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Visitor in the Desert: Chapter Five

Author: Gillian Leigh

Disclaimer: C'mon now, we know who owns Mulder and Scully, and it's certainly not a seventeen year-old who has $22 to her name…

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            Dana Scully sat Indian-style on the floor of the apartment she and Mulder shared. It was still early in the morning, and Mulder and Will both were still sleeping peacefully. Even the baby girl curled up in her womb was still asleep. She had several things on the floor in front of her as she worked. To her left sat the photo album her mother had started, which contained all of the pictures that she and Mulder had ever been in together. In front of her was Will's baby book, and to her right was Rhiannon's baby book, which she had started only a few days before. She sighed, unable to decide which project to work on first, and the sight of a particular picture of her and Mulder caught her eye. Smiling, she pulled the album into her lap, resting it on her knees. She ran her fingers over the edge of the picture and shook her head, remembering the day the picture was taken.

            It occurred just after they had been flown back from Antarctica, and Scully was in Mulder's hospital room. What had possessed her mother to bring a camera that day, Scully never quite understood. They had both looked like hell. In the picture, the pair was lip-locked over the rail of his bed, because she'd told him that if he wasn't going to finish what he started in the hallway, she sure as hell was going to.

            The album shifted in her lap as the baby moved around and kicked at it. Sighing, she set the book back on the floor, and looked down at her stomach, which had swollen to the size of a basketball, reminding her of the two months which had gone by without incident. She picked up the three books, and stacked them on top of one another before putting them in the bottom shelf of her bookcase. Sitting down at the desk in the corner of the living room, she pulled out her diary and did something she hadn't done in over six months.

            -It's been two months now, since we left behind our jobs, our homes, and our lives to come live in the Underground. There have been no signs of retaliation; there are no Alien Bounty Hunters, no Billy Mileses, and no Cigarette Smoking Men. There is no horribly disfigured Jeffrey Spender who scares us all while saying it is for William's protection.

            -It feels almost odd… to have obtained a normal life. This life may not seem normal to any other soul on this planet, but for Mulder and me, this is as normal as it gets. We call this 'normal' because there are no liver-eating mutants, no monsters, no men with talking tattoos, and here we can wake up in one another's arms each day. Here, our children will be able to live without fear. Here, Mulder and I can be a couple, and we don't have to worry about who's listening.

            -It took nearly a month and a half for Mulder and me to feel secure, but in time, everyone and everything has proven to be as it seems. We work together with my brother Bill and Dr. Bailey deciding how to immunize the entire world population.

            -Also, as odd as it seems, romance is blossoming in the Underground. I noticed Monica acting oddly, and found out that she and John have been dating for a year under our noses. It took a bit to get used to, but it's good to see them happy.

            -We have three more months until the baby's born, and her arrival is being eagerly anticipated by her grandmother, who has five grandsons, and has dreamt of a granddaughter for years. My ankles are swollen, my back aches and I'm getting close to giving in to those ridiculous 'pickle and ice cream' cravings… but I love every moment of this.-

            Scully could hear Will making gurgling noises in his crib, and she walked into his nursery, and found him standing up and sucking on one of his fists. She smiled and extended her arms to pick him up, and he babbled as he extended his own arms to her.

            "Mama," he said, reaching up to touch her face. She started to lift him out of the crib, but Mulder stopped her.

            "Here, Scully. I'll take him," he said, stepping past her to lift Will. He kissed her cheek and said, "Morning, beautiful."

            She smiled and said, "My, my. Doling out compliments pretty early this morning, aren't we?" Taking Will onto his hip, Mulder stepped closer to Scully and gently rubbed up and down her back.

            "As I've told you before, I will tell you again. There is no woman more beautiful to a man than the one carrying his child."

            "You're just trying to butter me up…" she began, arching her eyebrow at him.

            "Is it working?" he asked, grinning at her. She slapped him playfully.

            "Yes, I suppose it is…" she said. She pulled Will's formula out of the refrigerator and poured it into an empty bottle. She set a pot on the stove and filled it partially with water, turning the burner on to heat it.

            Mulder brushed her lengthening hair off of her neck, and kissed all the bare skin he could find. She smiled as she tested the temperature of the formula before handing the bottle to Will, who was very proud of the fact that he could hold it himself. Scully shook her head and smiled, and Mulder smiled at her.

            "What is it?" he asked.

            "I just keep thinking about how a person could go crazy thinking about this whole situation. I wonder how Rhiannon knew to come to see us in the past, and just *how* our discovery of the Underground will change her life and ours?"

            "Well," Mulder said, "I would prefer not to go any crazier than I already am. So let's not think about these things, and get ourselves ready for work."

            An hour later, dressed for work, mother, father and son all walked the short two blocks through their fully functional city to the building where Maggie Scully lived. All of the friends lived in a four block radius. It was still amazing to all of them how much the research facility was like a real city. The shops and cafés which lined the streets were run either by some of the research scientists themselves, or by their family members who were not gifted in the field of science. Byers, Langly and Frohike had taken advantage of the abundance of technology buffs in the Underground and opened their own Internet Café, which they called "Computers, Coffee and Conspiracy".

            Mulder and Scully made their daily stop there, and the bell jingled as they entered. Several people they had been working with since their arrival. From behind the counter, Langly called,

            "Hey guys! The usual?"

            "Yup," Scully responded for the two of them, heading to the counter and pulling out two chocolate biscotti for herself. 

            "You guys headed to work?" Langly asked, ringing them up at the register for Scully's decaf latte, Mulder's cappuccino and the biscotti.

            "$6.83," Langly said. Mulder's eyebrows went up.

            "You guys cost me more and more money every day," he said, shaking his head as he handed his friend the money.

