Title:

Title: Gabriel's Feather (Part 5 of ?)

Rating: G

Category: MSR, CHILDFIC, MYTHARCH

Spoilers: Well, DUH!

Summary: Mulder has been missing for almost 4 years and somebody is pissed.

Disclaimer: Thanks to CC, FOX, 1013, GA, DD, RP, and all those others who actually own the show and produce the wonderful characterizations. The people out here who actually support the show would have more fun if some of the fanfic authors were allowed to write some scripts. (IMOPO!)

Archive: I would be honored, but not counting on it. Just let me know where.

(See author's notes at the end)

Gabriel's Feather

"Mulder, do you know what today is? I mean do you know the date?" She gently asked.

"No. What is it?"

"Mulder it's June 21, 2004." The silence was deafening.

His silence scared her.

"Four years? Damn!"

"You've been gone over four years. Many things have happened during the last four years. I know you probably would like to know about at least some of them."

"Yeah? Name one."

"The New York Knicks won the NBA Championship this year." She said trying to start with the easy, happy things. "They found a cure for A.I.D.S., Parkinson's disease and permanent paralysis from Spinal Column Injury has become a thing of the past."

"That's more than one." He said with a small smile quirking at the corners of his mouth. He slowly slid over to his back and continued to turn toward her until they lay facing each other. "Tell me about something important. Tell me about you."

"Well, where should I start?" It was more a rhetorical remark than a query.

"Start with how you are. When I left, damn, it seems like yesterday, you were sick. Was it your cancer? Are you okay?"

"I was sick when you left, wasn't I?" She gave him an enigmatic smile.

"Well, obviously, I'm okay now. It wasn't my cancer, Mulder. I collapsed the day you disappeared and was hospitalized. Skinner told me you were gone not twenty minutes after I found out what was wrong with me." Again the Mona Lisa smile as she was lost in thought. "That was a really hard time for me."

"So Scully, what was wrong?" He became more fearful by the minute.

"Oh, sorry, Mulder. Nothing was wrong. I was pregnant." Her piercing blue eyes searched his face for his reaction. A lot was riding on the next few minutes. "You were right. A miracle did happen."

"Pregnant?" The look of joy and disbelief that flashed over his face was priceless. "How? When? I thought the IVF didn't work. How?"

"The old fashioned way, Mulder. We made a baby—a beautiful, healthy baby boy. I named him William Gabriel Scully. I call him Gabe. I wanted to wait for you to come back and help pick out a name. I wanted the world to know he was a Mulder, but…"

"Yeah, things didn't work out that way did it? Tell me about him." Mulder needed to hear more about his son, not linger on the could-have-beens.

Dana started to launch into a detailed description of Gabriel and then stopped. She laughed at herself.

"I can do better than tell you about him. I can introduce you to him if you would like." She held her breath.

The most beautiful look of happiness flooded his face.

"Yes! YES! Now?" He tried to sit up.

"Mulder!" She said as she pushed him back down. "Don't you dare! I'll put the bed up a little so you can see him better, but you need to rest. Promise me you'll cooperate with me on this. I don't want you to strain yourself until we complete the tests I mentioned. You might throw a blood clot or rupture an internal injury that is hiding. Do you understand? Do you agree?"

He nodded his head and closed his eyes.

"It's just hard to be so weak, Scully. I want to get to work finding the bastards that did this to us."

"Easy, Mulder." She adjusted the bed and stopped to look at him. "I have to step out of the room to ask someone to go get Gabriel. Will you be okay? It will just take two minutes."

He was still reluctant to let her out of his sight, but his desire to meet his son was stronger than his fear. He opened his eyes and stared directly into hers.

"I just have a couple of questions before you go." His tone of voice let her know the importance to him of her answers. She nodded.

"Does he know who I am—what I am to him?"

She smiled—this was an easy one. "Yes. I have had pictures of you all around the house since he was a newborn. I talked about you to him even before he was born. He's always been sure you would return, as was I."

He swallowed hard and braced for the next answer as he asked: "Are you in love with someone? Are you married? Is he a good dad to Gabe?"

"Mulder." Tears clogged her voice and it was a moment before she could answer. "Don't you know, you wonderful, insecure man, that I love you? When we first became lovers I gave you my heart and my commitment for life. In my heart, you are my husband, my soul mate, and my partner—my everything. I knew I could accept no one else in my life almost from the very first years of our partnership."

