Thank you to those of you who took the time to review and those new followers as well as the crazy people who have added this to their favorites. I thank you. =]

I feel personally victimized by the Cancer Man, the secret government and Chris Carter - It's December 21st, the sky isn't burning. The aliens haven't arrived and it's 2:30 in the afternoon.

Not good enough.

Sorry to be a bother, but I am officially making it a must that you read the below note.

YOU HAVE TOO.

This has been driving me nuts for weeks, my ability to do things along a time line literally makes me dizzy. Now, I wanted to exclude as many time jumps as possible within this story because I knew that once Danica his her teens there will be a few jumps and sometimes they can be hard to follow. And I always found them annoying BUT in order for me to catch up with the story line I am going to have to jump and a lot earlier/unplanned than I would have liked.

Last chapter Danica was five possibly October 1999, her sixth birthday was coming up and she had started her first year, in the what seems like an never ending cycle of schooling.

This chapter I have jumped it to May of 2000, she's six and Requiem will be starting within this chapter – because, I am evil and I HAVE to do this episode along with the events that follow it. So I ask can you please keep in mind that the events that have happened within the show still happened, but Danica was around somewhere whether she was with Teena or Maggie or even there when it happened (I still want to do some of those episodes – but perhaps when I rewrite it). They are not Time Lords with a TARDIS, there are things that are programmed to happen and cannot be changed. eg; Teena's death. So please keep that in mind. Unless mentioned otherwise assume everything has happened. As always you can send me questions.

I am gonna say for the fun of it, yes, Mulder still was riddled with his brain overdrive and Scully went to Africa. Considering that I now don't have to write it you can let your minds figure out those events. There are episodes that I really wanted to do but if I did we'll be here for a very long time.

Part 25

Little Girl Lost

…May, 2000…

Sitting with a book in her lap, in the nook Mulder had turned into an open library Scully's reading was interrupted by the screams of her daughter filtering down the staircase.

She didn't want to know.

She wasn't worried, nor concerned for the little girl, but for herself. She had seen far too much with Mulder and experienced things beyond the imagination of even their creative six-year-olds mind. So, with her worn and barely holding it together copy of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' , with the sound of her daughters screams and her partners laugher she concluded that she in fact did not want to know. She didn't want to know what he had chased their six-year-old with throughout the whole house.

Another squeal sounded this time louder as the little girl got closer to the staircase behind Scully.

Scully knew without panic when she got home that afternoon that Danica wasn't screaming out of actual fear, even though her shouts of 'help' told a listener otherwise Scully wasn't fazed. She knew that there was laughter behind her shouts for help and that if she was in actual distress her father would stop. She could tell, well, mothers could always tell the difference between their children's cries for help and their screams of being chased by their father while he threatened to tickle them if he caught up.

No, she was sure she didn't want to know what was going on. There was no game that would interest her into joining in when it came to Mulder and Danica. Sure, she played with the little girl. But when Mulder was involved it consisted of throwing things and making a mess. She didn't enjoy that too much; she was more teddy bears picnic than pillage the village. Besides, whenever the three of them managed to start a game Mulder would trap her in a corner and tickle her until she cried surrender – with actual tears and the need to pee.

"I am not your damsel in distress; don't even think about touching me." She warned when she heard his faint footsteps on the floorboards below them.

He exhaled loudly, letting her know that she was safe. "C'mon Scully someone has to be." She scoffed, he knew her well enough to know she wasn't going to play along. "What? Danica doesn't stand for it much anymore. She's learnt that from you."

She shifted on the lounge as she closed her book harshly – not a good sign, when the book was closed it meant she had given up on reading, he had irked her and it scared him, but he wasn't backing down. He had wanted to have this conversation with her for a while, actually he had wanted to have quite a number of conversations with her. "She learnt that from me?" She asked with a hiss as she turned to look at the man before her, who – although it didn't surprise her – was covered in something blue, that was starting to drip down his arms.

He sighed openly as he looked about the room, clearly wanting to sit down but afraid to do to the fact that he was covered in slime. "Don't get me wrong I love that part of you that doesn't let anyone beat her down and it's an amazing trait to pass down to Danica. But when something finally crashes through your carefully constructed walls you can't cope. That's why you're OCD about cleaning, "

"I'm not OCD about cleaning…" She fought weakly but stopped when he looked her in the eye, daring her to fight with him.

