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Burning Snowflakes
…Part Five…
Scully didn't expect to see him in the office the next morning. She had not expected to find herself there either. Yet, she was there and he wasn't. Hands wrapped around a coffee mug Scully seethed, the jerk was probably sleeping in, both himself and Danica worn out from the night before. She should be sleeping in. She was the one he woke, Scully mused, as she lifted the warm mug of wakefulness to her lips.
It wasn't his fault. Not really. He couldn't help that the little girl was upset; he couldn't help the bruises that covered her body, or the trauma that wrapped around her mind. He could not help that she was a child, who was still yet to finish teething.
Scully's eyes were closed the minute her head hit the pillow after Mulder left. Danica stalked the edges of her sleep. She was not troublesome there, she was warm and comforting, she made Scully sink further into her bed sheets, her whole body warm with joy. That was before the dark men came, she could not see their faces in her dream, only that their clothes were black and their faces hidden. She was made to watch helplessly as they hurt the little girl, poked and prodded at her tiny being. Scully tossed and turned throughout the mornings early hours, Danica's pain re-enacted in her mind. She had to protect that little girl; she had to make sure she was safe and loved, no longer alone and unprotected.
Scully didn't know how long she remained leaning with her elbows on the desk, her hands holding the coffee mug to her cheek, while her eyes fluttered and sleep threatened to take over. Familiar footsteps echoed down the hallway, breaking into her foggy mind. It was the sound of lighter footfalls, faster than the familiar ones that had her instantly awake.
Danica's head peeked through the door, fingers still in her mouth. There was a happy smile on her face, one that expanded even more so at the pleasant surprise of finding Dana Scully in the basement office. 'Dana!' She squeaked, her feet galloping as she pushed herself through the door. Scully beamed as she pushed back from her partner's desk, her arms held out ready to catch the little girl.
'Hallo, Liebling.' She could not help the smile as she squeezed the little girl tightly when she finally collided into her chest. Lifting the girl easily into her lap Scully hugged her again before pulling the chair a little closer to the desk and chatting to the girl in basic, rusty, German. Danica's responses were never much, simple 'ja' or 'nein' when she wanted to respond. Mulder was ignored.
He watched on from his place just inside the door as his partner welcomed the foreign girl into her life smoothly like the ocean on calm, gentle days. Quietly, Danica listened as Scully moved between German and English, communicating with the child who had slumped against her chest. 'Did you take her to a doctor?' Scully asked, concern lacing her voice as she cradled the quiet child. She had been energetic upon entering the room, but now that she was sat in Scully's lap, the girl fell into lethargy.
Mulder nodded, hands slipping into the pockets of his suit pants. 'Yeah, I ah, took her to a general practitioner. You were right, Scully, teething. She gave the poor guy a run for his money,' Mulder shrugged, his face mournful. 'Turns out Danica is not too impressed with people poking at her.' Scully's face paled, her hands fluttering to the hem of Danica's powder blue dress. Of course the little girl was fearful, why wouldn't she be. A lot of children were cautious of their doctors. Danica already had a history, one with black marker smudged over the important details. Distracting herself Scully smoothed out blue fabric over garish rainbow stockings that wrapped around Danica's little legs.
'She was hurt, possibly tested on, tortured even. We don't know what happened to her Mulder, there could be a very good reason as to why she would react that way.' She was almost scared to acknowledge the truth about the young girl, Mulder was the psychologist and yet he was avoiding analysing her behaviour. They had proof of foul play, she had seen the bruises on Danica's body and the fear in her young eyes. Danica hiccoughed against Scully's chest, whimpering quietly as she collected comfort from the woman who had done her no harm. 'Why is she here?' Scully questioned, running her hands through the little girl's soft hair. She realised, quite quickly, how much she was mothering Danica. Scully acknowledged her behaviour and the short time in which it developed and yet couldn't help her hands from straightening Danica's clothes, or combing through her hair.
