Title - Wake To This Nightmare
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Spoilers - Up to beginning of Season 8
Keywords - Mulder/Scully romance
Summary - Scully sinks deeper and deeper into a depression as the hunt for
Mulder seems to wind to an unsuccessful conclusion. As she struggles to hang on
to hope, Mulder awakens to a life he doesn't remember and faces his own
struggles to maintain his grip on reality.
Disclaimer - Most of these characters aren't mine. You know that. And I know
that. They're property of someone else and used without permission strictly for
entertainment purposes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 9
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Scully stands in the doorway of the playroom, marvelling at the giggling sounds
coming from within. Despite the aching in her heart she felt because of Mulder,
she couldn't help but be affected by the infectious laughter of the children.
She finds herself smiling along with them, remembering the last time she heard
the girl laugh like that. In a hospital playroom, not unlike this one. When
Scully couldn't seem to make a connection with the shy little girl all those
years ago, Mulder breezes in and instantly amuses her with that stupid Mr.
Potato Head face.
"Mommy," Emily exclaims when she finally notices Scully's presence, running over
to hug her legs. "Can I go see Daddy now?"
"Not yet, Sweet Pea," Scully tells her. She looks up at her mom and sister-in-
law, silently begging them for a few minutes alone with Emily. They nod in
understanding and quietly tip out of the room. When they're gone, Scully takes
a deep breath to give herself a minute to think of how to explain Mulder's
condition to the girl. "Daddy's asleep right now. He breathed in a lot of bad
air that made him really sick. The doctors are trying really hard to make him
better, but they can't do it alone. They have to use these big machines that
look kind of scary. You don't want to see Daddy like that, do you?" She looks
over at Emily and smiles at the sight of the little girl, seemingly deep in
though, nibbling on her bottom lip much like Mulder does when he's
contemplating a perplexing theory.
"Don't worry, Mommy," she finally says. "He'll be okay. He has the strength of
your beliefs"
"What did you just say?" Scully gasps, surprised at the words from the girl's
mouth. Almost verbatim to the words she just whispered to Mulder.
"Daddy used to say that," she explains nonchalantly. "We couldn't remember you,
but he said that he knew we'd all be together one day because he had the
strength of your beliefs."
"Sounds like you and Daddy were really close," Scully says, unable to swallow
back the twinge of jealously rising up in her throat.
"Diana was so mean," Emily says with a shudder remembering the woman. "She
wouldn't let me play with Daddy a lot. So he took me out to the lake every day.
It would just be the two of us and we'd row out to the middle and talk for a
really long time. Daddy said he couldn't remember much, so he needed new
memories of me." Emily can't help the smile growing on her face when she talks
about her father. Scully can tell that the girl obviously adores him. She
almost cries when she realizes that she doesn't have that closeness with her own
child.
"Daddy would be so scared being out in our canoe," Emily giggles. The happy
sounds from the girl brings Scully out the funk she was slipping in. Even
though she couldn't be there to see her daughter grow up, she could follow
Mulder's example and try to make new memories with the child.
"Daddy probably didn't remember, but he tends to get a little seasick," Scully
remembers with a smile. She revels in the memories for awhile and barely
notices Emily climbing up into her lap. "I, on the other hand, love being out
on the water."
"Me too!" Emily says excitedly, grinning widely at her mother. And once again,
Scully feels herself having to fight back tears. But not because of jealousy or
feelings of being a inadequate mother. But this time it's because she sees a
look of amazement in Emily's eyes and realizes the she's the object of the
girl's awe.
"Well, we'll have to make sure we go sometime," Scully promises, placing a
gentle kiss on Emily's forehead. "We'll just have to make sure we cut the trip
short when Daddy start to look a little green." Once again the little girl
erupts in a fit of giggles. And this time Scully joins her. The two sit in the
playroom for sometime, laughing together at past memories. Silently vowing that
the future would be filled with new ones.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Doggett's the first to arrive at the diner across the street from the hospital.
He got a call from Skinner about 20 minutes earlier saying that they all should
meet and fill each other in on the events leading up to Mulder hospitalization.
Scully was getting pretty anxious, not really knowing all of the details. He
let the older man convince him that sooner, rather than later, would be better
to let her know what exactly was going on.
He looks for a place to sit and notices that he actually isn't the first to
arrive. Scully's already there, sitting down to a table full of food. Enough
food to feed a small army in fact. Doggett wasn't naive enough to think that
she politely had ordered from them all. He was sure all of that food was for
her. He chuckles to himself, remembering well those days when his ex-wife was
pregnant. He almost pities Mulder for what he has to look forward to. The late
night cravings for food inevitably not in the house. Having to get up in the
middle of the night to go to the grocery store in the next town because it's the
only one to carry the brand of chocolate peanut butter crunch ice cream she
wanted. Only to finally make it home and have her want cantaloupe and pickles
to top it all off. Cantaloupe of course wouldn't be in season, so he had to go
two towns over to find the specialty market with a stock of the melon.
