The Things That Are Given
by Mack the Spoon

Classification: VRA
Keywords: MSR
Spoilers: IWTB
Rating: PG
Summary: If she called, that meant that the period of her life in
which Mulder had been the only other person she knew, the only one
she could trust, was over.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, the show, or the
movie.
Feedback: Will be cherished! Please send it to
glace_aux_fraises@hotmail.com .
Author's Note: Thanks to Dasha for once again providing excellent
insight (and editing, of course)!


~~~~~~~
She half-seriously considered pretending she'd made the phone call
instead of actually doing it, just so Mulder would stop hassling
her about it. All her time at the FBI and more than a year as a
fugitive had improved her ability to lie, after all. Not only
would she feel bad about trying to trick him, though, but Scully
knew this was something that should be done, something she should
actually want to do.

Yet as she contemplated her cell phone, all Scully could feel was
awkwardness and nerves. Skinner had notified them both that he had
discreetly informed her mother that they had survived the
explosions in the desert. And it would have been up to Scully's
mother whether or not she had told the rest of the Scully clan at
that time. So it wouldn't be as if making this call would be a
terrible shock. It would be nothing but welcome news to her
mother: that she was officially not a fugitive anymore, and living
in the States.

Still her fingers wouldn't make the call, to San Diego where her
mother now lived. If she called, that meant that the period of her
life in which Mulder had been the only other person she knew, the
only one she could trust, was over. Surely that was a good thing,
and yet she perversely found herself wanting to selfishly cling to
that isolated feeling, in which it literally had been the two of
them against the world. But she was more than willing to be done
with that, if she were honest with herself. The added fact that
Mulder didn't get to come out of hiding did seriously bother her,
though, and it all combined to make her unwilling to just go
through with it. On the other hand, she missed her mother and the
rest of her family with a dull ache that had barely faded since
she had first left.

Oh, just get it over with, she told herself impatiently, flipping
the phone open and dialing before she could stop to think any
further. Taking a deep breath, she hit send and put the phone to
her ear.

"Hello?"

All her carefully rehearsed thoughts vanished from her mind at the
sound of that so-familiar voice. "Mom?" she said.

There was a loud gasp on the other end. "Dana?"

Despite the fact that no one had addressed her by her first name
in so long, she nodded. "Yeah." She had to stop there to take her
own deep breath, to keep from simply breaking into sobs. "It's
me."

"Dana! Are- are you safe, to be calling me like this?" She could
picture her mother's worried face as if it had been only days
since she had last seen it.

"Yeah, Mom, it's okay. Skinner says they - they aren't looking for
me anymore. I'm okay," she tried to explain, finding it difficult
to get the words out properly.

"That's wonderful!" She heard what sounded like a sniffle. "Oh,
thank God. Where are you, sweetheart?"

"We're - I'm in Virginia." She sighed, knowing what her mother
would ask before the response came.

"What about Fox? Is he there, too?"

"Uh, Mom, I still can't talk about that," she said, trying not to
allow her continued fury at that injustice to color her voice. It
was certainly not her mother's fault. "Not like this." She hoped
her mother could read between the lines and hear that she wanted
to, but couldn't over the phone.

There was a pause. "I'm sorry," Mrs. Scully replied, sounding a
little hurt. "Can you at least... tell me if he's all right?"

She sighed. "He's safe, he's fine." After a second's
consideration, she thought it was probably safe to add, "He, um,
would be happy to know you thought of him."

"I've thought of you both every day for the past year," Maggie
said firmly. "It was only because Mr. Skinner assured me that he
didn't know any more than I did that I didn't keep hounding him
for news."

"I'm sorry," Scully whispered. "I know you worried. W- I would
have contacted you if I could."

"I know that, Dana," said Mrs. Scully, but Scully could again hear
the hurt in her mother's voice. "I know you wouldn't have left
like that and not contacted me if there was any other way."

Scully knew that this indirect, guilt-tripping comment meant there
would have to be more conversation about the anger and worry her
actions had caused. "I wanted to, Mom, you have to know that."

"Of course I do, honey. Anyway, let's not talk about that right
now." Her tone changed deliberately, to one of joy. "I'm just so
glad you called!"

"It's good to hear your voice," Scully said, and it was true, as
she had known it would be. "I missed you so much. And Charlie and
Bill, and Tara and the kids - how are they?"

Mrs. Scully set off on a long catch-up account of all their
