Coming Back To You

by Marlen

Mulder mysteriously appears in a Seattle hospital 10 months after being abducted.

TITLE: Coming Back To You (1/17)

AUTHOR: Marlen

E-MAIL: CRMV@aol.com

RATING: PG-13

CLASSIFICATION: Romance, Angst, Story, X-File, Mythology

KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance. Mulder POV. Mulder Angst.
Post-Episode.

SPOILERS: There are little ones for S.R. 819, Amor Fati, FPS,
all-things and Closure; but it's mainly a Requiem post-ep.

SUMMARY: Mulder mysteriously appears in a Seattle hospital 10
months after being abducted. Scully's not there and Skinner
tells him that the child Scully has had in his absence, was just
kidnapped. It becomes a race against time for Mulder to reach
Scully and find their child.

DISCLAIMER: The characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter
Skinner, Alex Krycek, Marita Cavarrubias and The Lone Gunmen;
sadly do not belong to me. They belong to CC, 1013 and FOX.

ARCHIVE: I will submit to Gossamer myself. Otherwise, go right
ahead! Just drop a note so I may visit.

STORY NOTES: I've had this in my head for a little while and
decided it was time to put my thoughts out there to anyone who
was willing to read it. This started as a simple vignette, but
begged to be bigger than that. Will their relationship begin
where they had left off? Is it too late to find their baby?
Read to find out. It takes a while till Mulder reaches Scully,
so hang in there. This could be considered an accompaniment to
Going Thru The Motions (which is from Scully's POV), but it's
not necessary to read that first.

My past work includes: I Have To, Going Thru The Motions, Time
Stops For No One and I Dream Of Her. They're all Post-Requiems'
and I'm on a roll.

FEEDBACK: Oh pretty please, with sugar on top? This is first
story fic I have written so far and would LOVE to hear from you.
CRMV@aol.com

AUTHOR NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AT THE END OF STORY.





Coming Back To You (1/17)
By Marlen



Engulfed in complete darkness, I became aware of a distant
humming sound.

It reminded me of the many motel rooms I had stayed in over the
years. The air conditioner kicked in as I adjusted it. The
rooms were always too warm for my liking. Maybe it was my
constant adrenaline from whatever case I was on. Maybe it was
the warm body lying next to me. It allowed me an excuse to
cuddle up next to her warm body. She just radiated heat and it
comforted me.

I concentrated on the hum. Remembering nights that were no
longer cold and uninviting, but warm and loving.

The echo of beeps added to the hum.

And one by one, the sounds converged.

Shuffling footsteps joined the hum and beeps.

Clicking joined the hum, beeps and shuffle.

Hum.

Beep.

Shuffle.

Click.

A light began to emerge invading the darkness that enveloped me
like a warm blanket.

Voices joined the mix.

Voices he didn't recognize.

'How's our patient doing?'

'Still unresponsive.'

'Let me know if anything changes.'

'Did you find out who he is yet?'

'Yes, he's an FBI agent.'

'Really?'

'Yes.'

'Wow.'

Panic and confusion overtook me.

*What in the hell is going on?*

I fluttered my blurry eyes open. A flood of light entered my
dark world. It stung my eyes. I shut them quickly.

"Sir? Can you hear me?"

I opened them again and in a groggy haze, I was greeted with an
extremely excited nurse. She was asking me a question, but I
couldn't quite find my voice yet. It was as if I hadn't used my
voice in quite some time.

When clarity did occur, I could tell that she was attractive and
tall with long flowing brunette hair. The type of person I was
always attracted to. However, that was no longer the case.
Like a fine wine, age and life experience had changed me. I
longed for one certain intelligent, mature, not to mention
beautiful little redhead to contradict my wild theories.

And in my moment of reverie, it hit me.

*Scully*

*Where's Scully?*

I was now awake and responsive. The nurse noticed me looking
around the room as if someone was behind her.

She turned around; no one else was the room.

With a bright smile that reminded me of beauty contestants
telling the host that they want solve world hunger. "Hi there,
it's about time you wake up."

Yup, she was too cheery.

The feeling of panic emerged again welling up within me. I
tried to push myself up to get out of the bed, but realized that
I was too weak to do so and my pounding headache didn't help
things any.

I decided to give speaking another try.

"Where's my partner." I crooked out and wondered just how long
it has been since I used my voice.

The nurse didn't understand what I said, but told me to relax
while she went to get the doctor.

*Relax? Easy for you to say.* I felt an achiness throughout my
entire body and a pounding in my head.

I looked around the room I was in and was able to asses that I
indeed was in a hospital.

Big surprise there.

However, I didn't recognize it as one the many hospitals DC had
to offer. The more puzzling question was how did I get here? A
million questions raced through my mind. Was I in a car
accident? No broken bones or gashes anywhere. Did I get shot?
It didn't look as if I had a wound anywhere. Was I injured in
the line of duty? Possibly. I tried to remember what had
occurred to me, but came up with nothing. And then my thoughts
turned to Scully. She was always by my side whenever I ended up
in yet another hospital from yet another irresponsible action I
took. I knew that she would constantly remind me of that fact
as well.

*Where was she? Why wasn't Scully here?*

Oh my God!

Was she hurt as well? Is that why she wasn't here beside me,
questioning every move the doctors made?

I tried again to remember what happened but came up with
nothing. A lot of good that photographic memory was doing me
now.

I was getting frustrated. I hated hospitals. They're nothing
but a waste of precious time. I had to find out what happened
to Scully. If she was hurt, I had to be there for her like she
usually is for me. However, I knew that he was in no condition
to do anything about it.

The door to his room swung open and a man walked through. He
looked more like a professor than a doctor. He was a short man.
He had short white hair and beard complete with small round
glasses perched on his nose.

"I see our mysterious patient has awoken. How are you feeling
today?"

"Been better." *Wait a minute. What did he mean mysterious.*

"I'm Dr. Williams. I have been overseeing your care."

I didn't get a chance to ask about the mysterious comment before
the doctor began to speak again.

"Do you know your name?"

Now we're getting somewhere. Maybe I suffered a head injury,
because that's what they ask when you hit your head as many
times as I have.

"My name is Fox William Mulder. Agent Fox Mulder. I work for
the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington DC."

The doctor gave a nod "Good, I just wanted to make sure you knew
who you were and didn't suffer any cognitive damage."

"What do you mean?" *What the hell is going on?*

"You came in as a John Doe. We didn't know who you were, so we
fingerprinted you and your name came up everywhere. I'm
guessing someone desperately wanted to find you, being an agent
and all."

That confused me. John Doe? If someone was looking for me then
maybe Scully and I are in danger. Time to get to the question
at hand.

"Where's Scully?"

Excuse me sir?

"My partner, Scully?"

"I sorry Mr. Mulder, but there's no one listed here by that name
. . . uh . . . hold on a second" he was looking at his charts
searching for something when he spotted it and said "I thought
that name sounded familiar. It appears on your missing persons
report, it states that if you we're found to contact Agent Dana
Scully or Assistant Director Walter Skinner of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation immediately."

Scully was looking for me?

"The emergency doctor that took care of you when you first
arrived contacted the FBI. I assume one of those two people
will come here for you.

"Was there anyone else with me?"

"No, you appeared here alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

I have to get to the bottom of this.

"Where am I and what happened to me?"

*That was simple enough, right?*

"You're at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Seattle Washington
and as far as what happened to you, well . . . we don't really
know, you were brought here a couple of days ago and was
unresponsive. It caused quite a commotion because no one knows
how you got here. We just assumed someone dropped you off, but
no one remembers seeing anyone with you."


End of part 1
So, what do you think so far? I would love to hear from you.
crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (2/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



I sat there patiently as the doctor told me how I came to be at
the hospital. But how did I end up in Seattle was a complete
mystery. I was especially shocked to hear that I had been a
"missing person" for ten months.

I couldn't hear the doctor anymore. My head was spinning 'ten
months'. How could I be gone for that long? What happened in
my absence? How has Scully been handling it?

I cleared my head and tuned back into what Dr. Williams was
telling him. From what he was able to ascertain, I was
extremely dehydrated. I was also very weak. The doctor said
that the lethargy of my limbs was very similar to what patients
experience when in a coma for long period of time. My Tox
screen came up with a few anomalies, but it wasn't enough to
concern him. However, the doctor was concerned about my
pounding headache. So, they had to perform more tests to make
sure I was okay. Otherwise, I seemed to be in good health.

*I wonder what else he would do if he saw my extensive hospital
records?*

After Dr. Williams had left, a nurse came in and took some blood
for the additional tests. When the nurse left, I was alone.
This was the worst part. The waiting. An unsettling sense of
deja'vu washed over me. I had been at this point too many times
to count. I was tired of it. I didn't know how much longer I
could keep up this 'one man fighting to save the world' routine.
I was already 40 and for once in my life, I thought about taking
a breather and disappearing from the responsibility of it all.
Maybe I could sail around the world. Seasickness be damned. I
wondered if Scully would want to come with me? I enjoyed the
thought of just spending time with her and no one else. I
longed to know more of the woman behind the Scully fa‡ade. I
had only gotten a glimpse of that and wanted more. No cell
phones chirping, hospital stays or Bureau regulations to get in
the way.

The bubbly nurse I had encountered when I first awoke came into
the room taking me out of my musings. She brought in my lunch
*they call this food?* Yah, I definitely hate it here. She
introduced herself as Becky; her name was as perky as her
attitude. She tried to make idle chit chat, even though I was
clearly in no mood to talk. If she noticed my reluctance, she
didn't show it. She continued her one sided conversation about
the weather of all things as she checked my vitals and wrote in
the chart.

I was getting nauseated and was extremely glad that she was
finishing up and leaving.

As she was heading out, the hospital room door swung open and
Assistant Director Walter Skinner walked through.

He looked at me and smiled.

I have been gone for ten months and Skinner didn't look any
different, maybe a few more worry lines than the last time I saw
him. He was actually happy to see me. It was kind of odd to
see him like this; I'm usually getting my ass chewed out for one
thing or another.

I never saw a happy Skinner.

Surprised it wasn't Scully, nevertheless glad to see a familiar
face, I gestured with a nod, "Sir."

With a smirk Skinner said "You seem a little disappointed to see
me Mulder."

"Well, I was hopping to see a five foot three red-head with a
knack for keeping me out of trouble, but I guess you'll do for
now."

I notice Skinners face fall a little at the mention of Scully.
There was something he wanted to tell me. Had something
happened to Scully? Is that why he was here instead of her?

"Is Scully okay sir?"

"Yes Mulder, she's fine." He said sternly.

That really didn't comfort me all that much. Fine wasn't what I
wanted to hear.

"Sir, what happened?"

"Mulder, what is the last thing you remember?"

I could feel Skinner looking at my face to gage what my reaction
would be.

I scrunched my forehead in confusion, "It's all a haze really.
I remember we went back to Bellefleur to look for the space
craft in the forest and then I woke up here."

"You don't remember anything more?"

Frustrated I said curtly, "No I don't"

Skinner decided to fill in the blanks, "You walked a head of me
looking at the equipment to determine where the craft might be.
I looked away for a moment and when I looked back, you
disappeared and then I saw a bright light and heard a strange
sound I had never heard before. The light emerged from the
ground and then moved up slowly towards the sky. I shed my eyes
from the bright light, but was able to see what the light was
attached to. It was a spacecraft Mulder."

My head was spinning. I was abducted? I was taken by them? I
was right. My thoughts were interrupted by Skinners next words.

"Mulder do you know how long you've been gone?"

I nodded and let my thoughts drift back to what my doctor had
told me. Ten months, I had been missing TEN MONTHS. Scully was
only missing for three months and I nearly went insane. How was
she able to handle it? What gave her the strength to carry on?
Then I remembered Skinner's words 'she's fine.' She most
certainly was not 'fine'. Something must have happened. Did
her cancer come back? Is that why she was having those dizzy
spells? Or is it something else entirely. Maybe she met
someone. NO! It took us seven years to finally admit our
feelings for one another and advance our ever-growing
relationship.

"Ten months."

Skinner looked down inspecting his hands, "I'm sorry Mulder."

*What? What was he sorry for? And since when does Assistant
Director Skinner say he was sorry?*

"For what?"

"For letting you get away."

"Sir, it wasn't your fault."

He then looked up to face me with an ever so slight smile, if
you can call it that "That's what Scully said."

"Well, she was right. How could you know that I was susceptible
to it? I knew there might be a chance I could've be taken, but
I had to go."

Curiosity took over, "How did you know? I thought they were
taking abductee's? That's why you wouldn't let Scully go?"

I looked away towards a window to gather my thoughts. I had to
tell him now.

"Before Samantha was taken, I think I was about three at the
time," he paused to gather up more courage, "I disappeared for a
short amount of time. My parents told me that I was stolen by
some crazed woman who couldn't have children, I have always
suspected otherwise. For a reason I could never figure out,
they returned me."

Skinner's eyes went wide with a look of surprise as Mulder was
deep in thought about that time in his life.

"Did Scully know about this?"

Still looking away, "No. I never told her. I never told
anyone."

"Mulder you have been gone a while, and I think it's my duty to
tell you of the things that have occurred in your absence."

End of part 2

Feedback is desperately needed at crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (3/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



That got my attention, I whipped my head towards Skinner with
eyes wide open, "What kind of things?"

"Well, I talked to Scully when we discovered that you were
indeed the real deal and not just another lookalike . . . "

"You mean The Alien Bounty Hunter . . ." I couldn't finish my
sentence.

"Once, but Scully figured out that it wasn't you pretty
quickly."

"How?"

