Tomorrow

By Jillian

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Scully walked into the school feeling somewhat nervous. For once, it wasn't because of Super-soldiers or government conspiracies, or mutants, or even death fetishists. Her students were taking their Regents Examinations, and she couldn't help but worry for them. Especially her remedial class, the last thing she needed was to teach them again over the summer. She was fairly confident, however, since all of her students had done fairly well on their finals for her class. It had been a week since she'd heard anything about Super-soldiers, and she was falling back into her new life, as she had been before the incident involving her student Gina.

She proctored the exam for what happened to be her favorite chemistry class. They worked urgently, and Scully was happy to see Gina in the room taking the exam. By the time all the students had finished, it was about three hours later. She didn't get to go home, however. She had to mark the exams. She wasn't allowed to mark her own students, but was able to check their exams after they were marked by another teacher in the school, and contest anything she found unfair. It was complicated, but it was also New York state law, so she spent the next five hours reading copy after copy of chemistry and biology Regents Exams. Not exactly fun, but far calmer than running from Super-soldiers. In that sense, she loved it. In the sense of how boring it was, she hated it.

Finally, she was done and got into the car to head home. Pulling into the driveway, she wondered what would have been different if her and Mulder met some other way... If this was a life they had really known. Normal jobs, normal lives, normal pregnancies... Their biggest worries being the mortgage or making sure they had milk in the refrigerator. She sighed outwardly, it would have been calm, but they wouldn't have had what they had now--that bond, stronger than trust or even love... Something she could never find the words to explain.

She walked into the house quietly. Her and Mulder had planned to leave for DC in four days, the last formal day of school being in three days, a Friday. They then had about two weeks until Scully was to be back in New York to teach summer school. The house was silent, and she called out Mulder's name. No reply. At first she was worried, but quickly found a note saying he'd gone to the store to pick up some groceries. She scolded herself for jumping to conclusions, as she always had back in DC. Whenever she couldn't find him, she always suspected foul play.

While he was out, she managed to pack a fairly large amount of both of their things for their trip to Washington. She silently wondered if she could go and see her mother... If her mother ever received the letter, even. Did they have a funeral for her? For Mulder? Would anyone besides Reyes and Doggett even realize Mulder was "dead"? As she continued to pack her clothes, her mind continued to meander.

She was interrupted, however, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Frantically, she spun on her heels and swung her fist with all of her strength without looking, hitting her intruders stomach. It was too late to realize it was Mulder to stop herself from hitting him.

"Mulder! I'm so sorry! You scared the crap out of me!" She said, resting her hand on his shoulder. He was bent over slightly, gripping his stomach. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah.. Ow, Scully. You really know how to repay a guy for a surprising you." He murmured.

"I didn't even hear you come in... I'm so sorry, Mulder," She said.

"Well, I don't think you broke anything," He said. "But you *definitely* do not hit like a girl, Scully."

"That's from growing up a tomboy, I suppose. You sure you're okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be alright." He said, sitting on the bed. The position was clearly uncomfortable so he laid back.

"I just figured, for some reason, it was some kind of intruder... Damnit, Mulder, your paranoia is rubbing off on me." She said, putting the last few things into her suitcase, and placing it on the ground. She sat on the bed next to Mulder.

"It's an unfortunate side effect of living with me." Mulder said jokingly.

"You shouldn't scare me like that. I don't like surprises." She sighed.

"That's because neither of us have ever gotten a good surprise. I was going to place my hand on your shoulder, and start ravishing you with kisses, but you decided to go kung-fu on my ass, so I had to go to plan B." He said.

"Which is?"

"Try not to cry like a baby after Scully nearly breaks my ribs." He finished.

"I must admit, Plan A sounded better." She said.

"You're not the one in pain here, Scully." He kidded.

"I do feel pretty bad about punching you in the stomach. I hate being punched it the stomach, having the wind knocked out of you and whatnot. Must've hurt." Scully said.

"You're damn right it did. Want to take my mind off of it?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah." She smiled, moving over to his side of the bed. "I do."

Later that evening, after Mulder had forgotten all about the little punch in the stomach incident, they finished their packing. The sun set in the sky, and Scully reminded herself that in three days, they would be yanked away from their new lives, and forced back into old ones. They hadn't changed as people, but Scully liked living a relatively calm life compared to the one she had lived before running away. She wanted to work a safe job while she was pregnant. She didn't want to run around pointing guns at men who couldn't die, uncovering global conspiracies. Scully wanted to have a baby. Mulder wanted to have a baby.

