The X-Files, Scully and Mulder belong to Chris Carter.

My sincere thanks for reading and reviewing.

Chapter fifteen

Don't Give Up

Stepping away from the couple, agent Hansen looked sceptical at detective Green, "the fact they have a son together!"

Blown away Phoebe muttered, "Oh, she didn't have fun alone then."

"Pardon me?" Scully was getting tired of this foolish game of two strangers dogging their noses into her personal life. "Detective Green, do you remember the case you gave us?"

"Sure I do, I was expecting Fox to fill me in on over lunch!" Some of the air had gotten out of Phoebe, but trying to stay in the game, she leaned against the desk.

Sighing, Scully looked down, "Mulder, Skinner wants our reports by the end of the day." Looking firmly at him she continued, "I will start my tests at the lab. They've to be run for days."

"Then I guess you're free for lunch, Fox!"

"No, I'm not Phoebe! I'll start my report in the lab. You can read a copy with Skinner later." He had let this game run for far too long, he suddenly realised.

Following Scully out of the office, he tested the water by placing his hand on the small of her back; she accepted his touch. "Sorry I was an ass in there, Scully."

"Why didn't you just tell her? It's not a big secret anymore, Mulder. I think our private status is out in the open by now, don't you?"

"Guess she has a way to always corner me and maybe I was flattered." Frowning he quickly stated, "but only until I saw the relief in agent Hansen's face, when you announced, you weren't my wife.

"Hard to swallow your own medicine?" Glazing at him, she raised one eyebrow

"Come on, Scully, I've to get use to openly claiming you as my woman."

"Sure!" Rolling her eyes she said, "did you remember you laptop." Unimpressed by any of his answers, she looked at his empty hands.

"Damn!"

"Guess, we'll be writing the report together. You can do the typing." He was forgiven, after all she had enjoyed her little encounter with agent Hansen too. Smiling softly she squeezed his hand.

Fully focused Scully started the project of separating the particles in William's blood, a growing part of her wanted to cancel all the analyses; afraid of the results. Images of Gibson played vividly in her mind; the boy's ability to reading minds was more of a curse than a gift to him. The ability had forced him to hide for the last many years or be hunted down like an animal without rights. Today, Gibson was a young man and for the past four years his life had been relatively normal, especially after he had settled in Nevada with a former abducted girlfriend. Only Mulder and she knew his location.

Noticing the quietness she looked up from her task meeting his glare, "have you started the report, Mulder?"

"Of course I have, Scully!"

Not moving an inch she kept her stern stare at him, "then why are you ogling me?"

"I know you're scared of what you may find, I fear the exact same things, the possibilities we both feared before he was born, Scully. But William is fine; he is everything we dreamed of, do we need to know?"

"I need to know, Mulder. Don't you? I've never seen you back away from the truth. Why now?"

Biting his bottom lip he mumbled, "I want the truth but he's our son, I fear what it will do to you if you find something unwanted." Secretly, he feared for them both.

"I need to know, guessing would destroy me. He's our son no matter what. But I need to know how to protect him. I want to bring light to the darkness, Mulder! This is the only way I know how." As much as she dreaded the answers, she couldn't go on without them. Unshed tears found their way into the blue orbs of her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she forced them away, this wasn't the time.

"Ok."

She watched him bowing his head and running his fingers over the keyboard, soon he was engrossed in his writing. Following his example she lost herself in her work. The truth was always better than wild guessing. She would fight until her last breath for her family.

Skinner's office

14.53 P.M

Walking into Skinner's office Scully's steps automatically slowed down, so many memories were linked to this room, many unpleasant but also a few good ones. Skinner had proven his loyalty, repeatedly, in the past years, he was a dear friend.

Mulder followed behind her, his mind spinning with memories as well. They found their seats, choosing the once familiar ones. Scully seated closest to the door they had just entered.

Briefly, scanning the room she realised they were alone, detective Green wasn't here to bright up the room, yet. Crossing her legs, she studied a point just above Skinner's face.

"This is your final report, agents?"

"Yes, Sir"

Staying quiet Scully gazed at Mulder.

"Before we have company I would like to remind you of the Bureau's policy. I see you shared a room in Lethbridge, FBI doesn't allow that. Only married couples shares rooms, I won't tolerate that in the future. What you do with your spare time is your own case, but book two rooms."

"Will Scully and I be split up if we got married?"

Looking from Mulder to Scully and back to Mulder, Skinner considered his answer. "No, I don't see why they would split you up. The X-File office has never followed the rules and your returning was out of protocol too. I think the matter would be technicality overlooked. Why, are you getting married?"

"No!" The reply came fast and final from Scully.

