"

Gibson pointed at the girl. "I can't even explain it. I woke up several
days ago and just knew what I needed to do. When I got to San
Diego, she was waiting for me outside some sort of research lab. She
said they were coming to kill her. Something inside was telling me
where to go, what to do. When we got to the turn for his driveway, he
stepped out into the road right in front of me. When I stopped, he
climbed in the car and told me the bad people were coming. I think
they've found a way to track me. I've been running constantly for the
past few years, and they still find me every time I start to let my guard
down. We all need to get out of here. I don't think you guys are safe
with me around. That's why I need you to take them. Get them
somewhere safe until you can get them to Mulder and Scully. Agent
Reyes, Dr. Carter...the thing is...she can read MY mind. She's
connected to me somehow. She's connected to the little boy, too. But
he's different. He knows things."

Kate nodded. "Okay. Okay. I know a place we can go. Are you
sure you can't come with us?"

Gibson shook his head. "It's not safe for anyone. I have to go. And you
and Agent Reyes have to get out of here quickly."


Saturday, 12:00 a.m. Mountain Time

Mulder woke Scully up by tapping her cheek. "Hey. We're at
the motel." They were both exhausted. They had managed to make
it commercially to Denver pretty quickly, but then they couldn't find
a connecting flight until morning. Doggett had called on a friend,
who had managed to fly them within an hour of the Van de
Kamp's farmhouse. 

She stretched. "Why aren't we at the house?"

"Scully. Nobody is at the house. We can go first thing tomorrow."

She shook her head. "No, Mulder. Now."

He sighed and took out his phone. When he hung up, he told
her, "Skinner is out with a search party. He's going to meet us."

Without making eye contact, she told him, "They won't find him."

Mulder nodded as he drove. "I know. It's 20 degrees out there, Scully.
We don't want them to find him out there anyway."

When they pulled up at the house, Skinner was already there. Mulder
stopped to talk to him, but Scully made her way inside immediately.

Mulder found her ten minutes later in what was obviously a
child's bedroom. She was holding a pillow to her nose, her eyes closed.
He looked around the bedroom. There were several models, a
collection of rocks sitting around on every surface, and lots of books.
In a cage near the dresser, there was a bird. "Lights out, William,"
the bird squawked when Mulder turned on the overhead light.  

Startled, Scully jerked her head up and looked at the bird. They
hadn't changed his name. Mulder walked over to look more closely at
the bird. The bird looked at him as well, twisting its head first one way,
then the other. "Hey, little guy," Mulder put his finger through the slats
on the cage. "Are you hungry?"

The bird pecked his finger, drawing blood. "Ow. Damn it."

More squawking, then, "Damn it. Lights out. Sleep tight."

Slowly, Scully started moving again and examined everything in
the room. She stopped beside a drawing pinned to the wall. There was
a stick figure, with "William" written beneath it in childish handwriting. 
She couldn't figure out what all the other stuff in the picture was, but she
took the drawing off the wall, folded it, and put it into her coat pocket.
She nosed around the rest of the downstairs, looking at the
photographs of what appeared to be a perfectly happy family.  As her
eyes drank in the child, she was devastated to find that she didn't
recognize him. She guessed she always figured that a mother would
always recognize her child.

She stood before the mantel, unmoving. Mulder walked up behind
her. "He still has your eyes. And your skin coloring."

She stared hard. The resemblances started to peek through, and she
started to breathe easier. "His eyes are my color, but they're shaped
like yours. I can see you in him, Mulder. I couldn't when he was a
baby, but I can now. He's so big," she whispered longingly.

Finally, she made her way into the kitchen, which was obviously the
hub of the house's action. There were Lego's on the countertop and
magnets, photos, and drawings all over the fridge. She noticed the bowl
on the ground by the floor. She turned to look at Skinner. "Has anyone
found the dog?" She pointed to the bowl and the bag of food nearby.

He shook his head. "To be honest, I don't know if anyone even noticed
the dog bowl yet."

Scully looked back to the refrigerator. "There's a smallish dog in a lot of
the pictures with him."

Mulder chewed a sunflower seed. "Doesn't look like we can do much
here. Scully, do you want to see the bodies?"

She shook her head. "No. You can look at them, though, if you need
to." Scully would rather avoid dead bodies these days if at all possible.

Skinner rubbed the top of his head. "I'm going to let the local people
handle the search around here, since we agree that we probably aren't
going to find anything. Mulder, I want you to come with us to look at
the facility in San Diego. Scully, are you coming, too?" She nodded at
him. "We're flying out in the morning. Oh, Scully, the observation about
the dog is a good one. I can't believe we missed it. I'll put someone on
it. Have them ask neighbors. Not that there really ARE neighbors
around here." When he looked back up, he saw Scully give a funny
little swoon.

