Starting Over

by

Trycee

Time-Line: My Struggle IV, Season 11

Disclaimer: This is written for fun, not for profit.

Northfolk, Virginia. 2018:

Mulder held her close, his heart broken into pieces. She was crying into his shoulder and all he could think of was that there was a baby, his baby inside of her. Another miracle. He looked towards the choppy waters where his son. He swallowed hard. Where William, had died. He pulled back to look into her eyes. She was inconsolable, her face red with tears streaking her cheeks. She clung to him as the realization that her son was now dead."William...," she whispered, collapsing on the ground.

Mulder bent down and gently tapped her cheek. "Scully, honey, wake up."

He lifted her back up to her feet and she stared up into his eyes. "Mulder...our son," she cried. Scully closed her eyes, as the realization sunk in. "My son..."

Mulder felt his own heart break into a million pieces. "Let's get you to the car, Scully."

"NO," she sobbed. "He's in there. His body..."

"We'll call the police to retrieve his body, Scully, but I need to get you away from here."

"I can't, Mulder. He's in there," she said, pointing to the waters. "William...," she sobbed. "William is gone..."

Mulder gripped Scully's arms. "I'll call the police and they'll search for him, I promise."

Scully glanced back at the dark waters but Mulder placed his arm around her, afraid she might jump into the waters after her son. Mulder held her as they walked down the pier and back into the warehouse until they came to the entrance they'd entered from. They stopped in their tracks, surprised at the scene in front of them. A black SUV had slammed into Mulder's car. He could make out a person in the drivers seat. He held up his hand, letting Scully know he wanted her to stay in place. Mulder walked cautiously to the side of his car, and stared down at the legs that stuck out, sandwiched beneath the much larger black SUV. He could see Monica Reyes with a bullet hole in her head. He turned his attention back to Skinner. He reached down and touched his arm. He could hear a slight moan. "Skinner?"

"I'm hurt," he heard him say.

"Scully, call 9-11," Mulder said, turning towards her.

She reached into her pockets and pulled out her phone. He could hear her conversation as he knelt down, trying to see where Skinner was wedged. Scully walked to Mulder's side. "They're on their way. They'll need to lift the car off of him."

Mulder placed his hand up. "Scully, step back. You're in a delicate state."

Scully took a step back as Mulder walked to the drivers side of the SUV and touched the still warm skin of Monica Reyes. He knew she was dead but he checked for a pulse anyway. "She's dead."

Scully stared back at Mulder. "She was trying to redeem herself. She was still trying to help us, Mulder. She deserved better than this."

"It's too late now," he said, as the police and the ambulance pulled up in front of the warehouse. "I need to talk to them. Tell them there's two bodies in the bay."

He could see Scully stumble again and so he marched her over to the second ambulance that had pulled up. "She's pregnant," Mulder said to the Ambulance worker. "Check her."

The EMT pulled Scully inside the Ambulance and began to check her vitals. She was cleared but was left in the Ambulance as they joined in trying to help Skinner who was badly injured. Scully stared out at the surreal vision in front of her of swirling blue and red lights that lighted the docks in the dark. Scully watched as Mulder explained the situation to the Norfolk police, turning occasionally to point in her direction. She watched as Monica's body was covered with a white sheet after the Coroner had snapped photos; she felt a pang in her heart watching the fate of her former friend. Scully made the sign of the cross and then turned away. She could feel Mulder's eyes on her as he talked with the local police. She turned her attention to the rumblings of the ground as the Fire Department along with the Police Department immediately went to work, carefully pulling the SUV away from Mulder's damaged sports car. A badly bleeding Skinner was lifted onto a stretcher, his body secured as they rushed him into the other Ambulance and drove away. Mulder walked back over to her side. "They're ordering a retrieval team to look for William and CGB's bodies from the water."

Scully's eyes began to water. "Mulder, how bad is Skinner?"

Mulder shook his head. "I'm not sure but he's pretty bad. He's still alive though. That's something. Come on, Scully, I'm going to drive Skinner's car home. Come on," he said, grabbing her hand.

She jumped down from the Ambulance onto the ground and followed him to Skinner's car. The police watched them as they slipped into their seats.

"Skinner's being taken to the same hospital that we were just at," Mulder said, as his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "I need to get you away from here."

"NO!", she said, turning to look at Mulder.

He looked at Scully perplexed. "Why?"

"We're going to the hospital, Mulder."

"No, Scully. Skinner is..."

"The hospital has William's DNA results. I want to run a paternity test. I want to run it myself."

Mulder stared back at her. "Scully..."

"NO," she said. "I need to know Mulder. Skinner told me that CGB is William's father and I can't possibly believe that. I can't..."

