I Feel Betrayed

Part 7

by Trycee

Timeline: Season 8 between episodes after Dead Alive, starting from Three Words and ending before Vienen when Mulder makes a simple statement of acknowledgement of the baby.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files, it is owned by Chris Carter. This is written for fun not profit

The night shift is more lax when it comes to the Hospital rules and so I sat at Scully's side almost the entire night until Mrs. Scully came back in. She wasn't surprised in the least to see me there.

"Go get you something to eat, Fox...rest...I'll be here a while..."

I smile. "She's been sleep the entire time I've been here," I say. "They have her medicated. I don't even think she knew I was here..."

She smiled. "Get some rest...", she said, quietly, more like a command that a suggestion.

I nodded. "I've got work to do," I said, and then took one last look at Scully before heading out the door. I got home and showered and grabbed a piece of toast before heading out to the office. It was 6 a.m and I wanted to get a jump on the files before angry-faced Doggett threw me out of there. I sat back behind my old desk and rummaged through a few files that I knew so well. About an hour in, I could hear a few clanking of heels and I looked up to see Agent Reyes walking in. I've got my feet up on my desk as usual and I'm chewing on my pencil, there's not a speck of sunflower seeds in this office any more so I needed to chew on something.

"Agent Mulder?", she says surprised. " I was looking for Agent Doggett."

"Well, that'd make sense. It's not my office anymore but old habits die hard.", I said, putting my feet down.

"What are those?", she asks.

"Cases involving images like you described. People close to crimes who experience visions of death disassociated from reality."

"And what did you find?"

"Absolutely nothing. These visions are so random as to have absolutely no significance to the cases they're supposed to pertain to."

"You're wrong," she says defensively.

I got a kick out of that since I'm generally referred to as an 'expert' in Paranormal phenomenon but I don't mention it to her.

"I think I know these files," I say simply.

"And I know what I saw. There's a reason these things are happening. There is something at work here, and it all began with the man killed in the car crash- Bob Harvey."

" I think that's a coincidence. I think that life is full of them. "

"And full of patterns... things we see, but can't comprehend. You believe that. Why can't you believe this? "

Hmmm...that sounds like someone I know intimately from birth. "I think there's an opening coming up in this office soon. You might want to apply."

"Is that why you won't help him?"

I close the file and look at her briefly. Honestly, helping the guy isn't the top of my priority list right now. " I have a, uh, sick friend in the hospital and, uh, I think I should go see her."

I hand her the files and I put on my coat and head for the hallway.

"I hope she gets well. This office down here needs at least one person with an open mind.

I turn and walk back again. This Agent Reyes is relentless. "You'll say anything, won't you?"

"Only when I think I'm right."

I chuckle to myself. Maybe I can step away from the X-Files with someone like her apart of it, I think to myself as I head towards the hospital to see Scully.

Maggie had gone to the hospital cafeteria when I got there and so Warden E.R. Nurse wouldn't let me see her. I had to wait until Maggie came back and then she asked the Warden if it were okay if I saw her briefly. The Warden agreed to 5 minutes. I was beginning to think I could only slip in and see Scully at night. I kissed her cheek as Maggie watched me and I ran my hand over Scully's small but strong arm. "Has she been awake?", I ask her.

"Not for long," she sighed. "They're keeping her medicated so she's not experiencing any pain. They'll be monitoring her for a few days."

I nodded but suddenly I got a call from Agent Reyes. After speaking to her briefly, I turned to Maggie. "I've got to go to South Carolina...but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay...But it would be better if you could be close by...", she said, sternly.

"I will...none of them know that I'm the...", I said, pausing for a moment, feeling suddenly embarrassed in front of Maggie. "That I'm the dad..."

"I know...", she said quietly. "And I know why...but that makes it harder for you to be there for her."

"I know...but she's worried about our jobs...", I told her. "And so for right now...until the baby comes or she decides if she's gonna stay on with the X-Files or if she's gonna return to teaching at Quantico, we have to keep it this way."

