Scully sat on the floor looking around at her surroundings. Within the small spare bedroom in her apartment, there sat boxes and newly put together baby furniture where there used to be a guest bed and nightstand. She looked back down at the ground next to her. Small piles of baby clothes surrounded her as she sat criss-cross-applesauce in front of the closet. Her mom, sister, and Mulder had spoiled her. They definitely didn't need all of this right away but she was glad that she had it, nonetheless. She finished folding the freshly washed onesies and put them away. Getting up with a content smile, she went looking for Mulder. It was a crisp Sunday night and he had gone out for a run about an hour ago. He should be back soon.

Donning her silk shorts pajama set, Scully made her way out to the kitchen and began to make dinner. They didn't go to the family dinner at her mom's house tonight, opting instead for a quiet night in.

She was about halfway through making their food when Mulder finally waltzed through the front door. He was still breathing heavily, thoroughly exhausted from his run. "Dinner's almost ready," she voiced to his heaving form as he walked through to the bathroom.

"Mm'kay." He puffed out. "...shower…"

Listening to him shut the bathroom door, she let out a happy sigh, her hand wandering down to rest on her still-flat abdomen as she stirred their soup. By the time he came back out, the table was set and Scully was just sitting down with her bowl. Mulder was just about to sit down with her when his cell phone rang. He was about to ignore it when Scully's started ringing too.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. Both of their phones ringing meant it was work. Moving over towards his phone, he picked it up with urgency. "Mulder," he greeted professionally, watching as Scully moved towards her own phone.

"Scully," she answered with contempt lacing her tone.

Their eyes locked from opposite sides of the room.

Mulder agreed to what was being said and told them he'd be there soon. He hung up the phone slowly, never breaking eye contact with Scully as she took in the information that was coming through on her line. Her eyes misted over as everything that was being said to her sunk in. As soon as she got off the phone, she let a small tear fall. "Mulder-"

"It has to be done, Scully. If I say no, all those innocent people are going to die."

"I know," she choked out, stumbling forward and meeting him in the middle of the room, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on tightly. "I just… I need you to stay safe. I need you to come home. We," she corrected. "...need you to come home."

"And I'll be home. I'll come home. I'll come home and then we'll both be safe, okay?" He pulled away and held her face in his palms, gently rubbing the tears away from her eyes. "Will you be okay?"

"No, I want to come with you."

Mulder's head started spinning. What was she saying? "No. No, Scully. You can't go in with me. Not with the baby."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean to be there to feed the audio into you. I want to talk you through it like I did last time."

"Okay. Okay." Mulder conceded. He knew there was no changing her mind. Not when it concerned his safety. Not when it concerned a criminal that had changed the entire course of both of their lives the first time around. Not when it concerned Duane Barry.

§§§

The phone negotiation went just as it did before. Mulder traded himself for one of the hostages, unnerving Scully to her wit's end but she tried to keep calm, for Mulder. She couldn't help but to, though, that Mulder was going to get killed in there. Her stomach flipped with nervousness as a voice crackled through on the phone. They had people on the outside waiting for Duane to get in the right position inside.

"This is the countdown, Mulder," Scully's voice wavered into the headset. "They're comin' at you."

It was all a blur after that. Scully sat with her eyes glued to the screen, unable to tear them away in fear that something would happen and she wouldn't realize it. With shaking fingers, she nervously toyed with her necklace, sending a silent plea up to God to keep him safe.

The sound of a gunshot filled the air, violently drawing her out of her daze. There's shouting coming from all directions outside and Scully feels her heart drop in her chest. No. No. No. Please, God. No. Don't let it be him. Bursting out into the sunlight, Scully ran towards where a body was being moved into an ambulance. Taking a quick, panicked glance at the man in the stretcher, Scully drew out a huge sigh of relief. It wasn't Mulder.

"Scully!"

His voice drew her in the opposite direction, eyes seeking to find his through the crowd.

"Scully!" She heard again, closer this time. It was then that the crowd seemingly broke apart like the Red Sea, allowing Scully to finally see his face. If it had been any other incident, Scully would not have reacted the way that she did. If it had been in their first life, Scully would not have reacted the way that she did. If Scully hadn't have been pregnant, she might not have reacted the way that she did. But none of that mattered because she did react the way that she did. Bursting into a run, shoving aside the people lingering in her way, Scully rushed towards Mulder. The eyes of all of the other agents and the news crews were all drawn towards the small redhead agent, the agent who was now sprinting in her heels over towards the hero of the day.

Her arms wound quickly around his neck, feet lifting off of the ground. Mulder wrapped his arms around her waist, not caring in the slightest what other people thought of them, not when she was holding him this tight. With her head tucked into the side of his neck, he felt a wet tear roll down onto his skin. Cradling the back of her head with his palm, Mulder kissed her hair. "Sh, it's okay. It's okay." He tried to soothe her with a whisper.

"I'm sorry." She breathed deeply. "I can't seem to control my feelings anymore."

Mulder chuckled into her hair. "S'okay. It's for a good reason."

"God, I-"

"I know. I know." Mulder ran his hand over her hair repeatedly. "But it's okay. It's over now. I'm here. We'll be okay."

She loosened her hold on his neck and he let her slide back down to the ground slowly, making sure to keep his hands in appropriate, non-intimate places because of the other agents who had their eyes glued to their situation. Looking around as Scully gathered herself with her face stuck in his jacket.

"Scully, I hate to tell you this… but everyone here pretty much looks like they know. Words going to spread around by Monday."

"Don't care," she sniffled, pulling away gently but firmly from his body. "Let's go home, Mulder."

Mulder followed her retreating steps, ignoring the piercing gazes of their fellow coworkers. The rumor mill was going to blow up for sure. Hopefully, Skinner would brush them off like he normally did in the past and not look into it. If he looked into it, he'd find their marriage certificate. It wasn't that they weren't proud of their marriage, but rather that the FBI would probably want to split them as partners.

Getting into the car, Mulder slid into the driver's seat where Scully was already in the passenger seat waiting for him. He navigated through the throngs of government and police personnel and slowly pulled out onto the road, not surprised in the least when Scully suddenly reached out to grab his hand.

He intertwined their fingers together as best as he could and brought it up so he could kiss the back of her hand. Glancing over at her small form as she pulled their joined hands into her lap, he smiled to see that she was looking out the window with her free hand subconsciously protecting her lower stomach.

A way into their drive, Scully spoke up solemnly and broke their comfortable silence, bringing to light what was nagging at the back of both of their minds. "He's going to get out of the hospital."

"I know." Mulder sighed. "We'll be ready."

They sunk back into a steady silence, wondering how the next few days were going to play out, for better or for worse.