AN: Thanks for all your kind reviews, and I appreciate your following what happens in this time travel story…

Chapter 11

"Gods, not again." The Captain awoke with a raging headache, a fever, and every pore of his body aching. He took some deep breaths and tried to calm his queasy stomach. After a few minutes the room stopped spinning and he was able to sit up. He did, and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, closing his eyes as he tried to regain his composure.

He had obviously landed, or whatever the hell it was that happened when he fell out of time. At least this time he wasn't delirious, which was a definite plus. He stayed still for what seemed an insufferably prolonged period, and he even dozed for part of it. His head dropped to his chest and a loud snore startled him into waking.

He blinked rapidly and rubbed his eyes, yawning loudly. He realized that the headache was finally gone, and he no longer felt disoriented. He didn't know when in time he arrived, nor how long he had been out, but the rest had done him good.

He looked around the room and realized that he must be in either a hotel, or a motel room. He stood up and went over to a nearby table and found an upscale room service menu, and was delighted to find it was a lovely, upscale hotel. He gave a quiet thanks to Sucellos for that consideration. He found that when he opened the door, it led to an adjoining room that had an oversized sofa and chairs, along with a large coffee table and end tables. It was all rather ornate as far as he could tell, and he could only assume this was his home base for the time that he was here.

He went back into the bedroom and when he looked in the closet he found a wide variety of clothes ranging from casual to formal, it seems all the bases had been covered for the duration of his stay. There was also a luxurious bathroom in the suite, far too posh for his tastes but maybe one that his dear Carolyn would find appealing.

On the dresser he found a wallet that had all sorts of appropriate ID for him that matched with this period of time, and cash, and credit cards.

At least this time he wouldn't be a pauper to throw himself on her good graces. This time he could do things properly. Yes, it seemed everything was in place. That was when he noticed the neatly folded slip of paper on top of the dresser. Curious, he picked it up. When he opened it what he saw made him take a deep breath.

The paper held Carolyn's name and phone number. He had even been supplied with the way to contact her. Now he had to come up with a plausible story to convince her to meet with him again, and it appeared he could start with a phone call.

But what will I possibly say to her knowing that Candy is my daughter? Knowing that I left her alone like some worthless wandering scallywag that had no intention of doing the responsible thing? How can I possibly convince her that I'm not like that when I obviously have been?

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Busy couldn't begin to describe the state of Carolyn's William's life these days. She graduated from college in the top two percent of her class with a master's degree in journalism, all done so that she could get a job in her chosen field. That had worked out well except for the unexpected surprise she received in the middle of that plan, and that was the fact that her secret indiscretions with one Captain Daniel Gregg has resulted in her being pregnant. And after a suitable nine months, she produced a healthy, beautiful baby girl that she named Candace.

She had been with Bobby once within the month after Captain Daniel Gregg had abruptly disappeared, and she thought that she must have given in to a tryst with Bobby because she was feeling sorry for herself, because she was lonesome for the man she had only known a few days. How was such a thing even possible? But there was no question in her mind, the child was Daniel's, and after her one time with Bobby, he no longer held any interest for her

When Bobby found out about her pregnancy, he was convinced it was his child, and he put intense pressure on her to marry him. She almost gave in to that pressure, but when she was about to cave she would remember the feeling of Daniel touching her, of being intimate with him, and she found no matter what her logical mind said, her heart wouldn't let her go through with it. She turned Bobby down.

Although disappointed and displeased with her, her parents did what they could for her and her daughter, at least for the time being. They were as supportive as they knew how to be, but she was independent in a way that they didn't understand. To their minds the best thing she could do was to marry Bobby and reunite him with his child. She had told Bobby that the child wasn't his, but she didn't offer up anyone else as a possible father, and he never connected the dots. Her parents had no clue about her secret liaison and she wasn't about to enlighten them. Let them believe Bobby was the father, it was one less reason for them to be disappointed in her.

She had a long day at the newspaper and was glad to be home. She needed to eat and spend some quality time with the most important person in her life, her beautiful three-year-old daughter.

"Hi Mom," she said as she closed the front doors of her parent's brownstone behind her.

"Carolyn, there you are!" Her mother looked a bit frazzled as she handed the toddler to her daughter. "She's yours for a while. Your father has been bellowing at me, so I need to see what he wants."

"Sure, thanks Mom." She took her daughter whose outstretched hands wrapped around her neck and sighed as she held her close. "Mommy missed you, Sweetie."

