Title: What He Knew

Author: Gillian Leigh

Disclaimer: Please see an earlier chapter.

Author's Notes are at the end of the chapter.

--x--

As Margaret Scully navigated their rental car to Roswell General with her daughter dozing lightly in the passenger seat, the remnants of their phone conversation from earlier in the morning were drifting through her mind. Hypovolemic shock. Metastasized. Less than a month to live.

At 7:15 that morning she had received a frantic call from her hysterical daughter, telling her all of these things, and that they were about Fox. She had immediately packed a bag and driven over to see her daughter, who was already on the phone with her obstetrician getting special permission to fly to Oregon.

Their plane had flown out of Dulles at 10:00 a.m. EST. Shortly after touchdown they had secured their rental car and gotten directions to the airport.

Now, as they drove, Maggie looked over at her daughter, unable to imagine what this was doing to her. Even in her sleep, her arms were protectively cradling her belly and the children inside. Twins. Maggie couldn't believe it. Her youngest daughter--her only daughter-- who was told she would never get pregnant was now carrying fraternal twins, just like she and her brother had been.

Pulling the car into an available space, Maggie shifted it into park and shut off the engine. She hated to wake Dana, because she knew that she had hardly slept at all the night before, but she would want to see Fox right away. She gently shook Scully's shoulder.

"Sweetheart, wake up. We're here," she said, and after a moment Scully stirred. She sighed.

"I thought for a moment that it was all just a horrible dream," she whispered, feeling tears pooling in her eyes again. Not knowing what to say, Maggie reached over and simply squeezed her hand. After a moment of tense silence, Scully quietly spoke up. "Well, I guess we should go inside."

-x-

"I'll wait here," Maggie said, indicating a chair in the hallway outside Mulder's room. Scully nodded, and hesitated a moment before going into the room. Mulder, who was teetering on the edge of sleep, heard a sharp intake of breath, and opened his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy as he rolled his head to the right, and looked at Scully. Immediately he felt himself smiling at her.

"Hey," he said hoarsely. The smile she returned was wobbly, and he could tell that she was on the verge of tears. For once, he couldn't blame her hormones... his diagnosis was a death sentence, and it looked like he would be serving it sooner than he had thought.

"Hi," she replied quietly, one arm draped protectively over her belly. She walked over and pulled a chair up next to his bed, easing her body down into it. Mulder wanted to talk more, but he was fighting sleep, and not faring well. Scully reached up and gently stroked his cheek.

"You need to sleep, Mulder. We'll talk later," she said, rising up enough so that she could kiss his forehead. Even though his eyes slipped closed, Mulder smiled.

"Lips," he ordered sleepily, pointing to his own with his index finger. Scully smiled sadly, and kissed him once on the lips. As ill as his body was, his spirit wasn't broken yet.

It didn't take long for Mulder to give in to sleep. He was much more at ease knowing that Scully was nearby, and he slept more soundly and quickly. Scully remained by his bedside until he fell asleep, and waited a half and hour afterward before the nurse came in to check his vital signs and the dosage of pain killers he was getting.

"I can come back if you want, Ms. Scully," the nurse said, pausing in the doorway. Scully shook her head, and rose carefully out of the chair.

"No, that's alright. I need to take a walk and loosen my limbs up anyway. Can you tell me where I can find his doctor?" she asked in a hushed voice, making her way toward the door.

"Dr. Baker should be either in the cafeteria or the doctor's lounge for lunch. One of the other nurses or doctors could help you find him," the nurse replied. Her nametag proclaimed in capital letters that she was "K. Snow, RN".

"Thank you," Scully replied, slipping out of the room. Her mother was no longer seated in the hall, but it was more than likely that she had gone to take a walk and stretch her legs. They'd had a cramped flight and she drove quite a bit as well. Scully turned the corner in the corridor, looking for someone who could help her find the doctor. She saw a nurse, but there was also a sign for vending machines in the corridor, and at the moment, she needed something to up her blood sugar or she was going to fall asleep standing up. Rummaging in her purse, she managed to find some quarters and found exactly what she wanted in the machine--animal crackers. Frosted ones. Slipping the quarters into the slot, she pushed in "E12" and waited for the crackers to fall.

"So I see that congratulations are in order." Startled, Scully dropped the bag that she'd held in her hand, and whipped around. The sound of that voice had made her blood run cold. CGB Spender stood less than two feet from her, and as she turned around he eyed her belly, smiling. Instinctively her arms moved to cover it protectively, keeping her babies safe.

"What do you want?" she hissed, eying him warily. She noticed that he looked pale, thin...ill.

"I've always hoped I would be made a grandfather. Where's Fox? I wanted to congratulate him as well," he said, dodging her question. His smugness made her want to smack him.

"You know damn well where he is. You did this to him, you bastard," she replied through clenched teeth. "Why Mulder? He's already been through so much... why do this to him?!"

"His illness is not my fault, Dana." She bristled at his use of her first name. "In fact," he continued, "you could say that his condition is the fault of the Assistant Director." Scully's eyebrows went up.

"Oh really?" she shot back, crossing her arms over her chest. "How is that?"

"If he hadn't gotten in the way, things would be perfect now. But he meddled in things beyond his comprehension, and he has compromised many people. He has endangered several lives other than his own."

"What are you talking about? He was abducted! He had no choice in that," she said, trying to keep her voice level. Spender looked at her, leering smugly.

"That's where you're wrong, Agent Scully."

With that he turned and walked away, leaving a frustrated and confused Scully in his wake. She watched his retreating back for a minute until he opened the door to the stairwell and disappeared out of sight. Shaken, Scully turned and picked up the package of animal crackers, her mind overflowing with new and unanswered questions.

As she walked back down the corridor toward Mulder's room, she remembered the conversation she and Mulder had had with Agent Doggett.

The incriminating photos had said it all.

He's been in on it since the beginning. She then thought of what the Smoking Man had just said to her, and began to see the connection... or at least some kind of connection.

In fact, you could say that his condition is the fault of the Assistant Director.

He meddled in things beyond his comprehension. She gathered that Skinner was somehow responsible for his own abduction, but she had not and still did not understand why he was taken.

Unless... No. Scully, deep in thought, came to a stop outside Mulder's door and looked in on him. Skinner could not have knowingly been involved in his abduction unless the intended abductee was someone else entirely... Mulder.

Author's Notes: Well, I guess you all knew that already... or you at least suspected. I didn't want to post this chapter without Chapter 13 as its companion, but with school, work and extra-curriculars, Chapter 13 doesn't look like it'll be posted any time too soon, so I thought I would give you this one at least. Once again, (I seem to say this every time) I'm sorry it's taking so long between posts. Usually I'm more prompt with posts than this, but I guess I could blame my newfound laziness on the fact that my senior year is absolutely crazy.

And I'm babbling again, so I'll leave you now. Thanks for reading, and let me know how I'm doing!