Disclaimer: Can't lay any claim on the X-Files or Scully and Mulder – they belong to others.

Thanks for all my wonderful reviews – I love 'em.

Chapter three

New partners

Completely alone Dana closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to steady herself. She wasn't as calm as she pretended to be. Her hands came to rest on her abdomen and the tears finally fell. She felt so utterly alone, confused and frightened. Weakness wasn't a strong virtue of hers and she hated to be kept in the blind, ironically her mind was blinding her, locking her out of her life. A kick stilled her thoughts, the baby was moving against her hands, her first reaction was to move them away from the baby, but before she could react a rush of love filled her. She loved her baby!

The realisation stopped the tears, she wasn't alone. She was carrying a small being inside of her and no matter what had happened to her, or who the father was, Dana loved her baby. And with the fullness of her abdomen she couldn't deny the fact that she was pregnant, but how had it happened? The last thing she remembered was that she was on her way down the FBI corridors to report to her new partner, Fox Mulder, according to the size of her stomach that must be close to six months ago, had she been unconscious for so many months, and where was her mother and father? Why was her new partner here and why did he care? The questions spun around in her mind.

The sound of footsteps outside her room made her look up and instantly she met the eyes of Fox Mulder rushing into her room with a doctor in tow. Seeing how gentle and warm Fox Mulder's eyes became when he noticed the wetness in her eyes, and her hands affectionately protecting her belly, Dana's heart slowed down and her body relaxed. Licking her upper lip, she wondered why he was affecting her this way. Breaking the eye contact her sight glided to the doctor, now standing in the end of her bed.

"Ms. Scully, you finally decided to come around. How are you feeling?" The doctor's eyes studied her closely.

"I'm fine." Pausing she lowered her head slightly, "but I seem to have lost five or six months. How long was I in a coma doctor…?"

Stepping closer, the doctor looked tensed, "Merse, doctor Merse. You were in a coma for close to thirteen hours, can't you remember being pregnant?"

"No." Dana quietly stated. Thirteen hours wasn't long enough for her to be unaware of her condition.

"Please tell me your full name Ms. Scully."

"I rather she didn't doctor Merse." Mulder broke in before she could answer.

"Ohm, very well. Do you know what year we are in Ms. Scully and where you are?"

Looking at her hands Dana felt grateful, when she felt a hand squeezing her right shoulder gently, her body reacted to Fox Mulder in a soothing way whenever he was near. "1993 and Fox told me we're in Canada." She sensed the tension in Fox's body when she answered the doctor.

"Err, 1993 you say, Ms. Scully, but actually the year is 2003."

In pure shock Dana threw the blanket aside and swung her feet out of the bed, "2003! This can't be!" Two strong arms held her back before she pushed her body away from the bed.

"Scully"

The pleading in his voice stilled her; he was worried for her and her baby. Touched by the caring in his word, she relaxed and stayed in the bed. Fox let go of her arms and moved around the bed and in front of her. He bowed down until he was at eyes level with her, the intensity of his stare and the pain she found in it touched her deeply.

"Please be careful, Scully." She allowed him to swing her feet back into the bed and silently watched him as he covered her with the blanket, his hands brushed gently against her abdomen, lingering for a few more moments than necessary. If it was accidentally or intentionally, she couldn't tell but unexpectedly his touch felt pleasant and calming. He wasn't taking liberties or invading her space, it was odd that she felt a bond to this stranger she didn't even share with Ethan or any former boyfriends.

"What is the last thing you remember, Scully?" His eyes never left hers.

"Walking down to the basement corridor, I had just been assigned to The X-Files." She stated in a low voice.

"Scully, that was ten years ago."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, "but it can't be, Fox. I would remember, I would remember my life."

"I'm sorry, but it's true. We have been partners for ten years now."

Still unable to believe him, Dana closed her eyes in exhaustion. So Fox Mulder wasn't a stranger, it explained a lot but the tenderness in him, he cared more than a normal partner did.

"Mr. Mulder will you step outside for a moment, please?" Doctor Merse interrupted the partners.

Dana fixed her piercing blue eyes on the doctor, "what you have to say about me you can said to my face, I'm a medical doctor and want to know the truth about my health." Releasing her hand from Fox's Dana leaned back into the bed. Her bed moved slightly when Fox moved away and took a seat in the chair next to her.

