From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org Date: 6 Jun 2001 20:07:25 -0000 Subject: REP: Eye of the storm (Epilogue: Existence) by AnnaRan Source: direct Reply To: annaran@wi.rr.com Title: REPOST:Eye of the storm (Epilogue: Existence) (Trying again as the first posting at Ephemeral didn't seem to work) Dedicated to: My daughter Lauren Author: AnnaRan E-mail: annaran@wi.rr.com Spoilers: Existence Keywords: MSwR, epilogue Rating: PG-13 Feedback: Please! Summary: Even though I loved the finale, I just couldn't see M&S play the mad-about-you routine for too long--"not with the devil outside." I want to believe they eventually get out of bed to "fight the fight." My apologies in advance to any Christian readers for a bit of irreverence concerning the gifts of the magi and a certain miracle from the Book of Exodus. I mean no disrespect, but you may want to say a few Hail Mulders for me anyway. Disclaimer: These characters belong to Chris Carter et.al. No copyright infringement intended. Eye of the storm By AnnaRan "Hello." "Mulder?" "Yeah." "It's Langly. Did I wake you man?" "I must've fallen asleep." Mulder glances down at his watch and immediately sits up. Almost 4:00. That's quite a nap. For both of them. "What's up?" He's on his feet and heading down the hall to the bassinet next to Scully's bed. "Sorry Mulder." Scully's darkened bedroom holds the scent of mother and son like a summer shower. "No problem," Mulder's voice is low as he bends to take a quick peek at William. Yup, lookin' good. Don't want anything to go wrong on the rookie's shift, Mulder thinks as he affectionately smoothes an errant strand of hair off William's forehead. "Scully asleep too?" Langly asks guiltily. "No, she's out with her mom." He can tell Langly's got him on the speakerphone meaning Frohicki and Byers must be nearby. Mulder moves quietly back into the hall and heads for the kitchen. "I was just checking on William." "William, huh?" I guess with a name like Fox, you'd have to go right to the middle name." Chuckles all around. Suspicion confirmed. "That Byers and Frohicki enjoying a couple of laughs at my expense?" Mulder opens the refrigerator and grabs a coke off the door. "Hey man," Frohicki acknowledges. Mulder can hear his smile. "Afternoon, Mulder." Always the well-mannered Byers. Mulder stretches and runs a free hand through his hair. "Mulder, you there?" Langly asks. "Yeah. And happy I can still be such a source of entertainment for you three clowns." A few relieved snickers. "Thanks for the gifts by the way. Sorry we didn't call, but we were busy. . .ah. . .using 'em." Mulder dangles the bait. "A rattle and a couple of stuffed animals?" Frohicki bites. Mulder swallows a swig of coke in route to the bathroom. "Yeah that stuff's nice too, but I mean the oil, lotion, whatever." Mulder veers from his path to the toilet to reach for the bottle of bath lotion Scully's left on the side of the tub. He reads the label aloud, "What could be more soothing after a warm JOHNSON'S Bedtime Bath than a soft massage with the relaxing aroma of chamomile and lavender." "Mulder!" Byers chastizes. "That stuff's for the baby." Langly finishes. "Really? Damn. I hope there's some left for William." Mulder taps the bottle loudly on the edge of the tub for their benefit. "Well, I don't know about William, but Scully and I sure liked it." Mulder's certain Langly's left eyebrow has just intercepted his receding hairline. "And, Frohicki, what's with the incense? I s'pose that's for William's teen years." Mulder finishes up in the bathroom and heads back to the living room. "Hey man, that's Blue Pearl incense. Highest quality incense in the world. It's imported from Egypt." Plopping down on the couch, Mulder reaches behind for the small brass bowl with matching vented lid wherein lies three small purplish cones. "Wow." Mulder feigns incredulousness. "I thought smoke was bad for a baby." "It ain't smoke, Mulder. It's aromatherapy of consciousness. It's to promote a feeling of inspiration and purification. . ." "Peace man," Langly finishes. "Oh. That stuff I smelled the last time I didn't call before stopping by?" Langly coughs and Mulder imagines Byers readjusting his tie. Frohicki ignores them and continues a little too seriously for Mulder's comfort level. "After all you two have been through, I thought it might help you. . .well. . .relax. But I guess Byers' and Langly's baby oil did that." Frohicki actually sounds a little miffed so Mulder backs down. "Thanks, Frohicki," he says as sincerely as he can under the circumstances. "I, we, really do appreciate everything. Thanks." An awkward silence ensues