But as much as he may have complained about it, he was glad to do it. It was
the least he could do for the woman bearing his child. He was honored to do it.
And now he realized how lucky he was. Because men like Fox Mulder didn't have
the opportunity to experience the pregnancy from the impending father's point of
view. Fox Mulder couldn't stare in awe at the incredible changes a woman's body
could go through when she's getting ready to have a baby. He couldn't feel his
unborn child come to life in its watery home just from the very sound of his
voice. He couldn't wake up in the middle of the night to soothe the leg cramps
from his pregnant mate. He couldn't whispers reassurances of his love and he
would never realize how unbelievable beautiful the sight of a woman, full with
his child, could be.
But as much as Mulder was missing out on, Doggett couldn't forget about the
petite woman sitting at the table across the diner. She was also missing out.
Not having Mulder there during her pregnancy was taking it's toll on her. And
now she had to deal with his being back, but not exactly in the state she
expected. Now that Mulder was back, Doggett feels his responsiblities shift to
Scully. As long Mulder couldn't, Doggett would make sure Scully could enjoy the
little things that impending parenthood offered. He smiled to himself as an
idea came to him.
"Excuse me, Miss," he calls to the waitress at the counter. "Can you fix me an
ice cream sundae with all the fixings. Whipped cream, hot fudge, bananas, nuts,
and cherries."
"No problem. I'll get that right over to you," she promises.
He points out the table where he'll be sitting with Scully to make sure she
knows where to deliver it. He smiles again and begins his walk over to join
Scully, watching the surprised look on her face when the treat is delivered.
It's not much, but it's true what they say. It's the little things that count.
The smile on Scully's face and seeing her heartily dig into the sundae prove
that to him.
"Are you responsible for this?" she asks, smiling that dazzling smile at him.
"Yeah. I thought you could use some fattening up," he teases.
"Thanks," she laughs. "But I think Junior here is handling the fattening up
part just fine," she says, patting her stomach. He smiles at her, but is kind
of shocked at the unusual addtions she seems to have made to her dessert.
"Okay, I know I got you the works, but what's with the red, green, and black
stuff?" Doggett asks, his stomach turning slightly at the altered version of the
sundae.
"Pickles and olives from my sandwich," Scully smiles. "They dropped on top
accidentally, but they actually taste pretty good. They make good toppings."
"On a sandwich - yes. But on ice cream?" he cringes, turning slightly green
when she shovels another big spoonful of the concoction into her mouth. "What
about the red stuff? Please say it's strawberry sauce or even jam for that
matter."
"Catsup," she says almost reverently with a gleam in her eyes. "You can never
have too much catsup. On anything. Don't knock it til you tried it, John," she
giggled. Doggett was amazed. She was smiling. Laughing. Having a genuinely
good time.
"Is this a private party, or can anyone join, Agents?" a voice booms from next
to the table. The two look up and see Skinner staring quizzically at them.
"Have a seat. Please," Doggett offers, moving over to make room for Skinner.
"Dana, your brother was right behind me. He should be here soon," Skinner tells
them, wondering silently who all the food on the table belonged to. His eyes
land on the ice cream sundae and his curiosity gets the better of him. "Am I
allowed to even ask what that is?" He nods towards the unidentified messy goop
Scully was so diligently ingesting.
"Ask Agent Doggett. It was his idea," she smiles.
"I guess I just know what pregnant women want," he jokes.
"Well, you've certainly made this pregnant woman happy," Scully sighs contently,
adding another squeeze of catsup over her dessert. Happy. For the first time
in a while, she could honestly say that she felt joy and happiness. She
suddenly felt guilty about the happiness because of Mulder's current state. She
shouldn't be happy until he's back to how he's supposed to be, right? The more
she thinks, the guiltier she feels and soon finds unexpected tears in her eyes.
"Okay, who's the genius who made my sister cry?" Bill asks as he makes his
appearance. He sits next to Scully, throwing an arm across her shoulder.
"Nobody, made me cry Bill. I'm just crying," she snaps, shifting instantly from
teary to annoyed. "Sometimes I just do that. Is that alright with you?"
Bill and Doggett have a hard time stifiling the laugh threatening to erupt while
Skinner sits there in shock over the sudden transformation of the woman sitting
across from him. The look on his face is too much for them, however, and they
fall out in a fit of laughter.
