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Part 11
He had always prided himself on the communication he shared with her; they hardly ever spoke to convey their inner most feeling but the other seemed to understand them well as though silent communication transpired behind their eyes. He could always tell what she was thinking, well at least a part of what she was thinking. Four years together and one could pride themselves on knowing someone else like a favorite book.
She was his favorite book, her story was upbeat, fast paced, pleasant and beautiful to submerge himself in that perfect breath of fresh air when he needed an escape. But much like a good book there were always the hazy parts, where he found himself wondering why that needed to be included in the story. Her story had started with the heroine achieving those admirable things she set her mind to, but this heroine was only eluded to the readers that those things she wanted she had achieved now this heroine couldn't prove the most thrilling of conspiracies. She made his heart ache and laugh. She had made him love, care and perhaps open his eyes for those around him once again. There was more purpose in the world than being the "FBI's most unwanted" when he found that favorite book.
To be honest with himself Mulder almost didn't turn up to the park that day, he knew she wouldn't show and his mind was only trying to think of a way around the hurt. Not to mention that he was scared, not for if she didn't show but for if she did, Mulder had no idea as to where things were to go if she turned up. Sure, that would mean she was letting herself back into Danica's life, but what was in it for them? He was worried that he'd say the wrong thing and that perhaps his partner would shoot him again, this time in front of a lot more people that the first time.
He had given up on the worry as Danica initiated a game between the two of them. He knew it as Tag; she on the other hand probably hadn't heard the name at all. Her giggles filled the still chilly February air, and to Mulder her laughter was the only thing he could hear in the large and somewhat busy park that afternoon. When she tapped his leg and dashed away with an angelic giggle he had waited a few seconds before he reached for her, Mulder was very well aware that he was much larger than the younger girl and could beat her at the child's game if he had wished. But he hadn't wished that and was more than happy to chase after the girl in a mock jog than anything else.
Mulder paused only a few feet away from the little girl, he mocked fatigue and forced his heavy breathing, calling out to Danica that she was just too fast for him. Hunched over with his hands on his knees he watched the little girl through the hair that had fallen over his eyes. She stepped towards him carefully, slowly, her steps were cautious as she was unaware if she could trust the man. She said something to him with a cheeky tone, he hadn't understood the German but the word had elicited her sweet laughter and with that he was happy.
He counted her steps as she moved closer, judging the distance he needed her at.
Four … three … two … one …
In one swift move he wrapped one of his arms around the back of her legs and the other held her head carefully as he rolled his body and fell to the ground tumbling with the child. Danica squealed loudly as she called out his name, but refrained from thrashing her body and causing herself injury.
Propping herself up on her knees she began to beg for him to do it again but Mulder had temporarily forgotten that the girl was there. His eyes had caught sight of a particular redhead leaning against a tree as she watched them play together. Her eyes sparkled in the soft light, her gaze rendering him not only speechless but for the moment, motionless. Much like a love sick school boy with his latest obsession he beckoned her over with the wave of his hand. As she shook her head he couldn't help but wonder how long she had been standing there.
Danica with a shriek realized the cause of his well wanted attention being dragged away from her own time with him. Quickly she jumped up off the ground where she sat next to a crouched Mulder and ran for Scully not bothering to brush the grass and dirt off her quarter length jeans and green top. Scully caught the girl with the same enthusiasm as she crouched by the tree her arms open ready for the running child to crash into her. Picking up Danica she kissed the girls cheek as she set them both into a spinning motion, she turned on the spot with the girl twice before noticing that her partner hadn't moved. He was watching them both with smile, the look on his face told him that he knew what she was there to convey. And this time, neither of them we letting go. Scully embraced the young life they had both found themselves attached too as she started moving towards him, neither of them letting their eye contact go.
Scully readjusted the girl on her hip as she reached her partner, both of them stopping in the middle. "I wasn't going to come." She told him her voice ashamed as she let Danica slip from her hip and hit the ground running. Mulder's elated smile when he caught her eye had told her that he had already suspected she wouldn't show, but now the smile that started in his hazel eyes seemed glad that she had, over the moon that she'd shown her face. Danica left the adults' sides instead deciding that the playground full of children was far more appetizing for that moment.