marked by the steady drip of Scully's kitchen faucet. "We'll burn some tonight and think of you guys. Ok?" Mulder hears chairs squeaking again and knows the three are exchanging pleased grins. "But, hey, you guys I've really got to go. I promised Scully I'd get dinner started and, he looks at his watch, she'll be here any minute." "Mulder, we didn't just call to see how you were," Langly interrupts him. "I mean we did, but there's more. We left a couple of messages at your place, but I guess you didn't get 'em. You'll be staying at Scully's huh?" "Yeah. I'm here," he pauses, "and my cell phone's out of commission." "Yeah we noticed," Langly says. "I guess we figured you weren't taking calls for awhile." "Something wrong?" "No, nothing's wrong. Right guys?" Langly asks the group. Mulder pictures all three shaking their heads in unison. "Just strange. Something we thought you'd want to know." "Bring it home boys." "We did some research on that light. You know, the one that guided you to Scully," Langly begins. "We assumed. . ." "Incorrectly," Frohicki adds. "That the light was from a UFO," Langly continues. "So, we did some major satellite hacking, looked at all the data storage right off the JPL Topex Poseidon in a 72-hour time frame, but weren't able to find any UFO activity in northern Georgia," Langly hesitates waiting for Mulder's response. "And. . .?" Mulder finds himself sitting at the edge of the couch anticipating the real reason for their call. Frohicki takes over. "Byers thought to check NASA, specifically the Hubble Space Telescope data for stellar activity. And that's when things got interesting. Do you know anything about infant stars, Mulder?" "Just what I read in Scientific American a few months back." "Kinda uppity," Langly drawls. "What Mulder? Too good for Astronomy Today?" Mulder rubs his forehead attempting to recall the article. "From what I remember, most of the stars in our universe were formed billions of years ago, but some continue to be formed today. Basically, gravity gathers huge clouds of gases and dust together to make groups of stars. The clouds' own gravity over millions of years condenses and squeezes gas and dust together until a new star is formed." Langly chuckles amazed at Mulder's memory for random information. "They're actually very hard to find as their dense mass means they evolve quickly and spend a good part of the time behind large molecular dust clouds," Langly adds. "Langly," Frohicki interrupts, "get to the point. He says he's gotta. . ." "ANYWAY," Langly's annoyed, "the Hubble recorded the birth of a newborn star the night William was born-- the night you saw the light. A Class 0 protostar, to be specific, emerged kicking and screaming from. . ." ". . .the shelter of its prenatal molecular cloud somewhere in the Orion Nebula," Byers finishes obviously pleased with their birth analogy. "The point of all this and the amazing thing about it," Frohicki's in for the wrap, "is that even though these newborns are ten times hotter and up to 100 thousand times brighter than our sun's flares, they always emerge hidden behind huge dust and gas clouds." "And," Langly pauses for affect, "can only be seen with a very high resolution telescope." "Yet, Mulder, you saw it with your naked eye," Byers says with astonishment. "I love when you say naked, Byers," Mulder stalls giving himself a chance to process the information. "Did anyone else report anything?" "You mean anyone other than astronomers?" Byers asks. "Yeah." "Nope. None that we found." "Didn't the helicopter dude see it?" Langly asks. Mulder stands and heads back down the hall toward Scully's bedroom. "I don't know. I gave the direction to set down. If he did, he didn't say anything to me." Mulder hesitates in the doorway watching William begin to stir. "Kind of awesome isn't it?" Frohicki muses. "I mean symbolic you know. I mean viewed with the naked eye, it should have been at best only fuzzy. Yet you saw it as a beacon leading you to Scully. Saw it for what it was, for what it meant. That's got to mean somethin' man." Frohicki hesitates waiting for a response from Mulder. "Anyway, we mailed you a copy of the narrow band filter image we downloaded from the Hubble's wide field planetary camera. Take a look for yourself. And keep it. You know. . .for the kid's scrapbook." "And tell him what? That the photo's from three wise guys who had to explain it to his dense dad?" Mulder moves away from the doorway and back into the living room. "I think you already knew this," Byers offers quietly. "Intuitively, I mean. We're just providing the scientific proof." "You boys are really scaring me now. You're