Subject Life Times Secrets All Around 5/?


 Three days passed and Dana was starting to feel ill. She 
was constantly dizzy, nausea over whelmed her and by the third day, she 
failed to muster the courage to lift herself out of bed. The guard was 
alarmed and called for a doctor. She opened her eyes to see an old man 
standing beside her, "Dame Mulder, I am Doctor Michael Chante. I heard 
that you aren't feeling well."
The man had a sweet French accent and Dana lifted herself up, "Does my 
husband know about your visit?"
"Je ne sais pas. It was up to the General to tell him, there is no way 
for me to know if your husband was informed of your condition. Due to 
the pregnancy, the General is a bit worried."
Dana's heart leaped, <He'll find out the truth and I'll be killed!>
"Sir, I am in excellent condition, I don't need a doctor." She tried to 
prove it to him by standing up and walking towards the window. The old 
man caught her arm when she stumbled, "Madame, sit down, please. You are 
for sure not well."
She yanked her arm away, "Leave me be."
He took her hands and pushed her into a seat. "Sit still and let me 
examine you."
Dana fought like a hell cat to avoid the examination, but it was to no 
avail, he would continue with the examination.

 Mulder missed her so, he felt as if his heart would burst. 
He cleared the visit with the guard, and made his way to his wife's 
cell. When Mulder put his hand on the handle, the chamber door flew 
open, and an old man stood on the other side. "Who are you?" Mulder 
asked.
"Doctor Chante, and you, Sir?"
"Major Mulder."
"Ah, monsieur, it is a pleasure to meet you. Please, I'd like to speak 
with you for a moment."
"But my wife-" Mulder reached for the door again.
"The belle is sleeping, Sir, she isn't going any where." Chante had the 
guard lock the door to Dana's chamber and he led Mulder out into a stone 
corridor. "I was informed that your wife was very ill... Captain Dupuis 
called for me."
"My wife is ill?"
"I just examined her, and I was worried about the pregnancy-"
Mulder almost died, a doctor had examined her! What had he learned? What 
would they do?
"Monsieur, are you listening?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, Sir." Mulder could feel the sweat forming on his brow.
"The lady really has nothing to worry about, she hasn't been pregnant 
for long, I don't think. But she is for sure pregnant, the sickness is 
proof of that. If she wasn't getting sick, I'd think she was faking it."
Mulder almost smiled, Dana was a genius! "Thank you doctor for your 
time."
"It was no trouble, Monsieur." 
Mulder had the guard unlock Dana's door and he quickly slipped inside. 
She was sprawled out on the bed, her eyes open but she remained 
motionless.
"Dana?" Mulder moved towards her.
She looked at him, "Fox!"
He climbed onto the bed beside her, laying down next to her, "You are a 
genius, Dana, a true genius."
"Pardon?" She seemed flummoxed.
"Faking illness to convince the General and the doctor. A stroke of 
genius, Dana." Mulder whispered.
She sighed, covering her face with her hands, "I did not fake it, Fox."
"Dana, you can stop now, no one is listening-"
"I didn't fake it, I really was ill."
"Oh?"
"Fox, I haven't had my menses this month...." She whispered very softly.
Mulder's heart just stopped, "WHAT!"
She covered his mouth with her hand, "Shh! You heard what I said, I'm 
sorry. I never meant for this to happen- it's a big mistake." A tear 
escaped her lashes and slipped down her cheek.
Mulder pulled back, "You really are with child?" His voice was barely 
audible.
"I think so." 
Fox Mulder's world started spinning and he fell back on the bed, "Oh, 
God."
"I want you to know it's not entirely my fault!" She informed him.
"No, Dana, of course not! It's mine. I'm sorry, love, I'm sorry this 
happened now of all times!" He wrapped her in his arms and hugged her 
tight. "It just figures that the only time we made love was the time you 
got pregnant."
"Perhaps... it might be a good thing." Dana whispered.
"What?"
"I really am with child, so we don't need to worry, we have plenty of 
time now! Nine months."
"I still want to get you out of here by the end of this month. I've 
summoned help, just stay well and everything will work itself out."
She nodded, resting her head on his chest, "Stay with me tonight, Fox.
He stroked her hair, "I want to, so very much... but it isn't allowed."
As if to emphasize his point, the guard pounded on the door, "Major, I'm 
sorry but the time is up."
Mulder kissed his wife one last time, "Stay well, love."
Dana nodded, "You also."
He pulled himself off the bed and walked to the door, stepping out into 
the corridor, leaving her alone again in her cell. She rested her hand 
on her abdomen, where her baby was, "My God, what will we do, little 
one?" She asked her unborn child.


 Never let it be said that Byers was a stupid man. He 
contacted Eric Saulnier and together the two started plotting. Eric 
sipped his coffee in the cafe, "Well, what do you suggest we do, 
Monsieur Byers?"
"First of all, you said you had guard uniforms stored away?"
"Yes, and please don't ask how I came into possession of them." The man 
smiled faintly and took a drink of his coffee.
Byers almost grinned, "Well, I won't. It's a simple plan, really. 
Frohike has a small home in the outskirts of Paris, we can hide Miss 
Scully there. Since Mulder is almost always stalked by spies, he 
shouldn't be visiting her."
"How are we to get her out?" Eric questioned.
"A man named Carrings and another named Harrods are on their way to 
Paris now to aid in the escape. We'll play the guards, and since you are 
a French Captain, you will have the guards switched, I don't care how 
you do it as long as it's done. But please, minimum violence."
"But of course." Eric replied.
"After you have the guards switched so that one of our agents is in 
position, you run down to the carriage waiting below and help if there 
are any problems, say if we get caught!"
Eric nodded, following the plan easily.
"Dana Scully will be brought down by our fake guard, placed in the 
carriage and will be escorted by me to Frohike's home. We must do this 
in two days, because a ship for England leaves in three days, and there 
won't be another for weeks!"
"How do you know this?" Eric asked.
"I know, I have many friends." Byers said mysteriously.
Eric asked no questions because he had asked Byers to do the same. 
"Sounds simple enough, but we need a back up plan in case if we should 
fail."
Byers discreetly looked around at the people around him, he handed him a 
paper map of the prison, "My agent will know of a secret passage, so 
there is no way that they can be caught in the prison, and if by any 
chance they do get caught... a weapon is the only way out of it."
Eric sighed, "I know that."
"If the carriage should be spotted, they'll be following it. The driver 
will lead them into the woods, where an identical carriage will appear. 
They will follow the identical carriage, stop it, and find the wrong 
passengers, in the mean time, Dana will be able to escape to the house."
Eric couldn't help but grin, "Monsieur, you are a genius! Brilliant 
idea!"
Byers nodded, being humble, "Now let us see if we can pull it off."
"May God be with us." Eric muttered.
"May God be with us." Byers repeated.

 Mulder felt as if the world was turning much too fast for 
him! <Dana is with my child! Oh, God!> He sat alone in his dinning room, 
the servants coming and going, asking if he required anything and Mulder 
would only send them away. Byers and Langley had informed him of the 
plan to get Dana home, now Mulder had to get the plans from Travenier. 
His Dana was taken care of, they said that they didn't need him. "But 
why not? You have hardly any men-" Mulder had started to protest.
Byers cut him off, "We have Agents coming in from Nates. You have 
nothing to worry about, trust us, Mulder. There is no way this can go 
wrong. You finish your mission, we will finish ours. You and Miss Scully 
will see each other again in London!"
Mulder had sighed, "If any harm comes to her-"
"Mulder, I never fail." Byers informed him.
 Mulder still couldn't help but worry about her. He hadn't 
told anyone that she was with child, except the French army already 
thought she was! Mulder buried his head in his hands, "Damn it, damn it, 
damn it!"
Mulder was wallowing in his self pity and decided he needed sleep. Time 
to end the day, Dana would be free, soon.

 Dana was some where between sleep and dreams when the door 
to her cell was opened. A woman with red hair and pale skin entered, 
wearing a very expensive blue dress. "Dana?" The woman whispered.
She roused herself, "Hum?"
"Dana, wake up, now!" The woman hissed.
She sat up her bed and looked at the woman, she looked familiar, they 
had met at a party... but Dana failed to remember the woman's name. 
"Hello?"
She smiled and fell to her knees besides Dana, "It's me, Dana."
"I know we've met... but I don't remember your name."
"It is me, Melissa."
"Melissa who?"
"Melissa Scully, darling, Melissa Scully."
Dana frowned, "My sister? How dare you!" Dana almost lunged at the 
woman.
"I swear to you it's me. I can prove it!"
"Anyone can get information on my sister, who are you?"
"Melissa. I can prove it to you."
"How?" Dana crossed her arms over her chest, "There is no information 
that you can give me that would not be in official records!"
"When you were eight years old, you had a favorite doll named Agatha, 
she had red hair like us and you said she was your little sister!"
Dana's mind was shocked. It was like swimming in warm water and it 
suddenly froze. "You know about Agatha?"
"You taught Charles how to play chess. I taught you how to play, and 
father taught me how to play!"
This information was accurate, and Dana could feel her blood rushing.
"You used to have a dog that you called 'cat' for some strange reason. 
The dog ran away two weeks after you found him."
Dana closed her eyes, "Oh, God."
Melissa reached for her hand, "Dana, it's really me."
"What happened to you?" She asked in a whisper.
Melissa lowered her eyes, "When the spies came for mother and father, 
they took me to an orphanage.... I was taken into the home of a woman 
and she raised me... two years ago I married General Travenier."
"GENERAL TRAVENIER! How could you, Melissa!"
"I had no choice, Dana, I'm sorry-"
"What happened to Charles and William?"
She sighed, "They were shipped to Paris and then returned to England to 
fend for themselves. I was able to keep track of Charles until last 
year... he just stopped writing to me. I fear the worst." The tears 
gathered in her eyes and spilled over.
Dana wrapped her arms around her sister, "It took me so long to cope 
with the loss of my family. Did you know where I was?"
"I had no idea, what happened to you, Dana?"
"I was taken in by a man named Carrings, he trained me."
"Trained you for what?"
"To be a spy." She whispered her response.
Melissa's eyes went wide, "Dana, what were you doing? Is that why you 
are in France?"
She nodded, "I have a mission to complete. How did you know it was I, 
you haven't seen me since I was a child!"
"They said the name Dana Scully, the General and his friends were 
talking in the office about Major Mulder and you. They said your maiden 
name was Scully. What were you doing marrying a French Major?"
"I had to."
"Did Carrings make you?"
"Yes."
"Dana, you poor thing."
"You may not love your husband, Melissa, but I love mine."
"You can honestly say you love Mulder?"
"Very honestly."
"Well then... so be it."
"Come to England with me, Melissa. You are an English woman at heart and 
do not belong on the side of the enemy."
"I'd love to go home, but I'm married to a Frenchman."
"Have the marriage annulled! He is an enemy!"
"The enemy has taken very good care of me, he nursed me back to health 
when I was ill, he delivered my children when I was pregnant, he 
supported-"
"CHILDREN?"
"A daughter, named Margaret after mother."
Dana sighed, falling onto her pillows, "Are you sure that mother is 
dead?"
"Positive, I saw her buried when I was thirteen."
Dana moaned, "Do you think we could find Charles and William ever 
again?"
"Last I heard from Charles, he and William were together in London."
"I live in London." Dana whispered. Oh, so close to her brothers and she 
never knew! Her poor brothers, what had happened to them? Where were 
they? 
Melissa sat up, "I don't know what to do."
Dana grabbed her sister's arm, "Melissa, they're going to kill them 
after the child is born! I can't stay here! I had a mission to 
complete."
"And what was that mission, girl?" Melissa questioned.
"Finding plans for the damned steam boats!"
"I knew it." Melissa sighed.
" I can't go home without them!"
"Dana, you're with child, I'm sure they'll understand."
"No, I won't go without them."
"Fine then, I'll bring them to you."
"How?" Dana sat up, her eyes full of questions.
"My husband is in possession of them, and I am going to get you out of 
here no matter what, if you won't leave without the plans, then I will 
give them to you."
"And that's it? You'll just hand them over to me?"
"I want this war to end, I am on no one's side. I want to see my family 
safe. If you go back to London, perhaps you can catch word of William 
and Charles, couldn't you?"
"Since I know where to look, I can try."
"Excellent. I'll then see you tomorrow, if my husband finds that I left, 
he'll be upset."
"No, Melissa, I can't let you do this."
"Do what?"
"You can't bring the information and maps to me, my husband has a plan 
to get me out of here, make sure that he gets them."
"Well then, I'll make sure they fall into his hands, but let him know he 
can trust me."
"Of course, Melissa."
"I have to go now, I'll see you soon." She turned for the door and 
started to make her exit.
"What does Margaret look like?"
Melissa smiled, "A true Scully, red hair, blue eyes, cute nose and a 
rosebud mouth. She reminds me of you, Dana."
"I'd like to see her some day."
"I'd love for you to see her."

 Mulder woke with a start, he was bathed in sweat and the 
lack of oxygen to his brain was alarming! <A dream, only a dream...> He 
told himself. It was so real. He could hear his wife screaming and a 
child crying, his child. Mulder closed his eyes and the images were 
already starting to fade. He was so exhausted, he hadn't slept well 
since Dana was captured. <Oh, Dana, sweet Dana...> Tomorrow was the day 
of the escape. He was to wait down below in the carriage with Byers. 
Eric Saulnier knew his part and all was going to be well. God be 
willing.

