To Save the World
Part Five
I week later:
Tru comes bounding up the stairs Nathan right along behind her. "Dana…Dana…where are you?"
"In the bedroom…why? What's wrong?"
"Marita and Monica…they said they found something…they told us to come find you as quickly as possible. I don't know what it is…but it's big. Very big."
Nathan's almost out of breath when he holds an hand up then brings both of his hands down to his knees to get air, "it's…about…the…antidote."
"Which one?"
"Black…oil."
My interest suddenly perks and I push past them and run downstairs and then down into the bunker. I almost run over Vikki in the process and she senses that something's going on and follows me. When I enter my office I too am out of breath. "What's…happened? What…did you…find?"
"Actually," Dr. Smalls' voice calls from the other side of the room, "It's what I found. I found a way to break the antidote down and get it into water…no added smell or taste. Now I know it's not what we have been shooting for…but we don't even know if we can break in down into the air like the magnite."
"That's good…we can continue to try with breaking it down for the air, but if it takes to long it's good to have something to fall back on. How'd you do it? How'd you break it down?"
"I can answer that," Marita calls, "I knew what made up the chemical make up of the Black Oil Antidote…I told the doctor what those chemicals where and he split them up."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I guess I never thought of it until now, and with all the things your dealing with…the kids, your pregnancy, figuring out the deal with the magnite, it would have made your burden heavier."
"No burden here Marita, im content with my work, I could deal with more."
"Either way Dana, we've got it into water."
Monica pipes in, "and we can turn water into steam."
"And steam evaporates in air." Vikki adds.
"We did it then…we've got both the antidotes. Now…how do we get them into the population without risking suspicion or having the syndicate find out." I muse.
"Your brothers." Monica says, "Bill's in the navy right? And Charlie the air force…can't we use them?"
"We could risk them losing their jobs though."
"Well, if that's the case they could always come here. You know we've got the room."
"We need to have a meeting. Tonight. You guys go get everybody…tell them meet in the meeting room in…lets say two hours. It'll give us enough time to turn it into steam and see where it goes from there. Dr. Smalls, Monica, and I will stay here…Marita you and Vikki go tell everybody. 2 hours ok?"
They nod and leave the room.
"Ok Monica…I need you to get the boiler. We have only two hours…we need to work fast. Dr. Smalls, where's the water at?"
"Over here."
"Ok…can you get some more of the antidote so we can make more of the water?"
"Yeah. I'll do that now."
2 hours later:
"Ok everybody, we have a lot to talk about. And when I say a lot, I mean a shit load." I say looking at all the occupants in the room. Everybody was here except the children, Nathan, and Tru. "We have some deciding to do…and a lot of it won't be our decisions…it will be my brothers."
Mom looks at me worried, "Dana…what are you talking about?"
"We've got the black oil antidote broken down and made into steam. Now we have both antidotes ready…we need a way to get them into the population. Seeing as Charlie is the Air Force and Bill the Navy they have the opportunity to do this for us. Without them, well we are shit out of luck. Now, they'll have to find some people they can trust, that will be the hardest part. Because we know not to trust anybody, we don't know who's in the syndicate at this point. Jimmy and Yves can help us with that I assume, they can watch Kersh and see who he meets up with. But that's dangerous on their part."
"Right," Monica adds, "but they know the risk they take. As will Bill and Charlie. And if anything should go wrong we've got room here. What's really the concern is making enough for the whole world, and how many trips it will take…and making sure that the syndicate doesn't figure us out. Because, as Dana said, if they do…we screwed." She looks around the room at all the faces, then back to me…indicating me to again talk.
"I am going to contact Bill and Charlie as soon as possible. If they agree we'll have to pick out a date for all this to start. And we'll need everybody's help with making the steam version of the antidote. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. Even Tru and Nathan will have to help. This is going to have to be a group effort. No slackers."
Monica once again talks, "you guys have to understand something. This is more important than you could ever fathom. No screw ups. We'll need some of you to help with the antidote making, but many of you will be working with the technical aspects of this effort. The LG will need some help with their work with the computers, Alan, you, Ryan, Nathan, and Gibson will be helping them. The rest of us will be down in the office…working on the antidote."
"When is all this going to be starting?" Diane calls.
"Right now." Marita says, "it all starts now. We can't waist our time, none of it. Not even a second. It's all needed…this is going to be hard work, no picnic now. Not for a long time."
"Does everybody understand?" I ask.
"Your brothers…what if they say no?" Vikki asks.
"They won't." I assure her, "I won't let them. Don't worry about that. That's the least of our problems at this moment. Im going to contact them right now…if we're all done here."
Nobody says anything.
"So I assume we're done. Good, I need those of you who are working with the Lone Gunmen to go to the computer room," I look to where the LG are sitting, "you guys will have to do your hacking. Up for the job?"
"As ready as ever." Langly smiles.
"Good. You'll have to hack into Kersh's files, e-mail, telephone bills, anything you can hack into, hack away. No holding back, none."
"Gotcha red." Frohike says. Then they take off down the hall.
"Ok…the rest of you. Dr. Smalls will let you know how to break everything down and make it steam." I look to Mulder, "I need you here with me."
He nods and our eyes connect, im sure he can see the unease in them, I may seem calm on the outside but on the inside im shaking. I've never been more scared in my life. Everybody files out and Mulder and I are left. He walks up to me and slips his arms around my waist.
"You ok Scully?"
"Yeah. Im fine."