"You have to have control. Which is great, someone has to be a leader. But I am worried that if Danica is learning this from you that when her walls fall – and they will – that we're going to have one hell of a storm on our hands." He exhaled, his vexation making his hands twitch. "She's lost in this world and we're supposed to make things better for her, we want to make things better for her. One minute she is strong, the next she is confused. She is trying to be her own person but she's also trying to be her courageous mother. But, you know what." He sighed in frustration again, even though this was really a one way conversation. "Nothing's solved in five minutes and I'm sorry I hit you with that."

He shook his head at himself while Scully stared at one of the bookshelves; his hands ran through his hair his mind no longer caring about the blue goop that was covering the top half of his body. He didn't have time to go on, to back pedal over his badly put together argument for Danica was hanging upside on the staircase rail calling; "Daddy, come get me." Before he moved for the girl he looked down at his partner one more time;

"I don't like how her being at school has suddenly changed our names. I was quite fond of 'Papa'." He tried for something light-hearted but wasn't granted with a response. Turning with a soft huff he went back to chasing Danica, well after he helped her down from the rain she had gotten herself stuck on.

It was only moments later that he heard the front door slam from the kitchen. There really was nothing better than the glorious sound of wood slapping wood to tell him that someone was pissed. Although, unfortunately for Mulder that someone was Dana Scully.

Danica looked up at her father with the same curious eyes she always pinned on him. "Can Mommy play?" She asked as though she didn't hear the very definite slam of the door.

He looked at the little girl, knowing she was too smart for her own good already, and was meddling for the fun of it. She tilted her head like an inquisitive puppy and beamed a smile at him. "Dana," He tried to start but was cut off,

"Mommy." The little girl corrected with her happy and ever present smile.

The corner of his mouth twitched at he but the inside of his cheek to stop from grinning at the cheeky child. "Mommy," He started again, "Is not in the best mood."

"Where is she?" She asked with another tilt.

Mulder laughed openly this time as he moved to scoop the still tiny six-year-old up in the air. "Doesn't matter." He told her simply as he carried her out of the kitchen and up the staircase the both of them still covered in slime. "Molly's coming over in half an hour and you are a filthy monkey!"

"No!" She squealed in his arms playfully, she poked her father in the chest and told him that he was in fact that filthy monkey as he tickled her sides before putting her down.

As it turned out, bathing Danica really was just a waste of time, the minute Molly showed up the two girls were in the kitchen with the slime he and Danica had made that morning. The girls had taken it outside and proceeded to throw it at each other, while Dylan continued to attempt to eat it.

When the girls got sick of the slime they moved on to glitter in the rec room and then throughout the rest of the house, making the two-story building an effective dumpsite for toys. "You'd think they were boys." Jess commented as she struggled with the nearly two-year-old squirming Dylan in her lap.

Mulder hummed as he handed Jess her coffee, "Scully would agree with you wholly on that. She doesn't appreciate the mess."

"Where is Dana?" Jess inquired as she expertly held the little boy still, long enough to at least sip her coffee. Mulder rolled his eyes then shrugged as he told Jess it was best they didn't get into it. "Robert was telling me that you mentioned teaching to him." She spoke as the girls ran past them in a flash of dolls, glitter and feathers. Mulder stared at their empty path trying to figure out where Danica had found feathers; he certainly didn't remember buying them for her.

"Just curious is all, he always asks about the FBI." He passed it off. He had only inquired softly on the subject to Robert Mitchells, the man taught psychology to high school students. Mulder had been thinking, with everything that had happened over the year and his sister's case finally being put to rest; it all gave him an itch to get out of the basement.

He hadn't voiced his thoughts to Scully, hell; he hadn't voiced his thoughts to anyone. Not even Robert, in essence he was just holding up conversation. Jess hummed, obviously not believing him as she set the little boy in a portable cot in the space Mulder used as a living room. "Well, Mulder that's because my husband in a hopeless geek with a secret desire to flash a badge and shout 'FBI'. Your job appeals to him, his – well he teaches psychology to high school students that hardly care." She sat back down at the kitchen island still tossing a look over to the little boy every now and then, making sure that he was falling asleep. Turning to Mulder who stood across from her she perched her knuckles under her chin. "What is so intriguing about teaching? What are you up to? And does Dana know?"

