"Alright, alright…I'm comin'!" Melvin Frohike called out to whoever was furiously pounding on the other side of the door.
"Melvin…did you even look at the monitor to see who it was?" John Byers questioned his roommate.
Ringo Langly walked over to their security system. "It's ah….ah…it's….Agent Mulder."
"What does he want at eleven thirty at night?" Frohike wondered as he worked at unhooking and unlatching the half a dozen or so locks on the door.
"Well, what does he ever want?" Langly asked. "Help with some x-file I suppose.
By now the door was open and Frohike greeted their late night visitor.
"Ah... Mulder," Frohike said, bowing and indicating the way into his humble abode. "To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Oh, you know, Frohike, just out and about and…passing by. Thought I'd drop in and say hello."
"Just out and about and passing by our alleyway door?" Langly asked. "Ooookayy…"
Byers rolled his eyes at both of his colleagues and approached the agent with his hand out.
"Come in, Mulder. Could I get you a cup of tea?"
Mulder shook the offered hand while answering. "Ah, yeah…yeah tea sounds great."
Byers went to put the kettle on and Mulder proceeded to walk around the Gunmen's work area and stopped to look at this chart and that clipping, finally settling on a copy of their latest magazine, and started flipping, seemingly absent-minded, through its pages.
Langly turned to Frohike with a questioning look and raised eyebrows, and Frohike responded by slightly shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders.
Presently Byers returned with a tray, a teapot, and four mugs.
"I don't know if you take sugar, but I believe we're out of it."
"No milk either," Langly added, "sorry."
"That's fine; I don't use either of those anyway." Mulder answered.
The four friends sat sipping their tea in silence until Frohike couldn't take it anymore.
"Oh, for the love of Pete, Mulder…this is silly...what is it? And don't say you were just passing through and stopped in for a midnight cuppa!"
"Yeah," Langly agreed, "I mean…We know you just got back from being dead and all that, but… you seem a little more…nervous than usual or… something…."
Byers slapped his mug down on the table a little more forcefully than he really intended.
"Look, you two, if Agent Mulder has something to say, or ask, I'm sure he'll do so in his own good time. Right?"
Mulder drained his teacup and then shook his head up and down in way of response, and then he started chewing on his lower lip. Finally, he threw both hands up in the air.
"Alright…okay. There is something I need to ask. Need to ask because it's been driving me crazy. It's about something you said…Langly…yesterday when I was here with Agent Scully. You said you wanted...you all wanted… to ask me about my...ah...involvement in Scully's… I think the word's you used were 'blessed event'. What…um, what did you mean by that? Did Dana say anything to you…about…it…that…"
The three Gunmen looked at each other a little incredulously before Frohike snorted at Langly. "Big mouth!"
"Hey, it's not my fault! I didn't know it was some big, dark secret, okay!"
"Whoa…whoa, guys…no need to fight," Mulder intervened, "I just …wondered. I mean….if she did say something, I guess I'd kind of like to know is all."
Byers cleared his throat. "So, obviously she hasn't really discussed any of this with you."
Mulder blew out a long breath and started tapping his fingers on the table. "Ah no…no she hasn't… not…like …a real discussion anyway."
Byers continued. "She came to see us a few times, with Agent Doggett, asking for our help while you were, ah…missing. Then, about a month ago, she came alone one day and her…condition…was quite obvious by then. It wasn't as though she was trying to hide it."
"Yeah, Melvin, and that's were your big mouth came in," taunted Langly.
"Enough!" Byers shouted. "Yes, well anyway…Frohike sort of brought the subject up aaanndd…asked who the father was."
"I'm sorry, ya know. It just sort of …came out. And okay…I might have brought your name up," the little man confessed, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"And…." Mulder probed.
No one said anything.
"Aww… come on now guys. You can't leave me hanging like this!"
"Okay," Frohike started, "I think I said something like, 'it's too bad that the baby's father couldn't be here to witness this'…'Mulder would be so proud'…or something to that effect."
Mulder shook his head. "And she answered that….how exactly?"
"Basically," Langly replied, "she said, 'yes I believe he would. I'd like to believe he would'. I mean, she didn't try and deny it or anything. And, I mean, we figured it was yours anyway."
"Even with me being gone?" Mulder asked. "What made you just assume it was mine?"
The three looked to each other and chuckled.
"Well, Mulder," Byers offered, "you two are…or seem… Well it's pretty obvious you…care about each other. And have done for some time."
Frohike grunted loudly. "And as tore up as she was about you being, abducted and then…well dead? Poor kid. I felt so sorry for her. She was a mess, Mulder. I mean, we all were pretty tore up about everything, but for Scully that loss was something different. And then to find out she was pregnant on top of it all? It was only logical for us to think …well you know what we thought. But my lips are sealed. I'll leave any more discussion on that topic to you and her."
"Yeah, Mulder. Sorry if this has caused any problems," Langly added.
Mulder stood. "No…no, I, uh….it's okay, really. I…thanks for talking to me. I just…I feel better ...about it. I uh, I think I'll just leave any more discussion up to her. If she wants to bring it up…fine…now or later…that's fine. I'm sure when the time is right we'll talk about it. Anyway, I should be going home and leave you fine gentlemen to go back to bed. Again, thank you"
Mulder moved towards the door. The four said their goodnights and he left. He had to walk four blocks before he saw a cab, but that gave him time to contemplate and digest what the Gunmen had told him. The truth was evident even if nothing was going to be said between him and Scully…at least right away. Scully was carrying his child. He knew it, could feel it in his bones. He loved her and all he wanted to do now was protect her and the child. He had no idea how he was going to proceed from here, but he was confident things would sort themselves out. His heart was singing, his soul was laughing, and his mind was reeling. He hailed a cab and went home feeling more alive than he had in a long, long, long time.