Title: Without You part sixteen

All other information in the first part.

Thanks for all of the feedback:)

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May 22, 2002

10:13 a.m.

Canadian Border

I open my eyes slowly and look up to see exactly why we are stopping.

"They're coming for him, Dana."

"What's your business going into Canada," the guard at the border says.

Mulder nonchalantly grins at him and easily tells him that we are going to visit relatives.

"How long do you think the trip will last?"

"A few days."

"Who's coming?"

The SUV is packed to the gills with all of our belonging that we could possibly manage to pack without looking suspicious. Doggett and Reyes are a few cars back waiting just as we are. Getting ready to answer the ordinary questions.

I close my eyes and try and fall back asleep as Mulder starts to slowly drive the car past the check point.

"The aliens."

The words of our conversation just twenty-four hours still haunt me. How in the world can we trust that chain smoking son of a bitch? But then the other part of me starts to think...maybe he's right.

Mulder slows the car down and pulls it into the gas station just a mile after the check point.

Without hesitation both Mulder and I started to throw everything together

I open my eyes again and stare at him questioning.

"Sunflower seeds," he says grinning.

"Oh," I say.

"Do you want anything?" Mulder inquires.

"A pint of ice cream and some pickles," I tell him grinning as I say so.

He laughs too.

"I'll get you your Diet Coke. Anything else?"

"I'd grab something for William to eat. He'll probably be hungry when he wakes up."

Mulder heads into the gas station as Doggett and Reyes's car pulls up next to ours. Monica gets out of the car and heads into the station while Doggett waits a second or two and then heads over to our car.

I roll down the window.

"How are you handling it?" Doggett asks still concerned about me.

"I'm fine. Just looking forward to the all night drive," I tell him rolling my eyes.

A long moment of silence passes between us.

"Look, John, I know that this isn't how you envisioned you life and I know that you didn't want to give up your job, but both Mulder and I appreciate your help. We are grateful that both you and Monica are coming with us."

"Not a problem, Agent Scully. Always in the interest of helping out a friend and making sure that your family is safe."

"What about you, John? How about your family life?"

Monica comes walking back out the store with two bottles of water in hand and a bag of chips.

"I think I've got a handle on that," Doggett says with a mischievous grin.

"Go on, John," I encourage.

Mulder, too, walks out a minute later with his purchases and heads to the car, cracking a sun flower seed between his teeth.

"Some things never change," I say.

Mulder grins and starts up the car following Doggett's vehicle into the vast unknown of the wooded Canadian wilderness.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," I tell Mulder staring out the window and wondering just what exactly are we getting into?

Ten years.

That's a long time. Thinking about how fast the last ten years have gone I sigh in remembrance of those years gone by. What I wouldn't give for another case with a flukeman or some liver eating mutant.

Hell, it wasn't a normal life, but I think it is much better than hiding away for the next ten years.

But then again, looking back at my sleeping son, it makes me remember the hard nights that I had waiting up for an answer to what was causing my cancer. Learning that it was incurable and then finally learning that I wouldn't be able to conceive children.

That blew my mind. All of the years of my life I always longed for something of a normal life and the irony of it is that we might get that on the run and in hiding. It may be the closest thing that Mulder or I have ever come to a normal life.

So many memories fill my head, but the thinking and the remembering start to cloud my mind as my eyes get heavy and I fall asleep to the gentle humming of Mulder to a country song.

"Scully, wake up," Mulder says gently rocking me.

"What?" I asked dazed and confused. As I open my eyes I stare into the depths of darkness.

"We're here."

"What do you mean 'here'?"

Wow I must have been unconscious for the entire trip.

"I've never seen you sleep so soundly," Mulder says his face illuminated by the moon.

"I was tired."

"Apparently."

Mulder leaves it at that and opens his door. As my eyes focus to the dark I see a huge Victorian house standing in front of us. Monica and John have gotten out of their car too and stretch their legs.