She stepped to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you. I did four years ago and I do now, and I will forever. The only regret I had when I was told that you were gone was that I never said I love you to you. I swore I would tell you how much I love you daily if I ever got the chance again. This is the new Dana Scully. Loving a child like I do Gabe doesn't allow you to bottle up your emotions." His silence finally got through to her. She quickly stood up and took a step back from him. What if he didn't want to be tied to her?

He was startled by her quick retreat. He studied her face carefully and realized she was telling the truth. This was a new Dana Scully. All her emotions were flashing across her face. The one he instantly recognized was fear.

"I'm sorry Mulder. I didn't mean to put any pressure on you." She said as she turned to leave.

"Scully!" It was a plea full of pain.

She turned to face the truth she knew she would see on his face.

"Scully, I love you. I have loved you for so long! My love for you is the only reason I'm alive today!" He lifted his hand toward her. She stepped back into his embrace and it was several minutes before they had their emotions in control enough for her to step out of the room and send for Gabriel.

She lowered the bed as far as it would go and pulled the chair over next to it in preparation for Gabriel's visit. She sat down and again clasped Mulder's hand. They were quietly talking when a small tornado burst through the door and skidded to a halt in at the side of the bed.

The grin on his face widened as he launched himself into his mother's arms.

"I tried to be good, Mommy, but I got bored. I'm sorry I was hiding from Agent Haskins. Maybe you better tell them I'm here." His charm was all Mulder.

"Gabriel, I'm sure Agent Haskins is very upset with you. You need to apologize to him personally and promptly."

"Aw, Mommy. Do I have to go now? I mean, don't you want me to meet Daddy?"

"William Gabriel Scully! You know I don't tell you to do things just because I'm the Mommy. I need you to cooperate with me. I asked Agent Haskins to take care of you because he is a very responsible man. Your safety may depend upon the diligence of such protection in the future. I am sure he is very upset about losing you. You need to apologize to him. Now!" Scully never raised her voice, but there was no questioning of her authority by Gabriel.

A dejected little man threw a sad look toward his father and then turned to obey his mother.

"Is he as much like me as I think he is, Scully?" Mulder whispered as the door slid shut.

"He's your image in miniature. The doctor didn't believe me when I told him he was saying words at 5 months. Not just babble, but descriptive words—Mommy, Daddy, Grams, Hicky, TV. He's been speaking in sentences since he was 8 months old. He is an endearing mixture of Fox Mulder at his best and a mischievous child—which is not necessary mutually exclusive." Dana said with an eyebrow raised and a smile.

"No, Scully, huh? I bet that makes Bill, Jr. happy."

"I didn't say that." She smiled. "He's intuitive like you, but he has a lot of me in him. Don't be surprised if he is very through in his questions. He seems to weight intuition and information carefully to reach his major decisions."

"Like what?"

"Oh, important things like whether reading a book or watching a video is more important; baseball or basket ball, chocolate ice cream or strawberry. You know, the big decisions." She smiled but he could see she had a great deal of pride in their son's abilities. "I gave him the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children and the Stanford Binet Intelligence tests myself, just to make sure I was right about his intelligence."

"And were you?" He asked.

"No, I wasn't." She flashed him one of her 1000-watt smiles. "I had severely underestimated his level of intelligence. He tested off the scale. It made me glad I had secured the tests through the Gunmen and no one could trace them back to us."

The door slid open and a somewhat chastised little boy reentered.

"I apologized to Agent Haskins and Gramma, Mommy. I'm sorry I hid from him. I didn't realize it was important to everyone. I thought it was a game." Gabriel spoke earnestly to his mother.

"Apology accepted." Dana said as she held her arms open in invitation. Gabriel rushed into his mother's arms and hugged her tightly.

Scully looked over his head into the eyes of Fox Mulder. Tears swam in his eyes, threatening to overflow. Only his desire to be strong for his son kept them from spilling.

Years slid away as Dana's eyes asked him 'What's wrong.'

He silently replied 'Later, I'll tell you later.' He was relieved when she nodded slightly.

"Well, young man, I would like you to meet your father." Dana began.

Gabe turned and looked at the man in the hospital bed. His eyes took in everything about him.

"Hi! I'm William Gabriel Scully. You are Fox William Mulder. Part of my name is for you, the William. The other part is for the angel Gabriel—he told me so."

Mulder's eyes slashed to Scully's in askance. She just shrugged and smiled.