"I don't know, she never told me exactly how she knew except
that they didn't have much of a personality." Skinner smiled
for a moment, then continued. "But I wasn't surprised Mulder,
she knows you better than anyone."

I closed my eyes remembering the last time Scully encountered
The Alien Bounty Hunter posing as me, Oh, Scully. I'm so sorry
you had to go through that.

Skinner continued "I told her that I shouldn't be the one to
tell you, but since she couldn't be here right now she thought
it best that you should know from a friend rather than from
someone else . . ."

"Find what out?" I blurted out. Now I'm confused.

My impatience grew with each second Skinner wasn't telling him,
"Spill it Skinner, what happened?"

He looked pensive. "Okay. Okay. The night you disappeared,
Scully had another spell . . . and fainted."

I couldn't say anything. I nodded for Skinner to continue.

"When I got back from Oregon, I found out that she was admitted
to the hospital."

*Wait a minute, hospital?*

I silently panicked, and immediately thought the cancer came
back, but wouldn't show it until I had all the information at
hand, something Scully had taught me.

"Did her cancer go out of remission?"

"No"

I released a breath of air I didn't realize I was holding. That
was a relief, at least it wasn't cancer. But what?

"Was she okay?"

"Yes, she was."

"Did they find out why she was getting the dizzy spells?"

"Yes." A slow smile crept up Skinners face "Yes, they did."

Was I missing something? Why was I so happy? "and . . ." I say
with a questioning look.

"And she discovered that she was pregnant."

My mouth dropped, I never would've suspected this. I couldn't
form any words to make a complete sentence "what? . . . but . .
. she can't . . . she was . . . she was barren."

"I'm sure that's what she told the doctor." Skinner paused for a
moment and then continued, "She had a multitude of tests run on
her to make sure it wasn't just some misreading. The tests
confirmed that yes she was indeed pregnant."

I blushed a little. Well, if Skinner didn't know about his
relationship with Scully before, he certainly knew now. "I know
this may be paranoid of me, but I have to ask . . ."

Skinner put his hand up to save me from further embarrassment
"Yes Mulder, you are the father. Scully had a paternity test
done to confirm it."

I probably would've asked her to do the same thing considering
the circumstances, but a look of disbelief filled my features.

"She doubted that I could be the father?"

"She was just as suspicious of that question as you are now. As
much as I'm sure she hated to do it, she knew it was necessary.
It was too much of a coincidence. And having you as her partner
made her paranoid."

I had to smile at that. She indeed had grown over the years and
was far from the wide-eyed skeptic she once was when she first
stepped in the basement office eight years ago.

Something bothered me though. The natural investigator in me
took control.

"How was she able to get pregnant . . . aside from the
obvious?"

"We don't know. All tests showed that her ovaries were
functioning normally and that the baby was developing well."

With clenched fists I said, "That Cigarette Smoking Bastard was
behind this."

"You don't know that for sure Mulder." Mulder had to look at
Skinner and make sure that comment came from him because it
sounded a lot like something Scully would say.

"Well, when I find him" he was cut off by Skinners next comment.

"That will be difficult considering he's already dead."

"What? When? How?"

"A 911 call came through that same night you disappeared. The
call came from a woman who claimed to be his nurse. Apparently
he was in bad shape and needed constant care. She said that two
people showed up, a man and a woman. They argued and then the
man took CGB Spender by his wheel chair and pushed him down the
stairs."

I knew the two people the woman was speaking about, Krycek and
Marita.

"What happened to Krycek and Marita?"

"They disappeared." He said matter-of-factly.

*Figures.* I thought. I couldn't figure Krycek out. He wanted
me to find the ship and then killed the Cigarette Smoking Man,
however he was the one who was responsible for the death of my
father as well as Scully's sister.

I couldn't think of that now. Even though it bothered me that
there was no explanation for Scully's sudden fertility, I laid
there in my bed with a bright smile on my face.

*Wow.*

*Scully's a mother and I'm a father.*

*We're parents.*

Realizing that I was now thinking of my child, Skinner said,
"Amazing, isn't it"

"Yah, our relationship was still kind of new when I was taken."

I notice a surprised look on Skinner's face.

"What?"

"I thought you guys were together for much longer than that."

"Really?" The corners of his mouth turned up a bit, "Well, we
were too stubborn to give into our feelings. But, then one day
we both realized that it just made sense to be together like
that. It was just extension of the love we had been feeling for
years."

My thoughts drifted back the night before he left for Oregon.
She had given me her cross to wear; it touched me in a way I
have never felt before. She loved me unconditionally. I never
felt as in love with her as in that moment. I wanted to prove
to her how much that meant to me. We made soft, passionate love
that night. I didn't want to at first because of her vertigo,
but she insisted that she was okay. I wished I had known then
what I knew now.

I looked around the room as if someone was behind Skinner. She
should be here. *Did she loose the baby? Did something equally
horrible happen? Did her and the baby not make it through the
delivery? What's the point of being on this Earth if she wasn't
here with him?*

With a look of anticipation and anxiety, "Wait, you said she had
a paternity test done, they do that after the baby is born."

Skinner smiled and said "Yes Mulder, they do. She delivered the
baby two weeks early. Thank God her mother was there by her
side throughout the 18 hours of labor she had to endure. The
Gunmen wanted to tape it for posterity, but she closed the door
on that idea immediately."

"I bet she did."

"She was going to do it natural too. But then according to her
mom, she came to her senses and agreed on an epidural. I'm
proud to say that she had a beautiful 7lb. 5oz. Baby boy.

My smile was once again and it broadened with thought of Scully
holding a baby in her arms.

Her baby.

Our baby.

I thought about the dreams I had a while back, of a little boy
playing with me on a beach. I thought it was just a dream, a
fantasy. I didn't think that children would be a part of my
life. I long accepted the fact that being with Scully was going
to have to be enough for me.

Was the dream of that little boy just a coincidence or a
prediction?

I wanted to know more about the child. "What's his name? What
does he look like?"

"Scully named him William Fox Mulder, but she calls him Will.
He was born with a full head of dark brunette hair and the
bluest blue eyes I ever did see."

My forehead scrunched up in thought. I had to ask. "And his
nose?"

"You're lucky Mulder, he didn't get your nose."

With a look of relief and then of complete seriousness I ask,
"Sir, I have to know and don't sugarcoat it for my benefit, how
did she handle my absence?"

"I'm not going to lie to you Mulder, I owe you that much. I
know she was devastated. To anyone who didn't know her she
seemed fine. I think the only thing that was keeping her going
was her search for you and making sure the baby was healthy. I
know it must have been difficult for her to keep control of her
emotions, especially with added hormones pregnancy brings
along."

I could only nod. Not only did she lose her partner, best
friend and lover, but the father of her baby as well. Scully's
a strong person, but no one is that strong. I knew she must
have had so many conflicting feelings about it. Happy about the
miracle of life within her, but sad because I wasn't there to
enjoy it with her. My head filled with of visions of her crying
in her apartment, alone. It should've been a wonderful time in
her life. I should've been with her to help her through it.
The guilt of how I abandoned her yet again was filling up my
heart.

'It's not your fault', she would've said.

'But I should've been there for you' I said back in my mind.

But why wasn't she here now? I had to know why she wasn't here.

"Sir, where is she? Why isn't she here?"


End of part 3

Am I stretching this or what? Stay tuned!
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Coming Back To You (4/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



I noticed Skinner's face pale. "Mulder, she didn't want me to
tell you just yet."

"Why not?" he said incredulously.

"She knew you wouldn't be in any condition to do anything."

I couldn't believe I was going to ask this, but here it goes "Is
there someone else?"

Skinner shook his head "No Mulder, I'm pretty sure there isn't
anyone else in the picture. She's been obsessed with finding you
right from the start. When she got the call that you were here,
she wanted it to be her on that plane, not me."

"Then you have to tell me what happened? What is it that she
doesn't want you to tell me Skinner."

"Mulder, your son was kidnapped and she's been working around
the clock to find him."

"Nooo." The sense of happiness I felt earlier diminished.
Instead a sense of emptiness engulfed me. He had a son, but now
he would never meet him. Touch his tiny hand. Caress his
chubby cheeks. Teach him how to throw a baseball. All of the
things fathers are supposed to do with their child.

No. I would not let history repeat itself. I have to find my
son. But not for my sake, for Scully's. I have seen what my
family had to go through when Samantha was taken. Scully had
suffered enough with being abducted, having cancer, losing her
sister and Emily. She could not lose another child. The list
of pain she had endured was too long and I vowed right then and
there that I would do right by her and find our son.

"How?"

"She normally leaves the baby at her mom's when she works, but
Ms. Scully had a doctor's appointment and couldn't take care of
him that day. Scully was going to just take the day off, but an
important lead on . . ." he hesitated for a moment. "where
*you* might be came up and she had no choice but to leave the
baby at the FBI daycare. Of all the places that would protect
an infant, she figured the FBI's daycare would be safest."

*Nowhere is safe.* I thought bitterly.

I pushed my intense guilt aside for now to concentrate on the
case at hand. "Do you know who took him?" Visions of faceless
rebels, the Alien Bounty Hunter, or worse yet, some psycho who
just happened to pick his son in a room filled with children and
whisking him away with a smirk on his face kept popped up in my
head.

"No. We took a look at the security cameras inside of the
daycare and we noticed the picture fizzled out for a short
period of time. We determined that is when he was taken,
because after the picture came back he was nowhere to be found."

Before I could ask, Skinner put his hand up "I know what you're
going to say Mulder and we interviewed everyone in the
surrounding area repeatedly and put out notices via the Internet
and all police scanners." If he shows up at anywhere it will
come up."

"What about all other security cameras in the building and out?
Shops in the area? Automated Teller Machines?"

"We're still looking Mulder, so far nothing. It'll take a while
to search every single camera."

Mulder looked right into Skinners eyes. "Time, is not a luxury
we have at the moment Skinner."

Obviously upset, "When did this happen?"

"It occurred about the same time you arrived here, two days
ago."

"TWO DAYS AGO!"

Mulder understood

With a determination and a purpose I pulled the sheets off and
attempted to get out of bed, but Skinner stops me.

Mulder glared at him with a 'Don't fuck with me' look.

"Sir, this was set up."

"What do you mean?"

"It just can't be a coincidence that I'm brought back at the
same time that Will was taken. We need to go back to DC now."

I attempted to get out of bed a second time and Skinner stopped
me again.

"Who knows what you have been put through these last 10 months.
You need to recover. I want Will back too Mulder. That baby
was the only part of you she had left and despite all of the
crap that has happened to Scully, I have never seen her so happy
than when she is with that child. I have all my men looking for
your son."

"What about the Gunmen?"

"That was the first call she made."

"I need to help her find our son. How fast can I get out of
here?"

End of part 4

I will write for feedback!
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Coming Back To You (5/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



Skinner knew I meant it when I told him that I wanted out of
here. I don't care what he or the doctor says about my
'condition'. I'm pretty sure the nurses would all agree too.
I'm an awful patient. I've been poked and prodded enough in my
life. Hell, I was probably poked and prodded when I was taken
by *them*. I've had enough.

I actually feel pretty good, just really tired. Like I've been
running for miles and miles.

The doctor wanted me to stay here a couple of days longer and I
vehemently refused to stay. Seeing my reaction, Skinner walked
out of the room with the doctor. I don't know what he said, but
shortly afterwards Dr. Williams agreed to let me go under strict
conditions that I follow up with my doctor in DC.

I told him to send the tests results and x-rays to 'Dr. Dana
Scully'.

After listening to his little speech about taking care of
myself. The doctor walked out of the room to get the sign-out
papers. Skinner also left my room and came back shortly after
with a duffel bag, my duffel bag to be precise.

"Well, we certainty can't have you going back to DC in that now
can we?" He points to the lovely hospital gown I have on.

"Scully had a bag already packed for you."

We each agreed long ago to keep an extra set of clothes in each
other's apartments for emergencies. It came in handy quite a
few times. Especially when I slept over at her place.

However, for some reason, the boy-scout motto 'always be
prepared' pops into my mind.

Skinner hands me the bag so I can change into some decent
clothing. I remember putting only one pair of jeans and a
couple of shirts in the bag the last time I filled it. When I
look in my bag I notice another pair of jeans, a couple of
turtlenecks, a jacket, socks, a pair of boxers and a smaller bag
of toiletries. I'm surprised by the amount of stuff she put in
here and wonder when she did this.

I reach down to the bottom of the bag when I feel a familiar
package, I pick it up and see 'David's Sunflower Seeds' scrawled
on the front. *Ah, Scully you know what I like*. I have been
craving these all morning. I proceed to open the package, take
a seed between my teeth and crack it open to suck on the seed
inside.

Scully was prepared for when I came back, not *if* I came back.
She never gave up on me. I knew she never would. Just like I
could never give up on her. And in the midst of having to deal
with a pregnancy she could not have possibly predicted, she was
thinking of me. I start moving faster, I have to get to her.
NOW.

I had a noticeable amount of stubble on my face when I woke up
and decided to take advantage of the shaving cream and razor
Scully put in my toiletry bag. While I was shaving, Skinner was
able to get us a late evening flight back to Washington DC. I
had hoped that we could get earlier flight, considering it was
still noon, but since we were last minute that's the best they
could do.

The nurse comes in and hands me the necessary paperwork so I may
get the hell out of here. We head out of the hospital towards a
diner across the street. I hadn't really been hungry since
Skinner told me about Will's kidnapping.