family's exploits, and her daughter sat down on the bed, listened
raptly and wiped her tears away. It ended with, "They'll be so
glad to hear you're all right!" There was another short pause, and
she could hear her mother gathering her thoughts. "Dana, I want to
see you. I still have airline mileage, I could fly out there, we
all could-"

"I'm sure I have more," Scully said, smiling. Her accounts had
been magically reactivated with no little help from Skinner. He
had insisted. "Let me come." It hurt to think of leaving Mulder,
even for a short while, but she couldn't very well entertain
anyone at their house here. Besides, he would tell her to go, she
knew.

"Really? That would be..." she trailed off and sniffed again. "Oh,
it would be too good for words. When can you come?"

Scully laughed, with tears in her eyes. "I'll make the
reservations and let you know, Mom. In the meantime, tell everyone
I love them, okay?"

"Of course, dear. I love you. Can I call you tomorrow morning?"

"Uh, I'll be at work. I'm... I work at a hospital here now," she
explained, belatedly realizing that her mother would want to know.

"That's wonderful, Dana. Do you like it?"

"It's where I want to be," she said. "Listen, let me call you back
tomorrow after I'm done with my shift. I'll tell you more about
it, all right?"

"That sounds good, sweetheart. Thank you so much for calling!"

"Of course, Mom," she said, feeling a tiny bit of guilt for her
earlier reluctance. "I love you. Talk to you tomorrow." She hung
up, suddenly emotionally drained, but with a new layer of
contentment underneath. She didn't know how long she had been
sitting there when a quiet knock on the bedroom door startled her
out of her thoughts.

"How'd it go, Scully?" Mulder asked.

She took a deep breath and let it out. "It was good." Her voice
was almost steady. "She asked about you. I told her what I could."

He nodded, smiling a little, and sat down beside her. "And?
Somehow I doubt what you could say about me made up the whole
conversation."

She echoed his smile and leaned into his touch as he rubbed her
back gently. "No. She gave me the Scully family update, too.
Although I imagine she's already thinking of some details she left
out. Sounds like everyone is doing well. I can't believe Bill and
Tara's kids are that grown-up." There was a comfortable silence
for a minute. "Mulder, I told her I'd fly out there and see them
all." She sighed again.

"You should," he agreed.

"I really wish I didn't have to leave you here."

"I know, Scully," he said, looping his arm around her shoulders.
"I definitely wouldn't mind seeing your mother. Not so sure about
Bill, though."

She chuckled lightly and pretended to give him a glare, then
allowed her expression to soften. "You'll be okay, if I go?"

"I'll be okay. I'll miss you like crazy, but I'll be okay," he
said, kissing her cheek. "You should go. Do you have any vacation
time at the hospital?"

She leaned her head on his shoulder and nodded in exhaustion.
"I'll miss you, too, Mulder. I keep thinking you'll manage to get
into trouble while I'm not here to watch your back."

"Who, me?" Mulder said, opening his eyes wide in innocence. He
winced away from her swat, then grabbed her hand and laced his
fingers through hers. "Don't worry, Scully. If it'll make you feel
better, we can stock up on food and necessities before you go, so
I won't even be tempted to leave our property."

"Hmm," was her response. "I guess that might have to work."

He squeezed her shoulders. "Anyway, let's go watch some mindless
TV for a while before bed, huh?"

"I can't believe you still need the TV to sleep, after all this
time," she grumbled, but allowed herself to be led to the living
room.

"Whereas you've always needed no encouragement whatsoever," he
returned. "You'll be asleep before we even get to the first
commercial break, so it's not like I'm really forcing you to do
anything, right, Scully?"

She snorted. "Whatever, Mulder. Since when did you force me to do
anything?" They sat down and he flipped on the TV.  When he opened
his mouth to argue further, she interrupted. "Just shut up and let
me sleep." She cocked an eyebrow at him, the ghost of a grin on
her face, and settled against his shoulder again.

"Yes, ma'am, right away, ma'am," he said, and she thought he would
have saluted if his arm hadn't been encumbered by her body pinning
it down. When he heard her quiet huff of laughter, he added,
"Think I could have fit into your family, Scully?"

Before she drifted off (the first commercial break, as he'd
predicted, having yet to have happened), Scully mumbled in
response, "Don't be silly, Mulder. You are my family, of course
you fit."

~~~~~~~
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Again, I'd love to hear some
feedback.

It's possible that the airline mileage thing is something Skinner
wouldn't have been able to do. But in my world, if a higher-up in
a government agency contacted the airline about reinstating
someone's account, it would work. And I do think it's totally
something our favorite boss-man would do. :-)