Scully smiled at him softly, her words playing in their eyes, she looked away only briefly as she watched the girl run, her bright orange hair almost falling out of the pony tail she could only know that her partner had tried to put up. Looking him in the eye again she smiled brightly, "I couldn't leave you to be the sole person responsible for screwing her up." Her smile widened a bright laughter reflecting in her eyes and even his. He turned so they were standing side by side, their fingers brushing the other's hand.
"Jezz, thanks Scully. Your faith in me is outstanding." He teased, sarcastically, already believing her faith. Mulder sucked in a breath as she wrapped her pinkie finger around his much larger one, the smile on her face was one he couldn't decipher.
"We need to get to the bottom of this," She let go of his hand when she paused to breath, her eyes not focusing on him, instead on Danica and a young girl with short blond hair in the sandpit. Mulder's heart sunk, when it had only just started to soar. "we need to get to the bottom of everything that happened in Russia to that child. We need to find out what happened so not only you can put it to rest, but so can she. You need to legally" When she accented 'legally' Scully slipped her whole hand into his, sending his heart soaring and leaving his intelligent and focused mind unable to focus on anything other than her hand. "adopt that little girl." With her free hand she pointed to Danica as Mulder nodded silently agreeing whilst he squeezed her hand in response. The air settled in between them before either spoke, they were both just happy watching Danica and had taken residence upon a park bench, not that far from where they were once standing, Danica's backpack already occupying part of the chair. "I heard you bought a house." She grinned, looking at him out the corner of her eye. Of course she had heard, she had told him.
"You should see it, Scully. It's truly great." He grinned back at her, his words seemingly still not coming properly. He opened his mouth to speak again, to ask if she had wanted to see it. Bryan the realtor had bumped up the settlement date and because the owners had already moved out and were in their new residence Mulder was getting the keys the next day. He had hopped Scully would want to be there when he and Danica moved in. When he went to say something about his new property, Mulder was cut off by a strange voice approaching them.
"Mr. Mulder?" A female voice spoke and instantly Scully let go of his hand and returned her own to her lap. Brushing down the jeans on her legs she watched as Mulder squinted up at the tall blond woman who had spoken. "Mary, Mary McCarthy." She smiled, saying her name as if he were to know it. When he continued to look at her confused Mary jumped in. "I'm Julia's mom." She smiled pointing to the little girl Danica was playing with in the sandpit. "Our daughters go to preschool together, I see you pick her up some afternoons." Mulder smiled softly as he stood from the park bench in order to properly greed the woman. Scully tensed at his side as she too stood, her newly inherited trust no one paranoia kicking in when it wasn't needed. "You must be her mother, I'm so sorry but I don't know your name." Mary turned towards Scully with a perfect white smile. Scully stared at the other woman's hand for a second as though she'd forgot exactly what to do when placed in a situation like this.
Taking Mary's hand she introduced herself but hardly had the time to tell the woman that she wasn't in fact Danica's mother. "She is so beautiful, Dana. Absolutely gorgeous." Scully smiled curtly before turning to look over Mulder's shoulder so she could check on Danica. "You know, pop out a few more kids like that and you'll be winning pageants for years." Mary flashed another pearly white grin. Scully made a small grunt of recognition as she moved to turn away, she hated mothers who over exposed their children to things like beauty pageants, what was wrong with a child being as they were, not dance recitals, costume fittings, and fake tans?
She crossed her arms over her chest as she faced Mulder's side, at least that way she could watch Danica play and at the same time appear to be interested in the other woman's disastrous conversation. Unlike Mulder she couldn't pretend to be interested no matter how farfetched the topic. Sensing his partner's withdrawal and disinterest in the conversation Mulder tucked up arm around her waist and pulled Scully flush against his right side, he let her stare at the side of his head for a moment while she tried to read his mind all the while Mulder engaged Mary in conversation. Giving in she pressed one hand to his chest and the other found homage on his shoulder, she relaxed into his side, her head falling to the hand that lay on his shoulder offering a buffer to the tightly muscled spot.