"Yes, you are named after me, your Grandfather Scully, your Grandfather Mulder, and probably your Uncle Bill." Mulder said as Gabriel nodded. "But what makes you think you were named after the angel Gabriel?"

"He told me I was. He said Mommy was one of his particular favorites." Gabe volunteered.

"When did he tell you this, honey?" Scully asked.

"I forget—this morning I think."

"Oh, when you were dreaming about Daddy coming home?"

Gabe had lost interest in the current conversation and was moving slowly, gradually, toward the man on the bed.

"I have your baseball glove."

"You do?"

"Can I keep it?"

"Can you use it?"

"It's a little big, but I'll grow into it, Mommy says so. She says I'm probably going to be as tall or taller than you."

"Really?"

"So, can I keep it?" This was said as he bumped into the edge of the bed, as close to his father as he could get without climbing up.

Mulder patted the bed next to him and Gabe scrambled up without hesitation.

"I tell you what," he said. "You can keep it if you let me buy you one you can use right now and let me borrow the old one so I can play with you? At least until you grown into it. Deal?"

"Deal!" Obviously both parties thought they had gotten the best of the negotiations.

"How about your basketball?"

Several minutes passed in guy talk with Scully looking on, her heart full of joy. She couldn't help but notice how Mulder used any excuse to touch Gabriel, as if to make sure he wasn't a dream. And how Gabriel seemed to lean into his touch like a sunflower following the sun.

Because she watched each of her men carefully she was quick to notice Mulder's failing strength. She knew he would never ask to take a nap. She was trying to figure a way to gracefully end the conversation so that Mulder could nap and regain his strength.

The problem was solved when Maggie stuck her head in the door and call Gabriel to lunch. They had called a food order in for all the FBI team and the Scullys.

"Okay, Gramma." He turned to his Dad and looked at him for a moment. "Can I kiss you goodbye? Will it hurt?"

"Gabe!" Maggie said.

"Do you want to kiss me goodbye?" Mulder asked quietly.

"Yes. Gramma says that we should kiss family hello and goodbye. They should always know we are glad to see them and sorry to see them go. Gramma says that it's not sissy for boys and men to kiss their families. All men should do this." He said with a nod.

"Yes, please. It would be the best medicine in the world." Mulder said with a smile.

Scully thought her heart was going to burst from her chest with pride and love as their son scooted up on the bed and placed a warm smooch on Mulder's scarred cheek. He quickly gave his mother a smooch and a tight hug, too and ran to join his Grandmother for lunch.

Scully let her eyes follow him as he left the room then trail back to Mulder. Tears were coursing down his face from his closed eyes. A painful sob wracked his body. She quickly moved to crawl back in bed with him, enclosing him in her arms again. He tried to turn his face away, but she gently turned it to nestle in the crook of her neck stroking his hair. She let him cry for as long as it took to soothe his soul. As he quieted she began to softly croon to him.

"It's okay! Oh, Mulder, it's okay now! You're safe. We're together." Any little piece of her heart she could give him to help this transition was his, no questions asked.

"It's not okay, Scully. I can never get the years I lost with you two back. I can never forget the things I remember. I can never stop fearing the things I don't remember. I want to expose them all. I want the rest of the world to know how evil they are. I want to bring them down and I can't do anything from this hospital bed. When can I leave?"

A snort of laughter from Scully made him draw back and glare at her.

"I'm glad I amuse you, Agent Scully!"

"I'm sorry Mulder. I just couldn't believe you finally got around to asking to get out of the hospital. Only you would want to leave the first day after being held hostage for over four years. It's so you and I'm so happy to hear it!"

Mulder gave her a smile that quickly degenerated into a large yawn.

"I guess I should sleep for a while. Scully, I could use some more pain medication. I didn't notice it when Gabe was here, but I'm hurting now."

Scully quickly call the nurse and asked for his next shot. It brought almost instantaneous relief.

As he was cradled in her arms once again, slipping into sleep she remembered something.

"Mulder, why were you upset when I was disciplining Gabe earlier?"

When her didn't respond, she thought he was already asleep.

"I wasn't upset because you were disciplining Gabe. I was touched by the loving way you accepted his apology. To screw up and to apologize has been part of my entire life. To be forgiven and loved after the apology was something I realized I didn't have until I watched you. God, Scully, I love you. Thank you for the wonderful gift of our son. Love you…love you…love you both." And with that he fell into a deep, healing, dreamless sleep.