 Carrings and Harrods had arrived the day before, both men 
were dressed in French guard uniforms and put into position by Eric 
Saulnier. The two British agents followed the Frenchman up the stairs of 
the prison to the fifth floor where Dana Scully was being held. The back 
stairs were made of stone and the only light in the stair well was 
coming from the torches. The French guard on duty put himself in their 
path, "Mon captain, you can not be up here at this time unless you have 
permission from a General."
Eric handed him some forged papers, "Special guards are being put in 
place, you are relieved of duty."
The guard raised his brow, "And who are you, Sir?"
"Captain Dupuis!" He snapped.
Eric was in full dress uniform, a hat over his head and the hall was so 
dark that the guard wouldn't be able to point him out anyway. When the 
guard would be questioned later, which he for sure will be, it would be 
the faithful Captain Dupuis who would be punished for the folly.
"Forgive me, Captain. Here." He handed Eric the keys to Dana's chamber 
and quickly departed as if the Captain was a tiger.
Carrings snatched the keys from Eric and shoved them into the lock, 
quickly he pushed the door open. Harrods stood guard outside the door 
while Eric ran down to the carriage to be of some assistance. Dana was 
sleeping in the bed when Carrings burst in, "DANA!" He shook her awake, 
her eyes snapped open and she shot up, "Wh-" Her face froze when she saw 
it was Carrings. The surprise in her features was obvious, but her 
rescue party was in a hurry and there was a great chance of discovery.
He wasted no time with pleasantries, he took her arm and pulled her to 
her feet.
"What's going on?" She gasped.
"You're being rescued, silly girl, now walk on your own, I can't carry 
you!" Carrings was never one for dramatic words, instead he did what had 
to be done to get her out of her chamber without falling on his face!
Harrods took her other arm and together they went down servant stairs to 
the side of the prison, where the carriage awaited them. A separate 
carriage was waiting for Carrings and Harrods to go to another 
destination. Dana was helped into the carriage by Eric, who was standing 
near by. "I knew we'd get you out, ma chere." He grinned at her.
Dana wasn't able to speak because everything was moving so fast. Eric 
quickly disappeared into his own means of transportation and was gone. 
Byers took her hand, "Miss Scully, please remain calm-"
"STOP!" A male voice shouted. A small cluster of guards came racing 
towards them. Byers lifted Dana up and sat her down. Quickly he slammed 
the door of the carriage shut and instructed Langley, the driver, to 
move on. They raced out the broken side gates and started their decent 
into the woods. The carriage was pursued by guards on horses, the sound 
of hoof beats against the ground was deafening, and the night was coming 
quickly. Langley quickly steered the carriage into the woods where the 
second carriage was waiting as planned, Frohike driving it. When the 
second carriage was in sight, in front of him, he swerved onto a 
different path and started going in another direction. The switch had 
been made so quickly and so many trees in the way that the guards on the 
horses followed Frohike, just as Byers had planned! Langley couldn't 
help but smile and he silently flattered himself about his driving. <you 
are so good!> He told himself.
They were approaching Paris and Frohike's house wasn't far. By now 
Frohike should be on his way back home, since he had been allowed to 
take the short cut on the main roads and they were forced to take back 
roads. Later the carriage would have to be disposed of some how. Byers 
would think of something. The small house was now in view and Langley 
pulled up to the front gate. Inside the carriage was Mulder, Byers and 
Dana Scully. He let the horses rest for a bit and he went to open the 
door. Dana Scully was lying with her eyes closed and was sprawled out on 
the seat. "What happened to her?" Langley questioned.
"She swooned." Mulder sighed.
Byers frowned, "It must be the lack of food and water and the stress and 
the pregnancy."
Mulder lifted her small frame into his arms and carried her inside. 
Frohike had already arrived and watched as Mulder carried his partner 
upstairs to a sleeping chamber. He raised his brow, "He looks worried."
Langley laughed, giddy from the victory, "We did it! We did it! Now we 
must make sure that Saulnier, Carrings and Harrods made it home."
Byers laughed, "Her meeting with Carrings was a short one, too bad, he 
was her mentor."

 Mulder pushed open the door of the bed chamber they had set 
for Dana and he laid her down on the mattress. Her red locks were in her 
face and he pushed them aside. He covered her with the blankets and made 
sure she was comfortable. Then he rested beside her, wrapping her in his 
arms and resting his hand on her abdomen. <My wife and my little 
one...but this isn't the end.> He knew this crusade was far from over. 
He still had a mission to complete, and he had to get Dana home. He'd be 
lucky if the French army trusted him still, but he would deal with that 
in good time. All that mattered now was that Dana had escaped, but she 
wasn't out of danger yet. No, that would be much too easy. Obstacles lay 
ahead and time was running out and they couldn't trust many people. They 
were spies, they had broken laws and any second their lives could be 
lost to the war. <Not my child, not my Dana.> Mulder wiped his tear. 

END of 5/?
----------

Subject Life Times Secrets All Around 6/?

She woke with a feeling of warmth for the first time since she was put 
in the prison. Her eyes opened and she saw that she wasn't in her old 
cell. Quickly she sat up to find a pair of strong arms wrapped around 
her, turning her head to the left, she saw Mulder. For a brief second 
she thought that he had spent the night with her in the cell, but this 
didn't look like a prison chamber. His eyes opened and a smile spread 
across her face, "I'm glad you finally woke." He stretched his mucles.
She was in shock, "Where.... are we?"
"Safe." He replied.
Dana fell back onto the pillows, "Oh, my God."
He reached for her hand, "Do you remember anything? You escaped last 
night, we're in Frohike's house."
"Who is that?" she asked.
"A friend."
"Oh."
He rested his head on her shoulder, "Dana, are you feeling all right?"
She nodded, "Just fine, why?"
He rested his hand on her abdomen, "I can't help but worry."
"Listen, Fox, I don't need you worrying about me all the time."
He grinned, "Sorry, love, it's a hard habit to break."
There was a knock at the door and a male voice, "Mulder, is she all 
right?" Byers asked.
"She's going to be fine, would you mind having some breakfast sent up?" 
Mulder asked.
"Of course." The sound of foot steps walking down a set of stairs was 
heard.
Dana looked around, the room had a persian rug and a desk made of oak. A 
window that looked out onto a back garden and a few chairs in the 
corner. "What is your plan, Fox?" She asked.
"A ship leaves in a few days for England, Eric and I Decided that you 
must be on it, no matter what."
"But what about the mission!" She snapped.
"I'll take care of that, love, you've already been found out and Skinner 
wouldn't be too happy if you got yourself killed."
"Fox, please!"
"No, Dana, you can beg all you want but you are with child and there is 
no way you can go on in France."
"Fox, I can help you get the plans for the boats!"
"How?" he snapped.
"My sister married Travenier." 
Mulder seemed to be thinking for a second, "I thought you said she 
vanished..."
"Fox, please listen to me, the night before you came to get me, she came 
to see me."
"How do you know that she really was your sister! She could have been a 
French spy trying to get information out of you."
"She knew things that a spy wouldn't."
"Really? Dana, you must be careful, we're so close to getting you home!"
She sat up and crawled out of the huge bed, missing the warmth. "Fox, 
just stop it. I am not a helpless infant!"
He got out of the bed and took her arm, "I've had enough, you are going 
to do what I tell you to do, I don't care if you don't like it. Do you 
understand me?"
She frowned at him, "You-"
A knock at the door stopped her from finishing her sentance, "I have 
breakfast!" A perky voice called.
"That's Frohike, you just sit down at the desk. You can meet them as 
soon as you get dressed. We owe these men a great deal."
"I have to go back for my sister, Mulder!" 
He opened the door and took the tray from Frohike, thanking him and 
setting it down on the table for her. "Please eat something, you were so 
weak yesterday you couldn't even stand!"
Dana did as he told her, but with a frown on her face. He stood by and 
watched her eat every single bite, not letting her get away with leaving 
anything behind. When she finished, Mulder took her hand, "I love you, 
Dana, and I know you're upset but I think it's all for your own good." 
He kissed her mouth but she remained stone cold. "I have nothing to say 
to you." She whispered.
Mulder stood up and took the tray downstairs, leaving her alone in the 
room. She watched him go, a tear falling down her cheek, <Why won't he 
listen to me? Melissa really is here and she really will help us!>

 When Frohike and Langley saw Mulder, they handed him some 
water, "Travenier has the plans in his house, no one could find them in 
his office."
"Of course they wouldn't be there," Mulder said, "Dana already found 
them in his desk, he wouldn't just leave them there."
Byers cleared his throat, "I did some checking around, and Travenier's 
wife went to go visit Dana recently."
Mulder frowned, "Any idea why?"
"You probably should ask her." Byers said.
"She thinks that Travenier's wife is her sister..."
"But you don't trust her." Byers finished.
"Like the British made my wife a spy, I think the French could have made 
Travenier's wife a spy. It isn't too far fetched."
"What did Melissa Travenier say?" Langley asked.
"She said that she would give the steam boat plans to Dana, it could be 
a fake set of plans."
Byers nodded his head, "We can't trust her, really, she is too close 
with the enemy. What do you want to do?"
"I'll go after the plans myself, I know that they are in his house some 
where, it's the only other place he would put them."
"So what will you do?" Frohike asked.
"I'll simply break in at night... care to join me?" Mulder grinned.
The three men looked at each other, then at Mulder, "How can we help?"
Mulder leaned against the wall, "If I can count on your support, 
gentlemen, I think we can pull this off easily..."

 General Marchand and General Travenier had been furious when 
they found out that Dana Scully had escaped from the prison. "Get me the 
guard who was to be watching her!" Marchand snapped.
He was brought in, his face was pale from the fear and he looked 
nervous. He saluted Marchand, "General Marchand!"
Marchand seemed cold, "Give me your name."
"Lt. DeBlanc, General."
"DeBlanc, eh? Were you not to be on guard last night?"
"I was, Sir."
"Where was your assignment."
"I was to guard the prisoner, Dame Mulder, Sir."
"And have you heard that she escaped last night?"
"Yes, Sir."
"WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE ESCAPED!" 
The man jumped, "I- I received orders from the Captain to leave so he 
could put his guards in place."
"WHAT CAPTAIN?"
"Captain Dupuis, Sir. I have the orders right here." He handed Marchand 
a paper.
"Are you sure Captain Dupuis gave you this?"
"A man in full dress uniform came to me saying that he was Dupuis, and 
he ordered me to leave. I did as I was told, Sir."
Marchand scanned the letter, "What did you say to him?"
"When I told him that he wasn't allowed to see Dame Mulder, he handed me 
this order, saying it was from General Markins."
"THERE IS NO GENERAL MARKINS!" Marchand screamed.
The little man jumped, "Sir, I do not know the name of every General in 
this army! It all looked official enough for me."
Marchand crossed his arm over his chest, "You say Dupuis gave you this? 
Are you sure it was him?"
"I have never laid eyes on Captain Dupuis, Sir."
Marchand rolled his hand into a fist, "Get out of my sight, bring Dupuis 
to me."
 Dupuis stood in front of the General, "Monsieur, what is 
wrong?" He asked innocently.
Marchand started pacing in front of him, "I trust you, Dupuis, and I'd 
like to continue trusting you. Last night, Dame Mulder escaped from the 
prison."
"I heard, Sir."
"A guard was on duty, he received orders from a Captain. The orders said 
that he was to leave his post and that another guard would take over."
"Do you want me to find this captain?"
"No, the guard gave me YOUR name. Can you explain it?"
"Sir! Am I being accused!"
"You're name was the only name that the guard gave us." 
Dupuis stood dumbfounded, "I... you can't believe this lie, Sir! I have 
stood by your side for years!"
"I know. I was thinking that Dame Mulder had friends on the out side. 
Mostly likely she has friends in this army. I have no doubt that you 
were not the man who gave this order, but just for the record, mon ami, 
where were you last night?"
"With Christine, Sir." The man blushed slightly.
"Your mistress? Fine then, we'll keep that OFF the record. Bring in Lt. 
DeBlanc!"
standing by the door.
Lt. DeBlanc was brought in, "Is this the man that you say last night?" 
Marchand questioned.
"I can not tell, his hat was covering his face."
Marchand started cursing under his breath, "Everyone but Dupuis leave! 
This second!"
The other men in the room retreated into the corridor, leaving Marchand 
and Dupuis to themselves. Marchand lowered his voice, "Someone on the 
inside is working against us. Dupuis, find out who it was that gave the 
orders to have the guards replaced last night... find out who those guards 
were and bring them all to me!"
Dupuis saluted, "Oui, Mon General."

 THAT NIGHT Melissa had seen the men coming into the house. 
Her husband had been off at a meeting with General Marchand, and the 
servants had all retired to their chambers. She knew that they'd be 
coming tonight or the next night, because a ship for England left in a 
day, Dana Scully and the plans had to be on it. Melissa was a smart 
woman, it wasn't a difficult plan to figure out. Time was betraying them 
and there was no one to trust. She watched from the balcony of the 
staircase as the men slowly walked around her home, she almost laughed 
at how silly they looked! 
The heavy oak door in the front of the house was opening and the heavy 
foot steps of the General announced his arrival. She could see out of 
the corner of her eye that the four men were scattering around the 
living room, hiding behind curtains and sofas. Taking a deep breath, 
Melissa raced down the stairs to her husband. "Darling, you're home 
finally! Marchand keeps you away from me so often... I've nearly forgotten 
what you look like!"
Travenier laughed softly, "Melissa, love, I'm sorry. Things are, 
hectic."
"With your steam boat plans?" She asked loudly enough for the intruders 
in the house to hear.
The General starred at her in surprise, "How do you know so much about 
that, Melissa?"
"I know because I can hear the other General's talking of it at the 
parties and functions they all throw. Sorry, sweeting, I don't mean to 
intrude on your privacy and top secret plans." She teased him.
He took her arms, "Please, Melissa! Don't ever breath a word of it to 
anyone! Understand me?"
She nodded her head, "You can trust me, David, always. You are the 
General and my love!" She linked her arms with his, "I bet I know you 
better than anyone in the world, David Travenier. You probably keep your 
plans in the vault..."
"Melissa!" He snapped.
She rested her head on his shoulder, "Yes, I'm right. The vault in the 
office. And I bet I can guess where you hide your keys..."
He stopped walking, "Melissa."
A sweet smile and a kiss silenced him, "You keep your keys in the locked 
drawer of your desk. Am I not right?"
"You do know me well, darling, but you can't go blabbing this 
information to just anyone!"
She took his arms and started leading him upstairs, "I've missed you, 
David."
He followed her up the steps and the pair vanished into one of the bed 
chambers. Mulder and his companions came out of their hiding places 
after the room had fallen silent. Byers bit his lower lip, "I think this 
is a sign from God." He whispered.
Langley pushed him into the office of the General, "Shut up, it's luck." 
He raced towards the desk, but only to find that it was locked. Frohike 
came forward with a small pin and the only noise in the room was the 
clicking of the lock and pin, and the rapid breathing of Mulder. While 
Frohike worked on getting the key, the others worked on finding the damn 
vault. Mulder looked behind a painting of the General's mother and 
laughed, "Here it is, gentlemen. Our pot of gold. Frohike, do we have a 
key?"
Before Mulder knew it, the key was placed into his hands, "Yes we do!" 
Mulder's heart was pounded and his fear of being caught kept him from 
taking the time to glance at the plans. They were there, placed in tubes 
and labeled with the French seal.
Mulder's mouth fell open, the plans were true and for a moment he was 
filled with doubt... was this woman his enemy? Or his friend? There was no 
time to ponder the question, the four men silently raced out of the 
house through the back door and into the cold night while Melissa was 
left to deal with the General. Byers looked back at the house as they 
crossed the street, "There is always the chance that these are real..."
"If they aren't, they've found me out and it won't be safe for me, 
either." Mulder was gasping for air. His ears had become hyper sensitive 
to every noise, every creak in the house. The adrenaline was becoming 
too much for him! The driver they had hired came riding with his 
carriage and the small group got inside with the plans, deciding to go 
over them in the morning when things became clear. This could be it, or 
it could be a trap. At this point they did not know. Melissa's loyalties 
were not known, either. Was she loyal to France? England? Her sister? 
Was Dana even her real sister, or was Melissa a spy pretending to be a 
long lost sister. Mulder closed his eyes, <I need a break! I can't take 
this any longer!>