starting to sound like Scully." "Give our best to the lovely Agent Scully won't you Mulder? Frohicki gushes. "Sure. And thanks. Really." "No problem. We did run a story if you're interested. Without the UFO angle, it wasn't exactly front page material, but it's in the latest edition." "Hit newsstands last Saturday," Langly adds. "No names, just a story about a guy in a helicopter using a star to navigate his way to his partner in labor. You know, a little Lone Gunmen human-interest piece." "Does that mean I have to pay for a copy?" "Funny, man." "Tell him. . ." Byers mumbles something else Mulder can't quite make out. "Tell me what?" "We got some strange calls on that article," Langly admits. "Asking us to divulge names and date of birth." "We didn't of course," Byers adds quickly. "It was just a little weird. Not the usual sounding astronomy nerds. . .more. . ." "It was nothing," Frohicki cuts Byers off. "We're always getting weird calls. No stranger than a conversation with you Mulder. Nice talking to you man." "Same here. And here," Byers and Langly sign off. Mulder hits the off button and tosses the phone onto the couch. Water from rock--wasn't that what he saw painted on the window in Democrat Hot Springs? "Yeah, this rock," he says aloud and hits the side of his head with the heel of his hand. Smack it enough times and Mulder just might get it. Byers gave him too much credit. Had he even thought about the light? He really hadn't and, if pushed, he knew he'd chalk it up to lights from another alien spacecraft. Surrounded by aliens, it only made sense there'd be a spacecraft. That was logical, believable. But this--this was something else. What was it Krycek had said about them? They were afraid of the implications, of the possibility of something greater than them. That there is a God, Mulder had replied. . ."and that he was doing more than keeping box scores," Mulder adds aloud. William's hungry cry ends his thoughts like an exclamation point. He reaches into the bassinet and scoops up his son bringing him to rest on his shoulder. "A little hungry, huh?" He pats William's back and glances at his watch. "Scully should be here soon. Can you wait a little longer buddy? I know you prefer the real thing--like father, like son, huh?" He kisses William's head and William stuffs his fist in his mouth. Mulder smiles. "There you go." I can't be that much of a sorry s.o.b. if I recognized this miracle for what it was, he thinks ruefully. Mulder looks around the bedroom they've shared for the past three weeks as a family. A bassinet and rocking chair still seem a bit misplaced after years of guns and holsters. These days have been like no other in his life and he's allowed himself the luxury of pretending Scully and he were like any other couple with a new baby. This has been a vacation, a retreat from the reality of their life and what now appears to be, their destiny. Langly's call makes him realize they've only been in the eye of the storm. The light from the star swings through his memory like a flashlight finding Lizzie Gill's words cowering in one of the darkest corners. "A perfect human child, but without the human frailties." What does it mean? Does Scully know? Just as they protected one another physically, they protect each other emotionally. It's hurt their relationship in the past and he won't let that happen this time. The stakes are too high. Cradled here in his arms, it's easy to keep William in protective custody. "Protective custody?" Mulder says aloud. Christ. What does THAT say? William is going to grow. He's going to crawl, then walk and eventually run . .out their door. . .to play with friends, go to school, camp. He's going to move away from them and that's the way it should be. Again, under normal circumstances. . .in a normal family. Mulder winces and heads back to the living room. He picks up the phone and pushes the numbers. "The Lone Gunmen." Hey Byers. I need your help. I need Scully's prenatal records stored in an illegal medical facility in an abandoned warehouse on. . .," Mulder looks up at the ceiling trying to remember. "Skinner can give you the address. Maybe he's got a name too. Otherwise, I know PD got the call originally in connection with Duffy Haskell's murder. And, Byers, see if you can find out anything more about Haskell or his assistant, Lizzie Gill." "Is everyone ok?" "Yeah. Let's just say another light went off. As soon as you can, ok?" "Right away, Mulder." Mulder takes in a deep breath and looks down at William. "Come on, let's change you before your mom gets here and thinks I've been napping all afternoon." He lays William on the bed, unsnaps