Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part Eleven

        When he'd broken down on the couch, he'd completely forgotten that he
wasn't alone. Then he heard Margaret's voice, trying to reach him.  It
was the only voice that could make a difference. The only voice that
he could even hear through the guilt.  He'd felt her soft touch on his
arms, pulling them away from his face, and somehow, he didn't feel
vulnerable letting her see him with tears rolling down his face.  She
was telling him that everything was going to be ok.  He tried to tell
her that it was all his fault, but she wouldn't listen.  And then,
just as he was starting to get upset that Margaret wasn't letting him
blame himself, she asked him a question. And it was the last thing he
needed right then.

        "Were you in love with her, Fox?"  She had known the answer, of
course, but she wanted to know if he knew it.   She wasn't prepared to
see his face crumble and for him to start sobbing violently.  It was
his way of admitting how very right she was.  He was having enough
problems just dealing with the guilt, let alone dealing with the fact
that he was in love with her.  That was when she held out her arms to
him and then held him like a baby.

        He held on to her as if she might still have a link to her daughter. 
Like there was some way for Margaret to get the message to Scully.  He
wanted to feel like an idiot, sitting there, almost twice the size of
the woman who was comforting him, but he didn't.  She loved him
because he'd loved her daughter.  It was like his own mother would
have done.  And then Margaret pulled back and stood up.  He felt like
someone had pulled the carpet out from under him just as he was
standing up.  

        He stayed on the floor, too upset to move.  Then he heard Megan's
voice and was so embarrassed that he thought he would die at that
moment.  How could he ever look her in the eye?  He heard her words
and knew that she knew what he'd never understood before.  He watched
her walk out the door.  For someone he'd treated like shit, she was
being awfully nice to him.  And he couldn't help but like that she was
putting up with him without taking any of his crap.  Maybe she wasn't
so bad after all.  

        When Margaret rejoined him on the floor, he was feeling slightly
better that Megan was his partner.  He wasn't sure that he could trust
her, but he was hoping he could.  Margaret handed him a mug of tea and
settled next to him on the floor.  Neither of them spoke at first,
they just sat there together.

        "I dreamt about her, Margaret."

        It startled her at first because she hadn't expected him to 
speak and then because he'd finally called her Margaret.  He'd always
used 'Mrs. Scully' no matter how many times she said not to.  She
assumed that the name Scully would hurt him too much to use now.  She
asked him, gently, trying not to probe, about his dream.  She, on the
other hand, had no had any dreams about Dana.  And she wasn't sure
what to think about it.

        He blushed slightly, making Margaret wonder exactly what the dream
had been about.  "It was nothing.  I was just in this room with her. 
It was dark and I didn't even know she was there.  She was mad.  I
mean,-" he wasn't sure if he should tell her that they'd been
fighting. "We'd been arguing right before she."  This time he just
stopped.  He couldn't make himself say that she was dead.  He just
couldn't.  And he didn't want to listen to Margaret saying that Dana
hadn't really been mad at him.  He knew Scully.  And he knew that
Scully absolutely hated him when she had walked out of his office that
last time.

        Margaret sense his inability to continue and came to his rescue. 
"She had mentioned that you weren't getting along." She frowned
remembering how Dana had described it. "She thought that you were
being an ass." He looked up, alarmed that Margaret would say such a
thing, and that Scully had said it about him in the first place. 
"Well, actually," She took a sip of tea and then cleared her throat.
"She said you were being more of an ass than usual."

        Mulder couldn't help but smile at the fact that she'd always thought
he was an ass.  She'd liked him anyway.  Then he started to feel
guilty.  He shouldn't have acted like he had.  He should have been
nicer to her.  He should have taken better care of her than he had. 
"I shouldn't have acted like that.  Not to her. She didn't deserve
it.  She shouldn't have put up with it."

        Margaret laid a hand on his wrist. "Stop, Fox."  She closed her eyes
and told him what she'd promised Dana she'd never tell him.  She
didn't see any harm in it at this point. "She loved you, Fox." He
looked up and caught her eye.  He couldn't be sure if she was just
telling him what he wanted to hear or if it was really true.

        "She said so.  I asked her, like I asked you, and she said she loved
you more than anything in the world.  And then she made me promise
never to tell you."  Margaret took pleasure in seeing his face light
up. For just a moment, she thought that he was truly happy and she
wished that she'd broken the promise before it was too late.  

        "Then why are you telling me now?"  He didn't think she'd lie to him,
and he honestly could picture Scully making her mother promise to
never tell, but he wanted to be sure.  He'd always considered it too
much to expect her love in return. He would have been amazed if she
still spoke to him if he ever managed to tell her that he loved her.

        Margaret shrugged, and a contented smile appeared on her face.  "I
can't see the harm now. And I think she would have wanted you to
know.  Especially since she couldn't tell you herself."  A melancholy
smile crossed her face and Mulder could just about see the wedding
unfolding in her mind.  She probably had their kids names picked out.
"You would have made a great couple.  With beautiful children."  Her
smile threatened to turn into tears at any moment.

        "Let's go home, Margaret."  He stood up and took their mugs into the
kitchen.  He managed to rinse them out and leave the room without
paying any attention to the fact that the mugs were the only things
remaining there.        

        When he returned to the other room, Margaret had gotten her keys out
and was holding a box.  She handed it to him.  I think you should have
these things.  He didn't notice that she had removed the framed
picture.  She knew he would hide it somewhere where he'd never have to
see it.  But she wouldn't.  She was going to put it on her mantle
where there were pictures of her other children proudly displayed.  

        He took the box without looking in it and walked out of the
apartment.  He knew he wasn't going back there.  But he also knew that
his memories of her were locked safely in his heart.  That night, when
he finally got home, he slept soundly without any nightmares.

Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part Twelve

        Time slipped past.  He didn't count the days because he didn't see
any point.  And Megan was honest with him.  She told him exactly who
sent her, what they wanted her to do and that she had absolutely no
intention of doing it.  She'd write them reports if that's what they
wanted, but they weren't getting anything useful out of her.  When
he'd asked her why she wanted to help him, she just shrugged and said
she didn't want to help them.  Since that night when she'd seen him
break down, he'd been doing remarkably well.  He'd actually been nice
to her, apologized for how rude he'd been earlier, and even tried to
take her seriously as his partner.  And she ignored the disappointed
look on his face everyday when she walked into the office.
        
                                                ######

        And somehow, almost two years passed.  Mulder managed to go to work
on time, generally, and Megan learned that the grimace he made when
she walked in was usually because he was afraid it would be someone
else coming to say that she'd been transferred out or she was missing
or that she was dead rather than because she was the one who walked
in.  Mulder eventually found himself showing up on Megan's doorstep,
uninvited with a pizza in one hand and a bottle of Dr. Pepper in the
other.  He even figured out that Megan's couch was pretty comfortable
when he accidentally fell asleep on it.  In two years, they had grown
closer. But it was different than it had been with Scully.

        While Scully had always been the one to try and calm Mulder down,
Megan seemed to need more calming down than he did.  When Mulder got
mad and went storming into offices, Megan usually chased after him,
angry only because she hadn't gotten to yell first.  Needless to say,
they got called into Skinner's office approximately three times a
week.

        But this had been a bad week for them.  They were working on a case
locally, and in so doing, were within driving distance of Skinner's
office.  He'd already called them in four times that week and it was
only Wednesday. It had been previously determined by Skinner, and
mentioned to both of them at the fourth meeting of the week that if he
had to call them in a fifth time they were both going to be suspended
for a week without pay.   But they didn't think he'd actually do it. 
Unfortunately, they had seriously miscalculated the sincerity of the
threat.

        Mulder stood up so fast that his chair almost fell over.  Megan, on
the other hand, was gripping the armrests so hard that her knuckles
were white.  Mulder began his usual rant about the unfair practices of
the bureau and how every time he even got close, they stopped him
somehow.  And each time he paused to take a breath, Megan would jump
in with her own rant.  Had Skinner not been inwardly cringing at the
combined anger of the pair, he would have been amused at what a truly
great pair they made.  He knew, however, that he could never mention
that because it would remind everyone of the other truly great pair
that Mulder had been a part of.  Skinner refused to back down and told
them to leave the office.  He was willing to bend rules for them, and
let them off the hook, but when they annoyed him just for the sake of
it he would not let them get away with it.  He dismissed them and, as
usual, they stood there.

        At some point during the argument, Megan had joined Mulder in
standing in front of the desk. They both waited, with their arms
crossed in front of their chests, defying the order to leave.  Skinner
pondered standing up and physically removing them.  Instead, he
repeated the order.

        "Agent Mulder, Agent McBride, I have removed you from the case.  You
are suspended, effective immediately, for one week, without pay.  Any
further incidents and you will both be called before a review
committee."  When he still got no response, he pulled out a form
accusing them of some infringement or another and wrote their names on
it, large enough that they could see it from where they were
standing.  He filled about three lines of the form out, then looked
back at Mulder and Megan.  They were standing in the exact same
positions and Skinner got the distinctive impression that they had
been making faces or something to that effect when he wasn't looking. 
"You're both dismissed.  I don't want either of you near the building
for a week."

        Skinner watched Megan consider this command and then look to Mulder
to check on his reaction.  Mulder sighed and raised his hands in an 'I
surrender' pose.  Then he turned toward the door and waited for
footsteps behind him.  Megan didn't move. She was too busy wondering
how long she could stand there alone before Skinner had her removed. 
She thought that Mulder had given in too easily.