The diner looks as if it's straight from one of those movies
from the 50's. The only thing I suspect that has changed over
time is the prices. I see an old-fashioned vinyl record-playing
jukebox and I resist the urge to play an Elvis song. A waitress
wearing a hair net comes up to us and takes our order. I got
the usual diner fare of greasy hamburger with fries. Skinner
opts for a club sandwich. Skinner was glad I was eating. I had
lost a lot of weight in my catharsis.

We didn't really talk that much throughout our meal. I suspect
Skinner didn't want to push it. With everything that had
happened, I had a lot to process and sort out in my mind. I had
to come up with a plan. I'm not the type to sit idly by.

The profiler in me knows that if a child is not discovered
within the first 48 hours, it's most likely deceased. It's been
54 hours since Will was taken. Scully knows this. And I think
that she must be going out of her mind by now. She's only had
three months to be with this infant. To love, bond with and
protect. She must think that she's a horrible mother to let
this happen. I know the immense feelings of guilt she must be
feeling. I feel the same guilt as well. I want to comfort her,
to tell her that she is a good mother and that everything will
be okay.

We are finally on a plane flying to DC and to Scully.

I try to think about what I will say to her when we meet for the
first time since she saw me last. We were on the verge of
something great between us.

We were partners first; we respected and trusted one another.
We then became friends, our friendship grew and we became more
than each other's best friend, we became each other's lifeline.
Without Scully I am nothing. I'm sure she would try to convince
me otherwise.

We were finally able to break down the barriers that was holding
us apart for so long. I think the walls started to crumble when
my mother died and I found the fate of my sister. Scully was
there throughout that whole ordeal and didn't ask me to explain
what happened on that hill. I did tell her later though.

I thought that the closeness we shared suffered a major blow
when Scully refused to go with me to England. I think she knew
it wasn't really about crop circles. It was another chance at
being alone with her in a country where no one knew we weren't
just another couple from America on vacation.

It was a chance to make my intentions clear.

She beat me to it.

What if I hadn't left for England? What if the hospital didn't
mix up the charts? Would she have come to me that night? I
don't think so. The decisions we make now lead us to the next
step. I believe that. Like me, she had to confront her past
and make peace with it.

I think that peace lead us to one another. We couldn't have
been together otherwise.

Skinner and I haven't really spoken much since we got on the
plane. Given that we were last minute passengers, we had to sit
separately. And wouldn't you know it, I'm sitting next to a
mother and her three year old little boy. He's very friendly
and proceeds to tell me that his name is Josh.

I start thinking about the name Scully picked for our son. I
have to get used to saying that 'our son'. I get butterflies in
my stomach just thinking about it. I wonder if we would've
still called him William if I hadn't been abducted. I was never
too crazy about the name William and always thought it as a
curse. I know that Scully's father and brother are also named
William, but considering what has happened now, maybe when we
get him back we can change it? However, I think I'm getting
used to the name Will.

Josh interrupts my thoughts and proceeds to tell me that he and
his mom were visiting his Aunt Betty in the hospital, but she is
better now and he missed his dad and wanted to get back home.
Tears sting my eyes and I tell him 'it's nice to go home', he
just nods and turns his attention back to his mother.

Believe it or not I did sleep on the plane, probably more due to
mental exhaustion than my weakened state. I guess I should've
stayed at the hospital, but there is no way I was going to stay
in there while Scully is suffering back in DC.

We are walking out of the terminal and when I notice Frohike. I
didn't think anyone would be waiting for us. He stands there
looking dumbfounded.

I have to keep reminding myself that it's been 10 months since
anyone has seen me, even though it seems like just yesterday.

He starts walking towards me and gives me a fierce hug.

He pulls away and with a smile he says, "You don't know how glad
I am to see you my friend?"

I chuckle "Same here."

"You look like shit Mulder."

"Don't sugarcoat it for my benefit."

"Do you remember anything?"

I somberly shake my head "No, nothing."

"How do you feel?"

"Actually, I feel pretty good."

We're in the airport parking lot walking towards Frohike's van
when I hear a ringing sound. I instinctively reach in my jacket
pocket only to grab for nothing and hear "Skinner".

"What? When? Where? We're on our way."

I pick up on a slight panic in Skinner's voice. "Where are we
going? What's happened?"

Skinner closed his cell phone and placed it back in his pocket.
"We're going to Georgetown." Skinner paused trying to figure
out what to say next. "They found a baby matching Will's
description."

Mulder's throat tightened "Where was he? Is he okay?"

He let out a breath and said in a low calm voice, which only
made Mulder panic more, "An infant" he paused, placed a hand on
my shoulder and said in a softer voice "was found in a trash
can. He was DOA Mulder."

My face fell, *it can't end this way*. We've come too far and
gone through too much.

And before Mulder could even think about what this must be doing
to Scully, Skinner delivered another blow, "Mulder, Scully's
already there."



End of part 5

Fhew! It's just one thing after another! Please let me know
how I am doing so far.
crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (6/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



As Frohike was driving towards the apartment complex where the
baby was found, Skinner made a call to find out more about this
case. When his call ended he let us in on what he knew.

Apparently, the call came from a Ms. Rebecca Stevens, who was
walking her dog early this morning. As they approached her
apartment, her dog Clyde saw a stray cat and proceeded to chase
it. The cat ran behind a crawlspace in between the garbage cans
and the apartment wall. In Clyde's attempt to get at the cat,
he knocked the cans over. Ms. Stevens didn't want to leave the
garbage laying everywhere and tried to clean up. She stopped
cold when she picked up a sweater and saw an infant hastily
wrapped inside. Being a nurse at Georgetown Medical Center she
check for signs of life, but she knew he was already dead due to
the bluish color and stiffness throughout the body. She
immediately called the police and noticing the FBI bulletin on
baby Will, the police called the FBI.

When they arrived, they had trouble getting to the crime scene
due to the flood of police and FBI agents about the place. The
police were here because it was a homicide and in their
jurisdiction. The FBI was here because the description of said
infant matched baby Will, a priority case.

Skinner walked over to an FBI agent standing nearby who informed
him that the ASAC in charge was in the building interrogating
all of the apartment tenants as well as the landlord. Skinner
then proceeded to walk inside of the complex to get involved in
the interrogation.

Feeling helpless about what was going on, Frohike did the only
thing he could at that moment. He got on his cell phone and
called Byers and Langly to see if they had any other leads, just
in case the baby wasn't Will.

The investigator in me should've been in that house with Skinner
interviewing the tenants. I should be coming up with a profile
of the killer. But I couldn't be that detached. The fact was
that my son, whom I have only known about for 12 hours, was
missing and possibly dead.

I walked around the front of the apartment building and noticed
the shocked looks on my fellow FBI agents faces. I heard gasps
and words of dismay about my appearance here. What did they
think happen to me? Did they think I would leave Scully
pregnant and alone? They didn't know me from shit. I just
ignored the snide remarks and comments and continued walking.

I saw a flash of red from the corner of his eye. He stopped,
turned, and ran towards it. She was faced away from me, but I
could tell just by that hair . . . it was her. I approached
carefully. She was wearing an FBI issued jacket. It just made
her hair seem brighter than I remembered.

I placed my hand on her shoulder and she turned around.

It wasn't her.

It was Agent Phelps

"Oh my God, Agent Mulder, is that you?"

Disappointed it wasn't Scully "Yes it is. I'm sorry I thought
you were someone else."

With a smirk she said, "You mean you thought I was Agent
Scully." It was a statement not a question.

"Where have you been? You would think you were the Pope or
something the way Agent Scully has been searching for you?"

I let out a sigh, "It's a long story. Have you seen Agent
Scully?"

"I'm sorry Mulder, you just missed her."

*Damn*

"Do you know where she went?"

"I don't really know, I would guess that she went back to FBI
Headquarters." She's always trying to flirt with me, I have
never responded to her advances. Despite the red hair, she's
not that bright. She places her hand on my shoulder trying to
look compassionate but failing miserably "It's just horrible
what happened to her son, isn't it?"

A look of sadness and anger engulfed me. I lean in "Our son,
Agent Phelps" and walked away. Leaving her speechless.

I found Skinner talking to the ASAC in charge. "She's not
here."

"I know, I just got a call from her partner . . ."

Skinner stopped in his tracks. That's one piece of information
he failed to mention to me. Scully was assigned a new partner
in my absence. I knew that I shouldn't been shocked about that.
How could they have not assigned her a new partner in all of the
time I've been away? But it didn't feel right.

"Where is she?" I demand.

"She's at the county morgue."

With a feeling of anguish, I say in a low but clearly angry
voice, "She didn't autopsy that baby, did she?"

"No. Agent Parker, her partner, just called me. She's on her
way back to FBI Headquarters."

"Take me there!"


End of part 6

Admit it. I almost had you there. I'm evil. Okay, okay!
*duck* Stop throwing things. *thunk* Okay, who threw that? I
promise you next section will be the reunion. Really!
crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (7/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



The anxiety in me has been building ever since Skinner broke
news of Scully's pregnancy, my fatherhood and the kidnapping.
Both Frohike and Skinner have been walking on pins and needles
around me, since we left the airport.

They don't understand.

I need to see Scully like I need my next breath. I need to feel
and touch her. I need to talk to her and tell her that
everything will be all right. I need to cry with her. I need
for the both of us to put our heads together and find our son.

We reach the Federal building. I didn't have my badge on me
when I turned up at the hospital, so I have to enter through the
lobby and pass through the metal detector like a regular
visitor. I breathe a sigh of relief when it didn't go off. I
didn't know whether I had any implants in me, since I left the
hospital in such a hurry.

Much like back at the crime scene, heads are turning and people
muttering their shock of my presence. I continue walking,
ignoring them once again.

Byers and Langly are standing in front of the elevators with
genuine smiles on their faces. Langly steps up to me, shakes my
hand and gives me a hug. "Is that really you dude?"

"I sure as hell hope so or someone's going bitch when they find
sunflower shells in my pocket."

"You don't know how glad we are to see you."

"Same here guys. Same here."

Byers walks up to me and takes his turn at the hugging. Gee
you're gone for a while and they turn into mush. I've never
known these guys to be so affectionate. It just adds to the
reality of the situation. Before letting go, Byers whispers
into my ear "We kept an eye on her for you." He lets go of me
and I nod in a silent thank you.

There is an awkward silence as we ride up the elevator. They
must know that I'm a little anxious to see her.

The five of us are walking down a hall. The very same hall
where I stood before Scully ten months ago and told her that she
couldn't come with me because I couldn't lose her. How ironic
indeed.

As we approach the conference room and I'm suddenly nervous. I
wonder how my being here will affect her. Will she be elated?
Will she want to kick my ass for letting this happen to her?
Losing another child? Not being here to protect them both?

I can hear the activity of people rushing, voices of agents on
phones searching for any kind of lead to Will's whereabouts. I
hear someone barking an order to an agent. It was Scully. My
heart leaps at the sound of her voice. I could never get tired
of hearing that sweet like honey voice of hers, even in anger.

As we walk in to the boardroom all voices cease and heads turned
in my direction, all but one.

Scully was on the phone yelling at someone who obviously didn't
do what she had asked him to do. "I don't care what you have to
do . . ." She looks up, noticing the agent next her looking in
towards the door and then she saw the others doing the same.
She followed their line of vision until it rested upon me.

Our eyes locked.

She stood there as if frozen in time. I couldn't read her
expression.

She had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep and
stress. Her hair is a little longer than I remember and even
though she gave birth three months ago, she's thinner than I
remember her last. I doubt she's eaten anything in the last 63
hours.

Her eyes move down and back up again as if maybe I'm an
illusion. *No Scully, I'm really here.* She turns her head
slightly and looks at Skinner, a look that seems to ask 'is it
really him?', Skinner nods. She looks back at me. Then she saw
it, the necklace she gave me the night I left for Oregon. She
looks back up at me.

She looks over at Skinner again and he barks out "Everyone take
five". Everybody leaves the room quietly, no questions asked.
Even Skinner and the guys decide to wait out in the hall. It's
just the two of us now.

Looking straight at me, she begins to walk slowly towards me and
I to her. She abruptly stops right before we touch. We're so
close. I can't help but notice that it's quiet in here, too
quiet. I swear I can hear the rapid beating of her heart. Once
again, she looks at the cross and then reaches up to touch it.
I notice tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She blinks
and a tear escape down her cheek. I can't stand this. I bring
my hand up to wipe the tear off her face. She jumps slightly at
the contact and breaks her stare from the cross. She looks back
up at me. Our eyes transfix upon one another.

More tears trail down her cheek over my hand, which has not left
her face. She leans into my hand and smiles a little through
the tears. And for the first time since I woke up in a hospital
in Seattle, gone for 10 months of her life, her lips quivering,
she whispers. "Welcome back Mulder."

She collapses into me and cries. My hold on her tightens. I
don't know how long we stay like that, it feels like an
eternity. We were still holding on to one another when she says
in a voice full of emotion "Mulder, its not him. It's not him."

A flood of relief comes over me. I shouldn't feel relief over
the death of a child, but it wasn't our son and I couldn't help
but be happy about that.

We may be Agents Mulder and Scully of the FBI, but right now we
are parents desperately looking for our child. I kiss her head
and whisper words of love. She pulls her head away and as I
look into her eyes, I tell her with a voice full of certainty,
"We will find him".


End of part 7

Okay folks, I was going let this be the end, but considering all
of the wonderful feedback I have been getting. I think I'll
continue it. If you think that's a good idea or think I should
quit now, the only way I'll know is by your feedback.

crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (8/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



We release our embrace and I sigh heavily at the lack of
contact, she smiles slightly at my reaction and then takes a
good look at me. Her smile fades away and a look of concern
emerges, she comments on how thin I am, I shrug and say
something about it 'being the best diet ever'.