Mulder watched his partner quietly before he shrugged, a sheepish light flashing in his eyes. 'I didn't know where else to take her,' He offered the woman sitting at his desk, nurturing the child in her lap. 'I'm not comfortable leaving her with a stranger.' His shoes kicked at the floor, embarrassed. He was protective and although Scully knew there was that side of him, she was shocked every time he displayed it.
'She'll have to go to Kindergarten at some point, Mulder.' Scully offered softly, gentle advice. Mulder nodded, his eyes catching hers through thick lashes, Danica oblivious between them.
It was the white Peter Pan collar on Danica's dress that Scully found herself fiddling with next. She had to give Mulder credit, the girl was nicely dressed, if not for the garish stockings, and yet her appearance was somewhat dishevelled. Scully smiled, chuckling to herself slightly. 'Did you have to wrestle her into her clothes?' Rhetorically she teased, eyes flashing when her partner's cheeks flushed.
Mulder shook his head. There had been a small argument about the stockings, and she won. Danica was a good girl, mostly complacent, but that morning she had discovered a wild nature and a comfortable attitude enough to take to climbing the furniture.
Scully laughed, her head tilting to catch Danica's face. The delicate girl looked at her with wide eyes, blue searching blue looking for silent answers in the other's face. 'Sie sind eine Affe,' Scully chuckled again, bopping Danica on the nose as she accused the girl of being a monkey. Shyly, Danica shook her head, before hiding her face in Scully's blouse.
Scully turned a worried look to Mulder at the girl's behaviour, she was quiet in general, but she was still capable of cracking a smile. 'She's just tired,' Mulder shrugged. Regardless of how quiet she had been when he left Scully's apartment the night before, Danica had hardly sleep. Her little eyes remained wide open after he returned home. The ordeal with the doctor that morning hadn't helped in inspiring a cheerful, open, mood. 'I was going to request leave from Skinner and then take her home, she needs a nap, and I need to find a nanny.' Scully relinquished her hold on the small toddler, instantly mourning her warmth as Mulder lifted her up and into his arms.
[…]
Stepping off the elevator Danica hid behind Mulder's legs. Her request to stand on her own, once she realised it wasn't Scully cuddling her, had now become a bad decision. For every step Mulder took, Danica had to take four. She followed him shyly through the busy hallway, federal agents mulling around her, staring at the man and the little girl.
Whispers were starting to flow concerning who the girl was. Danica didn't understand their words. Anxiety ebbed at her, swirling in her mind with the foreign language, her whole body going quickly into overdrive.
It took her a second to lose him in the river of tall people in business suits. Her vision blurred as she stopped, her hands fisted around the hem of her dress. She was trying to differentiate one voice from the next, hoping that her saviour was talking. He wasn't. His voice nor Dana's could be heard, just a low rumble of foreign whispers. Her heart was pounding erratically, her vision completely smudged. The walls closed in on her, as long grey legs pushed past her, half stumbling over her little body as they moved on, undeterred in their business. She panicked, tears burned at her eyes as she gasped for air.
Exhaling shakily, she screamed one easily translatable word; 'PAPA!' Her voice cried, hot tears flowing across her cheeks.
He was there in a second, her saviour. She couldn't see him, but she felt his arms wrap around her as he lifted her from the ground, his warm smell enveloping her as he carried her into the quiet. Her breaths were short and fast as the world crashed back down around her. Mulder's voice gently stroked her ears, words of encouragement the little girl did not understand and one word she did. He chanted it, the German word turning itself into a mantra. Sicher. Sicher. Sicher. Safe. Safe. Safe. He repeated it over and over, the words becoming so frequent that she inhaled one with every shuddering breath.
Slowly but surely, the spinning world slowed. Her eyes focused on the hazel eyed man who held her tight. He uttered the word one more time before pressing a gentle, loving kiss to her forehead. The only sound that filled the room after his words stopped was the light tapping of fingers against a keyboard which too stopped when the girl's shaking subsided.