        "We're not getting anywhere, Scully, let's go."  He glanced behind
him, not even realizing what he had just said.  He saw that Megan had
gone deathly pale in the last few seconds and Skinner had an
absolutely astounded expression on his face.  Mulder thought over what
he'd said.  'We're not getting anywhere, Megan, let's go' didn't
seemed like the kind of thing that would get this reaction.  It wasn't
because he'd called her Megan.  He always called her Megan.  Everyone
did, even Skinner, unless he was really angry. He waited another
second, and when no one had composed themselves, he shook his head and
walked out the door.  He thought after two years he could count on
Megan to be behind him.  He honestly didn't understand what he'd
done.  The last time he'd looked, Megan was waiting for him to renew
his tirade.  

        After Mulder had walked out, Megan felt like crying.  For the last
two years, she had thought that she was making progress with him.  She
could only remember a handful of times that he'd called her Scully,
and two of them had been right after Scully's death.  

        Skinner, himself, had never seen Mulder make that mistake, but he
could tell that Megan had.  He was wondering just how often it
occurred.  He seriously doubted that anyone, even Mulder, could live
in adamant denial for two years.  He cleared his throat and watched as
Megan remembered where she was.  The mask settled back over her face
as she turned to look at him.  "He's done that before, hasn't he,
Megan?"

        Megan stared straight ahead.  She knew that she didn't look upset
anymore, but if she were to talk, Skinner would know immediately how
upset she was.  It was like every time she ever got yelled at in
school.  She always looked like she was perfectly in control, but if
she was made to speak, she wasn't able to hide the fact that she was
crying.  She attempted to swallow the lump in her throat, but it just
made her want to cough.  She couldn't do anything.  She knew that in
seconds she would be crying and she didn't want to break down in front
of Skinner.  She had to get out of that office.  But she knew that he
would keep her there until she answered.  She kept right on staring,
willing herself to get a grip.

        "Megan, how often?  How many time has he called you Scully?"  He
could he saw a fierce look of determination settle on her face.  But
it just didn't mesh all that well with the tears that were falling
down her face.

        Knowing the battle was lost, and that she was now crying in front of
her boss, she spoke.  Her voice came out in the same take charge tone
it always had, not even wavering a little.  She didn't even know why
she was crying.  It hadn't hurt that much.  It shouldn't have hurt
that much. 

        "He has done it before.  But usually only when he's really upset. 
It's just force of habit.  He doesn't really think I'm her."

        Skinner thought over the words.  If it was true, he didn't think she
would be crying.  "Are you sure he doesn't think so?"

        She hated the fact that he'd managed to read her mind.  Maybe
somewhere in Mulder's intelligent mind there was this little block
that kept lying and telling him that Scully was still alive.  But she
didn't want to accept it.  She knew how to handle Mulder and he may
not have wanted to accept it at first, but they made a great team. 
Before she could answer Skinner though, she had to find out for
herself.

        She didn't bother responding to Skinner's question, she just turned
around and left.  Mulder was waiting for her by the elevator.  She
ducked her head and wished she were a few inches shorter so that she
could hide her tear streaked face.  She rubbed her eyes and pretended
that she always walked around in tears.  

        "Meg, what the hell was that about?"  He looked at the way she was
diverting her face from him and became intensely curious.  He waited
until they got in the elevator before gently turning her chin towards
him so that he could see her face.  

        She almost jumped out of her skin.  He never touched her.  Ever.  Not
even accidentally.  She was so surprised that she forgot to hide her
face from him.

        "Why were you crying?  What's wrong?"  He waited, let her turn her
face away, and then continued, refusing to accept a shrug as an
answer.  "Was it something about me?  Did I do something?"

        She knew she wasn't getting out of this.  He knew her.  And he knew
she didn't cry.  He'd seen her get shot one time.  He'd watched her
pick pieces of her jacket out of the gunshot wound in her shoulder. 
He'd watched her attend the funeral of her mother.  But he'd never
seen her cry.  He'd never seen her refuse to answer something, no
matter how much it hurt.  She had to tell him.  "I'll tell you later. 
You bring the pizza."

        "Then you get your own Dr. Pepper." He smiled at her, hoping that she
wasn't just buying time to compose herself and then dodge the question
later.

                                               ######

        That night, half a pizza later, he brought it up.  He'd at least had
the decency to wait until she didn't have a mouthful of food.  That
much impressed her.  She wanted to be honest.  But she didn't know how
he would react.  The last time she'd called him on the very same
thing, a little over a year earlier, he denied it and walked out of
the room and she didn't see him for two days.  She looked at the
pizza, back at him, and then back at the pizza.  This was difficult.

        "In Skinner's office earlier," she looked back at him. She knew she
should definitely not stare at him. She looked at the pizza again.
"You called me Scully."  She dared a glance back at him.  He looked
exactly like he had that time he'd come into her unlocked apartment
without knocking and she'd punched him in the stomach.  With brass
knuckles.

        He opened his mouth to say something, but he realized before anything
came out that there was nothing he could really say.  "And that's why
you were crying?"

        She shrugged again, giving him the advantage of knowing exactly how
uncomfortable she was.  "Uh, Skinner wanted to know how often you did
that."  

        "I hope you told him never."  Even as he said it, he knew that it
wasn't true.  He never noticed it.  He would just see her dumb-struck
face and know he'd done something hopelessly wrong.

        Her next sentence came out in one word. "He asked me if I knew for
sure that you know that I'm not her."  She knew exactly how dumb it
sounded, but it was too late to take it back.  And it was true anyway.

        He reached for her hand.  As well as he knew her, he knew this was
probably killing her.  She'd been competing with Scully's ghost the
entire time she'd known him.  And even though he'd never tell her, she
was doing a damned good job of it. 

        She pulled her hand back.  Twice in two years he'd touched her and it
all had to be that same day.  She saw the hurt look flash across his
face and wished she hadn't.  She just wasn't used to people touching
her.  Definitely not him.  She was aware of his eyes burning a hole in
her face.  She reached for a piece of pizza, which he promptly removed
from her hand.

        Then, before she could stop him, he wrapped his arms around her waist
and kissed her.  When he released she was too confounded to move.  She
just stared at him, waiting for him to apologize and walk out of the
room.  But he didn't.  He stared back at her.

        "No, you're definitely not Scully."


Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part Thirteen

        She pulled back from him and stared.  "So that's what this was
about."  She stood up and walked across the room.  And began to pace. 
She told herself that the only reason she was pacing was because she
was nervous.  She refused to admit that it was because she knew he was
going to stand up and approach her.  She didn't know what to do.  He
quietly waited for her to stop pacing.  But she didn't.  She knew that
as soon as she stopped he was going to try and touch her and she
didn't know what to do.  She therefore could not stop. 

        But Mulder was prepared for Megan's attempts to avoid him. He let her
calm down a little, using the time to allow himself to try and figure
out what the hell had just happened.  Well, he knew exactly what had
happened. The problem was trying to figure out why it had happened. 
And if either of them wanted it to happen again.

        The next time she paced past him, he grabbed her shoulders and spun
her to face him.  He'd never seen her looking so unsure of herself
before.  She couldn't make herself look at him.  His hands were still
on her shoulders and even though he would have let her go if she had
really tried to fight, she felt like she really couldn't move.  She
was frozen on the spot.  She didn't have the heart to tell him no. 
She didn't really want to tell him no.  

        But she honestly didn't think that he was even seeing her.  She was a
lot like Scully in many ways- her unexpected, unfailing support, her
ability to back him up, her willingness to help him even when they
didn't agree.  She was pretty certain that he was just trying to do
something differently this time around.   Maybe he did care about her,
but this wasn't what he wanted. And as much as it hurt, she had to
tell him what she thought.  Because if he really was seeing this as a
repeat of Scully, then she couldn't go through with it.  And she
wasn't about to let him.

        It seemed to her that the more he swore he knew she wasn't Scully, or
a replacement for Scully the more she was sure that she actually was. 
He tightened his grip on her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the
eye.  But she was afraid.  She was afraid that he'd be able to see
right through her.  Through the fact that she was trying to avoid this
whole situation.  Through to the fact that she wanted this to happen
more than anything in the world.  

        Admitting it to herself, finally, shocked her enough to make her
forget to not look him in the eye.  Their eyes locked for a brief
second and that was all it took for him to see it all.  He saw the
fear and the trust and the love and for just a moment, he completely
forgot that he was looking at Megan.  He'd seen the same look hundreds
of times in Scully's eyes, but he'd never recognized it for what it
was.

        He knew that Megan would never replace Scully.  But he also knew what
he'd wasted with her.  And he wasn't about to let it slip past again. 
He knew that Megan would never, could never be what Scully had been to
him.  He didn't want her to be.  But he knew that he could still love
Megan.  That he did love Megan.  He could love them both.  Scully was
dead.  Any relationship he'd had, or might have had, with her was
gone.  Two years gone.  He was ready to move on.  He just needed to
convince Megan of that.

        "Megan."  She was already looking at him, but he felt like he should
at least prepare them both for the fact that he was planning on
speaking.  He took a deep breath before continuing.  "I know what
you're thinking.  And I know what you're afraid of.  I just want you
to know-"  Before he could finish his hastily prepared speech, she
pulled out of his grasp and walked over to the window.  Annoyed that
she didn't appear to be listening, definitely not understanding, and
not even the slightest bit interested, he followed her.  He stood
behind her and lightly placed his hands on her shoulders once again. 
He leaned his face against her hair and whispered the rest of the
sentence.

        "This isn't about her, Megan.  This is about you and me."

        Megan closed her eyes and tried to relax.  But his being so 
close to her, and his new proclivity towards touching her, was making
her nervous.  He sounded like he meant it.  He probably really
believed it.  If she tried really hard, she could probably believe it
too.  She closed her eyes and made a decision.  She wanted to believe
it.  She was going to believe it.

        Instead of voicing her decision, or drawing attention in any way to
the fact that she had made a decision, she simply leaned back towards
him and let him put his arms around her.  And luckily, he took it for
the acceptance that it was meant to be.