"Mommy," she said and giggled into Carolyn's ear, causing Carolyn to smile.

She looked up when her mother stopped suddenly and turned around. "Oh, and dear, there were some messages for you while you were out. Bobby called twice, and as you know, you really should marry him…"

"Mother!"

"Yes, I know. Mind my own business. And some man called and said he was a business associate of yours. He said he was long overdue in getting back to you about some sort of article on the effects of delirium." She frowned. "He wasn't very clear."

"Delirium? I'm not writing an article…" She stopped mid-sentence as the possible implications of that statement sank in to her stunned brain. "Did he say who he was?"

"Yes, of course. Sorry, I was in a hurry, so I don't remember. He said he was a Captain something or another. I wrote his name and number down for you. It's next to the phone. All right?"

"Yes, fine. Thank you, Mom." Carolyn tried to still her drumming heart, telling her it couldn't be him. How could he suddenly be back? And how could he possibly have found her?

She approached the note warily, almost as if she were afraid of it. After a few moments of holding her daughter and speaking with her, the toddler began to get restless. Carolyn finally gathered up her courage and opened the note. A name that she never thought to see again, Captain Daniel Gregg, was on the paper in her mother's familiar handwriting along with his contact information.

Squeezing her daughter to her tightly, she took her into the playroom to contemplate this new turn of events.

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Carolyn watched as her daughter stacked the wooden building blocks of letters in a small tower and clapped in delight at the laughter from the toddler.

Being a mother wasn't something that Carolyn had planned, at least not so soon after finishing her degree, but she knew she could never be unhappy to have this wonderful child in her life. She had questioned a lot of things when she found out she was pregnant, herself included. What had led her to such reckless behavior with a man who was a stranger to her? Why hadn't she taken precautions? She wasn't stupid, she knew how birth control worked, and she had never had sex with Bobby unless he wore a condom. Putting a condom on Daniel was the furthest thing from her mind, all she could think about was how he made her feel, how she felt completely connected to him and not just physically. Her logical mind dismissed the ideas as ludicrous. It was a badly timed one-night stand in which she didn't even tell the man what happened. She regretted that, a bit, but he vanished so abruptly that she never could quite figure out what to make of his disappearance. And then that note to find him in Gull Cottage in ten years or so and to rent it out. So strange, yet, intriguing.

She had done her research after he left, she was a good journalist after all and she managed to answer some questions, but they only let to others that she couldn't answer about the mystery man that had appeared in her life. The only Captain Daniel Gregg she could find as a resident of Schooner Bay, Maine lived a very colorful life indeed, but died over a century at a rather early age of thirty-five due to an unexpected accident of some sort.

Her Daniel was a vibrant, living man and certainly not that old. Gull Cottage was the house in Maine that Captain Daniel Gregg, the one from the past, had built. How could all of this be connected? That was what she had never figured out.

But her world changed when she had her daughter. Bobby hounded her incessantly, proclaiming to one and all that he was the father. Carolyn quietly told everyone that he wasn't but offered no other explanation, so the relatives put it down to her unwillingness to acknowledge him.

She never expected to hear from the man of her fantasies again. He left as abruptly as he entered and with no explanation. She tried to put away her hurt feelings, scolding herself for becoming so attached to a man that she had only known for days, but she knew there was something deeper between them, something unexplored. She spent so many days daydreaming about him, wishing he would return so she could confess the truth and tell him he had a daughter.

But what would he think about that? She had taken shameless advantage of him and couldn't rightfully expect anything from him. Did he even want children? Or a relationship? He had been warm, and she thought, loving while in her presence. He made her feel as if they had always been together, so it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that he might want more if he ever returned.

That message left her completely unnerved. She didn't know what to do. Despite her daydreams, they were just that, and they were safe; but to talk to him again? To maybe get to know him and then deal with the reality of introducing Candy to her father?

But what if she never tried? What if there could be something for them together and she never bothered to find out? How could she ever forgive herself?

Seeing that Candy was still happily amused with her building blocks she placed a loving kiss on the girl's forehead and gathering her courage, went over to the nearby end table where the nearest phone sat. Pulling the message from her pocket, with shaking hands, she dialed the number.

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The sky was grey, and the cool wind that blew on the coast was brisk, creating a blustery, unsettled sort of day. The adult children, Candy and Jonathan, sat on the porch in silence, absorbed in their own thoughts. The creaking of the porch swing where Candy sat, and the occasional muffled roar from a gust of wind were the only sounds.