Within ten days every test that had been administered to him came back and he was given a clean bill of health. Even the anomalous brain wave activity was gone. Mulder had gained strength rapidly and was ready to leave the hospital. The only residual evidence of his abduction was the scars visible and invisible. While he no longer experienced immediate panic and terror when Scully left his sight as he had when he first regained consciousness he preferred to be with calling range of her at all times.

"Mulder, it's official. You've been released by every one of your doctors. They are kicking you out. You're free to go home. They want the bed for someone who really needs it." Scully said with a smile.

When he looked up from his packing the pensive look on his face took her by surprise.

"What's wrong, Mulder?" She quietly asked.

"I never thought about it before, Scully, but I suppose you disposed of my apartment a few years back. Where is my home? Where is my stuff?"

Dana's eyes opened wide and she smiled. "I forgot to tell you about that didn't I. I don't know how I could have forgotten."

She crossed the room and stood near him. She unconsciously began to rub her hand up and down his arm as she spoke. He feared this was not going to be good news.

"When you were gone at first, I would go to your apartment and feed the fish. I started staying there often because it made me feel closer to you. I kept up with the utility bills and the coop fees. Your cousins petitioned the state of Virginia to declare you legally dead, thinking that they would inherit your estate. By the way, why didn't you tell me you were rich?" She glared at him slightly.

"I knew it didn't matter to you Scully. It didn't matter to me; I had everything I wanted. I just let the number crunchers handle it so I could take some of it out and play with it when I needed it."

"Well, thank you for leaving it to me, but you can have it all back now. It's not worth the hassle." She said and turned away to continue packing.

"Don't tell me, they contested the will." Mulder growled.

"Yes, they did. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I didn't want the money for my personal use, Mulder. I wanted to keep it safe for you—you know, for when you came back. Most people believed I wanted the money for selfish reasons. Even my mom asked me why I was fighting so hard to keep them from winning your estate. After they demanded I prove that Gabe was your child, I think she thought it was for Gabe. But it was for you, Mulder. Always for you." Her eyes were suspiciously damp again.

"I know, Scully. I know." He gathered her close to him and held her until she calmed.

"Scully, I still don't know what happened to my apartment." He said in an amused tone.

"Oh, yes" she said wiping her eyes. " When the dust settled in the court case I decided I would move to your apartment and give mine up. I wanted to be there when you came back, and I knew I couldn't keep up two places and mine was just a rental. I had been at your place for a few months after the baby was born and realized just how much stuff a tiny baby needs. I still didn't want to move, so I did the next best thing."

"You're killing me here Scully. Cut to the bottom line. What did you do with my apartment?"

"Oh, I bought the apartment next door and had everything converted into one large apartment. Did you know that #44 had a terrace and a fireplace? Well, it's all ours now."

"So we're both going back to live at #42 on Hegel Place?" He asked.

"Well, actually, all four of us live there." She said with a smile. "Unless you want me to find another place for Brenna, Gabe and I."

"Scully, you know I don't want to be anywhere except close to you. Are you sure you want to live with me?"

Dana stepped into his arms and looked deeply into his eyes. "I can't leave you Mulder, you are my other half." She lifted her lips to his and soon everything was forgotten but their kiss.

"Agent Scully, I have the van downstairs…." John Doggett walked into the room and came to an abrupt halt. "Awww…it seems like every time I see you two you're kissing! How did you two solve all of those crimes if you couldn't keep your lips off each other?" He teased.

"Agent Doggett, I think our record speaks for itself." Scully teased back.

"I just wanted to let you know the van is downstairs waiting for you two. I've already taken Mrs. Scully, Brenna, and Gabriel home. I have plenty of room for your stuff."

"Thanks, John, we'll be right down." Dana said as John turned to leave.

"That's it, Scully. I guess we're ready to go. Our carriage awaits!"

She grinned at him and stepped into the hall, returning with a wheelchair.

"Oh, no! I'm not going to be rolled out of here like an invalid! I'm walking!" Mulder said.

"Mulder, there are two or three very good reasons you're going to be wheeled out of here."

"Yeah? Name them."

"Okay, one: It's hospital policy. Two: If you are being watched, we don't want anyone to know exactly how strong you really are. A show of weakness could give us the upper hand at a latter date."

She could see his face go from stubborn to accepting and was glad she had convinced him.