Kimberly rose from her desk slowly, cautious not to frighten the already shaken girl. She had missed what happened in the hallway but had heard the girl's scream and had seen the tears and shakes when Mulder brought her in enough to recognise a panic attack when it was shivering in front of her.
She stopped, five feet away from the man sitting with the girl, huddled in his arms on the couch. 'Agent Mulder?' Her voice was a whisper, quiet enough that he had to strain to hear the words she spoke. Kimberly held out her hand, a small bag of jelly beans sat in her palm. She was asking if it was okay to approach, if it was okay to offer the girl the candies she kept stashed in her draw. Realising what she was asking Mulder nodded softly before whispering her name to the little girl.
A small congregation had formed outside of the door, nosy agents trying to get a peek at the little girl who had caused rumours to spread like wildfire. Office gossip hadn't been fuelled as much as this before, a little girl calling Spooky Mulder 'Papa', there was definitely enough speculation there to fuel the office for months. He knew, without actually knowing, that betting pools were already being set up.
Danica shifted on his lap, her interest peaked at the candy. She eyed the secretary carefully, her head tucked into Mulder's neck. Sitting next to Mulder, Kimberly inched closer to the girl, her hand held out in front of her. Danica leant forward carefully, her eyes glued to Kimberly's as she lifted the small bag, half expecting it to be snatched away. 'It's for you,' Kimberly spoke, her voice still soft as she nodded with encouragement towards the little girl.
Mulder stopped her, politely telling his boss' secretary that Danica could not speak English. Turning his attention to the girl in his lap, he whispered a German word, hoping she would know to repeat it. Tilting her head shyly Danica quietly muttered; 'Danke schön'.
Skinner was the next person to speak, the door of his office flying open as he demanded angrily to know who was causing a ruckus in the hallway. Meekly pointing at Agent Mulder and the little girl Kimberly shot up from her place and hurried back over to her desk.
Wordlessly Skinner slipped back into his office, the door left open for Mulder to follow. He did as he was silently instructed, Danica clinging to his neck as he stood. He entered the room quietly, his head hung between his shoulders, feeling like a scolded child before the scolding happened. Stopping in front of Skinner's desk Mulder chanced a look at the rigid man.
'What the hell is going on here, Agent Mulder?' His voice was rough, but not angry, Mulder noted. He wasn't as mad as he should be after mass hysteria broke out in the hallway.
Mulder shifted Danica on his hip, the girl's head bobbing against his shoulder as he moved her. 'I – ah, I'm sorry about what happened out there.' With his head tilting towards the corridor Mulder apologised for the outbreak. 'I didn't realise she wasn't behind me and she panicked.' Skinner nodded, his eyes watching the quiet girl on his Agent's hip, trying to figure out why she was there and where she had come from. The girl didn't look at him while he scrutinised her, her large round eyes focused on other things in the room as she kept herself still like a frightened animal.
Staring, Skinner asked; 'Who is she?' Mulder's feet shuffled as his mind panicked. He didn't really know what he was going to say to the man about the girl on his hip, and he certainly didn't know how what he wanted to say, was going to be taken.
'My daughter,' Mulder answered in a second flat. He had the paperwork, provided by Peters, to prove it. He just didn't want to bring that one out on Skinner; falsified documents would not fool the Assistant Director.
'Daughter?' Skinner repeated, staring open mouthed at the agent now instead of the child. Mulder nodded, a small guilty smile tugging at his lips.
'It was as much of a surprise to me as it is to you, Sir.' He shrugged, Danica trying to bury herself deeper against him. Walter Skinner laughed the joke unknown to the rest of the room. 'It's why I came to you, actually.' Skinner stopped laughing. 'I know I have some vacation time. I wanted to request use of that time.' The A.D. nodded, a sigh parting from his lips. Word had only just come down to him that Fox Mulder needed to take a week of his stored eight weeks of vacation time or else they would start not paying him for said number of weeks. To be honest he had not been looking forward to forcing the man on leave he obviously hadn't needed to take. Fox Mulder, luckily, beat him to the bat on that one.