Maggie glanced over to her daughter sleeping peacefully. "I understand...I don't like it...but I understand...", she sighed. "I've got to get some rest..."

"You go...", I said. "She's only sleeping right now any way..."

Maggie touched my arm briefly as if to say she was glad I was here and I watched her leave. I kissed Scully on the cheek again. "I'll be back soon," I said, as I turned to take my leave. I had a long nearly 8 hour drive ahead of me.

I reached Spartanburg in the morning and caught up with Agent Reyes who'd also called Agent Doggett to come as well. I thought I'd wait for him near the police car since the area was sectioned off after finding the body of a woman. Agent Doggett arrived near eleven o'clock and he took one look at me as he was climbing up the slightly steep hill. "What am I doing here?"

You know the woman better than I do, I thought. "Been asking myself that same question, Agent Doggett. But it seems the tenacious Agent Reyes does not want to let go of this one."

"Of what?", he asks.

I don't answer him, I just lead him over to the crime scene.

"She's got a murder victim out here, a woman found shot. She thinks it's probably the same man who killed those two people down in New Orleans- this Jeb Dukes."

"What does she want from me?", he asks confused.

"She wants to know if you see it, too. What she's been seeing."

"I told you, there's no connection," he isn't as gruff as he was after slamming me against the wall but I can see it was still bothering him, my involvement in his son's case.

"Agent Doggett," Reyes says turning towards him as she stands in a semi-circle with a group of officers who make way for Doggett.

I watch them until Doggett walks back over closer to where I was still standing.

"You're just afraid to go there," Reyes calls after him.

I like her gumption but I don't think pissing him off would be wise. "Whoo," I say, directed to Reyes. "You just keep shooting till you hit something, don't you? ",

She ignores me of course.

"You'd rather blind yourself to the connections, but I can't."

"You keep talking about these connections. Connections to what? To who?", he says.

"What if this is a thread of evil … connecting through time through men, through opportunity, connecting back to you. In India, in Africa, in Iran, in the Middle East, in the Far East. Most of the world, they take it as a given. They see evil in death the way other people see God in a rose."

I butt in. "I saw Elvis in a potato chip once. "

She glances over to me and I guess my sense of humor wasn't appreciated. "You know what I'm talking about," she states to me.

"Yes, I do. I do. ," I say turning to look at Doggett. "But if this man doesn't see it, he doesn't see it, right?"

He wouldn't see a stick if it were shoved up his ass, I think. They both ignore me and I think my time spent with these lovely Agents is done. I've got a very long ride ahead of me to get back to someone very important.

By the time I got to the hospital it was almost 3:30 in the morning. The warden would be coming on duty in four hours but that gave me four solid hours to be with Scully without her breathing down my neck. I opened the door and peered into her room. "You awake?", I ask from the door.

"Yeah," she says opening her eyes and looking at me.

I have to admit she is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen, tubes and monitors and all. I walk in and notice her hand protectively covering her stomach.

"What did the doctor say?", I ask, eyeing her pudge.

"That I had a partial abruption. Which means that my placenta started to tear away from the uterine wall. They're going to need to monitor me for awhile."

Okay, I don't know what that means..."But you're going to be fine?"

"Yeah," she smiles at me and then the baby must've kicked because her full attention went straight to her abdomen.

I couldn't help myself, I needed to touch, I needed to feel for myself. I rested my hand on top and there were several mighty strong kicks in there. I couldn't believe it, that's my baby in there. I looked at her with pure joy and wonderment. How did we get this lucky? She looks so happy when she looks at me touching her stomach. I think she's wanted me to do that the entire pregnancy but I was gone for most of it. I think I just made a little Scully fantasy come true...another one that it is.

"Where have you been?," she asks.

I don't want to break this contact but I know I have too. "I've actually been out in the field with Agent Doggett and this, um, female Agent from New Orleans."

"Agent Reyes,"

I'm surprised that Scully knew her. "Yeah," I answer.

"I like her," she tells me.

