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Visitor in the Desert: Chapter Seven
Author: Gillian Leigh
Summary: A disturbing dream rouses Scully from her sleep... and she finds herself in an empty bed.
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…
Author's Notes: Look at this! I posted a new chapter of this AND Coach II! I hope it made you all doubly happy!! :o)
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Two weeks later…
Scully was dreaming.
"Mom!" Rhiannon shouted her name.
"What is it, Rhiannon?" she turned to find her daughter staggering about, as if she was having a hard time breathing. She was clutching her chest. Scully ran to her, and clutched the girl's shoulders. "What's wrong?!"
"The magnetite. I can't breathe..."
"But we're home! We're not anywhere near the magnetite!" Scully shouted, trying to make sense of her dream. "Where are you brothers and sister?"
"Gone. They're gone. It's Dad's fault! He never should've left!!" In shock, and very confused, Scully opened her mouth to ask a question of her daughter, but the girl gasped once more and then turned into dust before blowing away.
"No!" Scully shouted, dropping to her knees. "No!!!!"
She gasped, and sat straight up in bed, covered in a cold sweat and unable to shake the uneasy feeling caused by her dream. She tried to stop hyperventilating, and was surprised that Mulder didn't wake when she did. Looking to her right, she found that he was not in the bed. The baby monitor on her side of the bed registered no activity in Will's room, and she climbed out of the bed, and went in search of him. Her heart was pounding. Bits and pieces of her dream were coming back to her when she couldn't find Mulder anywhere.
"It's Dad's fault! He never should've left!"
"Gone. They're all gone…"
"Dad's fault…"
"They're all gone…"
Her frantic search of the entire apartment left no signs of Mulder, and she ran into the living room and threw open the door, rushing down the hall to the apartment John Doggett shared with Monica. She pounded on the door loudly, and incessantly until it opened beneath her hands. John's face registered immediate concern at the sight of the tears running down her cheeks.
"What is it, Dana?" he asked. Monica appeared moments later, appearing still in the throes of sleep.
"Mulder's gone…" she rasped out, fighting the urge to sob.
"What?!" Monica asked.
"I woke up, and he wasn't in bed. He's not in the apartment, and his jacket and keys are gone…" she said, managing to regain some of her composure. Monica appeared in shock, but to Scully's surprise, John did not.
"Do you have any idea where he might've gone?" Monica queried, looking concerned.
"No," Scully replied, running her hand over her face. Her eyes met John's, and he avoided her gaze. "John, do you know something? Because if you do, you need to tell me."
"Mulder's goin' above ground…" Scully and Monica's jaws dropped simultaneously.
"What?! Where did he go?" John looked increasingly uncomfortable.
"He didn't say exactly where, but he said he had to go. He was heading up the West Coast. To Washington state, I think."
"Damn it! How could you let him go?!" Scully questioned, furious. "He could get himself killed! He's in danger being anywhere in the public eye! We don't know who the Syndicate has working for them."
"He was angry, Dana. He said he had to go make the men who hurt you and his sister pay for what they did."
"Why couldn't he just leave it alone? He's got his sister back, and I've clearly had my ability to conceive returned to me. We're all here and healthy, as is he… He's going to get himself killed," she said, pacing back and forth in front of the open doorway. "I'm going to find him."
"No, Dana. You can't. You'll be endangering your life, and your baby's," Monica protested.
With a fire in her eyes Scully replied, "Well then, come with me, because I'm going to find Mulder. I won't lose him again."
-
Scully,
I've gone above ground to take care of some things. Don't worry about me. Just take care of Will, yourself and the baby. I should be back in a few weeks, but in the event that I don't return…
Scully closed her eyes and folded the note up. She couldn't bear to read his words again. She didn't want to think about what would happen if he died. It had already happened to her once, and she couldn't deal with it again. Sighing, she closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto her headrest. She was anxious, and the baby could feel it, and hadn't stopped moving around since the night before.
