TITLE: SECOND CHANCES (1/2)

AUTHORS: Nessy and Cirglas

RATING: PG-13 (a few swear words)

CLASSIFICATION: S R C (H)

KEYWORDS: X-Files/ ER Crossover, M&S/ Green &Lewis
Romance, Phoenix, Arizona, Hospital, Coma!Mulder

SUMMARY: Mulder is in yet another hospital and while keeping
vigil, Scully meets Susan Lewis and they become friends.

SPOILERS/TIMELINE: THE XF MOVIE and ER's UNION
STATION (if you don't know one of them, it's okay, I think you'll
understand this fic anyway.). Smaller reference to XF EMILY, XF
PILOT and a few ER eps before Susan leaves. In this story M & S are
partners on the X-Files, it's 2 1/ 2 years after Susan left Chicago (I
think it was in November) and a year after the XF movie took place. I
don't know if that is possible time wise, so if not, try to imagine it
anyway, okay? :-).

DISTRBUTION: This goes to Gossamer through EP. Anywhere and
anybody else is welcome to, just tell us where and don't earn any
money from it or say that anybody else wrote this...

AUTHORS' NOTES:

We're sorry this story took us so long to be completed. Real life got in

the way, but here it is...finally!

The beginning of the story might be a little 'medical' so if you don't
understand a word, don't worry (we asked people with medical
knowledge to help, and now we're a little lost ourselves) and just read
on; the rest is easier to understand.

Nessy: We never did a Crossover before and we definitely never
wrote ER-fic, either. Hope it turned out okay anyway. We had a lot of
fun with it and we're glad to be able to happy-end two great series.
G If there are still typos or other mistakes in here, they're probably

my fault (NOT the beta readers' fault), because I tend to change a few
sentences at the very last moment. :-)

Cirglas: This is very different from everything we have written so far,

especially because we have another character besides Mulder and
Scully playing a major part in the story. But don't worry, there is
enough MSR in here anyway.

DISCLAIMER: They do not belong to us (is there really anyone who
does NOT know where M&S come from? Carter you're a Saint!!)
and whoever owns Green, Lewis and co.: Thanks for letting us borrow
them ;-) We're not making any money with this story, so don't sue us,
it's not worth the trouble...

DEDICATION/ THANKS: Many, MANY thanks to Susan!! You
started out as a med contact but helped us through the whole story.
Thank you so much for your help, 'cause without you this would have
never gotten finished and would only be half as good. Thanks also to
Ten, Fabiana, Tanja, and everybody else for the encouragement and
help.

This piece of fiction is for everybody who wants Greene and Lewis to
get together as badly as Mulder and Scully !!

POSTED: 13 th April 2000

SECOND CHANCES (1/2)
by Nessy and Cirglas

Phoenix, Arizona
May 15 th 1999
9:36 pm

The doors to the emergency room burst open and immediately the hall
was filled with people and voices.

"What have we got, Dave?" The female resident asked the entering
EMP, shouting over the usual bustle.

"White male, age 38, GSW to left shoulder. LOC at 9:24 pm.
Flatlined for 4 minutes at 9:29. Pulse: 120-150, blood pressure 60
palp, Glasgow rating: 6," the EMP diligently recited.

"Get me four units of O neg and type and cross-match for six more."
She turned to her patient. "Sir? Can you hear me?" After waiting in
vain for a response, she directed her attention back to her colleagues.
"Get me a PA and lateral chest, also a C-spine. Someone page
Holden."
Suddenly she realized there was a face she didn't recognize. "And you
are...?"

"I'm his partner, I administered first aid and have his PoA!", the
petite red-head answered.

"You'll have to wait outside, Ma'am. Jessie will be with you in a
minute," Susan said just before the doors closed behind her -- right
into the concerned woman's face.

"Just great, Mulder, just great." She crossed her arms over her chest to

stop them from trembling but when she encountered a sticky
sensation, she looked down at herself and realized there was blood
soaking into the front of her suit. "Mulder, why are you doing this to
me!?"