I chuckle at that. She was definitely not the type I'd ever see Scully hanging out with. "You're nothing at all alike."

"Well, then neither are you and I.," she says and I can hear a hint of love in her voice. The first time I've heard it since I was the one laying in the bed just a week and a half before. "So this is a case you're working on?"

"Yeah. Actually, one that involves Agent Doggett's son, the son who died."

"Yeah, he's never talked to me about him, but I know something. Are you able to help him at all?", she asks sleepily.

Help him out the door, maybe, I think. "You can't help a man who can't help himself."

"He's worth the effort, Mulder," she says looking intently at me.

I nod a little. Maybe...I can...try...to...get...to...know...him...maybe...?

"He came to see me...", she says looking up at me.

"He did?"

"Yeah, he was just standing here...Kind of dazed...", she says through unfocused eyes.

"That didn't creep you out any?", I ask.

"Well, for a moment...I expected to see you here...", she sighed.

"I have been here..."

She focused harder on me. "You have?"

"Yes...me and your mom. But they keep throwing me out because I'm not your husband..."

Scully looks guilty. "I'm sorry, Mulder, I know it would be easier if we just told them...but..."

"I know...but the night shift lets me sit in here with you all night...You were just too sleepy to know I was here..."

"Okay...", she said with a yawn.

That triggered a yawn from me as well. I plopped down on the chair and pulled it up closer and laid my hand back on Scully's stomach. "This baby's a fighter..."

"Yes," she smiled to me. "A survivor."

I nodded and then kissed her hand. "I love you Scully," I whisper.

"I love you too...", she said before falling back asleep.

I was able to rest peacefully in the chair alongside her. I woke up in the morning to find Maggie standing with the Warden and the Warden nodded to me. I was surprised. Either Maggie had said something or the staff figured out who I was to her or they just got tired of trying to kick me out, I'm not sure but even the Warden E.R. Nurse left me alone. I hadn't showered or eaten anything but Maggie brought me a sandwich and an ice tea, Scully must've told her it was my favorite. I thanked her and she hugged me letting me know she was heading back to Scully's apartment. I spent the rest of the day watching over Scully, only getting up when nature called. When I entered back into the room though I was surprised to see Agent Doggett standing there staring over at her while she slept peacefully and it ruffled my fur, I have to admit. I didn't know the guy that well to have him standing over her like that.

"Agent Doggett...," I said with a tone. I nodded towards the hall letting him know I wanted him out of there.

He gave me this look that could cut steel but I had to let him know she was off limits. If we were gorilla's I'd be stomping around right now and beating my chest, letting the other males know that this was my territory. But being that we were humans, I did what I needed to do. I closed her door, crossed my arms and stood in front of the door protectively. Doggett stood across the hall from me, obviously getting the message.

"She just fell back to sleep," I tell him, an air of 'back the hell off', in my tone.

"I just wanted to check to see how she's doing," he replied, noticing my stance and ducking his head slightly. "Anyways, I'm here with this other thing. We, uh, we caught this killer, Jeb Dukes. He's in the ICU. He may not make it."

'He's worth the effort, Mulder', she had said. Okay, Scully, this is my one and only attempt to reach out to the guy.

"And now you're wondering if there really was a connection," he gives me a look that tells me he's heard stories about Ole Spooky. "You know, when I, uh... I first came to work at the FBI, I worked at Violent Crimes, and I saw, I saw the worst of humanity. I saw monsters and I wondered how they became that way, how these men became so evil. I know there were psychological explanations- victims of their environment, victims of their parents- but the scientific explanations were never truly satisfying. And I began to think about evil like, like a disease. You know, that it goes from man to man or age to age. Most of us walk around thinking we're incapable of any acts of evil and we are. You know, we can stifle that momentary urge to kill or to hurt. We have some kind of immunity to it. But I think it's possible that there's... an occurrence in somebody's life, a tragedy or a loss that leaves them vulnerable, hurts their immunity to evil, and all of a sudden at that point in their lives when they're weakened, they're open to evil and they can become evil."