"So what is the third good reason, Scully?" He sighed as he sat down in the chair.

She covered his legs with a soft throw she had brought from home and moved to the back of the chair. She leaned over him and softly whispered into his ear.

"This is probably the last chance I will get to push you around for a long time." As she spoke the last she gave him a quick little kiss on his ear.

'Not if I have my way' thought Mulder.

"So, Scully, is there anything else you've forgotten to tell me since I've been back?" He teased as she pushed him toward the elevators. He could feel her stiffen and knew he had hit a sore spot. She never could keep a secret from him when he asked her directly.

"Mulder, there are a few things we need to discuss, but I've been waiting for you to be released from the hospital and to make sure you were strong enough to deal with them."

"Is it about us?" Was his worried reply.

"No! No, Mulder, not about us. You should know by now how I feel about you and our future together."

"Well, what is it?"

She smiled sadly and said, "Could we just please get home before we discuss this any more? There are things there I need to show you and it will help make everything easier to understand."

"Okay, Scully, I trust you."

The trip home was more tiring than they had imagined it could be. Mulder was excited by being outdoors for the first time in many years. The first thing they did after reaching the newly remodeled apartment was to have lunch with Gabe and then take a guided tour of the place. Dana decided that it was time for a nap for all three of them. Gabe wouldn't hear of being separated from his daddy for even one moment and declared that they all should nap in Mommy's bed. Soon they were cuddled together and sound asleep. When Maggie had dinner ready, that's where she found them. She quietly backed out of the room. Dinner could wait.

As soon as dinner was over things became more hectic. Mulder helped Gabe with his bath and with Dana's assistance soon had him down for the night. Maggie and Brenna cleaned up the dinner dishes and then they returned to the safe house for the night. The quiet that fell over the house slowly turned into an uncomfortable silence. Things were getting tense between Mulder and Scully. Neither agent was known not to sidestep issues, especially personal ones when it came to the safety of the other.

"Scully…"

"Mulder…"

They both spoke at the same moment and broke off in a nervous laugh.

Mulder just looked at Scully until she cleared her throat and began again.

"Mulder, what do you remember of your abduction?"

"Why?"

"Mulder…I think…Skinner thinks…Ah, this is hard!" Scully turned and walked to the window.

"The night that you were returned there was a report of a communications satellite that fell from orbit and crashed north of Hyannis, Nebraska. The crash created a huge crater and a wild fire that spread for miles in all directions. There was supposedly a chemical plant enveloped by the fire and deadly gases were released during the burn that encompasses a vast area. The entire area has been put under military quarantine. The Director of the FBI personally requested AD Skinner, Agent Doggett, Agent Reyes and myself head the taskforce investigating the crash."

"I don't understand. You've been with me for the last two weeks." Mulder injected.

"Skinner told the Director that I had requested a leave of absence due to personal matters—indicating that Gabriel was ill. He knew that I was needed here."

"What has this to do with my return?" Mulder asked, not wanting to acknowledge the suspicion he held about the crash.

"Mulder, I have not talked to Skinner freely since he left. He doesn't trust the phone lines or the Internet. The Guys have developed a safe cell phone that can be used. It scrambles the signal and prevents eavesdropping, but Skinner didn't have one with him when he left. In the one conversation I did have with him he hinted that the object that crashed was not a satellite but an alien spacecraft. He wants me to talk to you about your abduction and glean any information that could be used to identify this craft as the one that abducted you."

As she spoke Mulder grew pale. When she turned to face him, he had his eyes closed as he listened to her. Finally his eyes opened to meet hers.

"Scully, I remember too much and too little. My memories are spotty. I can remember what the craft looked like and everything up until the blue-white light blinded me. It's almost as if it were a dream that happened to someone else. The tests were mostly physical at first. I'll have to let the scars speak for themselves. I remember screaming for you. And after a while, whenever they came to me it was to test my mental abilities. I know they operated on my brain several times. I was given test after test and when I failed the method of punishment was pain, incredible pain. I was able to "speak" with them with my mind. As the testing and the operations advanced, I was able to do things with my mind."

"What kind of things?" Scully asked.

"Teleportation of small objects, creating fire, long distance viewing were a few."

"Mulder, don't you think that those memories may be implanted and not true?"

"Yeah, I thought of that until I tried it." He said quietly.

"Tried what?" She asked.

"This" he said. From a decorative bowl on the coffee table, a small ball rose into the air and hovered. One then two more joined the ball in the air at eye level.

