Scully went to check on Christian again and somehow, despite everything she was feeling and going throw. The sight of him made her smile as it always did. "Herro, Dr. Scully."

"Hi Christian, how are you feeling today?" she touched his arm as she came to stand next to his side as she often did.

"I'm doin okay, how 'bout you, Dr. Scully?"

Scully sighed. "I think I am doing okay," she didn't intend to sound so unsure.

The boy surprisingly gave her a disbelieving look. "You look sad."

"What makes you say that, Christian?"

"You're not yourself today."

Scully looked down and sighed. "Well, you are right, Christian. I am worried about someone close to me who just had major surgery."

It took effort, but the boy whom she thought probably resembles William at this point frowned. "Major surgery, like me?"

Scully nodded. "Yes, kind of like that."

Sensing her sadness, he smiled at her. "You're dah best doctah in the world. You made me better, so I am sure he will get better, too."

This boy's words warmed hear heart and something about him always gave her courage to continue what she did best, save lives. She hoped his treatment would be enough to save him.

She reached out and gently stroked his forehead. "Sweet Christian," she found herself whispering as an image of William as a baby popped into her head.

The boy didn't seem fazed by her lack of professionalism just then though. "I bet you're dah best mommy in the world too."

Now if nothing else brought on onset of tears, that sure did. However, she was startled by Skinner at the door, who was obviously surprised by her expression. "Scully…Dana, are you okay?"

Scully nodded quickly and stepped towards him. "Sir…" she asked hopefully.

"He came out of surgery a little while ago. He's not conscious yet and they aren't sure when that will be."

Scully looked back at Christian and smiled. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

He smiled at her as she followed Skinner down the hall. "I need to see him now," she said as more of a statement than a question.

"While you were gone they said they were going to move him to the recovery room until he regains consciousness."

"Did they say anything else…do they know if he's going to be okay?" she asked hurriedly.

Skinner shook his head. "They didn't tell me anything else, believe me, I tried."

"That boy just now…"Skinner started. "Was that…"

Scully managed a brief nod, knowing Skinner already put the same connection together that she did.

Once they were allowed into the recovery room, Scully wasn't given much more information than Skinner was, so she decided to look over Mulder's paperwork herself. The surgery was successful, but it was now a matter of when Mulder would become conscious to know if there was any long term damage. Scully ordered to have a cot brought in so she could stay with him until he woke up…no matter how long it took.

Scully fought back tears at the sight that was so similar to when he came back from the dead. She felt a horrible sense of de ja vu upon entering his room. Here she was, pregnant again, only he was very much alive…she hoped anyways.

She gently took his hand in her own. "I know you didn't believe me earlier, but I do love you, Mulder and that's not going to change."

She watched the beeping machines monitoring his vital signs. She felt her eyes beginning to close. She decided to lie down next to Mulder. At least she could finally get some much needed sleep while she waited for him to wake. While one hand never left his, the other gently rested on the still very small bump of her stomach. She felt herself being swept away from the real world quite quickly.

Skinner of course, was always a man who got what he wanted. After John Doggett had arrived to wait with Monica, Skinner pressed for more answers on Mulder. About 20 minutes after a lengthy and somewhat heated discussion, he opened the door to the recovery room Mulder was in, only to see a sight he was now so accustomed to seeing. Scully was fast asleep at Mulder's side, her hand tightly enclosed around his.

Scully didn't flinch at the movement in the room. She must have been exhausted with the added stress of her pregnancy. He noted that she didn't have any sort of blanket, so he sighed as he left the room to go retrieve one, which required a little more use of his authority, but he got it done and insisted he bring it in himself as he didn't want anyone to disturb either one of them unless it was necessary. He also grabbed an extra chair from a room nearby and managed to get back into the room as quietly as he could. He gently draped the blanket over Scully's shivering form. A minute or two later, he could tell she was much more comfortable, yet didn't wake. He proceeded to take a seat in the chair opposite Mulder.

He flipped through some magazines for what seemed like an eternity before he heard a slight change in beeping on the machines next to Mulder and then some movement. He looked over to see Scully was still in a deep slumber. Who knew the last time she had gotten any sleep and he was honestly a little afraid to know since this last charade of Mulder's.

He looked over at Mulder to see him making eye contact with him. "Skinner?" he seemed a little confused.

He stood to push Mulder back onto his bed. "Lay back down, you just had a major surgery."

"Scully," he muttered.

Sensing his question and urgency. Skinner nodded over in the direction of Scully's sleeping form beside him. He seemed to relax a bit at that. He didn't remember much; just that he had found the missing Agent and girl they were looking for. He remembered Scully saving his ass, just like old times. But, he also remembered Skinner was at his side and then Scully was with him again, crying to him not to leave her.

"She ok?" he muttered

Skinner nodded. "Yes, Mulder, as far as I know. She was just terrified of losing you."

"Ah." He closed his eyes.

"The girl…the Agent…"

"Monica Bannan is dead, but thanks to your…misconduct, the girl is safe."

Skinner watched Mulder stare at the ceiling without a response, so he continued.

"You're officially a free man now, Mulder. All your bank accounts, driver's license, passport etc will all be valid shortly."

He chuckled. "Well, that's good news I suppose. It is quite rough living the illegal alien lifestyle."

Skinner shook his head. "Mulder," he continued at a tone so that Scully wasn't bothered. "I shouldn't have to tell you that it also means you have some difficult choices to make."

