Thank you to those of you who reviewed, alerted and favorited.

I am actually incredibly surprised that I got this up at all this week, life has been hectic between here and the hospital and then of course, I wasn't allowed to "over stimulate" my brain because that was going to lead to more pain. You have no idea, how insanely bored I was.

But anyway, this is probably a bit lax. So I'm sorry.

Part 13
Trouble

She was as composed as a woman with an unsettled child on her hip could be. The minute they stepped out of the car and entered the FBI building Danica refused to walk, she knew something was wrong the minute Skinner was revealed on the other side of the door. But whereas she sensed the tense energy radiating from Scully, there was nothing of the sort coming from Mulder. He was confused, but he was calm.

The hallways belonging to the J. Edgar Hoover building were eerily quiet for eight in the morning. Which continued to alight Scully's nerves, she'd never been this nervous before not even frightened, her own life was hanging by a thread and yet she was more scared of what was going to happen to the scared and worried little girl in her arms.

"Scully, what's going on?" She always had a logical answer, something that even with the most extreme kept him calm and pushing for a better truth. He kept in line with her as they walked the floor belonging to the violent crimes unit.

Her answer was a shrug before she found the words. "I don't know, Mulder. But you did kidnap a child." She snapped at him in a quiet hiss.

"Kidnap is such a strong word Scully, I prefer surprise adoption." She glared at him over Danica's head.

"Now's not a time for your stupid jokes." Another snap and he final shut up, not daring to test her this time.

Kimberly was waiting for the two of them at her desk with a friendly smile, she told them they could enter her bosses office whenever they were ready. Placing Danica down on the floor, Scully made a fuss over the little girls' black dress and green coat. She fixed the green ribbon in Danica's hair before she pulled back and pressed a kiss to her button nose.

Standing up Danica took both of their hands, while the adults conversed silently asking in their own way if the other was ready to face whatever it was that was waiting for them on the other side of the door. The little girl adjusted the bear in her arms while she waited patiently for Scully to finish with Mulder's tie. She smiled sweetly at Kimberly who was requesting her to move closer with a movement of her finger, shyly Danica approached. Reaching the edge of Kim's desk she shrieked, her childish excitement clearing away some of the tension as she found the secretary had a bag of jelly beans she was offering for Danica to take. "Anything to make them smile." Kim spoke as Scully told Danica to thank her for the candies. With one last soft smile to Kimberly from both Danica and Scully they were entering Skinner's office quietly behind Mulder.

Scully had almost walked into her partners' back as he froze up in the doorway. She hissed his name as she pushed on his shoulder, hoping the action would get the large man moving again. It hadn't worked.

Just as Scully was about to give up on getting her partner to move, Danica had slipped her hand from Scully's and slipped through the little gap between Mulder's let and the door frame. Standing in front of the tall man she looked up at him, her whole head tilting back. "Up, Papa?" She asked in the tiny mouse voice that only added to how completely small and adorable she was.

Danica had known that Mulder wouldn't be able to deny her the simplest of things, as soon as the request left her mouth he'd stepped out of the doorway to scoop her up. "That woman is dead." He hissed back at Scully not caring if the couple sitting at his bosses' conference table could hear him.

At first she hadn't understood what he was talking about, but stepping further into the room, her hands absently fixing Danica's now rumbled dress as the girl sat at Scully's head height in her partner's arms. Stepping into that room had caused her heart to stop. She had suspected when Skinner turned up that morning requesting Mulder and the girl to appear in his office, but nothing was more real than the auburn haired woman and large dark haired man sitting in the AD's office.

Her eyes racked over the occupants of the conference table they were so familiar to her, neither were agents she knew she would have known who they were immediately if they were. But, no. She recognized, the shape of the woman's bottom lip, the tinged of orange in her hair that had ripened over the years and thrived through hair dye. Whereas the woman's' eyes were grey the mans were a striving blue, she knew that blue after days she couldn't get it out of her head and now she wished she could.

The thing that startled her the most, the one thing that sent her heart into her stomach, the last piece of confirmation she needed belonged to that of the strawberry blond haired little girl that stood between both adults, her skin was pale like Danica's her eyes that same wild blue, their hair was different but the resemblance was uncanny. The little girl between her parents perked up at the sight of Danica, whereas Danni pulled herself further into Mulder's arms and tried at her best to make it seem as though she hadn't seen the people sitting at the table.

"Agents." Skinner addressed them both with a nod as he motioned for them to take a seat at the table. Scully looked towards her partner, just waiting for him to say no and run, she would follow him without a second thought. Instead he complied quietly he took a seat as he set Danica on the floor.