                                                ######

        Holding Missy's hand in hers, she walked out of the building and onto
the street.  It was just an average street, teaming with average
people trying to get everything they needed done by a certain point in
time that they had absolutely no chance of making.    Scully felt
slightly out of place, wearing jeans and a sweater, walking around
with a small child in the midst of so many suit-clad people.  It
seemed that she was surrounded by businessmen and women and she had
picked up the paranoid feeling that people were staring at her.  A man
she vaguely recognized noticed her, walked a few steps past, then
stopped and turned back to her.  

        Suddenly feeling an unnerving protective urge, she pulled Missy
behind her and held both of Missy's hands in hers.  She might not
remember her daughter, but she still wasn't about to let someone hurt
her.  The man smirked at her and then stared at Missy with a look that
frightened both Missy and Dana.  Missy wrenched her wrists free and
fastened them around Dana's legs instead.   Dana heard a scared moan
coming from somewhere, but she couldn't be sure whether it had been
from herself or her daughter.   The man looked back at Dana and
started to speak.

        "My associates and I were not aware of that fact that you and Agent
Mulder were ever more than-" He managed to shoot an even more menacing
glance at Missy. "-friends."  He abruptly walked away before Dana
could even say anything.  She'd been hoping that perhaps she'd over
reacted and that Missy didn't really look all that much like Mulder. 
She pulled the girl out from behind her and began to study her.

        Yes, even the queen of denial-it's-more-than-just-a-river had to
admit that the girl looked just like Mulder.  Except that it was a
female version of Mulder, one with blue eyes, a sprinkling of freckles
across her nose, and apparently quite a bit challenged with vertical
growth. Dana could tell already, judging by the tiny size of her, and
the fact that at least some of her DNA had to be in Missy, that Missy
would wait well into her twenties for the growth spurt that wasn't
coming.  

        Even being able to clearly recognize both herself and Mulder in the
child, she was having a difficult time rationalizing how exactly this
*person* had come into existence.  Sure, she knew that she had been
locked in that room for a while, but she could remember being awake at
some points and it certainly didn't seem to have been that long. 
Besides, she had just been with Mulder the night before.  He had been
in that same room with her.  He'd apologized to her.  He'd put his
arms around her for the third time in all the time she'd known him.

        And there was no way that his putting his arms around her three
times, the third time of which having been only one night earlier, had
resulted in the adorable four year old Dana found herself staring at. 
Somehow, most likely because of the voice in the back of her head, she
began to believe that this girl, her *daughter* had come into play
during the time she had been missing.  The first time.  It still
didn't answer the question of exactly how Mulder had gotten involved,
but it answered something.  Now she could bitch at people for making
her miss the first four years of her daughter's life, let alone that
she had absolutely no recollection of  how her 'daughter' had been
created anyway.

        She unwrapped Missy's hands and looked for a place to sit down in a
pathetic attempt to process the information that had just been given
to her.  Luckily, in the fog induced by this attempt, she just about
tripped over a bench.  She sat down heavily and closed her eyes to
think.  As unaccustomed to watching her child as she was, she forgot
that four-year-olds, even intelligent ones, can get into trouble. 
Actually, it's the intelligent ones that usually get into more
trouble.  Sitting there, with her eyes closed, she didn't notice when
Missy spotted a man walking a dog.  Dana didn't notice Missy's squeal
of delight and then a hastily mentioned 'puppy' before the girl took
off after it.  The only thing that Dana could actually think about
right then was the inevitable moment when she produced this child in
Mulder's presence.  Sure, she was having a time accepting it.  But as
soon as she'd taken the girl's hand, she'd known that the girl was
hers.  Hers and Mulder's.  But Mulder was a man.  And as much as she
respected and cared about him, she knew that when he tried, he could
be quite an ass.  And she could easily imagine the pain she'd feel if
he refused to believe that Missy was his daughter.  

        And how the hell could she expect Mulder to believe that this was his
daughter when she herself was relentlessly refusing to accept it.  She
was having trouble imagining where exactly she'd managed to fit
getting pregnant and having a baby into her schedule approximately
four years earlier.  Yes, she'd missed  a period of three months,
during which she could recall nothing, but she was a doctor and three
months was just not enough time.  Besides, that hadn't been four years
ago.  It was, at least as far as she could tell, only two years since
she'd been missing.  Before she could think of anything else, she
noticed something that she hadn't noticed before.  Quiet.  The sound
of another person with her, the sound of feet skipping around her as
she tried to understand how her daughter could be so used to her while
Dana couldn't even remember Missy's middle name, the sound that would
accompany any four-year-old, was gone.  She opened her eyes and sat up
from the slouching position she'd unknowingly gotten into.  She
scanned the area around her for something that would hold the interest
of a four year old and found the area remarkably lacking in youthful
amusements.  Absolute, a feeling that was completely foreign to her
flooded her and she stood up. Turning around, in hope that Missy would
magically appear behind her, Dana surveyed the area again.  

        She was simultaneously afraid to move and afraid to stay where she
was.  She was afraid that Missy might have just wondered off and then
return she'd to the bench and in the meantime, Dana would have gone
off somewhere to look for her.  And still, Dana was afraid that at
that very moment, Missy was being dragged off kicking and screaming
and Dana would completely miss it if she didn't move.  Paralyzed by
fear, she couldn't do anything.  And for once, she was not embarrassed
to scream in public.

        "MISSY!"  About half of the people around her turned to stare.  The
other half deliberately didn't look at her and started walking
faster.  Unhappy with the result screaming had produced, she ran, as
best she could on her shaking legs, about ten feet back the way she'd
come.  Then she tried again. "MISSY!"

        Being a new parent and all, she had no idea of exactly what she was
supposed to do in this situation.  Screaming had not produced the
desired effect.  She could recall that every time she'd ever wondered
off,  all it took was one of her parents to call for her and she would
reappear.  But she should have known that calling for her wouldn't
work.  This was Mulder's child after all.  

        Dana continued to walk in one direction and then another.  She
couldn't find Missy anywhere.  Frantic, and with nowhere to go, she
sat down on another bench and allowed herself to feel completely
hopeless.


Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part Fourteen

                                                ######

        Megan and Mulder allowed their relationship to progress.  To a
certain extent.  They cared about each other.  And on some level,
somewhere, they loved each other.  But neither of them wanted to draw
any more attention to themselves that they already did.  Megan didn't
want to be trapped in a relationship with someone who had a tendency
to take off without notice and had a predilection for carrying
emotional baggage everywhere he went.  And Mulder's feelings, as much
as he did care about and love Megan, were pretty heavily involved with
his sister and Scully.  Neither of them wanted to get in over their
heads. 

        So they opted for a low maintenance plan.  They didn't really have
time for 'dating' but they did see each other just about every waking
moment.  And they spent quite a few non-waking moments together as
well.  It was understood between them that dating other people might
be tolerated, but that it would be met with great resistance and
should be avoided at all costs.  Generally, they shied away from
dating others, not that it ever seemed all that pending anyhow.  

        And in three years, they had miraculously not gotten caught.  As far
as they could tell, no one, not even Skinner, knew about their
relationship.  Megan began writing, in her now biweekly reports, that
Mulder was 'a remarkably well adjusted and trustworthy man who
investigated cases of unusual circumstances with both unending
curiosity and a healthy respect for Bureau policies.'  At least, it
was Megan's name and badge number appeared on the cover of those
report.

        And in three years, they had not managed, between the two of them to
come up with any word that could accurately describe their
relationship.  It just was.  And they were comfortable with it,
however undefined it was.

                                                ######

        He didn't usually leave the office at lunch, but he was feeling
restless for no particular reason.  So he found himself walking around
in a relatively professional section of town.  People walked around
him, some openly upset with the fact that he was going nowhere special
and was walking in a speed that showed it.  But at his age, and with
the air of authority that followed him around wherever he went, none
of those who were bold enough to shoot glances at him were actually
bold enough to say a word to Skinner.

        Just when he'd decided that he'd gotten too much fresh air, he
noticed a small child standing on a bench.  Being the law enforcement
officer that he was, and fearful for any child alone in Washington, he
looked around in the hopes of spotting a parent.  But he saw no one.
And judging from the frightened whimper of the little girl when he
approached her, he doubted that she knew where her parents were
either.  He was just about to explain that he was with the police and
wanted to help her when she looked up at him.

        For the first time in his life, he felt like the wind had actually
been knocked out of him.  He knew exactly who this child's parents
were, but he didn't believe that they had been able to hide *this.* 
Like a robot, he pulled out his badge and showed it to her.  Somehow,
hearing her response made him feel even worse.

        "My mommy and daddy have these."  The girl smiled and Skinner began
to feel very ill.  Seeing their daughter, he began to understand why
Mulder had been so hopelessly lost after Scully had died.  But he
couldn't recall any evidence at all that Mulder was raising a child. 
He never asked for a day off.  He never came in late.  Megan had never
even slipped and mentioned any of it.  It occurred to him for a minute
that maybe Mulder wasn't even aware of this, but he knew that was
impossible.  If the girl's mother was dead, then her father must have
her.

        Unsure of exactly how best to handle the situation, he reached out
and gently took the girl's hand.  "I'm Walter.  What's your name?" 
The girl smiled smugly before replying.

        "I'm Melissa. My mommy's sister's name."  

        Skinner just nodded and desperately fought the desire to scream for
his own mommy at the top of his lungs.  "Well, I know your daddy, so
how about if I take you to him?"  It sounded like as good a plan as
any.  Skinner pondered how exactly Mulder had managed to raise a
child, who would have been an infant when its mother died, without
giving away his little secret.  Skinner wondered how Scully had
managed to have a baby and not have anyone notice it, him especially,
since she spent at least an hour a week sitting in a chair opposite
his desk getting yelled at.  He refused to even breech the subject of
exactly where the girl had come from since Scully had never even been
pregnant in the first place.