She ignores my attempt at a joke and goes into 'Doctor Scully'
mode. Touching me, looking for bruises, needle marks, or places
where an implant might have been placed, asking me how I feel,
anything to indicate I was tested on. Other than needle marks
left by the IV and for withdrawing blood for tests, there was
none.

I focus my attention on her, "Scully when was the last time you
ate something?" Exasperated, she looks away and says, "I'm
concentrating on more important things, like finding my . . .
our son."

I tried not to flinch at that. Even though she corrected
herself, she was right. He was her son. I wasn't there when
the doctor told her about her pregnancy. I wasn't there to
accompany her to her doctor appointments. I wasn't there to run
out to the store to satisfy her cravings. I didn't rub her back
when it became sore from carrying a baby with her small frame.
I didn't assemble a crib or buy toys for him. I wasn't there
when she went into labor and had to go to the hospital. I
wasn't there to coach her when she gave her last push and he
came out. Hell, I didn't help with the name. It was all
Scully's doing. I wasn't there.

Interrupting my thoughts she turns back towards me and places
her hand on my arm. With a sympathetic voice she says, "I wish
I could've told you about him in person."

"I know, I . . ."

I didn't hear Skinner walk back into the room. As he spoke we
turned our heads in his direction, "Scully, I spoke with Agent
Parker. He says that you haven't had so much as a bite to eat
and coffee doesn't count. You can't possibly function
appropriately for this investigation if you don't eat or sleep."

Obviously angry, she looks back up to Skinner and says in a calm
but deadly voice, "So you want me to give up? I can't. I won't
give up until he is back in my arms."

In a tone that gave her no room to argue, "We are not going to
give up Agent Scully, but you're tired and you need eat
something."

"Is that an order sir?"

"I'm afraid so agent."

Skinner walks towards her and touches her elbow. "I promise
I'll call you the minute I find something."

I finally persuade Scully into getting some rest. She agreed
only with the condition that I rest as well. She hasn't been to
her apartment since the morning Will was taken. She didn't want
to go back there. She couldn't bear to walk in and see Will's
crib and toys lying around. She would probably fall apart. She
needed to keep herself together. She said it wouldn't help Will
if she went ballistic and lost her control. I agreed, but a
part of me thinks she needs to lose control.

Without thinking I ask her if she wants to stay at my place.
She looks at me apologetically and said "Mulder you don't have
an apartment. Your lease was up a few months ago and your
landlord didn't want it renewed and didn't want to lease it out
to me. I'm sorry."

*I think it was the waterbed incident, I don't think he ever got
over that.*

I listen as she tells me that the rest of my stuff is in
storage. She didn't trust the Gunmen to keep my fish alive so
she kept them at her place.

Mrs. Scully tried to get her daughter to come stay with her.
She wanted Scully to have the support of her family around her.
That would include Bill Jr. Scully refused the offer and said
she wanted to stay nearby in there were any sudden developments,
I think she didn't want to deal with Bill Jr. He would be there
and they hadn't been on good terms ever since my disappearance.
Bill insisted that I had run off with another woman or something
equally ridiculous. Won't he ever understand? I would never do
that to her. Scully is it for me.

Skinner set us up in the closest hotel to the Hoover building so
if anything develops we can be back at headquarters in an
instant. I told him we only needed one room. I wasn't about to
let Scully out of my sight and she wasn't going to let me out of
hers after ten months of searching for me. Scully's mother had
gone back to her apartment yesterday and put an overnight bag
together for her, knowing she wouldn't want to go back there
just yet.

The room Skinner put us in was a suite with a king-size bed,
Roman tub, bar and an achingly beautiful view of the city from a
private balcony. Under normal circumstances I know we would've
taken advantage of all of the amenities. However, all we need
right now is a shower and a bed.

Scully walks into the room and immediately heads towards the
bathroom for a shower. Keeping our word to Skinner about
eating, I call room service and order us something to eat. A
moment of uncertainty overcomes me. I haven't a clue as to what
Scully is eating nowadays. A woman's body changes after having
a baby. Didn't it? Did she go back to her salads and yogurt?
I think I'll take the safe route and order a salad, some
sandwiches, fruit and some ice tea to for us to drink.

A short time after I placed the order, Scully walks out of the
bathroom wearing one of those fluffy cotton robs that seem to
engulf her. Her hair was still damp and she begins towel dry
it. I can see curls begin to form and wonder what it would look
like if she just let it stay wild like that. But she wouldn't,
it's a sign of losing the control she has carefully packaged
herself in.

As I walk into the bathroom to take my turn at the shower, I
tell her that room service will be coming up with some food for
us; she just nods as and continues drying her hair.

I finish my shower and walk into the bedroom. Scully was now
wearing sweatpants and a large T-shirt. I look at myself and
chuckled. I'm wearing pretty much the same thing. It looks
cuter on her though.

The food I had ordered was on the table. Scully was actually
eating bits of her salad and some of the fruit. I want to tell
her that she should be eating more, but fear that might set her
off and cease her eating altogether. I sat down across from her
and consumed my club sandwich.

No words pass between us as we ate.

It was too quiet.

I didn't like the silence.

"Talk to me Scully."

She looked perplexed as she said, "About what?"

"Everything. Tell me about your pregnancy. Tell me about him.
Tell me about all that I have missed."

She smiled. It was a small smile but a smile nonetheless.
"Trust me Mulder, pregnancy isn't all that glamorous."

"I don't care. Tell me anyway." I missed it and I don't want
to miss any more, I say to myself.

It was a surprise to say the least when she didn't fight me on
this. "All right." And preceded to tell me about when the
doctor first told her she was expecting and how she made them
redo the test a few times before she accepted it. She told me of
how supportive Skinner was in letting her pick out her
'temporary' partner. She told me about giving up her Donna
Karen outfits in lieu of the dreadful maternity attire she was
forced to wear. And how helpful the Gunmen were. They were so
irritatingly helpful; she made them put the crib together. It
took them two days to put it together and then another three
after it collapsed. Thank God it was only a stuffed animal she
put in there and not actual baby. That must have been a sight.
They could construct a virtual computer game that kills, but
couldn't put a simple baby crib together.

She told me about the gifts she received at the baby shower her
mom and Tara threw for her. The strangest gift came from the
Gunmen; it was a toy robot that mimics a baby's movements, kind
of like a virtual friend. It sounded kind of cool. Obviously,
they have never been around an infant before. They don't move
all that much.

I really wanted to know about her eating habits while she was
pregnant. I just knew she couldn't eat just non-fat tofutti
rice Dreamsicles, yogurt with bee pollen and salads all nine
months. So, when I asked her, she blushed, gave a shy smile and
said "I didn't need a paternity test to tell me he's your son
Mulder, I had the biggest cravings for David's Sunflower Seeds,
Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream, greasy hamburgers, corn
dogs and you know me Mulder I hate that stuff! Will couldn't
get enough of it. Thank you very much Mulder, I was as big as a
goddamn house!" I had the biggest shit-eating grin on my face.
I loved that.

She told me about how she went into labor two weeks early and
couldn't reach her mother. She had to rely on the three stooges
to help her. Frohike took her to the hospital while Byers and
Langly tracked her mother down. Turns out, the one time her
mother step out and forgets her pager is the only time it goes
off. Scully was going to have the baby naturally and thanks to
her mother's influence over her, quickly realized how wonderful
an epidural can be.

And then she told me how beautiful our son was. So small and
sweet. When the doctor handed him over to her after the
delivery, she thought that he was the most beautiful baby in the
world. She never thought she could fall in love that fast with
someone she just met.

She was smiling as she recalled all of the good moments that she
would one day tell her son. I got a good visual of what it must
have been like for her and smiled as well.

She was deep in thought when all of a sudden she said "Oh I
forgot something." She jumped off the chair and went to her
bag. After scrounging around for a bit she came back with her
wallet. She opened it up and pulled a picture out of one of the
sleeves. It was a picture of Will at two months of age. He was
wearing jean coveralls and a bright yellow shirt. He was on
Scully's bed with a rattle in his hand, smiling and was looking
right into the camera with those clear blue eyes. Scully wasn't
lying, he is a beautiful child. I'm already in love with him.
It just makes my need to find him that much greater.

~~~

Afterwards they decided to take a nap before heading back
towards FBI headquarters. They were both in bed, with Mulder
spooned up behind Scully. Holding on to each other so tight you
couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.

A piece of paper was slipped under the door.

~~~

End of part 8

Feedback is better than chocolate. Sometimes! Crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (9/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



I was entwined with Scully when I awoke. It felt wonderful to
wake up with her in my arms. I could still smell the shampoo
she used from her shower earlier. I breathe in her scent; I
recognize it as lavender. Even though we've only been asleep
for a few hours. I felt revitalized. I look back at a still
sleeping Scully and tenderly brush a strand of hair from her
face. She already looks a hundred percent better than she did
back at the conference room. In fact, she looks intoxicating
lying there with her hair fanned out over my chest.

I was on my back; her head nestled against my chest and her hand
resting on my abdomen. It was still daylight when we decided to
take a nap. I had to close the hotel curtains before we slipped
into bed, but it didn't close all the way. A stream of light
filtered in through the crack and glistened off her hair. She
was glowing. I felt a twinge in my groin, but knew that this
was not the time to acknowledge it. I tightened my grip and
just lay there for a while looking at her. After a little
while, I slowly roll her off me, careful as to not wake her and
get up off the bed. I'm a bit stiff from lying in one position,
so I stretch and rolled my head to loosen up when I spot
something near the door. I go to pick it up.

It was a note.



If you want information regarding
your son's whereabouts, come to
364 Hegal Street, Apt. B-7
8:00 tonight. Alone.



I immediately rush over to Scully and wake her. "Scully wake
up."

Still consumed by sleep, she whispers in a rough voice,
"Mulder?"

I kneel down and try to sound calm but failing miserably
"Scully, you have to get up."

She recognized the panic in my voice and sat up immediately.
"What's the matter Mulder? Did Skinner call? Did they find
him?"

"No. Skinner didn't call." I didn't give her a chance to
comment. "Look." I showed her the note.

She stared at the piece of paper in front of her "Oh my God
Mulder. Where did you find this?"

"Someone slipped it under the door while we were sleeping."

Scully turns her attention from the note to me "But know one
knows we're even here?"

"Except Skinner."

"Mulder you can't possibly think . . ."

I finish her sentence ". . .that he would be involved? No I
don't think so, but we both know who influences his actions."

"Krycek? Why would he go through the trouble? He's been out of
sight for as long as you've been gone."

"That's what we're going to find out." I stand up and pace
around the room.

"Are you sure we should do this? I mean, we don't know what his
intentions are or if he even knows anything about Will? Mulder,
what if it's a trap?"

"It's the only way. We're going to have to back each other up.
Are you up for it?"

With a sad smile she says "I've been up for it for ten months
partner."

She glances over at the clock. It reads 6:00PM. "We better get
dressed." She hurries off the bed to and grabs her clothes out
of her overnight bag and goes to the bathroom to change. But
before she enters, she turns her head and says, "It's nice to
have you back Agent Mulder."

I smirk back, "Me too Agent Scully." And start to change when
she closes the door. Scully walks out of the bathroom wearing
her Donna Karen black suit and white button up top. As I'm
tying my shoes, she goes back into her bag and takes out her
gun.

"You might need this." She hands me the gun.

Thinking it's her gun I say "Scully, what about you?"

"Mulder, it's your gun." She takes another gun out of the bag.

I take a good look at the one in my hand. It is my gun.

"I thought I had this on me in the forest."

"You did." With a questioning look, she continues.

"I went back to Bellefleur" she pauses for just a moment "to
search for any clues and found your gun. Oh, and this." She
turns back towards the bag and takes out my badge. As she's
handing it to me, I see that she's not looking at me; she's
looking at the badge, remembering when she found it.

She must have been so horrified to find those things and no
other trace of me. "Scully . . . " I don't know what to say,
but I pull her into an embrace, hold her against my chest and
kiss her head. "I'm so sorry for all of the pain you've had to
go through because of me."

She pulls away abruptly and says in a sarcastic tone, "Just like
you to blame yourself Fox Mulder. Like you had a choice in the
matter. Did they open the door to the spacecraft and ask you if
you wanted to go and play with them instead of staying here with
me?"

"I did have a choice Scully."

"Like hell you did! Mulder, you didn't know they were going to
abduct you."

I had to turn away from her.

She walks up behind me. "Mulder, what is it? Is there
something you're not telling me?

How can she read me so easy? I gather up my courage, turn
around and tell her what I told Skinner about being kidnapped as
a child.

In an all too calm voice she says, "So you're telling me that
you think 'they' abducted you and brought you back?"

I nod and let her continue.

"Why would they return you and why didn't you ever tell me about
it?"

Frustrated because I don't really have an adequate answer, I
stare at the floor. "I don't know why they returned me and I
didn't tell you because . . ." I threw my hands up in the air.
"I don't know why."

In a sarcastic tone, which gains my attention, she says, "Yes
you do." I look up to see the expression on her face change to
disdain. "It's because you didn't think I would believe you,
isn't it. Because with everything we have gone through you
didn't trust me enough to tell me something this important."
She was seething.

My frustration turns into anger. *How could she think I don't
trust her when she is the only one I trust? How can I make her
see that?*

"I wasn't sure it was true, not until I woke up in the
hospital." She turns away from me and I grab her by her arms
and turn back around so she's facing me. I look straight into
her eyes and see unshed tears in place of anger. I am taken
aback by her swift change in emotions. "I do trust you Scully.
You know that." I cup her face with my hands. "I trust you
with my life. Don't ever doubt that." Her tears flow freely
down her face as I wipe them away with my thumb and lean down to
kiss her.