"If that were true, then what you're saying is... is that this man we wheeled in here tonight is infected with evil, the same evil that killed my son. You really believe that, Agent Mulder?"

"Uh, I'm not really a good test for questions like that. I'll believe almost anything, you know, but the, uh... the pisser is you may never know. It may be like Agent Reyes says. It could be random and meaningless- who it affects, who it goes to."

"What if it isn't?"

"Well, then you'd be seeing something that I don't, Agent Doggett."

He nods to me and then walks off and I lean against the door. This Male Gorilla has won the battle.

I heard from Agent Reyes herself that she'd been attacked and that Agent Doggett had rescued her. Reyes came to visit Scully the next day and she was banged up against the side of her head. Apparently this evil had jumped from the suspects dead body into the sister who attacked Reyes, or so it's Reyes theory. Yeah, I think that opening could be filled pretty easily with her in it, I think to myself. I noticed Doggett didn't try to come back to see her but when he did, he stayed out of room. I was personally grateful for that. Scully though was worried about Reyes and John but I tried to reassure her that they could make it just fine on their own.

Scully was released a few days later and Maggie decided to leave Scully in my very capable hands. That's the one thing we were always good at, taking care of each other. Maggie also told me how grateful she was that I'd fixed up the baby's room.

"We need to have the baby shower," she announced.

Scully rolled her eyes as she sat in her bedroom resting with the both of us hovering around her.

"Mom," Scully said, looking annoyed. "I don't exactly have any girlfriends any more...", she said, not looking at me.

I already knew that I was her only friend and she were mine.

"I'll invite a few women from church, " Maggie said. "Maybe Jill and Tara could come?"

Scully smiled and then shot me a look that read, 'I don't want a bunch of people in my house,' and I chuckled.

Maggie had made enough food for her pregnant daughter to last past the next two months left of our pregnancy, I noticed, and so she kissed Scully good bye and hugged me tightly before setting off for her own home. I had other plans though, I wanted us to pick up where we left off before the hospital intervention. I still wanted Scully to open the gift we'd both forgotten about until we returned home to find the house spotless from Maggie, though it was spotless already from Scully, and to find the gift still waiting on the couch. When Maggie had left, I let Scully rest the entire night and day, but then I told her I'd be back and so I went to pick up a pizza. I had moved the gift out of her reach on purpose but when I came back I put the pizza on the coffee table and went to grab the gift and a few plates while she sat on the sofa, holding her stomach protectively as she always did. I put the gift behind her and I fidgeted around and she couldn't see me but she tried to follow my movements anyway.

"Mulder, you never fail to surprise me," she said.

Good, I always want to surprise you Scully.

"I just wish I felt like eating it right now."

"That's cool," I say. "We can just wait for the cheese to congeal and eat it later."

I sit down close to her and put the plates down on the table next to the open pizza loaded with toppings. I can see this isn't her type of pizza at all. "You miss your regular pizza man, don't you?"

She pouts a little, jokingly. "Yes. That's okay. He's coming by later," she says suggestively.

This time I'm cut off guard by the joke. But she looks at me and laughs and I laugh back. I reach behind me and pull out the present I had waiting to give her again. "I bet you forgot about that, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't, actually. I thought about it a lot while I was lying in my hospital bed wondering what on earth you could have given me. "

I watch as she opened it.

"And?", I ask impatiently.

."Oh, my god," she says looking stunned. "Oh, Mulder," she said, looking lovingly at the rag doll.

"Is it what you imagined?"

"Not even close," she giggled.

Finally a gift she wants, I pat myself mentally on the back.

I lean over and look at the doll carefully.

"Oh, my, that's the wrong doll, actually."

She giggled and swiped me with the doll. "But then that's the other gift that you gave me, Mulder."

I am frozen. Did she mean the baby or something else? "Courage... to believe. And I hope that's a gift I can pass on."

I looked down at the miracle we had hoped for and we both smiled. She touched the doll's face affectionately and I watched her with awe. This woman and this baby were my gifts.

THE END

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