Author's note:

If you have just come back to this story, I suggest reading back the last chapter for this to make any sense. I know it has been ages since I updated but I always felt bad for leaving this story like I did and finally I have the will and motivation to continue this story. I really hope people are still interested after all this time.


Chapter 19 – Home Is Where The Heart Is

Scully's Apartment

September 1 1993, 2:30 am

It was late and Scully was worried. Mulder had asked her to marry him. She still couldn't believe it. She hadn't even thought marriage was a possibility for them – that's why it came as such a shock to her when he proposed. They'd had a talk about marriage once, long before they became lovers. Mulder had laughed at the notion of a happy marriage, his parents the only role models he had and bad ones at that. He'd never experienced such a thing as a happy marriage and Scully couldn't blame him for thinking about the notion as outdated and a quite naïve goal. Of course she loved Mulder and she could easily imagine herself marrying him. But only if it was for the right reasons. She was pregnant with his child and he'd mentioned that fact himself during their argument earlier. But he'd been so hurt when she asked if that was why he wanted to get married. She should have known Mulder wasn't like that. He did always try to do the right thing but she could honestly say she didn't think he only wanted to marry her because they were having a child together.

Their relationship had suddenly become very complicated once more. They had been doing so well for so long. And ever since they found out about the baby Mulder had been so happy. She'd never seen him smile so much and so often as he'd done this past month. As she thought back to the first time she met him she realized how much his life had changed as he'd met Scully and Aidan. He'd only had his sister to live for back then; a sister he felt guilty for having lost and who he put all his energy into finding and being reunited with. That wasn't the case anymore though. He had a family now. Scully knew his sister was still important to him but she also knew he didn't feel responsible in the same way anymore. He didn't think like he did as that frightened little 12-year-old boy he'd been any longer. He'd become like a dad for Aidan and no longer saw things from a child's perspective. He knew he wasn't the reason she disappeared and that he couldn't have done anything differently. But he still missed a huge part of himself in his sister; for which he was still searching. But out of love and not out of guilt.

Scully turns off the television, not paying attention to it anyway, and checks her wristwatch. She can't believe Mulder's not here yet. He said he'd come back. She walks over to the window just as a cab pulls up. It's Mulder. She lets out a huge relieved sigh. As the cab drives off Mulder walks towards the building. From the way he walks it's clear to her he's had a few drinks; she can't blame him though – she'd be disappointed too if he'd reacted the way she did to a proposal. He never makes it to the door though because a grey van pulls up next to Mulder. She's surprised when he starts running and her heart starts to beat faster – why is Mulder scared? The man in the van runs after him and pushes a syringe into his neck.

"NO!" Scully can't help but call out.

She realizes she's just sitting there and soon she's out the door and on her way down the stairs, still only wearing her underwear and a large t-shirt, not caring one bit about her attire. But it's too late. As she makes it down to the entrance of the building the grey van is turning around the corner. She nearly runs after it but knows it's no good – she runs back to the apartment instead.

She runs through the living room and throws open the drawer in her desk, pulling out her contact book. Her heart is beating so fast and she realizes tears are falling down her cheeks as the pages in the book become wet. Finally she finds the number she's looking for; a number Mulder has scribbled down for her in case something like this ever happened.

As she punches the number into her phone she waits impatiently for the person on the other end to pick up. She just about gives up when finally there's an answer.

"Walter Skinner," the other person replies groggily.

XxXxX

Unknown Location

6:22 am

Mulder wakes up slowly. It's dark, that's his first thought. Next he realizes he can't move. Not because he's paralyzed. But his arms are tied over his head and his hands feel so cold, indicating he's been tied up like this for quite a while. He lets out a groan; he's in pain. He struggles slightly against the restraints but he has no energy to fight right now. He can hear someone whimpering, he realizes. He's not alone in this room. The whimpering person sounds like he's even worse than Mulder. The events of the previous night play out in his head and tears start to fall down his cheeks. He'd ruined everything. Again. Scully was probably worried as hell since he hadn't returned as promised. He only hoped that she'd realize soon that he wasn't gone because he was angry with her. If she didn't nobody would know till after the weekend. And he probably wouldn't make it till Monday… no, that wasn't an option. He had to make it home. Home to Scully. Aidan. The baby. He simply had to.

He started struggling against the restraints only to cause him even more pain and groan with frustration.

"Just keep still," he heard a very coarse voice tell him. "Save your strength."