 The next morning they were sitting around the breakfast 
table and Frohike handed her the plans. "What's this?"
"Steam boat plans." Langley said proudly.
"WHERE did you get them? How?"
"We broke into the Travenier estate and took them." Byers replied, his 
smile was wide.
"Who helped you?" 
"Mulder did." Langley said.
"Melissa, too, of course. We got the plans for the steam boats last 
night, Melissa practically handed them to us."
Dana couldn't help but smile, "Didn't I tell you, Fox?" 
He bit his lower lip, "We still aren't sure that we can trust her, Dana. 
This could be a fake set of plans."
Dana looked down at the papers that were scattered all of the breakfast 
table. She looked up at Byers, "Do these look real to you, Byers?"
He leaned back in his chair, "I take liberty in calling myself an 
expert, and these look very real to me. And Melissa Travenier obviously 
knew that we were there. She gave us all the information we needed to 
get the plans. And by doing so, she put herself in danger."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Dana jumped up from her seat.
"She stood there in front of him confirming all the information, where 
the plans were located, where we could find the key... he'll guess it's 
her. He sounded like he was suspicious."
Dana fell into her seat, "What would they do to her?"
"Probably the same thing they were going to do to you." Frohike 
whispered.
Dana was perturbed. Her sister had made a great sacrifice for the 
mission. "Fox, we have to do something!"
"Dana, my job was to get the plans and get you home..."
"I am not leaving unless Melissa goes with me! I don't care what I have 
to give up for her passage back to England!" The woman had gone into 
hysterics and Byers, Langely and Frohike silently retreated from the 
room. Mulder took her hands into his, "Dana, don't add more stress upon 
yourself. You have a child and..."
"How could I forget that I'm with child?" She hissed at him, "You keep 
on reminding me every second of every day! Just stop it! My sister is 
what's important now, Travenier will destroy her! I can take care of 
myself but who will take care of Melissa?"
Mulder buried his face in his hands, "If I get her and ship her off to 
England, will you go home?"
"Of course."
"Dana, you can't keep on making promises and changing them. First you 
wouldn't go without completing the mission. We've done that, and now you 
won't go without Melissa!"
"Fox, if it was YOUR sister, wouldn't you stay behind for her?"
"Not if my child was at risk." He answered back.
She froze for a moment, "You aren't in my situation. I haven't seen my 
sister since I was a child! I thought she was dead! I have a chance to 
put my family back together after the French destroyed us!" Her whole 
body was shaking and she couldn't sit still. Mulder wrapped her into his 
arms, "Dana, love, I'm sorry. Let me take care of everything, please. 
All will be well if you'll just relax. This is the condition. If I make 
sure Melissa returns to England, you go home no matter what. No more 
changes in plans. Because if you change your plans again, I am dragging 
you off and I don't care if you don't like it."
His voice was stern and he seemed annoyed. She wrapped her arms around 
his shoulders and kissed his mouth, "It's a deal, Fox. I swear to it, on 
my name, if Melissa's safety is assured I will go home."

 Travenier, Marchand and Captain Dupuis walked into the 
office of Travenier's private office. "Dana Scully is still at large, 
Sir." Dupuis reported to Marchand.
The younger General sighed, "Have you spoken with Mulder?"
"He's taken a leave of absence." Dupuis answered.
Travenier raised a brow, "Really? That's odd....he never takes short 
vacations."
"It could be the stress his wife has inflicted upon him," Marchand 
suggested, "or maybe a new mistress."
"Forget that, I sympathize with him. Poor lad. We have things to 
discuss. First of all, I want our ships done soon. I was hoping to have 
the boats ready in two months if at all possible." 
"Two months! That will take some work, General Travenier." Marchand cut 
in.
The older man looked at Marchand, "Well, you'll have to inform everyone 
that they must work harder." He went to his desk to look for the key, 
but the top drawer of the desk was ajar. The expression on his face was 
cold, "Damn it." He raced to the vault, the painting had been tampered 
with and he didn't expect to find the plans inside the vault. Taking out 
his extra key which he kept secured in another room, he unlocked the 
vault to find nothing but dust. Marchand watched with concern, 
"Monsieur, what is wrong?"
"THE PLANS ARE GONE!" 
Dupuis became alarmed, "Could Dame Mulder have come back for them?"
General Travenier's hand rolled I into a fist, "Damn this whole thing to 
hell! We're ruined! They'll have our necks for this! Napoleon will 
personally come and smash our brains in! MY OWN HOME!"
"We will start an investigation!" Dupuis proclaimed bravely.
Travenier shot him a look, "No, I will investigate this on my own, I 
have a vague idea who could have done it."
"Who, General?" Dupuis asked curiously.
"I will reveal that in due time, please leave me to my work. This change 
is not to be mentioned to anyone, no one it to know that the plans are 
gone, we still have the map maker's copy."
 Melissa was sitting alone in the breakfast room, watching 
the ducks on the pond. Her husband came in, putting his hand no her 
shoulder, "I must speak with you, Melissa."
She smiled at him sweetly, "About?"
His hand on her shoulder tightened, "You will tell me the truth, do you 
understand Melissa?"
She winced, "You're hurting me!"
He was about to continue wen Margaret entered the room, "Mummy, may I 
go..."
When she saw the look on her father's face, she froze, "What's wrong, 
Mummy?"
"Margaret, go on outside and play." He said, releasing his grip on 
Melissa's shoulder.
Margaret frowned, "I wanted to go on the pond, though. Peter will take 
me..." She said, mentioning her husband's man servant.
"Good, tell Peter that you may go. Hurry along now." The General was 
becoming impatient.
She smiled sweetly and gave him a kiss on his cheek, "Bye bye, Daddy. 
Bye, Mummy." She gave Melissa's cheek a kiss.
Melissa grabbed her daughter's hand and gave her a full hug, "Be 
careful, Margaret. I love you."
Margaret nodded and quickly ran off to play. As soon as she was out of 
ear shot, the General turned back to his wife, "Margaret will be loyal 
to the French, you do know that, don't you?"
Melissa raised her head, "What are you talking about?"
He grabbed her arm, "You were becoming awfully nosy last night about my 
steam boat plans....they're gone now."
She faked shock, "Oh, no!"
His hand came hard across her face in a slap, "Stop playing games, 
Melissa! I know you took them!"
"I didn't touch them!" She said honestly, "What would I do with them?"
"That's a good question, what WOULD you do with them? Where are they?"
"I don't have them, I swear it!"
He slapped her again, causing her lip to bleed, "Stop your tall tales, 
Melissa! Who did you steel them for?"
"I did not take them!" She said firmly.
He starred at her, "Who has them, Melissa?"
"I don't know! How could you accuse me-"
Margaret entered the room again, "Mummy, where are my gloves?" She 
asked.
Melissa buried her face in her arms so that her daughter would not see 
her blood and tears, but it was too late. Margaret raced towards her 
mother, "What happened to Mummy?" She asked her father, putting her 
hands on her mother's shoulders.
Travenier lifted her up into his arms, "Come on now, Margaret, you 
wanted to play at the pond, didn't you? Peter! Come here, this instant!"
The young man named Peter entered, "Yes, Sir?"
"Take my daughter out to the pond and watch over her carefully."
"But Mummy!" Margaret insisted, reaching her arms out for Melissa.
Travenier practically pushed them out the door, when he looked back at 
Melissa, she was gone and the breakfast table remained undisturbed. 

END of 6/?
----------

Subject Life Times Secrets All Around 7/?
----------

Mulder got into his carriage and together, he and Byers made their way 
to Travenier's estate. "We'll find out if I'm on good terms with the 
General." Mulder said.
"And what if you aren't?" Byers asked.
Mulder showed him his pistol, "Then I'll have to deal with the General 
as quickly as possible."
Byers paled, "Damn it."
When the carriage slowed in front of the estate of the General, Mulder 
got out, "Try not to give anything away, will you."
"I'm an excellent actor!" Byers insisted.
Mulder laughed, "God be with us."
Together they approached the front door of the estate, the one that they 
had broken through the night before. This was a dangerous stunt to pull, 
if the General did not think well of Mulder, then someone was going to 
die. Hopefully it wouldn't be Mulder and Byers. The door was opened by a 
man servant and he recognized the Major. "Monsieur Mulder, do come in." 
He held the door open for them.
Mulder and Byers were led to the General's office, Byers became nervous. 
"We're doomed." He whispered to himself.
Mulder hit his arm, "Shut up."
The General entered, a furious look graced his face, "Major, who is 
this?"
"A man who I hired to find my wife, this is Joseph Byers. We were 
wondering if you had any leads on her."
"I have more important things to worry about than your wife, Mulder."
"Like what?" Mulder asked, wetting his lips.
"I suppose our wives came from the same litter, she betrayed me and 
France also! And once again, it had to do with the damned steam boats! 
Everyone is after them and the enemy is sending our wives in to get 
them!"
"I don't understand, Sir." Mulder acted flummoxed.
"Melissa was questioning me about the steam boat plans, I found it 
unusual... but paid no attention. This morning they were gone. And when I 
went to confront her, we got distracted by our daughter. After that, she 
just vanished. I've had everyone search the house for her, I've sent men 
into town looking for her, she's just gone!"
Mulder's heart leaped, "I'm sorry, Sir. Perhaps they were from the same 
litter." <sisters, perhaps! It's ironic, actually!>
Byers remained silent as the General confessed the whole story to 
Mulder. "Poor Margaret... her mother's a traitor." 
"Well, General, was she not British? Like my wife?"
"Yes, she was. Damn British women! We should have them all shot! I can't 
believe that they've sent women in to do men's work!"
"Exactly what I was thinking, Sir."
Mulder and Byers were led out of the house by the valet and they quickly 
got into the carriage. "She's safe, at least." Byers whispered.
"Where are we to look for her? I doubt that she'd leave without her 
daughter!" Mulder sighed.
"Are you going to go back to Frohike's?"
"No, they probably suspect me now, and I'm not going to lead them back 
to Dana. I've already risked too much by seeing her. I think that we 
should get keep our eyes on Margaret Travenier before anything else 
happens. I don't like the thought of her in that house with the 
General."
"But he's her father!" Byers protested.
"And I doubt he'd hurt her, but Melissa will come back for her girl, get 
hold of Carrings and Harrods. We'll have them take care of everything."
He nodded his head, "Good then, because if you go around doing 
everything yourself, you'll eventually get caught. You're the only man 
they have in the military right now. Skinner will be furious if we lost 
you."
"I'm glad I'm good for something." Mulder laughed.

 Skinner was starting to become anxious. His agents were due 
back in London any day now and he had recently received a letter from 
Mulder saying that they had gotten Dana out of prison and were waiting 
for the ship. <The ship leaves tonight.... And if they aren't on it, 
they'll be trapped there for another few months, and that's if they're 
lucky!> 

 "Tonight is the night that your ship leaves, Dana." Langley 
said, handing her some milk.
"Well, it doesn't look like I'm going to be on it." She insisted.
"You will be on it, if you fail to be on board when it departs, you're 
going to be in France until the end of the year." Frohike was becoming 
annoyed with her.
She glared at him, "I know all the consequences, but I will not leave 
without Melissa."
"How would you like your child to be born in France?" Langley asked.
"Never!"
"It might happen that way if you keep on acting like this!"
She shook her head, "Please, gentlemen, mind your own business!"
Frohike fell silent, and Langley decided that it was time for them to 
retreat and change the subject. "Mulder won't be coming back here, it's 
too dangerous for him."
"When will I see him again?" She asked.
"Most likely in London. This is supposed to be your final day in 
France."
"That's only if they can find Melissa in time." She reminded him.

