Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own the X Files.

What Now?

Scully sat by Mulder's bed holding his hand and keeping watch over him. She had been in that exact place many times and she still was not used to the disturbing sight. But this time she knew he was going to live.

She glanced up to look at Leah and William. William was sitting in a chair next to her bed and had laid his head on the bed next to her and fell asleep. Scully sighed sadly and looked at her lap holding back tears. She felt like a failure. She could do nothing for her except make her comfortable.

She couldn't help but think that if Mulder had been fully healthy he would know what to do. Skinner and Miller had gone out to check on leads for the Smoking Man and Monica Reyes but so far had nothing.

She felt Mulder stir and looked up from her lap. He opened his eyes to see her and gave a wide smile.

"Hey." He said softly.

"Hey." She said back smiling, "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. How did things go with Cancer Man?"

"We didn't find him, but we found someone else… Gibson Praise was there."

Mulder sat up a bit straighter and grimaced from the pain of moving too fast, "What?"

Scully got up and began to check his stiches and change his bandages, "Mulder you need to take it easy still. It is a very long and upsetting story but the short version is that he is now working with the colonists. He and the colonists were the ones stopped time to let us find a cure. He says that he convinced them to spare some of humanity, and not as slaves. They plan on relocating all of the human's to one area and basically want to treat us like an endangered species. I asked if he knew how to help Leah. Apparently he knows there is a way to cure her but he refused to help. All people that are considered 'non-essential' are going to die. People without skills that would be helpful in starting a human colony. He said that is what had to happen. I almost killed him. He had gone to the place you sent us so that he could find and kill the Smoking Man and he didn't know where to find him or if he would even know how to help Leah… God, Mulder I just… I couldn't believe it was the same Gibson. He was much colder."

Mulder took her hand. He could see that it was bothering her and it bothered him too. He wondered why Gibson had not come to see them. Mulder had always wondered what happened to Gibson after they left but for so many years they had so much more to worry about that they didn't have time to track him down. By the time Mulder was able to follow leads Gibson's trail had gone cold.

"So… He is working with the aliens then?"

"Yeah. He believes that he has saved humanity. Maybe he has but he didn't seem to see the wrong in choosing who lives and who dies."

"Dana?" Said a small voice.
They both turned to see William rubbing his eyes tiredly looking at them. Scully moved to him quickly.

"William? How are you feeling?" She put her hands on his face and lowered herself to look at him.

"I'm ok. Did you find out anything?" He asked.
Scully's heart clenched and she tried to compose herself to answer.

"No Will, I wasn't able to find anything useful."
"But you found something?"

"I found an old friend who… well he understands what is happening right now and he… he doesn't think there is anything that can be done. Some friends of ours are out searching for more answers right now."

"Do you think she will make it?"

Scully rolled her lips together tightly and couldn't decide how to respond.

"I'm sorry William. I just don't know."

He looked at her seriously as if trying to figure her out. She felt almost like he was looking right through her and the feeling of amazement and unease that she felt when he was just a baby returned to her.

"What can I do?" He asked her.

"For right now you need to take care of yourself. I'm going to move your cot over here next to your mom and then I need you to lie down and I am going to change your bandages."

William just nodded.

When Scully had moved his cot over he got back in bed, careful not to pull out the IV he still had attached to him.

Scully began to redress his wounds when she finished with William she circled back around to Mulder to finish where she left off with him.

"Are you two hungry?" She asked.

Both of them nodded and she smiled at how similar they looked right now.

"I'll go get us some dinner."

The hospital had become one of the many spots in the city where people could get the cure. There were still many people waiting on their own treatment. Many citizens had been trained on how to put in an IV. Scully swallowed the slight guilt she felt at helping her own family instead of offering assistance out there. She decided she would as soon as she was done getting them dinner.

Food and water was a problem in the first few hours of the outbreak but when the cure started to make it's way around they were able to enlist police officers to help keep the peace and had some hospital staff making runs to grocery stores all around in a truck. At this point there was rationing but there was enough food for everyone. The line was very long and Dana took her place at the end until an officer recognized her as a doctor and told her to go to the front.

She got a tray with two meals and got herself a banana and bag of chips.
When she got back to the room William and Mulder were talking Star Trek. She heard them and stopped outside the door for a moment just to listen. She laughed silently and thought about all of the times she imagined small moments like that. She finally entered with the food, which they were both very excited to see. Neither of them had realized how hungry they were until Scully had mentioned it. They scarfed the food down quickly as Scully checked all of Leah's equipment and made sure she was all set. She looked over both Mulder and William one more time and then made her way out into the hall to face a long evening.

The hours dragged on for Dana as she inserted IV after IV. She had not gotten good sleep in too long but the line for the cure seemed never-ending and they needed people to help.
Some relief came in the form of Agent Einstein telling her they needed more hands in creating more of the cure. Scully went back to the lab to see it filled with doctors and scientists who had been called upon to help. There were boxes filled with the life saving fluid, and while it looked like a lot, she knew that if there was not more being made constantly that they would run out quickly.

Things were slightly easier for the next three hours that she worked on the cure. She was working on mixing the specific compounds needed when she had a thought, Take DNA from the people who are dying and the some from the ones who are healed. She knew there had to be an answer in the DNA. She finished the task at hand and then practically ran out of the lab.

She moved quickly down the hall but halted when she saw people gathered around the doorway. She walked up and saw a couple of men from the staff gently lifting Leah's lifeless form from the bed and onto a gurney.

The scene before her was like one from her nightmares. Mulder was on his feet behind William with his hands on their son's shoulders. William just stared at the scene before him as if in a dream.

Scully quickly moved into the room, "Where are you taking her?!" She demanded even though she could tell that Leah was lost to them.

"Doctor she is gone. We tried everything we could but it wasn't enough and this bed could be of use in the lobby. We need to take her." One of the attendants said.

She walked up closer to them and lowered her voice, "Where will you store her body?"

"With the others."

A chill went through her body. The morgue was so full that the floor was now covered with bagged bodies. She also knew that if the bodies continued to drop they would soon have to begin burning them. Soon Leah would be apart of the nameless line of bodies and it made Scully sick. She felt angry but knew there was nothing she could do except make sure the bag was properly labeled and ensure that when things calmed down that Leah was buried with her husband.

"Just… If they need to start cremation make sure she is safe from that. She needs to be buried with her family."

"Dr. Scully we are not in charge of that."

"Well tell whoever is that what I just said!"

The men nodded quickly. One covered Leah's face and began to wheel her out while the other took the hospital bed.

Scully went over to William who was still watching in a state of shock. She was moving to Mulder's side when William's skinny arms were suddenly around her and his head was buried in her shoulder. He was shaking with tears and after a moment the dam burst and Scully was crying as well. She held him close and wished she could take the pain away.

One thought rang through her mind as her son held on to her for dear life,

What now?….