May 16th
01:47 am
Waiting Room

Scully glanced at her watch again. This was taking way too much
time. She had borrowed scrubs from the hospital and tried to wash out
her clothes as much as possible, but the blood stains just hadn't come
out. She had anticipated as much -- remembering previous similar
situations -- but she had needed to do something to occupy her mind.
After she had done the paper work and gone through Mulder's record
with the nurse, she had called Skinner, her mother, the Lone Gunmen
and had checked her own voice mail, all just to get her mind off what
was happening right on the other side of that plain white wall. The
same wall which she was now pacing before and only stopping every
once in a while to glare at it.

She hated waiting and especially sitting around doing nothing. She
mused it might have something to do with her Irish heritage and the
fact that waiting usually didn't help, or mean anything good. Most of
the time she could control her impatience to the extent that nobody
else would notice her anxiety, but every time Mulder was brought into
the equation, it just took too much out of her.

She breathed out a sigh of frustration and sank down into one of those
uncomfortable chairs again. That was the problem, wasn't it? This
was Mulder, not just some colleague she only knew briefly or who
wasn't that important to her. Mulder was more than her work partner,
he was her best friend - her only real friend. Someone she could talk
to - but usually didn't even need to, someone who understood her
problems and fears. They were a team. And she was about to lose
him...

God, what would she do without Mulder? She had been forced to ask
herself that question many times over the years, usually because
Mulder was -- just like now -- in a life-threatening situation. And
still,
she hadn't been able to answer the question yet, and she knew there
really was no answer. She just didn't know how she could go on
without him.

She tried unsuccessfully to think of something else. Unable to sit still

any longer, she again paced between the plastic chairs and the trauma
room doors.

Were they taking good care of him? Was he waking up and she
wasn't there to calm him down? Or worse: Was he dying in there,
with all those strangers, yet terribly alone?

Scully was ready to kick in the door to the trauma room and see for
herself.

Just then the doors opened and a very bedraggled doctor stepped out.
Behind her the gurney with Mulder was brought out and rolled away.
Scully was just about to follow his unconscious form when the doctor
blocked her way and reached for her arm.

Scully was starting to get nervous. "What is it ?!"

"So you are Agent Dana Scully?"

"Yes", Scully answered with a sinking feeling and her stomach
knotting up into a tight ball.

The doctor nodded and said, "Okay." She lead her a few steps away
from the other people and began to talk. "Agent Scully, my name is
Doctor Lewis. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your partner is in

a very bad shape. We have him stabilized now but..." She tried to read
the woman's face, but was confronted with a professional mask, so
she continued. "He lost a lot of blood and especially the fact that he
flatlined for over 4 minutes is not very good."

Scully let out the breath she had been holding and nodded sadly.

But Susan had another bit of information that she needed to inform
the agent about. "Frankly, we don't know if there's any permanent
damage to the brain, and we will only be able to asses that after he
comes to. Unfortunately, he was starting to get restless, so for the
time
being we had to sedate him to a state of coma, so that his wounds
have a better chance to heal. We'll have to wait a day or two to find
out, but since his pupils are equal and reactive we're quite optimistic.

Do you understand the situation?"

"Yes, I-- I'm a doctor myself."

"Good. The thing is, he can emerge out of this unscathed or he could
be seriously disabled - we just don't know yet. We're bringing him up
to ICU right now and then you'll be able to see him once they're
finished arranging everything."

"Thank you, Dr. Lewis."

"I'm sorry I can't do more," she replied, but Scully was already
heading to ICU.

May 16 th 1999
3:45 am
ICU

Scully turned her head as she sensed more than heard the door
opening. She smiled as she recognized the figure entering.

"Hello, Dr. Lewis."

"Agent Scully."

Susan smiled at Scully encouragingly and moved closer to her and the
bed. In silence she took Mulder's chart and studied it. Then she took
an unoccupied chair from the other side of the bed and planted it next
to Scully's sitting form, taking a seat herself.

Scully raised her eyebrows at Susan's obvious intention of staying.

"How is he doing?" Susan inquired softly.

"No change yet, but that can be seen as a good sign, I guess." Scully
shrugged her shoulders. "And he's still hanging in there and for that
I'm thankful. But, you know, trust him to become all fidgety and need
to be sedated. Now we can't estimate the damage to his brain until it
wears off."

"Agent Scully... We don't know if he'd be awake even then."