 Melissa watched her daughter and Peter riding the horses. 
They had hired Peter to watch over her at all times, after all, her 
father was a General and security was important. She wrapped her cloak 
around her tighter, she had escape from the estate had been so quick 
that no one had noticed her and she had no time to pack anything. Using 
the cellar passage, Melissa had made it off the battlements before 
anyone could even think of searching for her! Margaret was very quite, 
much more than usual. Peter left her side for a moment, going into the 
stables for something that he had left behind. Margaret was left out 
alone, kicking her shoes in the dirt. "Margaret!" Melissa hissed.
She turned around to see her mother, "Mummy!" She raced off towards her.
Melissa swept her up in an embrace, "Darling, come, we have little time 
for anything right now."
Peter called out from the stable and Melissa's heart stopped. Leaving 
Margaret standing, she ducked behind a stack of wood. "Margaret, give me 
a minute," Peter said, "I have to get something from the house. Don't 
leave this spot, understand me?"
Margaret nodded mechanically. Peter turned around and after he had 
vanished into the house, Melissa came out of hiding. "We have to go, 
Margaret. Run into the house and grab some things."
Margaret frowned, "I don't know what's happening!"
Melissa took her daughter's shoulders, "Listen sweet heart, you and I 
must leave soon. Go into the house and gather some clothes and put them 
in the case that's stored under your bed. Don't make it too heavy! Do as 
I say, Meg. Please!"
Margaret always trusted what her mother said, so without waiting another 
second, she ran off to the house and entered through the side door. 
Melissa sat patiently waiting. She estimated that her daughter must have 
been gone for a half hour. Peter returned though, and seeing that little 
Margaret had vanished, he dropped the saddle he was holding and raced 
into the stables screaming her name. "MARGARET!" The only sound that was 
heard was the call of the wind and rustling of grass. Peter pulled at 
his hair, "Damn it! MARGARET!" He raced off crying out her name, seeing 
her no where. Melissa felt proud when Margaret came back, proudly 
holding up her case and handing it to her mother, "Done Mummy."
"Wonderful. You must walk towards the fence on the other side, see it, 
Meg?"
Margaret looked off into the distance seeing the fence her mother was 
pointing to. "I see."
"Go there, run as fast as you can and get over it! I will come right 
after you. Don't stop."
Melissa saw that her little girl was scared, "Mummy-"
"No questions now, sweet heart. Go! Run!" 
Margaret turned on her heels and raced off, Melissa watched her small 
figure for a second, but then turned her attention to the stables. What 
she needed was a distraction. Putting down the case in the grass, she 
walked into the stable, pulling up the hatches on all the horse pens. 
Within minutes the horses had escaped into a near by field. It all felt 
like a dream as Melissa grabbed her daughter's case and ran after her, 
the sound of pounding horse hooves was heard and the ground shook. The 
cries from the stable tenders was heard as they raced after the animals. 
Melissa took her daughter and together they ducked behind the fence. 
They looked back at the estate one final time, half a dozen horses had 
been set lose and all the servants in sight had gone to help. "Mummy, 
where are we going?"
"Some where safe."
"But what about Daddy?"
"He won't be coming this time, love, don't think about it. We're going 
to see Aunt Dana."
"WHO?"
"My sister, she's going to help us."
"I didn't know you had a sister, Mummy." 
"No one did, Margaret. No one knew. We'll meet her husband first."
"Where will we be?"
"With luck, we'll be in England."
"But Daddy hates England!" Margaret protested.
"I know he does, but I am from England, and you and I must go there. It 
isn't safe for us here, they'll hurt us."
"Who will?"
"Enough talk. We're wasting time. Come now, I'll take very good care of 
you, Meg and everything will be fine."
"I don't want to go, Mummy!"
"If you stay, you'll never see me again, Meg!"
Margaret froze, it was a harsh revelation for a young child. "Never?"
"No. Daddy will make sure of that."
Margaret threw herself into her mother's arms, "Take me with you, 
Mummy!"
Melissa lifted her over another fence and they walked towards the road, 
"Think of it as an adventure, Meg. You and me on an adventure. And we're 
going home."
"Daddy's home?"
"My home, Margaret. England and we'll see my family."

 Eric Saulnier had been visiting at Mulder's estate when 
Melissa arrived. The two men stood to greet her, "What are you doing 
here, Dame Travenier?" 
She held Margaret's hand, "I had something urgent to discuss with Major 
Mulder."
Mulder sat her down, "Saulnier is a friend. I was informed that you and 
the General are not on good terms. He's sent half an army looking for 
you."
She winced, "I imagine, and he'll be furious when he finds that I took 
Margaret."
Mulder smiled down at the little girl, perhaps his daughter would look 
like that, look like Dana. Melissa took a breath, "I need to get hold of 
my sister soon, she's probably worried sick. Where are you hiding her, 
Mulder?"
"I'll take care of contacting Dana. A ship leaves tonight, nine o'clock. 
No matter what happens, you must be on it."
"But what about Dana?"
"I've taken care of her. I want you to stay with Captain Saulnier until 
tonight, he'll see you safely to the ship."
Melissa eyed the man, "You served under my husband once, didn't you?"
He nodded, "I can't say it was one of the best times of my life. Dame 
Travenier, I will see you and your daughter safely to France if you'll 
give me the opportunity."
She nodded, taking Margaret into her lap, "All right then, I suppose I'm 
running out of choices. I have nothing with me, it's just me and my 
daughter and her case."
Eric took Margaret's hand bag, "All right then, I'll see you to my 
carriage. Mulder, hope to catch you tonight before the ship departs."
Mulder nodded, "We could have problems. They might be looking for us 
there, so to keep your eyes open. I'll do my best to make it."
Margaret looked up at Mulder, then Melissa. "Mummy... is Daddy bad?"
Melissa's mouth fell open, "Not really, darling, no. He's just not on 
England's side and I am. Come, Captain Saulnier will take us."
Eric took Margaret's case, "We'll have to buy you some things before you 
leave on your trip."
"Where am I going?" Margaret questioned.
"England, child, you're going to England."
"Will you come, too?" Margaret continued her interrogation.
"No. I have to stay here. But I'll see you off to the ship, have you 
ever been on a ship?"
"No."
"It'll be fun." Melissa said, taking her daughter out to the carriage, 
Margaret was lifted in and then Eric helped Melissa in. "Dame 
Travenier-"
"Melissa Scully."
"Dana's sister, of course, Melissa Scully! Well, Melissa, you will not 
see Dana until tonight. But it's still early morning at the ship departs 
late tonight. We have time to get things for Margaret. You can hide out 
at my estate until it's time."
Mulder looked at her, "Melissa, Dana wasn't going to leave without you."
She sighed, "How is she?"
"Better now that she's out of the prison. We'll see you soon." Mulder 
waved to Margaret as the carriage pulled out of the gates, then he 
turned and went back to his office.
 Melissa watched as Eric covered a yawn, "Haven't slept 
well?" She asked.
"No, none of us had since Dana was put in prison. Any second now she 
could be caught. I'm so nervous I haven't eaten in days."
"All that for my sister?"
"For everyone involved, Madame."
Margaret spoke up, "When are we going to England, Mummy?"
"Tonight." Eric answered for Melissa.
"Why so soon?" Melissa questioned.
"The only ship leaves tonight, we've kept Dana in hiding since the 
escape. After this ship is gone, there won't be another for a very long 
time."
Melissa put her head down, "Well then, I guess we better be punctual."
"That's an understatement." Eric smiled.

 Dupuis had been called by Marchand, "Both Travenier's wife 
and Mulder's wife have vanished. Maybe they were even working together, 
most likely they were. You have to find them soon!"
Dupuis smiled proudly, handing him a sheet of paper. "Never let it be 
said that I am a stupid man. I know that they'll be trying to get out of 
England soon, so I did some research. Tonight a ship leaves for London 
and it's the last one... you know how the rules are, no more of that 
business!"
Marchand laughed, "Wonderful, Dupuis! If we catch then, I assure you a 
promotion!"
Dupuis wasn't surprised by this, and only smiled more. "Thank you, Sir!"
Marchand laughed to himself as he read the paper, "Tonight at nine... 
have two dozen guards there ready and waiting, you are in charge, 
Dupuis."
"Of course, Sir."
"Dismissed!"
Dupuis proudly marched out of the room and smiled at his fellow 
officers, dreaming of being a General some day soon.

 Langley and Byers had dragged in two cases full of things. 
"What's this?" Frohike questioned, Dana standing not far behind him.
"This is what Mulder calls 'a few things.' They're for Dana." Byers 
complained, setting them on the ground.
"What for?" Frohike laughed.
"She's leaving tonight, she can't go without clothes and other items... 
so Mulder had the sent over."
"Actually, he made us go and get them!" Langley snapped.
"Thank you so much, gentlemen." Dana smiled sweetly at them, eyeing the 
cases her husband had sent. 
"Are you ready for tonight?" Byers asked.
"That depends-"
"On your sister." They all three chorused.
She rolled her eyes, "This is very important to me!"
"And you'll be on that ship, so will Melissa. She's been found and is 
waiting to meet you." Byers gave the good news.
"REALLY?" For a brief moment she considered that it was a trick to 
assure that she'd be on the ship.
"Really. Mulder sent her to Saulnier's, she'll be safe until tonight. 
Her daughter, also."
Dana felt her heart swell and she threw her arms around Byers, the 
messenger of good news. "THANK GOD! Thank all of you!" She hugged 
Frohike and Langley also.
Frohike blushed, "We were happy to help, really."
"Within a week I'll be back in London and everything will be fine! Am I 
going alone?" She suddenly turned to the three men.
"Eric can't go with you, Mulder can't, either. We are to accompany you 
home." Byers explained.
"WHEN WAS THIS PLANNED?" She asked.
"It wasn't in the original plan," Byers admitted, "but a woman can not 
travel alone and not attract attention to herself. So we shall go with 
you. If it's possible, that is." 
"What do you mean by that?"
"If we aren't able to get on the ship without us, you'll have to go 
alone with your sister and her daughter, but most likely we will be with 
you."
Dana sighed, sitting into a chair, "All right, I understand... is there 
no way Fox can come with us?"
"It isn't possible, he still has a chance in their military, he is still 
useful!" Byers tried to be the voice of reason.
She nodded, "I suppose I have to share him with my country... damn the 
war!"

 Night came quicker than anyone would have suspected. Eric 
had gone with Melissa and Margaret to the pier, a crowd of passengers 
had gathered around and all were huddled together. Melissa took her 
daughter's hand, the case in the other. "Well... thank you so much, 
Monsieur Saulnier, God bless."
He smiled at her, "It was my pleasure, Madame. Good bye, little one." He 
bent down to look Margaret in the eye. 
She shook his hand, "Bye, good bye."
He patted Margaret's head, then kissed Melissa's hand. "Allez au revoir, 
have a safe passage home."
She smiled again, "Thank you so much, there is no way I could possibly 
repay you!"
"I need no payment. Go on, I will not leave until the ship has 
departed."
She couldn't resist throwing her arms around him in a hug, "Thank you a 
thousand times again!"
Then she released him and walked toward the crowd, Margaret beside her. 
Eric was scanning the crowd, his eyes falling on the uniform of a French 
solider. Captain Dupuis! "Damn it!" He hissed. Quickly, he checked his 
pistol and raced back to his carriage, keeping his eyes on the soldiers 
that had silently swarmed in. <No, we're so damned close!>
 On the opposite side of the pier, Dupuis made his way 
through the crowd, seeing no one who could be Melissa Travenier or Dana 
Mulder. A flash of red hair caught his eye, he quickly pushed a man 
aside to get to the woman, he took her shoulder and spun her around, 
"Madame!"
A young girl with a pink face and green eyes gasped, pulling back, "Who 
are you?" She demanded.
Dupuis flushed with embarrassment, "I'm sorry, Mademoiselle, I thought 
you were someone else. Forgive me." He retreated to his other soldiers. 
The woman watched him as he walked off, then ran to her brother, not 
leaving his side. "Soldiers every where, why?" She asked.
He shrugged, "We might find out."
Dupuis continued searching the crowd, but saw no one else who could be 
one of the female British spies.

 Dana and Byers walked together towards the pier, Langley and 
Frohike and an attendant carried the bags. After they had everything in 
place, ticket problems worked out and baggage put on board, the quartet 
relaxed. "We're going to be all right." Byer assured her, patting her 
arm.
She smiled weakly, "I'm sure we will be. But still..." her voice trailed 
off.
"Look!" Langley pointed.
Dana's heart jumped, she expected to be jumped by Frenchmen any second 
now, but her eyes fell on Mulder. He had a smile on his face, his arms 
open to her.
She raced to him, "Fox! Oh, Fox!"
He hugged her tight, "I didn't want you to leave without saying good 
bye."
"You aren't coming...?"
"No, love, of course I can't. But I trust Byers to take care of you." He 
kissed her forehead.
Byers approached him, "Sorry to break his tender moment, but I think I 
see soldiers." He whispered.
Mulder froze, "Oh, my God." Dana pulled away, looking over the heads of 
other people, she froze. "We're done for."
"No, you aren't. Go, through the alley back there... I'll find some way 
to gain their attention. If you can make it back in time, get on the 
ship." He kissed Dana, looking into her eyes. "Don't do anything stupid, 
Dana, Melissa is here, you must find her and go."
She nodded, "I'll see you in London."
He smiled, "Yes." <God be willing...>
Byers led Frohike, Dana and Langley to the ship while Mulder slipped 
back out to the street. The crowd was beginning to thin a bit, the night 
air was cold and there was a sickening smell of fish in the air. Dana 
put her hood on, covering her hair and most of her face. A solider 
passed her, brushing her shoulder, chills went up her spine and she had 
forgotten to breath until the lack of air became too much. "Don't worry, 
you're fine." Byers watched Dupuis disappear into the crowd again. She 
smiled, "We might actually make it, Byers."
The next fifteen minutes remained uneventful, although all of them were 
very anxious. Shots were heard and so were screams, all coming from the 
street. Many of the passengers were on the ship, but some were still 
outside and the crowd was still fairly thick. The soldiers ran towards 
the shots and Dana and her companions were going in the opposite 
direction, towards the ship. Dupuis raced by, too excited to see where 
he was going, he knocked Dana over and onto the hard ground. She fell 
with a shriek and was flat on the floor. Byers went to her aid but 
Dupuis reached her first. "I'm sorry, Madame-" Her hood fell from her 
face and her eyes were wide. "Dame Mulder, how nice to see you." His 
grip on her arm tightened.
A second passed before Byers and Langley took action, Byers took out his 
pistol and shoved it into the side of the French captain, "Do not move, 
Captain Dupuis, or I will fire holes into you."
The man motionless, "Who are you?"
"None of your business, Captain. Come with me. You three, get on the 
ship and don't turn back."
"But what about you-" Frohike started.
"We'll see. Go. NOW!"
Dana was pushed back towards the crowd and Byers walked the Captain 
towards the edge of the pier. "You're going to kill me no matter what." 
The captain said.
"Are you afraid?" Byers asked.
"No... if I feared death, I would have stayed out of the army." The 
captain spun around and pushed Byers back, knocking him against a wall. 
The pistol fell to the ground and Dupuis picked it up, pointing it at 
him. Byers was filled with fear from head to toe, he realized the 
intensity of the situation and thought his heart would burst before 
Dupuis had a chance to kill him! "Don't do this!" Byers said dumbly.
"I have no time to deal with you, so do excuse me!" He fired once at 
Byers. The man fell to the floor, the pain was so intense that he could 
not even see. Dupuis dropped the pistol and ran back to the main pier, 
keeping his eyes open for Dana or any of her companions, Byers was left 
alone, motionless in the alley.

END of 7/?
----------

           No one had been more surprised than Melissa when the gun shots went
 off. She wrapped Margaret into her arms and they boarded. "Mummy...
what's happening?"  "Shh, stay silent, Margaret. I'll explain everything
later." They blended in with the other passengers perfectly, and the
soldiers raced by the ship and out to the street. Melissa was able to
watch from a window, Dupuis was wearing a hat that set him apart from the
other men in uniform. She bit her lower lip, anxious, frightened and
angry. Angry that they had shown up here, Travenier would not rest until
he had Margaret back!

