From: JumperChick@aol.com
Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 19:33:50 EDT
Subject: "Nova" (1/1)
Source: direct

Part 20
Day 113
Scully placed jars on a shelf with one hand, the other 
resting lightly on her belly. "Where have you been?" 
She asked over her shoulder as Amanda walked in.

"Oh. I went to see Walter, today is his first day 
working." She stepped up next to Scully to help with 
the jars.

Scully nodded. "How is he managing?"

Placing the last jar on the self, Amanda sat in a chair 
with a slight smile. "Just fine."

Scully joined her at the table, stretching her arms 
over her head. "You were gone for a while." 

Amanda shrugged, answering slightly defensively but 
mostly in teasing. "You visit Mulder all the time."

"Yes I do." She said with a slightly embarrassed 
smile. She should have been ashamed of the way she 
missed him, even if they were only a part for a few 
hours, but she was too happy to care what others 
thought. "Is that the same situation?" Scully had been 
trying, for a few days, to work the question in 
nonchalantly. It was a lot harder then she expected.

She smiled a little. "I wouldn't say that. yet."

Scully nodded. "At the risk of sounding parental," 
Amanda immediately cringed. "Isn't Skinner a little 
old for you?"

"He's only ten years older."

Only. That was a shock to Scully. She wouldn't have 
used the word only in this context. "I guess." Scully 
looked down at her hands for a moment, slightly 
embarrassed. "I guess I just see you as younger then 
you really are. You don't really behave like a thirty 
five year old woman"

Amanda bit the inside of her cheek to stop the harsh 
comments that wanted to come out. She leaned 
forward towards Scully with her elbows on the table. 
"For the first time in my life," Amanda spoke softly, 
slowly, honestly. "I am with people who are listening 
to me. I have always been a child. To my father, to 
his girlfriends, to the few people who came to Nova. 
I am just now getting past that. Forgive me, I have 
twenty years to catch up on." 

Scully sat back in her chair, trying to regain her 
personal space. Some of her control. She nodded in 
as much understanding as she could for Amanda's 
life.

"I haven't really had a life. Look at you." Scully's 
head shot up. "Moving all over with your family 
when you were young, medical school, an FBI agent, 
you have this amazing relationship." Amanda 
trailed off with a jealous frown.

With a short sad laugh Scully shook her head. "My 
life hasn't been perfect. Trust me."

Amanda met her eyes and shrugged. "I guess no one 
has a perfect life." She glanced over her shoulder as 
Benjamin walked in the open door. "Speaking of 
which." She mumbled.

"Hello, Dana." He greeted with a smile. "Amanda." 
He said as an after thought, not looking at her.

"Can I do something for you Benjamin?" Scully 
asked with her professional politeness intact. 

He sighed softly then glanced at Amanda. "Could you 
leave us for a moment, I need to speak with Dana 
alone."

Amanda looked shocked for a moment. Then shook 
her head and walked, almost stomped, from the room. 
Scully noticed, the moment Benjamin walked into the 
room, Amanda turned from an intelligent women to a 
obnoxious child. She watched in an interested silence 
as Benjamin shut the door after Amanda and sat in 
her vacant chair. After smiling at her for a moment 
her spoke; "I was wondering how were are feeling?"

"Just fine." She watched him, waiting for the reason 
he needed to speak with her alone. He didn't say 
anything, just continued to stare at her. "What was it 
you wanted to talk about?"

A displeased frown crossed his face. "It's about 
Mulder."

The only thing that stopped Scully from shifting 
comfortably in her chair was her years of practice 
with higher ups in the bureau. "What about him?" 
She asked coolly. 

Benjamin sat back in his chair, arms crossed over his 
chest. "He seems to be acting strangely, I'm worried 
he will take it out on you."

Scully was confused, it was that simple. "I don't 
know what you are talking about?"

With a frown he leaned forward, too close. Scully 
hadn't let a man, other then Mulder, come so close to 
her in years without stiffening. She shifted back in 
her chair as much as possible. "He seems. agitated. 
And I think that there are things maybe going on with 
you two that you are hiding. That night we were I 
met you in the hall. You were so upset and I noticed 
Mulder had a cut on his cheek."

Scully's detective mind unsolved his puzzle of words 
and it was all she could do not to laugh. Settling on a 
smile and shook her head. "Mulder wouldn't hit me if 
that's what you are trying to get at. He never would, 
he couldn't."

Benjamin nodded, leaning back in his chair. Scully's 
smile had thrown him off. She wasn't the least but 
upset by the conversation, she was amused. "You'd 
be amazed what a man will do to a woman if he is 
encouraged the proper way." 

Her smile slowly faded as she pondered his words. 
She shook her head again. "Mulder would never hurt 
me. You don't understand him-or me."

Benjamin stood quickly. "Well. I just wanted to 
voice my concerns."

"I appreciate that." She said still seated.