End of part 9

I can't believe I actually wrote a hotel room scene without any
hanky panky. What was I thinking?
Will write for feedback! Crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (10/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



We arrive at the address indicated on the note. It's an old
dilapidated apartment building with large cracks on the exterior
walls and broken windows all around. It looks as if it's going
to collapse at any moment. I would hesitate going in any
further if it not for the possibility that our son might be in
there.

We walk up the steps of the building and quickly glance at each
other for reassurance. I walk through the entrance with Scully
behind me. Even though it's dark, I can tell that the walls are
heavily stained and the adhesive on the wallpaper is curling
off. A whiff of an indescribable odor assaults my senses; I
assume it's coming from the vagrant sleeping under the stairs.
I envy Scully's ability to take no notice of the smell.

We walk up the stairs to the second floor and I knock on
apartment B-7. With a creak, the door opens. We glance at each
other once again, speaking volumes with just one look,
*something's not right*. We drew our guns. I went in first and
then Scully.

The only light in the room came from the moonlight filtering in
through the windows casting a bluish haze. I feel a chill go
through me giving me goose bumps. I have a feeling it doesn't
have anything to do with the lack of glass on the windows.

"Hello?"

No one answers and I curse under my breath. We're being jerked
around. It's nothing new, but there's a lot at stake here. I
try again only a little bit louder. "Is anyone here?"

"I see you made it right on time."

We point our weapons towards a voice coming from a dark corner
in the room. "Show yourself." Scully calls out.

I recognize that sultry voice as Marita Covarrubias. "Marita?"

I hear the click of her heals, as she walks in front of the
window allowing us to see her, "Long time no see, Agent Mulder."

Sounding puzzled Scully says, "*You* sent us the note?"

"No, I didn't."

"Then who did."

"I did."

The voice came from behind us. I slowly turn around.
With a voice dripping with disgust, "Krycek."

I turn my gun on Krycek while Scully keeps her gun on Marita. I
would love to just pull the trigger, but I refrain, he has
something I want. And by the smirk on his face, the rat-bastard
knows it.

"Welcome back Mulder, I see your memory is intact." He
slithers, like the snake he is, around us, and steps next to
Marita. "Sorry we couldn't give you a nicer reception." He
points to our guns. "Would you mind putting those away? It's
kind of distracting."

We lower our weapons and Scully takes a step forward "What do
you want?"

"I think it's more what you want Agent Scully."

"Where's my son?"

The look Marita gives Krycek is one of annoyance. I can't help
but wonder what her part in all this is. She steps in front of
him. "That's why we're here. We want to help you."

Disbelieving, Scully says, "You want to help us." It wasn't a
question.

"We're on the same side here."

"Since when?"

"Since they used me like a lab rat and left me for dead when
their tests on me weren't working to their advantage. As I
recall, that happened to you too Agent Scully." She didn't
allow room for comment, "I wasn't happy with what they did to
me. It took me a while to recover, but I'm back now and I want
retribution."

Dripping with cynicism, Scully says, "So, you're switching
sides. Is that it?"

I turn with look full of contempt and say, "What's your
reasoning Krycek? You do nothing without getting something in
return."

"Let's just say, I'm no one's errand boy."

"So you're taking CGB Spender's place. Is that it? Replacing
the old with the new?"

"I'm doing what's in my best interest, and at the moment, it's
to make sure you get your child back."

"You disappeared, plain out of sight for the entire time Mulder
was missing. Why are you so helpful all of a sudden?"

"I want all of the plans that *Smoking Bastard* made," the
corners of his lips turns upward slightly "to go up in smoke?"

Startled, Scully asks, "Are you telling me all of this was
planned right from the start? The pregnancy? Mulder's
abduction? Taking the baby? All by CGB Spender? From the
grave?"

A puff of air escapes his lips; "You can't possibly be surprised
by this revelation."

She ignored his comment "Why take Mulder?"

"The Rebels aliens oppose Colonization, because they themselves
are a race colonized."

"The Colonists are a threat to the Rebels, Mulder was a threat
to the Colonists, therefore . . ." Awareness passes through
Scully features as she interrupts Marita words, "If the
Colonists have Mulder then the Rebels would be at a great
disadvantage."

Trying to sound forthright, Krycek says "Had I known that, I
never would've leaded you to the aliencraft Mulder."

"If I was such a threat, why take me ten months ago?"

Marita takes a step forward, "I believe they wanted to test your
abilities for themselves, they didn't trust CGB Spender."

"Well, then they must have been disappointed. I don't have that
ability anymore."

Scully turns to me with a questioning look "Mulder, if you had
nothing to offer why would they keep you for that long a time?"

"I believe they did test me to see if I had the ability read
minds like I once did. But then they found out about your
impending birth and decided to keep me until they we're able to
take the baby from you. Maybe they thought with me out of the
picture, there would be no one to protect Will. And when the
perfect opportunity presented itself . . ."

Scully interrupts me. "Then why wait three months?"

"They didn't."

Scully and I both look at Krycek in shock. With her eyes wide
open she whispers, "When?"

"When you were at the hospital shortly after giving birth. The
Bounty Hunter posing as a nurse was going to take him." I see
the shock on Scully's face and I know she must want to cry. I
take her hand and give it a squeeze to let her know that I'm
here.

"Why didn't he succeed?" I had to know.

"I was watching out for the baby."

"You killed him?"

With what I can only describe a sinister smile; Krycek says,
"It's what I do best."

"Then what happened at the day care?"

Marita says, "There was a leak that the Colonists were going to
strike again. The Rebels didn't want him to fall into their
hands and they were able to get to Will before the Colonists
were."

Scully closes her eyes for a moment, opens them, shakes her head
and with a huff says, "The lesser of two evils."

A thought comes to my mind "Wait, the abductees weren't supposed
to comeback. Why did I?" I turn my head from Marita to Krycek.

"The rules changed. They figured if they released you, then you
would lead them straight to the Rebels and the child."

Frustrated with our incessant questioning, Krycek starts to pace
around, "Don't you get it? He's the one." He stops and turns
to me, "He has the potential to save mankind from colonization."

Marita takes over, "At first the Rebels needed a hybrid because
they were immune to the *Black Oil*. The Colonists wanted the
hybrid to use as a slave race. Cassandra Spender was the first
hybrid. However, Will is different, he is the first human being
protected against the virus."

"The birth of a child by two people immune to the alien virus
becomes immune to it as well. Your child is the first of its
kind, being a male child makes him even more valuable to them."

Upset and disgusted that their child is being used, Scully spits
out "He is an infant, not a pawn."

I feel the heat of anger build up inside me at the thought of
our child being used like this. "Why in the hell should I
believe a damn thing you're saying?"

"Because we both want the same thing . . ."

"And that would be?" I interrupt.

"Preventing colonization."

"That was the Consortium's mission and they failed miserably.
What makes you think you can do any better?"

"They failed because they underestimated the Rebels hatred for
the Colonists. The Rebels were anxious to have the Consortium
on their side and they were double crossed."

"How do you know all this?"

"I'm a man with many talents Mulder, surely you know that by
now."

Scully says in a matter-of-fact tone, "You've been working with
the Rebels haven't you?"

"I've been around long enough to know whose sides I need to be
on when this comes to fruition."

"How do we get our son back?"

"We eliminate the reason for them to have your son in the first
place. If you can duplicate the chemicals in his blood, you'll
have the most powerful tool in your hands."

"The vaccine."

"Yes the vaccine. The boy would not be in danger, because he
wouldn't be a threat and if you use the vaccine to start
inoculating the population, colonization cannot occur."

"How do we find him?"


End of 10

What do you think? Is Krycek the wolf in sheep's clothing or is
he really one of the good guys? You let me know! Crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (11/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



"The Rebels don't usually stay in one location for too long, to
prevent the Colonists from getting a lock on their location.
They're getting ready to move soon. We'll have to act fast."

"How fast?"

"They move out in 72 hours."

"Then lets go?" We start moving towards the door, when Krycek
puts his right hand up to stop me.

"Wait just a minute. They're not just going to let you waltz in
there and take your son back. We have to set up a deal."

"What kind of deal." I'm getting more aggravated by the moment.

"You get your son back on the condition that you come up with a
vaccine. Once you have the vaccine, you'll give us all your
samples and the formula to make more. Then all three of you can
run off into the sunset for all I care."

"And if we refuse?"

"I don't think you want to ask that question."

"No deal Krycek." I'm not playing by his rules. "Once we are
able to put the vaccine together. *WE* will spread it to the
public ourselves."

"They won't go for that."

I can't believe the audacity "How do we know it will stay in the
right hands?"

"I'm kind of attached to my freedom at the moment."

I open my mouth to say something when Scully steps up to me,
looking at Krycek. "Give us a moment." Scully places her hand
on my elbow and escorts me out into the hallway where we can
talk to me more privately.

I'm immediately concerned "What is it Scully?"

In almost a whisper she says, "I don't want to trust *them*
with our son's life anymore than you do Mulder, but at the
moment we don't have much of a choice."

"Scully, do you know what you're saying?"

"Mulder, I want my son back . . . don't you?"

"It's a deal with the devil Scully. What if he double crosses
us?"

Still looking into my eyes, her eyes cloud up with emotion and I
notice the desperation there, "And what if he's telling the
truth and they leave their location? We may lose him for good."

I know that she just wants to have her son back with her, where
she can care and nurture him. I can't deny her that. I can't
deny myself that.

"Okay Scully." *You win.*

We walk back into the room. "When do we go?"

Krycek glances over at Scully and then me. "I don't think
Scully should come with us."

"Like hell I'm not."

"Scully you have a microchip implanted in your neck. What if
the Colonists track us because of it?"

Realization came to her; looking defeated she turned around and
walked a few steps not saying a word for a moment, then turned
back around. She looks at me with such sympathy and says, "He's
right Mulder, I'm a threat to the baby."

I don't want to leave her. Look at where that got me last time.
I turn away from her and pace.

I need to think ahead of the game.

Scully tries to stop me. "Mulder . . ."

I stop pacing and look at her, "No way Scully. That would put
you in more danger." I'm not leaving room for them to take her
now that we're together.

"How?"

"What if they go after you?"

"Why would they do that? They're after the baby not me."

"Because you *could* have another child who would be immune as
well." I know I'm entering dangerous territory here. I don't
even know where *we* stand or if she would want another child,
but I have to make my point.

She looks down at the floor thinking for a moment before
speaking, "So killing me could eliminate any chances for
developing a cure."

I place my hand on her shoulder and she looks up. "Besides,
when we get him back, he's going to need his mother. I don't
even know how to take care of an infant."

She nods her acceptance.

I look over at Krycek and Marita, with a voice that doesn't
leave room for argument I say, "When do we go?"

"First thing in the morning. We need to be there by nightfall."
He goes into his pocket for something. "Meet us there." Krycek
hands me a piece of paper with the directions and time on it.
Much like the one from the hotel.

I nod my understanding. Scully walks out and I guide her out of
the apartment with my hand on the small of her back.

We go back to the hotel, but Scully wants to go home, to her
apartment.

And she wants me to go with her.

"Scully, I don't think this is the best time to do that." I
don't want her to breakdown. I thought she needed it, but she's
my strength. If she breaks down, what am I?

She walks up to me and places her hand in mine. "Mulder, I know
what you're thinking and you're probably right. We don't know
what to expect tomorrow. I need to do this." She squeezed her
hand "*WE* need to do this."

'Okay Scully, for you, always for you.' I nod and we pack up
our things to head home.

Scully's been away from her apartment a few days. I doubt she
has any eatable food left in the fridge. I suggest we stop off
at an all-night diner. "Mulder, I'm really not that hungry."
Neither am I, but I won't voice it. We both need to get
something now because I don't think we are going to be able to
eat once we go through her front door. Trying to sound
sympathetic, "Lets just try to eat something." She's too tired
to argue.

We stop off at a diner and eat in silence. We both have a lot
on our minds to process.

I'm worried about Scully. It's been over 72 hours since the
Rebels took Will. I can tell she's scared. I don't think she
can think straight right now. First and foremost she's a
mother. She can't be thinking on what a great impact our son is
having on the survival of the human race. Especially when he's
not here.

Secondly, Scully is a scientist. She's the one who's going to
have to come up with the formula using our son's blood. Even
though she realizes this, I don't think the impact of what just
went on back in that apartment with Krycek and Marita has hit
her yet.

Hell, it hasn't hit me yet.

Our son, a little baby, barely 3 months old has the potential
within him to save the world. It's mind-boggling; it's also a
lot of pressure to put on someone.


End of 11

I bet you thought they we're going to leave poor Scully behind.
So did I and then I came to my senses!
Crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (12/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimers in part one.



As Scully drives us to her apartment; too many questions travel
through my mind. Is this a course Scully and I were destined to
be on? To be the parents of a child who is the only hope for
the future of all mankind? Could this have been predicted? If
so, could we have prevented it? Would we want to? Can we
control what happens next? Are we helpless to change it?

I get our bags and we walk towards her door. I'm glad she still
wants me with her. We belong together. There's no one else I
can imagine being with.

I know she doesn't want to discuss what will happen with us till
we get our son back. 'Our son'. I haven't met him yet, but the
words naturally roll off my tongue. I have the picture of Will
Scully gave me in my jacket pocket. I don't want to cause Scully
anymore pain, so I look at it when I'm alone which isn't often.
I've pretty much ingrained his image in my memory.