"Don't Scully. I know your anything but fine. Tell me."
"Im scared as hell Mulder. I feel like a five year old who just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. I…im not usually the one who's in charge. That's your job…your good at it. Not me."
"Your doing great."
"Oh…Fox," I rest my head on his shoulder, "this is just so much to deal with. And with the baby stress isn't good. I just need to breath…that's it…take a moment to breath."
He sways with me side to side, "its going to be ok Dana, don't worry. We'll get through this. We've been through worse…we were stranded in Antarctica for crying out loud. If we survived that we'll survive this. And look at it this way, we didn't have as much to be motivated for then. With the kids, hell the whole world, depending on us there's no way we'll screw up." He rubs my back. "Trust me on this one. Ok?"
"Im sorry I called you Fox--"
"Don't be…I love it when you call me Fox."
I smiled up at him, "you do?"
"Yeah…it sounds natural…you should do it more often."
"Then what will I call you when your in trouble?"
"How about you do what my mother use to and yell my whole name like one word. You know how that is, right?"
"Yea, I got in trouble every now and then. I wasn't the golden child you may think I am. I need to e-mail my brothers now. Will you stay with me? Please. I don't know if I can do this without you."
"You'll never have to. Never. You got that?"
"Yeah, got it."
He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips, not a passionate one, a reassuring one, one that showed that I could do this. Mulder knows me all to well. We broke the kiss smiling, "thank you, Fox, I love you."
"I love you too Dana…don't you ever forget it."
"You don't have to worry about that."
The next morning:
I woke up early so I could see if Bill or Charlie had written me back yet. Charlie already had but I had yet to hear from Bill. Charlie's e-mail read:
'Dear sis,
Of course I'll help you. I couldn't think of saying no. I'll get a list of those who I think will help me as well, I know a few of the guys who think that they've seen flying saucers and if they knew they were saving the world from these things that they've seen then they'd been more than happy to help. I'll send the list as soon as humanly possible. But the names will be in the code that those three men made, so if anybody's reading this other than you they won't actually know the names of the men. Im glad to hear about your recent pregnancy, your naming this one after me right? Lol, just joking with you. Give mom and everybody else my love.
Love always,
Charlie.'
Around 8 o'clock I woke everybody up and we went to work, around 11 Byers came bounding into the room.
"We've got something of interest here."
Mulder, Monica, John, and I followed him into the LG office. Byers lead us to a computer where an e-mail page was up.
What's this?"We did what we do best, hacked into Kersh's e-mails…and it didn't take much either. Now, we found one e-mail that looked interesting, and a bit suspicious. It's from Kersh to a guy who's not named, but his e-mail address is sg08@hotmail.com, we could try and find what this guys name is but with free e-mail services such as hotmail you can easily put in fake information. It wouldn't do much good. mailto:What's this?"We did what we do best, hacked into Kersh's e-mails…and it didn't take much either. Now, we found one e-mail that looked interesting, and a bit suspicious. It's from Kersh to a guy who's not named, but his e-mail address is sg02@hotmail.com, we could try and find what this guys name is but with free e-mail services such as hotmail you can easily put in fake information. It wouldn't do much good."
I nodded my head, "what does the e-mail say?"
"Well…read it."
'8,
Everything's ready. Start the process.
1.'
"That's it? 'Everything's ready. Start the process?' What process? What's ready?"
"We don't know. We haven't found any other e-mails."
"What could the 1 and 8 mean?" Monica ponders.
"Probably their positions in the syndicate. And sg probably stands for shadow government."
She nods her head, "what do we do about this?"
"Nothing, until we know anything further."
We stayed around for a few minutes before we went back into my office so we could continue to work on the antidote. We'd already made a lot of both, but neither enough for even one country. Many of us worked through lunch hour and didn't stop working until around 8 that night. I would have kept working but Mulder insisted I eat something, if not for me than for the baby. With that said I couldn't make my self work further. I ate and then spent some time with the kids before putting them to bed.
After reading Will his nightly bedtime story I stayed in their room for a while, watching them sleep. I stayed in their room for well over two hours before Mulder came in to get me.
"Dana…are you going to stay in here all night?"
I smiled up at him, "it's a possibility I've considered greatly."
"I'll be lonely without you." He said walking to the chair I was sitting in. "You don't want me being lonely now do you?"
"Never. That would just be horrible." I joked, "I don't know if I can leave…they look so peaceful sleeping. I want to stay in here forever, just watching their breathing."
"Well, what if I want to watch you sleeping? Your going to deprive me of that?"
I stood up out of the chair and wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I was never going to stay in here all night, I just lost track of time. You know how it is."
He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off the ground. "Im taking you with me." He pulled me up so that he was carrying me like a baby, "and there's nothing you can do about it."
"There's nothing I would do about it." I smiled and kissed him deeply. He carried me into the bedroom, closed the door and locked it behind us.
"I love you so much Fox."
He smiled and laid me on the bed, "I love you too."
8 days later:
We've got a whole lot more of the antidote made but still not even remotely enough for the entire world. Maybe enough for North America, but there's still 6 more continents left, and many islands as well. We've got our work cut out for us. Charlie's sent his list and the Lone Gunmen have gone through it, finding that all the men are legit. Bill has replied to my e-mail and agreed with the project. His list too was found legit. Jimmy has a brother in the Air Force as well and they're using him and his list. When it comes down to it we have 26 guys and 7 women now added on our quest.
"Scully."
