Scully was released a week later. Melissa, however, couldn't come just yet. It took a few days for Scully's milk supply to come in, so they had to supplement with formula initially. When she was able to breastfeed, the post birth contractions had been rather painful. Melissa had been transferred to Our Lady of Sorrows where Scully could carefully watch over her and where Will could receive his final treatment simultaneously. Mulder wasn't happy about Scully being back on her feet that quickly, let alone going back to work so quickly...even if it was just paperwork she was catching up on for a couple hours, but it was typical. It was always the answer when she was struggling with something; she always immersed herself into her work to escape.

Will had grown frustrated from not being able to see his sister, so Mulder had brought him to see her in the NICU shortly before he would receive his final treatment. He didn't blame his son,son; he knew until now that Melissa hadn't been quite real to him yet. Before she was born, she was just an idea to him. He remembered being able to hold and touch his own sister almost immediately when she was born. Mulder frowned at the memory. He wondered how different things would have been if she was still alive. It was his hope that his son and daughter would never know that same pain.

Will looked at the tiny baby inside of the incubator. "Will I ever be able to hold her?"

"Yes, once she's a little stronger. But babies, especially ones who are born too early, can't be exposed to too many people just yet. She's not used to the outside world just yet and could get sick very easily."

Will seemed to consider it and nodded slowly. Before they could make any further observations, Scully opened the door and smiled warmly at them. She was wearing a girdle around her waist that concealed her post partum bump for the most part.

She clearly wasn't expecting them both in this room. "Hi," she whispered, looking from Mulder to William.

Will rewarded her with a small smile.

"Are you ready, Will, honey?"

Though he nodded slowly, Mulder could sense the apprehension that both Scully and their son both shared.

Their son looked once more at his baby sister, fast asleep inside of the incubator, before following them out.

A short while later, Will was prepped and ready for his final surgery that was expected to rid him entirely of the illness. A colleagecolleague of Scully's, whom she highly regarded, was taking over this last phase of William's treatment. Before they wheeled him away into the operating room, however, Scully had insisted that she have a few minutes alone with him. Her colleagues understandably obliged. Her son looked at her in that way he did many times previously during past treatments. Before she even knew he was hers. "Are you okay?"

It was then that Scully had realized that the tears had started to fall and she was vaguely aware of Mulder putting his arm around her shoulders for support. She tried her best to manage a smile. Despite Will's circumstances, he was more concerned about what she was feeling than the painful and intense treatments he'd had to endure over so many years.

"Yes, I'm...I'm okay," she whispered, more to herself than anything else.

"You don't need to worry about me...Mom," he tried to smile. "I'll be okay. Lyssa needs you both so she can get better and come home."

Before Scully could respond, one of the nurses came out. "I'm sorry, Dr. Scully, but Dr. Lee needs to get started on the stem cell transplant."

She quickly wiped the tears from her face and nodded as she collected herself. She leaned back down again to Will. "We'll be here until you come out, okay? We're not going anywhere."

Mulder placed his hand on Will's shoulder and whiperedwhispered., "You'll be okay, Buddy." He William smiled back and nodded.

Mulder held tightly onto Scully, who he knew was desperately fighting the urge to run into the operating room. Before, she had been able to hold it together. She was Doctor Scully and he was her patient. It was easy for her to lose herself in her work and transform herself into the calm and collected Dr. Scully. Though she did occasionally go cry in a corner when no one was looking. But it was different this time was different. This was her son and she wasn't prepared for these emotions. And the imbalance of hormones from just giving birth days ago didn't help matters.

She buried herself into Mulder's chest in attempt to conceal her emotions. His heart broke as she let out heart wrenching sobs. He knew the rather invasive surgery on their son and their daughter being in the NICU was taking a toll on her mentally and physically. She shouldn't be working, let alone be on her feet. He wrapped his arms protectively around her small frame and lightly kissed the top of her head. "Hey, it's going to be okay," he whispered. "They're going to be fine." He was thankful they were alone in the hallway of this hospital ward.

Scully seemed to relax a little at this as she tried to collect herself. She pulled back slightly and looked up at him. Mulder frowned as he reached a hand up and brushed away a few small tears. "Well, I have work to do, Mulder."

That earned her deeper frown. "Dana," he started said in a disapproving tone. "You should be resting."

That earned him a faint scowl. "No, I can't, Fox. I can't sit around while our children are in here!" She had raised her voice a bit louder than she intended and looked away as some passersby looked in their direction.

Mulder opened his mouth to argue, but Scully had made herself clear. "I need to work."

Without waiting for an answer, she pushed past him and headed down the hallway, presumably back to her office as he stood staring after her.

He sighed in resignation as he watched her go. He absently reached for his phone to text Skinner and decided to hit up the cafeteria for a cup of coffee when he felt someone brush roughly against his shoulder. It was then that he realized he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. "Oh, um...I'm sorry," he muttered quickly before he glanced up. When he did, he felt a weird sense of deja vu. Before In front of him was a female doctor, probably around Scully's age, but a little taller. She had dark hair that was pulled back tightly into a bun and eyes to match.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a quick smile, but before she could continue on her way, Mulder reached out and touched her shoulder to stop her. "Wait!"

She turned back towards him in slight confusion and maybe a little annoyance at the interruption. She probably had important doctor business to attend to, Mulder thought. "Really, it's fine, I have to-"

"I've seen you before," Mulder cut her off.

She studied him for a moment. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir."

Mulder sighed. "It was about six months ago, at the FBI Headquarters...I saw you in the hallway. Look, I used to be an FBI Agent."

"I'm not sure what to say, it must have been someone else, Mr..."

"Mulder. My name is Mulder."

"Mr. Mulder, they say we all have an identical twin out there. Maybe that's what you saw. Now, I have a surgery to attend to."

Mulder pulled back when he realized his hand was still on her shoulder. "Right, sorry," he said, still not entirely convinced.

Before she turned to walk back down the hallway, she smiled. "Wait, Mr. Mulder, you're Doctor Scully's husband, right?"

"Not in the widely understood definition, but yes. And you are?"

"I'm Dr. Waters, I'm new to this hospital, but I hear she's an outstanding Doctor here and a world class physician. I hear her children are both here receiving treatment. I hope you're able to take them home soon."

"Thanks," he said awkwardly. "Me too."

"Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Of course."

As Mulder watched her disappear, he was still certain that he had seen her at the FBI. If it really was her, she clearly wasn't telling the truth. He wondered just how new she was to this hospital. Scully often mentioned some names of her colleagues and Waters never made the list he was sure. But she was obviously familiar with Scully. Then again, who wasn't? Scully had been the one to cure Sandhoff's disease on her own son, unbeknownst to her. Mulder shrugged and had made a mental note to look into Dr. Waters a bit more later.

To be continued...