That got his attention. "Like what, sir?"

"Like…whether or not you're coming back to the FBI or?"

"Thanks, but no thanks, Walter. I'm frankly tired of the charade and routine ass kissing."

"Well, I hope for Scully's sake, whatever decision you make won't entail a repeat of this past 24-48 hours of events."

Here it comes, Skinner's kick in the ass. He was really too tired to deal with that, so he changed the subject. "Who is running the department for paranormal investigations now anyways…after the X-Files were shut down?"

"Agent Doggett and Reyes. Once you and Scully escaped, the charges against, Kersh, myself and Doggett and Reyes were dropped quite quickly. Frankly, despite the charges against you, all the FBI really cared about was the fact that you were out of their hair. They really could have pursued you and Scully if they wanted to."

"Well, at least someone has what it takes to fight for the truth."

Skinner couldn't help but smirk. "Speaking of which, I told Agent Doggett I would meet him in the lobby. You need to get some rest if you would like to leave anytime soon, Scully too."

"Yes, sir," came Mulder's comical reply.

All Skinner could do was shake his head before he left the hospital room. Once the door closed behind him, he watched Scully in her peaceful slumber. Her long strawberry blond hair had fallen over her face and there was no stopping him once he let go of her hand to lean over and move it back into place as he often liked to do.

That was all that was needed to wake her and he instantly regretted it once he did. Her eyes popped open and she took a quick look around before she gasped. "Oh. My. God."

"No, sorry, but I'll take credit anyways," he replied in his best attempt at dry humor.

He was rewarded with a small smile that he had missed seeing for so long, especially lately.

She sat up and took his hand again. "I was so worried. I thought I was going to lose you again," she said in a broken whisper.

He felt a weird sense of de ja vu as he watched her eyes fill with tears. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily. Sorry, Scully, but I'm going to continue to be a pain in your ass for years to come…if you'll have me, of course."

Scully scoffed. Instead of dignifying him with a response she moved forward to kiss him gently on the lips and lingered for a moment before pulling back.

"So Doc, am I in the clear?"

"It does appear that way, yes," she smiled. "I was so worried and scared though, Mulder. This was what I was afraid of; you getting hurt…or worse. Knowing the possibility that I might never see you again. I-I know this is your life's work and I meant what I said. It's why I followed you, why I would do it all over again. It wasn't a lie when I said I fell in love with you…even if the timing wasn't right."

Mulder watched her for a moment, before she hesitated awkwardly. She looked down and fumbled with their enclosed fingers, fighting to find the right words. He decided to make it easier for her.

He pulled his hand away briefly, to her disappointment. But once he had her attention, he gently touched her chin and guided her gaze towards his, as he has done many times before.

"Hey, it's okay. I know…about the baby. I know it's the reason you acted the way you did and said the things you said."

Scully's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, Mulder, for not telling you. I was just so afraid…so afraid I couldn't do this again, after William."

He watched her, sensing there was more. "The only reason I didn't tell you was because…I wasn't sure what I was going to do…I didn't want to subject another child to this cruel world…with what's coming. But, I couldn't go through with the termination. I figured that the odds were so stacked against me anyways. I'm 43 years old, supposedly barren and not to mention there is a 30% chance of miscarriage in the first trimester, I was certain this pregnancy wouldn't be viable."

"Scully," he started.

"No, with everything you were going through, I didn't want to add this burden to your plate, especially since it was more than likely I would miscarry anyways. So I waited and a few weeks back, I thought I was finally having a miscarriage."

"That morning when you said you were called into work at 2AM…that wasn't the reason, was it," Mulder said matter of fact.

Scully nodded. "It should have been a relief…I wouldn't have to go through a termination, but I didn't realize I was already attached to this baby…and when I saw the blood, I suddenly realized I wanted this baby more than anything…I wanted another chance."

Mulder watched as Scully finally allowed the tears to come. He gently stroked her hand. "It's okay," he whispered.

"It turned out to be a false alarm," she continued. "But then, I had no idea how to tell you or if this was something you'd want and then this case came along…you got so invested in it that I was afraid that I had made the wrong choice. I couldn't go through with a termination, but so I was afraid that I had made a terrible mistake to choose to put another child's life in danger…another life I ultimately couldn't protect."

Mulder allowed this to sink in and honestly, it hurt and pained him to think Scully thought they would lose another child because of his quest and that his quest would never allow her to have the life he knew she desperately still wanted.

He reached back up and stroked her face. "Scully, I can't promise you that I will stop searching, but I can promise you that I'm not going anywhere and I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she's safe. Someday we will find William and make peace with our decision knowing he is okay and give him a chance to know his sister.

"You sound pretty sure it's a girl, Mulder. I wasn't aware there was father's intuition on these things. What did that surgery do to you?"

"Scully, don't worry. I may not be dying of a brain disease any longer, but I do have some...intuition on these things because of what they did to me...it's not really something I can explain, but I just know."

Scully smiled. " Well then, you might want to start placing some bets. I love you so much, Mulder."

"I love you too, Scully."

End

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this little miniseries. I think Mulder and Scully needed a bit more of a resolution towards the end of the movie…and her emotions were all over the place, so a pregnancy definitely seemed plausible and a good reason for her actions. Please follow me as I will be posting and updating other stories.