his sleeper and gently pulls it up and around what remains of the umbilical cord. "Looks like this is just about ready to come off." Mulder nudges the dried stump, which easily falls to the side. He picks it up and places it in the palm of his hand. "I guess this means you're on your own now, buddy," he says aloud. He remembers something Albert Hosteen told him years before after his experience in the hogan. Hosteen explained the Navajo dwelling as a sacred place that bound them to the land of their birth. They buried a child's umbilical cord nearby to symbolize the transition from nourishment by one's biological mother to nourishment by one's spiritual mother, Mother Earth. It marked the place the child would put down roots. "Roots," Mulder says aloud. "That's what William needs--a nurturing place to grow and explore his destiny safely. In Navajo tongue, there is no word for relocation, Hosteen told him, because to relocate is to move away and disappear. And suddenly Mulder knows what they have to do. Scully and he will relocate--"in the true Navajo sense of the word," he whispers aloud. So William can grow up among people who will understand and protect him. Mulder hears the apartment door open and quickly stuffs the piece of umbilical cord in his jeans pocket. "Mulder?" Scully calls as she tosses her coat over the back of the couch. "In here." She walks up behind him and puts her arms around his waist. "How'd it go?" "Brutal, Scully." "Yeah. You look it." She reaches up to tousle his hair. "What'd you two do? Sleep all afternoon?" "Well, not ALL afternoon. Right buddy? You wanna take over here?" Mulder motions to a bare bottomed William. "Nope. Looks like you're doing just fine." She smiles. "I'll get dinner going." "Scully, can we talk?" She stops and turns, the tone of his voice causing her face to become that protective mask she keeps handy for moments like this. "I don't like the sound of that, Mulder? What?" "Forget dinner. He's hungry anyway." They both look down at William. "Sit down, Scully." He motions toward the rocking chair. She sits down at the very end of the seat and grabs the armrests. Ready to run, he thinks, or pounce. "Langly called today," Mulder begins. * * * The most precious thing about sleep, Scully thinks as she opens her eyes to Mulder's bare back, is that few second delay between unconsciousness and consciousness when the brain awakens the body, pads through the cerebral cortex, and then rouses the memory. There were so many times when Scully prayed God would let her gather those seconds each morning until they formed a full day. A day lived only in the body, without memory of Melissa's murder, Emily's death, her cancer, infertility, alien colonization, Mulder's abduction. The list seemed to grow with every passing year. She realizes now the last few weeks have been an answer to that prayer. Even Melissa was returned to her somehow in the person of Monica Reyes. Mulder called it the eye of the storm, but unlike Scully who knew rationally these weeks would end, he will search relentlessly for a way to prolong them--to expand time somehow so William's childhood will not be cut short like his own. She raises herself quietly and peeks into the bassinet to make sure William's still there and not taken away in some time warp that began snapping back last night. "Everything ok?" Mulder asks groggily flipping over to face her. "Yeah. Go back to sleep, William is." Scully lies back down and tucks her arm between the back of her head and the pillow. "Still mad at me?" "I wasn't mad, just. . .processing." She doesn't turn to look at him, but continues to stare at the ceiling. "Hmmm." Mulder scoots over and puts his arm around her waist drawing her closer. He feels her stiffen and then relax as she grabs his hand and wraps her fingers around his. "My breasts are engorged," she explains. "I can fix that," he offers playfully. No comeback. "Sleep ok?" "Yeah. Like a baby, up every three hours." "I told you to wake me." "I wasn't really sleeping. And I needed time to think." "About. . .?" "Oh come on, Mulder." "And what do you think?" His voice is soft. He props himself up on his elbow to search her face for a clue to the answer. "That you're right," she says, shifting her gaze from the ceiling to him. "That we have to go." He nods his head slowly and lies back down closing his eyes to the present to start making plans for their future. "I'll call Albert's family this morning," he offers after several minutes of silence. "Maybe there's an opening for a medicine person's apprentice?" He hopes for a laugh or a smirk. He gets neither. "It's not about me