Scully stared at them and back to Mulder with a wide-eyed expression. His face was masked in concentration.

"Watch!" Was all he said. She turned quickly back to the balls.

The balls began to move in an oval as if they were being juggled in mid air. One by one they dropped back to the bowl. Scully turned to Mulder in time to see him collapse into the chair behind him.

"I haven't worked at it, so it tires me out. It's just one of the parlor tricks I picked up with our friends."

"Why would they want you to do tricks?" Scully was puzzled.

"I don't think they thought I was smart enough to grasp their intent using any more advanced methods. I guess I surpassed their expectations though."

"Why is that?"

"As I advanced through their lessons and the surgeries, I found it was not a difficult skill to master. They invaded my mind at will; it was very much like rape. As I became more skilled at the tasks they exposed me to, I found I could mask a portion of my mind from them. I would practice hiding a part of me from them on the mundane exercises and soon my ability grew so quickly that I was able to defy them and block them from my mind. That's when the pain came back. I eventually was able to even block the pain. They left me alone for a time after that. I think I was in some sort of stasis chamber. I don't remember anything else." He was drained both mentally and physically at that point.

"Oh, Mulder! I'm so sorry I have to ask you these questions."

"I understand. It's okay, Scully."

"Do you remember how you got away?"

"No…. Yes…I don't know. I know I didn't get away. I have this vague feeling I was rescued, but I don't remember anything clearly until I woke up in the hospital with your beautiful face next to me." He said as he pulled her down on his lap and held her tightly.

"Skinner is coming back to DC tomorrow days. Do you think you'll be up to meeting with him then?"

"Yes." He quietly agreed.

They sat together enfolded in each other's arms willing strength and calm to each other.

"Scully?"

"Yes?"

"You do realize that this may be the beginning of the end. Colonization may be here."

"Yes."

"They'll have to tell the world what's happening."

"Yes."

"We'll have to fight."

"Mulder, I don't want to think about it tonight. I'm tired. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight with the man I love. Let's go to bed." She took his hand and pulled him toward the master bedroom.

Because she was leading him she did not see the look of panic that crossed his face. As they approached the doorway, she dropped his hand and moved into the room toward the bathroom.

"I'm going to take my shower first. I've put your clothes in the dresser over there. I'm sure you can find something more comfortable."

He moved to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats and a NY Knicks tee shirt. He slid into these clothes, actually dropping his dirty clothes into the hamper. He found himself standing in the middle of the bedroom paralyzed by fear staring at the seemingly endless white of the bed. He quickly moved to the living room and picked up the remote for the TV and began to channel surf. He concentrated on each blip of the screen as if he would find the truth of the ages buried in a hidden code. He didn't know how long he sat there transfixed before he realized Scully was standing in the doorway watching him.

He turned a blank face to her and casually said, "I think I'll stay up for a while and watch TV if you don't mind."

Scully just stood there staring at him with an expression on her face he had never seen before.

"What's going on, Mulder?" She crossed the room and sat down on his lap. She was determined he was not going to withdraw from her. She had lost him once. She was never going to allow a single thing to come between them again.

He avoided her eyes for several minutes longer. Anyone looking at him would have thought he had nothing more on his mind than finding a television show to snag his interest. She, however, watched him closely and saw a myriad of thoughts pass through his mind.

She lifted her hand to the back of his head and began stroking his hair. It was a gesture of love—non-sexual—just loving support. She waited for him to come to terms with his fear and open up to her. For several minutes she was afraid he could not share his feelings with her. He had been subjected to so many things in the years he had been gone.

A shutter passed through his entire body. He clicked off the TV and tossed the controller to the coffee table. His arms closed around her and he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"I'm afraid, Scully."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Us. Me."

"What part of us makes you afraid?" She gently asked.

He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment until she lifted his chin and forced him to look into her eyes.

"I'm… I'm not sure there can be an us."

Author's notes: This is the fifth of a story of the future that was only supposed to have three parts. It has grown and seemingly taken on a life of it's own. Maybe I just like to read myself talking—if you write you'll understand what that means. I am aware that there are many X Files fanfic fans that are not Christian—but Scully is and so am I. I figure that I have as much right to write what my heart would like to read as anyone else who chooses to write Slash or Suicide stories. If you did not enjoy it, please don't read the following stories. If you did, I hope you let me know.