"Hmm…yeah Mulder…what is it?"
"Your kind of drifting. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah…im just thinking. What time is it?"
"6:21."
"We should call it a day. I'd like to go see Will and Missy…and my stomach's starting to growl. We should make something for dinner."
"Alright. Have you heard from Bill or Charlie recently?"
"Charlie e-mailed last night. He said everything's ready…all that they need now is the antidote."
We, along with Monica and John, walked upstairs to get something to eat. I smiled and the poof in her stomach. She's almost 5 months along now and bigger than her first pregnancy had been. "Are you guys going to find out the sex? Or is it going to be a surprise?"
"Surprise."
"What are you hoping for?"
"Well, seeing as we've already got a boy I'd like to have girl."
"I'd like to have another boy." John adds.
"You would." She says rubbing her stomach, "either way we're not finding out until this one is born. What about you two? Are you going to find out. And if no, what are you hoping for?"
"We're going to wait too, and im really indifferent on the subject, but if I had to choose, I'd want another boy." I say with a smile, "im not sure why though."
"I'd want another boy too, if I had to choose, but if we have another girl I'll be equally as happy. As long as it's got all 10 fingers and toes, and is healthy, then im happy."
"You don't want it to have all arms and legs?" John blurts out without thinking, he thinks about what he said for a moment before speaking again, "never mind that last statement. I really need to think before I speak."
"I'll say."
"Hey, what's that 'suppose ta mean?"
"Im just agreeing with you, honey. You said it, I agreed. Can't get mad at me for agreeing."
"I couldn't get mad at you period."
"Spare us the sappiness ok guys?" Mulder pleads, "we hear it enough with Kim and Byers."
Monica laughs, "we'll try."
After eating something I went into the living room where Nathan and Gibson were watching the kids, and spent some time with Missy…she's getting closer to talking everyday. I give her another week or two before she says her first word. And I'll be highly upset if it's not momma. But if it's dadda then it'll be ok…most little girls say dadda first. Will's first word was momma…I was so happy when he said it. I cried for hours.
After Missy fell asleep Mulder, Will, and I watched Will's favorite cartoon movie, Shreck. Mulder likes it as well, but I can't fathom why. I think it's a waste of two hours. But if my men like it then I guess im stuck with it. After the movie I can see Will's eyelids drooping so Mulder carries him into his bedroom where I read him his bedtime story. He resisted sleep at first, but soon he was lightly snoring.
"Well, if anything, we know for sure he's your kid." I said when we sat back down on the couch in the living room. Everybody else had gone to their separate rooms. So we, for once, were alone.
"How's that?" He inquired.
"The snoring. I don't snore…but you…you snore like crazy."
He smiled at me, "you sure you don't snore? Cause I could swear that you do."
"Whatever Mulder, I do not snore. You just hear yourself snoring…not me."
"Uh-hmm, whatever you say. You want to watch another movie."
"As long as I get to pick it."
"Sure. What do you want to watch?"
"Something scary…how about Halloween, I know it's not scary per se, but it's a classic."
"Ok sure. That sounds good…haven't seen it in years."
I put the movie in and got situated on the couch, Mulder's arm draped over my shoulder and me with my head resting on his chest. I pulled an afghan over my legs and watched as Michael Myers killed various people. "You know, this movie's always made me laugh. Not because people were getting killed mind you, but because they put themselves in that situation. Ok, it's Halloween, a killer's on the loose, and you're in a big, disserted house. Are you going to stick around and investigate, or run at the first noise you hear? And don't use us as examples…were different."
"I was going to say, that sounds like us on Christmas those few years ago."
"That wasn't my idea…that thing…whatever it was…stole my car keys."
"So you admit it wasn't a man."
"A man couldn't have a hole in his head Mulder…I saw straight through it. Anyway, I don't like to think about that night…it was too strange. Even for us…and we've seen some strange shit over the years. But I guess those *ghost* saw what we couldn't."
"And that is?"
"Our feelings for each other."
He smiled at me and placed a small kiss on my forehead. "Lets get some rest Scully, it's already after 12."
I nodded, got up, and turned off the TV. On the way back to out room I could see a small night light on in Will and Missy's room. I creaked the door open a bit and peeked inside. Will was standing in front of his sisters crib and from what I could see talking to her…but his voice was so low I couldn't hear what he was saying. I smiled at the picture and closed the door. After crawling into my warm bed I could no longer see the light shining from under their bedroom door. I cuddled closer to Mulder and instantly fell asleep.
2 days later:
Mulder peaks his head through the door of my office, "Dana…you up for taking a lunch break?"
"Sure, just let me clean up. I'll meet you upstairs in…uh…lets say 10 minutes?"
"Ok, I'll be waiting."
I cleaned up quickly and went upstairs, it was a warm day outside…the sky was beautiful, only the occasional fluffy cloud lingered in it. Mulder was standing in the doorway to the house waiting for me, a picnic basket in hand.
"What's this?"
"Picnic."
"Where?"
He pointed to a spot by the small pond that was in the backyard, a red and white checkered blanket lay with a small portable radio on top of it. I smiled as I walked over towards it. Mulder came behind me and set the basket down on the ground. Then I too sat on the blanket and he sat next to me.
"Mulder. You didn't have to do all this."
"I know, I wanted to. You've been working so hard. You deserve a surprise every now and then. A good one that is." He smiled warmly, "you like it?"
"Like it? Mulder, its wonderful. This is so not like you though."
