Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Except for the one very special character you don't already know. I think here would also be a good place to say that there is already a story like this on Gossamer. I had this idea long before I ever read that story, and mine has a few more twists, but that one is very, very good too. So not stolen, just kind of done without knowledge of the existence of the first. You know what I mean.

Spoilers: Whatever.

A/N: I know some of you won't like this premise, but that is okay. It's not everyone's cup of tea. I got this idea one day about... 7 years ago, and it has been through at least 3 rewrites, possibly more. I am pretty sure I know how it will end but bear with me in the meantime. *insert smiley emoticon here*

This story starts 3 weeks after FTF, but before season 6. So late summer, early fall 1998. That may not be important to you, but it is to me for some reason.

"Hey Scully, it's me. I'm not going to be in the office this week; something came up and I had to go out of town. I'll call you later and fill you in as best I can. Nothing to worry about really. Call me if you need anything."

The message was waiting on her voicemail when she woke up on Monday morning. They had talked briefly on Friday night, but she had been with her mom all weekend and hadn't tried to call him since. It wasn't entirely unusual for him to leave for a few days, but it still concerned her.

She sat down at her desk and tried to concentrate on some paperwork, but the little teeth of curiosity dug themselves in to her consciousness and she couldn't shake it. After battling it for an hour or so, she picked up the phone and dialed his cell number.

"Mulder," he answered, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Mulder, it's me."

"Oh, hey Scully. What's up?"

"I just wanted to call and make sure everything was okay. You were a little vague in your message."

"I'm sorry, I just- hold on."

He put his hand over the phone for a moment, and she briefly wondered what he didn't want her to hear. He hardly ever covered the phone.

"Sorry about that, Scully. Can I call you back in a few hours? I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Yeah. I guess."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mulder. I'll talk to you later."

She hung the phone up and sighed. He had gone off to see another woman. Only three weeks after their almost kiss in the hallway, he had left her to see someone else. She was almost certain of it. It made her a little sad, a little mad, but mostly it just annoyed her. Sure, they hadn't talked about the almost kiss and it hadn't seemed like they ever would. Neither one of them had laid claim to the other and she had no logical reason to be mad.

Except her heart was involved and as logical as she normally was, her heart had a way of mucking things up.

She spent the rest of the day concentrating on paperwork, catching up on phone calls, and trying to avoid all thoughts of Mulder. She did pretty well until lunch time, when she almost asked him where he wanted to eat. Being apart from him should have been a nice change, but more than anything, it was driving her nuts.

She grabbed a quick sandwich at the deli down the street, then returned to work. Everyone else was still out and she had the entire bull-pen to herself. She grabbed the phone and was halfway through dialing Skinner's office before she realized that he wasn't really able to talk to them anymore. She thought about calling Kersh, but decided against it. On the off chance that he knew where Mulder was, he would never tell her anyway. So she did the only thing she could do, no matter how taboo it was. She used the FBI, government issued phone to call Conspiracy Central- the Lone Gunmen offices.

"Lone Gunmen." Langley answered. It was really bad when she could tell who it was even through the voice scrambler.

"Langley, it's Scully."

"I know, we have caller ID."

"How fancy. Look, do you guys know where Mulder is?"

"I don't. Let me confer with my associates."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. They took themselves so seriously. It was more comical than some of the theories they came up with.

"We have no idea where your well seasoned traveler is. Do you want us to see if we can find him?"

"Could you?"

"Yeah. I mean, we wouldn't be doing much more than they would do for you down in the FBI lab, but we'll do it faster."

"Thanks, guys."

"When did you talk to him last?"

"This morning. He left me a message that he would be out of town for a few days. Then I called him back, but he had to hang up after a few minutes. I have no idea where he is or why he's there or anything, but I'm betting he's with another woman, and I'm betting it's Fowley."

"Nah, Fowley went back to Europe."

"She did?"

"Yeah. Not sure how long she's going to be there, but that's where she told Mulder she was going. I am assuming he didn't pass along the message."

"No, he didn't."

"Well, she's gone. You can stop worrying about her encroaching on your territory."

If her mother had said something like that she would have denied it, but besides Mulder, the Gunmen knew her the best. And Langley was right. She had been worried about that.

"Okay. Let me know what you guys find out."

"We will."

She hung the phone up and sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. People were starting to filter back into the room and she wanted to look busy so no one would talk to her. When she started with the bureau, she had several friends that she talked to in the hallways or went out to lunch with. Over the years, it had just become her and Mulder. At first it bothered her, but now it was kind of comforting.

The fleeting thought that he was with someone else and it would never be just the two of them again made her stomach churn. She took a deep breath and pushed the thought from her mind. Mulder could do what he wanted. She'd survive it. She had before.

As it turned out, Mulder called her back before the Gunmen did. She was just sitting down on the couch with a book and a glass of lemonade when the phone rang.

"Scully."

"Hey, sorry I'm just calling you back now. I meant to before, but I got involved in something else."

"That's alright. I'm sure it was important."

"Scully, are you sitting down? Comfortable?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because. We need to talk."

"We do?"

"Do you have time for that?"

"I suppose. What's going on?"

"Well, first of all, I want you to know that no matter what, you and I are still going to be partners and friends. Nothing could ever change that, not even what I'm about to tell you."

"You're freaking me out."

"Scully, a long time ago, before you and I met, Diana and I were married."

She was afraid her dinner would reappear.

"You were?"

"Yes. It was a bad idea, it was short lived and we weren't in love, but it happened."

"I always suspected something, I just didn't know it would be... that."

"There's more."

"I will try to hide my disgust."

"Scully, you're making this very hard to tell you."

"I'm sorry. Go ahead."

Her heart had clenched and her mind was screaming obscenities, but she had to focus her attention on what Mulder was saying.

"This isn't a conversation I wanted to have over the phone. I should have told you this years ago."

"Probably."

"The divorce had just gone through when I met you. She was still in the states, but she was getting ready to go to Europe. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about it. After that it just seemed... stupid to bring it up."

"Why are you bringing it up now?"

"Because, there's more to the story."

"Great."

"I'm not really sure how to tell you this."

"Well, I can't exactly inflict any damage to your person, at least not at this moment, so have at it."

"Scully, Diana and I... we have a daughter."