15.
Skinner rubbed at his face tiredly, stifling a yawn behind his large hands and glancing at his wristwatch. 1:03am. He really should go home, he thought logically, go home, get some sleep and have a shower. Then come back tomorrow morning.
Yes. Home sounded good.
He shifted in his chair, cursing hospitals for only having uncomfortable chairs, and glanced at his watch again. 1:03am. Funny, he'd have thought some time would have passed.
In the dimly lit room shadows cast by the luminescent screens of monitoring equipment flickered across the floor, the hushed sound of footsteps and life passing by the doors still managing to creep in beneath the heavy door.
On the bed, Mulder lay still and unmoving, his heart rate steady and his breathing constant.
Skinner could only wonder how a man they had been chasing for two days managed to end up washed onto a beach in his pyjamas and a battered woman in his arms.
1:05am.
Skinner yawned again; this was getting ridiculous. This time he really was going home. He rose to his feet slowly, stretching kinked back muscles and working his shoulders to re-establish movement. Maybe he'd check in on Scully before he went though, assuming they let him into the ICU this time.
He'd picked up his coat and slung it over his arm when he noticed the small movements on the bed.
"Mulder?" he said, moving to stand beside the man.
A soft moan issued from the bed, and Mulder's eyelids fluttered in the dim light.
"Mulder?" Skinner said again, watching intently.
"Oh," Mulder groaned, his eyes opening a crack.
"How're you feeling?" Skinner asked softly.
"Skinner?" Mulder mumbled, frowning.
"Yeah, it's me. How are you doing, Mulder?"
"I'm okay," Mulder said instantly.
"What happened?"
"We were running," Mulder whispered as his eyes closed. "Running from them. They wanted Adam."
"Adam?"
"Our baby."
Skinner felt his eyebrows hike a few metres up his forehead. "They wanted your baby, Mulder?"
"Yeah. Krycek had him. Scully didn't want to- Scully!" Mulder gasped, his eyes flying open, panicked. "Scully. Where is she?"
"Easy, Mulder," Skinner cautioned. "She's here."
"Is she okay?" Mulder demanded.
"She's sick, Mulder," Skinner said warily.
"I know," Mulder said, closing his eyes. "We took the chip out. I want to see her, Skinner."
"You can't, Mulder. You're under house arrest, and you're in no condition to go anywhere. Now get some sleep, I'm going to call a doctor."
"I need to see her," Mulder insisted, but his words were slurred and his eyes couldn't stay open.
"I know, Mulder, and you will," Skinner promised. "Just take it easy now."
The words were unheard though, and Skinner found himself sighing as he stared down at the sleeping man again. Shaking his head slightly, he pulled his coat on and left the room quietly to find a doctor and let them know that Mulder had woken for a few minutes.
He could hear Mulder three doors before he reached Mulder's room. The model patient, as usual, was demanding to see Scully.
Skinner flashed his ID briefly at the new guard on duty and entered the room quickly. "Mulder," he said sharply before Mulder could form his next sentence, "you aren't going anywhere until we have some answers."
Mulder snapped his mouth shut and gazed obstinately at Skinner.
The young nurse, her mouth tight with barely disguised annoyance, glanced over at Skinner before turning back to Mulder. "Will that be all, Mr. Mulder?"
"Yes, thanks," Mulder said shortly, glowering as the nurse retreated from the room and left him alone with Skinner. "Am I under arrest, Skinner?" he asked pointedly.
"Good morning, Mulder, it's nice to see you too," Skinner responded politely. "Mulder, where the hell have you been?"
"East Coast, Sir," Mulder responded innocently.
Skinner sighed, rubbing at his face. "Mulder, do you understand the seriousness of this situation?" Skinner asked tiredly. "Kersh is going to be in this afternoon along with several members of the review board to find out what happened – they're saying you murdered a Derek Smithton."
Mulder flinched slightly, sucking his breath in sharply, but he didn't answer.
"Mulder, I can't help you unless you talk to me. Delusional excuses about children and Krycek just aren't going to be accepted by the board."
"They're not delusional," Mulder muttered, closing his eyes. "Krycek had Adam. He didn't jump."
Skinner frowned. "I need you to tell me what happened, Mulder," he said softly. "Now, while you have a fair audience. Maybe I can do something to help you if I know what you did."
Mulder chuckled bitterly, the laughter dying abruptly as his face contorted with pain. He cradled his right arm protectively, hugging it close.
