I'm SO SORRY for the delay you guys! I've had terrible writer's block until 11x1. Because Chris Carter really made me want to write.
Enjoy!
Walking into The Bureau, Mulder takes a detour from his usual route and walks to Skinner's office. Knocking on the man's office door, Mulder finally receives admittance.
"Sir? I was wondering if there is a case for us outside of D.C.?" The agent questions once he sits in the chair opposite the A.D.'s desk. Skinner gives Mulder a confused glance before remembering Scully's attack.
"How's she doing?" He asks. Mulder shakes his head. Scully is closing herself off more, but the head of the X-Files replies, "As well as can be expected."
Skinner nods before perusing the files on his desk. After a few minutes of searching, Skinner hands over a file and replies, "I hope this one will work for you."
Mulder reads the folder's contents before standing. Thanking his boss, Mulder heads downstairs to his office. Calling Scully on her cell, Mulder chuckles as she chastises him for not telling her about the case earlier.
"I only found out an hour ago," He defends hoping she will never find out that they are going to California on purpose. "Try to get the first flight out. I'm leaving here in about an hour."
He decides not to wait for his girlfriend to respond and hangs up his office phone.
The next day, Mulder sits at LAX waiting for Scully's flight. Spotting her, he notices her sour expression.
"Hey, glad you could make it!" Mulder grins as Scully mumbles something about her suitcase and walks off.
Arriving at the crime sceen over an hour later thanks to LA traffic, Scully reluctantly leaves the vehicle not wanting to deal with Mulder's fascination with the case's disappearing act.
"'Neat trick, huh?'" Mulder asks as he speaks to his partner via the open car windows. Still unable to find the humor in the case, Scully deadpans, "'I can think of a neater one. How you convinced me to drop everything and get on the first plane to Los Angeles.'"
"'Come on, Scully. This isn't intriguing enough for you? A magician turns his head completely around 360 degrees to the delight of young and old alike after which it plops unceremoniously onto the pier... see the picture?'" Mulder questions holding up the case photo. Trying her best to be professional, Scully exasperatedly answers, "'Yeah, I saw the picture. And as for this Amazing Maleeni turning his head all the way around, LIKE YOU SAID, MULDER: neat trick.'"
Mulder tries to counter her unenthusiastic response as Scully cuts him off by telling his they are simply investigating a murder.
"'You think this was a murder?'" Mulder asks hoping she will finally see the X-file.
"'Don't you?'"
The look he gives her suggests otherwise. Wondering how her partner can think otherwise, Scully explains, "'Mulder, his head was cut off.'"
Although she is a little perturbed to spend her week in L.A., Scully is happy for the distraction and becomes a little more playful toward the end of the trip. Waiting on their flight back to D.C. a few hours later, Scully watches Mulder pop sunflower seeds into his mouth. Discreetly, she places her hand over his to get his attention.
"Thank- you," She says once she gains her boyfriend's attention. With the failed Invetro to Pfaster's return, she is bogged down in worries and depression. A trip to L.A., despite only going for a case is a welcome change.
"How did you know I picked this?" Mulder asks with a grin. Scully merely raises her eyebrows teasing him. In no way will she tell him that a call Skinner gives her all the information she needs. Thankfully, she is saved from any teasing when Mulder's phone rings.
"You aren't going to answer?" Scully asks as the ringtone continues. Knowing he is simply getting another phone call from his mother, Mulder replies, "I'll answer once we get back home."
She merely nods not wanting to be the nagging girlfriend. Leaving the D.C. airport terminal, Scully asks, "Do you mind if I stay with you? I don't feel like driving home to my apartment."
Smirking at her uncharacteristic laziness, Mulder agrees.
The next week is normal until Mulder and Scully get a case with missing children. Thinking of his sister again, Mulder is consumed in the case. Due to the irregularity in schedule, Scully practically lives at the Mulders' apartment. Chloe takes notice of the change and asks one afternoon as her mother picks her up from school, "What are we having for dinner?"
"You think I'm going to cook?" Scully teases. Her daughter shrugs, "You've been staying over a lot."
"I know. I was thinking of spaghetti?"
"With meatballs and garlic bread?" The teen asks hopefully. Scully decides not to reply, but wonders how endless a Mulder's stomach is.
"We'll see," Scully answers. "It's just us tonight."
"Really? Where's Dad?"
"At work. Our boss called him in."
"Dad's not handling anymore snakes is he?" Chloe asks referring to their case in Arkansas.
Chuckling, Scully answers, "No. The snakes are a one time thing."
Walking into the apartment with a backpack and groceries, Chloe and Scully deposit their bags just as the phone rings. Just putting water to boil for spaghetti, Scully waits to hear foot steps from Chloe's room. Rolling her eyes, Scully goes to answer the phone.
"Hello?" She asks.
"Is this Fox Mulder's residence?" The person on the other end asks. Walking back into the kitchen, Scully replies it is, but that Mulder is away. Then, she notices the hesitancy on the other end until the person explains, "I'm with the state police in Connecticut, I just wanted to inform Mr. Mulder that his mother passed away tonight."
