From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 20:00:27 -0500 Subject: The Aladdin Effect by jeri Source: direct Reply To: ggal1116@yahoo.com TITLE: The Aladdin Effect AUTHOR: jeri E-MAIL: ggal1116@yahoo.com RATING: PG-13 (language, references to non- existent sex) CATEGORY: SRAh KEYWORDS: MSR, ScullyAngst, post-ep SPOILERS: Je Souhaite, Requiem, specifically, but have a basic knowledge of the results of the CancerArc. ARCHIVE: Gossamer ok, everyone else ask me! FINISHED: May 24, 2000 SUMMARY: If you love someone, set a jinni free... WARNING: CONTAINS HUGE "REQUIEM" SPOILERS! DO NOT BLAME ME IF I RUIN EVERYTHING FOR YOU! **DISCLAIMER: Look, if you pick me (out of ALLLLLLLL the people writing the same exact kinds of stories) to sue, then I've got crappy Karma, and you still won't get any money, seeing that I'm broke. Final warning. Requiem spoilers. ^*^*^ Skinner stared at his agent. Well, at the air just above her head. His mind was having trouble absorbing the bit of information she'd just shared with him, and quickly looking up the word 'pregnant' in his mental dictionary. <> <> "Mulder knocked you up?" He winced; what a classless way to put it! Scully sighed, and the unsure smile that had balanced perilously on her lips fell away into a frown. "Well, sir, that's where you're wrong." Skinner closed his eyes. "Christ, I'm sorry, Scully. I just assumed, I mean, I always thought that you two..." he sputtered, trying desperately not to make things worse. "Don't be sorry, sir. You made a perfectly understandable assumption. And, had the events of the past few days gone as planned, I'll admit that it would probably by now be a correct assumption." She made that little confession staring at the sheet that covered her lap. Skinner nodded, then cocked his head. "Well, then...?" She shrugged. "I have no idea, sir. That's what makes this so hard to believe, beyond the fact that two hours ago, I thought myself to be barren. Women aren't like men; we can't increase our egg production. It's all done before birth." "Could there have been a mistake in the original tests?" "I highly doubt it. It really upset me when I heard, and after Emily died..." Scully hesitated, unsure how appropriate this whole conversation was. She looked up at Skinner, and saw the curiosity in his eyes. Behind those wire-rims was loss and determination. He wanted to find Mulder just as much as she did. And she knew that until he did, he'd do his best to fill in where he could. It would mostly be professional, of course, but Scully could see that he wanted her to confide in him like she'd do with Mulder. Luckily for him, she'd recently done a lot more confiding. "Walter," she started, knowing that would grab his attention, "I never thought about children much before Emily. Even when I knew I couldn't have them, I didn't spend my nights crying because of it. But the few days I had with Emily, especially those when she was healthy, they opened up a space in my heart that I never knew existed. And when she died, the space remained open, but then it was empty. "That's when I seriously began reviewing the decisions I'd made in my life. I had the doctors do all the tests all over again, just to make sure there hadn't been a mistake. When they came back the same, I went to another doctor, knowing that even with my luck, all three couldn't be part of the conspiracy or make the same mistake. Of course, the tests were the same. "Around the time the office was torched, I began looking into adoption. No one was particularly receptive, not because I was single, but because I was an FBI agent. And then Dallas happened. I saw my chance. I could quit and blame it on OPR's reassignment, then go back to school and become a GP or pediatrician. And I'd have the ideal job, and people would want to give me their child. And hell, maybe I'd even make a move on Mulder so I wouldn't have to be single, either." Scully closed her eyes and took a breath, but Skinner knew where she was headed with the story and pushed forward. "And then you were taken, and when it was all over, you had to keep working." She nodded. "You forced yourself not to think about that life, and you just moved on." "If only," she said, rolling her eyes. "It took me months to stop thinking about it. I still had adoption applications out there, and of course now that I put those plans on the back burner, I got someone who was actually interested. I knew Mulder hated chasing fertilizer sales, and one night while we were driving through the desert," her eyes grew misty with memories, "I asked him if he ever got sick of driving around. If he ever thought of having a normal life. He said his life was normal." Skinner began to shuffle his feet, so Scully decided she should wrap up her monologue. "Anyway, that's the last bit of serious thought I put into it." She wondered if she should share the conversation she and Mulder had in the motel in Oregon. Just thinking about it, about the emotion in his voice, about the warmth his body provided, about the way he held her hand, those mere thoughts ripped a hole in her heart she knew could only be healed by one thing. She couldn't share that moment, not while he was still missing. There was a knock on the door, and the doctor walked in, his face one of accomplishment. "Well, Dana, I've got results." He held up a folder, waving it like a flag. He was about to begin to share them when he realized that there was a man sitting on her bed. Skinner saw the hesitation in the doctor, and he stood up to leave the room. "Sir," Scully said, "this is Dr. Saul. Doctor, this is my boss, Walter Skinner. Sir, you're more than welcome to stay to hear this." Skinner nodded, but remained standing. "Well," Dr. Saul started again, "as I said, I have the results back. Frankly, we're lucky that we could tell that you were pregnant. You're only about three weeks along." Scully