"Gerry? Gerry Steinbeck?" Mulder wonders if he's got the right idea about this whole situation.

"How… how the hell did you know that?" his coarse, dry voice stutters.

"I…" Mulder wonders if anyone can hear this conversation. He doesn't want their capturer to know who he is. If he knows the FBI is on to him, both Gerry and Mulder's lives would be over. "Are we alone? Can he hear us?"

"It's just us down here. I don't know if he has this room bugged but I really doubt it…" the man trails off.

"Well, just in case, I'll keep my cards close to my body, you understand?"

"Yes," his coarse voice whispers back after a little while. "But can you tell me anything? About my family?"

"Your ex-wife is devastated, Gerry, she misses you," Mulder remembers consoling the grieving woman.

"Really?" the hope in the man's voice gives Mulder a bit more energy. "And my son?"

"He doesn't understand any of this," Mulder tells him, remembering the toddler being watched by Gerry's ex-wife's parents while Mulder conducted his interview, the boy blissfully ignorant to the whole situation. "He's happy and healthy."

"Good," Mulder can hear the smile in Gerry's voice and Mulder thinks of Scully again and the child growing inside of her. His child.

"What do you know, Gerry?" Mulder asks - he has to find a way out.

XxXxX

Scully's Apartment

1:14 pm

Scully couldn't believe everything that had happened. Skinner had been a godsend and launched an investigation right away, notifying all the right people about all the right things. It hadn't been long before local police enforcement had found Mulder's car by a local bar in the area. Soon the investigation turned on the owner of the bar, one Niall Motta. He owned a grey van just like the one Scully had described to Skinner. But Niall Motta wasn't at his home or at the bar he owned and nobody had any idea of where he could be. There was an APB out on him but there was nothing more Scully could do but wait. James had come over with Aidan around noon and when he saw how out of it Scully was he'd immediately launched himself into the investigation, flashing his CIA credentials. He'd called Scully's parents before leaving her and Aidan alone though.

"Mulder will be okay, won't he, mom?" Aidan asked worriedly.

Scully wiped her eyes and pulled him into her lap as she hugged him.

"Of course he will, pumpkin, mommy's just worried about him, you know how worried mommy can get," she said and kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry, mom," Aidan sighed and hugged her back. "Mulder always says you worry too much. He'll be home soon."

They hadn't told Aidan the full story of Mulder going missing but he was smart enough to have a pretty good idea of the situation.

"I know, baby," she smiled vaguely at him and stroked his hair back.

"Come here, Aidan," Captain Scully said and held his hand out for his grandson to take. "Let's go to the park and let your mom rest for a little bit, grandma will look after her."

"Thanks, dad," Scully said, truly thankful as she leaned her head back and didn't have to worry about staying strong for Aidan anymore.

Soon after her father and Aidan had left, her mother came into the living room with a cup of tea. She sat down next to Scully in the couch and Scully leaned into her mother's side and cried silently.

"I love him so much, mom," she said after several minutes of silent comforting.

"I know, honey," Maggie comforted her daughter. "And Mulder knows it too."

Scully began sobbing now and Maggie combed her hair back.

"He doesn't know it, mom. He asked me to marry him and I said… well I didn't say yes," Scully sobbed into her mother's sweater.

"When did this happen, sweetie?" she asked calmly.

"Last night. Mulder came over for dinner and we… and he asked me to marry him completely out of the blue, I was so caught off guard… we got into a huge fight and he stormed off. He said he'd be back, that's why I was waiting for him - that's why I saw him being taken away."

Scully was sobbing still and her mother was taking her story in.

"Regardless," Maggie finally said. "He was on his way back to you, wasn't he? He loves you, Dana. And he'll be back. I know he will."

"God, I hope so, mom. We need him!" Scully sniffled and unconsciously rubbed her pregnant belly.

"Dana?" her mother's eyes widened at the action. "Are you…"

"Mom, I was waiting to tell you till after the 12 week scan, but yes," she couldn't help but smile, it had been so hard keeping this from her family, in particularly her mother.

"How far along?" Maggie smiled herself asking this.

"A bit over 10 weeks - I was afraid that was the only reason Mulder wanted to marry me-"

"Dana, I know you're not that stupid!" her mom chastised her. "That man loves you, adores you, worships the ground you walk upon. He feels the same way about your son. And he'll feel the same way about the new addition to your family. You know very damn well, that's not why he asked you!"