Scully swallows trying to process the information. Finally, she replies, "Thank- you. I'll let him know."
Stoic, the red head finishes cooking, and knocks on her daughter's bedroom door to inform her that she needs to go down to the Bureau. Nodding, Chloe asks, "Is dinner ready?"
Feeling guilty, Scully replies, "Yes, but I can't stay."
Sensing information is being witheld from her, Chloe asks, "What's wrong?"
Scully bites her lip before telling her she will know later.
Walking down the hallway toward her boss' office, Scully firmly knocks and then opens the door.
"'Sir?'" She begins. Irritated, Skinner spits, "'What? What is it, Agent Scully?'"
Still calm, Scully replies, "'I need to have a word with Agent Mulder.'"
"'It can wait'," Skinner barks. Still respectful, but authoritative, "'No, it can't, sir.'"
Wanting to end the argument, Mulder asks, "'What is it, Scully?
"'Mulder,'" She begins softly, "'your mom's dead.'"
He stares at his girlfriend in shock before murmuring, "I've got to leave. I need to get to my mom's."
Scully glances over at her boss before gently ushering her boyfriend into the secretary's office.
"I'll see if Chloe can stay with Anna," Scully says knowing her partner needs time alone to grieve. He shakes his head stating, "No. I need Chloe with me."
Scully nods in understanding before asking softly, "Do you need me to go up there with you?"
"No. Um, I just need to get up there," Mulder replies in a frazzled tone. Persuading her partner to let someone drive him home, Scully leads him to his car after asking Skinner to drive her car back to Mulder's apartment later. Skinner nods knowing his relationship with the X-Files agents is closer to friends than a strictly professional relationship.
Entering the apartment, Mulder goes straight to pack a few clothes as Scully explains to a confused Chloe that her grandmother is dead. Gently, the red head adds, "I think your dad wants you to go with him, so I'd pack some clothes."
Shaking her head, Chloe explains, "I have a big test tomorrow."
Sighing, Scully stands still. After a moment she tells Chloe she will talk to Mulder.
"Study," Scully instructs as she heads to her boyfriend's bedroom. Knocking on the door, Scully walks in without waiting for a response. Nearly bumping into him as he goes toward the bedroom door, Scully puts her hand on his arm to stop him.
"Mulder, Chloe has a big test tomorrow. Would it be okay if I brought her up tomorrow?" The woman asks knowing high school is the prime period for the teen's GPA. With a shaky breath, Mulder answers, "Yeah. I may need tonight to think things through anyway."
Stopping by his daughter's room, Mulder kisses Chloe good- bye before giving Scully a kiss on the cheek as well.
"We'll see you tomorrow," Scully replies before Mulder leaves the apartment. Picking up her daughter right after her test, Scully explains to the office that Chloe's grandmother dies. After a few consoling remarks, Scully guides Chloe out of the school.
Entering Teena's home, Scully lets Chloe walk through the house before calling out for her partner.
"'Over here'," Mulder announces from his mother's bedroom. Entering the room, Scully asks what her boyfriend is looking at.
"'Diazepam'," Mulder replies. "'She used them to sleep.'"
"'Is there a note?'" Scully suggests knowing the sleeping pill could be a clue for a possible suicide.
"'No. She called when I was in California. She wanted to talk, but, uh... I never called her back'," Mulder states with guilt. Scully says his name to comfort him as Mulder tries to make sense of the death.
"'I didn't... Why would she do this? It just doesn't make any sense.'"
Still being the reassuring presence, Scully whispers, "'We never truly know why.'"
"'No, she wouldn't kill herself'," Mulder insists. "'Why are these pictures gone? There were photos here. There were photos of my sister and I. This is all that she had left of us and they're missing. Why...? She saw me on the news. She wanted to talk about the missing girl, Amber Lynn. She wanted to tell me something about her, or maybe she couldn't tell me over the phone because she was afraid that they would do something like this to her.'"
"'Who?'" Scully asks.
"'Whoever took my sister. Look at this place. I mean, it's like... it's all staged - the pills, the oven, the tape. It's like a bad movie script. They would... they would have come here and they would have threatened her. She would be upset; they would have to sedate her. I would look for a, uh... a needle puncture mark or something else in her system besides these pills.'"
Knowing he wants her to perform a medical exam, Scully gently protests, "'No, Mulder. Please don't ask me to do this.'"
Desperate, her boyfriend asks, "'Scully, who else can I ask?'"
Still wary of the idea, Scully questions, "'An autopsy, Mulder? I mean, it's one thing on a stranger but you're my friend, and she's your mother.'"
Teena might as well be Scully's mother- in- law with how Mulder and Scully's relationship works so far. Knowing it is a difficult task, Mulder explains, "'I know, but if you don't do it, I might never know the truth.'"
Reluctantly, Scully agrees and asks the police to direct her to the ME's office. After speaking with the police, Scully looks over at Chloe.
"Look after your dad?" She asks. Chloe nods before asking, "Where are you going."
Stepping toward her daughter, Scully whispers, "Your dad wants me to perform an autopsy."