Leaving Jessica in his wake, Mulder moved around the kitchen island and headed for the dining room. "Nothing, I am not up to anything. I just thought it would be polite to ask Robert about his job. I do have a degree in psychology you know."

"Oh, I know." Jess pointed with her free hand to the library space that was now in front of them and completely unscathed by Danica and Molly's playing. "You know you can tell me anything." She told him as they stood in front of the large staircase that was scattered with toys and parts of dress-ups.

Mulder picked up a doll he recognized as a gift from his mother before she died. The little doll was made completely of fabric and looked so much like his little girl, right down to the vermillion colored hair and pale skin. "Jess. I'm not up to anything." She hummed again as she watched the man out the corner of her eye while the two of them started to pick up the mess left behind by their insane children.

Together they picked up the dolls, but it wasn't long before the door that had slammed with her departure creaked open the way she always pushed it open. Her movements were a lot faster than as they had ever been when she came over. The cause happened to be her focus, enough that Scully didn't pay attention to her surroundings when she climbed the stairs and crashed her lips to her partner's furiously. "I'm sorry." She whispered against his lips completely unaware of the smug Jessica who stood a few steps above them.

Mulder shook his head as he kissed her back lightly and with the same tenderness told her that it was him who should be sorry. Jess coughed softly reminding Mulder of her presence. Scully slipped her arm around Mulder's waist as together they looked up at Jess who was leaning against the railing and cradling her mug of coffee. Unbothered and collected as always, Scully offered her friend a small smile before going on to talk as though nothing had happened between her and the man she had her arm wrapped around. "Molly is becoming quite a bad influence." Scully pointed out with a cheeky tone. "Danica refuses to eat her peas. They are apparently," She turned to the man by her side, looking at the floor as she tried to remember rather than looking at him. "What was the word?" She looked at him as she clicked her fingers, trying to bring back the moment.

Looking at the other they both announced, "Ewww" in their best childlike voices, their eyes still locked. Jess laughed out loud at the two of them as she sipped her coffee.

"When did this happen?" She asked thoroughly amused.

Mulder looked down at Scully his face drawn in concentration as he tried to recall the exact night. "Ohm, about a week or so ago, what was it we had gotten for dinner?"

"Chinese, the fried rice. She insisted on picking every little piece of green out and I ke-" Jessica stopped her friend with a laugh.

Shaking her head she stepped down a step. "No, not the pea thing. Your relationship?" Scully looked up at Mulder and curled her lip; he on the other hand let a broad grin spread across his face. "Do I have to call Ellen?" She threatened Scully playfully. Since being introduced at one of Danica's birthday parties Ellen and Jess had grown quite close, especially when it came to figuring out when their friends would finally realize they were playing house together because that was the only thing they wanted.

"I knew I shouldn't have introduced the two of you." Scully exhaled. She teased her friend with a wink before descending down the stairs and moving for the dining room.

Jess laughed as she followed her friend, her hand curled around the mug, her right hand pointing at Scully. "You guys might be investigators but you haven't fooled me. First Mulder's been chatting Robert up about teaching, he wants a safer job and now the two of you are hiding a relationship. You got that baby didn't you? Dana! You're pregnant!" Jess gasped as she moved to embrace her friend but was stopped by Scully's glare.

The hot glare wasn't directed at Jess more the man standing behind her who looked anxious about what had been revealed. "You're looking for another job?" Her brow crinkled. Mulder shook his head, then nodded, before once again shaking his head. "Mulder?" She stepped around Jess. "Why are you looking into teaching jobs?" She sounded worried; terrified actually even though her face portrayed something that was quite the opposite.

"Scully, it's not like that. I promise. It's gossip. Robert and I were just making conversation, I swear." He was lying. Truth be told, this man really no longer had a need with the X-Files. And his partner knew it.

Sure, he was Fox Mulder, the man with an endless crusade. But that ended, it went away when he put Samantha to rest properly three months ago. His family came first now, it always had. He now saw more need in being there for Danica than his now laid to rest sister. He didn't need to find her anymore. She was gone, she was peaceful and his mother went along with her. She now had both of their partners to protect her in the afterlife. Why should he continue to risk his life for a crusade he was starting to lose interest in?