"You know, they run quite a few in the area for newbies, more mock up contests than anything else, but it might help you get Danica into the style and atmosphere. Scully groaned out loud this time as she pushed from her partners' chest.
"I think we're fine, Mary. We're not really into over stimulating her; she can play outside rather than in a room full of noise and bright lights. Besides, her father gave her a Slavic name with intention of its pronunciation; dah-nee-tza." She pronounced slowly for the woman who had gotten on her nerves, she managed to break free of Mulder's grasp and once she had made the clear she turned and headed straight for Danica. Mulder apologized to Mary only briefly before his partner called out for him to not apologize for her. With that he grimaced and ran after her departing back all the while calling out her name in his usual, desperate begging tone.
"Don't even think about it." She hissed as he caught up and placed his hand on the small of her back. "You cannot sit there while that, that Barbie talks about ruining children!" She was seething, the anger practically radiating off her being but Mulder didn't step away, nor did he pull his hand from her back. Instead they walked in perfect tandem and put on large smiles and Danica got up and waved at them.
"Well, I was going to say that you don't even say Danica's name like that." He teased as he bumped her elbow. "And … I was thinking about a change of scenery. Maybe we could go to the museum of natural history instead. That'd be fun, right?" He asked, not having a clue as to where this mood was going to put him. Danica had joined the pair as they walked towards the street, Danni standing between them her little hands reaching up to hold both Mulder and Scully's larger ones.
They had entered the museum like that, the little girl holding onto both of their hands as they entered the lobby to one of the large museums in D.C.'s hot spot. Mulder had been itching to bring the little girl but had never found the right time. Her eyes lit up the minute she caught sight of the large elephant, literally in the middle of the room forever frozen in time like that. Her eyes were wide as she looked up at the celling, the whole place could swallow her whole a million times over. Her legs itched to run for the large set of stairs but Mulder quickly steered her to the left of the entrance.
It had been years since Mulder himself had stepped into the large museum. His parents had made a trip of it once, when Samantha was still alive and when he returned from Oxford after being recruited by the FBI he'd made a singular visit on his own. The museum was large, exciting and from his experience had had amazing exhibits. He had always loved the architecture in the foyer, the large columns and marble that completely decked the round entrance.
The room on the left had changed significantly since his last visit. The whole thing was white apart from the taxidermy animals that found paces around the room. They were large and colorful as they stood tall, proud and in attack behind carefully constructed and cleaned glass. Danica let go of their hand with strict instructions to stay where she could see the adults. She ran from exhibit to exhibit, lions attacking a buffalo their dead bodied poised in fight, their eyes hungry and raw, the buffalo surrendering. A large giraffe bending and the knees, neck stretching to reach the water in the constructed water hole, Danica had looked so tiny standing there with her little hands pressed to the glass, her eyes wide and her mouth agape, she was speechless at the spectacle before her and Mulder in turn in complete awe of her discovering this for the first time.
She stood in front of the giraffe frozen her eyes begging, waiting, daring as she stared transfixed for the thing to move and make a sound. Each time she stopped Mulder would approach her on one side, Scully on the other and while he tried to make the noise of the animal in question Scully would take turns with him spouting facts or reading the plaque in front of the glass.
They strolled around in that white room, while Danica moved in between two exhibits, not noticing the ramp that led to more. Every time Danica would reach the glass again she turned to look at the adults a contagious smile across her face as she pointed and let out a small squeak. Catching something out of the corner of his eye, Mulder swooped the girl up and dropped her on his shoulders. Walking up the ramp he stopped right next to the archway that led to more animals. Next to him was a bare tree, something one would find in the dessert. Danica had taken no notice until he told her to look up while he lent back a little.
"Mulder, be careful." Scully's voice shook as she saw the man arch his back more than he should of with a little girl on his shoulders, standing behind him ready to catch the girl if she were to fall, Scully took a moment to look up as well.