Mulder caught her. "Okay. Off to bed for you. You've been up
way too long, and you aren't going to do anyone any good if you
don't rest. Skinner and I can talk on the flight tomorrow."

She shook her head. "You and Skinner finish up. I can sit here on the
couch until you're done." She plopped down and put her head in her
hands, breathing deeply.  She had just dozed off when her phone rang.
She groped in her pocket for it. "Dana Scully."

"Dana? It's Kate." 

"Hey. Sorry I haven't called you. I haven't had a chance."

Kate cut her off. "Dana. Where are you? Still in Wyoming?"

Scully yawned. "Still? I just got here. And we're flying to San Diego in a
few hours."

Kate cut her off. "Listen. About that. Don't go to San Diego. I need
you to meet me somewhere. Mulder, too."

"What? Why?" She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"I can't tell you over the phone, Dana. Please. Just trust me. This is
more important than going to that facility," Kate responded.

Scully looked around helplessly. "Kate. I can't just drop everything if
you won't even tell me what it's about."

Kate gave a sharp sound of disgust. "Damn it, Dana. You know I
wouldn't ask if I didn't think you should. You are going to regret it if
you don't get here quickly."

Scully wavered. "Where is here, Kate? D.C.?"

"No. And I can't tell you over the phone. I'll leave instructions for you.
Just fly into D.C. as soon as possible. I'll get you the rest of the
information."

"Kate, I can't. But I'll be home in a couple of days tops."

"Oh my God. What is wrong with you? Listen to me. Come back now.
Let Skinner and Doggett go to San Diego. "

Scully could hear another voice in the background, then the phone
changing hands. "Dana? It's Monica Reyes. Trust us. Come here first.
Then you can head out to San Diego if you still need to."

She was stunned to hear Monica's voice. What on earth was going on?
Her mind finally cleared. "Just tell me what you've found, Monica."

About that time, Skinner came back through the house. "Scully, we're
about ready to go."

She nodded at him. 

"Dana. Just get on the first flight to D.C. I have to go. I'm trying to
drive." Monica handed the phone back to Kate.

Kate was tired of arguing. "Listen, Dana. Someone will meet you at the
airport. Make sure he knows the pass phrase - the one we used to use
- before you go with him, okay?"

Skinner's phone rang about that time. He listened for a minute,
then exploded. "What do you mean she's gone? How did you lose
her?...You think she drugged you? You expect me to believe this
crap?" He looked up to see Scully staring at him, the phone still to her
ear.  "Is that Kate?"

She nodded, looking confused. "Give me the phone," he
commanded her.

Skinner all but snatched her cell phone away from her. "Kate? Where
the hell are you?"

Kate looked over at Monica and mouthed. "Damn it. Skinner. What
should I tell him?"

Monica shrugged. "Just hang up on him."

Skinner asked again. "I said, where are you? Who is that with you?
Can't you just do what I asked for once? Kate? KATE?"

For a minute, he thought she had disconnected, then he heard, "I can't
tell you where I am, but I promise that I'm fine. I have to go. Put Dana
back on the phone."

Scully watched as Skinner went back to his other conversation. "Who'd
you drug?" she asked Kate incredulously. 

Kate was tired and cranky. "Never mind. But ask yourself this: would I
go to all this trouble if I didn't think it was necessary? You know I
detest drama. Please just trust me and do what I asked. And for God's
sake, don't tell Skinner or Doggett yet. Keep this low profile until you
at least get here and can get a read on this situation. Let them keep
investigating their own way right now so no one gets suspicious."

The line went dead. Scully noticed Skinner looking at her. "What's she
up to?" 

Scully shrugged. "How should I know? She just wanted to make sure I
was holding up okay."

Skinner narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why don't I believe you? She
drugged Agent Cruz. He was supposed to be watching her. She can't
be up to any good if she drugged him and slipped off. He said her car's
still there. He was worried something awful had happened to her."

When Mulder walked into the room, Skinner and Scully were staring
each other down. "What?"

Scully stood up. "Nothing. Skinner's gone all paranoid. Can we please
go now?"

In the car, Scully told Mulder about the call. He looked perplexed. "I
hate to miss the opportunity to check out that facility before it's handed
over to some other jurisdiction. But there's really no reason for us to
go. We can go out after checking in with Kate and Monica if we still
think we should."

She nodded. "Okay. Mulder, Kate and Monica don't think we should
say anything to Doggett or Skinner just yet. They think we should let
them keep investigating and go to San Diego."

Mulder nodded. "I agree. I think they should carry on as planned for
now."

That made her feel better. "Okay."


Continued in Book One, Part 2