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Mulder sits in the make shift sham of a courtroom listening to what seems like every government ally in his work life be interrogated. When Scully's name comes up, Mulder stiffens just a little. He notices more than watches as Skinner approaches the witness stand and asks Scully, "'Please state your name for the court.'"

"'My name is Dana Katherine Scully'," Scully begins and continues, "'I was assigned nine years ago to the X-Files to spy on Agent Mulder whose methods the FBI distrusted.'"

Staying as professional as possible, Skinner remarks, "'Assigned not just as an agent, but as a medical doctor. A scientist. And as a serious scientist you came to believe in Agent Mulder's theories.'"

"'I came to believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life and in a conspiracy inside the government to keep their existence a secret.'"

Hoping to make a point, not to Scully but to the government officials holding the trial, Skinner remarks, "'The proof was overwhelming. It was even scientifically undeniable.'"

Keeping her answer and tone neutral, Scully answers, "'I believe as do many respected scientists that life came to earth millions of years ago from a meteor or a rock from Mars.'"

"'So, what you're saying is, life- human life- is extraterrestrial by definition.'"

"'Objection'," Prosecutor Kallenbrunnner begins, "'What does this nonsense have to do with Mulder murdering a man in cold blood?'"

"'Agent Scully will prove that a government conspiracy exists to deny the existence of extra-terrestrials'," Skinner replies. Not in the mood for extraterrestrial nonsense, Agent Kersh remarks, "'You are not here proving government conspiracies Mr. Skinner. You are here to defend Fox Mulder.'"

"'And I'm trying to do that'," Skinner answers. Not in the mood to argue, Kersh answers, "'It's your case, Mr. Skinner.'"

Looking back at Scully, Skinner continues, "'So, a meteor crashed to earth but along with the biological building blocks on it there was something else - an alien virus.'"

"'I believe there was a virus which thrived here prehistorically'," Scully answers professionally adding, "'I believe that virus infected early man and transformed his physiology.'"

"'Changed him into something else'," Skinner clarifies.

"'Into an alien life-form himself'," Scully answers, knowing the Dana Scully of nine years ago is rolling her eyes at the current Dana Scully.

"'And what happened to these aliens?'" Skinner asks causing Scully to repeat, "'They died in the last ice age, 35,000 years ago.'"

"'And the virus?'"

"'It lay dormant underground until it surfaced once again during our current geologic period.'"

"'And the government knows of this?'"

Still as professional as possible despite the knowledge she, Mulder, Skinner, and the majority of the government are aware of, Scully answers, "'The government learned of this virus in 1947 when a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.'"

As the pair continue their back and forth about the government and alien viruses, Kersh finally demands, "'Is this all leading anywhere?'"

Unable to keep quiet, Mulder remarks from his seat, "'Yeah. The destruction of mankind.'"

Not in the mood to deal with the peanut gallery consisting of only Fox Mulder, Kersh turns to him stating, "'I'll warn you once, Agent Mulder.'"

Mulder stays quiet, but looks over at Scully and gives her a goofy smile knowing this is tough on the both of them. Scully and Skinner continue their interrogation, causing Kersh, "'Mr. Skinner, are we finished?'"

"'No',' Skinner replies, "'There's the matter of Agent Scully's own abduction in 1994.'"

Unaware of an abduction, Kersh asks, "'Abduction by whom?'"

Scully takes the answer on this question feeling Mulder staring at her. She has had enough time to deal with the trauma, and staying strong, knowing Mulder is in the room with her, Scully states, "'By the military working with the government conspirators to develop a breed of human-alien hybrids that the aliens would use as a slave race.'"

"'Thank you, Agent Scully'," Skinner tells her before handing her off to Mr. Kallenbrunner.

Standing, Kallenbrunner begins, "'All these ET'S running around ... it's hard to keep these aliens straight without a scorecard. I myself have never seen an alien. Could we call one as a witness?'"