"Yeah, I know. But sometimes I do get the feeling that he doesn't
want to wake up." She smiled to herself. "Like he knows he'll get
punished for scaring me like that."

"Is that what awaits him?", was Susan's half joking, half serious
reply.

Scully shook her head. "No, of course not. I used to believe I could be
mad at him for getting into trouble like this and I'd prepare to be
angry at him. But somehow, as soon as he wakes up I'm just so glad
he finally did that I completely forget to get angry."

"Lucky him."

Scully snorted in agreement. "Definitely 'lucky him'."

Susan realized something: "So this is not the first time that he is in
the hospital?"

Scully looked up at her with tired eyes. "The first time? I don't even
remember the first time. And I didn't even start counting. He just
always walks into dangerous situations and then ends up in the
hospital. He is like a magnet for trouble. And I can't prevent it, so,
at
the end, I just pick up the pieces and set Humpty-Dupmty back
together again." She turned back to the patient.

"You've never even been a practicing doctor, right?"

"No, but I'm getting enough practice, mind you. There's not a limb
he hasn't injured, a kind of drug he hasn't had - whether before or
during his stay in a hospital. A med class would have a field day with
him. So much variety."

Scully turned from Mulder back to Susan when the woman next to her
said, "You look tired, Agent Scully. Go back to the hotel, get some
sleep. I'll have someone notify you if anything changes."

"I'm not going anywhere. But what are you still doing here? Your
shift's over, the ICU isn't your responsibility anyway. We don't both
have to stay here."

Susan moved her shoulders tiredly and rolled her neck. "Yeah, it was
a long day. But I'm not ready to go home. Only an empty apartment
waiting for me anyway."

Scully gave a genuine smile now. "Ah, a kindred spirit. Married with
your work, are you? Call me Dana."

Susan nodded while reaching for Scully's hand to shake it. "And I'm
Susan."

Simultaneously, they both turned to Mulder who was oblivious of
their scrutiny.
In their silence, the machines keeping Mulder alive were deafening
and in the eerie glow emanating from the hospital lights, the two
women waited for Mulder to recover.

May 16 th
11:46 am
ICU

"Dana. Come on. Dana, wake up."

Slowly, Scully's senses were coming alive and she began to regain her
orientation. "Wha- What?" She squinted at someone hovering over
her and slowly the haze before her eyes lifted enough to recognize the
face. "Susan? What are you still doing here?"

A chuckle answered her. "Still? Dana, I'm here again. My shift
begins in ten minutes."

Scully sat up in a hurry and checked her watch. Susan was right, it
was almost noon already. Panicy questions like 'Had she missed
something?' or 'Was something wrong with Mulder?' were quickly
subdued by her logic: She would have been awakened by the alarm of
the machines; she had become a light sleeper. Deciding a quick check
wouldn't hurt though, Scully leaned over Mulder's unmoving form.
She felt his forehead and checked his pulse on the EKG. As she
proceeded with her well-rehearsed performance she sighed in
frustration. There was absolutely no change for the better. She
reminded herself that Mulder at least wasn't in a worse situation than
before, either. Then she remembered why she had woken up in the
first place. She turned around to look at her wake-up caller.

She turned to see Lewis with a half-grin standing behind the chair
Scully had occupied until only a few moments ago.

"What?" Scully asked still a little tiredly.

Lewis shrugged and said, "Oh, nothing. Hey, I brought you some
coffee and wanted to check in with you."

Only now did Scully notice the warming smell of fresh-brewed coffee
that was filling the room and the two steaming cups Susan was
holding.

Scully looked down at her hands holding Mulder's left hand. "Oh,
thank you, Susan." She took the offered cup and sat down on the edge
of the bed while Susan took a seat on the recently-vacated chair.

After taking a sip, Susan looked at the other woman. "How are you
holding up, Dana?"

Scully stalled by taking a sip herself. Then she finally answered: "I'm
Fine. Don't worry about me." She didn't feel very fine, though: She
had a crick in her neck from sleeping bent over, her shoulders were
tense and hurting, she had a throbbing headache and most of all she
was terribly worried about Mulder.

"How often have you used that line already?"