anymore, Mulder." The phone rings and Scully grabs it off the nightstand before it wakes William. "We're fine, sir." Scully glances at Mulder. "Yes. He's here. Just a minute." She hands the phone to Mulder. "Mulder, I got a call from Byers yesterday," Skinner begins. "Yeah. I know. I asked him to call." "Yeah. That's what he said. Mulder," he hesitates. I have Scully's records from the medical facility." "You took them?" Mulder is amazed. "Yeah. Let's not advertise that though. I'm looking at them now." Skinner hesitates. "Mulder, I'm not a doctor, so I don't understanding everything I'm reading here, but this is definitely something you'll both want to see. Has Scully seen these results?" Mulder looks at Scully and shakes his head. "She never saw them. She was given the results verbally." "Well, she needs to. Can I stop by, say, in an hour?" "Yeah." Mulder tosses the phone on the bed just as William starts to cry. "What?" Scully asks as she reaches for their son. * * * "Scully, did you have the amnio done at the Walden- Freedman Army Research Hospital?" Mulder asks without looking up as she enters the kitchen with William. "Morning, sir," Scully acknowledges Skinner seated next to Mulder at the table. "How are you?" "How are you two doing?" Skinner counters, the harsh straight lines of his mouth relaxing into a smile as he looks at William. "Just fine, sir." She smiles proudly following Skinner's eyes to her son. Skinner gently wiggles his index finger into William's clenched fist. "Good grip," he nods at Scully. "Scully?" Mulder brings them both back to the matter at hand. "Yes I did." She peers over Mulder's shoulder at the medical reports he's spread over the table. "Let me see those." She hands William to Mulder and picks up one of the reports and studies it for several minutes before looking up. "These results," she begins looking from Mulder to Skinner, "must be a mistake." "Someone's obviously considered them reliable enough to keep, " Skinner observes. "And take extensive notes," Mulder adds. "Scully, do you recognize this handwriting?" Scully brings the report closer. "I can't be sure, but it looks like Dr. Parenti's handwriting. Yes. He's initialed some of them here and here," she points at the instances for Mulder and Skinner. "What do you see here, Scully?" Mulder urges softly. He and Skinner exchange a concerned look. "When an amnio is performed," Scully keeps her eyes on the report as she struggles to regain her professional composure, "a small amount of amniotic fluid is withdrawn. The fluid contains fetal cells and proteins that are analyzed to determine the presence of genetic abnormalities or inherited diseases." She looks up at Mulder. "You know why I felt I had to have the amnio done?" Mulder nods. "The DNA is extracted and the nucleotides that make up the gene's code are compared to a normal sequence. I was told the results were normal." "They were, weren't they?" Mulder looks worried. "Yes, they're normal, but. . .this is the impossible part. Every person carries some kind of gene mutation that pre-disposes him or her to one or more diseases. That doesn't necessarily mean the person will get the disease as there are environmental factors that come into play as well." She takes a deep breath. "The results here show no genetic susceptibility to any disease. And, this genetic lab spent the time and money to read every nucleotide rather than the usual procedure of looking for just the most common gene variations. "Which means?" Mulder asks. "Which means we're looking at a 100% accuracy rate." All three look at William asleep in Mulder's arms. "Scully, is it possible that the antibodies we both carry against the alien virus," he searches for the right words, "were passed along to William who developed immunity to it because it somehow encompasses all human diseases?" "You mean that all disease is alien in origin?" "Something like that. Different diseases that the aliens introduced throughout human history in an attempt to eradicate the human race." "I don't know, Mulder." She shrugs her shoulders. "There's something else too," Skinner reaches into his pocket and unfolds a piece of paper. "I found this in Scully's medical file." He hands it to Scully. "Someone was obviously comparing results." Scully glances at the patient's name and then at Mulder. "It's another amnio," Scully's scans the report quickly, "the same comprehensive genetic testing, the same results. Only this woman is due next month." Scully looks blankly at Mulder with her mouth open. "Who?" Mulder demands. "Marita Covarrubias." "And the father?" Mulder asks quickly. Scully scans the report. "A. Krycek." "Jesus, Scully." "There's