Mulder opens the side door and carefully takes out William who is still asleep. I follow him out of the car and we all stand and stare up at the house in awe.

"Well its big enough for all of us," Monica replies in her cheerful tone.

"Yeah, I'd say so," I whisper.

This has to be a dream.

The house that stands in front of me is like any house that a child would dream of when they were a little girl. White shutters accent the pale blue house. A bench swing gently moves in the breeze, creaking ever so softly.

All of us proceed with caution up the front steps of the porch. Mulder and Doggett lead the way. Always the macho men. They reach the top of the steps and both simultaneously look through the glass of the door.

"I don't see anything," Mulder whispers.

He slowly turns the doorknob and feels around for a light switch.

Monica and I follow the men into the lighted foyer of the huge house. A stair case goes up towards the second floor and the house appears to be in perfect condition.

Completely furnished and stocked with everything we would need for the next month.

"What's this?" Mulder asks as he picks up a letter that was laying on a stand by the door.

He opens it and starts to read, leaving us all waiting for who or what it is from.

"Mulder?" I inquire, raising my eyebrow ever so slightly.

"It's from Spender."

"And?"

"It says that we are now going to be living the privileged life."

All is silent.

"You know this all sounds too damn fishy. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop," Doggett speaks up, cynically.

I think that all of us were thinking the same thing. We've all had too many years of being paranoid, unable to trust anyone, but ourselves. Mulder, William, and I head up the stairs while Monica and John walk in another direction.

Since we're here we might as well check everything out.

Reaching the top of the stairs we see a long hallway extending on both sides of us. As we slowly walk to each door we find eleven rooms and three bathrooms. Talk about luck.

At the end of the hallway there is a master bedroom.

Mulder turns on the light and we both grin at the prospect of the decor of the room. For the most part it is very flowery - the kind of thing anyone would expect to see in a house like this, but the thing that makes us grin is the fact that on the wall to the far right a huge poster makes its presence known. 'I WANT TO BELIEVE' screams to be read off of the poster.

"I think he's got us pegged down," Mulder says grinning as he walks further into the room.

"So do you think this is our room?" I ask him playfully.

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Across the hall from our room is a blue nursery. I place William into the crib and lower myself into the rocking chair placing my hand protectively on my swollen abdomen.

The gentle rhythm of rocking lulls me to sleep dreaming of a perfect world were this all would have been possible on its own, instead of on the run from aliens and super soldiers who want to steal my children.

Meanwhile, Mulder watches as Scully sleeps silently. The two most important people in the world to him are under his watchful gaze.

Doggett and Reyes walk silently up the stairs and head in Mulder's direction.

Closing the door behind him Mulder walks towards the two.

"Well what do you think?" Mulder inquires whispering.

"I think that this is out of some damn fairy tale. How the hell is this even possible? We could be sitting ducks for the super soldiers and aliens," Doggett whispers angrily.

"John," Monica whispers, reassuring placing her hand on his arm.

"Look, I don't know about you, Mulder, but I think that there is something going on. Something that none of us are going to figure out until its too late."

"Yeah, but how can I question that I might be putting my family's lives in danger by staying the states? By standing by as they track us down and take my children," Mulder pauses and then continues with passion, "I need to have some sort of reassurance that this place is safe. Maybe, its something that we've always wanted and now we've finally got it."

All is quiet between the trio.

"Why don't we get some shut eye and check the place out tomorrow," Monica says breaking the silence.

Both of the men gnaw it over in their heads and then finally they give in.

"All right. I'm beat," Doggett replies.

Both John and Monica look around confused.

"There's five rooms on that end of the hallway. Take your pick at which ones you want to sleep in," Mulder tells them after seeing their confused expressions.

"Thanks."

The trio parts ways as they settle in for a restful night's sleep, wondering about the future and trying to forget the past. A past that has left them paranoid and scared out of their minds as to what might happen to the world. And more importantly to them.

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