"How so?"
"You don't usually do things like this. It's a good change, you should more often."
He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. The kiss was a short at first but I deepened it and pulled him closer to me. When we broke the kiss for air he smiled.
"Your welcome."
"I don't remember saying thank you."
"That was thanks enough."
I laughed and kissed him again, a short kiss this time though. Then we ate the picnic that I was sure he hadn't packed. "My mother made this food didn't she?"
"How do you know?"
"Mulder, she's my mother. She's made many picnics for me over the years. I think I'd know her cooking when I taste it."
"Well, I tried to make something. But it burned…she took over from there."
I smiled and took a drink of water, we ate for a little bit longer before the door to the house opened and Will came bounding out and over towards us. He came crashing into my arms and I fell backwards, Will on top of me. I laughed as Mulder pulled him off me and sat him down onto the blanket. Will grabbed one of the sandwiches and stuck it into his mouth. He chewed it happily and looked at his daddy.
"Gamma make it?"
I laughed, he would be two in a week and he already could tell the difference between his fathers cooking and his grandmothers…which im sure Missy could tell the difference as well, but that was irrelevant at the moment, "yes honey, gamma made it."
"Good, daddy make bad."
This caused me to laugh harder and Mulder gave me a look.
"I do not cook bad."
"Uh-huh daddy. No yummy."
I nearly toppled over with laughter.
"What about mommy? How does mommy cook?" Mulder questioned.
"Gooder than daddy."
That was the last straw, I fell backwards consumed with laughter. Will looked at me funny while Mulder had a grave look on his face.
"I really don't see how this is funny Scully. Not at all."
Through fits of laughter I managed to get it, "I…do…very…funny." After laughing for more than 10 minutes I finally made myself stop and placed my hand over my stomach which was starting to hurt a bit from so much laughter. I was sure it had probably upset the little one.
"Im sorry Mulder, I didn't mean to laugh. I couldn't help myself."
"Yea, sure. Whatever. You didn't mean it. I really believe that."
"You've got to admit it though Mulder, it was funny."
"What funny mommy?"
"Daddy can't cook."
"No. Daddy no cook."
Though I tried with all my might I laughed again. But this time I covered my mouth and made myself stop. I gathered Will into my arms and carried him inside. I sat him in front of the TV where Sponge Bob Square Pants was on and he instantly became enthralled with the program. I walked back outside, went to Mulder, gave him a small kiss, "im going back to work ok hon? I'll end early today, if you see Monica tell her that she's supposed to be helping."
"Yeah, ok. See you later babe."
I kissed him again and went back underground to finish my work.
Half an hour later:
Monica walked through the door, "Dana…Dana, are you in here?"
"Yeah Monica. Im over here." I called from the corner I was in. "Mulder finally found you?"
"Yea…im sorry, I forgot that you and I were supposed to be working in here today. I was with Kim and Vikki in the other room. Im sorry, I didn't mean for you to be all alone."
"Yeah, well. Don't do it again. All is forgiven. The funniest thing happened today though…" I continued in telling her about what happened with Will outside. By the end of the story we were both laughing so hard we had tears falling from our eyes.
"He…really…said that?" She said through laughter.
"Yeah. It was hilarious. I don't think Mulder appreciated it much though, he seemed pretty hurt by it…but I think it was more of my laughing."
"Well, you can't really blame Will for what he said, he's only 2 years old. But if it had happened to me, im sure I'd be laughing just as hard."
I smiled and we continued working, and as I promised I quite work early…at 5 o'clock. And went and found Mulder where he and John were working on the magnite. I slid my arms around his waist and told him if I could take an early day so could he. He smiled down at me and Monica came in for John. We waited as they cleaned up and then went back upstairs. Mulder and I stayed outside while John and Monica went in to see John Jr. I'd asked Monica to ask Tru to bring out Will and Missy.
A few minutes after they went in Tru came out holding Missy and Will came behind her. Will climbed into the chair with me and Tru handed Missy over to her daddy.
"So Will, what did you do today?"
"Papaw and me play hide n seek. I won."
"Good for you. Is that all?"
"Watch TV."
"And made fun of daddy." Mulder muttered under his breath. I shot him a look and he pretended as if he said nothing, looking down at Missy. He played with the thick brown hair on her head and let her curl her fingers around one of his.
I smiled at the bond between the two and Will looked up at me. He tugged on my shirt and I shifted my gaze towards his face, "What is it Will?"
"Daddy hold me?"
I looked over at Mulder and he nodded. Will climbed off my lap and Mulder handed Missy into my arms. Will climbed into his daddy's lap and smiled. I got up from the table and told Mulder that I was going to feed Missy and he nodded. Then he got up as well and asked Will if he wanted to play hide and seek. Will jumped up and down happily and they went off to play their game.
I smiled as they ran off, Mulder's such a great father…a part of that being because he's such a big kid as well, but at the same time he's got more wisdom than a man much older than him. Missy looked up at me with big blue eyes and I sighed, "I know, I know. Dinner time. Let's go."
Life can be so wonderful.
a/n: sorry it took so long to get this next chapter out. With all the story's im writing plus school it's a bit hard. And because of the last two days I didn't have school (ain't snow wonderful?) I got to work a lot…so I got this chapter out. Yeah. Um…I'll probably focus on the next chapter of return to me, so im not sure when I'll have the next chapter out. Anyway, please, please, please review! I live for reviews, and the more I get the quicker I get the next chapter out. ;)
Part Five
I week later:
Tru comes bounding up the stairs Nathan right along behind her. "Dana…Dana…where are you?"