He owed it to that tiny basement office to continue the fight for the Truth. But was it worth the risk compared to the life of the little girl he called a daughter?

He couldn't see the fight anymore. He couldn't see the point. So, sure, he was looking into another job, a safer job. But he had not been ready to talk to Scully about it. For if he left the X-Files she would have to as well, or else be ruined.

It wasn't his decision to make alone, it was hers as well.

Jess stood awkwardly behind Scully, guilt bubbling in her stomach as the tension between the two partners started to choke the whole room. "Sorry Jess." Mulder apologized to the woman who was standing behind his partner awkwardly. He reached out for Scully and grabbed her elbow, with his hand around her flesh he tugged on her arm and lead the both of them to the backyard without giving Jess a chance to apologize herself for starting something that was much larger than she had initially realized. "Look." He mumbled as they stepped on the back deck. "It was just a thought, Scully. I was just considering other options."

She stared at him, her arms crossed over her chest. "You just said it was nothing."

"I lied."

Biting the inside of her cheek she looked at him with a raised brow. "What else are you lying about?" She turned her back to him as she moved to the railing that ran the length of the back deck.

"Nothing." He spoke, his voice pleading with her to understand. "I just, with Samantha put to rest and mom's funeral the last things I have to lose to this stupid game is you and Danica." His words begged with her to look at him. His voice was defeated, his body language was flat. He didn't want to fight; he was so over fighting everything. "I can't risk that anymore Scully. I can't lose either of you and I don't want to sit around and wait for it to happen. By then it's too late." He joined her at the edge of the deck, his shoulder touched hers, but he faced the house whereas she faced the garden. "I thought teaching would have been a better, safer option. Once upon a time I was considered one of the best in my field. What's holding me back from teaching?"

The question was rhetorical but he was granted with a sniffled and whispered response; "You're 'Spooky Mulder'."

"Hey?" He questioned as he leant down to her ear, a smile was slipping onto her face and she giggled softly as his cheek touched hers. "Did you call me 'Spooky Mulder'?" He teased the playful banter back when he kissed her cheek lovingly. His hands slipped around her waist, "Admit it, or I'll tickle you." She shook her head as his fingers made nimble work at her sides causing the laughter to erupt from her.

Scully proceeded to shake her head as he assaulted her sides causing tears to appear in her eyes due to the force of her laughter. "Admit it!" He whispered in her ear as his fingers found skin. She shook her head. "If you don't admit it there's something wrong with you." He stopped at held her at arm's length as he peered into her eyes. He gasped comically. "I figured it out. You're Mrs. Spooky." He teased her, at first she shook her head but eventually her sides began to hurt and she gave in, crushing herself against his chest she nodded. Admitting that his words were true as she leant up to peck his lips.

"You're right." She told him softly, her face serious. "This life isn't a place for us anymore." He nodded fiercely. "I guess that means we'll be giving Skinner our two weeks' notice tomorrow then." He took a step back again.

"That early?"

"I thought you said 'I don't want to sit around and wait for that to happen'." He agreed, that was what he had said. "Let's not sit around and wait then. With two weeks' notice we can figure something out but then. It's all going to be okay." She smiled up at him, her hand stroking his cheek softly.

"Looks like we need to let Jess know that we didn't kill each other." Scully nodded and together they walked back in the house surprising Jess who had been expecting screams and pouting but was instead granted with happy smiles.

Scully was right. It was all going to be okay … for a little while.

[…]

"Are you sure it's okay for you to pick her up Mom?" Scully asked softly as she paced the foyer of Mulder's large home. Her mother was on the phone promising her daughter that she could collect Danica from school and look after her sufficiently until they came back.

Mulder came climbing down the stairs two at a time, "You ready to go Scully?" He asked as he picked her overnight back up off the bottom step. She nodded, only half listening as she continued to ask her mother that she was sure with the arrangement. "I'm pretty sure she's my kid Scully shouldn't I be arranging this?" He asked her as he took the phone out of her hand. "Ah, Ms Scully, thank you so much for taking Danica. She has a spare key in her school bag for the house; I packed a bag for her it's waiting in the doorway. We'll be back in no time." Thanking her one last time, Mulder hung up and handed Scully her phone back. "Relax." He told her. "This isn't the first time she's stayed with your mom."