The front door opened, and Mulder stepped out, regarding the two of them quietly as he shut the door behind them. When he received no acknowledgement of his presence, he cleared his throat, loudly, and the other two adults jumped, startled by the sound.

"Fox? What was that for?" Candy scolded.

"Trying to get your attention. You both seem a bit…lost." He paused. "Are you guys all right?"

Jonathan just looked at him and shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess," Candy said.

"You don't look all right, you look…well…sad."

"Maybe a little," Candy said.

Jonathan remained silent.

"Why?" Mulder went over and sat down on the wide railing so that he was opposite them.

"Don't get me wrong, this is what I want, I mean, he is our Dad…" Candy started.

"But?"

"But Bobby Muir was our father. And I wonder if this is fair to him? Will he ever be married? Will he ever have kids? Is all of this being taken away from him?" Candy asked, frowning.

"And if it is? Do you want things to be the way they were?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I remember them fighting when I was little, so I know they weren't happy."

"And if the Captain was alive like Carolyn was when she met Bobby? Who would she have chosen?"

Jonathan snorted in amusement. "Who here doesn't know the answer to that question? Mom and the Captain are an epic love story."

"Then maybe this strange series of events is correcting what should have happened all along."

Candy and her brother looked at each other and then back at Mulder.

"Makes sense to me," Jonathan said.

"Yeah, I guess," Candy agreed.

"I don't care about Bobby, I just want Dad to do what he has to," Jonathan said at last.

"You don't think that he will? Why would you think that?" Mulder questioned.

"He has to seduce Mom and lie to her, he doesn't want to do that," he said in a sad voice.

"He's always had trouble lying to Mom. For a man so experienced in being with women I've never completely understood that. I mean, I'm glad he can't lie to her, but he should know how to."

"He does, but he loves her. It's very hard to lie to someone you love, but as you are both married and have children I'm sure that you know that."

They both nodded their agreement and were quiet again.

"Sooo, what if he cheats during his trip?" Fox said in an innocent voice.

"What does that mean?" Candy asked, sounding very much like her mother when she was scolding someone.

"What did you tell him to do?" A hopeful look was beginning to form on Jonathan's face.

"I told him to tell the earlier version of your mother the truth."

Candy's jaw dropped as she looked at him. "You can't be serious. You told him to tell her that he is a time travelling man that used to be a ghost? One that when she meets him a few years in the future, her time, will be a ghost that doesn't know who she is? Even though they have had two children together?"

Mulder smirked. "Yeah, something like that. Think she'll believe him?"

Jonathan laughed for the first time in a day and grinned at Mulder. "That could work. Mom has always believed in crazy things."

"I think she's a latent psychic," Candy added. "But won't her knowing change things again?"

Mulder shrugged. "I don't know, maybe? Still a better choice than not having your brother around." He looked over at Jonathan who was suddenly ashen and gasping for air.

"Jonathan?" Candy and Mulder rushed to his side to keep him from falling over.

"Give me a sec…I'll be okay…" he protested in a quiet voice.

Mulder felt his forehead. "You've got a fever too. Come on, you need to be in bed." He helped him to his feet and then assisting him into the house, Jonathan leaning heavily as on him.

"Come on, Jon. I'll even let my wife, the doctor check on you. I don't offer that to just anyone…"

"Yeah, right." Candy rolled her eyes as she followed them. "As if you could tell Dana what to do…"

"That's beside the point," he mumbled as they made their way up the stairs.

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Maybe if he stared at the phone long enough he could cause it to ring, Daniel thought as he glowered at the useless contraption. He had called her residence over two hours ago and left a message with a woman that he surmised was her mother. Now all he could do was to wait for her to return his call.

But what if she didn't call? What if she was so upset by the events that transpired after he left her that she didn't want to see him again? Well, that wouldn't do at all. He may have to find another way to contact her. How to best go about that?

He frowned and drummed his fingers on the bed he was sitting on.

Surely, she must work? If he could find out where he could arrange to call on her there. He may catch her unprepared, but it was better than not catching her at all. So perhaps a bit of dutiful research on his part would give him the information he needed. With one last glance at the silent phone he left his motel room closing the door behind him.

A minute later the phone rang in the emptiness of the room.

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AN: I love reviews, please let me know how I'm doing…