Unfortunately, he's got my thick, unruly, dark brown hair. It
annoys the hell out of me. It's a little longer now, than I
remember last; a piece of it keeps falling in front of my eyes.
The first chance I get; I'm running to the Barber.

I think the jury is still out on the nose. It's a small generic
stub of a baby nose and can change with age.

He's got Scully's smile though.

I can count on my hand the number of times I have encountered an
honest to god Scully smile, but when I do, it brightens up my
dark and gloomy world and fills my heart with joy.

He also has Scully's eyes.

Those crystal clear, blue orbs that make my legs turn into Jell-
O. I can get completely lost in the depths of those eyes.

As we enter her apartment, my thoughts turn to Scully and her
massive ability to hold it together while I was gone.

"How did you do it?"

She stops and with a questioning look and says, "Do what?"

"How were you able to handle the pregnancy alone?"

She smiles briefly, "I wasn't alone . . . not really." She
takes my hand and leads me to the couch and we sit. "I had my
family's support." I start to speak, but refrain by her glare,
"Even though Bill's a jerk, he does have his moments." I look
at her skeptically. "Now who's the skeptic?" She smiles again,
but it fades quickly as she surveys the room.

I suspect Ms. Scully cleaned the place up a little when she got
Scully's overnight bag. She did a good job. If I didn't know
any better, I wouldn't think a baby lived here with Scully.

But Scully knows.

As soon as we walked through the door, she sees all of the
evidence that a baby was here. There's a brand new playpen,
folded up and leaning against the wall. Next to it is a box.
It has a picture of a baby in a high chair eating proudly. I
hope we'll get a chance to use it.

There's also a smell in the air; the scent is a mixture between
baby powder and ivory soap, it permeates everything.

Scully gets up and walks to towards the fireplace. It seems as
if she's going to start a fire, but she doesn't, she looks at
the mantel. There are picture frames all across it. Funny, I
never paid attention to them before. There's one of Scully and
her parents at her graduation. She seemed happy to be
graduating. I had an opposite reaction; I didn't want to leave,
that meant I had to face the real world and Samantha's
disappearance.

There's another one of her whole family before her father died.
Before I entered her life and changed it. The part of her life
that resides in that 8 « by 11 frame is gone forever. She has a
chance to be part of a family again.

We both do.

She runs her index finger down one side of a silver frame. It's
a picture of Will, similar to the one I have. Her eyes linger
there for a bit as if it might come to life at any moment. She
leaves the mantel and walks towards the front door to pick up
her bag and proceeds to leave the room. As she passes by me and
solemnly says, "Make yourself at home Mulder. There's a box
with some of your clothes in the hall closet. I kept it here,
just in case." That's my Scully, always prepared. "I'm going to
go take a shower." and heads to the bedroom.

I go into the box in the closet and find a pair of jogging pants
and a t-shirt to change into. Shortly afterwards I hear the
shower and reluctantly drift off to sleep on her couch.

I awake in a jolt from a nightmare. Scully, Will and I were in
the yard of our house. He was a toddler and we're playing with
him in the yard. The three of us are smiling and laughing until
I hear a roar and darkness passes over us. I look up and see a
spaceship. All of a sudden I see Scully hold Will's hand and
walk towards the ship. I try to yell at them. They can't hear
me. I try to move, but I'm paralyzed. I have to watch in
horror while they are engulfed in light and slowly disappear
from my view.

I shake my head. *It's only a dream.*

That's when I hear something. At first I think it's the TV, but
it isn't on. Then I realize it's coming from the bedroom. A
thousand scenarios rush through my mind as I get up off the
couch and make a dash for her bedroom. I see that she's not in
her bed. It hasn't been slept in. Panic rises up my spine and
before I can call her name, I hear a sniff.

I turn my head and see Scully. She's sitting on the floor with
her back against the wall. A white laced bassinet is next her.
She's staring at a little brown bear in her hands.

"Scully?"

She sniffs and wipes her eyes, "Did I wake you?"

I stare at her and say quietly, "No. You didn't."

She's doesn't look up "I bought this shortly after I found out I
found out we were having a boy. I passed by a store front
window, saw it and knew it would be perfect for him."

Tightening her grip on the bear, "I miss him Mulder. I don't
know if I can go through this again."

It tears me up inside to see her in any kind of pain. But this
is unbearable, I have to comfort her in anyway I can. I sit
down next to her, put my arms around her and hold her while she
cries. Her head is against my chest and I rock back and forth
slowly, whispering, "I know, I know" and kiss her head.

I can't understand how so much sadness can happen to such a
wonderful and caring person. She doesn't deserve this. She
never deserved this. If she hadn't come through that basement
door eight years ago, she would probably be happily married with
a couple of kids and a medicine practice to boot. Instead,
she's on the floor with me crying her heart out, because I had
to follow a fucking spaceship in Oregon.

Through her tears she says, "Mulder?"

"Hm?"

"Would you promise me something?"

I haven't a clue as to what she's going to say and I don't want
make a promise I can't keep. "What?"

She wipes her tear-streaked cheeks with her hands, "Promise me
no matter what happens, you won't wallow in self-guilt."

I shake my head. How can she read me so well? I don't know
what to say "Scully . . ." my voice fills with emotion.

In a calm steady voice, "I know you Mulder. You can carry this
guilt to the grave if need be. I don't want you to blame
yourself for any of this." She moves out of my hold, cocks her
eyebrow and stares into my eyes as if she can sum up a powerful
spell just by her stare, "Do you hear me?" I look down and I
don't answer her question. How can I promise her that? It *is*
my fault.

Suddenly, I realize that this isn't the same person I just held
until she stopped crying, this is my partner Agent Scully, queen
of denial speaking. "This is something that was out of our
hands. You're not responsible for what happened to Will."

She takes my hand. "Look, you are *not* responsible for my
abduction, my sister's death, the cancer, and Emily. You *are*
responsible however, for being there for me when I needed you.
"When it counted." She cups her hands on my face and with
glistening eyes, looks at me with such certainty. "And you
*are* responsible for loving me and we created a life from that
love. You're responsible for the good in my life, not the bad."

I am blinded by my love for this amazing woman. How I can be so
lucky, I'll never know. *You do keep me guessing Scully.*
Before I can get any other thought in my brain she says, "I love
you Mulder and I've missed you so much." A single tear streaks
down her face, I take my hand to wipe it off and tell her "I'll
love you for as long as I live."

Showing me her vulnerability she whispers, "I need you Mulder."
She doesn't need to say any more. I slowly ease my mouth down
and give her a sweet gentle kiss. I pull back up and our eyes
lock on one another, I hold onto her hand to help her up, she
places the bear in the crib and we walk towards the bed.

Our eyes are still locked when Scully takes her pajamas off.
Her top followed by her drawstring bottoms. I imitate her
actions and shortly after we're in bed.

I repeat the words of adoration she just spoke to me in my head
'I love you Mulder' and the desperation in her voice as she says
'I need you Mulder.' I need you to fill in the hole in my heart.

I see that her needs are met by making soft passionate love to
her. It's not intense or filled with ferocity. It's filled
with hope. A hope that no more tragedy is bestowed upon us and
tomorrow we find our son to start a life we have only dreamt
about.

After we are sated, she snuggles up to me and rests her cheek
against my chest. She has one arm wrapped around my midsection
and I have mine wrapped around her holding her tight. It's as
if we're both afraid to let go for even a second.

She is almost asleep when I take my hand and brush a strand of
hair off her face and place it behind her ear. Before sleep
also takes me in, I whisper to her "We will find him and bring
him home. I promise you Scully."


End of 12

I have received tons of e-mail inquiring when and if the "act"
would take place. Sorry for not going into detail with the
smut, but I thought they way I wrote it was appropriate for this
story.
Feedback would just make my day at crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (13/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimers in part one.



The light coming from the window assaults my eyes. I shut them
tight and pull my pillow over my face. I place my hand to touch
the warmth of her body, but touch the sheets instead. Panic
arises my senses as I think of all of the nightmares I have ever
had where Scully disappears from me never to return. After a
moment passes I hear her voice as clear as day "You never were a
morning person Mulder." I hear the humor in her voice and know
without looking that she must be suppressing a smile.

I breathe a sigh of relief of my irrationality and mumble
through my pillow, "If I remember correctly, neither were you."

She says in a sad quiet voice "Yah, well ... things change."
Realizing what she meant by that, I pull the pillow down from my
face and with an apologetic look, she changes the subject, "Do
you want some coffee?"

I nod and she hands me a mug and I take a sip. I notice she's
already dressed in black slacks and a fitted white shirt. "How
long have you been up?"

"Not too long, I thought I would let you sleep while I showered,
made some coffee and re-packed my bag."

I place my coffee on the nightstand, get up and wrap my arms
around her, pulling her close. "I was worried for a second when
you weren't there by my side."

"I'm always by your side Mulder." She says with a slight smile.
She escapes my hold and walks over to her bag and continues
packing.

"What did you think? That I would run off without you?" She
tries to make it sound like a joke. She sees the seriousness in
my look "Sorry, bad joke."

"Scully ..." I go to take hold of her arm, but she moves away
and I miss only to grab air. "I'm sorry, I ..."

"Mulder, you don't have to apologize."

"Yes, I do."

"Mulder, we've been over this. Let it go!"

She gives me a pleading look and with that, I let it go and head
to the bathroom for a shower.

Shortly after, I walk out of the bathroom, clad only my jeans
and go to my bag to get my shaving kit. "Have you seen my bag
Scully?"

"Oh ya, it's right over there." Without even looking up she
points towards the bed. "I hope you don't mind, but I needed
the space in my bag for Will's things and you had more room in
yours. I put my medical supplies in it."

"I don't mind at all."

Scully finishes packing and I stand there thinking how nice it
is to see her unguarded like this. It seems strangely domestic.
*I wonder what she would say if ...* I walk towards her
determined to finish the sentence in my mind. "Scully I ..."
and at that same moment she says "Mulder, I ..." as she turns
around and smacks right into my bare chest, she lifts her head
and we chuckle for a bit.

"Go ahead." She says.

"No, you first ..." I say to her. Her mouth opens to protest,
but then she closes it and then she starts to talk. "Mulder ...
I was thinking that maybe you wouldn't ... I mean you don't have
to rush ... you know ... um ..." She looks away because she's
nervous and I fight the urge to grin. "getting another
apartment ... you could stay here ... until you're settled."

"You sure I wouldn't be a burden?"

She moves back to pick up her bag and sets it on the floor.
"Well, I know you can be a pain-in-the-ass sometimes, but as
long as you don't throw pencils up at the ceiling, carelessly
toss clothes about the place and get in my way; you would be a
burden." She's teasing, I know she is. She is, right?

She turns around to face me and I see her resist a smirk on her
face. Okay, she was kidding. "Actually I have a few empty
drawers that need filling."

I take a step closer. "Oh really?" I say with almost a whisper,
"And what if I said no?"

"Actually you didn't say yes." She reminds me taking a step
closer.

I beam at her, take her hand and kiss her palm. She melts at
that simple gesture. "Yes, I would love to stay here with you.
In fact, I was going to ask you the same thing."

Her eyes brightened up at that "Really?"

"Well, not exactly the same thing. I was hoping it could be
more permanent."

With a smile she says, "Let's just take one step at a time
okay?"

Her features turn solemn. "Mulder, I know you didn't want
anyone to know what we're about to do, but maybe we should call
the Gunmen, let them know what's going on."

I look at her sternly and she places her hand upon my chest. "In
case something happens. We need someone we trust to know."

"I don't want to endanger them."

"How are we going to put them in danger?" She doesn't give me a
chance to answer. "Mulder, if anything, we are in more danger
by not letting anyone know where we are going."

She's right.

"Okay, but we'll stop by and tell them in person. I don't want
to risk using any other means of communication."

She nods and we finish getting ready and leave.

~~~

After telling the guys what we were going to do. They look at
the both of us as if we just told them the moon is made out of
cheese.

Langly strike first "Are you crazy man? How can you fall for
that?"

Byers takes his turn "They're just looking for a way to get to
you."

Followed by Frohike "This could be nothing but one big trap."

"That is why we're telling you."

"And you expect us to just sit around waiting for us to be
right? We need to cover your back."

"We cannot compromise your safety in any way. If it weren't for
Scully, we wouldn't have even told you. Besides, it's not like
you can follow us."

There is an uncomfortable silence for what seems like a few
minutes, but is only a few seconds before Byers speaks up "Give
us a minute." They huddle up together like football players
after a play.

Scully and I glimpse at each other curiously. Scully looks back
at the Gunmen and says dubiously, "What are they doing? Are
they having a huddle?"

I squint my eyes and smirk at them, "No, I think it's more like
a menage a trois."

Byers pop's his head up "I heard that!"

They break up their little huddle and then Frohike speaks up
"Why don't we monitor you from here."

Scully looks over at Byers questioningly, "I know this may be a
stupid question, but how do you plan on doing that?"

Frohike, Langly, and Byers look at each other with smug faces
and then look over at us smiling mischievously.



End of 13

Feedback. Feedback. Feedback. Need I say any more?
Crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (14/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



"Great we finally get a chance to use it."

"Will it work?"

"Of course it will."

"How do you know? We've never used it before."

"I just know, okay?"

We sit down and Scully whispers to me "What in the hell are they
talking about?" I shrug. That's what I want to know "Use what
guys?"

Langly finally tells us what they're so enthusiastic over.
"It's our latest creation or shall we say an improved version of
GPD tracking."

Scully clarifies "Global Positioning Device?"

"Yup, kind of like a smaller, but stronger version of Lo-Jack."

Frohike holds up something that looks like a grain of rice.
"This is a transmitter which can be placed on a piece of
clothing, jewelry, glasses etc. You name it, we can put it
there."

"Reminds me of Mission Impossible." Scully mumbles. I smirk at
that and add, "Maybe they have a pen that explodes if clicked
too many times."

Frohike hands me the chip and I examine it "Get out much guys?"

Frohike spits out, "Bite me Mulder!"

"You really need to improve on your pick up lines Frohike." He
ignores my comments.

"We can follow you anywhere in the world with a stroke of a key
on our computer."

"We can also hear you." Langly brings out another tiny device.

"And that is?"

He shows us something that looks like earplugs. "So we can hear
you and know if anything goes wrong. Your hair is long enough
and the device is so small, that no one will be able to detect."

"The only catch is, we can hear you but you can't hear us."

"How are you able to hear us from such a long distance?"

They go into a long and detailed explanation of how they hacked
into NASA and are bouncing the radio waves or something from
their satellite. I stop paying attention to them and observe
Scully's expression, I think Scully is sorry she asked because
her look is somewhere between boredom and annoyance.

I don't know if they notice her expression or not because they
finally finish and get to work. They place the nearly invisible
devices on both of us lest we separate.

"Will you still be able to continue tracking us once we get
inside the facility?" Scully asks.

Byers looks towards her and answers, "Not knowing what the walls
are made out of, we can't say for sure."

I get up from my chair "There's only one way to find out."