Scully nodded, "I know, but I just get the feeling something's going to go wrong and she's going to need us." Mulder shook his head again repeating that she needed to relax.

"C'mon Scully – this case is our last. Then we're done with aliens…"

"I don't think you'll ever be done with aliens Mulder, it's programmed in there now." She tapped his forehead playfully as she teased him.

He laughed at her as he moved their things into the trunk. "Seriously, Bellefleur, Oregon. We couldn't ask for anything easier. We couldn't ask for a better tribute than our last case finishing in the same place, with the same young man as our first case." She nodded her head, he was right. But she still had that feeling that something wasn't right.

Everything was fine until she was getting ready for bed in a little motel in Bellefleur, Oregon. The same motel –albeit rebuilt – that they had stayed in one their first case together. She didn't hesitate to move for his room when a wave of dizziness hit her and chills racked her spine. He had always been her source of comfort, especially in a moment of weakness.

Sitting on the edge of his bed after he let her in, she responded to his worried look. "I, um … I was starting to get ready for bed and I started to feel really dizzy – vertigo or something – and then I just started to get chills." She was shaking as she tried to piece her words together.

Moving around her Mulder turned down the sheets on his bed, "You want me to call a doctor?" He asked even though he knew she would respond in the negative. He had to try his luck though; she had actually come to him with worried around her health.

"No, I just … I just want to get warm." She climbed into the bed automatically as he slipped off her shoes before tucking her in. Sweeping the photos of Ray Hoese's injuries off the bed Mulder climbed in behind her and tucked an arm over her waist.

Neither of them hesitated as they laid there, both comfortable in a position they had often found themselves in. Mulder held her tighter than usual, his mind worried for what was happening. "Thank you." She told him softly as she clutched his hand.

"It's not worth it, Scully. This is why I wanted to leave."

"What?"

"I want you to go home." He told her meaning every part of it. It had only been a week since they had handed Skinner their two weeks' notice and yet the horrible possibilities were already catching up. He couldn't lose her out there; there was no chance he could bear to have that happen.

She sighed softly when she spoke, "Oh, Mulder, I'm going to be fine." But it was that same word that always lead to walls, to her locking him out and never letting him see her pain. She was letting him in tonight, but if he pushed her too far she would shut down on him.

"No, we've already discussed this. Looking at you today just clarified everything I thought. You holding that baby … knowing everything that's been taken away from you. A chance for motherhood and your health and that baby. I think that … I don't know, maybe they're right."

"Don't be ridiculous Mulder, I adopted Danica before Christmas. I am a mother, you gave me that." She knew it wasn't what he meant but she couldn't lie there and listen to him say that everything was his fault. "Who's right?" She asked remembering the last part of his sentence.

"The FBI. Maybe what they say is true, though for all the wrong reasons. It's the personal costs that are too high." A tear slipped down her cheek as he whispered into her ear. Never before had he been so brutally right. "There is so much more you need to do with your life. There's so much more than this." He stroked her cheek as she cried.

"And we're going to do that Mulder, we're going to do it." Why had it felt so much like a goodbye?

He whispered against her cheek as he pressed a kiss to her skin. "There has to be an end, Scully." Holding his hand tighter she kissed the back of it before letting her body relax.

"Don't you want to know what's out there?" The question had plagued her mind since he suggested leaving the X-files. She couldn't understand why he all of a sudden didn't care.

He shook his head against her shoulder, "Not really. I rather not know what's out there, than know and with that knowledge know there is nothing I can do to protect the people I love from it." He tightened his arm on her, hoping that she could understand there were some risks he was no longer willing to take and dropping them from his shoulders meant an end to the Truth. They stayed like that for the rest of the night, him slowly pleading with her to go home, and Scully stubbornly refusing.

It wasn't until the next day, when the dizziness came back; she was with Billy Miles and had believed that Mulder didn't know. Unfortunately for her the young man had told her partner who had been on edge all morning around her, practically wanting to hold her hand and wrap her in bubble wrap every time she moved.