            "Yup. We're on our way to the Norton Building," Scully replied. "We're working with Dr. Bailey and another doctor we haven't met yet… his name's Dr. Stevens… on the atomizer form of the magnetite vaccine."

            "The atomizer form?" Frohike questioned from behind the counter. "I've never heard of that."

            "It's new theory we're testing. If we can create an atomizer form to be released into the air, it would reach more people faster than the vaccine, and in addition to providing an instant immunity, it would kill off any Super Soldiers. Those who were left would then receive the vaccine and acquire the immunity they would need for the rest of their lives," she replied.

            "Where's Byers?" Mulder asked.

            "Working with Dr. Holland and Suzanne," Frohike replied.

            "Modeski?" Scully and Mulder questioned at the same time. Langly nodded.

            "When did she get here?" Mulder asked.

            "A few weeks ago. She'd been working in the computer programming department. He ran into her at C.C.'s the other day," Langly said. C.C.'s was the diner where most of the researchers went on their lunch breaks. Most of the residents of the Underground called themselves "Fighters", but there were variations on this unofficial title, as there almost always are when any title is in use. Scully looked at her watch.

            "Well, Mulder. We have to go if we're going to get Will to my mom's on time and meet Dr. Bailey by 8:45."

            "Alright," Mulder replied. "See you later, guys."

            "See ya," Frohike called.

            "Later dudes," Langly said.

            The bell jingled as the door closed behind them.

            Three minutes later, Scully knocked firmly at her mother's door. Two minutes passed, and she raised her hand to knock again, but the door opened underneath it. Her jaw dropped, as did Mulder's. The man on the other side of the door didn't seem surprised to see them in the least. He looked downright sleepy, and wore a tee-shirt and boxers.

            "Sir?" Scully forced out dryly, her eyebrow as high as it could go. Mulder was horrified beyond words. Skinner stood inside Maggie Scully's apartment, and it was obvious to everyone that he had spent the night. It was as if Skinner woke up in that moment, and his eyes were as wide as Scully's. From somewhere inside the apartment, Maggie's voice could be heard.

            "Walt, have you seen my pink blouse?" After a moment, when he didn't respond, she called his name again. "Walt?" She came to the door in her robe, and found the three people staring at one another. Her face immediately turned crimson.

            "Oh my," she said, simply. "Dana, I didn't expect you…"

            "Apparently," her daughter replied. "And I didn't expect to find my former boss at my mother's apartment at eight-thirty in the morning, wearing…" she paused to gesture at his clothing, or lack thereof, "…that."

            "It's eight-thirty?!" Maggie exclaimed, glancing at her watch. "Oh my goodness, I don't know how I let it get so late…"

            "We can take Will to work with us today, Maggie, if you'd like," Mulder replied. "We wouldn't want to ruin any of your fun…" Maggie, Skinner and Scully all turned a shade of crimson.

            "Fox!" Maggie exclaimed, at the same time that Scully said,

            "Mulder!" Mulder smiled even as Scully glared at him. It was certainly an interesting way to start out what would be an otherwise boring work day.

            Scully massaged her temples as she stood beside Mulder in the elevator.

            "My mother is sleeping with our boss," she muttered.

            "Former boss," Mulder corrected. She rolled her eyes.

            "Like that makes it any better," she continued, looking at him. "I don't think I'll ever get the image of Skinner in his boxers out of my head."

            "I think it's burned into my retinas," he replied. He rubbed Scully's shoulders, working through the knots.

            "God, Scully, your muscles are all knotty." The elevator doors opened and Scully walked out with Mulder still rubbing her shoulders.

            "I'm carrying around what may as well be a bowling ball on my abdomen, Mulder. Your muscles would be knotting themselves up if you had to carry that much weight around." He moved his hands to her lower back, and massaged the area around her lumbar spine with his thumbs, running them in circles.

            "Can you do that for the next three months, please?" she asked, sighing in relief. Mulder smiled, and the pair kept walking as the elevator doors opened. Dr. Bailey was grinning as well at the sight of the two of them.

            "Hello, Dana. Hello, Mulder. How are you two this morning?" she asked, checking a clipboard she held in front of her.

            "Just fine," Mulder responded for both of them. "What's on the agenda for today?"

            "Well, we have to get back into the lab and work on altering the chemical composition of the magnetite to try to create the atomizer version, but first I'd like to take you inside and introduce you to Dr. Stevens," Dr. Bailey responded, pocketing the pen and leading the two inside her office. The door closed behind them, and Mulder and Scully saw a woman wearing a white lab coat sitting at a computer with her back to them. Her brown hair was gathered up into a bun, and Dr. Bailey spoke to gain her attention.

            "Fox, Dana, this is Dr. Stevens," she said. The woman rose out of her chair and turned to face the couple, wearing a smile. Before she opened her mouth to speak, Mulder felt his heart hammering in his chest, and the woman extended her hand to him saying,

            "Please call me---" Mulder cut her off.

            "Samantha?" The woman stared at him without recognition for a moment, and then her own hazel eyes widened behind the simple frames of her glasses.

            "Fox?!" she asked. It was Scully's turn to be shocked as she realized what was going on. Mulder hugged his sister fiercely, and Dr. Bailey turned to Scully, looking shocked and confused.

            "What's going on?"

            Futilely swiping at the tears which had unexpectedly begun flowing, Scully said, "Mulder found his sister."

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Author's Notes: Alright, so the ending to this chapter didn't come out as spectacular as I wished. I tried to come up with something absolutely fantabulous for Scully to say, but after revising the ending no less than a dozen times, straight and to the point seems to work the best. I decided to bring back either Samantha or Emily, but bringing back Emily would be a bit too messy… Well, I hope you liked it! As I've said before, I'm flying blindly through this story, and I have no idea as to how long it might be. I'll just have to see where my muse takes me, I guess!

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