            Dupuis wasn't about to give up... he could have a promotion
waiting for him tonight! He took the arm of a solider, "I just saw Dame
Mulder, she's with some men, one of them is dead in the ally now... but
she is still about some where."  The man nodded, gathering his fellow
soldiers and they all listened carefully as Dupuis gave a description of
the woman they were searching for. "We must stop the ship, I shall speak
with the captain and you keep searching!"  While the other men split up,
Dupuis raced up to the ship, making his way to an officer on board, "I am
Captain Dupuis of the French army, I must speak with your captain." 
"About what, Sir?"  "We have fugitives on board and they can not leave
France, we must find them first."  The man got excited, "Fugitives! How
dangerous! What does he look like?"  "It's a woman, short with red hair...
a green cloak."  The man almost laughed, "You race to find a woman? Who
did she wrong?"  "The entire army, just stop this ship from leaving and my
men and I will take care of the rest."  "Yes, Sir." He ran to inform the
Captain. Dupuis saw some old women starring at him and whispering, he
hated cackling old hens! "Captain! We found Dame Travenier! Her daughter
is no where to be found, but we have her!"  Dupuis followed the man back
the pier. People were now flooding outside to see the show, the soldiers
were trying to make it around the crowds. Melissa Travenier stood, four
soldiers around her. "Bonjour, Madame. How nice of you to show yourself." 
She said not a even a single syllable.  "Where is Margaret Travenier?"  "I
do not have her." Melissa said, her head raised now.  The Captain shook
his head, "I don't think so... you must have her. Where is she?"  "IF I
HAD HER, SHE WOULD BE WITH ME RIGHT NOW!"  Dupuis turned to a man standing
behind him wearing the French uniform, "Find her, she's probably on the
ship, drag her out here before it leaves!"  Two men ran off to find her
while Dupuis and two soldiers escorted Melissa away from prying eyes and
out to the street. No one was around and the night covered everything with
blackness. She turned to Dupuis, "Please, let me go! The General does not
want me, he wants-"  "No! I will do as I was ordered, and you will shut
up, even if I must silence you myself!" 
            Mulder had his hat tilted down so his face was covered. A
glimpse of red hair made his heart freeze, but when he realized it was not
his Dana, he relaxed a bit. Walking towards the small group, he saw it was
Melissa. The ship left soon, and Da na would never forgive him if Melissa
failed to be on board. Taking out his pistol, he walked up behind them,
light foot steps not giving away his existence. Before the two soldiers
knew what was happening, one of them had been knocked to the ground befo
re he could scream. Dupuis and the other man whirled around, drawing out
swords. Mulder was in no mood for a fair sword fight, with one shot he had
the other man down in the arm. But the man was prodigious, and one shot
would not cause his fall. He moved towards him, cursing in foreign
languages that Mulder did not know. Dupuis came up from behind him,
pinning him down to the ground, "Go and get help! I'll keep him here!" 
The wounded man stumbled towards the pier where other soldiers were
waiting for news of the Captain and their mission's progress.  Dupuis
pointed a gun into Mulder's back, "You know, Mulder, I would have never
thought you would betray France for a woman!"  He kept silent.  "What does
Dame Travenier have to do with you?"  "Nothing!" Mulder shouted.  "Tell
me, Mulder!"  By then, Melissa had taken a fallen pistol into her hand,
pointing at Dupuis, "Get off him!"  "That gun is empty, Madame! Why do you
think it was dropped?"  Melissa's face was wiped with fright. Mulder
started to struggle, "RUN MELISSA! HURRY BEFORE-" He was kicked in the
ribs of Dupuis, "Shut up!"  Melissa's gaze turned from the two men to an
object behind them. When Dupuis turned to see what had caught her eye, he
only had a second before he was shot in the chest. The man holding the
pistol was bleeding, and he fell to his knees. "Go..." He whisper ed.
Blood covered his hands and his hat had fallen to the ground. Mulder
helped him stand, "Byers, what happened to you!"  "Dupuis.... Melissa, the
ship!"  Melissa turned to him, "I-"  "Shut up and run, Melissa!" Mulder
snapped at her, "God be with you, Dana is supposed to be on the ship. When
you get to England, find Walter Skinner!"  She wiped her eyes, "I thank
you, both."  "Go!" They chorused. Melissa gathered her long skirts and
raced back to the ship, the horns were blowing and it was only a matter of
minutes before the ship left. Margaret was safely hidden in a baggage room
where no one would look.  Byers fell and Mulder caught him, "It isn't as
bad as you think," Mulder told him, "but you must get to a doctor. Come
now, the carriage is down there."  A carriage came racing down towards
them and the door flew open, Eric Saulnier came out. "Get him inside,
Mulder, they've seen you, haven't they?"  "Dupuis is dead..." Mulder
motioned towards the Captain's body.  "Have they seen you?"  "One other
man saw me, he has probably told everyone by now. Take him to a doctor, I
will lead them away from Dana and Melissa." Byers was released into Eric's
care and Mulder fled in an other direction. A shot rang out behind him as
the carriage pulled a way. "STOP!"  Two soldiers had him pinned, and
Mulder had dropped his pistol some where near Dupuis. <DAMN IT!>

             Melissa's heart has been racing so fast she was sure it was
going to burst inside of her. She ran onto the ship, colliding with a man.
"I'm sorry-" She looked up to see a solider starring down at her. Her eyes
went wide and she shrieked, turn ing around trying to find an escape
route. He grabbed her arms and dragged her out onto the deck, "Madame
Travenier, I'm glad I found you. It would have been awful if the ship
left. Where is General Travenier's daughter?"  "She's my daughter, too!"
Melissa shouted at him, getting the attention of some of the French
passengers.  He gripped her arm harder, "I shall make you a deal. If you
give me the General's daughter, I will pretend I never saw you."  She spat
at him, "Of course not!"  The solider took his pistol out shoved it into
her back, "Come with me."  Melissa panicked, she kicked at him and
scratched at him until he bled, but he had her pinned against the railing,
the water just behind her. Melissa grabbed at the gun, digging her nails
into his wrist and then.... BANG!  The passengers all jumped to their feet
to see that fate of the red haired woman who had fought with the solider.
She crumpled to the ground, her face showed sock and fear. "I'm a doctor,
let me through!" An old man shouted, rushing to her aid. "Tell us where
Margaret is!" The solider insisted, "If she is on bored, she'll be taken
to England and orphaned! Left to walk the streets alone! WHERE did you
hide her?"  Melissa sobbed during her final seconds, everything starting
to blur and getting dark. Margaret had watched silently from another deck,
hiding behind a group of old women. Her first thought was to get to her
father, the man shouting at her mother looked l ike trouble. Her primal
survival instincts told her to get off the ship, and she found ramp and
rushed back onto the pier. Never in her life had she wanted her father
more, someone to make it all go away!

            Dana never made it onto the ship, it was swarming with
soldiers and all of them were looking for her. "No-"  Melissa's body was
taken off the ship by soldiers, Dana buried her face in Frohike's
shoulder, "God, no! Don't take her away from me yet! I tried so hard!" 
Langley heard voices coming towards them, "We have no choice but to
retreat, so let's move it!" He dragged Dana and Frohike up the walk. When
the sight of a girl looking like a China doll caught Dana's eyes, she
froze. "Margaret?" She called out, walking towards the small figure.  The
girl was crying silently, "Are you Margaret?" Dana asked again.  The
child's lower lip quivered and she nodded, her red curls bouncing, "Who
are you?"  "I'm Dana. You're mother's sister. You poor darling, come with
me."  "Mummy's gone." She whispered.  Dana hugged her tight, "Shh, I'll
take care of you, little one." Langley walked towards them, "Dana, if we
delay another second, we're doomed!"  She handed Langley the child, "Run!"
Langley had Margaret in his arms, and they disappeared into a maze of
buildings, the soldiers had not spotted them but they would most likely be
doing a search of the area soon. A stack of empty crates was set in an al
ley waiting to be disposed of, Langley helped Dana and Margaret get into
one, and he and Frohike hid in another. The sounds of horses racing by
caused them to sit motionless. "Captain Dupuis is dead." One man said to
another.  "I know, we must inform the General. He had Melissa Travenier,
but she was shot. And there is more bad news..."  "What is that?" The
first man asked.  "Major Mulder is a traitor. He was the one who killed
Dupuis."  The first man gasped, "Mulder? But he can't be!"  "A heavy price
has been put on his head. I doubt that they could have gotten far, the
second patrol will meet us in the square, let's go now." They rode back
through the way they came and the sound of horse shoes on the pavement
became distant. Dana pulle d herself up, "They know about Mulder! Now
what!"  Frohike shook his head, "It was Byers who was the brains of this
outfit."  "I have brains, just give me a second to think!" Langley said to
him, snappish.  Dana climbed out of her hiding spot, "There is no way
we're leaving France tonight. We have to hide."  "We'll go back to my
house and wait there for further instructions. We'll have to get a letter
to Skinner asking for help." Frohike was thoughtful.  "My first mission
and I have to blunder so badly everyone must suffer!" She hissed, "Leave
me be and save yourselves!"  Langley rolled his eyes, "Stop being dramatic
and come on! The house is far from here, but we'll have to walk since we
have no carriage. Are you up to it?"  She nodded.  "Good, then lets go
because it'll be a long night ahead of us."  "Mulder-"  "He can take care
of himself. I'm sure he already beat us to the house." Langley tried to be
the voice of reason, something Byers usually did.  "Besides, we'll have to
regroup tomorrow and think of another plan." Frohike led the way down the
alley.  Dana looked up towards the heavens, "Melissa, I'm so sorry. I will
do my best to save your girl, I swear it! What will happen to us?" She
asked the stars. The answer the received was the sound of shouting
soldiers far away. She blinked her tears away, <De liver me my husband,
stars, and I will never return to France again.>

             Mulder was beaten so badly he failed to rise to his feet when
Marchand and Travenier came. <Tell them nothing.... nothing at all!> He
said over and over in his mind. Travenier stood in front of him, "I would
have thought this from any other m an, even Dupuis, but not you!" 
Marchand stomped towards him, "WHO SENT YOU? The British? The Dutch? Both
of them?"  Mulder shook his head, "I wasn't sent by anyone."  "Lies!"
Travenier ordered a sergeant to kick him again.  Mulder fell to his knees. 
Travenier asked the question that had been burning in his mind all night,
"What do you have to do with my wife?"  "Nothing!"  "Were you having an
affair with her?" The General's voice was rising and he was becoming
upset.  "NO! I hardly knew her!"  "Did she give you the steam boat plans?"
Traveneir asked harshly.  Mulder kept silent.  "I'll take that as a yes!
How long were you working together? Since our marriage? Was she sent to
marry me so she could spy on me?"  "No! She was not a spy!" Mulder blurted
out.  "But YOUR wife was!" Marchand insisted.  Mulder looked him in the
eye, "Go. To. Hell."  Marchand took a step back, letting Travenier take
over. "Who is your superior?"  "No one!" Mulder shouted.  "Are you in the
British Army or just a man who sells secrets for money?"  "I sell secrets,
Monsieur, of all kinds!"  Travenier hit him, "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?" 
Mulder's face was bleeding from the blows he had endured, "That little
secret will cost you, General." Mulder said, spitting out the blood. 
Travenier was not impressed with Mulder, he started pacing in front of
him, "LISTEN to me, Mulder, I will buy your secret. Tell me where Margaret
is, and I will let you live. I will even let your little wife live!"  "Do
you actually think I'm dumb enough to believe you? I was smart enough to
stay hidden in your army for years and you think that I'll tell you?
YOU'LL KILL ME!"  Travenier's face was red with fury and you could cut the
tension in the room with a knife! He grabbed Mulder by the shoulders,
shaking him, "If you don't tell me where my daughter is, I'll spend the
next two weeks slowly killing you!"  Mulder didn't even wince, "I will die
anyway."  Travenier pushed Mulder away, stomping out of the room, too
angry to speak. Marchand, not knowing what was left to stay, ordered that
Mulder be hit again a few more times and followed his friend. "Mon ami, we
will find her." He assured Travenier.  Travenier's head came up, "I know
what we can do. You must get hold of a woman who looks like Dame Mulder. I
think his feelings are very strong for her, stronger than we thought. It
was more than his heir and her body that he wanted."  "What are you
planning?" Marchand asked, too confused to put things together.  "I will
tell you soon, but find a woman who looks like her, and bring her to me. I
don't care WHO SHE IS! I don't care WHAT you must pay her! And bring me a
doctor... Mulder is going to need one!" 

            Dana and her companions had made it to Frohike's house by
dawn. No one had seen them, and they were safe, tired... but safe. She
collapsed into the bed, "Damn it, I've never been so tired."  Frohike
coughed, "I would offer you some drink, but I can't feel my legs!"  She
laughed faintly, "I'll get you all something to drink."  Langley had
fallen silent, "We need to find out what happened to Byers and Mulder." 
"Eric would know..." Dana said, "he was the one who dropped Melissa off at
the pier, wasn't he?"  "He was." Frohike confirmed.  "I'll go speak with
him today, you two stay here. I think they didn't get a good look at my
face. I'll meet you back here tonight."  Margaret had instantly fallen
asleep, Dana decided to lie down beside her, stroking her red hair. <A
true Scully if I ever saw one.> She smiled to herself, pushing the tears
away. Things were not looking good, but they still had a chance. 