        Missy stopped suddenly and tugged on his hand.  "Daddy?  I haven't
seen daddy in a long time!"  She was so excited that Skinner
practically had to hold her down to the ground. 

        "When exactly was the last time you saw your daddy?"  Half afraid of
the response, and half wanting to kill Mulder for having abandoned his
child in the middle of Washington, he waited for the answer.

        "I dunno.  But I think Mommy will be scared if I don't tell her I'm
going with you." Missy shrugged and looked back at Skinner.  For a
moment, he started to wonder if maybe this was Mulder's daughter with
another woman, but staring into her big blue eyes, he had to
acknowledge that this was Mulder and Scully's child.  Even if she was
an X-File in and of herself.    And then he started to wonder if maybe
Mulder had lied to Melissa about who her mother was in an attempt to
deny that Scully was dead.

        "When did you see Mommy last?"  And before he could get another shrug
out of her, Missy pulled her hand right of his grasp and went
barreling off.  Skinner turned around  and was completely startled to
hear Missy scream 'Mommy' at the top of her lungs.  He watched the
girl launch herself at a woman who, looked, albeit from a distance,
identical to Scully.  He watched the Scully look alike drop to her
knees and wrap her arms around the girl.  

        Refusing to let this delusion go any farther, he walked over to
them.  And felt his heart skip a beat when Scully looked up at him.  
He'd been to this woman's funeral five years earlier.  He'd watched
Mulder blame himself, and everyone else he came in contact with, for
this woman's death.  And now, here she was, holding a child that
Skinner was now completely sure that Mulder knew nothing about.

        "How-?"  He wanted to ask her how she'd managed to come back to
life.  But he wasn't sure that he could make the words come out of his
mouth.   He'd seen her *dead.*  Now, she was alive.  And something was
totally wrong with this situation.   He watched her face change as she
recognized him.  He watched her stand up, pull Missy behind her legs,
and begin to shake her head.

        "Sir, this really isn't what it looks like."  She continued, having
absolutely no idea that he wasn't even hearing her. "Mulder and I were
never- I mean, we didn't,"  She pulled Missy back in front  of her and
then clapped her hands over Missy's ears.  "Sir, I have no idea where
this child came from."  

        Seeing the look in her face, he knew that she was telling the truth. 
But he wasn't entirely sure where this woman had come from.  "I can
give you a hint."  He almost asked why she bothered calling him sir,
since she hadn't worked for the FBI in five years.  He looked at the
girl, who was starting to look a little weary of being pulled
alternately in front of and then behind her mother, and decided that
Melissa shouldn't be subjected to what he was relatively sure would be
a very very involved story resulting in some potentially upsetting
news.  "We can talk in my office.  But you'd better be willing to
explain everything you know."

        Dana once again took hold of Missy's hand and began to walk, hoping
the somehow, everything would magically start to make sense.  She'd
seen the shocked expression on Skinner's face.  She'd noticed that he
was incredibly pale.  She assumed that she'd been gone for a
reasonably noticeable period of time.  But she had no idea it was five
years.  She had been thinking perhaps a week or two.  Possibly even a
month at the absolute longest.  She had expected that people who'd
even noticed that she was gone would be glad to see her, but not
shocked beyond belief.  She could barely even remember the car
accident.  And she most definitely did not remember the passage of
five years.  She most definitely did not remember raising a daughter
in those years.

        Skinner took the hint and began walking, easily catching up to Scully
in a few strides.  Still unsure of exactly what was going on, he
looked down to check that the little girl was really there and not
some bizarre figment of his imagination.  Unfortunately, what he was
hoping was merely a result of eating tacos took close to going to
sleep was still there.  And it was grinning at him.  With a grin that
he recognized, even though he couldn't think of a time that he'd ever
actually seen Mulder grin.  The thing that frightened him the most was
that Melissa seemed the least phased by all of this than anyone.  When
they entered the building, which was magically devoid of people for
once, he began to rethink the whole 'going to his office to talk about
this' thing.  He was completely certain that there were more bugs in
there than even he could imagine.  There was only one place that he
could think of that was safe.  He didn't even glance back at her to
catch the dismayed look that crossed her face as she realized that he
was heading for the stairs.   The stairs that only led to the
basement.  She knew where he was going and she wasn't sure that she
wanted to go there.  She knew that she would have to face Mulder, and
she knew that she would have to introduce him to Missy, but she wasn't
really planning on doing either of those things in Mulder's office. 
She needed to do it on slightly more neutral territory.  Like the
hallway outside his building.  

        About halfway down the stairs, she reached out and put a hand on
Skinner's shoulder.  She'd never seen anyone turn around so quickly in
her life.  Feeling intensely uncomfortable, she pulled her hand back
and stuttered out the reason she'd stopped him in the first place. 
"I-um-well-I think maybe it's really not such a good idea to, uh, I
think maybe I should talk to Mulder alone?"  She hadn't been meaning
to ask him a question, but it came out that way.  She didn't think she
could handle the confrontation that was bound to take place between
herself and Mulder with Skinner and her daughter looking on. 

        "Agent Mulder is out of town.  They-" He stopped short of mentioning
that *they* were on a case.  He didn't think Scully would react well
to that news.  Perhaps it was something that  Mulder and Scully ought
to discuss in private.  "I think it might be better to discuss this in
Agent Mulder's office.  There aren't quite as many people around.

        Dana knew he was right.  Mulder had the only office down there.  Less
people to explain Missy to.  But when Skinner opened the door, Dana
knew something was wrong.  There were sounds coming from the hallway. 
There were no boxes piled haphazardly around.  She saw a few people
walk past, nod politely as Skinner, and then continue on their way. 
She wanted to scream.  What the hell were all these people doing here? 

        Skinner caught her bewildered look and stopped to give her a chance
to look around.  After running out of office space in the rest of the
building, they had remodeled the basement and brought quite a few
offices down there.  The only part of the basement that wasn't wall to
wall people in their miserable little cubicles was what everyone
called 'Mulder's Suite."  His one office took up about ten regular
offices.  And his office was one impossibly huge mess.  But Skinner
had seen both Mulder and Megan produce a certain paper from the midst
of the chaos without hesitating, so he had no right to complain.  And
since they were invading Mulder's space, Skinner knew he would have
lost miserably if he'd bothered trying to make them clean.  Or move.

        When he realized that Scully was not taking any of this well, he
placed his hand on her back, the way he'd seen Mulder do numerous
times, and pushed her forward gently.  She began moving automatically
towards Mulder's office.  Luckily, in her daze, she missed the sign on
the door.  The sign that said 'Agent Megan McBride.

        To be sure that they would be alone, Skinner knocked once on the door
before swinging it open.  Dana was still trying to understand where
the government had come up with the money to completely renovate the
building.  And where anybody had found the nerve to invade Mulder's
territory.  And how they'd managed to do it in the short time she'd
been gone.  Assuming, of course, that it had been as short as she'd
originally thought.

        They hadn't gotten more than a step in the door before Megan peered
around the wall.  Looking at Dana, she started to speak.  "Can I
help-" Finally noticing Skinner she appended her words.  "Sir."  She
was still mad at him for something.  What for she couldn't say, but
she did remember that she was angry.  She saw the bewildered
expression on Dana's face.  A face she vaguely recognized, but
couldn't place.  But the kid was a different story.  She'd never more
definitely *remembered* a face in her life.

        And she couldn't believe that in five years, Mulder had never
mentioned his daughter.

        Dana, Megan, and Melissa all just stared at each other.  None of them
was sure exactly who all the others were, where they had come from, or
why they were there.

        Skinner used the time the confusion bought to attempt to collect his
thoughts.  But they still didn't make any sense.  "Megan, I thought
you and Agent Mulder were out of town on a case."

        Megan started to explain that they'd missed their plane and they
hadn't been all that interested in catching the next one so they'd
just forgotten about the whole damned thing, but her voice was drowned
out by another.

        His voice was muffled by the papers his face was buried in.  "Meg,
who-" As he walked around the corner, his voice trailed off and the
arm that he'd casually draped around her shoulder dropped to his
side.  Skinner never came down here, except for the time he explained
that contractors were going to be poking around and to just ignore
them.  He could tell from the way Megan was standing that she was
angry.  Hopefully not at him.  She turned to look at him and he could
see that she was hurt as well.  Then he looked over her shoulder at
the people who stood silently next to Skinner.

        Scully.  His mind told him that he'd finally and completely lost any
tenuous grip on reality that he might have had.  Then his mind
informed him that since there was now probable cause to commit him, he
could pointedly ignore the source of his distress.  So his eyes
instead focused on the little girl standing between Skinner and the
person his mind was diligently refusing to acknowledge.

        Once he even began to comprehend who the little girl was, he changed
his mind and switched his stare to Scully.  A perfectly healthy,
living Scully.  He felt his jaw drop open and heard the distinct sound
of a file being dropped and papers scattering all over the floor.  He
started to get lightheaded and assumed that it was only because of the
simple fact that he'd chosen not to breathe in the last few moments. 
When he decided to ignore his lungs rather demanding cry for air, he
leaned dramatically to the left.  He felt a hand on his shoulder and
someone, somehow, placed a chair behind him before he managed to
fall.  Most likely it was the other people in the room that he wasn't
staring at and that he was had simply chosen  to ignore, but he wasn't
looking, so he couldn't be sure.  He was too busy staring into
Scully's eyes, and knowing, even as he hoped to find something to
prove that it was her, that it undoubtedly was.

        Skinner and Megan figured out rather quickly that this was not the
best possible place for them and left.  But still, Missy and Dana
stood in the doorway of the office, waiting for something to happen,
and Mulder sat in his chair and hyperventilated, waiting for someone
to wake him up.


Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part Fifteen

        Several minutes of dead silence ensued.  Mulder's breathing gradually
slowed down to a speed slightly more compatible with life,  Scully
stood exactly where she'd been, just beginning to grasp the fact that
although it was in the same physical location, this was not the same
office she remembered.  She'd never really met Megan, except for a
slight nod of the head, so she didn't know that it was Megan's
presence which changed the office.  She just knew that things were
different.  And that she'd been gone long enough for them to have
gotten that way.  And that Mulder and Megan were more than casual
acquaintances.  A lot more.  She waited quietly, hiding behind
Scully's legs.  Missy knew who her father was, but she knew that this
was *not* what was supposed to happen.

        As a four-year-old, she didn't really know what to expect.  But she
knew that according to her definition of love, people who loved each
other were supposed to be happy to see each other.  And, naturally,
her mommy and daddy loved each other.  She didn't understand this. 
But she was still a child and not understanding something was not
reason enough to keep paying attention.   She decided that if no one
was doing anything of consequence, then they probably wouldn't notice
her absence.  She turned around and quietly slipped out the door.

        Scully barely noticed when the arms encircling her leg let go.  And
she completely missed it when the door opened and her daughter walked
out.  She was too busy trying to figure out why Mulder was so upset to
see her.  Even if she'd been gone for a long time, she thought he
still would have been happy that she was back.  Thinking back, she
remembered the last time she'd been in this office.

        *Well, that explains that.*  The last time she'd been in the office,
the last time she'd actually seen or spoken to Mulder, he'd basically
told her to drop dead.  And she'd basically told him the same thing. 
She'd transferred out of the X-Files and he hadn't even tried to stop
her.  She remembered the smug look on his face when she was leaving. 
She remembered the way he'd dropped the mug her father had given her. 
She remembered how she'd desperately wanted him to say anything,
anything at all that would have given her hope that there was still
something special between them.  And she remembered his silence, his
way of telling her that there really wasn't anything left between
them.  It didn't matter to him that she was back.  He probably hadn't
even noticed that she was gone in the first place.  He had a new
partner.  He was working away happily when she returned.  He didn't
miss her.  He didn't care about her.  And he most certainly didn't
want anything thing to do with their daughter.  Instead of sticking
around and having to listen to his rejection, she left the office,
quietly closing the door behind her.

        Mulder watched Missy leave, but for some reason, he didn't worry
about the girl getting lost.  He knew absolutely nothing about her,
except who her parents were, but he still wasn't worried.  He was sure
that she either wouldn't wander very far or she'd be able to find her
way back.  He was trying to think.  Trying to figure out what to say
or what he could do.  But nothing was coming to him.  Seeing her
standing there, waiting for him to do something was unnerving him.  He
wasn't ever supposed to see her again.  He'd managed to deal with
losing her.  He'd managed to continue to live, something he'd
questioned being able to do without her.  He'd even managed to fall in
love.  And now he couldn't escape the guilt that was pressing down on
his mind.  He'd gone on with his life.  He hadn't tried to find her. 
And now, she was standing in front of him, probably having gone
through hell, with a daughter that absolutely had to be his, and he
couldn't manage to breathe.  Skinner seemed to be taking both Scully's
miraculous reappearance and the little girl's entire existence in
stride.  Megan had to know who Scully was, and looking at the girl,
there was no doubt in his mind that Megan knew who the girl's father
was as well.  And still, he appeared to be the only one who couldn't
function.

        He watched as Scully turned and walked out of the room.  He'd lost
his chance to run up to her and tell her what he'd figured out after
he'd thought she was dead.  He let her walk out of the room without
knowing how much he loved her one more time.  And every time it
happened, he swore that it wouldn't happen again.  And yet, it had. 
He'd gotten the opportunity to tell her, an opportunity that had
evaded him for five years, and he just let her walk away.  

        Finally gathering enough thoughts to form a plan, he stood up and
followed her out of the office.  He didn't know where she'd been or
what she'd been through, but he wasn't letting her *not* know this. 
Even if she still hated him, even if she laughed in his face, she
deserved to know because of everything that she'd gone through because
of him.  He was telling that he loved her, whether she liked it or
not.

        Unfortunately, the minute he opened the door, he came face to face
with someone he'd hadn't even gotten around to thinking that there was
something he needed to say to her let alone thinking up exactly what
it was that he needed to tell her.  He caught Megan's bewildered look,
quickly masked by something closely resembling extreme distaste.  He
looked down at his feet, feeling like slime, although not knowing
*exactly* why.  He knew that Megan was rather upset with the latest
development of things that she probably thought she should have been
told that he felt no pressing reason to tell her.  It was a
long-standing disagreement between them over exactly what they needed
to know about each other and what was really none of their business. 
What he didn't realize was that Megan was more upset over the fact
that he had a daughter than the fact that Scully had reappeared.  He
had just assumed her anger was over Scully and the feelings that he'd
previously refused to admit towards Scully.

        Megan had never pressed him to talk about his relationship with
Scully, mainly because she didn't really want to know if Mulder had a
habit of sleeping with his partners, but also because Scully was dead
and she didn't see how a dead woman was going to affect the
relationship.  She was mad because Mulder had a child, a child that
he'd never mentioned, with Scully.    Somehow, their having a child
classified their relationship in a whole different category.  And
Megan was rather upset to discover that not only did they have a
daughter, but that Scully hadn't actually been dead.  Now, she was
completely positive that Mulder was a slime because he'd gone through
all the trouble, and a convincing lot of trouble it had been, to make
Megan believe that Scully was dead for five years, and  never mention
the fact that he had a daughter either.  And she really didn't like
the fact that Mulder had nothing to do with the child.  That was
unforgivable in her book.  Even more unforgivable than what he'd done
to her.  But it didn't really matter, because she wasn't about to
forgive him for either one.

        He froze, trying to decide which issue was more important: Scully
running off or Megan pissed off and armed in front of him.  Megan
didn't give him a chance to decide.  She placed both hands on his
chest and forcefully shoved him back into the office.  Once the door
had closed behind them, she folded her arms over her chest and
stared.  Upon receiving no response, she dared speaking, hoping her
voice wouldn't come out nearly as pissed off as she actually was.  She
wanted to pretend that she was willing to listen to his explanation.

        "What the hell is going on here, Mulder?"  They both knew there was
no right answer.  The only chance he had was to sound *really* sorry. 
But she didn't let him speak.  "That was her, wasn't it?"  Knowing the
look on his face could melt the polar ice caps, Megan averted her
eyes.  She wasn't letting him talk his way out of this.  She'd seen
the look on his face when he'd seen Scully.  She'd seen the look on
Scully's face.  She might have stood a chance if Scully was dead.  But
the rules had changed.  Again.  Scully wasn't dead.  She was alive and
well and had an adorable little girl.  And Megan was mad.  She had
given in and let herself fall in love with this guy and now she had
this odd feeling in the pit of her stomach that was basically chanting
'you're screwed' repeatedly.

        Mulder watched the emotions dance across her face.  He watched a look
of extreme sorrow settle in.  Followed by a look he'd never seen on
her face before.  Defeat.  He wanted to say something.  But he didn't
know what he could say.  She was right.  They both knew it.  He did
love Megan.  But he loved Scully more.  Maybe.  Looking at Megan's
face, and knowing how much she had to be hurting, all he wanted to do
was wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to
work out.  

        So he did.  He didn't care if someone walked in and caught them.  He
didn't care if Skinner and Scully and the girl, whoever the hell she
was, all walked back in at that moment.  All he knew was that he loved
Megan and that she was holding onto him for dear life.  And suddenly,
the words he had always been afraid to say spilled out of his mouth. 

        "I love you, Megan."

        She wanted to be mad.  She wanted to scream and yell and rant and
rave until someone hauled her away.  She could handle anger.  She was
used to it.  And it was a hell of a lot easier to admit that she was
angry than to admit how much it hurt.  But when he reached for her,
and finally told her what she hadn't known she'd wanted to hear, she
couldn't hold out any longer.  She hugged him back, tucking her face
into his chest, refusing to ever let go.  She wasn't giving this up
without a fight.

                                        #####

        Approximately two seconds after she practically ran out of the
office, Missy came bounding up to her.  Missy's ability to vanish and
reappear at will was beginning to rub Scully the wrong way.  She had
no particular destination in mind.  The plan was generally to get as
far away from Mulder as she could.  She also needed to find out how
long she'd been gone, what had been done about her apartment, and if
she still had a job.  She vaguely remembered having transferred, but
she couldn't remember where she'd ended up.  If she was still
employed.

        And she had to figure out what to do with, and about, Melissa.  She
had this four-year-old genius tagging along behind her that she had to
deal with.  And Missy's father didn't even seem to care about her.  Or
that she even existed.  Although from his reaction when he saw them,
she couldn't be sure that he'd even noticed Missy.

        Had she not been so alarmed that her presence was the cause, she
would have been thoroughly amused at the sight of Mulder passing out. 
Or coming as close as he had.  But she hadn't been expecting Mulder,
or Skinner, for that matter, to be that shocked to see her.  She'd
been hoping that Mulder would be happy to see her.  It was too much
for her to hope that he'd be happy to see Missy.  Well, too much to
realistically expect.  

        By the time she'd meandered to Skinner's office, she'd come to one
conclusion.  Something very, very weird had happened with her
disappearance in the first place since no one was even looking for
her.  And that something very, very weird was going on in Mulder's
life that he wouldn't even react to finding out that he had a
daughter.  She suspected that it had something to do with the woman
from the office, but she wasn't sure.  And she had more things to
worry about than just Mulder's problems.  She had a whole slew of her
own to deal with now.

        She worked up the nerve and managed to ask Skinner point blank how
long she'd been gone.  And when he told her, she grabbed Missy's hand
and stormed out of his office before he could stop her.  He had to be
joking, although if he was, his sense of humor was even lamer than
Mulder's.  Even holding hands with the proof that she'd been gone for
five years wasn't enough to convince her that she'd really been gone
all that long.  