blinked. That wasn't what she'd been expecting at all. In fact, it just confused her even more. "Are you sure? I thought for sure it would be a couple of months at the least." Dr. Saul shrugged. "That's what the results of test tell me. You did say it could have happened at anytime, right?" She nodded slowly. She hadn't really heard what he'd said, since she was trying to figure out what was going on. She'd suspected that the Smoking Man had something to do with all of this. She didn't know why, but there were the ten hours when he'd drugged her...maybe it hadn't been a worthless wild goose chase. But what happened two weeks ago that could result in pregnancy? ^*^*^ 3 weeks earlier... "So, you ready to make your third wish?" Mulder sighed and turned off the monitor as he spun his chair to fact the mysterious disappearing- reappearing Jen. "Yeah," he said, and she smiled. "Do you want to print out a copy, you know, for hard evidence just in case this doesn't go exactly how you want it to?" The omnipresent sarcasm in her voice was a bit duller than it had been. "No," he said thoughtfully. "I think I've got a better idea. What's the point of living if you can't make all your wishes come true?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, listen, it's not like that. Trust me, it's..." Mulder held up a hand. "No. I'm not wishing to become a jinni. I can see all too well how that doesn't help anybody, least of all me. I'm wishing for you to be free of the jinn. I'm wishing for you to be able to go around the corner to the Starbucks and have a cup of coffee, whenever you want. I'm wishing for you to live like a normal person, and not have to worry about other people's selfish desires." Jen stared at him. She was shocked at his request. It was unheard of to the jinn! Well, almost. It had happened three times before, but not in the last... oh, fifteen hundred years. "Are...are you sure? You can have anything in the world, and you want me to have a cup of coffee?" Mulder nodded. "I want you to get your wish." "Okay..." There was a small flash of light, and Mulder noticed that the little mark by her eye was gone. "It's done. Thank you," she added softly. He stood up. "It's not a problem." He held out his hand. "Have nice life, Jen." But she shook her head. "Actually, we're not done here yet. I still have to do one thing for you." Mulder's eyebrows rose. "That was my third wish, wasn't it? And aren't you...uh, normal now?" "Have you ever heard the story of Aladdin?" Jen asked, crossing her arms. Mulder nodded. "Sure. Both the Arabian Nights and Disney version." Jen grinned. "Well, I'm gonna let you in on a little DisneySecret: there're a couple jinn on staff." She let Mulder absorb that tidbit. "So, suffice it to say, the Disney version is more accurate than anybody knows. In fact, the Disney ending is the true ending, and it began a tradition among the jinn. Do you remember the ending?" Mulder shrugged. "Aladdin sets the Genie free, right? And the Sultan was so impressed with Aladdin's choice to keep his promise instead of becoming a prince again, the Sultan changes the law so Aladdin could marry the princess. Typical Happy Ending." "Ah!" Jen said, holding up a finger. "But as I said, that version is the truth. And ever since then, jinn have lived under the Aladdin Effect. It's a...I guess the best word is law. The law states that anytime a master uses a wish to set a jinni free, the master is rewarded in the name of love." Mulder's eyes widened. "Uh, look Jen...you don't...I mean..." Jen stared at him in confusion, then started cracking up. "Oh man!" she exclaimed when she finally got control of herself. "You are too much! That's not what I meant at all!" He blushed, and shrugged. "Sorry. I guess that was rather egotistical of me, wasn't it?" He didn't wait for an answer. "So, what did you mean?" Jen tossed her head back in annoyance. Was this man really THAT dense? "Okay, I'm going to assume that your head isn't so far up your ass that you don't know what love REALLY is. Is that a fair assumption?" Mulder narrowed his eyes, remaining silent for a moment, then finally answering, "Yes, I know all about being in love." "Good, this is progress. Now, I'm also going to assume that there are a few things about being in love that you wish for. Is that correct?" Once again, Mulder hesitated to answer, but eventually he did so affirmatively. "Wonderful. Since you've been so self-less as to use a wish to set me free, you get to make one of those wishes come true. Now, I suggest you think very hard about what that wish should be." "And be specific, right?" "You got it!" Mulder grimaced. Then he began to think about what he could wish for. He and Scully, while not actively consummating their relationship, had begun moving in that direction a few weeks ago. He knew that it was just a matter of time before they felt ready to actually make love, so that was a stupid thing to wish for. And since he knew she loved him, that was a waste as well. <> he realized. And with that realization, he knew what his wish would be. "Scully's barren," he admitted softly. "I wish for her not to be barren, so she can have a baby. My baby," he specified. Jen smiled. "That's a wonderful wish," she conceded. "Done." ^*^*^ NOTE: Definition from "Webster's New World Dictionary". Also, I know there's a huge debate as to the "how" of this whole unbelievable predicament. The preceding story was just a tangent of my beliefs. I'm trying to keep an open mind on this whole thing, since I'm sure that in November, Chris will surprise us all with the Real Explanation. 4 out of 5 doctors say expressing your enjoyment of a fanfic to its author increases your life expectancy 23-23.8 years. The other doctor was killed by Cancerman before we could ask him. jeri quinne, president, xpab (x-philes against bees) Gain membership by writing to: ggal1116@yahoo.com