            Eric wasn't at all surprised when Langley came to his door. He
looked at him in the eye, "You wanted in update on our current situation?" 
"Yes, I did. How is Mulder?"  "Captured. Last night, Melissa was about to
be dragged off by soldiers, he exposed himself to save her."  "I saw that
Melissa made it to the ship, before her body was dragged off. She was
killed last night." Langley bit his lower lip.  "I heard the news from
another solider, it's awful."  "Did my friend, Byers, make it to the
ship?"  "No, of course not! He was in no condition to go anywhere last
night!"  "What do you mean?" Langley's heart rate sped up.  "He was shot,
did you not see?"  "SHOT? IS HE ALIVE? WHO SHOT HIM?" A thousand questions
came into his mind and Eric wasn't given answers fast enough.  "Yes, he
was shot. Yes, he is alive. And Dupuis was the man who shot him. The last
I saw Mulder, he was trying to get Byers to a doctor. I took Byers and
Mulder ran off. This morning I received word that Major Mulder was
discovered as a traitor."  "My God! What are we going to do?"  "This
situation just keeps on getting worse and worse. Byers wounds were not as
bad as we thought... luckily, Dupuis was a bad shot. He got his shoulder,
stupid man, and Byers will survive if we keep his wounds free of
infection. It's painful, I do not do ubt that, but he will most likely
survive. I have gotten him the best physician."  "Thank you, God bless
you!" Langley could not control himself. He had to pace around the room.
"So this is our current situation," Langley started, "Melissa never made
it out of France, who knows what they did with her body. Mulder is in
prison, Byers is out of action and Dana is still in hiding."  "WHAT? She
was not on the ship?" Eric jumped up to his feet.  Langley shook his head,
"She could not make it. We were lucky to get back to Frohike's home alive!
She is all right, but Dupuis had seen her-"  "That does not matter, Dupuis
is dead." Eric said simply.  "Captain Dupuis, I heard that last night.
How? I bet it was Mulder!"  "No, it was your friend, Byers. Byers was
coming in and out of conciousness. He said that Dupuis had Mulder cornered
and there was nothing Melissa could do, and by then, Byers had already
been shot and left for dead. You can guess the rest."  Langley moaned,
"The poor man!"  "If we had waited an hour longer to take him to the
doctor, he would have died. Do not fear, he will be fine."  Langley
nodded, "Mulder is in prison? What can we do?"  "Are Carryings and Harrods
still in France? We could use them again, we have two men down... Mulder
and Byers."  Langley nodded, "They never had a chance to leave France. Now
they're as stuck as we are. They didn't even try to leave last night
because Skinner has insisted that they stay until the end of the year." 
"We could use their help. Is there any way we can contact them?"  "I know
how to get hold of them, do you have anything in mind?"  "He's being kept
in Le Cauchemar."  The blood drained from Langley's face, "CAUCHEMAR! God,
no! The nightmare prison! Men hunt in packs there! We'll never get him
out!"  Eric remained positive, "I'm still a Captain, perhaps I can do
something. But this time, I can't blame it on Dupuis. That trick didn't
work anyway! I shall take care of getting in and getting out. You just
provide me with the man power."  Langley could not remain calm, "Mulder
could be dead by the time we get there! Cauchemar Prison will break him!" 
"Then we must hurry," said Eric, "because I want to return him to Dana in
once piece." 

            Dana had broken down when she learned that Mulder had been
captured. She fell to her knees and sobbed, "Fox! God, this isn't real!" 
Frohike tried to comfort her, "Dana, please, he'll be all right. I have
never met a man as strong as Mulder."  She turned to him, "Frohike, where
did they send him?"  "I don't know." He admitted.  She looked up at
Langley, "Where did they send him? Tell me!"  "Dana-"  "Was it the
Bastille? Please dot' say it was the Bastille!"  "No, Dana. It was Le
Cauchemar." Langley became quite.  Frohike went stiff, "Oh, my God."  Dana
turned to him, "What? What is Cauchemar?"  "It's named the nightmare
prison. It's Hell on Earth!" Frohike had become hysterical and could not
stop talking. "Men would rather kill themselves than go to Cauchemar! It's
torture and you have to keep your eyes open because the other inmates will
kill y ou for your shoes!"  Langley tried to silence Frohike, but the
little man kept on rambling, "If any of them are released, they come back
insane! No one comes out the same!"  "SHUT UP, FROHIKE!" Langley snapped. 
Frohike froze, "He'll be fine, Dana!"  She stood up, picking herself up
off the floor. "We have to get him." Her voice made it clear that she
would go with or without them.  The two men looked at each other, "Dana-"
They started.  "NO! That is my husband in there, and I will not leave him
to those French wolves! If you will not help me, I will do it alone." 
"Eric Saulnier said he will help us get him back, Carryings and Harrods
are with us also." Langley said quickly.  "Excellent! When do we start?" 
"We start when Eric Saulnier is ready." Langley filled her in.  She took a
deep breath, "Write to Skinner and let him know that we are in trouble." 
"We aren't in trouble-" Frohike started.  "We are! This whole plan has
gone spiraling downward since I was caught going through that damned
desk!" Dana's voice was rising and her face turned red. " There is no way
we can salvage it! The best we can hope for is getting out of France alive
with the
 steam boat plans! We're finished! It's over! Our last mission is getting
Mulder out and getting home! If we delay.... we could all be killed." 

            Mulder was half awake when the guards came for him the next
morning. A doctor gave him a dose of some liquid, he tried to spit it out,
"Damn, what is that?"  The doctor looked up, "It's going to make you feel
stronger, so relax." Mulder leaned against a wall and slid to the floor. A
sergeant picked him up and dragged him into another room, there was a
window looking into a smaller room. Travenier came forward,
 "This is your last chance, Mulder, tell us where Margaret is and you're
free."  Mulder remained silent and stiff, but Travenier kept his control.
"Bring out Dame Mulder."  Mulder's head shot up, "Dana?"  Travenier was
tempted to smirk at him, but he kept his face expressionless. Marchand
dragged in a short woman with fiery red hair, kicking and screaming.
"FOX!" She shouted, only to be silenced with a gag. Someone wearing a
soldier's uniform handed Marcha nd a whip, the younger General cracked it
against the wall. Travenier looked at the horror on Mulder's face, "If you
tell me where Margaret is, she'll be set free. If you don't, I will have
her whipped fifty times every day until she dies!"  Mulder was starting to
feel dizzy and the images in front of him were blurring up. "Dana-" He
cried out her name, trying to reach her through the window.  She was
placed on a table race down, her arms and legs where shackled by chains
and cuffs. A solider came towards her, putting his hands on her back and
the sound of ripping fabric was heard in the silent room. The back of her
dress ripped off by a soldie r's hand. The thought of another man's hands
on his wife made Mulder furious, he pounded on the glass. "LEAVE HER BE!" 
Marchand looked up at Mulder for a brief second, "Are you ready to talk,
Major Mulder?"  Mulder fell to his knees, "She's in England now! She was
on the ship last night."  "Without her mother?" Travenier's voice was
rising.  "What?"  "Melissa died last night, was Margaret on that ship
alone?" The General went into a panic.  "She could have been..." Mulder
really had no way of knowing what happened to his friends.  "You're a
liar!" Travenier snapped.  "No, I'm not!"  "You would not abandon a girl
to find her own way in England! Who went with Margaret? Or is she still in
France?"  Mulder shook his head. Travenier gave Marchand the signal,
ordering that the girl be whipped. Mulder listened to her screams as
Marchand showed no mercy. "Don't hurt her..." Whatever the doctor had
given Mulder had long since taken effect, and Mulder fell
 into an oblivious sleep. Travenier ordered the girl to be lifted up,
"Give her the money and go." He said to Marchand.  Marchand helped the
girl take the protective padding off her back so she would not feel the
whip, she came out of the room without a scratch, and fifty pounds richer.
Travenier waited for Marchand, "We might be needing that girl again, she's
a good actres s."  Marchand nodded, "Did Mulder truly believe it was his
wife?"  "The drugs the doctor gave him worked like a charm. But I still
don't have my daughter. Keep the patrols searching for her, you might even
need to send some men to London to find her. I will not stop until I have
my Margaret home."  "Are you sorry about your wife?" Marchand asked the
question.  Travenier looked down at him, "No, not anymore. She betrayed
me. If Mulder still refuses to tell me the truth, I will have him whipped,
I'll do it myself!"  "Sir, you'll kill him!" Marchand cut in.  "That was
the point, mon ami." 

            Eric had been quicker than they expected. He showed at
Frohike's door, a set of keys in hand. "I stole these from a drunk man, I
had to buy him eight bottles of wine to get him drunk in the first place!" 
Frohike ushered him inside, "Are we ready?"  "I am, are you?"  "Carrings
and Harrods are here." Frohike pointed to the two men sitting in the other
room, talking with a determined Dana.  Eric walked passed Frohike to her,
"Are you all right?"  She nodded, keeping the tears at bay and pulling
herself up to her full height, which wasn't much compared to Eric, but it
didn't bother her. "Can we please hurry, I'm so worried about him." 
"Monsiure Carrings, Monsiure Harrods, nice to meet you again. I wish it
was pleasant circumstances that we see each other."  "Like wise." Carrings
sighed.  "Shall we get started? Gather Frohike and Langley in here, I need
all of you to hear this." 
            Eric kept the cloak over his head and Langley did the same.
"We have a prisoner!" Eric shouted.  Two guards at the front gate raised
the barrier, "Do you 'ave the paper?" A grundgy looking man asked.  Eric
handed him sheets of papers, "Here you are, Monsieure."  "What is he in
here for?" One of them asked out of curiosity.  "Murder, at least two
dozen!" Langley said, pushing Frohike, their prisoner, through the gate.
They were led down sets of stairs made of stone. The prison was cold and
damp and the sound of moaning was heard down one of the corridors. "Oh,
please don't pu t me with *that* man!" Frohike whispered.  Eric kept on
walking, Frohike was between Langley and Eric. A cell door was opened and
Frohike was placed inside. Eric turned to the guard, "This man is a
priest," he pointed to Langley, "he needs to speak with the prisoner
alone. One confession."  The guard nodded and vanished into a stone
corridor. Frohike took off his disguise and walked out of the open cell
door, "Can we go find Mulder now?"  "He is in cell D 33. I know that there
is a passage out of here, I just need to find it. It's easy to get into a
prison, the hard part is getting back out. You find Mulder and I'll do the
rest."  "Are Harrods and Carrings waiting outside?" Langley asked.  "Of
course, everything is set. Find Mulder." Eric quickly and silently walked
off.

            He was laying on the floor, beaten and bruised, exhausted. He
felt as if a thousand knives stabbed into him every time he moved. He must
have had a few broken bones, it felt as if everything was broken. Images
of them beating his Dana invaded his mind against his will and Mulder
could not keep from wincing. The screaming was in his head and he felt as
if the world was spinning much too fast. <Dana, God, what have they done
to us?> How she had gotten to be there, he did not know. How he was goi ng
to get her out, he did not know. <What do I know? I'm doomed!> Mulder
rested his head on the cool stone floor and let sleep over take him,
sending him into a blissful blackness. 

            Langley and Frohike slowly walked through the corridor,
looking for Mulder's cell. When they found it, Langley peeked through the
window, seeing their fallen comrade crumpled on the floor. "God, I think
he's dead!" Langley whispered. Frohike q uickly got out the pins and
started picking at the lock, in minutes, the heavy door was opened and the
two men stepped through. Mulder's cell was small, a claustrophobic man
would have gone mad in it. Frohike kept watch in the hall while Langley
checked M ulder for signs of life! "Mulder, get up." He whispered.  His
response was a moan from Mulder, "Let me die...."  "Shut up, Dana will
have my head if I let you die! She's waiting for you back at the house!
Get up!"  Mulder was forced to sit up, "She was captured, I saw her last
night!"  "You were dreaming, Dana was with us last night." "No, they
whipped her until she screamed and cried! I saw it!"  Langley put his hand
on Mulder's forehead, "Damn, he has a fever. Help me, Frohike."  Langley
was on the left, Frohike on the right, together they lifted Mulder up and
carried him out. Langley locked the door behind them, the three wobbling
their way out to a main corridor. That was where they ran into Eric, he
had a look of panic on his f ace, "A pair of guards is coming down here!
Quick, into a cell!"  The three looked at each other, "Eric, those cells
aren't very nice-" Mulder whispered.  "I know, get into one so they think
we're prisoners! Hurry!"  There was a cell with bars that was left wide
open, the quartet hid there, leaving the door open only a little bit, but
enough to make it look closed to someone standing far away. Mulder was
hidden under a stack of hay that was to be a bed, and the others
 sat down on the floor, hanging their heads.  The sounds of foot steps
filled their ears, "General Marchand ordered this block locked up for the
night."  "Why so early?" The second guard asked.  "There is a prisoner
here who is a traitor to France. I'm fighting the urge to beat the bastard
myself. Come along now, lock the gates." Sounds of bars coming down and
gates being locked were all that was heard, then silence as the guards
walked away. "We 're trapped!" Frohike hissed, "Who's bright idea was
this? I think we should have just fought them!"  Eric rolled his eyes as
he opened the cell door. Other prisoners were too out of it to open their
eyes for them! "Carry Mulder, I'll lead the way."  "There is no way out!"
Langley complained.  "I know of one. Shut up and come along silently."
Eric went through a door that led into another hall, the cells were down a
separate passage, so there were no prisoners here. Eric slid his hands up
and down the walls, trying to find something. A lose bri ck stood out and
Eric pulled on it, a small door opened for them. He grinned, "I learned
about this door from a man who was once prisoner here. Come, Mulder, are
you up to a long walk?"  "But Dana, I have to find her!" Mulder seemed
desperate.  "She's at the house, she's fine." Frohike assured him.  "But I
saw her!"  "Mulder, we were with her less than two hours ago, move your
ass into that passage and let's get out of here. She's waiting for you."
Eric took Mulder's arm and helped him through. They crawled on their hands
and knees for what seemed like forever. The pa ssage was dark, so there
was nothing to see. Frohike gasped, "I think a spider just crawled on my
arm! It must be the size of Europe!"  Langley pushed him forward, "A
spider is the least of our worries."  They finally made it out of the
small tunnel and into a larger one. At least now they could walk on their
legs. Mulder was whispering prayers for his wife as he walked, the others
tried not to listen but it was difficult for the lack of conversation as
ma ddening. "Mulder, I swear on my name, Dana is fine and well. Not a
scratch on her." Eric said for the tenth time.  Mulder still trusted his
eyes more than he trusted Eric, and he kept on whispering prayers until
the made it outside. "There is the gate. Harrods and Carrings are waiting
for us back there." They were about to walk towards the carriage when the
carriage c ame to them. Harrods opened the door, "Hello, Mulder, do get
your ass in before we're blown to bits! We've been spotted!" Mulder was
pushed into the carriage and before Frohike could close the door, it sped
off through a side gate, the guards failed to close it in time. Eric was
thinking aloud, "Perhaps I didn't think this out well enough..."  "NOW you
decide to work out details!" Langley shrieked! 