"In the bedroom…why? What's wrong?"
"Marita and Monica…they said they found something…they told us to come find you as quickly as possible. I don't know what it is…but it's big. Very big."
Nathan's almost out of breath when he holds an hand up then brings both of his hands down to his knees to get air, "it's…about…the…antidote."
"Which one?"
"Black…oil."
My interest suddenly perks and I push past them and run downstairs and then down into the bunker. I almost run over Vikki in the process and she senses that something's going on and follows me. When I enter my office I too am out of breath. "What's…happened? What…did you…find?"
"Actually," Dr. Smalls' voice calls from the other side of the room, "It's what I found. I found a way to break the antidote down and get it into water…no added smell or taste. Now I know it's not what we have been shooting for…but we don't even know if we can break in down into the air like the magnite."
"That's good…we can continue to try with breaking it down for the air, but if it takes to long it's good to have something to fall back on. How'd you do it? How'd you break it down?"
"I can answer that," Marita calls, "I knew what made up the chemical make up of the Black Oil Antidote…I told the doctor what those chemicals where and he split them up."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I guess I never thought of it until now, and with all the things your dealing with…the kids, your pregnancy, figuring out the deal with the magnite, it would have made your burden heavier."
"No burden here Marita, im content with my work, I could deal with more."
"Either way Dana, we've got it into water."
Monica pipes in, "and we can turn water into steam."
"And steam evaporates in air." Vikki adds.
"We did it then…we've got both the antidotes. Now…how do we get them into the population without risking suspicion or having the syndicate find out." I muse.
"Your brothers." Monica says, "Bill's in the navy right? And Charlie the air force…can't we use them?"
"We could risk them losing their jobs though."
"Well, if that's the case they could always come here. You know we've got the room."
"We need to have a meeting. Tonight. You guys go get everybody…tell them meet in the meeting room in…lets say two hours. It'll give us enough time to turn it into steam and see where it goes from there. Dr. Smalls, Monica, and I will stay here…Marita you and Vikki go tell everybody. 2 hours ok?"
They nod and leave the room.
"Ok Monica…I need you to get the boiler. We have only two hours…we need to work fast. Dr. Smalls, where's the water at?"
"Over here."
"Ok…can you get some more of the antidote so we can make more of the water?"
"Yeah. I'll do that now."
2 hours later:
"Ok everybody, we have a lot to talk about. And when I say a lot, I mean a shit load." I say looking at all the occupants in the room. Everybody was here except the children, Nathan, and Tru. "We have some deciding to do…and a lot of it won't be our decisions…it will be my brothers."
Mom looks at me worried, "Dana…what are you talking about?"
"We've got the black oil antidote broken down and made into steam. Now we have both antidotes ready…we need a way to get them into the population. Seeing as Charlie is the Air Force and Bill the Navy they have the opportunity to do this for us. Without them, well we are shit out of luck. Now, they'll have to find some people they can trust, that will be the hardest part. Because we know not to trust anybody, we don't know who's in the syndicate at this point. Jimmy and Yves can help us with that I assume, they can watch Kersh and see who he meets up with. But that's dangerous on their part."
"Right," Monica adds, "but they know the risk they take. As will Bill and Charlie. And if anything should go wrong we've got room here. What's really the concern is making enough for the whole world, and how many trips it will take…and making sure that the syndicate doesn't figure us out. Because, as Dana said, if they do…we screwed." She looks around the room at all the faces, then back to me…indicating me to again talk.
"I am going to contact Bill and Charlie as soon as possible. If they agree we'll have to pick out a date for all this to start. And we'll need everybody's help with making the steam version of the antidote. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody. Even Tru and Nathan will have to help. This is going to have to be a group effort. No slackers."
Monica once again talks, "you guys have to understand something. This is more important than you could ever fathom. No screw ups. We'll need some of you to help with the antidote making, but many of you will be working with the technical aspects of this effort. The LG will need some help with their work with the computers, Alan, you, Ryan, Nathan, and Gibson will be helping them. The rest of us will be down in the office…working on the antidote."
"When is all this going to be starting?" Diane calls.
"Right now." Marita says, "it all starts now. We can't waist our time, none of it. Not even a second. It's all needed…this is going to be hard work, no picnic now. Not for a long time."
"Does everybody understand?" I ask.
"Your brothers…what if they say no?" Vikki asks.
"They won't." I assure her, "I won't let them. Don't worry about that. That's the least of our problems at this moment. Im going to contact them right now…if we're all done here."
Nobody says anything.
"So I assume we're done. Good, I need those of you who are working with the Lone Gunmen to go to the computer room," I look to where the LG are sitting, "you guys will have to do your hacking. Up for the job?"
"As ready as ever." Langly smiles.
"Good. You'll have to hack into Kersh's files, e-mail, telephone bills, anything you can hack into, hack away. No holding back, none."
"Gotcha red." Frohike says. Then they take off down the hall.
"Ok…the rest of you. Dr. Smalls will let you know how to break everything down and make it steam." I look to Mulder, "I need you here with me."
He nods and our eyes connect, im sure he can see the unease in them, I may seem calm on the outside but on the inside im shaking. I've never been more scared in my life. Everybody files out and Mulder and I are left. He walks up to me and slips his arms around my waist.
"You ok Scully?"
"Yeah. Im fine."