"I'm a little worried by the fact that you don't remember the last ten years Ms. Scully, it indicates that you suffer from post- traumatic amnesia which is generally due to a head injury, yours were minor and therefore, it wouldn't normally be followed by coma or amnesia. You should know that traumatic amnesia is often transient, and in your case I guess your memory will return. I haven't detected any brain damages or neurological changes."

"Good, but you're not sure when my memory will return or why I lost it?" Dana asked in her most serious voice.

"No, I will send my colleague doctor Hansen up to you as soon as possible, he's a specialist in cases involving amnesia. All I know about amnesia is that it's not advisable to feed a person with too many pieces of information about her life too fast, it must be done in a slow and careful way. "

Fixing her stare at the doctor, Dana looked sceptically, "I'll like to see my journal."

"That can be arranged, I'm sure. Doctor Hansen can bring it to you."

"I would like to se it right away doctor Merse, I'm sure you understand my request."

"Very well, Mr. Mulder can get it for you."

"Thank you." Scully offered in a cold tone of voice, she was used to fight for, what men often was simply offered; it came with being a woman in a man's world. Her thoughts turned inward as Mulder and the doctor left her room, something wasn't right. There was something they didn't tell her, had she been working on a case? Of course she had otherwise Fox wouldn't be here. Her hands landed softly on her abdomen, a dear life inside of her.

Before long Fox Mulder returned with her journal and looking up she met his tense stare, "there is something I need to tell you, Scully. We were working undercover on a case, a sensitive case only a few people knows about, the name you work under is Kate Moore." With another tense look he gave her the journal.

It didn't take long to read the thin journal, which only consisted of a few pages. "Well, my pregnancy isn't mentioned with one word and there is no personal information, why?"

"They have been sealed by Skinner, it is important that no one knows we're here or that you are pregnant". Locking eyes with him, she tried to gauge his sincerity and analyze the few pieces of information.

"I suffered a mild hit at my right temple and went into unconsciousness right away, when I arrived at the hospital I had slipped into a coma. My MRI shows no damages or changes in my brain. There is no logical reason why my memory is gone. I wonder why I choose to erase all until before 1993. At least I should remember my child's father. From your earlier statement, I guess I'm not together with Ethan anymore."

"No, that relationship ended after our first case in Oregon in 1993 – I'll tell you more when I've got a clearance from the doctors, ok?"

Sighing, she resultantly agreed, "just tell me, do you know the father of my baby?"

Giving her a sad glance, he quietly answered, "I know him well enough. Please rest for a while, Scully."

"Why are you calling me Scully? It's weird that you don't use my first name, Fox." Again she watched him flinch.

"Huh, please call me Mulder. We've always used our last names, you are Scully to me. I wouldn't want to change that."

With another sigh Dana lean back against the bed, she was still sitting and had no desire to rest, she wanted some answers. "How far along am I?"

Moving the chair closer to her bed Mulder sat down into the now familiar chair, it had been his home for the past thirteen hours. "You are in the sixth month, the 28th week, I think."

"Thank you."

"No big deal." He avoided her question filled eyes.

"You seem to know a lot about me?"

It wasn't like Scully to give up this easily and he just wondered how long he could avoid telling her the truth. "I do, we are partners, have been for 10 years. We've to be close and trust each other in our line of work. You told me once how important trust is."

Sensing there was more to his sadden demur than a simple injury of a partner, she studied him for a while. He was handsome, not in a dashing manner, but in a more honest way, and she liked his soulful eyes. She was certain his heart was to be found in the depths of his eyes, he seemed so intense in his feelings, and seemed to care a great deal about her. Without knowing him she trusted him, he wanted to protect her - she could only hope she was right.

"What exactly do we do agent Mulder, the X-Files is about unexplained cases?" Remembering his nickname at the academy, she smiled. Spookey, the name suited him ill, he was passionate she could tell but not a weirdo.

"Why are you smiling, Scully?"

Shaking her head she smiled at him, "it's nothing, just a memory from the academy. Tell me about our work, Mulder."

He returned her smile with a new spark of joy in his eyes, "we worked… work on the

X-Files, we've solved a lot of unexplainable cases and some we haven't solved. We are highly unwanted by the FBI and our colleagues make fun of us but we like what we do… and we got…"

"What do we got, Mulder?"

"A loyal partner we can trust."

His words were so double meaning that every word left her with new questions of her situation and the sort of their partnership. "You make our work sound so unrewarding?"

"Oh, it's not. Looking for the truth is never unrewarding, it just that we have paid a lot for all the answers we found… you should rest, it will be good for you." Both turned silent and Mulder avoided Scully's intense eyes filled with unasked questions.