~~~


We leave the Gunmen and drive to the address on the note Krycek
gave us. It leads us to a large abandoned warehouse. It looks
just as rundown as the apartment we met in last night. Krycek
must like being his own element. I scoff.

I also notice that Marita is alone and I'm immediately
suspicious. As Scully and I approach Marita I ask in a not-so-
polite tone "Where's Krycek?"

With all seriousness, "Don't worry Agent Mulder, he's on his
way." Don't worry? Right. "We'll be taking a helicopter as
far as it'll take us, then we'll be transferring to SUV and
drive rest of the way."

I hate having to trust them on this. I can't believe that they
would do this out of the kindness of their heart. They're
opportunists. I'll just have to watch them carefully.

"Lets go." She walks inside of the building and we cautiously
follow.

We're on the roof when I catch sight of a helicopter approaching
our direction. It settles on the roof and Krycek gets out of the
cockpit. *I'd like to know how he got that and when in the hell
did he learn to fly?*

He walks up to us dressed in all black. "Ready?"

*Watch the Matrix one too many times, huh Krycek?*

"Ready."


End of 14

I know this is kind of short, but I didn't want to leave the
three stooges entirely out of the picture. It was about time
the LGM join in on the fun. What's a good story without the
three of them involved somehow, right? Feedback at crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (15/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



We are somewhere in the West Virginia Mountains. As we are
approaching our destination, I catch sight of the mountains.
The vision is breathtaking; Lush green trees, vast clear blue
lakes and streams. It's a sad realization that in the middle of
such a picturesque and serene scene you have ominous danger
bubbling underground.

Krycek and Marita explain that the Rebels have an underground
facility in one of these mountains. It's actually partly in the
mountain and underground. This is just one of uncountable
locations they have throughout the world, used to escape the
wrath of the Colonists who want what they have, a chance at
defeating them once and for all.

I'm all for conquering a race of aliens that want to turn us all
into digestives; I just don't want it to be at the expense of
our child.

We land and as I get out of the helicopter I help Scully get
down. I feel a chill go through me. Scully has her black
leather jacket on and I have my brown one. I'm glad Scully made
me grab it before we left. As I grab our bags I take another
glance at the peaceful surroundings of the mountains. It's
quiet, too quiet. I don't even hear any of the natural nature
sounds like birds chirping. I just hear the wind whipping
around us.

I see a black SUV nearby and we get in. When we come to an edge
of a forest, Krycek brings the car to a stop and Scully looks at
him questioningly as he switched off the ignition, "From here,
we walk."

As we get out and start the trek through the forest towards the
mountains, I get a feeling of d‚j… vu. By the fleeting look
Scully gives me, she feels it too. I shake the sensation off,
this time it's different. Changing my frame of thought I ask,
"How far do we have to travel?"

"It's just about two miles till we reach their location."

Passing through the end of the forest we come across a cave,
unsuspecting to the naked eye. It's camouflaged with foliage,
if I hadn't known it was there, I would've missed it.

We enter the dark and dreary cave which leads to a plain steal
door incased in rock. We walk up to the door; there's a
security lock on it. Krycek takes a card out and slides it
along the slot; the red light turns green and the door slides
open. Scully glances at me with surprise and I nod letting her
know I'm just as stunned. What game is Krycek playing? Our
senses are on full alert.

We walk through the doorway and notice several corridors leading
in different directions.

"Which way?"

"This way." Evidently, Krycek has been here before and like
sheep ready to be slaughtered, we follow.

We are walking down the hall and as we pass several rooms, I
notice we haven't come across one living thing. That strikes me
as odd, but before I can vocalize my observance, Krycek
approaches another steel type sliding door. He takes his card
and slides it down the lock, once again unlocking the door
causing it to slide open.

We walk into the room and I hear Krycek curse under his breath.

"What's going on?"

"They're not here." Krycek says with a surprised expression.

Scully's eyes widen with a sudden realization "They're gone!"

I grab Krycek by his jacket and throw him up against the wall.
"You son-of-a-bitch! You lied to us!" He slides down and puts
his good hand up to block the blow I'm about to inflict upon
him. Marita runs up to me and grabs my arm "Mulder, no! Wait.
We didn't." I ignore her protest and grab him again to pull him
up to hold him alongside the wall.

Anger radiates throughout my body, "Where is he Krycek? Where
is my son?"

"I don't know where exactly, I just know he's here."

I tightened my grip on him, it would be so easy to ... no, I
need answers. "How come no one's here?

"I don't know. They should've been here, unless..."

I do not lessen my hold on him "Unless what?"

"Unless something happened..." he didn't get a chance to finish.
I let go of him when I felt a tremendous shaking, like we're in
the middle of an earthquake. *In Western Virginia?*

It calms down "What the hell was that?" Scully says regaining
her balance.

"I don't know."

There is another monstrous tremble, bigger than the first. I
lose my balance and fall to the ground. It stops then starts
again with more intensity than the last two combined.

I notice large cracks forming along the walls and ceiling. Then
pieces of cement start falling down on top of us.

The four of us run out of the room and down the hall to escape
the debris. I stop running after the quake stops to catch my
breath. Krycek does the same. I notice it's just the two of
us. *Scully!* "Where's Scully and Marita?"

"I don't know, they were right behind us. They could've gone
down one of the other corridors?"

We hear the starling noise of gunshots.

"Scully."

We dart down the many corridors to until we spot Marita running
towards us. "What happened? Where's Scully"

"I don't know. She must have gone down a different hallway."
She looks at Krycek. "What happened? I heard gunshots."

"I didn't come from us."

"It must have been Scully's gun that went off."

I look down the hall at either side of me. *Scully, where are
you?*


End of 15

So, is this still retaining your attention? Please let me
know.:)

Crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (16/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



The tremors ceased and we continue looking for Will and now
Scully. Call it fatherly intuition; I still think Will's here
and I hope to whatever deity is out there, that Scully is okay
and has found him.

I suddenly have a strange feeling. Something's not right. I
don't know what it is. I hope it's not Scully. Oh please don't
let it be Scully.

We walk about ten feet before we are struck by surprise. Marita
grabs Krycek and throws him against me with a force
unfathomable. I'm still trying to figure out what's happening
when she grips my jack pulls me up by my jacket and tosses me
like a rag doll.

We both look back at Marita as she morphs into the Bounty
Hunter.

*Shit!*

He heads towards us. That fucking coward Krycek starts to take
off and then I figure that's a good plan, so I follow suite.
The Bounty Hunter is too fast though. He grabs Krycek and
flings him on the ground and then I get the fortune of being
hurled against the wall.

My side hurts and I try to regain my breathing. I see Krycek
take something out of his pocket. I can't tell what the object
is; he attempts to use it, but is overpowered since he only has
one arm. He loses his balance and it gets knocked out of his
hand as the Bounty Hunter tosses him across the ground. It
lands on the floor with a clang and I grab for it. It's a
stiletto-like weapon, I remember finding one just like it in our
family's summer home in Quonochontaug some time ago. It's the
only thing that seems to kill them.

The Bounty Hunter strikes a blow to my back, knocking me down.
I hold on to the weapon and pull his feet under him, knocking
him down to my level. Opportunity arrives quickly and I pierce
the base of his scull killing him instantly.

Breathless, Krycek looks towards me "I told you they would track
us."

"They must have gotten here *before* we arrived. That's why the
Rebels weren't waiting for us."

I search the Bounty Hunter's body for anything that might help
me find Will or Scully. I reach into one of his pockets and
pull out a key-card, just like the one Krycek has.

"Where do you think they might be?"

"I don't know. Let's keep looking."

We hurry down through the corridors until we spot Marita. She's
lying on the floor, unconscious.

She finally comes to "What happened?"

I help her sit up "I was hoping you could tell us. What do you
remember?"

"I remember running out of the room, going down this hall and
then it all went blank."

"Do you remember seeing Scully with you?"

"She wasn't with me, maybe she went down one the other
corridors?"

We explain to her our experience with the Bounty Hunter as we
help her up. "He must have knocked you out, then morphed into
you to stop us from finding Will."

"That means the baby must still be here."

We continue down the corridors until we approach one different
from the rest. There are numerous doors on both sides of the
hall. All of them have security locks on them, similar to the
one at the entrance. I'm too preoccupied to worry about Krycek
and Marita. "Since you have a key as well, why don't you two go
down one side looking in each room and I'll go down the other."

I have looked into six rooms already and nothing. All of the
rooms are empty. I walk up to the seventh door and notice that
it's unlocked. It slides open effortlessly. I can't believe my
eyes "Scully?" Her back is turned away from me and at the sound
of my voice she turns around holding a baby. Our baby. I
remember him from the pictures. She has him wrapped in a blue
blanket.

I'm overjoyed. I look from the baby to Scully. She's seems so
happy. She's standing next to what looks like an incubator,
similar to the ones they use at a hospital NICU for infants. "I
found him Mulder." I am relieved that she and the baby are
okay. I walk slowly towards her and hug her with her still
holding the crying baby.

I hear a gasp and she falls down almost taking the baby with
her, but not before I am able to grab a hold of him. I
retracted the stiletto and just stand there. I watch the body
morph back into another Bounty Hunter and the green toxic
substance oozing out of his neck.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

It wasn't her.

That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I just knew it
wasn't her. If I were wrong I would never forgive myself.

But the baby knew.

He was crying. Not just regular baby crying. He was wailing
and she was just standing there smiling. She should've been
happy, but it just didn't feel right. Thank God my instincts
were right.

He has stopped crying and as I look down, I see the bluest, most
beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Scully was right he's perfect.
To think that a life, this life, came out of Scully is
unbelievable. I touch his soft skin to make sure he's real and
he smiles. Yup, he's real all right. My finger brushes against
his little baby hand and he grabs it with a force. I wiggle it
and say in a quiet voice "Hey there. Do you know me? Of course
not, not yet anyway. I'm your dad." The words seem foreign to
me. I have to say it again "Dad, I'm a ..."

My elation is short-lived.

I notice a body lying limp on the ground behind the baby's
incubator. I rush over to it.

It's Scully.

*OH MY GOD!*

She's dead.


End of 16

No throwing of objects please! I was under the influence of
cold medication! Feedback at crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You (17/17)
By Marlen

See disclaimer in part one.



The room is spinning as my world is once again turned upside
down. I can feel the blood drain away from my face, I'm
trembling and can barley hold onto Will. My eyes water up and
tears fall freely down my face. A tear strikes the baby on his
cheek; it looks as if he's crying too. "Sc ... Scully? Scu ...
SCULLY! NOOOOOO!"

I don't know how, but I carefully place the baby down and I
stare at her body covered in blood. *HER BLOOD!* She was shot
in the chest at close range, probably from struggling with the
Bounty Hunter. He shot her with her own gun. *Damit.* I
should've been with her. She wouldn't be lying here dead. She
wouldn't be missing her baby boy grow up.

She can't be dead. I do what I've seen her do a million times
and place my fingers on her neck looking for a pulse. Hoping
for a pulse and if there's a God, praying for a pulse. And I
feel one. It is faint, but she isn't dead!

My Scully isn't dead.

My relief was but a moment, because I now realize she not going
to be alive for long. She's fading fast. We're in the
mountains and there isn't a hospital for miles. She won't make
it. Her blood is still flowing into a puddle on the floor. I
pull up her blood soaked shirt and I place my hand on her wound
to stop the bleeding.

It won't stop.

It bypasses my hands and continues to drain the life out of her.
"I don't know what to do. Scully tell me what to do."

I shake her and repeat her name over and over again like a
chant. "Scully, Scully, Scully ... wake up Scully!" I give her
reasons to not die on me. "You can't leave me now! We have a
son to raise! I can't do it alone. We're a team remember? Do
you hear me Scully?" My voice is quivering and it's a struggle
to get the words out. "Will's here and he wants his mommy!
Come on partner you can do it! I didn't come back to you for
you to leave me now. You told me once to fight the fight.
Fight Scully! Wake up!"

She isn't responding. I hold her close to me. She is limp in
my arms. I stroke her beautiful red hair and ghostly pale face
with my blood stained hand. I close my eyes, refusing to accept
her imminent death. I rock her and whisper for her to come back
to me. Come back to us. Come back to her family.