In the large tree, lay a leopard dangled across its favorite branch, his paw arched, its tongue frozen as the animal licks at its claws. In front of the leopard, on a longer branch a dead goat had been draped by the cat itself. Dinner, just waiting for its feast. Danica shrieked as she caught sight of the animals, her legs kicking as she asked to be let down. "It's not real, Danni." Mulder told her softly as he crouched down for Scully to pull the girl off his shoulders. "It's pretend like the other ones, but this is how they live in their actual home, hunting and drinking and sitting in trees." He turned to face the girl as Scully put her down on the ground. Her eyes looked horrified and glassed over slightly, it was there here noticed a red rash just under her chin. "Scully?" He spoke with concern. "What's this?" He looked up at her, his eyes worried.
Turning Danica so she was facing her Scully bent down to look at what Mulder was trying to show her. "A rash." She stated in a no nonsense tone. "Mulder," She made him look her in the eye. "She's fine. It could be from the detergent you're using to wash her clothes, or she might have eczema. It's nothing you can't repair. We'll take a closer look at it later."
That later came after Mulder and Danica went home leaving Scully to return to her own apartment with the invitation for them both to see her for dinner. Mulder had put a pair of Danica's pajama's into her backpack, not knowing how long he'd be at Scully's and that it was probably best if he could get the girl ready for bed while he was there.
He watched as Scully put a bowl down in front of Danica before placing one in front of him and settling down into her own seat next to the girl. He didn't know what it was that they were eating but by the curious look on Danica's face as she scooped some of the food up. "It looks healthy." He whined with teasing glint in his eyes.
"Honestly, Mulder what have you been feeding her?" He shrugged his shoulders, knowing very well that he hadn't had Chinese takeout in weeks; his cupboards in the apartment were filled with food for the first time in the history of him living there. And he had actually cooked a meal every day of the week. He was a changed man, and his partner already knew that.
Night had dawned on them and both either adult had realized Danica was ready for bed and a sleep on the couch while Toy Story continued to roll across the screen. Scully had made up the guest bedroom for the girl, that way she could sleep while the adults could continue in their conversation. It was idle chit chat, those things the pair hardly ever discussed Mulder told her about the house he'd bought in Alexandria not all that far from his apartment. Scully told him about her godson, Trent who was turning seven in a few weeks; she had thought that maybe Danica would like to meet him. When their conversation did steer towards work it was only of the fact that Scully, nor Mulder had found anything else about Danica and her family. Her brother Peter's records were lost completely, only his DNA was on file and the fact that he was found dead.
They were at a dead end, but Mulder had made a promise to visit the Gunmen in order to get their genius in on what was happening. Scully had decided to call it a night; she supplied Mulder with a blanket and pillow without his asking to stay.
It wasn't long into his own sleep that Mulder could hear Danica whimpering. He jumped off the couch and practically ran down the hall, knowing that Scully should have heard her before him and he wanted to prevent the little girl from waking her up. Danni sat in the middle of the king sized bed, tears streaking her face in the moonlight, sweat beading on her forehead. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms, trying to coo her back to sleep. The little girl called for Scully as Mulder tried to set her back down on to the bed. Getting up with a sigh, he padded down to his partner's room already hating himself for waking her up but when he got there Scully was already awake.
"What's wrong?" She asked her worry evident as she shifted in her bed. Mulder shrugged in the darkness, alerting his partner of the little girls' fever. Quickly Scully climbed out of bed and approached the pair; she pressed the back of her hand to the little girl's sweaty forehead before taking her out of Mulder's arms.
"Would this have anything to do with the rash that I found this afternoon?" He asked as she rushed around in the darkness before entering the bathroom and flipping the light on.
"Let's hope not." She muttered while Mulder followed into the bathroom. She placed Danica down on the counter as she shifted through the cupboards. "She hasn't been unwell until now?" She asked, worry creeping up in her voice as she found a face cloth and drenched it in cold water before applying it to the girl's face. In the light of the bathroom her face looked sunburnt, her eyes had turned grey and she was shaking.
"No." Mulder shook his head as he made sure Danica didn't slip off the counter. "Why, what's wrong?" She stripped Danica of her pajama shirt leaving the girl in pants and a singlet a small rash had started to form on her neck, although now it had spread further up her neck than when they first spotted it.
She picked the girl up, demanding that Mulder go collect her things while she put the girl in the car. It was important that they made it to the emergency room, Danica needed heavy antibiotics.