Danica scrambled for Mulder's lap as though the floor had suddenly turned to water and she was sure to drown. "Papa," She spoke out loud before noticing the flinch on not only his and Scully's faces but that of her parents' on the other side of the table. She lowered her voice to a whisper as she leant up to his ear. "Elise not good. Her head hurt." She brought her little to rest on her temples as she pulled back. "Ow." She whispered, as though trying to convey the pain her sister was in, the best way a three-year-old knew how. "She sleep, papa. But she didn't wake up." He took his gaze from Danica's fragile face to look across the table at the young toddler that shared so many of her features.

The girl in his lap was convinced that her sister was dead. He had to believe her, out of everyone in that whole room Danica would know her own family. But something was wrong, Danica had claimed her sister was dead and Mulder had known for a fact that Angelika Wolff was dead on that Russian street, her cold fingers grasping the beanie that had Danica trust him right from the start.

"I think introductions are in order. Fox Mulder, Dana Scully." Skinner held his hand out to the two of them and Scully had to remind herself to breathe, they weren't agents in this situation, they were two people who had done something terribly wrong.

"And this is Angelika and Klaus Wolff. They've come a long way for some answers we all would like the truth to. Their daughter Elsie here has a twin sister, that twin is in your lap Mr. Mulder." Mulder didn't open his mouth; instead he silently shook his head. "I think you'll find I am correct Mulder."

He shook his head again, "Three months." He muttered. "I've had Danica for three months, Sir. No one has questioned where she came from, and if they did not a word was spoken to me. You'll have to understand that I cannot accept what you've put in front of me; these people are not her parents. Her parents are dead. Her sister, dead." Skinner shook his head, his brown eyes pleading with Mulder to cut it out. "I saw her dead." He thrust his hand towards the woman sitting bewildered in front of him. "I saw you dead." He was as confused as the quiet couple in front of him, as tense as his partner by his side and the little girl seeking comfort in his lap.

He wanted to shy away like Danica had, to cuddle a teddy bear and suck his thumb while in the comfort of a fathers lap, but he was the adult, he was the father she was seeking comfort from and suddenly he realized, even though he was trying to project her this situation was making things worse.

"Perhaps, it might be best to remove the children from the room." Scully suggested with a small smile as she reached her hand out for the silent girl who seemed to be trying to disappear into Mulder completely.

Danni tuned in his arms, her knees on his thigh in order for her to reach his ear. "Ich liebe dich mein papa." She whispered softly before curling her hand around his ear to shield her translation. "I love you, papa." Her English was almost as confusing as her German but this time he understood her clearly her sweet words warmed his heart yet tore it in two completely. He squeezed her tightly to his chest, well aware that this was probably going to be the last time he'll be able to do that. Danica pecked his cheek softly before she slipped off his lap and took Scully's hand, allowing the woman to remove her from the room, alongside the sister she was still not acknowledging.

Danica sat the furthest she could from her twin, even though the other girl was eager to sit near her. She was cautious, and scared the fear clearly evident in her face. Danica was never one for completely schooling her facial expressions if she was frightening, you were going to know.

For two young girls who hadn't been in contact for three months - possibly longer - neither spoke. It was unsettling to watch a reunion such as this, with no contact for either party, where one seemed so desperate to meet the other who wanted to get out of there as fast as she could.

Danica sat on one of the lounges in the small foyer that had also consisted of Kim's secretarial office. She sat on the furthest edge and leant over the arm as if it would give her even more leeway from the other red headed child. Schatz dangled above the floor, his feet barely touching the carpet as Danni divided her attention between the game she was mentally playing with the bear, avoiding Elsie and making sure that Scully never left the room. It frightened her to see an exact copy of her twin, even though at three-years of age her parents had sat her down, in that small little room they lived in to tell her Elsie would no longer be with them. Her sister had battled with something that'd happed out there, tests of endurance, of intelligence, tests of the young mind. Things that Danica had experience but had been favoured when it came to the damaging effects caused by these experiments, these ways of paying old soldiers back, of breaking their hearts and enlisting torture upon old soldiers by getting to the families they vowed they could have in 1945.

Danica had seen the damage caused the look on her own grandfathers weak and broken face as she screamed – for what, she had begged herself never to remember. Such a young mind shouldn't have to go through those things and thus she repressed it all, squeezed her eyes shut as it happened, held back her screams, thought of her sister, although dead, but in a better place. She had quickly noticed that her usually friendly and personable sister had completely steered clear of Scully since she brought them into the room, finding her safe haven Danica went for it. Slipping off the lounge she was on, Schatz in her hand, hitting the ground as they walked slowly Danica waiting for Elsie to make a move that enabled her to reach the safety and security of Scully's lap. But her sister didn't, she just watched her with a delightful smile and patient eyes. "I don't want to go." Danni spoke clearly as Scully pulled her into a tight hug. With a kiss to the top of her head Scully didn't reply, she didn't have the words or the position to promise the girl that she'd never have to leave.