He was curious though, Skinner had to admit to himself as he watched the troublesome agent stand in front of him, toddler on his hip. The girl's features struggled to form a comparison with the man claiming to be her father. Everything about the girl was dainty, small nose, fair skin. Her hair was the only thing that struck the faintest resemblance. In all fairness Skinner would have paired her most likely to be the child of Agent Scully than that of Agent Mulder. He wouldn't fight the agent on that one; he was too tired, too sick of the arguments already and to be perfectly honest; if he wasn't being told the truth he didn't want to know the real truth where Mulder was concerned.
Skinner nodded easily, again, as he stepped around the desk. 'I can have a week's leave arranged for you by tomorrow.' He wasn't looking at Mulder; instead Walter Skinner held his hand out gently towards the little girl. 'It was nice to meet you, little miss.' He spoke softly, Danica's delicate hand coming out to brush her fingers against his shyly. Mulder stood still, rapt in avid fascination at Skinner's gentle interaction towards the small child.
'Thank you, Sir.' He managed once Danica had pulled her limb back and buried her face into his neck.
[…]
Scully met them at the elevator, her cheeks flushed red in panic. Mulder quirked his head to the side, giving her a quizzical look before Scully exhaled a heavy breath and explained. Excitement spread faster than wildfire in the Hoover Building, within seconds of Danica's shriek, she had heard about it through an agent from Violent Crimes. Not getting the full details from the inquisitive and invasive agent, Scully panicked, dashing for the elevator in fear that Danica had been hurt, and in that, not returned to Mulder's protective care.
She sighed heavily as they stepped back into the elevator, completely aware that they were being watched by several unsubtle agents. As soon as the doors to the elevator shut, leaving the three of them alone in a metal cage, Scully turned to Danica, her hand wrapping around the girl's little foot.
Mulder chuckled slightly, watching his partner's protective instinct flare as she ran the fingers of her spare hand over Danica's pink cheeks, still warm from her tears. Danica had two fingers between her lips, her little mouth sucking on whatever she was holding between them, leaving bright red to dribble across her chin. 'What've you got there, liebling?' Danica extended her hand, offering a half sucked on, slick with saliva jelly bean to Scully, little eyes wide with her offering. 'Yum,' Scully hummed, her eyes flicking towards Mulder's amused expression before she turned back to the child, her two fingers on Danica's wrist. 'Oh, no thank you, it's all for you.' Mulder chuckled again, the child jostling on his hip with his glee. Scully only rolled her eyes warning him that he would be the one with sticky belongings, not her.
Scully was half right, set on her own two feet in the security of The X-Files' basement office, Danica wrapped her sticky pink fingers around the arm rest of Mulder's chair, and on the right corner of his desk. Scully's laughter at his disgust, only drew Danica towards her. The child climbed onto Scully's lap, leaving sticky fingers on the knee of her stockings, and light pink marks on the collar of her shirt. She hardly minded as much as she thought she would, instead she focused on Danica, on the comfort the girl sought in simple attention. She could almost hear the quip rolling off Mulder's tongue concerning her now pink shirt, when she reached for the wet wipes she had stashed in her small section of the X-Files office. The humour died on his lips, clearly beaten by the well equipped medical doctor.
Mulder was more aware then, than in any other moment that he was painfully out of touch with his new found charge. Although he and Danica had developed a rhythm in caring for each other, he knew next to nothing about raising a child and the things he would need to do so along the way. Scully, however was already miles ahead, prepared with simple things like wet wipes and basic first aid.
He was out of his league, and yet again, Scully was there to remind him of the boxes he hadn't ticked.