At the same time Mulder gave his view on the matter, "maybe"

Irritation and disbelieve coloured Skinner's face, studying both agents closely his sight finally landed on Mulder. "Glad that you're agreeing on something, now that we have discussed your personal affairs and the policies of FBI, perhaps we can return to the case?"

A knock on the door interrupted their answers, begging the visitor in Skinner welcomed detective Green with a hint of coldness in his voice.

Phoebe wouldn't settle with the chair in the back where visitors normally sat during this sort of meetings, instead she pushed the chair next to Mulder, sat down and crossed her legs, swinging a foot she tried to attract attention to her legs.

Turning his head Mulder shared a smile with Scully; he wasn't tempted to look anywhere else.

"From your report, I can't really determinate the curse of death for any of the deceased. Can you enlighten me, agent Scully?"

"The toxic screens showed no trace of any drugs, alcohol or poison. Detective Green's report states that nothing abnormal or unusual were found on the crime scene or in the bodies. I've to disagree with detective Green, a note states that all organs of all seven bodies appear to have been exposed to an extremely high temperature. Almost as if the organs had been cooked but the organs never were removed from the bodies. The same seems to be the case with Jim Casey. His body was found under a tree, we found no source of heat or fire anywhere nears the body, but his inside was boiling when we found him. The outside of the body bore no evidence of being exposed to heat. Again the toxic screen showed no trace of drugs, alcohol or poison. "

"You've an explanation for this, agent Mulder?"

"Yes. Agent Scully and I attended a Native ceremony in Standoff, a sweat lodge. The healing comes from prayers and steam from the hot stones, the temperature in there was high, close to a 100 degrees. I believe Jim Casey could control this process outside the sweat lodge and without help from hot stones. He could start a sweat lodge inside a person. For a time, he used it wisely to heal his people, but as his mind turned darker and darker, he started punishing people with his ability. He demanded justice for his people and for the death of his twin brother at a Catholic boarding-school. He boiled his victims to death with his will."

Skinner held the report between his hands, with a sceptic frown he stared at the open page, moving his eyes to Scully; he studied her for a while. When she didn't object to Mulder's theory, he looked briefly at the papers before turning his glare to detective Green. Unused to this kind of cases anymore, he was a loss for words, he had seen too much to doubt but not enough to fully believe the truth in this case. He had the highest respect for the agents sitting in front of him, normally, he would support them right away, But unsure of Detective Green's agenda, he searched for the right words.

"Detective Green, what do you think of this case?"

Running her eyes up and down Mulder, Phoebe said, "a bit unexpected and challenging, I would say."

Not knowing what to make of her answer, Skinner stared at her in disbelieve, "meaning what, detective Green?"

"Agent Mulder, solved the case in a creative manner, his fresh approached of the case is acceptable for Scotland Yard, at least for now."

"I'm only half of the team." Mulder glazed at Scully.

"Well, then we're done here. Good work agents!" Skinner dismissed them.

Scully rose from the chair and stalked to the door, her mind on her son, before she had the chance to step out of the office, she was stopped by Skinner. "Agent Scully, I would like a word with you."

Stopping in her tracks she turned around, taking a few steps back, she allowed Mulder to pass her. "I'll wait for you in the office" he said in the passing. He was followed by Phoebe who looked very pleased with the situation.

Closing the door behind her Scully walked back and re-positioned in the chair again. Waiting for Skinner to talk she studied her hands.

"Agent Scully, a little while ago, I was contacted by a woman who claims to have conceived and given birth to a child, even though her doctors had stated she was barren. The child, a girl, is now 12 years old and very ill. She is in a special program outside the official medical channels. The mother fears the company behind the program is barely keeping her daughter alive, to use her as a test person for cruel purposes. "Pausing he judged her reaction, finding no emotions in her face he continued, "I know you've personal experiences, your daughter was in a special program as well. I don't want to stir up bad memories but I would like you to look into this case."

"Where does this woman live?" Scully kept her composure; Emily was a bittersweet memory, a child that wasn't meant to be, but dearly loved for the brief time they had together. She was still missed and would never be forgotten.

"Here in Washington." Handing the small case file to Scully he looked at the clock, "I've another meeting in five minutes, if you'll excuse me."

Getting up, she took the case file without feeling comfortable with it.

Walking slowly down to her basement office, Scully thought about Emily, the girl would've been 12 by now if she had lived. The fates of both her children bore similarities; both had come inexpertly into this world, and both had been given to other mothers. The pain had torn her both times. This case would bring back old memories and contact to people she wanted to hide from. Darkness kept coming at her.

She found Mulder alone in their office, "Where did Phoebe go?" Scully packed her laptop in her briefcase.

"I ditched her." Mulder looked pleased with himself.

"Guess she wasn't pleased at all?"

"Scully, do you really care?"

"Nope."