Mulder lowered his head as he slammed his fist against the steering wheel. Several officers walked up to them but then stepped away as Mulder turned the engine on. "He's taken everything away from me, Scully."

"Not everything, Mulder."

He turned to look at her. "Are you sure you're pregnant, Scully? How is the baby possible? I thought you said you'd gone into menopause?"

"Menopause takes up to eleven years, Mulder. I'm still having periods. Not all the time but I am. Or was. There's women that have babies in their early fifties, Mulder. It's more common that you think. As long as you are still having a period and ovulating, it's possible."

Mulder turned to look at Scully. "Is that where you were yesterday morning? At the doctors?"

She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Mulder. He snatched it from her fingers and read it. "Five weeks...You're five weeks pregnant?"

"Yeah, I am," she said, nervously. "I know where'd not young anymore but...I am pregnant."

Mulder turned the paper over and could see the ultrasound. He stared at the black and white image of their fetus. He handed the photo back to Scully. She stared at the ultrasound and licked her lips. "Mulder?", she said, as her heart raced. "Mulder? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"This baby is staying with us, Scully," he said, firmly. "This baby has not been tampered with. This baby will be protected."

"I know," she said. "Are you happy? I mean...are you..."

Mulder turned to Scully. "l'm happy, Scully, about the baby...," he said, his eyes lost as he looked at her. "But, I'm also devastated about William right now. I just lost a son that wasn't mine to begin with..."

"I didn't know," Scully said, wiping at her eyes. "I thought he was yours and mine. I thought he was the result of our love story. I found out I was pregnant with William the day you were abducted and all this time, I believed he was yours. I had no reason to ever think he wasn't. I was scared they'd experimented on me but I just knew he was yours. And then Skinner tells me..."

Mulder shifted the car into drive and began to drive away from the warehouse. "Skinner was told this by CGB?"

"Yeah," she said, her voice cracking.

"And the hospital still has records of the DNA test?"

"Yeah," she said. "His and mine."

"And what if it comes up that William is my brother and not my son, Scully," he said, turning to face her.

He could see the tears in her eyes as she turned her head away from him. He listened to her cries as he drove on autopilot. He was sure his heart had finally dissolved as he thought back to the past seventeen years of William's life to the beginning when he first found out she was pregnant with him. He thought back to the moment he had awaken from death to see the beauty that was Scully. He remembered how he felt when she laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. But, when she stood up, his world had shattered. Scully was pregnant and that's when his anger and jealously had set in. It wasn't until a few days later that he had realized that he was the father of their son. And he had vowed that he would do whatever it took to protect both Scully and their unborn child. He had tossed and turned many a night worrying about the baby growing inside of her and the dangers she was in. He'd made plans thanks to The LoneGun Men to protect Scully and their baby, just in case. And when William had been born, he had unfortunately missed the entire event, having sent her with the now deceased Monica Reyes to get her out of danger. William had been born in Georgia under threat of the Super Soldiers and he had searched for them by helicopter. When Mulder had found her, he'd taken her and the baby to the nearest hospital in Atlanta. She'd been there just two days before she was released and they had brought William home, spending only one day together as new parents. Skinner would then tell them that his life was in danger and that if he stayed, the Super Soldiers and the Syndicate would come after Scully and their child. And so he had left them for months, thinking that he could save them with his absence. But what he had done was leave Scully and William open for attack, leaving Scully with only one choice, to protect their son, to give him away. Through hurt, tears and years of worry and fear, they had endured it all together until tonight, when he learned that he was in fact, not the father of William in the first place. Another lie, another enduring pain.

Mulder reached out and touched her hand. He could hear the shifting of her sobs as he touched her. "Scully," he said. "I love you. And no matter what CGB has done, that will never change. You have to believe that."

She turned towards him as if her head were heavy as her tears cascaded down her cheeks. She was silent as she held his hand, squeezing it occasionally for strength. They parked and Scully wiped at her face, trying to erase the tearful track lines. Her face was crimson and her blue eyes were watery, but it was the best she could do. She had to to switch to doctor mode and that required her to push her emotions aside.

Scully slipped the cotton swap into the glass collection and sealed it. "Okay," she said, looking into Mulder's eyes as they sat in an empty exam room. "I'll have this run and we'll face whatever happens."

Mulder nodded. He touched his lips to her forehead. "Okay..."

"I'm sorry, Mulder...", she said, shaking her head. "If he did this to me...and William was not yours... I don't know..."

"You did nothing wrong," Mulder said. "It was not your fault. It was his. He has always tried to take everything from me. He took away my sister which took away my parents. Then he killed my father and then I learned that CGB was in fact my real biological father, which made it even worst. He's tried to take you away from me. What could be left? To take our son away from us. He's evil, Scully, not you."