        Five years was a long time.  Too long for her to believe.  Had
everyone grown tired of looking for her?  Had Mulder just decided to
move on?  Why would he spend twenty years looking for his sister and
give up after five years of looking for his partner?  A little voice
inside her head reminded her that she hadn't been his partner anymore,
but she still couldn't believe that he hadn't looked for her.  Yes,
he'd been mad.  But that mad?  Writing her existence off was going a
little too far.  Even for Mulder.

        She found herself back out on the street.  Looking around, she saw a
few differences that she hadn't noticed before- simple things that
didn't really matter, like the deli she used to go to for lunch had
changed hands.  *And you have a daughter.*  Realizing that her life
was not only radically different, but now entirely nonexistent, she
came up with a plan.  A short one at that, but it was a start.  She
was going to her mother's.  A very interesting feat to undertake,
given that she didn't have a car now, but it was manageable.   She
hoped.
        
                                        #####

        The invasive ring of the phone ended their embrace.  Megan pulled
back, embarrassed while Mulder answered the phone.  She'd just gotten
herself situated back at her desk, where she might not feel quite so
uncomfortable, when Mulder hung the phone up and went tearing out of
the office.  In the silence that followed the noise of his running
down the hall, the crash of a mug into the wall behind Mulder's desk
seemed slightly out of place. 

        Upset now because she'd just destroyed her mug by hurling it at
someone who'd already left the room, Megan collected her things and
stormed out, grumbling about what a sucker she was and what an ass he
was.  She didn't know where he'd gone running to, and she didn't
particularly care, other than his neglecting to even mention that he
was leaving.  But the absence of an explanation, which she'd grown
used to in five years, seemed excessively strange in light of his
recent confession.  The confession she should have known came at the
wrong time.  The confession she should have known was meant for
someone else.

        By the time she'd reached her car, she'd already drafted the first
paragraph of her resignation in her head.  And by the time she'd
gotten home, she'd already reconciled with herself that there was no
going back.

                                        #####

        It wasn't until she was halfway down the block when she heard his
voice calling her.  She should have known that he wasn't going to let
her walk away from this.  She didn't want to stop walking.  She didn't
want to talk to him.  But the options weren't looking real pleasant
right then.  And she knew that in the past she might have been able to
walk to her mother's, but she had no idea what sort of physical
condition she was in after her ordeal.  And she knew that genius or
no, there was no way a four-year-old was walking twenty miles.  No
chance in hell. 

        Turning back to look at him, she realized that there weren't really
any other options.  She could tell by the way his face contorted that
he still hadn't come up with anything to say.  She watched his glance
fall on Missy.  She watched a half-disbelieving, half-awed expression
appear.  

        He glanced from Scully to Missy, and then back to Scully.  He didn't
even stop to question how, he knew this was their daughter.  And,
unbelievable as he would have thought it to be, he loved her
instantly.  He dropped to his knees and reached out to the girl, not
even knowing her name, and hugged her close to him.  He was afraid
that she'd cease to exist when he touched her, but she was real.  And
she called him daddy when she hugged him back.  Not wanting to let go,
he pulled her up with him when he stood up to look at Scully.  He
didn't say anything, he just stared into her eyes.

        She answered the question that he hadn't yet asked.  "Her name's
Melissa, but I think she likes Missy."  He nodded and looked down at
Missy.  Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, but she was
looking at her mother.  Scully couldn't help but smile at the sight. 
Of course Mulder wouldn't question it.  He was the believer.  And he
was holding the proof.  She also could believe how comfortable he
looked holding Missy.  She couldn't remember ever seeing him look more
happy in the whole time she'd known him.  

        He shifted Missy to the side, holding her with one arm, and used his
other hand to cup Scully's cheek.  She was alive.  She was still
here.  And from the look on her face, he was pretty certain that she
was still *his.*  All thoughts that Megan had even existed flew out of
his mind.  

        This was all that mattered to him.

        This was all that ever had.

                                #####

        Megan tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for her printer to 
warm up.  She wanted to get this over with.  Somehow, in her
imagination, the resignation had seemed much more articulate and just
plain better than the actual letter had turned out.  Still, it was
written and all she had to do was fax it in.  After she looked at it
and read it over eleven times.  She had already decided that she was
leaving and wouldn't be entertaining any thoughts to the contrary. 
She figured that she needed to stay upset long enough to fax the damn
thing in and then it would be too late to stop herself.  She knew that
it would take a matter of seconds to change her mind and continue this
charade.  But she knew that she'd be lying to herself if she went back
to work with him.  

        She should have known to question why he suddenly realized that he
loved her.  She should have known to question that he didn't seem
concerned at all with the fact that Scully was still alive.  But she'd
never questioned him in the past.  Not really.  Not on anything
important.  She'd only second guessed him when he said he was fine and
she could see that he was anything but.  His feelings, though, were
the one thing she honestly thought he'd figured out.  It was clear to
everyone else that yes, he'd been in love with Scully, but she was
dead and his life either had to end or had to go on.  Megan had
thought that he'd chosen to go on.  And she'd been dumb enough to
think that he'd chosen to go on with her.  But he hadn't.  Of course
not.  She was the runner up.  When she'd first gotten involved with
him, she'd accepted that.  But somewhere in the time they'd spent
together, he'd done a really good job of making her believe that she
was first.  

        Refusing to allow herself another minute to think it over, she shook
her head in an effort to shake off her thoughts.  It was no use. 
She'd be plagued forever in a hopeless universe of what if's.  She
slapped her hand down on the mouse to deactivate the screen saver and
maybe figure out what was taking the printer so damned long. 
Unfortunately, according to the computer, the letter had already
printed out.  She glanced at the empty paper tray and then back at the
computer.  Perhaps it was just confused.  She hit the print button,
again hoping that it would work this time.  And again, the computer
pronounced that it had printed the resignation while her printer
remained suspiciously silent.  That's when she realized that the modem
was turned on.  She sank down in the chair and slammed her face into
the keyboard.  Yes, the goal had been to irrevocably ruin her career,
but she hadn't actually wanted to fax the resignation in just yet. 
She hadn't even checked it for typos.  Instead of reading it over and
trying to not listen to herself as she attempted to talk herself out
of it, she'd faxed damned thing to Skinner.  Twice.   There was
nothing she could do now.  She lifted her head up and let it drop
again, smiling to herself when she heard a ominous crack.  Good. 
She'd broken something.  Maybe, if she kept trying, she could break
her face open too.  Then the broken pieces of her face could join the
broken pieces of her heart. Hell, Mulder might even notice a black
eye.  She knew there was no chance he'd notice her any other way.


Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor
Part 16

        If nothing else, she knew when she was beaten.  And the damned
printer turning against her was the last straw.  Sighing heavily,
Megan pulled the plug out of the wall, and for good measure, pulled
out the cord from the back of the computer.  She had one chance.  She
could pick up the phone at that moment and ask Skinner's secretary to
throw out the faxes before Skinner got his hands on them.  Then she
would still have her job.  She'd have lost the man she loved, but
she'd have her job.  Working next to the man she loved.  Maybe she
could request a transfer instead.  

        She rested one hand on the phone and sighed again.  She could feel
the seconds slipping away.  She had less of a chance to intercept the
faxes with every second that ticked by.  But her hand wouldn't pick up
the phone.  Maybe it knew something she didn't.  

        Megan distractedly found her way to the couch and threw herself at
it, face down.  She'd hated feeling jealous of a woman that was dead. 
Absolutely hated it.  Especially when in quite a few ways, Megan had
more than replaced her.  There were even times that Megan was half
convinced that he'd completely moved on.  Well,
almost-maybe-kinda-sorta moved on.  

        She hated being gullible even more than she hated being jealous.  And
now that Dana Scully was actually alive, Megan felt the jealousy 
creeping back up, this time unabashedly.  She could very easily be
hatefully jealous of a completely healthy person who was probably in
the arms of the man Megan loved at that very moment.  Either that or
sitting next to him playing with their child.

        She heard a growl emanate from her throat.  She *really* hated the
kid.  Merely for existing.  Megan had gotten used to and almost
accepted that she would always be second to Mulder's lost love.  But
it was more acceptable to her, at least, to not be able to measure up
to a memory.  But she wasn't a memory anymore.  Now she was real. 
There was an actual living person that she would never be able to
compare to in his eyes and it just wasn't going to work.  She would
not accept that.

        She flipped over onto her back and stared at the ceiling.  She waited
for the tears to come, but they didn't.  She was upset, she was hurt,
but she wasn't crying.  It wasn't worth it.  And the absolute last
thing on his mind was her.  She was sure of it and somehow that made
it ok not to cry and be extremely upset over it.

                                        #####

        What she didn't know was that she was wrong.  And she had no idea how
wrong.  She was on his mind.  Even as he sat in his living room
watching Scully sleep peacefully on his couch with her arms wrapped
around Missy, his mind was on Megan.  And on how *exactly* he was
going to explain this, most especially the daughter that he had no
recollection of yet was undeniably his, to Megan.  And then there was
also the problem of explaining Megan to Scully.   He wasn't looking
forward to either.

        He continued to watch Missy as she slept.  And the longer he watched,
the wider his smile got.  Through all the pain of losing Dana, he'd
never expected this.  He'd never even thought about having a child. 
He stared at the two of them for what seemed like hours.  And then
Missy's eyes opened.  Two gorgeous blue eyes, that he knew better than
he knew his own, staring up at him with all the unadulterated love in
the world.  The instantaneous love he'd felt for her when he'd
realized who she was hadn't faded.  Not at all.

        And when she grinned at him, he suddenly realized why Scully could
never say no to him.  He'd never had his own grin used against him. 
But he had a feeling, as Missy silently wiggled out of her mother's
arms and onto his lap, that this wasn't going to be the first time.