But it was her fainting in the woods that had him worried the most, she was groggy and for a little while unresponsive which sent his mind into meltdown. That was his final straw he had booked them tickets home for that very night and called Maggie to let her know that they were coming home. Scully wasn't impressed with his actions but let him tug her by the hand for the rest of the day without complaint. She had decided that together they had been through enough in seven years, that maybe she could back down a little and let him care for her like he wanted too.

It was two days later when he followed her out of the FBI conference room that was currently occupied with the Lone Gunmen, Walter Skinner, Alex Krycek and Marita Covarrubias who were all trying desperately to work together in order to find the alien ship that was still in Oregon somewhere.

He found her in the hallway her forehead pressed to the wall, she was focusing on her breathing as she stood there, but the minute she heard the door close for a second time she stopped. "Mulder, if any of this is true …"

"If it is, or if it isn't I want you to forget about it, Scully."

She just stared at him in disbelief. "Forget about it?"

"You're not going back out there." His voice was firm like a father who was telling his child to cut it out and stop misbehaving. "I'm not letting you go back out there."

"What are you talking about?"

"It has to end sometime. That time is now."

"Mulder …"

He stopped her, he had to make her see, make her understand. "Scully, you have to understand that they're taking abductees. You're an abductee. I'm not going to risk …" He looked her in the eye; his own large hazel eyes were wet with suffering. He tried to convey without the words how much he didn't want her to do this. His voice broke as he finished his sentence. "… losing you."

She took a step closer to him as she walked into his embrace. Together they clung tightly to one another. What was it about that case that made them both feel like everything was a goodbye, a final moment? None the less they clung to the other as though it was exactly that. "I won't let you go alone." She told him softly as they pulled back. She reached her hand behind her neck and unclasped the necklace she was never too far from. Sensing what she was doing Mulder bent forward so she could reach her hands around his neck and clasp the piece of gold jewelry onto him instead. She pecked his lips quickly, well aware that they were in one of the corridors that belonged to the J. Edgar Hoover building. If she couldn't go out there with him, some part of her had to. Her faith would guide him, keep him safe. Or so she believed.

It was Skinner who went back into the woods with Mulder that very same night and it was Skinner who stood before her in the morning with news neither one of them wanted to hear. She held a pensive look on her face as she stared at one of the walls as though it were telling her all of its stories but she was only really half listening to them.

"Agent Scully." Skinner began in the formal, trying to keep things from being personal as his hands fumbled in front of him.

Her eyes flittered up to his, her mind in a far off place. "Hi." She told him softly not giving any leeway into a further conversation.

His hands were still fidgeting and his eyes wouldn't settle on one place. "Hi. How you feeling?"

Her voice was straight, fine, she sounded as though nothing was wrong when she told him the doctors were running tests. With her obliviousness towards her partners missing state Skinner realized he would have to be the one to break it to her. "Well … um …" His face twisted in pain, it didn't even sound like this would be easy in theory let alone having to tell her to her face. But he realized then that she already knew as tears gathered in her eyes and she could no longer look at him.

"I already heard." She told him softly her voice on the brink of breaking.

Skinners voice shook. "I lost him. I don't know what else I can say. I lost him. I'll be asked … what I saw. And what I saw, I can't deny. I won't." She felt a surge in her chest to yell at him and to tell him that they had been telling him these things all along. They were never liars.

When the tears dripped down her cheeks and appeared in her own eyes she couldn't help but to reassure him. "We will find him. I have to." And she did before something was lying under her flesh that the both of them had given up on completely. Something they had thought would never exist was now real and he wasn't there to find out.

She had tried so desperately to call him that night, to warn him that they were in fact after him. And when she woke in the hospital in the very early hours of the morning and was given the news. She tried to call him even harder. But the poor, hopeless man wouldn't answer his phone. It was only hours before that when another Agent made his way into her room and told her what had happened. She had cried herself back to sleep and only woke moments before Skinner arrived.

She had to find that insane man, not only for herself and this child, but for his already living daughter that was oblivious as to what was going on. She would have been dropped off at school by now, playing with her friends and learning new things for the day already. Eventually, Scully would have to break it to her and she knew that was going to happen the minute she was discharged. She couldn't hold it out, she couldn't let her daughter continue to sit there not knowing.

