Title: Chapter 2 - The Sun Shines Through The Rain

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: The saga continues...

Disclaimer: Come on, people, we all know who they belong to. I'm just borrowing them.

Author's Notes: Wow. I hadn't planned on continuing this story, but the response has made me change my mind. The reviews were great motivators, and I'll keep continuing as long as you want me to. Because I can't think of something as X-Files-worthy as Chris Carter would probably come up with, I'm going to leave the details of how our beloved Mulder saved the world up to you, the readers :op. (Besides, it'll probably be in one of those X-Files movies they plan on making. )

-X-

Mulder sat on the couch, now in dry clothing. Scully hovered over him, having gotten over her shock enough to tend to the cut on his forehead, which seemed, amazingly, to be the only injury he sustained. She butterfly-stitched the cut, and placed a bandage over it. Mulder winced as she put pressure on it.

"Sorry," Scully whispered, kissing the spot. He watched as she walked away to put her suture kit and medical bag. She returned moments later, having checked on William, and sat beside him on the couch without a word.

Mulder studied her quietly. She looked beautiful, he thought, even with all she'd been through. Her emails had told him that she'd missed the sound of his voice, and he'd missed hers too, but so far he'd done most of the talking. During the entire recap of his adventures and misadventures, she'd asked only one or two shaky questions, forever on the verge of tears.

"Mulder, do you...do you -uh- want something to drink?" Scully asked, rising slowly from the couch.

"Sure, let me help you," he said, rising after her, and followed as she waddled into the kitchen. She turned the kettle off on the stove, and got two mugs out of the cabinet. She poured the hot chocolate mix into them, and stirred.

"Marshmallows?" she asked. Mulder nodded, but watched her with concern. She was keeping the walls up. Making herself unreachable. He touched her arm, and said,

"Scully, it's only me now, you can let the walls down." She looked up at him, seeming ready to object, but her lips quivered, and the tears in the corners of her eyes fell. She covered her eyes and began to sob. Mulder put his arms around her, and rubbed her back.

"It's alright, Scully. The world is ours, now. It's safe for our children, and for us," he said, quietly. Scully's head was buried into his chest, but he could still hear her when she said,

"I was so scared, Mulder. Terrified." She stepped back a little and looked at him. "It was worse than when you were abducted. It was worse knowing than not knowing. Every day I wondered if you'd ever come back to me," she continued, trying hard to keep her voice steady.

"I'm so sorry, Scully, so, so sorry," Mulder said, kissing the top of her head.

"Don't apologize, Mulder. What you've done is something I can never begin to thank you enough for. The entire world owes you its thanks," Scully said. "I'm just glad you're home. I love you so much," she continued, rising up on her toes to kiss him.

"I love you too," Mulder replied, smiling. Scully laughed.

"Skinner'll be glad to know you're home too. He was getting tired of me coming to his office to cry, and calling him at all hours of the night to do the same," she said, pulling a tissue from her pocket and drying her eyes.

"Spending personal time with Skinner? Now, Scully, I'm not sure I know what to make of that...." Mulder said, grinning at her.

"Oh, shut up," she replied, backhanding him. She yawned, and looked at her watch. It was nearly two in the morning.

"Wow, I didn't realize it was so late. We talked forever," she said. "Let's get some sleep. I'll call Skinner in the morning and tell him I won't be in." The hot chocolate was abandoned, left on the counter in Scully's mottled blue mugs to solidify and stain them. Scully grabbed her pajamas and headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth and remove her makeup. Mulder stripped down to his undershirt and boxers, and climbed into the side of Scully's bed that had become his.

Scully came out momentarily, with her hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She wore her satin pajamas, which hardly fit anymore. She climbed into bed, and the two spooned up and Mulder put his arms around her.

"It feels good to be home," Mulder said. He paused for a moment and said, "Scully, where are we going to put them?"

"Put who? The twins?"

"Yeah."

"I hadn't thought about it. We have four months to figure it out," she replied, and yawned. "Don't worry about that, Mulder. You need to sleep. I know that you haven't gotten nearly enough lately, and we have to go see my mom tomorrow, so you'll need all the rest you can get." Mulder kissed her on the cheek, and settled down into the bed to sleep.

The sound of the ringing phone woke Scully at 6:30 the next morning. With a loud grumble she pulled herself out of her very comfortable, very Mulder-filled bed. Why wasn't the phone by the bed? It was *always* by the bed! She continued grumbling as she searched the living room and found the cordless phone sitting on the coffee table.

"Scully." She answered, sounding (and feeling) overly hostile. She'd been looking forward to sleeping in with Mulder.

"Scully, it's Skinner."

"I was just going to call you. What is it, Sir?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"I need you to come in as early as possible today. It's important," Skinner said, sounding wide awake, and slightly stressed.

"I can't, Sir."

"Why not? Scully, it's important that you do." Scully walked over to the window and looked out. The rain had stopped, and the sun was finally shining.

"Sir, Mulder came home last night," she said, giving a small smile.

"What?!"

"He's back. Sir, Mulder saved the world," Scully said, feeling her grin grow larger.