"Don't Scully. I know your anything but fine. Tell me."
"Im scared as hell Mulder. I feel like a five year old who just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. I…im not usually the one who's in charge. That's your job…your good at it. Not me."
"Your doing great."
"Oh…Fox," I rest my head on his shoulder, "this is just so much to deal with. And with the baby stress isn't good. I just need to breath…that's it…take a moment to breath."
He sways with me side to side, "its going to be ok Dana, don't worry. We'll get through this. We've been through worse…we were stranded in Antarctica for crying out loud. If we survived that we'll survive this. And look at it this way, we didn't have as much to be motivated for then. With the kids, hell the whole world, depending on us there's no way we'll screw up." He rubs my back. "Trust me on this one. Ok?"
"Im sorry I called you Fox--"
"Don't be…I love it when you call me Fox."
I smiled up at him, "you do?"
"Yeah…it sounds natural…you should do it more often."
"Then what will I call you when your in trouble?"
"How about you do what my mother use to and yell my whole name like one word. You know how that is, right?"
"Yea, I got in trouble every now and then. I wasn't the golden child you may think I am. I need to e-mail my brothers now. Will you stay with me? Please. I don't know if I can do this without you."
"You'll never have to. Never. You got that?"
"Yeah, got it."
He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips, not a passionate one, a reassuring one, one that showed that I could do this. Mulder knows me all to well. We broke the kiss smiling, "thank you, Fox, I love you."
"I love you too Dana…don't you ever forget it."
"You don't have to worry about that."
The next morning:
I woke up early so I could see if Bill or Charlie had written me back yet. Charlie already had but I had yet to hear from Bill. Charlie's e-mail read:
'Dear sis,
Of course I'll help you. I couldn't think of saying no. I'll get a list of those who I think will help me as well, I know a few of the guys who think that they've seen flying saucers and if they knew they were saving the world from these things that they've seen then they'd been more than happy to help. I'll send the list as soon as humanly possible. But the names will be in the code that those three men made, so if anybody's reading this other than you they won't actually know the names of the men. Im glad to hear about your recent pregnancy, your naming this one after me right? Lol, just joking with you. Give mom and everybody else my love.
Love always,
Charlie.'
Around 8 o'clock I woke everybody up and we went to work, around 11 Byers came bounding into the room.
"We've got something of interest here."
Mulder, Monica, John, and I followed him into the LG office. Byers lead us to a computer where an e-mail page was up.
What's this?"We did what we do best, hacked into Kersh's e-mails…and it didn't take much either. Now, we found one e-mail that looked interesting, and a bit suspicious. It's from Kersh to a guy who's not named, but his e-mail address is sg08@hotmail.com, we could try and find what this guys name is but with free e-mail services such as hotmail you can easily put in fake information. It wouldn't do much good. mailto:What's this?"We did what we do best, hacked into Kersh's e-mails…and it didn't take much either. Now, we found one e-mail that looked interesting, and a bit suspicious. It's from Kersh to a guy who's not named, but his e-mail address is sg02@hotmail.com, we could try and find what this guys name is but with free e-mail services such as hotmail you can easily put in fake information. It wouldn't do much good."
I nodded my head, "what does the e-mail say?"
"Well…read it."
'8,
Everything's ready. Start the process.
1.'
"That's it? 'Everything's ready. Start the process?' What process? What's ready?"
"We don't know. We haven't found any other e-mails."
"What could the 1 and 8 mean?" Monica ponders.
"Probably their positions in the syndicate. And sg probably stands for shadow government."
She nods her head, "what do we do about this?"
"Nothing, until we know anything further."
We stayed around for a few minutes before we went back into my office so we could continue to work on the antidote. We'd already made a lot of both, but neither enough for even one country. Many of us worked through lunch hour and didn't stop working until around 8 that night. I would have kept working but Mulder insisted I eat something, if not for me than for the baby. With that said I couldn't make my self work further. I ate and then spent some time with the kids before putting them to bed.
After reading Will his nightly bedtime story I stayed in their room for a while, watching them sleep. I stayed in their room for well over two hours before Mulder came in to get me.
"Dana…are you going to stay in here all night?"
I smiled up at him, "it's a possibility I've considered greatly."
"I'll be lonely without you." He said walking to the chair I was sitting in. "You don't want me being lonely now do you?"
"Never. That would just be horrible." I joked, "I don't know if I can leave…they look so peaceful sleeping. I want to stay in here forever, just watching their breathing."
"Well, what if I want to watch you sleeping? Your going to deprive me of that?"
I stood up out of the chair and wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I was never going to stay in here all night, I just lost track of time. You know how it is."
He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off the ground. "Im taking you with me." He pulled me up so that he was carrying me like a baby, "and there's nothing you can do about it."
"There's nothing I would do about it." I smiled and kissed him deeply. He carried me into the bedroom, closed the door and locked it behind us.
"I love you so much Fox."
He smiled and laid me on the bed, "I love you too."
8 days later:
We've got a whole lot more of the antidote made but still not even remotely enough for the entire world. Maybe enough for North America, but there's still 6 more continents left, and many islands as well. We've got our work cut out for us. Charlie's sent his list and the Lone Gunmen have gone through it, finding that all the men are legit. Bill has replied to my e-mail and agreed with the project. His list too was found legit. Jimmy has a brother in the Air Force as well and they're using him and his list. When it comes down to it we have 26 guys and 7 women now added on our quest.
"Scully."