            Margaret was sound asleep, Dana wrapped her arms around her
new found niece. She sang a song that her mother used to sing to them,
Margaret opened her eyes. "My mummy loves that lullaby."  Dana smiled,
"Our mother loved it, also."  There was pounding on the door and Dana
jumped up. "Stay here, don't move!"  She fled down the steps and looked
out the small window, Langley was waiting on the other side of the door.
She pulled it open, a parade of men stomping through. Langley, Eric,
Frohike, Harrods, Carrings and... Mulder! "FOX!" She threw her arms around
him , he winced back with pain. "Oh, Fox, what did they do to you?"  "Are
you all right?" Mulder asked her, his voice a whisper.  "I'm fine, you're
the one who needs to be worried over!"  "Take him upstairs to sleep. He'll
need rest." Eric said as they all sat down at a table, discussing what to
do next. Dana let him lean on her and together they walked up the stair
case. Margaret sat up when Dana came in, her mouth fell open when she saw
Mulder.  "Margaret, sweet heart, move over." Dana said as she helped
Mulder lay down. But he would not lay down, "Dana, are you hurt?" He kept
on asking her the questions.  "I'm fine! Margaret, would you go down
stairs for a bit?"  The girl kept her eyes on Mulder as she walked out of
the room. After the door closed behind Margaret, Mulder quickly pulled
Dana to him, turning her around and unbuttoning the back of her dress.
"Fox!" Dana gasped.  He opened the back of her dress, pushing the corset
out of his way. There wasn't a mark on her back, just smooth, pale and
soft skin. "God, I don't understand." He ran his hands up and down her
back, looking for the marks that were inflicted by the French
 General.  She turned around to face him, the front of her dress falling
down. "Fox, are you all right?"  "Dana, I saw Marchand beating you with a
whip! But you don't have a mark on you!"  She pushed him down onto the
bed, laying down beside him, "Fox, I don't know what happened to you over
the past two days, but I was never with Marchand. I haven't laid eyes on
him since I was in the prison."  Mulder wrapped her in his arms, "I was so
worried for you."  She kissed his forehead, "Darling, you have a fever." 
He buried his face in her hair, "I'll live."  "You're bruised all over,
let me see." She helped him pull off his shirt, examing the once browned
skin that was now black and blue. She bit her lower lip, "I don't think
anything is broken, it doesn't feel like it. How long did they beat you,
Fox?"  He changed the subject by asking about Margaret, "What is she still
doing here?"  Dana took a breath, "I assume you didn't know. Melissa was
killed..." Dana kept the tears behind her lashes, "Margaret is in my care,
now."  Mulder took her hand, "I'm so sorry, Dana."  She kissed his mouth,
"Thank you, Mulder, for risking your life to help my sister. I'm so sorry
this happened to you. It's all my fault."  He ran his hands up and down
her back, pushing the dress out of his way, "It's fine, Dana, we'll be
just fine. How's my little one?" He put his hand on her belly.  Dana
smiled, "I think he or she is fine. I've been eating so much I'm surprised
I haven't blown up yet."  Mulder slipped her out of the dress, laying her
down beside him, wrapping her in the blanket, "You're starting to show a
little bit, I think."  She wrapped her arms around him, being careful not
to bruise him any further. "We have to go home, some how."  "Do we still
have the steam boat plans?" Mulder asked.  She nodded, "I have them. I
kept them with me the whole night while we were running about at the pier.
Being separated from you for two days broke my heart, Fox." She kissed his
shoulder.  "I know. Me, too."  Mulder would have continued with sweet
words but the pounding on the door stopped him. Dana covered herself, "Who
is it?"  "It's Frohike, we just received a letter from Skinner. Since
we've been discovered and Dana is in such a delicate condition, Skinner is
sending a ship for us."  Mulder fell back onto the pillows, "Thank
goodness."  "Thank you, Frohike. When did you get this message?" Dana
asked.  "Skinner sent one of the contacts just a minute ago! We're
discussing it down stairs, you're welcomed to join!" He laughed on the
other side of the door as he bounded down the steps. Dana crawled out of
the bed, putting her dress back on, "Stay and rest, love." She stroked his
dark hair.  "Dana, you worry like a mother hen."  She grinned, "Sorry, my
apologies."  He pulled her back down to the bed, "Stay with me..."  She
smiled, shaking her head. "I'll hurt you! Rest, the sooner you get
better... you know." Mulder would have playfully leered at her but he was
too bruised and battered. She put the dress on, checked her appearance and
left the room, the sound of her light foot steps fading every second. The
door slowly creaked open and Mulder looked up. Margaret entered, her eyes
wide. She looked curious. "Come here." Mulder called to he r.  She walked
towards him slowly, "I-"  He smiled, "Do you remember me? From a few days
ago?"  She nodded, "Who hit you?"  <You're Daddy!> Mulder didn't dare to
say the words, she was so young and didn't understand anything. Every
child must have a perfect image of their father, when Margaret was older,
she would understand, perhaps. "Some General."  "My Daddy is a General!"
She said proudly.  "Do you miss him?" Mulder asked.  "I miss Mummy."  He
stroked her red hair, she was a replica of Dana and Melissa. "I'm sure you
do, she's in a safe place though."  "Heaven?"  "For sure she's in heaven
with the angels."  Margaret climbed onto the bed next to him, "With
Angels?"  "Do you know what an angel is?"  She shook her head. Mulder sat
up a bit, wincing as the pain shot down his lower back, "They look like
people except they have wings of a dove. They're beautiful."  "Have you
ever seen one?"  "A lot of them, little red haired ones." Mulder smiled as
he pointed out her curls.  Margaret grinned, "Do all have red hair?"  "No,
I don't think so."  Dana was calling Margaret from down stairs, "Darling,
what are you doing up here? Come, you haven't eaten yet. Fox, I'll bring
you something and feed you myself." She winked at him, leading her niece
down to the kitchen. Mulder relaxed, they were all free
 now. What to do, what to do? 

            Skinner had it all planned out. In four days, he would have a
ship in the pier waiting for them. He hired a set of men to dress like
travelers, there was the crew of the ship and Skinner himself. If
everything worked out, they could slip in an d out and nobody would notice
them. The ship was called 'The White Ghost.' It was small compared to the
naval vessels, but it was perfect for this mission. "Listen up, men."
Skinner said as they entered French waters, "we have seven agents in
there, plus a little girl. We have a window of two hours to get in and
out. There is no room for error!"  The men listened carefully to his
words, following the instructions to the letter. "Sir, what if the agents
should fail to make it to the pier?" Someone asked.  "After the two hours
have passed, we are instructed to go home. With or without them." Skinner
obviously didn't like this order, and perhaps he would break it later. The
men watched their captain carefully as he mentally prepared them for the
final phase of the mission. Who knew how far the French would go to stop
Mulder and the others. 

             Dana had been going over the steam boat plans, memorizing
them. "What are you doing that for?" Mulder asked her from the bed. "Just
in case if anything should happen, I want to be able to reveal the plans
word for word."  He sighed, he was healing oh so slowly, and not much to
his liking. Dana looked over at him, "Fox... what is your disposition on
keeping Margaret with us? Be honest."  He turned his head to face her,
"Dana, we could raise her as our own..."  "We already have one on the
way." She reminded him, "I've brought two children into your life, one of
them isn't even yours." She looked down at the floor.  He sighed, "Come
here, Dana." He opened his arms to her.  She stood up and walked to him,
making herself comfortable at his side. "Dana, nothing could make me
happier than having a family with us. And Margaret is to be the cousin of
our children.... she is the daughter of your sister, I don't mind having
her wit h us. Where else will she go? I'm not going to hand her over to
the French!"  "But, if there was a way out of it, would you take it?" 
"No, Dana. She's a sweet heart. We'll raise her like our own and I don't
mind having two children in my life. In fact, let's have ten."  She went
stiff, "Ten! I don't think so."  He laughed, "Five, how is that?"  "Can we
get through this one first, then we'll talk." She smiled at him.  Mulder
wrapped her up in his arms tighter, "I wouldn't mind having a thousand
children or just two, as long as you are the mother and you are with me." 
She smiled, "I hope we don't have a thousand!" 

            Skinner had given specific instructions to go to a far away
port called Le Havre. It was days away, and they needed to arrive a day
early, just in case. Arrangements had been made by Langley so that they
could stay overnight at A Massif de Ros iers l'Hotel. While they were
preparing to leave, Eric helped Dana gather Fox's things. "I'll miss you
so much." He whispered.  Dana smiled at Eric, "I can never thank you
enough for helping me and my husband. We would have still been stuck in
those prisons. I would never be able to repay you for your kindness."  "It
was my pleasure, ma chere. J'aime vous."  She blushed, "I like you, too,
Eric."  "No, you don't like me the way I like you." He leaned in for a
kiss.  Dana went stiff, "Eric!"  He was about to kiss her again when a
knock on the door announced Mulder's arrival. "Dana, are you all right?" 
"I'm fine, darling." She called, gathering her things into the case and
snapping it shut. "I'm a married woman, Eric, please don't do this."  "Are
you really going to go with him? He and his people have caused you nothing
but trouble!"  She frowned at him, "I still love him, did you ever doubt
that?"  "You're so young, you don't understand things..."  "I understand
everything. Thank you for your aid." She retreated out the bedroom door
and to her husband, who waited down the hall for her. Eric watched the two
walk down the stairs, arms linked. He rolled his eyes at the sweetness, it
wasn't to be like t hat. He wasn't going to watch her throw her life away,
he had to change her mind. 

           Dana had trusted Eric with her life before, now she was very
uneasy. They had told him that they would be going to Le Havre, and they
would arrive a day early. Eric said good bye to all of them, he waved to
Margaret and tried to get Dana to loo k him in the eye. She reached for
Fox's hand, "Good bye, Eric, thank you for your help." She said.  Eric
nodded, "Au revoir, Dana. Good luck, Mulder."  Mulder said a thousand
thank you's and they were finally off. The two carriages rolled down the
hills to Le Havre. Dana, Mulder and Margaret sat in one carriage, Frohike
was driving. In the second carriage was Langley, Byers, Carrings and
Harrods, Langley
 had been driving. They stopped for the night at a small Inn, then started
again the next morning. They were due to arrive before dawn the on Friday.
Hopefully, with luck from God, they wouldn't be captured. 

            Mulder had collapsed into the bed as soon as they reached Le
Havre. Now they were at A Massif de Rosiers l'Hotel. Dawn came and the sun
rose, awaking the birds. Mulder woke up around nine, his eyes falling on
his wife, who sat at the window we aring nothing but a chemise. His breath
caught in his throat, she was so beautiful. Her auburn hair was down at
her shoulders, the chemise was very transparent in the light and she was a
vision. "I think that I've died and gone to heaven." He leered.  She
turned around, still frowning, "You're awake? You should rest some more,
Fox... we aren't due to leave for another two hours."  "I know, I know....
why don't you join me in this bed?" Under the quilt, he was wearing
nothing.  She shook her head, "No, I'm not sleepy."  "Who said anything
about sleep?" He reached for her hands.  She turned pink, "Fox, you can't
be serious! I... you're injured. I'll hurt your ribs!"  "I ache even more
when you aren't with me... please, Dana..." His voice trailed off.  She
looked at his pouting lips and gave in. Gently lowering herself onto the
bed, she leaned over him to give him a kiss, not the soft kiss she thought
he'd be expecting, but a hard one. One that left him breathless. "Dana." 
She smiled at him, stroking his hair, "You should rest, Fox."  "No." He
pulled her closer, kissing her neck.  She made the mistake of putting her
hand on his chest, and he cried out. "I'm sorry!" She pulled back, getting
off the bed.  "No, don't stop!" He hissed.  She crossed her arms over her
chest, "Shut up, Fox, I'm not falling for it this time.  I have to get
dressed."  "But you look good in a chemise." He grinned.  "Really? Maybe I
should go ask one of the fisherman at the pier?"  "Don't you dare." He
said seriously, trying to sit up.  Dana slipped her dress on, a gray dress
that was fairly plain and would help her blend in with the locals. She
braided her hair and put on her shoes, "Fox, if you aren't going to sleep,
get ready."  "I think you should help me." He whispered.  "With what?" 
"My bath."  She tossed a pillow in his direction, he caught it in his
quick hands, "Fox Mulder, if you are not dressed in half an hour, you'll
be very sorry."  He laughed, "I'm up, I'm up." Dana left the room to give
him privacy, and to not tempt herself. Margaret was alone in her own room,
wide awake and already had her clothes out. "Margaret, good morning." Dana
came in, closing the door behind her.  "Bonjour." the child said in
French.  Dana leaned against the dresser, "Did you never speak English
with your mother?"  "Daddy would not let me." She said. Dana had noticed
that Margaret's English was better worse than her French. "Mummy said
English to me." Margaret answered her, "Sometimes, though."  Dana nodded,
"Have you washed?"  The girl answered yes, so Dana helped her get into the
pretty green dress. She tied the ribbon in the back and did her hair in a
braid, "I think you should eat something, heaven knows when we'll get
again."  Margaret looked out the window, "Where are we going now?" 
"England, have you ever seen it?"  "No."  "Did your Mother ever tell you
about it?"  "No, Daddy wouldn't let her."  Dana's mouth fell open, "Well
child, you are half British, and you will see the home land. Come along,
down stairs everyone is waiting." 