"On Grandma?" Chloe states. Her mother nods adding, "I'll come home as soon as I finish the autopsy."
Chloe nods mechanically before walking toward her grandmother's room.
The ride home is silent for both Mulder and Chloe, and she immediately heads to Anna's once they get home. She only returns later that night to check on her dad. Seeing he is still playing her grandmother's message, Chloe steps over and hugs him. He hugs her back and buries his face in her hair.
"I love you," He whispers knowing his daughter needs to hear him tell her how much she means to him. She is his reason for living, and the current case with the missing girls as well as his mother's death is overwhelming. Kissing his cheek, Chloe replies, "I love you, too, Dad."
He hugs his daughter again before she heads to her room. As if on autopilot, Mulder rewinds his mother's message and replays it. Hearing a knock on the door, he opens it to find his tired girlfriend in front of him. Ushering her in, he tells her, "'I'm glad you're here. My mother was trying to tell me something. I think I figured it out. It's something about my sister that she was never able to tell me.'"
Scully watches as Mulder plays the tape again and listens until Mulder remarks, "'She knew what I'd find with this case out in California.'"
"'How could she know that, Mulder?'" Scully questions softly. Hearing the slight hysteria in her boyfriend's voice, Scully can only watch as he rambles, "'A child disappearing without a trace- without evidence- in defiance of all logical explanation? She knew because of what's driven me- what I've always believed.'"
Saying his name, Scully walks over to Mulder to calm him.
"'Scully, these parents who've lost'," He swallows not wanting to think of his sister or his own daughter, continues, "'… who've lost their children... They've had visions of their sons and daughters in scenarios that never happened but which they describe in notes that came through them as automatic writing and words that came through them psychically from old souls protecting the children. My mother must have written a note like that herself. Describing the scenario of my sister's disappearance of her, of her abduction by aliens. Don't you see, Scully? It never happened. All these visions that I've had have just been... they've been to help me cope, to help me deal with the loss but... I've been looking for my sister in the wrong place. That's... what my mother was trying to tell me. That's what she was trying to warn me about. That's why they killed her.'"
Mid rant, Scully sits down facing him. Once he finishes, Scully gently gives her boyfriend the autopsy results. Feeling a little sick over what she has to say, Scully swallows her unease and states, "'Your mother killed herself, Mulder. I conducted the autopsy. She was dying of an incurable disease. An untreatable and horribly disfiguring disease called Paget's Carcinoma. She knew it. There were doctor's records. She didn't want to live.'"
She receives a blank stare in return until he puts his face in his hands. Scully prepares to comfort her boyfriend when he suddenly stands up and shakes his desk. She reaches out to touch his arm, but he pulls away. Upset, Mulder denies everything his girlfriend tells him. She calls his name to bring him back to her, but he merely repeats as his voice breaks, "'She was trying to tell me something. She was trying to tell me something.'"
He sits down again in his desk chair still unable to comprehend everything. Caught up in her own emotion, Scully whispers, "'Mulder, she was trying to tell you to stop. To stop looking for your sister. She was just trying to take away your pain.'"
Desperately in need of something tactile, Mulder holds onto his girlfriend and cries. Holding him, Scully kisses his neck.
In the middle of the night, Chloe leaves her room to get a glass of water and finds her parents on the couch asleep. Taking the afghan from the back of the sofa, she covers the pair.
The next morning, Scully wakes up to a knock on Mulder's apartment door. Thankful to sleep on the edge of the couch, Scully gets up without waking her partner only to find Skinner at the door. They exchange pleasantries and Skinner looks into the apartment.
"'How's he doing?'" He asks. Scully replies honestly, "'It's been a hard night for him.'"
There's a pause until Skinner explains a victim's mother wants to speak only to Mulder. Knowing her boyfriend needs time to decompress, Scully begins to decline the offer when Mulder comes up behind her..
"'What is it?'" Mulder asks causing Skinner to tell them he has two flights booked for them. In silent communication, Mulder and Scully agree that she will come with him. Turning back to Skinner once Mulder goes back into the apartment, Scully states, "'Well, then you better book three.'"
The couple leaves a note for their daughter that they will be gone all day before showering and heading out the door, all while a confused Skinner watches the scene. Part of him is curious how long their relationship has been this domestic. However, he errs on the side of deniability for the court's sake.
A day later, Scully comes back to New England and makes her way to Connecticut. She decides not to call Chloe in case the teen gets her hopes up that she and Mulder are coming back that day. Finally coming home from California for the second time in a month, the pair decides to stay at their own apartments. If only for Scully to do laundry.
"Where's Mom?" Chloe asks once her father enters the apartment. Mulder rubs his eyes tiredly before asking, "What are you doing up?"
"It's a Friday night and I decided to write out what all we need to do for Grandma's funeral," Chloe states. Her father swears softly under his breath. His daughter does not need to be the adult in the their relationship. Walking over to her, Mulder kisses his daughter on the forehead, "Thanks, Chlo. Go to bed, though? Okay? I'll take a look at all this in the morning."
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