"Hmm…yeah Mulder…what is it?"
"Your kind of drifting. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah…im just thinking. What time is it?"
"6:21."
"We should call it a day. I'd like to go see Will and Missy…and my stomach's starting to growl. We should make something for dinner."
"Alright. Have you heard from Bill or Charlie recently?"
"Charlie e-mailed last night. He said everything's ready…all that they need now is the antidote."
We, along with Monica and John, walked upstairs to get something to eat. I smiled and the poof in her stomach. She's almost 5 months along now and bigger than her first pregnancy had been. "Are you guys going to find out the sex? Or is it going to be a surprise?"
"Surprise."
"What are you hoping for?"
"Well, seeing as we've already got a boy I'd like to have girl."
"I'd like to have another boy." John adds.
"You would." She says rubbing her stomach, "either way we're not finding out until this one is born. What about you two? Are you going to find out. And if no, what are you hoping for?"
"We're going to wait too, and im really indifferent on the subject, but if I had to choose, I'd want another boy." I say with a smile, "im not sure why though."
"I'd want another boy too, if I had to choose, but if we have another girl I'll be equally as happy. As long as it's got all 10 fingers and toes, and is healthy, then im happy."
"You don't want it to have all arms and legs?" John blurts out without thinking, he thinks about what he said for a moment before speaking again, "never mind that last statement. I really need to think before I speak."
"I'll say."
"Hey, what's that 'suppose ta mean?"
"Im just agreeing with you, honey. You said it, I agreed. Can't get mad at me for agreeing."
"I couldn't get mad at you period."
"Spare us the sappiness ok guys?" Mulder pleads, "we hear it enough with Kim and Byers."
Monica laughs, "we'll try."
After eating something I went into the living room where Nathan and Gibson were watching the kids, and spent some time with Missy…she's getting closer to talking everyday. I give her another week or two before she says her first word. And I'll be highly upset if it's not momma. But if it's dadda then it'll be ok…most little girls say dadda first. Will's first word was momma…I was so happy when he said it. I cried for hours.
After Missy fell asleep Mulder, Will, and I watched Will's favorite cartoon movie, Shreck. Mulder likes it as well, but I can't fathom why. I think it's a waste of two hours. But if my men like it then I guess im stuck with it. After the movie I can see Will's eyelids drooping so Mulder carries him into his bedroom where I read him his bedtime story. He resisted sleep at first, but soon he was lightly snoring.
"Well, if anything, we know for sure he's your kid." I said when we sat back down on the couch in the living room. Everybody else had gone to their separate rooms. So we, for once, were alone.
"How's that?" He inquired.
"The snoring. I don't snore…but you…you snore like crazy."
He smiled at me, "you sure you don't snore? Cause I could swear that you do."
"Whatever Mulder, I do not snore. You just hear yourself snoring…not me."
"Uh-hmm, whatever you say. You want to watch another movie."
"As long as I get to pick it."
"Sure. What do you want to watch?"
"Something scary…how about Halloween, I know it's not scary per se, but it's a classic."
"Ok sure. That sounds good…haven't seen it in years."
I put the movie in and got situated on the couch, Mulder's arm draped over my shoulder and me with my head resting on his chest. I pulled an afghan over my legs and watched as Michael Myers killed various people. "You know, this movie's always made me laugh. Not because people were getting killed mind you, but because they put themselves in that situation. Ok, it's Halloween, a killer's on the loose, and you're in a big, disserted house. Are you going to stick around and investigate, or run at the first noise you hear? And don't use us as examples…were different."
"I was going to say, that sounds like us on Christmas those few years ago."
"That wasn't my idea…that thing…whatever it was…stole my car keys."
"So you admit it wasn't a man."
"A man couldn't have a hole in his head Mulder…I saw straight through it. Anyway, I don't like to think about that night…it was too strange. Even for us…and we've seen some strange shit over the years. But I guess those *ghost* saw what we couldn't."
"And that is?"
"Our feelings for each other."
He smiled at me and placed a small kiss on my forehead. "Lets get some rest Scully, it's already after 12."
I nodded, got up, and turned off the TV. On the way back to out room I could see a small night light on in Will and Missy's room. I creaked the door open a bit and peeked inside. Will was standing in front of his sisters crib and from what I could see talking to her…but his voice was so low I couldn't hear what he was saying. I smiled at the picture and closed the door. After crawling into my warm bed I could no longer see the light shining from under their bedroom door. I cuddled closer to Mulder and instantly fell asleep.
2 days later:
Mulder peaks his head through the door of my office, "Dana…you up for taking a lunch break?"
"Sure, just let me clean up. I'll meet you upstairs in…uh…lets say 10 minutes?"
"Ok, I'll be waiting."
I cleaned up quickly and went upstairs, it was a warm day outside…the sky was beautiful, only the occasional fluffy cloud lingered in it. Mulder was standing in the doorway to the house waiting for me, a picnic basket in hand.
"What's this?"
"Picnic."
"Where?"
He pointed to a spot by the small pond that was in the backyard, a red and white checkered blanket lay with a small portable radio on top of it. I smiled as I walked over towards it. Mulder came behind me and set the basket down on the ground. Then I too sat on the blanket and he sat next to me.
"Mulder. You didn't have to do all this."
"I know, I wanted to. You've been working so hard. You deserve a surprise every now and then. A good one that is." He smiled warmly, "you like it?"
"Like it? Mulder, its wonderful. This is so not like you though."
