Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given: Part V
Author: Gillian Leigh
Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.
Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!
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"--and these are just a few symptoms of schizophrenia," Professor Fox Mulder said, using his laser pointer to direct his class's attention to a spot on the notes which were projected onto the screen behind him. "The first symptom--" He was cut off as the bell rang and the students got up out of their seats, quickly emptying the room. He sighed and shook his head. He turned off his overhead projector and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, retrieving his lunch. As he left the lecture hall, he didn't notice the petite girl with dark auburn hair as she followed him out of the room. He reached his office just down the hallway and fished around in his pocket for the keys to unlock the door. It was then that he noticed the girl, who hung back, watching him timidly.
"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked, turning around. He watched as her face paled several shades and she said,
"Are-are you Mr. Mulder?"
"Yes. My conference hours are listed in the lecture hall and the cafeteria. You can come see me then," he said, opening his door. He had almost closed it again when Liv caught it with her hand, keeping a firm grasp on it. Mulder wheeled around to look at her, wondering what the hell this student was doing.
"You're out of line, young lady," he said, his eyes flashing with anger.
"I'm not a student, Mr. Mulder...I'm your daughter..." This one knocked him for a loop.
"Excuse me?" he said, dropping his briefcase to the floor. "Is this some sort of joke?" Liv cringed as he rounded on her. She shook her head, and he studied her, realizing that she did look too young to be a student.
"No...I'm your daughter..." she offered her birth certificate with a shaking hand. He took it and studied it for a moment, and his eyes widened.
"Come inside, please," he said quickly, opening the door to his office. "This isn't a discussion I want to have in the hallway." Liv followed him inside, and he calmly walked around and sat behind his desk, and motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him. Liv sank into the chair, and watched Mulder as he ran a hand over his face and studied her birth certificate.
"Why now?" he asked. "If you really are my daughter, why come to me now?"
"I just found out that you're my real dad. I stumbled across that yesterday," she said, pointing to her birth certificate. "My mom hadn't told me yet. I found that in a box in her closet."
"How do I know that this isn't a fake? In this day and age anyone can fake almost any document..."
"I-um-found it in a box in her closet with these-" she handed him a few of the letters from her mother to him--the ones she never sent. "And my Grandma Maggie gave me this." She handed Mulder the photo of her mother and him.
"January 16th..." he said, reading her date of birth. He counted backwards, and she could see that he felt the dates didn't add up.
"I was born seventeen days early. I was supposed to be born on February 2nd," Liv said. "Mom says that I was conceived the night before you left to come here." His eyes widened.
"My God," Mulder said quietly. "You're my daughter."
"Hi Dad," Liv said quietly.
"You look like your mother," he said, analyzing her features. She looked like Scully--the thought brought back torrents of memories.
"Yeah, but I got your nose," she responded.
"I have a daughter. Olivia Paige," he said. "How did you get here? Is your mother with you?" Liv shook her head.
"No... she um--she doesn't know that I left. I kind of just took all the money I had saved up... and some of hers--" she looked mildly ashamed at the last part. "And bought a ticket to come here. I knew you taught here, and I knew your name and your face-- I just had to put it all together and find you." Mulder was still awestruck, and only shook his head as he studied the picture of himself and Scully.
"Why didn't she tell me?" he thought aloud. "I would've come home in a heartbeat if she had told me she was pregnant..."
"That was what she was afraid of. She didn't want to ruin your life or your marriage by bringing a baby into your life. She wanted you to be happy with Jessica..." Mulder laughed sordidly, surprising Liv.
"I don't think Jessica and I were ever truly happy. We were only married for five months before she left me," he said. "I've been the 'miserable Psych professor' ever since." A silence settled over them and Mulder said,
"Listen, Liv-- is it alright if I call you Liv?" His daughter nodded in response. "Well, I have one more lecture to give after my lunch break ends, and then what do you say I'll take you back to my place and we'll get a hold of your mom? I'll bet she's worried sick right now..."
"Sure," Liv replied, smiling brightly in response. This meant that her mother and father had to talk, and she hoped they would reconcile. It was going to be an interesting day or two, that's for sure.
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Maggie Scully was frantically pacing her home in a state of panic. Her husband was down at FBI Headquarters with her daughter as they procured a manhunt for her granddaughter, who had seemingly disappeared overnight. The phone rang and she dashed to it, hoping it would be someone telling her that they had found Liv. She got the surprise of her life when she answered it.
"Hello?" she asked, tearfully.
"Mrs. Skinner?" God, she thought, she knew that voice.
"Yes?"
"Maggie, hi, it's Fox Mulder." She thought for a moment that her heart stopped.
"Fox? Oh my God, it's been so long. How are you?"
"I'm fine Maggie...I tried to call Dana, but there was no answer at her house..." he said.
"She's down at FBI Headquarters with Walter. I'm sorry Fox, but this isn't a very good time.." Maggie said, worrying that she might be missing a call from Dana.
"That's why I called. Olivia's here with me, Maggie. She's in England."
"What?! Oh my goodness, she's in England?! Is she alright?"
"Yes, she's fine; I tried to call Dana and tell her."
"I'll call to Headquarters and tell Walter to call off the manhunt for her and have all television stations pull the Amber Alerts..." Mulder's eyes widened.
"Oh Christ, they've started a manhunt?" Sitting on his couch, Liv cringed. When her mother got a hold of her, she was as good as dead.
"Just give me your phone number and I'll have Dana call you, although I'm sure she'll be on the next available flight out there anyway..." Mulder gave Maggie his number, including the Country Code and then said his goodbyes. Turning to Liv he said,
"Your mother's going to kill the two of us..."
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A/N: So I lied, LOL. I sat down and forced my muse the other night, and WHAMMO this just kinda worked for me! I hope you like it, but either way, make sure to review to tell me what you think! There will be one or two more chapters, I suppose, but we'll see how things go!