Scully snorted. "Mulder doesn't swallow it, either."

"Well at least he's doing something right."

May 17 th 1999
10:24 pm
ICU

Scully looked at Susan siting in that horribly uncomfortable chair and
wondered aloud, "How long have you been working here?"

"About two and a half years."

"Only? Where were you beforehand?"

"I lived in Chicago and worked in Cook County General in the ER
there."

"Really? My aunt and uncle used to live there. Why did you come
here? Get too cold for you in Chicago?"

Susan smiled. "No, that wasn't it, although the winters here are
much friendlier. Actually, it all started out with my sister Chloe
having a child that she wasn't capable of caring for. So she left her
daughter Suzie with me. I had already decided to adopt her, when, a
few months later, Chloe walzed in and demanded her back. Chloe
said she was now able to provide for her and wanted to live in
Arizona with her boyfriend and Suzie. So I had no alternative other
than to give her Suzie back and live my life as it had been before."

"That must have been hard." Scully remembered her own daughter
and how much losing her had hurt her, even though she had only just
begun to know her. She sighed. That topic was still so painful, she
wondered, was that ever going to change?

"It was terrible. I felt so lonely and my life so empty."

Scully nodded her understanding. "So you decided to follow them,"
she deducted.

"Yeah, after trying to live without Suzie for a few months I knew I
couldn't continue like that. So I asked my boss to help me get my stuff
together and then I applied for a job here. I got accepted and left
Chicago."

"You were lucky they had an opening here just then. So you just
packed up and left? You didn't have any trouble leaving your friends
and colleagues behind?"

"Of course. Making that decision was hard, but after I had chosen my
path I was so relieved and happy, I was sure it was the right choice."

"It probably was a big decision," Scully conceded. "How did your
friends react?"

"Well, first I told my best friend, Mark. I had dreaded telling him
because I knew he'd be upset. But I knew I had to, so, when he came
over to my apartment with this silly accusation about me having an
affair with my boss..." Susan smiled at the memory.

Scully's eyebrows shot up. "He accused you of having an affair?"

"Yeah, though I really don't know where he got the idea. I told him,
no, we didn't have an affair, that he had only helped me get all the
paperwork for my transfer done." Susan laughed at the memory.
"Actually it was pretty cute, how Mark stood in my living room
asking me about my relationship to Dr. Morgenstern."

"And how did he react when you told him that you wanted to leave? I
mean Phoenix is rather far from Chicago." Scully remembered that
last year she had rather quit the FBI than move to Salt Lake City --
away from Mulder.

"Oh, I felt so bad about my decision then. He looked at me with those
sad and disbelieving eyes and the way his face fell... Gosh! But he was
so sweet about the whole matter: When I told him that I was relieved
about my decision, that a life in Phoenix would make me happy, he
said I should go and be happy."

"Seems like a decent guy."

"Decent? That doesn't even begin to describe him." Susan tried to
think of an incident that would demonstrate her new friend just how
'decent' a guy Mark was. "You know, I have this terrible fear of
flying," she began.

Scully nodded, she could certainly relate to that. She remembered her
first case with Mulder: The airplane had been caught in turbulence
and she had clutched her armrests in fear for life, whereas Mulder had
not cared much about the shaking airplane. "I've gotten a lot better
about it myself, but I know what you mean."

Susan's gaze turned inward as she remembered the particular day.
"Once, Mark and I had to fly on a rescue helicopter and I was
clinging to him for the whole flight. He was so nice to let me and even
squeezed my arm to reassure me. Later, when I went back on the
helicopter while he had to stay in the hospital, he was all worried
about me flying alone again."

"Strange, Mulder did the same for me, actually. I mean I'm not afraid
of flying itself, but when the plane is in turbulence I can get pretty
scared. So, every time - since Mulder noticed this about me - when the
plane starts to tremble, he distracts me with a card game, a file or one

of his wild theories that he throws at me."

"Well, seems like a pretty decent guy himself, huh?"

The two women chuckled and continued talking about the most
important men in their lives.

"I remember as if it were yesterday," Susan admitted with a rueful
smile on her face and began her story...

"Susan! SUSAN!" She stopped hoisting her last piece of luggage into
the train but rather looked up and to her right, thinking she must be
hallucinating, because she thought she heard someone hollering her
name...