Taken aback just a little, Scully replies, "'You're being facetious.'"

If she could, the only person would be Emily, and if Emily were alive, she would be in hiding too. Focusing her attention on the prosecutor, Scully is told he needs proof.

"'There are the mars rocks'," Scully begins. Interrupting her, Kallenbrunner states, "'No. I need something good. Something amazing. Something really cool.'"

Confused by the line of questioning, Scully replies, "'I don't know what you mean.'"

Almost mockingly, Kallenbrunner answers, "'Well, what I mean is, you have no proof to back up one word you just told us.'"

She does, did, but instead, Scully is silent, too many emotions playing in her mind despite her poker face on the witness stand. Then, she is blindsided by Kallenbrunner's next line of questioning.

"'Agent Scully, isn't it true that you and Mulder were lovers, and you got pregnant and had his love child?'"

She has two, but knows the men at the FBI either only know about one of the babies or that she just seemed pregnant for almost two years. She feels like she was, anyway. Thankfully, her stalling and refusal to answer gives Skinner enough time to shout, "'Objection!'"

Satisfied, Kallenbrunner answers, "'Thank you. Next witness.'"

Finding Mulder's face from the witness stand, Scully watches him give her a slight shake of his head and mouth, "It's okay."

Going after their family is a low blow for both of them, and it hurts that as Scully slowly leaves the witness chair she cannot simply run into her partner's arms. Instead, she sits and listens to her friends on the witness stand. Leaving the session later in the day, Scully makes her way to Mulder's cell. When she enters, Scully notices Mulder looks slightly defeated. Looking up at her, Mulder states, "'I know what you want and I can't give it to you.'"

Dismissing his remark, Scully pushes, "'Make them a deal, Mulder. Guilty on a lesser charge. Maybe they'll go for it and they'll let you walk out of here.'"

"'I'd rather die, Scully'," He answers not wanting to give in. Hating how stubborn her partner can be, Scully asks almost angrily, "'How can you say that? How can you say that, Mulder, to me?'"

He can hear the underlying question. How can he say that to not just her, but to their family. To Chloe, Audrey, and William. To Maggie and their friends. The Gunmen? Looking back up at his partner, Mulder answers, "'Because this is greater than you or me. This is about everything we worked for for nine years. The truth that we both sacrificed so much to uncover and to expose.'"

Lowering herself to be at eye level with Mulder, Scully insists, "'Well, then, expose it, Mulder! Take the stand. Whatever it is that you're withholding take the stand and hit them full force.'"

"'I can't.'"

"'Why?'" Scully asks, not just asking why he can't fight, but why he won't. Why he isn't. She has no idea why he is acting the way he is and is further frustrated by Mulder's further answer of, "'I just can't.'"

Trying to make him see sense or at least open up to her, Scully tells him, "'You say this is greater than us, and maybe it is, but this is us fighting this fight, Mulder, not you. It's you and me. That's what I'm fighting for, Mulder. You and me.'"

Shaking his head, Mulder tries his best to keep what he knows to himself, if not to save himself, but to save her, them, their family. Knowing she will not get anywhere, Scully gently caresses his cheek, kisses his forehead, and gets up to leave.

In her car, Scully leaves the prison and has to stop on the side of the road and cry. The fact that she has done everything for him, given up everything for him, and he is giving up infuriates her. Then, she is angry at herself for getting too comfortable in their life together, and for allowing him to leave. She admits to herself now, that her seventeen year old has been correct this whole time when she tells her she is not doing a good job. She wants to hide herself, but mostly, she wants to hide with Mulder. A thought which upsets her even more since she is supposed to be angry at him. Realizing how late it is and that she has not driven this route in the dark, Scully puts her vehicle in drive and heads back to the city. As she drives, Scully is surprised to find herself in her mom's neighborhood. Taking a deep breath when she pulls into the drive and parks, Scully composes herself before walking up to the front door. Knocking, Scully waits for her mom to answer. Her voice comes out a little shaky as Scully states, "Hi, Mom."