"Hey, I got us some chocolate," Monica said, smiling at Scully. The smile Scully attempted to return died on her lips, however, and she closed her eyes, running a hand over her belly in circles. A tear slid down her cheek, and she found herself wrapped up in Monica's embrace.
"Dana, we'll find him," she said, quietly. "I know we will."
"I'd like to be alone, please, Monica," Scully said, quietly. Nodding, Monica stepped back and left the train compartment, closing the door behind her. She found Skinner and Doggett in the next compartment, and she closed the door forcefully, causing them both to look up.
"What is it, Mon?" Doggett asked. Monica was enraged.
"How can he do this to her?! He has no idea what kinds of pain he's putting her through, by leaving her like this! Over and over again, he leaves Scully, and she waits for him. She worries for him, she defends him. I can't believe he would do this to her if he loves her so much!" she exclaimed. John rose to his feet, and approached Monica carefully, putting his hands on her shoulders. As soon as his eyes met hers, and he said,
"Are you alright?" Her face crumpled, and she clung to him, her tears falling. "What's going on here, Monica? This is about more than just Mulder and Scully, isn't it?" She nodded into his shoulder.
"Everything that Dana's going through right now takes me back to being with my parents. I was three when they adopted me, and my first conscious memory is the two of them fighting. It always seemed like he was leaving; he'd be gone for days, and my mother would be miserable. He always left her, without so much as a word, and this is what Mulder's doing to Dana… I can't stand it," she concluded tiredly. She turned and left the compartment. Skinner rose to his feet and looked at Doggett, who was left without a word.
Scully jerked awake as she felt the train slowing beneath her. Across from her, Monica was still asleep. Reaching over, Scully shook her shoulder.
"Wake up, Mon. We're almost at the Station." Sleepily, she opened her eyes and stretched. "I thought you'd be with John and Skinner." She raised her eyebrow in Monica's direction as her friend pulled her overnight back from the overhead compartment.
"They went for a walk through the train, and I didn't want to be in there by myself," she replied. The train jerked and several items fell out of Monica's open bag. Scully slid off the seat to help her clean them up, and she and Monica both reached for a small, square black velvet box at the same time. Her eyes doubled in size.
"Oh my God, Monica Alejandra Reyes, John Doggett proposed to you and you didn't tell me?!" Monica sighed and sat back on her heels, taking the box from her friend and opening it. A decent sized diamond was nestled between two amethyst stones in the gold band. "Wow," Scully muttered, and then paused. "Why aren't you wearing it?"
"I haven't answered him yet."
"Why… if you don't mind my asking?" Scully queried, straightening up and easing her heavily pregnant body back into her seat. Monica resumed her seat across from Scully, and said,
"I don't know if I want marriage. The only marriages I've ever been witness to have fallen into terrible pieces. My mother and father, my friends from college, my sister… I don't want the same thing to happen to me and John…" She paused. "You and Mulder are happier just being together than any married couple I've ever known…" Scully laughed.
"You can't base anything on the relationship I have with Mulder. We had seven years of foreplay before we even kissed. We may as well be married. In our opinions, we have been married for about eight years now. If he's what you want, Mon. Say yes. Don't wait too long, or he might ditch you…" Monica laughed at the reference to Mulder's infamous 'Scully-ditches'.
"Thanks, Dana. I have to find John and answer his question."
-X-
As Scully stepped down off of the train, she was paying more attention to John who had gathered Monica up in his arms and spun her around in a circle after sliding the ring on her finger. She felt a hand on her arm, guiding her down the steps, and said,
"Thank you." She looked over, expecting to see Skinner with his arms extended. When her eyes locked with those of the man who offered his assistance to her, she gasped.
"You…" she said simply, floundering for the correct words. "But you were dead."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXAuthor's Notes: Dun dun dunnnn! So I threw some good old fashioned drama in to mix it up a bit. Bear with me. My mind is fuzzy from being sick, and I just took finals. Stay tuned to find out what happens next! :oD
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