"Yes, mom," Scully nodded - of course her mom could make her see everything much clearer than she could on her own. "I guess I was just scared, I don't know why…"

"Oh, Dana," her mom pulled her even closer into her side. "Of course it's scary. True love is. Because if it doesn't work out with your true love, then what are you left with? That's no reason to limit yourself though - it's only a reason to work harder for it."

Scully nodded along with her mom's words. It was scary being with Mulder. Because she loved him so much - more than she ever thought she could love someone. He made her feel things no other man ever had. But what if it didn't work out? That's what really scared her. Being married to Mulder would be a dream come true. But so many marriages end in divorce. They grow stale over time. Scully had been caught off guard with Mulder's question but obviously this was what she wanted. She wanted to be his wife and for him to be her husband. She wanted to continue to work on their relationship every single day for the rest of her life. She wanted him.

"I just want him to come home, mom," she sobbed once more.

XxXxX

Unknown Location

6:48 pm

Mulder was so fatigued. Gerry even more so - he wouldn't make it much longer.

This was all over if they just said they didn't have anything to live for. Mulder had found out as much. When Gerry first woke up he hadn't been alone either. The guy before him had been there for days before finally saying those words. That he didn't have anything to live for, that he just wanted it all to end. And that's when Niall Motta had pulled out a gun from his back pocket and shot him right in the face. In his mind he was freeing these men. Men who in a way felt just like Niall did himself.

"So, it's time for us to talk," Niall Motta's bright blue eyes shone with hate in the dimly lit, moist room.

He'd mainly been focused on Gerry the few times he'd been down here, but Gerry was pretty out of it by now. It was Mulder's turn. Mulder knew he had to be careful talking to this guy, especially considering how fatigued he was. If Niall Motta found out he was FBI, it was over for Gerry and Mulder on the spot. He wouldn't risk getting caught; he wasn't stupid. If he'd known Mulder was in law enforcement he never would have taken him.

"What do you wanna talk about, Niall?" Mulder asked him calmly.

"I remember you talking about your ex-girlfriend? The one who didn't wanna marry you," he said smugly, sitting down in an old foldout chair opposite his two prisoners. "Tell me more about her."

"Well, I'm sorry, Niall… but I think I may have exaggerated my situation with you. She's not my ex. I love her and I know she loves me back," Mulder said - he couldn't make up some lie, he simply didn't have the energy to concur anything up - nor the capacity to remember it well enough. So he opted for the truth regarding this matter, to keep his story straight.

"Oh, really?" Niall seemed in total disbelief and very sarcastic. "If she loves you so much, wouldn't she have said yes to marry you?"

"She will," Mulder nodded. "I didn't ask her properly - I made a mistake, I got too carried away. It was a heat of the moment kind of thing. I caught her totally off guard. It was just bad timing."

"Bad timing?" Niall couldn't help but laugh out loud. "When you ask a girl to marry you, they say yes if they love you, man! Wow, I've seen some lost cases, but you take the cake!"

"Please, Niall," Mulder begged him. "I'm gonna be a dad, I just want to go home…"

Mulder didn't even register that Niall got up from the chair before his fist connected with Mulder's chin. Then he struck him again, even harder, and Mulder heard and felt his own nose break.

Before Niall could strike him a third time, the sound of a bell far away made him freeze in his tracks. A shiver ran through Mulder's spine at the sound. That was a doorbell.

"If I hear any sound from down here, whoever is at the door gets a bullet, understood?" Niall threated them but the fear in his voice was evident.

Mulder simply nodded though. Gerry was unconscious next to him.

Before long there was a lot of commotion upstairs, Mulder tried to listed but couldn't make anything out. Someone was running on the floorboards. There was a shot.

Someone opened the door to the basement, calling out. Mulder didn't have the energy to make out any sound. He could taste his own blood as he tried to open his mouth. A flashlight was pointed to his face.

"Jesus, Mulder," someone concerned was shocked to see him like this, but also relieved.

There were more people coming down and the light came on.

Mulder saw his partner right in front of him. Craig Willmore smiled reassuringly at him and turned off his flashlight. Skinner was also there. And some other men in FBI jackets. Before long paramedics came down too. Mulder found some strength, as they were about to help him down.

"No- help Gerry… he's still alive, help him…" he nodded to his side to the unconscious man and the first paramedics started with him before more came down and helped Mulder down. He couldn't feel his arms. He was in pain. Slowly everything turned to black. Only one word on his lips as he slipped away. "Home."


I really hope there's still an interest in this story. Please review if you want to read more of this.