"Mark!" she yelled as she saw him running towards her. When he
finally reached her, gasping for air, she asked concerned and
confused: "Mark, are you okay? You came to say good-bye?"

Mark only shook his head, he was still out of breath and was still
busily gulping down air. Finally: "No. Stay. I want you to stay."

"But, Mark...", she started.

He interrupted her, though. "I love you. And I'm stupid for not saying
it before."

Susan was speechless for a moment, then she smiled. "No, no it's
okay...I-- I knew. In a way, I knew."

That obviously wasn't enough for Mark. "Stay. We belong together.
Tell me you don't feel the same...?"

After a long pause Susan said, "I'm sorry."

"We're right together," Mark insisted.

Trying to hold back tears, Susan said, "Mark, you are my best friend, I
don't know how I'm going to make it without you."

"Don't go", Mark pleaded with her.

"I have to", she explained. "I don't belong here anymore, I have a new
life, it's going in a different direction."

"Susan, I don't want to lose you." He looked like he was going to cry
any minute now.

Susan hugged him to her, then raised her head away from his chest.
They looked into each other's eyes and then she touched her lips to
his. Their kiss was short but full of emotion. The conductor pulled her
on the train, just barely before it started to move.

Before the door closed completely, Susan assured Mark: "I'll never
forget you."
A few horrible seconds past, during which Susan realized she had to
tell Mark the truth. When she looked out of the open window again
Mark was standing there staring at the train leaving. "I do love
you," she yelled.

Mark only stared at her in shock. "What?"

"I love you!" She shouted louder and more confident this time. Mark
stared at her dumbfounded and didn't react until she screamed,
"Bye!", smiling and waving at him. Not able to handle the sight of
him standing there, looking so confused and lost, any more, she
disappeared back into the train.

"Leaving him was the hardest thing I ever had to do," Susan uttered
with a sigh.

"Did you ever see him again?" Scully asked, still amazed at the
dramatic scene Susan had just described.

"No," Susan admitted. "I've only written him a card for the very first
Christmas. Otherwise I've written only the whole gang at the ER at
once and also Carol, a friend of mine who works there, once or twice
a year."

"So you didn't talk about that scene at the train station again?" Scully

knew denial when she heard it. She had enough experience with it
herself.

"I didn't feel comfortable bringing it up. I thought we could just
ignore it and go on like before. But then I decided not to write him
anymore, so that we both could move on with our lives."

"But it didn't work." It wasn't a question. "Not for you, and probably
not for him. Mulder and I tried that, too... Denying what had
happened... Needless to say, it didn't work either. I guess, we're
probably still thinking about it... at least I am ...all the time."
Scully
stared ahead unseeingly, and a soft, reminiscing smile played around
her lips.

"What happened?" Susan was glad to be able to divert the attention
from her life for a while.

Averting her eyes, Scully fingered the material of Mulder's blanket.
"We -- we almost kissed a year ago."

This was starting to become an interesting story, Susan decided.
"Almost? Did you stop him? Or he you?"

"No. No, the intention was mutual. But we got interrupted ... by a bee
that stung me. To make a long story short, things came up and then it
didn't seem appropriate to talk about it any more. So we left it at
that.
An Almost Kiss."

"A bee?" Susan couldn't quite keep the grin off her face.

Scully smiled in return. "You have absolutely NO idea..."

"And you've been working together a year and haven't discussed the
matter? Isn't it confusing not to be sure where you stand?" That
earned her a 'Look' from Scully. "Okay, okay, the pot and the kettle, I
know..."

End part 1

MYTOWN
NOW THAT I FOUND YOU

How can I believe that my
Heart would find someone like you
You see the real me
No in-betweens, I had nowhere to hide
You took away the walls around me
Made me feel safe to share my truth Chorus:
I see the heavens open
A heart that once was broken
Is holding nothing back
Now that I found you baby
Now that I found you

You believe we're meant to be
Our chemistry will last forever
And through the years we've seen some tears
We'll conquer fears, together we will grow
When I'm looking in your eyes they tell me
I'll no longer have to feel alone

Because you, you see me
The real me
You believe in me