            Less than an hour later, they were preparing to leave. Fox and
Dana were alone in their room, resting in each other's arms, "Dana, I wish
I could have taken you home sooner."  "You kept all your promises to me,
Fox." She kissed his nose, "I love you and I have no regrets... except
one."  "Melissa?"  "Of course. I have a family to find and put back
together, at least now I know where to start looking for my brothers."  He
kissed the crown of her head, "Come, Margaret and the others are down
stairs."  By the time Mulder opened the door to their room, Langley came
racing up to them, "SOLDIERS! French soldiers are prowling the city!
They've put up road blocks and guards wait at the pier."  Dana's eyes went
wide, "How did they know we were here? I don't understand this!"  Mulder
grabbed his pistol, "Make sure that the others are armed and ready. I will
take care of Dana and Margaret, you and Frohike take care of Byers. The
poor chap isn't stop enough to fight anyone."  Langley followed the
instructions and they all went out the back. A heavy fee was left for the
Inn owner, "But Monsieur, this is too much!" She insisted.  "This is for
you to keep silent." Mulder told her, "thank you for your hospitality." He
raced out the back door, where Dana and Margaret were waiting. The cases
had been loaded into the carriages, the race down to the pier would take a
twenty minutes, if all went without fault. "The ship is probably there by
now!" Langley said, helping Dana and Margaret out the door. Four armed
soldiers came down the back ally, guns aimed and ready to fire. Dana
grabbed Margaret and raced back to the house, "Stay away fro m here." He
told Dana, preparing to take the men on. Margaret was in a daze, watching
the scene unfold. Mulder had shot two of them, the third and run off for
help... the fourth had vanished. As he turned around, the missing solider
came at him with a boa rd, preparing to beat him senseless with it. Mulder
had no time to react, but Dana fired a pistol... causing the man to fall
down to his knees, choking. Mulder starred at his wife, who had the gun
firmly in her hand. "Dana? Are you all right?"  "Carrings DID teach me how
to use weapons, Fox." She handed him the pistol, then reached for
Margaret. Mulder was upset that she had not stayed off the line of fire,
but he was also grateful that she had such good aim. Langley lifted
Margaret up so she wo uldn't have to walk, "into the carriage, little
one." He pushed her in. "Do not move!" A voice shouted from the left. 
They all turned, Eric Saulnier was standing, in full dress uniform.
"Eric?" Dana asked, moving away from him. Marchand and Travenier appeared
from behind him, "Give me back my daughter." Travenier pointed a pistol at
Mulder.  Mulder shouted, "NEVER!"  Margaret recognized her father's voice,
she stuck her head out of the carriage to see. Travenier ordered that the
others pinned to the ground. The soldiers did as he said. The General
walked to the carriage, lifting Margaret up into his strong arms, "Have
 them arrested. For spying, murder and abduction." The General kept his
voice cool. "Thank you, Captain Saulnier, I would have never found
Margaret if you hadn't helped me."  Dana's mouth fell open, "ERIC!"  He
turned to look at Dana, pinned to the ground by a solider who had a gun in
her back. "I ask of only one thing, Sir."  "And what is that?" Marchand
asked.  "That Dana Scully be released to me." Eric kept a cool voice. 
Mulder started shouting and cursing at them, but Marchand nodded his head.
"Done, for your help, we give you Dana Scully. Taken a liking to her, have
you, Captain?"  "That, Sir, is an understatement." Eric whispered with a
smirk.  Dana was dragged to her feet and thrown into Eric's arms. He held
her tight while she tried to struggle, "You bastard! You son of a bitch!"
She shouted at him.  He only held her tighter, "I would have let them all
go if you had agreed to leave him and stay with me." He whispered in her
ear, sending shivers down her back. "So you had no intention of helping me
escape?"  He smiled at her, "Dana, I do love you, and I'm not going to let
you leave me."  "If you really loved me, you'd let me go." She hissed.  He
shook his head, "No, no, no."  "I am with his child!" She hissed.  "And
perhaps I'll let you keep the child, we'll have to wait and see."  Dana
slapped him across his face, "BASTARD!"  Marchand and Travenier turned
their backs, Marchand had enough and walked back to the solider wagon.
Travenier looked down at the people who had taken his daughter. "Mulder,
why was she so important to you?" He stroked his daughter's red hair. 
"She's a child!" Mulder snapped.  "I must know, were you and Dana having
an affair?"  Mulder could only concentrate on Saulnier and Dana, he had
her wrapped up in his arms and would not release her. His blood was
boiling, seeing another man's hands on his wife made him want to rip
Saulnier's throat out. Mulder looked up to see a man in a h at approaching
them. He was wearing a dark coat, boots and when he tilted his heat to the
right, Mulder could see who it was. <SKINNER!> Swiftly, the Mulder's
superior in the army took out a pistol, shoving it into the General's
back. "Monsieur, I suggest that you drop the girl."  Mulder could see that
the General was scared. Other British men revealed themselves. One of them
took Margaret's hand and walked her to the ship where they were all
waiting. Skinner kept the gun trained on Travenier, "You I will let live,
only if you coop erate."  "You can not take my daughter away from me!" The
General snapped.  "I already have, Sir, now please... if you'll come with
me."  The British men, plus Harrods, Carrings, Langley and Frohike, tired
the soldiers up in fisherman's cabin where the fish were stored. The smell
there was unbearable! Dana and Eric had vanished. When Skinner returned to
find Mulder in a frantic state, he re alized what had happened. "We'll
find her. Come, hurry!" They raced out to the street, it was too crowded
for them to single anyone out.

            Dana hadn't been able to cry out because Eric had her mouth
clamped shut with his hand. He pulled her down to the ground, "Stop
squirming or I'll beat you!"  She gasped for air, not able to say
anything. "Mulder must have been really good in the bed to make you want
to stay with him THIS badly!" Dana was furious that he had said that, she
shouted at the top of her lungs, only to be slammed into the ground again
by his hands. "Shut up!" He hissed. He got off her, walking to the corner
of the ally to see if anyone had heard. Dana cursed herself for
 giving Fox her pistol. When he came back, she had decided that the only
way to save herself was to kill him. And with is own gun. He lifted her up
to her feet, "Come on." She threw her arms around him, "I don't want to
die!"  "What are you babbling about?" He tried to pull back, but she
slipped her arms into his shirt. He let out a little gasp, "We can't do
this here...."  She pulled one of her hands out. Distracting him with the
other by going very south. He lost his thought and leaned against the
brick wall, letting her do what she pleased. Dana, her distracting hand
working harder, slipped the gun into her fingers and pu lled it out.
"Don't move, Eric!"  He turned red, from embarrassment or anger, she did
not know. He cursed lightly under his breath. She took the gun and pointed
it at his heart, "I'm sorry that we could hot be friends." He said. "The
only reason I helped you at the brothel all those years
 ago was to get you into my bed, apparently, you weren't all that
thankful."  "I do thank you for saving me from the brothel, and I don't
want to kill you..."  He pushed her away, digging his hands into her hair
and pulling her down to the ground once more. "I promised myself to have
you in my bed and I will!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs, the
gun still firmly in her hand, she shoved it into his sto mach and pulled
the trigger. He fell on top of her. Mulder and Skinner came racing down
from the end of the ally. Skinner pushed the body off of her, Mulder
lifted her up to his arms, "Dana?"  She remained calm, but was shaking
slightly. He kissed her temple, "My brave Dana, it's over.  You'll be all
right."  She looked back at Eric, then turned her head from the blood that
was now spilling on to the pavement. "I want to go home." She whispered. 


EPILOGUE: Seven Months Later

            Mulder had been reluctant to leave her side, she was pregnant
and the baby was due any day now. However, she had insisted that he finish
his work in the village, "Go, I'll be fine. I'll miss you, though." He
smiled at her, kissing her mouth so ftly, "I will come home by sunset." 
She nodded, "All right."  However, he wasn't able to make it by sunset.
The business had taken longer than he thought and Mulder wanted to buy her
a gift. The man showed him the necklace, "Emeralds fit for a Queen, Sir."
The British merchant smiled.  Mulder nodded, "Perfect for my queen, I'll
take them."  Frohike came racing into the shop, sweat forming on his brow,
"MULDER! Dana is having the child!"  Mulder had been mentally preparing
himself for this day, but it did him little good. He went into hysterics!
"I'll come for the rubies later, save them." He told the merchant,
following Frohike outside to the awaiting carriage. The rain was pouring
down o n top of them in buckets, and it was not at all what Mulder
expected when his child was born. They got in, the driver forcing the
horses to go faster and faster. When they finally reached Candor Abbey,
Mulder raced into the house, he stood in the foyer, c onfused for a minute
and dazed. He was about to run up to Dana's room, but Charles and William
Scully stood at the stair case, Byers and Langley beside them. "Has the
child been born yet?" He asked his friends in a state of panic.  William
Scully shook his head, "Not yet."  Mulder charged at the stair case, but
they blocked his path. "You should wait here, you'll only get in the way
of the midwife." Charles insisted.  Mulder pushed everyone out of his
path, "No, it's my wife and I'm going." They all watched him from the
bottom steps as he ran like a madman to Dana's door. He was furious when
he found that it had been bolted. He pounded on it, "OPEN THIS DOOR!"  The
midwife and Dana's maid, Shana, were in charge. "Who is it?" The midwife
snapped.  "I'm the Lord of this house, and if you don't open this door,
I'm breaking it down!" Shana, fearing for the door, unbolted it and let
him in. "Sorry, my Lord." She apologized. Mulder ignored her and went to
Dana, who was sobbing with the pain. Her skin sh inned in the candle light
with sweat, and her curls were tangled. "Fox, I knew you'd come." She
gasped for air.  He kissed her forehead, "I'm sorry, Dana, I shouldn't
have left."  She reached for his hand, "It's fine... oh!" She let out
another cry and Mulder wished more than anything that he could take the
pain for her. When he said this out loud, she laughed through the gasping,
"You'll die from it, Fox."  He kissed her small hands, "You're so strong,
Dana. Our little one will be here any second."  Dana sat up in the bed and
screamed, causing Mulder to jump! The midwife encouraged this, "Almost,
Lady Mulder, just a wee bit longer!"  Mulder sat up behind her, holding
her body up, stroking her hair, "It's all right, Dana, it's all right." 
Dana continued to scream with the pain, and finally her body went limp and
she collapsed against Mulder. He feared for a brief moment that she had
died! His heart in his throat he turned to look at her, her eyes were
open, she was pale but she was gasping
 for breath. He kissed her again, "You're wonderful, Dana."  The sound of
a child screaming caught his ears, he turned to look at the midwife, who
was wrapping the bundle up in a blanket, "A boy, my Lady. A son."  Mulder
couldn't describe the moment. His heart expanded ten times it's size and
he felt so proud. <A father! I'm a father!> The midwife went to go wash
the child, Shana closed the door leaving the two alone. Mulder hugged her,
"Sweet heart, are you well?"  "I don't know." She whispered.  He kissed
her face, over and over, "Your brothers are waiting down stairs to see
their nephew."  Dana nodded, "They've been here for weeks, William didn't
want to leave until he knew I was all right. Fox?"  "Hum?"  "Thank you,
for helping me find my brothers."  He molded her body against his, "It was
my pleasure, Lady Mulder. I'd bring you the moon if it made you happy." 
"I just want you." She whispered.  The child was brought back in, wailing
and screaming. Mulder rested his head on top of Dana's, Shana handed him
his son. "There you are, Sir. A little boy to be 'yer heir."  Mulder
looked down at his child, a small, pale little thing with closed eyes and
a strong set of vocal cords! Dana looked down at him, "Oh, my God." 
Margaret burst into the room, wanting to be the first to meet her new
cousin. Since she had started living at Candor Abbey, she had more
confidence around her aunt and new uncle. Dana showed her the baby, "Meet
my son, Margaret."  The little girl's mouth fell open, "Ohh... he's so
small!"  Dana laughed, "It sure didn't feel like that a few minutes ago."
The meaning of Dana's words escaped Margaret, but she didn't care. The
child was still crying, and Mulder stood up. Margaret walked towards the
window, watching the rain drops fall down from the heavens. She smiled,
she would never forget this picture. Th e rain pounding onto he house, and
their little miracle just come to earth. "What are you to name him?"
Margaret asked.  "Good question." Dana smiled, "Fox?"  "I don't have a
clue." He answered.  "Rayne!" Margaret announced.  She raised her brows,
"What about it?"  "No, Rayne shall be what we call him. Rayne Mulder... if
you want, Aunty Dana." She smiled.  Dana grinned, "That is a beautiful
name, Margaret." Mulder lifted the child up, he had stopped crying, but
now was whimpering. "Rayne William Mulder? After our father's?"  Dana
nodded, "It's so perfect."  The others could wait down stairs no longer,
Dana's brothers burst in through the door, eyes falling on the bundle that
Mulder held in his arms. "Dana!"  She smiled up at them, making herself
comfortable in the bed, "A boy. Rayne William Mulder."  Charles wrapped
his sister in an embrace, "Congratulations, Dana." The midwife, after
everyone had embraced the new parents, pushed the visitors out the door.
It was time for the child to feed. "Out, out!" She pushed the door closed
behind her. When Mulde r looked down at his wife, he saw her face stained
with tears, "Dana, what's wrong?" He asked, falling to her side.  She
shook her head, "Nothing, I'm so happy!"  Mulder nodded, "I know the
feeling, it's like my heart will burst any second from the joy."  "Fox, we
have a son." She whispered the statement.  "Maybe next time we'll be
blessed with a daughter."  "Don't talk about next time, I'm not ready
yet!" 

            They were in his bed, sound asleep. Mulder kissed his wife's
shoulder, they hadn't made love, they wouldn't be doing that for a long
time. Not until Dana was ready for it. Instead, they had retreated to each
other's arms for the night. To keep
 the cold out. He had a family! He, the man who used to love danger, was a
father and a husband! Dana stirred beside him, "Ahh." She whimpered.  He
turned her over, "Are you all right, Dana?"  "It still hurts a bit." She
admitted.  He wrapped her up in the quilt, "I imagine it does. Can I do
anything?"  "No...it's already passing."  "Dana, there is no way you'll
ever know how much I really love you. Thank you for giving me a child." 
She grinned, "Thank you for putting him there! I don't think I could every
love anyone more than my family."  Fox let out a sigh, "I bought you a
gift."  "Really?" "It's nothing compared to what you've given me, but I do
think that they'll look beautiful on you." He got out of the bed, reaching
for the cabinet where he had hidden the gift. A set of emeralds was
waiting for her in the box, "Oh, Fox! It's too much, yo u-"  "Put them
on." She pulled her hair up and let him clasp the back, "You look gorgeous
in them."  She smiled at him, "Thank you, Fox! You didn't have to."  "I
know, I wanted to." He pulled her into the bed beside him, yawning
slightly. "You need your rest... perhaps in a few months, we'll make the
bed a very interesting place." He laughed.  He was positive she was
blushing, even though he could not see her face. "Fox!"  "Yes, sweet
heart?"  "You are...."  "Amazing?"  "Yes." She answered.  "Handsome?"  "Of
course." She giggled.  "The most intelligent man to grace the Earth?"  "I
don't know about that..."  They laughed together until they fell asleep.
Home. Safe. With Family. Never again would Fox Mulder go to France, no
matter what. He was not going to risk it. France was part of his old
life... he felt as if he was reborn. 

THE END.