"It really is a wonder you two idiots made it through your wives' pregnancies
alive," she spits at them. "I'm going to the bathroom. If you knew what was
good for you, you'd get that giggling out of your system by the time I return.
We have some serious things to discuss." She shoots them one more warning glare
before waddling away to the bathroom.
"What just happened?" Skinner asks. "One minute she was fine. Ecstatic even.
Then she was crying. Then she was yelling."
"Hormones, my friend," Bill laughs. "Get used to the mood swings."
"Yeah, she'll probably be fine when she gets out of the restroom," Doggett
snickers. "But just in case, let's get rid of the knives."
The men's laughter is just dying down as Scully returns to the table. She
silently sits down and returns to her ice cream sundae. They sit and wonder
what's going on in her mind. They don't have to wait long for the answer to
that question.
"How long was he in the fire?" she whispers. She seems to be concentrating on
her ice cream, but they can tell that she's struggling not to cry. "He's afraid
of fire, you know."
"He probably didn't even know about the fire. Chances are, he was unconscious
from the initial blast, Dana," Skinner says, trying to assure her. But he's not
really sure if what is said was helpful or more hurtful. He hears her heavy
sigh of resignation. Probably trying to hold back feelings of guilt over not
being there to back him up. Guilt for having to move on for the sake of herself
and her children.
"What about Diana? Were they . . . together?" Scully manages to ask, not
really sure she wanted to hear the answer to that question.
"Diana was found upstairs. She was pronounced at the scene," Doggett explains.
"I saw her body myself."
"But are you sure? You didn't even know her. How do you know it really was
her?" Scully interrogates, taking the man a little by surprise with her vicious
questioning. "Where's her body? Did they bring it here to the hospital?"
"I'm not sure," Doggett admits. "We can check down in the morgue."
"Let's do that. Sir, if she's there, I'll need for you to arrange for the FBI
to get her body," she says to Skinner.
"Dana, you're not thinking of . . . ."
"I have to, Sir. I'm going to do the autopsy myself. I need to know for sure
that that woman is out of our lives for good." Scully's eyes are filled with a
look warning Skinner not to go against her on this. She was determined to get
her way on the matter. And they all knew that nothing was going to stop her.
To be continued . . .
Author - Nicky
Rating - PG-13
Spoilers - Up to beginning of Season 8
Keywords - Mulder/Scully romance
Summary - Scully sinks deeper and deeper into a depression as the hunt for
Mulder seems to wind to an unsuccessful conclusion. As she struggles to hang on
to hope, Mulder awakens to a life he doesn't remember and faces his own
struggles to maintain his grip on reality.
Disclaimer - Most of these characters aren't mine. You know that. And I know
that. They're property of someone else and used without permission strictly for
entertainment purposes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 9
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Scully stands in the doorway of the playroom, marvelling at the giggling sounds
coming from within. Despite the aching in her heart she felt because of Mulder,
she couldn't help but be affected by the infectious laughter of the children.
She finds herself smiling along with them, remembering the last time she heard
the girl laugh like that. In a hospital playroom, not unlike this one. When
Scully couldn't seem to make a connection with the shy little girl all those
years ago, Mulder breezes in and instantly amuses her with that stupid Mr.
Potato Head face.
"Mommy," Emily exclaims when she finally notices Scully's presence, running over
to hug her legs. "Can I go see Daddy now?"
"Not yet, Sweet Pea," Scully tells her. She looks up at her mom and sister-in-
law, silently begging them for a few minutes alone with Emily. They nod in
understanding and quietly tip out of the room. When they're gone, Scully takes
a deep breath to give herself a minute to think of how to explain Mulder's
condition to the girl. "Daddy's asleep right now. He breathed in a lot of bad
air that made him really sick. The doctors are trying really hard to make him
better, but they can't do it alone. They have to use these big machines that
look kind of scary. You don't want to see Daddy like that, do you?" She looks
over at Emily and smiles at the sight of the little girl, seemingly deep in
though, nibbling on her bottom lip much like Mulder does when he's
contemplating a perplexing theory.
"Don't worry, Mommy," she finally says. "He'll be okay. He has the strength of
your beliefs"
"What did you just say?" Scully gasps, surprised at the words from the girl's
mouth. Almost verbatim to the words she just whispered to Mulder.
"Daddy used to say that," she explains nonchalantly. "We couldn't remember you,
but he said that he knew we'd all be together one day because he had the
strength of your beliefs."
"Sounds like you and Daddy were really close," Scully says, unable to swallow
back the twinge of jealously rising up in her throat.