        And even as he held Missy, Megan was still on his mind.  

                                        #####

        When Dana woke up, she felt more content than she could ever recall. 
But also more confused.  Everything that had happened to her seem like
a barely remembered dream.  She'd turned away from Mulder and Missy in
her sleep, and as she stared at the well-worn leather of his couch,
she almost convinced herself that she'd just fallen asleep on his
couch and had dreamed up the whole thing.  But as she woke up, she
recognized the disconcerting feeling that her body didn't actually
belong to her.  It felt like someone else had been using it for a
while.  And she didn't like that.  

        Slowly, she twisted around to face the room and pitifully attempted
to hold onto her hope that it had just been a dream.  But the most
beautiful sight in the world greeted her.  And as welcome as it was,
it shattered her hope completely.  Mulder was still leaning against
the chair next to her, exactly how he had been when she'd fallen
asleep.  And her daughter, their daughter, was curled up against his
chest, with her tiny hands clinging to his shirt even in her sleep. 
She'd pressed her face into the collar of his shirt and he was resting
his chin on the top of her head.  It was the cutest, most endearing
thing she'd ever seen.

        But it was a metaphorical dose of ice water to her face.  This girl
existed, how exactly she had no idea, but she did.  And their daughter
was four years old.  She'd been gone for *years* this time.  She'd
been so upset over having lost three months, and now she had to deal
with having lost years.  The most painful aspect of that, she
reluctantly admitted to herself, was that she'd been gone for years
and he'd moved on.  She knew he hadn't forgotten about her, or stopped
loving her, but he'd moved on.  He'd never admitted to loving her in
the first place and she'd never admitted to loving him either, but she
still felt betrayed.  She couldn't have honestly expected him to stop
living, or even working, really but, realistic was never a word she
used in her expectations.  This was hard to accept. 

        She was having trouble reconciling the way he'd reacted to her, the
love she'd seen in his eyes when he'd understood who Missy was, the
way he was holding Missy while he was sleeping, and the way he'd sat
there watching them sleep until he fell asleep himself with the way
he'd put his arm around the woman in the office.  It had seemed
familiar to both Mulder and the woman.  More familiar than it had ever
seemed when Mulder touched her.  She felt her chin start to tremble as
she thought about it.  She understood the way he'd reacted finally. 
He was in love with that other woman.  With her replacement.  The more
she thought about it, though, the less she could blame him.  It wasn't
that she couldn't understand it.  It just seemed more appropriate to
her somehow that he'd be more likely to stop living completely than he
would be to fall in love with his new partner.  But as easy as it
would be for her to deny it totally, she'd seen the way that woman had
reacted to her.  She'd seen how everyone present had reacted to her. 
There was something going on there.  She knew that.  And so did
everyone else. 

        She felt torn over everything.  Especially what her mere presence was
going to do to him.  He had a girlfriend.  There was nothing she could
do about that.  But now he had a daughter and by all appearances, he
wanted something to do with her.  She didn't want to have to make the
choice to keep Missy away from her father.  She didn't want to force
*him* to decide between the other woman and herself.  That wasn't
fair.  And she was afraid she'd lose.  

        She continued to lay there and think for quite a while.  Even as Dana
smiled at Missy, she felt the fear run through her.  She knew nothing
about her.  Nothing.  And Mulder hadn't seemed to know anything
either,  But Missy knew who her parents were and didn't seem at all
phased by her parents not knowing who she was.  It bothered Dana.  She
didn't understand how Missy could recognize Mulder instantly as her
father even though, to her knowledge, and apparently Mulder's as well,
they had never met.  

        Dana wanted to know if she'd been with Missy for the whole five years
and didn't remember it or if Missy had just recently met her.  And
then there was always the question of how Missy had come into being in
the first place.  She'd never slept with Mulder, at least not that she
remembered.  And the last time she could remember being with him,
which seemed to her to have been just the night before, he'd done
nothing more than hold her.  There was always the chance that
something had happened that she didn't remember, but her instincts
kept whispering that there was a much more sinister plot.

        Shivers ran through her.  She wanted to talk to someone.  Not
Mulder.  Someone who would listen to her.  He mom.  She quietly got up
and reached for the phone, but then she thought better of it an aimed
for the phone in his bedroom.  She needed to talk without being
overheard.


Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part 17

                                        #####

        Megan continued to stare at the ceiling for an interminably long
time.  There was no chance she could intercept the fax.  At least the
computer had saved her the trouble of having to decide whether or  not
to send it.  Just as she began to wonder how long it would take for
Skinner to call, the phone rang.  She wanted to ignore it.  A
resignation was relatively simple to understand, it wasn't like she
should have to explain it to him.  Maybe he just wanted to grind the
knife a little deeper.

        Megan gave in and picked up the phone.  At the last minute, it
occurred to her that it might not be Skinner, but it was too late to
not answer.  She was almost thankful to hear Skinner's controlled
anger on the other end of the phone.

        "What the hell is this, Megan?"

        He was furious.  At her.  She didn't want to talk to anyone, not
after the rather upsetting turn of events that day.  "Gee, Sir, I
don't know.  Since I'm not there, I can't really help you."  Megan
could already feel the guilt welling up.  She was preparing for the
'I'm disappointed in you' speech.  And she could imagine Mulder's face
when Skinner told him that she wasn't coming back.  But she couldn't
keep working with him.  That just couldn't happen.

        "Megan, you know exactly what I'm talking about."  He did have a
point there.  "And there's no 'd' in resignation."

        Megan rolled her eyes.  Of course there had to be typos.  Just so she
could look a little more stupid.  "Well, since you obviously read it,
I don't see any need to explain it further.  I believe the word
resignation to be self-explanatory."  Megan was amazed by how calm her
voice sounded.  She wanted to scream at the world in general over her
miserable life in particular, but her voice came out in its normal
tone, giving no indication of the irate fit she'd been in when she'd
written the letter.

        "Is this about Scully?"  The man was awfully dense at times.

        "Absolutely."  She was beginning to realize exactly how not willing
he was to give up without a fight.

        "When Agent Scully," he paused seemingly searching for the right word
that didn't actually exist, "died."  Another pause.  That was
definitely not the right word.  "Agent Scully was no longer with the
X-Files.  There's no reason why you would have to leave."

        She smiled to herself, finally able to drop the respectful attitude
she'd always been forced to keep around Skinner.  "Yeah, right.  Would
you want to come between them?"  She took his sigh to mean he admitted
she was right.  He remained silent for so long that she began to think
she was supposed to say something.

        "Megan, I realize Agent Scully's retunr was unexpected.  She is no
longer an active agent and she will have to requalify before she can
return.  Even then, I would have serious reservations about
reassigning her to the X-Files.  Your job is secure."

        Wasn't she making herself clear?  Did the definition of resignation
change without her noticing?  "I don't think you understand.  I quit. 
I don't want to be there.  I don't want to be involved.  I don't want
to be around either of them anymore.  I quit, ok?"  Once she was
finished, she realized she might have gotten a little carried away. 
She was answered by more silence which she decided meant that either
he was having another conversation or that he was discussing it with
someone else.  She felt paranoia seize her momentarily, before she
noticed she could hear noises from the other end of the phone.  He
probably just didn't know what to say.

        "Megan, I'd really like you to think about this, maybe talk to
Mulder.  I don't think quitting will do you any good."

        "Talk to Mulder?  Are you out of your mind?  I can't."  She squeezed
her eyes shut and bit her lip.  Had she really just snapped at her
boss?  She reminded herself that he was her former boss, but she
didn't feel any better.  She needed to keep herself calm and ignore
the emotions that were finally surfacing.

        "Megan, why do I have this odd feeling that this involves a lot more
than Scully wanting her job back?"

        She wanted to ask why she felt like her father was grilling her about
breaking curfew.  She didn't.  "I don't think I should have to give
any more reasons than the ones I already gave."  And she was
thoroughly afraid of where the conversation was going.

        "I think the reasons you stated in your letter have nothing to do
with why you're leaving.  What's really going on here?"

        She hated the feeling that she was letting him down.  But she knew
telling him the truth wouldn't make the conversation any easier.  He
was trying to get her to stay, that much she knew.  He had no idea how
impossible staying would be.  Maybe she could just continue to be
deliberately evasive until he got bored and found someone else to
torment.  "Are you asking me to admit to lying?"

        "Are you amitting to having lied?"  Megan began to seriously believe
Skinner had had the exact same conversation before.  She felt her
blood run cold.  He probably had the exact same conversation with
Mulder.  That must have been what took so long for him to call her. 
And Mulder had probably told.  What did he have to lose?

        She stood up and slammed her head into the nearest wall.  Skinner
wasn't going to hang up until she broke.  And althogh it normally
would have taken a lot more time than Skinner had to get Megan to
break, she wasn't up to her usual antics.

        "OK, so maybe I lied about why I'm quitting.  What are you going to
do, fire me?"  She could picture the crease in his forehead while he
tried to come up with an answer.  She took advantage of his silence to
ask him what she desperately wanted to know.  "Have you already spoken
with Agent Mulder about my resignation?  Is that why you've decided
I'm no longer trustworthy?"

        She heard another sigh.  Maybe she could outlast him.  "Megan, I'm
not implying that you're not trustworthy.  I just want to know what's
going on.  Yesterday, nothing could have split you two up.  I think
I'm entitled to an honest answer."

        "With all due respect, the circumstances today are not the same as
they were yesterday and I think I'm entitled to my privacy.  Besides,
he'd rather be with her.  I have no desire to work with someone who'd
rather be working with someone else."

        "Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you met Mulder, he wanted to be
working with someone else."

        Damn it, score another point for Skinner.  "Yeah, but she was dead. 
It was different."

        "How so?"  Megan had grown painfully aware that he wouldn't be
satisfied with anything short of a full report, complete with diagrams
and a laser pointer.