Mulder had said it himself, these abductee's weren't coming back.

Skinner had turned in an attempt to leave the room, believing very well that their conversation was over. "Sir, um … there's something else I need to tell you. Something that I need for you to keep to yourself." Skinner looked at her questioningly as her mind couldn't decide if she was going to laugh or to cry. "I'm having a hard time explaining it. Or believing it. But, umm …" She paused allowing for a small smile to filter across her face, the joy mixing with the pain in a torturous look. "I'm pregnant." Skinner just stared at her, speechless. Scully had tried to smile at him but though her tears it came out as a mixture of a laugh and a week sob.

[…]

It wasn't until the afternoon that Scully was discharged with the provisions to look after herself. Within minutes she was in a taxi on her way to pull Danica from her classes. She knew it probably wasn't the best idea to take the girl from her day in order to tell her that her daddy was missing, but she couldn't leave her child not knowing. She couldn't go throughout the rest of the day without having someone by her side, as selfish as it sounded she needed the little girl there. She needed her to know.

Danica squealed happily as she met her mother in the school's office. The reception staff watched on in sorrow as to the little girls' unaware behavior. They had found out about Mulder's disappearance purely because Scully couldn't find the energy to lie in order to get her daughter out of class.

With Danica standing by her side happily clutching her hand Scully moved the two of them towards the school gate. She had paid the taxi driver and dismissed him deciding that the house wasn't all that far from the school, the two of them could walk without complaint from their feet. "Where's Papa?" The little girl asked, still holding her mother's hand.

Scully choked, it sounded as though it was going to be an easy thing to tell the usually calm little girl and then she realized that bad feeling she felt before they left for Oregon was in fact leading to this moment and when she found out Mulder was missing. That was the bad feeling, the need to grab his hand and just tell him to stay. It was too late. All far too late.

She squeezed the little girl's hand. "That's why I got you from school sweetheart." She looked up at her mother as the two of them walked, flowers blooming at their feet. "Last night something happened to Papa."

"Is he sleeping?" She asked softly, that was the usual with her father when he was sick. All he did was sleep and Danica found herself intrigued at that small fact, considering she could never sleep when she was sick.

Scully shook her head. She stopped on the corner and crouched down in front of the little girl. Her hands on her waist, holding the both of them still. "No. He's not sleeping, liebechen." She shook her head again, her mind racing, how was she supposed to tell the little girl, only weeks from summer break that her father was missing? "You see, Papa had to do his job and he didn't want mommy to go with him because it was dangerous."

"Papa's job is very dangerous." The little girl nodded, repeating the same words that had been told to her over and over again.

"Exactly. But last night Papa went missing." The little girl looked at her confused for a moment. Her blue eyes concentrating harshly on the grass beside them.

She tilted her head up to her mother's unsure of what to think. "Like hide-and-go-seek?" Scully let out a laugh that was something half of a sob. Her hand flew to her mouth to stop the noise, she couldn't break down. She couldn't cry no matter what he said about behaving in front of the girl. She couldn't be the weak one. She didn't want to be. She had to be solid for the child that was wholly dependent on her.

"Yeah, a bit like hide-and-go-seek. But Papa's a very good at hiding." The little girl nodded, she knew that from experience.

"We should go find him." Scully let out another laugh that threatened to push her into a heavy sob.

She stood back up and took the little girls' hand. "I don't think it's going to be that easy, liebechen. But I promise you, Mama's gonna find him."

It was a big promise to make, but Scully needed the words more than Danica at the moment, she needed the reassurance that he would be found and right now, no one was giving her that when she so desperately needed to hear the words.

It wasn't Danica who was lost, it was Scully. Suddenly without the man who had been by her side for seven-years she found herself lost, she felt like she was walking in circles and there was no one there to correct her step.

Apparently Scully gave Mulder her cross necklace off camera before he went back to Oregon. He was wearing it when he was abducted and then in 'Within' Scully's wearing it. True or not, I'm rolling with it anyway, its kinda cute, in a painful rip your heart out kind of way.

Merry Christmas
I hope that you all have a great holiday and travel safe.

There will be another chapter next week for those of you who might be sitting around still. :)

Until next week,

A