"Diana was so mean," Emily says with a shudder remembering the woman. "She
wouldn't let me play with Daddy a lot. So he took me out to the lake every day.
It would just be the two of us and we'd row out to the middle and talk for a
really long time. Daddy said he couldn't remember much, so he needed new
memories of me." Emily can't help the smile growing on her face when she talks
about her father. Scully can tell that the girl obviously adores him. She
almost cries when she realizes that she doesn't have that closeness with her own
child.
"Daddy would be so scared being out in our canoe," Emily giggles. The happy
sounds from the girl brings Scully out the funk she was slipping in. Even
though she couldn't be there to see her daughter grow up, she could follow
Mulder's example and try to make new memories with the child.
"Daddy probably didn't remember, but he tends to get a little seasick," Scully
remembers with a smile. She revels in the memories for awhile and barely
notices Emily climbing up into her lap. "I, on the other hand, love being out
on the water."
"Me too!" Emily says excitedly, grinning widely at her mother. And once again,
Scully feels herself having to fight back tears. But not because of jealousy or
feelings of being a inadequate mother. But this time it's because she sees a
look of amazement in Emily's eyes and realizes the she's the object of the
girl's awe.
"Well, we'll have to make sure we go sometime," Scully promises, placing a
gentle kiss on Emily's forehead. "We'll just have to make sure we cut the trip
short when Daddy start to look a little green." Once again the little girl
erupts in a fit of giggles. And this time Scully joins her. The two sit in the
playroom for sometime, laughing together at past memories. Silently vowing that
the future would be filled with new ones.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Doggett's the first to arrive at the diner across the street from the hospital.
He got a call from Skinner about 20 minutes earlier saying that they all should
meet and fill each other in on the events leading up to Mulder hospitalization.
Scully was getting pretty anxious, not really knowing all of the details. He
let the older man convince him that sooner, rather than later, would be better
to let her know what exactly was going on.
He looks for a place to sit and notices that he actually isn't the first to
arrive. Scully's already there, sitting down to a table full of food. Enough
food to feed a small army in fact. Doggett wasn't naive enough to think that
she politely had ordered from them all. He was sure all of that food was for
her. He chuckles to himself, remembering well those days when his ex-wife was
pregnant. He almost pities Mulder for what he has to look forward to. The late
night cravings for food inevitably not in the house. Having to get up in the
middle of the night to go to the grocery store in the next town because it's the
only one to carry the brand of chocolate peanut butter crunch ice cream she
wanted. Only to finally make it home and have her want cantaloupe and pickles
to top it all off. Cantaloupe of course wouldn't be in season, so he had to go
two towns over to find the specialty market with a stock of the melon.
But as much as he may have complained about it, he was glad to do it. It was
the least he could do for the woman bearing his child. He was honored to do it.
And now he realized how lucky he was. Because men like Fox Mulder didn't have
the opportunity to experience the pregnancy from the impending father's point of
view. Fox Mulder couldn't stare in awe at the incredible changes a woman's body
could go through when she's getting ready to have a baby. He couldn't feel his
unborn child come to life in its watery home just from the very sound of his
voice. He couldn't wake up in the middle of the night to soothe the leg cramps
from his pregnant mate. He couldn't whispers reassurances of his love and he
would never realize how unbelievable beautiful the sight of a woman, full with
his child, could be.
But as much as Mulder was missing out on, Doggett couldn't forget about the
petite woman sitting at the table across the diner. She was also missing out.
Not having Mulder there during her pregnancy was taking it's toll on her. And
now she had to deal with his being back, but not exactly in the state she
expected. Now that Mulder was back, Doggett feels his responsiblities shift to
Scully. As long Mulder couldn't, Doggett would make sure Scully could enjoy the
little things that impending parenthood offered. He smiled to himself as an
idea came to him.
"Excuse me, Miss," he calls to the waitress at the counter. "Can you fix me an
ice cream sundae with all the fixings. Whipped cream, hot fudge, bananas, nuts,
and cherries."
"No problem. I'll get that right over to you," she promises.
He points out the table where he'll be sitting with Scully to make sure she
knows where to deliver it. He smiles again and begins his walk over to join
Scully, watching the surprised look on her face when the treat is delivered.
It's not much, but it's true what they say. It's the little things that count.
The smile on Scully's face and seeing her heartily dig into the sundae prove
that to him.
"Are you responsible for this?" she asks, smiling that dazzling smile at him.
"Yeah. I thought you could use some fattening up," he teases.
"Thanks," she laughs. "But I think Junior here is handling the fattening up
part just fine," she says, patting her stomach. He smiles at her, but is kind
of shocked at the unusual addtions she seems to have made to her dessert.