        "Before I answer that, I think you should think hard about whether or
not you really want the answer."  She cringed, imagining for just a
moment how terribly inappropriate her threats would be should he
actually convince her to stay.  But she knew she could never ever face
Mulder again, never admit her defeat, never return to work in a
building where she might run into him.

        "Megan."  There was a distinct growl to the word that made her skin
crawl.

        "Are you sure?"  She got another growl and momentarily enjoyed having
regained control of the conversation.  But that modicum of control
wasn't enough to outweight the shear torture of having to tell him. 
She knew he didn't really want to know.  She knew that once she told
him, he would realize how much he didn't want to know.  Unfortunately,
he wasn't willing to take her word for it.  "OK, just remember that
you're the one who wanted to know."  She gulped.  Deciding to tell him
and actually telling him were two entirely different issues.   "Sir,
with the return of Agent Scully and her child, I firmly believe that
the relationship I share with Agent Mulder witll become extremely
awkward.  Agent Scully, whether or not she wants or can get her job
back, will effectively hinder, if not sever, both of the relationships
I have with Agent Mulder."  She figured telling Skinner about how much
Mulder had hurt her would be excessive.

        "Both relatioships, Megan?  What the hell does that mean?"

        She smirked.  He either really wanted to torture her or he was really
really stupid.  "Well, Sir, the, um, professional relationship and the
uh," she cleared her throat, "the, well, distinctly unprofessional
one."

        Dead silence.  From Skinner.  Now there was a feat beyond her wildest
dreams.  Megan amazed herself sometimes.  Not only had she managed to
keep their relationship secret for years, but she'd actually told her
boss what they'd been keeping from him.  She waited for him to
recover, but as the silence drug on, she realized he had probably
passed out and was unconscious on the floor of his office.  The longer
the silence went on, the more she wanted to laugh.

        "Sir?"  She had no reason to call him 'Sir' anymore, but Walter
didn't sound right to her.  Neither did Skinner or Mr. Skinner or
Assistant Director Skinner.  Maybe she ought to try Wally.  Megan
pulled the phone away from her face and smothered her laughter in a
pillow.  She could only imagine his response to her saying 'Hey,
Wally, I'm sleeping with my partner, and now that his girlfriend and
love of his life is back, I feel like I'm in the way."

        Once she'd regained controll, she put the phone back to her ear. 
Just in time to hear his response.  "This isn't even remotely funny
Agent McBride."  Oh, no, she was really in trouble.  But then, she'd
just quit.  No, she wasn't in trouble.

        "Actually, Sir," or Wally, "as per earlier in this discussion, it's
ex-Agent McBride, or Miss McBride, or Megan, which I prefer,  by the
way, and I happen to be under a considerable amount of strees, which
leads me to the conclusion that the vast majority of this conversation
is hysterically funny."  So there.

        "Are you finished?"  He used the quippy I'm-not-listening tone that
made her skin crawl.  And made her angry.  Very very angry.

        "No, actually, I'm not.  I quit, get it?  You can't bully be into not
quitting.  Is there anything else you want or can I please hang up
now?"

        "Yes, there is something else."  His tone was much more friendly and
Megan could tell by the sound of it that he hadn't meant to offend
her.  He was just used to bullying people.

        "Then what the hell is it?"  Sheesh, he was dragging it out as far as
he could.

        "Megan, I would really appreciate it if you were to take a few days
to reconsider.  I can arrange a transfer to another section or
location easily."  He paused for a moment.  "I'd hate to lose you,
Meg, you're one of the few who know what you're doing out there."

        Guilt.  boy, did he know how to sling it around.  "I'm not sure if
that's-"

        "Great, I'll talk to you next week."  With that, he disconnected the
phone.

        Megan dropped the phone on the cradle and stared at herself in the
mirror.  She was trying to imagine how she would look with 'sucker'
tattooed across her face.  After a few minutes, she gave up, opting to
stare at the TV instead.  She flipped channels until she stumbled
across the Weather Channel.  She watched the national forecast with
unexpected interest.  California did have nice weather this time of
year...


Mistaken
Jessica Zyvarek Taylor (jzyvarek@udel.edu)
Part 18

                                        #####

        Mulder woke up gradually, not entirely sure how much of what he
remembered was a dream.  He looked at the couch where he remembered
seeing Scully asleep.  The couch was empty.  His lap, where he
remembered seeing Missy asleep, was also empty.  He checked his
watch.  Four o'clock on a Thursday afternoon seemed in keeping with
the dream, but nothing else did, and his memory wasn't appearing to be
accurate.  His shoulders dropped and he tried to come up with another,
more plausible reason why he wouldn't be at work.  Maybe Megan knew. 
Mulder stood up, ignoring his muscles' complaints about sleeping in a
sitting position on a hardwood floor.

        He walked to his bedroom, still amazed by the clarity and detail of
his dream and still appalled at the fact that it had only been a
dream.  He pushed open the door to his bedroom, so wrapped up in his
thoughts that he didn't notice the woman sprawled across his bed
talking quietly into the phone.  Until he heard an oddly familiar
squeal of delight.  Missy made an attempt to run toward him,
momentarily forgetting that her hair was twisted in her mother's
fingers.

        "OWWWW!"  Missy was certainly good at that whole shrieking thing. 
Scully shushed her, trying to salvage the braid she was in the middle
of.  With both of her hands in Missy's hair and holding the phone
between her ear and her shoulder, Scully hadn't noticed when Mulder
walked in.

        "Daddy's sleeping, Missy."  She tried to suppress the thrill that ran
through her at the thought by using an indignant voice when her mother
inquired about where she was and with whom.  Missy made a noise to
demonstrate her unhappiness with having to get her hair braided.

        When Mulder answered, Scully was so startled that she dropped the
phone and let go of Missy's hair.  "No, Daddy's not sleeping."  While
Scully scrambled for the phone, Missy hurled herself at Mulder.  And
before Scully got the chance to grab Missy and finish the braid,
Mulder lifted Missy up and turned her upside down.  Missy's squeal
reflected her approval, Scully's reflected her disapproval.  Scully
said nothing, assuming the look on her face was enough to get Mulder
to release Missy.  But Mulder was busy shaking Missy until she was
laughed.

        "Mulder, put her down, you're going to hurt her."  Scully gave up on
talking to her mother any longer and replaced the phone in it's
cradle.  Her full attention was directed at the frighteningly immature
pair before her.

        "He's" giggle "not"  giggle giggle "hurting me, Mommy."  More
giggles.  Scully tried to glare at Mulder, but he was too happy and
having too much fun for her to rain on his parade.  Nonetheless, he
was well aware that Scully was worried and he conceded by dropping
Missy onto the bed and tickling her instead.

        He caught sight of Scully's face, her completely unamused face, and
stopped the tickling immediately.  But he didn't realized that,
although her face didn't reflect it, she loved watching him play with
Missy.  And she loved the fact that he so obviously loved his
daughter.  The moment her expression softened, Mulder brought his hand
to her face, conveying in action what he couldn't in words.

        He was just so damn happy that she was back.  He had a million
questions he wanted to ask and a million things he wanted to tell her,
but all he could do was look at her and smile.  She was back.  She
loved him.  And he had a beautiful little girl that loved him even
though she'd just met him.  He watched as Scully turned away from him
and started braiding Missy's hair again.  It had to be the most
beautiful sight he'd ever seen.

        He knew the lump in is throat would prevent him from using his normal
voice, so he whispered instead, relishing the moment when Scully
leaned closer to him in order to hear him.  "When I woke up and you
weren't there, I thought I'd dreamt everything."

        "More like a nightmare, Mulder"  She titled her head to indicate that
she was talking about Missy.  The Missy who had proceeded to dismantle
the phone while her parents weren't looking.

        Mulder picked up the pieces of the former phone and grimaced.  "Yeah,
but it's a cute nightmare."  He grinned at Scully and then stared at
Missy in awe before he looked back at Scully.  "As for you, Dana," he
put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her slightly in a
semi-hug,  "as for you, the nightmare is over."

        A crash coming from the other side of the room reminded that Missy,
their devilish daughter with the angelic face, apparently needed to be
under constant surveillance.  

        "Mulder, we have to child-proof your apartment.  Now."

        Mulder just smiled smugly and nodded.  He would have happily agreed
to a root canal right then.  As far as he was concerned, his life was
going back to normal.  Well, not normal, per se, but he didn't really
care as long as he was with Scully.  Even after five years of proof
otherwise, he didn't think he could survive another day without her.

                                        #####

        Megan looked down at the ticket in her hand.  Then she looked at the
envelope in the other.  With a few extra days to think about it, she
decided that quitting wouldn't help her out.  A change of scenery
would.  She had managed to call Skinner back and talk him into making
the bureau pay for her moving expenses.  The closer it got to when she
was leaving, the more excited she grew.  Megan was looking forward to
her move.

        But before she could begin her new adventure, she had to end the last
one.

        She hadn't gone near the FBI building or his apartment.  She'd
ignored the phone when it rang and didn't answer the door for fear it
was Mulder.  It wasn't that she didn't care about him or that she
wanted to hurt him.  She needed to think everything through and decide
what was better for her, not for him.  Once she'd made her decision,
she still couldn't talk to him.  So she'd written him a letter,
several pages long, detailing all the things she'd completely forget
if she tried to tell him good-bye in person.  She had yet to mail the
letter.  It was the last tie she had to cut and the hardest by far.

        Megan heard her plane being announced and knew her time was up.  Her
life was moving on around her and didn't particularly care if she was
coming along.  She took a deep breath and started walked towards her
plane, dropping the letter in the trash on her way.  Let him wonder. 
She would never say good-bye.  He'd figure out she had left and could
find her easily if he wanted to.  But she would never ever say
good-bye.  Never.