something else on her report, Mulder. I can't quite make out the handwriting." She angles the paper toward the light. "It's written in big letters and underlined or crossed out, I can't tell which. Not barren," she reads. "And it's initialed LG." She looks up. "Lizzie Gill." "Did you note the sex?" Skinner asks. "A girl." Scully shakes her head in disbelief and sits down. "When does it end, Mulder?" "It doesn't, Scully, but it takes a break once in awhile." "What's that supposed to mean, Mulder?" Skinner asks. "We want to tell you something, sir," Scully looks at Mulder for confirmation. "But we need you to keep it confidential." Skinner nods. "I won't be coming back to the X-files or the FBI for that matter." "That's understandable, Scully. I mean that you'd want to stay home with William." "It's not that. It's. . ." "We don't feel safe here," Mulder finishes. "We're planning on leaving within the week and. . .for everything you've done for Scully. . .for us. . .we just wanted you to know, so you wouldn't worry when you heard we were missing." Skinner stands and extends his hand toward Mulder. "I think you've made the right decision. Good luck, Mulder." He shakes his hand and turns toward Scully. "Dana?" He extends his hand, but she gets up instead to give him a hug. "Thank you for everything, sir," she says with tears in her eyes. Skinner turns toward William and places his hand gently on the top of his head before turning to leave. "Take care, all of you," he says hoarsely. * * * Mulder's Apartment 4:30 am, One week later. "I can't believe this," Scully whispers loudly in the hallway outside Mulder's apartment. "I can't bring more than two pairs of shoes and now you're going to make us late because you forgot your basketball?" "That's right, Scully. A family's got to have its priorities and this is one." He balances the ball on the tip of his index finger and spins it. "Lock the door and let's get out of here before William wakes the neighbors," Scully lowers her chin to peek underneath the blanket. "All quiet on the baby front?" Mulder asks. "For now." "Oops," Mulder looks chagrined. "Forgot something else. Be right back." He comes back in a few seconds with a homemade sign he obviously intends to hang on the doorknob. "What's that?" Scully tilts her head to get a look at the words. "Not yet, Scully." Mulder holds the sign against his chest. "Have you seen those signs people hang on their cottage doors when they're out on the lake fishing?" he asks with a silly grin on his face. "Yes. . .?" Scully feigns fear. "Well, I couldn't find one that exactly matched our. . .ah. . .situation. So I made one." He bends down and proudly hangs it on the door. "Gone missing?" Scully reads. "Funny, Mulder. Very funny. I just hope William doesn't copy your warped sense of humor 'cause then I'm outnumbered here. Big time." She reaches down and removes the sign shoving it into her coat pocket. "Come on, ex g-man," she kisses him playfully on the cheek, "let's get the hell out of here." "Scully, just one more loose end. I promise." "Now what?" She spins around to find him right behind her. "This." He takes her face gently in his hands and slowly lowers his head until his lips are within an inch of her own. At which point, the basketball pops out from beneath his arm, hits William's leg and bounces down the hallway. William begins to cry and Mulder shrugs his shoulders. "Must be a lot of bad energy in this hallway, Scully." "I guess some loose ends just aren't meant to be tied, Mulder." Mulder puts his arm around Scully's shoulders and together they turn their backs on the past to fight the future. TA-DA! AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well, I hope I provided a little food for thought over the long, hot summer. I dedicated this story to my daughter Lauren who couldn't bear an X-file world without a next generation Krychek. I'd love to see the movie pick up about 17 years from this point where, of course, William meets Krycek's daughter. My apologies to any astronomers or geneticists for any gaping errors or misinformation. I don't have the 1013 research staff at my disposal, only a great search engine, www.google.com. Thanks for reading and thanks to the following internet sites for information: www.webmd.com, www.xpressweb.com (Navajo religion), www.abc.net.au/science (infant stars), http://oposite.stsci.edu, (infant stars), www.sciam.com (Scientific American). I'd love to hear what you thought. E-mail me at: annaran@wi.rr.com. Have a great summer! Anna P.S. There really is a Johnson's Bedtime Bath lotion and Blue Pearl incense. Check out their websites.