But sometimes you can't do what you want. You have to do what's best... And what was best for them, for their unborn child, for William (wherever he was), for the world, was that they ran around pointing guns at men who couldn't die, uncovering global conspiracies. It was a risk they knew they had to take, despite the fact that they may not have been excited about doing it. They *had* to go back to Washington and make sure the liquid was being produced. And that's why they packed their bags, that's why they booked the plane tickets. To create the liquid, to stop colonization. For people like William, or Gibson Praise, or Monica Reyes, or John Doggett, or Walter Skinner, or their unborn child. To avenge the deaths of Emily, Melissa Scully, Samantha Mulder, and all those who had died for this cause. They were why they *needed* to do this... And, for one another.

Three days later Scully was pleased to find that every single one of her students had passed their Regents Exams. She felt proud of herself, and suddenly saw why teachers chose their occupation. It really was rewarding, knowing you taught them enough to pass their big exams. She realized, however, that instead of seeing any of them over the summer, she'd have a bunch of students she'd never met, students who didn't have teachers instill enough knowledge in them to pass state exams. That was something she didn't look forward too, a class resembling her remedial chem class. Scully was confident the only reason they had passed was that they'd taken the exam so many times before. There's only so many ways they can ask you the same question before you've figured them all out.

She smiled and wished all of her students a nice summer, except the ones that failed her class. They were expected at summer school, but rarely came. As long as you passed the Regents, you could get your diploma, so they didn't really care about what the report card said. Scully pondered the senselessness on the way home, but suddenly realized that the next day they'd be in Washington. She'd be pulled out of normalcy, grading and teaching, and thrown into conspiracy yet again. She'd have to deal with the fact that Dana Scully was dead to just about everyone on the planet, as was Fox Mulder. They had very few people beyond one another. In DC, Mulder had told her only to speak with Skinner, Reyes, and Doggett. Of course, he didn't know about the letter she'd sent to her mother. Scully was somewhat sure she'd find a way to see her, somehow.

She walked into the house, to find Mulder in the kitchen stirring pasta sauce. They were both rather excited about the trip to Washington. They had packed everything and were absolutely ready for their early morning flight. They ate a lovely dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, since contrary to popular belief Mulder wasn't a terrible cook. When he was alone, he never really had a reason to put his skills to use. He was no Iron Chef, but he could whip up quite a meal.

After dinner, they lounged around for a while until Scully looked up and said, "I'm going to go take a bath, I need to relax."

"I'll join you." Mulder smiled, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, there goes relaxing." She smiled as they walked towards the bathroom.

About an hour later, they emerged from a steamy bathroom, clean but rather tired. They threw on their pajamas, the pairs they hadn't packed, and crawled into bed. They would have to be up in only a few hours, getting ready to board their plane to DC. The thoughts flying through their heads were similar: they were afraid. What if the magnetite production failed? What if someone on the "other side" found out? What if they were still watching them, or listening to them, despite the fact that they had destroyed the surveillance device on Scully's cross? What if things didn't work out?

What if one of them was hurt? The thoughts running through their minds were morbid, considering all the loss they'd experienced in the past. Scully hated admitting it, even to herself, but she was afraid history would repeat itself. It made her afraid. She knew she couldn't stand to lose another child, and the danger of her lifestyle made that loss possible. She tried to push those thoughts out her head, pressing against Mulder, taking in his scent. She had no idea that he was thinking the same things as her, and he didn't want to let her know. He didn't want her to know she wasn't the only one who was afraid. As long as one of them was fearless, the other would surely inherit the trait, and they would pull through whatever was thrown at them. She hadn't realized the lone tear dripping down her cheek. Silently she pondered why life had to be this way... Why everything was dangerous, everything was a target, something to lose.

"Dana," Mulder said quietly, mustering up his courage. He needed so badly to believe his words. "It's going to be okay. We're going to be okay." He moved his hands down to her stomach, as if he was protecting what they were so afraid to lose. "The baby's going to be okay."

His words were all the reassurance she needed. Dana Scully's eyes fluttered, and he knew she'd be asleep in moments. He was proud that he could calm her, chase away her momentary fears. Inside, he wished he was more sure of his words so he could sleep peacefully.

"I know, Mulder. We're going to make it." She whispered, before drifting off to sleep. Her words were all the reassurance he needed. Mulder drifted off to sleep just moments after Scully.

Authors Notes: Hey guys! Thanks for the feedback! This chapter was low on action, I know, but wait until you get the next few… Which will be soon, I promise! Keep sending in reviews, here at the site or by dropping me an email at JILLIBEAN@aol.com… Thanks again for reading, it means a lot!