"How so?"
"You don't usually do things like this. It's a good change, you should more often."
He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. The kiss was a short at first but I deepened it and pulled him closer to me. When we broke the kiss for air he smiled.
"Your welcome."
"I don't remember saying thank you."
"That was thanks enough."
I laughed and kissed him again, a short kiss this time though. Then we ate the picnic that I was sure he hadn't packed. "My mother made this food didn't she?"
"How do you know?"
"Mulder, she's my mother. She's made many picnics for me over the years. I think I'd know her cooking when I taste it."
"Well, I tried to make something. But it burned…she took over from there."
I smiled and took a drink of water, we ate for a little bit longer before the door to the house opened and Will came bounding out and over towards us. He came crashing into my arms and I fell backwards, Will on top of me. I laughed as Mulder pulled him off me and sat him down onto the blanket. Will grabbed one of the sandwiches and stuck it into his mouth. He chewed it happily and looked at his daddy.
"Gamma make it?"
I laughed, he would be two in a week and he already could tell the difference between his fathers cooking and his grandmothers…which im sure Missy could tell the difference as well, but that was irrelevant at the moment, "yes honey, gamma made it."
"Good, daddy make bad."
This caused me to laugh harder and Mulder gave me a look.
"I do not cook bad."
"Uh-huh daddy. No yummy."
I nearly toppled over with laughter.
"What about mommy? How does mommy cook?" Mulder questioned.
"Gooder than daddy."
That was the last straw, I fell backwards consumed with laughter. Will looked at me funny while Mulder had a grave look on his face.
"I really don't see how this is funny Scully. Not at all."
Through fits of laughter I managed to get it, "I…do…very…funny." After laughing for more than 10 minutes I finally made myself stop and placed my hand over my stomach which was starting to hurt a bit from so much laughter. I was sure it had probably upset the little one.
"Im sorry Mulder, I didn't mean to laugh. I couldn't help myself."
"Yea, sure. Whatever. You didn't mean it. I really believe that."
"You've got to admit it though Mulder, it was funny."
"What funny mommy?"
"Daddy can't cook."
"No. Daddy no cook."
Though I tried with all my might I laughed again. But this time I covered my mouth and made myself stop. I gathered Will into my arms and carried him inside. I sat him in front of the TV where Sponge Bob Square Pants was on and he instantly became enthralled with the program. I walked back outside, went to Mulder, gave him a small kiss, "im going back to work ok hon? I'll end early today, if you see Monica tell her that she's supposed to be helping."
"Yeah, ok. See you later babe."
I kissed him again and went back underground to finish my work.
Half an hour later:
Monica walked through the door, "Dana…Dana, are you in here?"
"Yeah Monica. Im over here." I called from the corner I was in. "Mulder finally found you?"
"Yea…im sorry, I forgot that you and I were supposed to be working in here today. I was with Kim and Vikki in the other room. Im sorry, I didn't mean for you to be all alone."
"Yeah, well. Don't do it again. All is forgiven. The funniest thing happened today though…" I continued in telling her about what happened with Will outside. By the end of the story we were both laughing so hard we had tears falling from our eyes.
"He…really…said that?" She said through laughter.
"Yeah. It was hilarious. I don't think Mulder appreciated it much though, he seemed pretty hurt by it…but I think it was more of my laughing."
"Well, you can't really blame Will for what he said, he's only 2 years old. But if it had happened to me, im sure I'd be laughing just as hard."
I smiled and we continued working, and as I promised I quite work early…at 5 o'clock. And went and found Mulder where he and John were working on the magnite. I slid my arms around his waist and told him if I could take an early day so could he. He smiled down at me and Monica came in for John. We waited as they cleaned up and then went back upstairs. Mulder and I stayed outside while John and Monica went in to see John Jr. I'd asked Monica to ask Tru to bring out Will and Missy.
A few minutes after they went in Tru came out holding Missy and Will came behind her. Will climbed into the chair with me and Tru handed Missy over to her daddy.
"So Will, what did you do today?"
"Papaw and me play hide n seek. I won."
"Good for you. Is that all?"
"Watch TV."
"And made fun of daddy." Mulder muttered under his breath. I shot him a look and he pretended as if he said nothing, looking down at Missy. He played with the thick brown hair on her head and let her curl her fingers around one of his.
I smiled at the bond between the two and Will looked up at me. He tugged on my shirt and I shifted my gaze towards his face, "What is it Will?"
"Daddy hold me?"
I looked over at Mulder and he nodded. Will climbed off my lap and Mulder handed Missy into my arms. Will climbed into his daddy's lap and smiled. I got up from the table and told Mulder that I was going to feed Missy and he nodded. Then he got up as well and asked Will if he wanted to play hide and seek. Will jumped up and down happily and they went off to play their game.
I smiled as they ran off, Mulder's such a great father…a part of that being because he's such a big kid as well, but at the same time he's got more wisdom than a man much older than him. Missy looked up at me with big blue eyes and I sighed, "I know, I know. Dinner time. Let's go."
Life can be so wonderful.
a/n: sorry it took so long to get this next chapter out. With all the story's im writing plus school it's a bit hard. And because of the last two days I didn't have school (ain't snow wonderful?) I got to work a lot…so I got this chapter out. Yeah. Um…I'll probably focus on the next chapter of return to me, so im not sure when I'll have the next chapter out. Anyway, please, please, please review! I live for reviews, and the more I get the quicker I get the next chapter out. ;)