"Oh my God. How?! When?!" Skinner asked, sounding astonished.

"I'll -um- let him give you the finer details, but for now, he's sleeping, and I intend to let him stay that way. Is it possible that this can wait until tomorrow, Sir?" Scully asked, walking into the kitchen and pouring herself orange juice.

"I'm sorry, Agent Scully, this can't wait." Scully was growing very aggravated. The first day Mulder was home, and Skinner wanted her to come into work early.

"I can be in by 9. Sir, I don't want Mulder to have to be here alone with Will. He's exhausted, both physically and mentally," Scully said.

"Have him come with you. This concerns him as well, I'm afraid," Skinner replied. This struck Scully as odd.

"I'll have to leave William with my mother then," she said, and sighed.

"Alright. Thank you, Scully. Nine o'clock is fine. I'll see you and Mulder then." Scully hung up, and after setting the phone down momentarily, she picked it up again and dialed her mother's number.

"Hello?"

"Sorry, Mom, did I wake you?"

"No, no, sweetheart, I was up."

"Oh, ok good. Um, Mom, I was wondering if you could watch Will for me at nine today?"

"Of course, dear. I was expecting that you'd be dropping him off in an hour. Why nine o'clock today?"

"Skinner made an exception. Mom, a very unexpected, but very welcome 'someone' showed up at my door last night."

"Who?"

"Mom, Mulder came home," she said. Maggie inhaled sharply on the other end.

"He's home?! That's wonderful! How is he?"

"He's exhausted, and rightfully so. He's sleeping for now," Scully said. She heard Will crying in his crib, and said,

"Mom, Will just woke up. I've got to go get him before he wakes Mulder."

"Bye dear. See you at nine."

"Bye, Mom," Scully said, setting the phone down and hurrying to Will's room. She rushed in and found Mulder holding Will, rocking him back and forth. He looked at her and smiled.

"Mulder, I'll take him, you need your rest," Scully said, extending her arms. Mulder shook his head.

"I'm fine, Scully. You're the one who needs to rest. You shouldn't be taking care of him all by yourself. You're too stressed for your own good anyway. For now, you need to concentrate on taking care of yourself and the twins," he replied, still rocking William. Scully sighed.

"Mulder, you just saved the entire *world* I think you deserve the rest more than I do."

"I think we *both* deserve rest, so what do you say we go back to bed? We'll take Will with us," he said.

"We're both going in to see Skinner at 9. He didn't say why, but he just told me it was important. I've got a feeling it has something to do with the X-Files, since he wants to see you," Scully said, and yawned.

"Come on, back to bed with you," he said, and pushed her toward the bedroom. Scully smiled as she climbed back into bed, and accepted William from Mulder, who then climbed into bed. Will reached his arms out for his dad, and Scully smiled as Will nestled into his father's arms. His thumb found his mouth, and he drifted off to sleep. She reached over and reset the alarm, and then moved in as closely to Mulder as the three children that separated them would allow. Mulder snaked his arm around her waist, and kissed her forehead. Scully stared into his eyes and watched him fall asleep, unable to fall asleep herself.

When Will began moving an hour later, Scully took him and crept out of bed. She still had a half an hour before Mulder would be up, and she carried her nine-month old son on her hip to the kitchen to get his bottle.

"William Fox, you're getting too big for this," she said, sticking the bottle in his mouth. He held onto it for her, and she moved to the cabinet to get a jar of food. "Or maybe it's your brothers who are getting too big too fast," she sighed, shifting Will on her hip. After he'd sucked down the entire eight ounces of formula, she placed him in his high chair and began feeding him the food from the jar.

"Bananas, Will, your favorite," she said, smiling at her son. While she fed him, she made a series of ridiculous faces at him that all mothers made at their children. She'd stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes, making Will laugh heartily. She heard another laugh, and looked up to find Mulder standing there, with his arms crossed, laughing at her.

"What?" she asked, returning her face to normal. When Will stuck his tongue out at her however, she couldn't resist doing it back, and their son giggled.

"I wish you could see how ridiculous that face looked," Mulder said, walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek.

"It's good to see you're feeling like yourself today," she said, rising out of the chair, and taking the jar and spoon away from Will, who would begin to do evil things with them momentarily if left within his reach.

"I've never felt better, Scully. It's just good to be home with you, and Will," Mulder said, kissing her neck. She sighed as he put his arms around her waist, and lightly sucked at patches of skin on her neck and shoulders.

"Fox Mulder, things like this are the reasons our children will be thirteen months apart," she laughed. He laughed too.

"I'm sorry. I just can't help it when I get to come home to the most beautiful woman in the world," he said, stepping in front of her and placing his lips on hers. When he drew her into him, one of the twins kicked at him defiantly. Mulder laughed.

"You're squishing them. They hate to have their space invaded," she said, sighing as the other baby began kicking as well.

"They hate when I drive...they kick at the seatbelt constantly," she added, rolling her eyes. She poked the spot where the first baby was kicking and said,

"Hey, quit it in there." He defiantly kicked back. Scully and Mulder both laughed.