"What do you want to know?" he asked, sighing.
"What happened – and start at the beginning."
"Someone sent Scully information regarding children produced by her ova."
Skinner flinched. "Oh, God."
"They were all dead, Skinner. All of them. But we had names and dates and clinics to work with. We wanted to destroy them, bring them into the open," Mulder said quietly, shutting his eyes.
"What did you find?"
Mulder chuckled again, careful not to move too much. "Nothing," he said simply. "Absolutely nothing. Kersh found us, and suspended us."
"So what happened?"
Mulder fidgeted uncomfortable with a sheet, evading Skinner's gaze before sighing and meeting it squarely. "Sir, were you aware that Agent Scully underwent IVF treatment over a year ago?"
Skinner's eyebrows hike a few more inches past his nonexistent hair line. "No."
"Well, she did," Mulder said uneasily. "And I… I agreed to help," he added.
Skinner nodded; not unexpected if Scully had gone through IVF. "I wasn't aware that Scully was pregnant," Skinner said. "She didn't show."
"She wasn't," Mulder said softly. "We thought it didn't work. But it did work, only they didn't implant Scully with the embryos. They put them in other women and stole her babies from her again," he said fiercely.
"How do you know this?" Skinner asked. "Can you prove it?"
"Adam was our proof," Mulder said. "He was the link we needed to validate our investigation."
"Then why didn't you come forward with this?" Skinner demanded.
"Because he was our child, Skinner," Mulder said softly. "Our baby. And we had to steal him to get him back. How could we use him as proof, when we weren't supposed to have him in the first place?"
Mulder was right, Skinner knew, it was wrong to use a child as proof. Especially of the evil Mulder and Scully had been trying to uncover.
"Then Krycek came," Mulder continued weakly. "Scully was right. We shouldn't have listened to him."
"What did you do, Mulder?"
"Krycek said Adam was immune to the black oil. That the rebel aliens wanted him because of a natural immunity he had. Something about Scully's ova and my immunity, I don't know. I listened to him, because I was already scared of what could happen, and I made the wrong choice."
"What happened?"
"They came," Mulder said. "They came and we ran, me and Scully and Krycek. With Adam. The forest was burning, and I could see them, so Scully and I jumped, and Krycek was going to jump with Adam. But he didn't jump, Skinner, he didn't jump."
"Mulder, there weren't any casualties found in that forest fire," Skinner said gently. "If you were on the cliffs where that fire was, the only way out was to jump. If Krycek didn't jump, he was burnt."
"No, he wasn't," Mulder argued. "He didn't jump. I saw him, Skinner, he was working with them!"
"Can you prove any of this?" Skinner asked wearily.
"I don't care about proving it!" Mulder yelled. "He's got my son, Skinner! He gave my son to those faceless bastards who go around with a stick and turn people into shish kebabs for the hell of it!"
The reality of Mulder and Scully having a child was not easy for Skinner to comprehend and accept. It was a concept, an ideal, but not a reality. He could not imagine a living, breathing baby which Mulder and Scully valued above their truth.
"Mulder, I don't know what to tell you," Skinner said tiredly. "I don't even know if I believe this story," he admitted. "There's no proof that you or Scully had a child."
"You're wrong," Mulder smirked. "We have Adam's PCRs. Frohike ran full blood works and everything. We've got everything on file; it's in our motel room."
"They've been through your motel room," Skinner said softly. "What was left of it."
Mulder simply stared.
"It was burnt to the ground, Mulder, nothing was left."
"It's okay," Mulder said calmly. "The Gunmen had the original documents too. They found Adam and Byers brought him to us."
Skinner blew his breath out of his mouth noisily, shaking his head in relief. "Then maybe we can prove this, Mulder, and that would change the position you've found yourself in considerably."
"What about Scully?" Mulder questioned instantly.
"Mulder," Skinner started, stopping. "Mulder, she's dying."
"I don't want to hear that."
"The cancer is back, Mulder, and it's metastasised. Unless… unless…" he couldn't finish the sentence.
"I want to see her, Skinner," Mulder said softly. "I need to see her."
Skinner nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"You have to find him, Skinner. Krycek. He's got Adam, or he knows where he is. I will not lose my son as well."
"I'll try, Mulder, I promise. Now you get some rest."
Mulder nodded reluctantly, but his face was pale and his lips were drawn with pain, so Skinner knew he would do as ordered.