Immediately seeing her daughter's expression, Maggie pulls her youngest and now only daughter into a hug. A sob wracks Scully's body as her mother shuts the door behind them and leads her to the living room. Finally, Scully tells her mom about Mulder's trial and how defeated he is.

"I don't think I can do anything, Mom. Mulder has just given up, and the charges aren't even real! There's no body!"

"Dana? When was the last time you slept?" Maggie asks a worried look crossing her features. A scowl appears on Scully's face reminding Maggie of when her daughter was a teenager. Smoothing her daughter's hair, Maggie tells Scully to get in the shower and she will bring her a cup of tea.

Nodding, Scully heads upstairs, grabs a towel, and gets in the shower. Once the water hits her, Scully starts crying all over again. When she leaves the shower, realizing she has no change of clothes, Scully knocks on her mom's bedroom door.

"Mom," Scully tentatively asks entering the room. Leaving her closet, Maggie holds out a nightgown to her daughter, adding, "I'll go pour you a cup of tea."

With a sigh, Scully takes the nightgown and thanks her mom before heading back to the bathroom to change. Scully ends up drinking her tea alone, puts the cup in the sink, and heads upstairs. She starts to sleep in the guest bedroom when she realizes she is in no mood to be alone. Just like Chloe does months before, Scully crawls into bed with her mother and sleeps safe in the knowledge that there is someone looking out for her.

The next morning, Scully gets a call on her cell phone from Monica telling her to meet her a the office. Arriving to a stripped office, Scully looks around in confusion as Doggett answers, "Someone from the trial got here before us and took all the files."

With a heavy sigh, Scully takes a look around the room that had once been her office. Breaking the woman's reverie, Doggett asks, "'Are you ready for this? We may have found Knowle Rohrer.'"

"'You found him?'" Scully asks knowing this will absolve Mulder of his charges.

"'His body'," Moncia amends knowing this will not help Mulder. Confused, Scully asks, "'What are you talking about? There can't be a body; he can't die. Knowle Rohrer is a super soldier.'"

"'Exactly. But they're saying it's him - the man Mulder killed.'"

"'Who's saying it's him?'" Scully asks, knowing the answer is rhetorical for all of them. It's always the government. Explaining that they can see the body, Doggett tells the women where it is before taking on the task of cleaning up the office. It takes them almost an hour between traffic and security to see the body, but once Monica and Scully make their assessment, Scully immediately leaves for the trial presenting her evidence in the middle of an interrogation. The higher ups read over the findings and decide to take a twenty four hour recess. Mulder looks over at Scully for some sort of answer, but she gives him a ghost of a smile instead. Left alone with him in his cell two hours later while Skinner meets with the prosecutor and Kersh, Scully lets the possibility of an acquittal wash over him. Finally, Mulder asks, "How were the kids before?"

He stops himself from saying she gave them up. He knows it is a subject she is not ready to get into yet. Shrugging, Scully states, "Audrey and William are too little to understand everything, thankfully. They were pretty fussy after you initially left. I think Chloe shut down for a while, then went through anger. She never got to acceptance, though."

Running his hands through his hair, Mulder mumbles an apology. Then, he turns to her and gets at eye level with her stating, "I should never have done this to you, or the kids, especially Chloe. She has been through too much. You've been through too much."

Scully stays silent. Having had her break down the night before, she let's Mulder express his emotions. Taking her face in his hands, Mulder, with tears in his eyes, announces, "I'm so, so sorry."

Choking up a little herself, Scully answers, "I know, but Mulder that does not mean you can shut me out like you've been doing."

Pulling away from her, Mulder studies his partner's face answering, "I know. I'll tell you what I can when it's safe."

Safe. Scully wants to scoff at the word. It's the same word that gets them in this predicament in the first place. Instead, Scully echoes, "Safe."

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