I will never get another chance to tell her how much I love her,
how vital she is to my existence. I will never be able to taste
her succulent lips against mine, to touch her silky smooth skin,
to smell the sweet scent of rose petals in her hair, to see her
gorgeous smile and hear her sexy laugh. I will never again see
those incredible blue eyes that convey all of her hopes, dreams
and fears with just one look.

I think I'm in shock, because everything else around me is a
blur and I can't hear the voices that surround me. It barely
registers in my brain when Krycek and Marita come through the
door. They have someone with them, but I don't care. If they
are double-crossing me, so be it. *I am nothing without you
Scully. Nothing.*

Someone tries to push me aside, but I resist. I can't leave
her. I won't. Marita tries to move me out of the way and I
continue to resist. That is until she tells me who they had
found. I turn my head and see Jeremiah Smith or one of his
clones; a renegade alien who works for the Rebels. I move over
a little and he kneels down by Scully's side. He places his
hands over her wound and closes his eyes in concentration.

I witness a miracle before me. Scully once asked me if I
believed in miracles. I didn't then, but I do now. I swear I
see a glow surrounding her body. I also see the puncture from
the bullet, close up. Quickly, the color on her face turns from
ghostly white back to the pale peach I remember it being
earlier. I catch sight of her eyes moving under her lid. I
place my hand on her cheek. "Come on baby, wake up for me."

Her eyes flutter open and I am once again greeted with those
gorgeous sky blue eyes. The ones I thought I would never see
again. With a voice thick with emotion, I smile through the
tears running down my face "Welcome back."

Jeremiah moves out of the way and I move back next to her. She
tries to sit up and talk "Mul ..." but I stop her, "Shhh. Try
to relax." She takes a deep breath and tries again. "Mulder
... what happened?"

"You were shot by the Bounty Hunter and then he shape-shifted
into you."

"Yes, I remember now he was taking the ba ..." Here eyes widen
in distress "Mulder he took our baby!"

"No, no Scully." I gently pick up Will and bring him to her.

"See, he's here and safe with us."

She sits up with a jolt and looks over at the baby in my arms.
With her eye's glistening, she smiles and reaches out to touch
him. "Oh my god Mulder, he's really here."

"All ten finger and ten toes accounted for."

She tears her eyes away from Will and looks up at me. "Well, I
guess I don't have to introduce you two."

"He was shy at first but once he starts talking, there's no way
to shut him up." I quip and hand Will over to Scully.

She looks down at the baby and the features on her face express
such love for him. It's amazing to see her like this.

She sees the blood all over her chest and her face turns
serious. "Mulder? You said I was shot by the Bounty Hunter?"

I put my hand on top of hers "You're okay Scully. You're not
hurt. Jeremiah healed you." She looks over at Jeremiah, Krycek
and Marita. She hadn't realized they were there.

Confused, she looks back towards me "Mulder? You said the
Bounty Hunter turned shape-shifted into me?"

I tell her what had occurred in the room when I encountered the
shape-shifter.

"How did you know it wasn't me?"

"It was a multitude of things that added up; the room was
unlocked, the baby was crying, I saw your eyes and I don't know.
I just knew."

"You saw my eyes?"

"They just didn't look like you."

I look at her intently. I can't believe I almost lost her. All
other thoughts are lost when she brings her free hand up and
wipes my tear-streaked face. I lean into her hand, close my
eyes and place my hand on top of hers. "I thought we lost you."

With a soft smile she says, "I told you I'd always be by your
side, didn't I?"

I open my eyes and embrace her with both of my arms, careful of
the baby she's cradling. I kiss her head "Yes, you did. How
could I've ever doubted you."

The room starts shaking with such ferocity.

I look at Jeremiah. "What's happening? Is this an earthquake?"

"No, they're explosions."

Krycek asks, "By the Colonists?"

"Yes and we need to get out of here, NOW!"

"Why?"

Another quake occurs as Jeremiah explains "We have a self-
destructing mechanism in the facility that activates when the
Colonists infiltrate the area. We don't have much time before
it detonates and this whole place collapses from within."

"What about the others?"

"Most of them have already escaped."

A massive explosion occurs and I shield Scully and Will from the
falling debris.

"Follow me."

We follow Jeremiah down the corridors through a doorway similar
to the one we had entered from. It also exits through a cave
into the forest. It's evening, so it's dark and hard to see,
but we keep running until we hear muffled underground rumbling.
The ground shakes and Scully loses her balance. I grab hold of
her to prevent her from falling with the baby. The trees rustle
violently from the vibrations of the explosion and then a loud
roar emerges. It sounds as if all of the thunder I ever heard
condensed into one crash.

Then it stops and all that is evident is a cloud of dust, which
fills the air.

I notice that Krycek and Marita are nowhere to be found. I
don't worry. I know they'll turn up again. Of course it will
be at the most opportune moment.

Jeremiah is still with us and I turn to thank him. I promise to
work on the vaccine. Not because of the deal that was made, but
as gratitude for giving Scully her life and me a second chance.
Jeremiah tells us he needs to go and runs off back into the
woods.

We walk through the woods until we pass through a clearing and
then we see it. I have an instant flashback of running through
a corn crop field. Scully notices the panic on my face.
"Mulder, I think that's the National Guard approaching us." It
is only now I remember the surveillance equipment the Gunmen put
on us. How much did they hear?

The choppers land and Frohike, Langly, Byers and Skinner come
out. They start walking towards us with the Paramedics in tow.

One of the Paramedics sees the blood all over Scully's shirt and
immediately runs over to her. She tells him she's okay, but
they want to check her and the baby out anyway. She agrees and
follows them to the helicopter. I go to talk to the guys and
Skinner.

Langly is the first to speak "Sorry Mulder, but we didn't know
what else to do so we called Skinner and let him in what we knew
and heard."

"That's okay, guys."

With an apologetic look Skinner steps past the guys "Mulder, I'm
sorry for letting Krycek get to you, but ..."

"That's okay, I understand."

"How did you find us and when did you call Skinner?"

Byers responds, "When we heard the Bounty Hunter attacking you,
we lost contact after that and got worried."

Frohike places his hand on my shoulder, "How are you doing?" I
look over at the two most important people in world to me being
tended to. The Gunmen and Skinner follow my line of vision, as
I say, "Never been better guys."


End of 17

Epilogue to follow.

And you guys thought I would kill Scully off. Shame on you! I
know; how could I be so cruel? The medication wore off and my
sense came back to me! I hope the climactic scene was worthy of
classic fanfics. Feedback at crmv@aol.com





Coming Back To You, Epilogue
By Marlen

See disclaimer on part one.



~~~

(One year later ...)




We kept our promise to Jeremiah and made a vaccine. It took
quite some time to develop it, but Scully is an incredible
scientist and can make anything happen. As agreed we gave the
formula and samples over to Krycek. Did he do as promised and
give it to the Rebels? Or did he auction it off to the highest
bidder? I think it's probably the later. Like I said, he's an
opportunist.

It doesn't matter though, with my photographic memory, I
memorized the formula for the vaccine and we devised a plan to
inoculate the public ourselves with help from the Gunmen.

I adore my son. He's our little miracle. I still cannot
believe that this is my reality. The reality we thought we
would never have and almost didn't. I don't know what we
would've done if we had lost him. I was hesitant to believe
Scully at first when she said that she fell instantly in love
with Will.

I'd like to think it was faster for me. We're still extremely
protective over him and take every precaution. I fear that one
day he will suffer the same predestined fate as I have. I want
him to have a normal life, but we won't hide the truth from him.
I want him to know what his parents fought for and he needs to
be prepared for the day when destiny steps in and takes over.
Until then we will enjoy each day as it comes.

And what about Scully and I?

Well, let's just say things are progressing nicely. We still
work on the X-Files together, Scully continues to rebuff my off
the wall theories, and we still drive Skinner crazy with our
bizarre expense reports. At lease we don't have to stay in
separate rooms anymore.

We also bought a house complete with a white picket fence, large
yard and a German Shepherd to boot. Frohike, Langly and Byers,
who are doting Uncles, installed the latest in security systems.
That place is tighter than Fort Knox. They also convinced us to
go on a long awaited vacation. Scully wanted to stay home and
relax, but I had a better idea.


~~~


"Mulder!!!"

"What!"

"That's not the way you do that!"

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Just let me do it my way."

"But Mulder ... "

"Scully, I know what I'm doing. Okay?"

All of a sudden, she bursts out laughing and I'm suddenly
puzzled. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." She's still grinning.

"That didn't sound like nothing." I turn to Will, who's on the
bed entertaining himself with a toy, and pick him up. "What do
you think Will, does that sound like a nothing laugh?" He
smiles. "Okay, lets vote on who would like to hear what's so
funny." I hold his little hand up and mine as well. "It's
unanimous, we both want to know."

Smiling and shaking her head she says, "That's not fair Mulder,
you helped him."

"Aw, come on Scully. Look at his face, he's drooling in
anticipation." Will giggles at that.

"Okay." She gives me one of her *looks*. "It was just . . . we
were fighting like an old married couple and it cracked me up."

Holding Will with one arm, I grab her left hand and caress the
wedding band with my thumb. "But we are, Mrs. Mulder." I have
a huge grin on my face and she smiles back.

We got married shortly after the three of us were reunited.
Scully wanted to elope, but her mother wouldn't hear of that and
we settled for a small wedding with a few family and friends at
her home.

I can't believe I managed to get Scully to spend our vacation
sailing. She was pissed at first when I bought the Catamaran.
Apparently, it's a big husband no no to go and purchase such an
expensive item without her knowledge. However, Scully loves the
sea and we never had an actual honeymoon due to the vaccine we
were working on, so it didn't take long for her to warm up to
the idea. And since it had all the comforts of home, high
fencing all around for safety and Will was already potty
trained, she had no room for argument. It was also
inaccessible; the only people who could reach us were the
Gunmen.

For one month there are no government conspiracies, mutants,
zombies, vampires or otherwise to chase after. Scully thinks
I'm going to go insane not being able to follow up on any of
these cases. She doesn't think I know how to relax. She's
never been more wrong.

Will falls asleep in my arms and I go to put him into his
playpen in the other cabin turning on the baby monitor on the
way out. I slowly walk up to Scully and as our eyes lock upon
one another, I see the love she has for me and I swell up with
emotion. I can't believe my luck. I have a beautiful wife, my
partner in life, who's willing to put up with me, faults and
all.

I put my arms around her waist, she wraps hers around my neck
and our foreheads touch for a moment before I descend upon her.
I give her long languid kisses. Before I can think about it,
our clothes are discarded and we tumble onto the bed making
slow, tender love to each other.

I try to convey all of my love, passion and devotion to her, in
our lovemaking. Afterwards, we are lying in bed basking in the
afterglow. I slowly rub my hand in circles on her belly in
anticipation. She isn't showing yet, but we both know this
one's going to be a girl.

I hear our son stir on the monitor and Scully says, "Well
Mulder, can you handle putting up the sail while I feed our
son?"

I take one hand and pat the scopolamine patch behind my ear
Scully got for me before going on this extensive voyage. I hate
wearing it, but it's better than having my head over the side
railing for a month.

"BRING IT ON."

*Seasickness be damned.*




There you go a nice, happy little ending or is it? Read on and
judge for yourself.


~~~


(In an unknown location.)




She strolls into the luxury suite hotel with her hips swaying
side to side and stops at the foot of the bed.

"Well, well, well aren't we feeling jovial."

He's lying on a plush white bed, drinking absurdly expensive
Champagne "I didn't think you would come."

She brings her hands up in the air and turns in a circle "And
miss all this?"

With a wide smile he says, "Nice, isn't it?"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? Flaunting your new
found wealth."

"And what? Stash it away for a rainy day like you?"
"No way. I'm going to enjoy it. I'm sure they'll be other
opportunities."

"You knew Mulder and Scully would find away to inoculate the
population."

"But don't you see my dear Marita, that's part of the game."

"What are you going to do when the Colonists find out you
double-crossed them?"

Looking smug "Not just me, my dear. *WE* are in this."

A voice comes from the front door. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure
about that."

Panic stretches across Krycek's features and he quickly darts
his eyes at the figure in the doorway and back towards Marita as
she morphs into the Bounty Hunter.

Still standing at the doorway with a sinister smile she says,
"You always did underestimate me Krycek."

His screams echoed throughout the vacant floor.


~~~


The End


Author notes: Okay people, can we not start with the throwing
of objects again! *thump* Ow! Who did that! Was that you Elyse?

First of all let me clarify some things:

I wrote in my story that there are three Bounty Hunter's. My
theory is that there are several of them; they just all look the
same.

I wanted to give Marita the upper hand. I think she is always
being underestimated and is capable of a lot more. Oh, and
don't worry about Krycek guys. He's very resourceful and I
think he can manage to get himself out of this mess. Maybe?

I know it sounded weird but I researched the net and the
scopolamine patch used to cure seasickness, needs to be placed
behind the ear. I didn't know that. See how educational fanfic
can be!

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this story. I am sorry to see this
it go, but it's been a blast to write and even better reading
all of the excellent feed back, especially since this my first
storyfic.

I think you guys created a monster!

I would like to take this time to thank my betas Georgia and
Brandi for your wonderful comments, encouragement and
suggestions when I needed some insight. You guys are the best!

It's amazing on the amount of support I got for this story. I
want to thank Lenore, Navemer, Lady Disdain, Sherri, Elyse and
all you readers out there for giving me the most amazing
feedback; you guys gave me the confidence to keep going until I
was done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This is it guys! It's been fun!

Started: July 1st, 2000
Completed: July 23rd, 2000

Feedback is most wonderful thing to receive in my mailbox. I
would love to hear from you. crmv@aol.com


Marlen