In Skinner's office the tension in the room had almost reached the celling, Mulder was fuming, but Klaus and Angelika Wolff sat patiently while they asked urgently for their daughter back. They promised if he handed her over, then and now and promised never to seek her out again that they wouldn't press charges, that they'd all walk away and pretend the months spent with and without Danica never existed. Although, Mulder was starting to believe life without Danica meant no existence.

That little girl was breaking his heart – actually, he had broken his own heart by running to her rescue that day. He knew, when he picked her up, when the soldier told them to run before he shot them, that this would never end the way it does in fairy tales. Perhaps he was Rumpilstilskin in this tale, not the Russians as he had presumed, they'd come back to claim their child and now he was making them guess his name.

"I want to petition for adoption with full custody. That's what you do right, petition?" He was strong with his words, almost forceful on the adults sitting in front of him, that'd hardly moved to stand up. He was glad for that, Klaus looked small while he was sitting but Mulder had a feeling that the German man held more height and weight on him something that would lead to more pain than what he needed.

Skinner's voice hissed at him, told him to back down and hand over the little girl. This didn't have to be messy, but if he wanted it messy he was going to lose his job. "No." He kept his voice below a shout, but was stern enough to stand his ground. "You weren't there. You didn't see the look of horror on that little girls' face as people died around her. You didn't hear her screams as every time she closed her eyes nightmares would invade what should be a peaceful sleep. You didn't see the bruises that marked and stained her tiny body, her porcelain skin. That, all of that came from whatever these people did to her. I will not stand by as they take her away. I can't. I promised her that I'd keep her safe, and that's what I'm going to do."

"With all due respect Mr. Mulder," It was Klaus that spoke up this time, his voice rough with his strong and gruff German accent. "You shouldn't go making promises to children that aren't yours, or even making promises that you can't keep. They have fragile minds, and will believe anything you say. It's best that you be sure on what you're saying."

Mulder nodded his head slowly, trying his hardest to look sincere. "I promised, her that. I am going to project her Mr. Wolff. You have to trust me that I can do that better than anyone."

"Even her own father?!" Klaus shot out of his chair, the wooden piece of furniture slid across the floor with a foul hiss as Mulder's assumptions in the man's height and weight came true, he was never going to stand a chance.

"I know, you mean well. But, Sir. She is out daughter. We just want her back, is that so hard. Elsie is sick, she wants her sister and after she passes, if you still have out Danica we, we will have nothing." Angelika stepped up and wrapped a hand around her husbands' arm.

Neither of them looked like Danica, apart from the blue eyes but only that. Klaus' features were strong, typical to the rough German man people claim them all to be, his hair was jet black, and there was nothing on the small side of him. Same went for his wife, she was almost taller than her husband, and they were both a little over Mulders' height, whereas her husband's hair was black Angelika's was auburn, but Mulder couldn't pinpoint whether it had been dyed before, her eyes were the same blue as Klaus' as Danni's as his Dana's. He didn't know how such a tiny being could come from two people as tall, and built as Klaus and Angelika Wolff, but their Elsie was the same as Danni, two frail little girls

"I don't know why you're still asking; if you're not pressing charges you can just take her." Skinner spoke, opening the door that lead out into the foyer. Klaus was the first to move, Mulder just froze, his whole body was unable to function, yet wanted him to take it all in in slow-motion. Mulder turned for the doors that lead out into the hallway so he could reach Kim's office from the other side, but by the time he stepped out he could already hear Danica's screams. Reaching the room, he found Scully shell shocked, one hand holding onto Schatz the other still poised in the air – they'd ripped Danica out of her arms. The girl in question was screaming in her German fathers' hold, she was kicking her legs, attempting to put up a fight. When his ears focused on the noise in the room, Mulder realized Danica was screaming for him, her little hands reaching, begging for him to take her away.

He moved for Scully instead of Danni, knowing if he went for the girl as her parents tried to leave with her it would only cause more trouble. By now his partner was standing, her bottom lip quivering even though he knew she was trying to fight it. She was still holding onto Schatz' foot the bear dangling limply, upside-down by her side. "Mulder," Her voice was faint, panicked, but he didn't have half the pride in himself to look up at her.

"There's nothing I can do, I have no relation to her, Scully. I want to take this to court, we need evidence. I never had any proof of her bruises. Or her nightmares, sure we both experienced that but that's not enough." She reached her hand out for his forearm as she felt her body going under, finally catching Mulder's attention her eyes rolled into the back off her head as blackness consumed the light.

Mulder caught Scully just as she was about to crumble to the ground, the blood trailing from her nose distracted him from the screams that were still drifting down the hallway, or echoing in his mind. He turned to Kim, his limp partner in his arms and begged that she called for help.

I want to lead this into a sort of Redux and Redix II format. I just have to figure out how I'm gonna go about it.

Until next week,

A