Scully placed her hand against his chest. "I love you."

"I love you," he said, pressing his lips to her forehead.

Scully patted her hand against his chest and then walked out, leaving him alone. Mulder could feel his own heart sinking. William had been their miracle child, the evidence of their true and unyielding love and the hope of their future. To have that ripped from them was almost more than he could handle. Scully returned from the lab and walked with Mulder to the waiting room.

Mulder sat with Scully stretch out on his lap asleep as they waited in the waiting room. He watched as the halls began to fill up as the hospital transitioned to the morning crew with doctors and nurses moving briskly down the halls, chatting as they went. Some stopped and pointed to Scully looking like a little girl, nestled on his lap and smiled. Mulder smiled back. His stomach was churning as he tried to process the loss of a child with the hope of another.

There was a pat on his shoulder and Mulder turned to see Skinner's doctor. "Walter Skinner is recovering from Surgery. The wheels of the car missed his head but got his shoulder and side. He's lucky to be alive. But, we have some bad news as well."

Scully sat up. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid that Mr. Skinner is paralyzed from the waist down."

Scully gasped. "Paralyzed?"

"I'm afraid he'll have to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life."

Mulder held Scully in his arms. The doctor continued. "He'll need full care. He'll probably be here for awhile before he can be transferred to a rehabilitation hospital where he'll have physical therapy and will be taught how to use his wheelchair."

"Can he be transferred to the hospitals in D.C.?", Scully asked.

The doctor sighed. "Well, perhaps in a few days but he'll need family to sign off on that."

Mulder shook his head. "He has no family that's left."

The doctor nodded. "He'll have to request it himself then when he comes too."

"I'm his doctor," Scully said, as she sat up. "I'll request it."

The doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I'll get the paperwork."

"And what about Monica Reyes?", Mulder asked. "Have they notified her next of kin?"

The doctor stared at them. "She has a brother in California that wants her body transferred to Mexico City, so that's what we'll do. He apparently hadn't heard from her in nearly seventeen years. He thought she was already dead."

Scully wiped at her eyes. "Thank You, Doctor."

The doctor nodded his head and retreated just as a lab technician walked up to Scully, handing her the results. Scully jumped up and scoured the forms, and then looked up to Mulder. She could see the look in his eyes that he was already defeated. "Mulder...", she said, slowly. "You are William's father. CGB lied. He lied, Mulder."

"WHAT?", he said. "What are you saying. What do you mean? I mean, he's my father too. Wouldn't our genes be similar."

"But not identical, " she said, looking at him. "William is our son, Mulder, just like we thought. You are his biological father."

"So...what...did...", he stammered.

"He was William's creator. Maybe he engineered it so I would get pregnant. Maybe like Skinner said, he manipulated me during that trip to Pennsylvania. Maybe that was what that talk to me about me not letting you love me was all about."

Mulder sighed and grapped Scully in his arms. "He's our son, Scully. For sure. You're positive?"

"Mulder, Science doesn't lie. DNA doesn't lie. He's your son, not CGB's. You came back as 99.9% the father of Jackson Van DeKamp."

Mulder pulled her in tighter into his arms. They held each other for a long while as their joy was tempered as it quickly turned into tears with the realization that they had still lost their son. Mulder's phone rang. He hit the button. "Hello? Yes?", he sighed heavily. "Okay."

"What did they say?"

"They scanned the river now that it's daylight and used sonar equipment and there was no heat signatures for either body in the river. They used four helicopters and scanned out into the sea, no bodies."

"He's alive..."

"Scully," Mulder said, touching her shoulder. "Don't..."

"He's alive, Mulder. I'm telling you, he's alive," she said vehemently. "I know he is."

Mulder sighed as he looked down into her eyes. "I believe you."

Scully grabbed the ultrasound paper out of her pocket and placed it with William's DNA results. "Let's go, Mulder. I want to go home."

He watched as Scully padded her way towards the door. He caught up to her, slipping her hand in his.

The drive back to his home would be a three and a half hours in the pitch blackness of the early night. He knew Scully would remain in a deep sleep throughout the ride. Mulder sipped on his coffee as he drove the highway back home. He could see Scully asleep out of the corner of his eye but she sat up suddenly, staring at him as they drove on. " I can feel him. He only pretended to be shot in the head. He's running."

Mulder turned to Scully. "You can still feel him?"

"I'm his mother...", she answered simply.

Mulder nodded his head. "L'm sure if he needs us, Scully, he'll find us. He's an adult now."