"Okay, I know I got you the works, but what's with the red, green, and black
stuff?" Doggett asks, his stomach turning slightly at the altered version of the
sundae.
"Pickles and olives from my sandwich," Scully smiles. "They dropped on top
accidentally, but they actually taste pretty good. They make good toppings."
"On a sandwich - yes. But on ice cream?" he cringes, turning slightly green
when she shovels another big spoonful of the concoction into her mouth. "What
about the red stuff? Please say it's strawberry sauce or even jam for that
matter."
"Catsup," she says almost reverently with a gleam in her eyes. "You can never
have too much catsup. On anything. Don't knock it til you tried it, John," she
giggled. Doggett was amazed. She was smiling. Laughing. Having a genuinely
good time.
"Is this a private party, or can anyone join, Agents?" a voice booms from next
to the table. The two look up and see Skinner staring quizzically at them.
"Have a seat. Please," Doggett offers, moving over to make room for Skinner.
"Dana, your brother was right behind me. He should be here soon," Skinner tells
them, wondering silently who all the food on the table belonged to. His eyes
land on the ice cream sundae and his curiosity gets the better of him. "Am I
allowed to even ask what that is?" He nods towards the unidentified messy goop
Scully was so diligently ingesting.
"Ask Agent Doggett. It was his idea," she smiles.
"I guess I just know what pregnant women want," he jokes.
"Well, you've certainly made this pregnant woman happy," Scully sighs contently,
adding another squeeze of catsup over her dessert. Happy. For the first time
in a while, she could honestly say that she felt joy and happiness. She
suddenly felt guilty about the happiness because of Mulder's current state. She
shouldn't be happy until he's back to how he's supposed to be, right? The more
she thinks, the guiltier she feels and soon finds unexpected tears in her eyes.
"Okay, who's the genius who made my sister cry?" Bill asks as he makes his
appearance. He sits next to Scully, throwing an arm across her shoulder.
"Nobody, made me cry Bill. I'm just crying," she snaps, shifting instantly from
teary to annoyed. "Sometimes I just do that. Is that alright with you?"
Bill and Doggett have a hard time stifiling the laugh threatening to erupt while
Skinner sits there in shock over the sudden transformation of the woman sitting
across from him. The look on his face is too much for them, however, and they
fall out in a fit of laughter.
"It really is a wonder you two idiots made it through your wives' pregnancies
alive," she spits at them. "I'm going to the bathroom. If you knew what was
good for you, you'd get that giggling out of your system by the time I return.
We have some serious things to discuss." She shoots them one more warning glare
before waddling away to the bathroom.
"What just happened?" Skinner asks. "One minute she was fine. Ecstatic even.
Then she was crying. Then she was yelling."
"Hormones, my friend," Bill laughs. "Get used to the mood swings."
"Yeah, she'll probably be fine when she gets out of the restroom," Doggett
snickers. "But just in case, let's get rid of the knives."
The men's laughter is just dying down as Scully returns to the table. She
silently sits down and returns to her ice cream sundae. They sit and wonder
what's going on in her mind. They don't have to wait long for the answer to
that question.
"How long was he in the fire?" she whispers. She seems to be concentrating on
her ice cream, but they can tell that she's struggling not to cry. "He's afraid
of fire, you know."
"He probably didn't even know about the fire. Chances are, he was unconscious
from the initial blast, Dana," Skinner says, trying to assure her. But he's not
really sure if what is said was helpful or more hurtful. He hears her heavy
sigh of resignation. Probably trying to hold back feelings of guilt over not
being there to back him up. Guilt for having to move on for the sake of herself
and her children.
"What about Diana? Were they . . . together?" Scully manages to ask, not
really sure she wanted to hear the answer to that question.
"Diana was found upstairs. She was pronounced at the scene," Doggett explains.
"I saw her body myself."
"But are you sure? You didn't even know her. How do you know it really was
her?" Scully interrogates, taking the man a little by surprise with her vicious
questioning. "Where's her body? Did they bring it here to the hospital?"
"I'm not sure," Doggett admits. "We can check down in the morgue."
"Let's do that. Sir, if she's there, I'll need for you to arrange for the FBI
to get her body," she says to Skinner.
"Dana, you're not thinking of . . . ."
"I have to, Sir. I'm going to do the autopsy myself. I need to know for sure
that that woman is out of our lives for good." Scully's eyes are filled with a
look warning Skinner not to go against her on this. She was determined to get
her way on the matter. And they all knew that nothing was going to stop her.
To be continued . . .