"He's seventeen," she said, as she wiped away her tears. "Out there, all alone."

"Scully, he can protect himself better than you or I. When he's ready, he'll find us. Besides, we have a little one to worry about."

Scully smiled to herself. Mulder continued on. "When we were on the docks, Scully, why did you say William was an experiment? Why were you rejecting him?"

Scully's smile quickly disappeared. She pursed her lips and looked down at her feet. "I didn't mean it," she said, scanning Mulder's eyes. "Skinner had just told me that our son was not ours. He said he needed to tell me who the father was." She turned to look at Mulder. "I listened but I'm not sure I heard it all. To me, without you as his father...I guess I needed to separate myself from him. I needed to distance myself. It was another lie, another experiment like with Emily. Another hoax."

"He was still your son, even if he wasn't mine."

Scully shook her head. "That was how I felt at that moment, Mulder. I felt that if you weren't the father, then I didn't want..."

Mulder grabbed her hand and squeezed. "He is our son. CGB might have played God but he's OUR son, not his. And he's out there somewhere. He doesn't want us to find him though, Scully."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm just grateful he's still alive."

"If you believe he's alive, Scully, then so do I."

"He's alive, Mulder," she said, searching his eyes. "He's alive."

"Skinner will be transferred back here to D.c. in a few days. We'll need to go visit him."

"Okay," Mulder said. "Skinner is such a proud man. I'm not sure how he'll handle all of this."

"And poor Monica," Scully sighed. "She was trying to help us...if only she had left him and gotten away."

"Monica wouldn't have left John. But that means, John is still trapped wherever CGB has him."

They turned and looked at each other.

"We have this new baby we need to worry about and care for now, Scully. For seventeen years we've focused on William. He's a man now, he's on his own. There's no one that can protect him better than he can protect himself. We have to let him go. We have to focus on this baby."

"Together," she said. "We need to work on our marriage, Mulder."

Mulder nodded his head. "That's exactly what I mean."

She sat in the car looking out at the front porch of the Unremarkable House. "I wanna move back home."

Mulder nodded. "Without a doubt. You're partially moved back in since the fire. We'll hire someone to fix up your place and sell it."

Scully placed a hand to her stomach and sighed. "We're old, Mulder. We have one child that will be an adult soon and one child on the way. It's not going to be easy. I'm not even sure we're up for this."

"We'll make it work, Scully."

"I know we will," she said. "I wanted to tell you yesterday about the baby but Monica had called me about William and so I rushed in to tell you. I knew it wasn't the time. You had to find our son."

Mulder grabbed her fingers and brought them to her lips. "It's a miracle, Scully. Another Miracle."

She turned to look at him. "We're out of a job," she said. "Kersh wanted our badges."

Mulder sighed and shook his head. "We were back for such a short period but we knew that with the current political climate we might lose our jobs," he sighed. "What will you do? Go back to Our Lady?"

"If they'll have me."

"You were such a highly valued physician and surgeon, Scully. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to bring you back whenever you decide to go back."

Scully glanced down at her stomach. "I'll contact them and let them know I want to come back at some point, maybe in a year."

"But, not now. We're fine. We have enough money. We have more than enough money, actually. So, not now, not while you're pregnant."

Scully glanced at the ultrasound of their baby. "Our entire lives are about to change."

"I guess I'll be a stay-at-home dad."

Scully smiled. "I like the sound of that."

Mulder smirked. "Guess we'll have to do a little spiffing up of the place."

"You'll have to do that anyway. I'm not moving back into a bachelor pad."

Mulder smiled. "We need so much. Diapers and cribs and so much more."

"Looks like Ikea isn't the only place we'll need to hit up."

"No," he said. "But, we'll be fine."

"Geritol and Baby Diapers, Mulder?"

Mulder turned to her. "Definitely. And to think we thought we were old with William." he said, staring at their front door.

"We were so wrong," she said, sliding out of the passenger seat. "Come on. I'm hungry."

Mulder followed her up the steps. They pushed open the front door and sat down on the couch. Scully glanced around them. "First we eat, then we call to check on Skinner. Then we start decluttering," she said, shaking her head. "Most of this," she said, pointing to his boxes of Mulder's tapes with his desk in the middle of the living room floor. "It'll have to go somewhere else, Mulder. We need to make a safe, clean environment for the baby."

Mulder smiled and kissed her lips. "We'll be the oldest parents at the elementary school but we'll also be the coolest parents there."

Scully settled into his arms. "Our X-Files days are over, Mulder. No more of that. I don't want this baby knowing anything about that life."

Mulder placed his hand on Scully's still flat stomach. "It's over," he sighed. "The X-Files is over. Good riddance."

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