He nodded. "I'll see you soon, Dana." Benjamin 
exited the room, pulling the door closed behind him 
and was met by an angry looking Amanda. "You can 
go back in now." He said trying to side step her.

"Your hold is slipping." She said in an eerily calm 
voice as she blocked his path.

He let out a breath. "What?" His tone was tired and 
impatient. 

"Don't you see the way people are looking at you? 
They don't fear you. They don't respect you. Those 
are to two things you thrive on, you don't have either 
anymore."

Benjamin glared at her. "Where do you get off with 
this attitude? Ever since you started running around 
with Walter you act like your some big hot shot."

She pointed a finger at him. "You leave Walter out of 
this. He doesn't have anything to do with it."

"Oh yes he does." Benjamin shook his head. "Don't 
you see he is using you?" He looked her up and 
down. 

"What would a man want to with you? You're losing 
your hold on reality."

Amanda shook her head, amazed. "Me? Now way, 
Dad. I'm finally figuring out what is real and what is 
not. You are the one that has lost touch with reality. 
You don't realize how slack of a hold you have on 
Nova. One little thing." She held up a finger for 
emphasis. "One thing that you can't control and you 
are going lose it all."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "What the hell are 
you talking about?"

Amanda shook her head in amazement. "You think 
we are done here? We aren't safe. No one is safe." 
Her voice was nearing a yell. "You are lost in this 
happy little world were everything is going to be ok. 
Well it's not." Suddenly she dropped down to a 
whisper. "Something is going to happen, sooner or 
later, and it will be all over for you." A sick smile 
came over her face. "I can't wait for that day." 
Taking a large step around him she went back into 
the Medical Room, leaving Benjamin to notice for 
the first time the few on lookers to their discussion. 
The worried looks, shocked expressions, and tense 
murmurs were duly noted. 

Day 116
Mulder rubbed his chin against the top of Scully's 
head, his stubble catching on the soft strands. 

"There was so much blood." She whispered. Her 
trembling hands ran over his arms wrapped from 
behind her. His only response was a sleepy kiss on 
her ear. "Why do I keep having this dream?" She 
asked desperately. 

He shook his head against her hair. "I don't know." 
He spoke softly with his lips against her ear again. 

"There's an unconscious reason, or cause. I hate to 
say it but I think we will just have to wait it out." He 
paused in thought for a moment. "Was there anything 
different about it this time?"

"I don't know." She said shaking her head.

Mulder rubbed his palm up and down her arm. "Talk 
it out."

With a soft breath Scully closed her eyes and for the 
first time she relived her dream by choice. "It started 
off the same. I was alone in bed, on my back. I was 
weighed down and I knew someone was in the room. 
I struggled and called for you. But it didn't matter. I 
couldn't move and you weren't there. Suddenly the 
man was touching me, only for a moment. Then there 
was the blood. Everywhere. So much. And it was 
over, I woke up. Everything was in slow motion it 
seemed." She shook her head, frustrated with herself. 
"I don't know anything more. I'm probably forgetting 
some details."

"That's ok." He said soothingly. 

Scully rubbed a hand over her belly. "Maybe it is just 
one of those dreams pregnant women have." Mulder 
tensed at the topic, but quickly recovered to try to 
keep Scully calm. "Doesn't that happen often? 
Women have nightmares about losing their child. It's 
common right? Didn't you learn about that at 
Oxford?"

"Yes it is." He whispered. Mulder didn't have the 
heart to bring up the fact that she most likely wasn't 
pregnant. The thought, the rationalization had calmed 
her. "Try and sleep." He ordered gently. The dream 
had become so common-every few nights-that they 
had both learned to put it out of their minds as well as 
they could and go back to sleep.

 Scully nodded slightly and pulled his hand from 
where it rested on her hip, intertwining their fingers 
she pressed their joined hands to her belly and sighed 
contentedly. 
 
 Part 21
Day 119
Scully stretched her arms over head, arching her 
spine, letting out soft pops of tension and ache. With 
a soft sigh she cracked her neck side to side. Better. 
She lazily made her way over the to the door of her 
room. 

Swinging it open she smiled. "Good morning Byers. 
You can tell Mulder I'm fine."

He smiled shyly. "He asked me to stop by since I was 
working close by." 

Scully stepped aside. "Come on in. I need to get up 
now anyway. What time is it?"

Byers sat himself in a chair. "Almost nine. are you 
feeling better?"

She nodded. "I felt fine this morning. I was just really 
tired; long night."

"Another dream?"

Scully looked at him, only a little surprised he knew. 
"Yeah." She said softly, nodding. 

"I'm sorry." Byers said shyly. "I shouldn't have 
mentioned that." 

"No, its ok. I'm really not surprised Mulder told you 
about that. It doesn't bother me." She glanced over at 
him from where she was making the bed. "What else 
did he tell you?"

Byers looked at for a moment. He felt like a deer 
stuck in the headlights of a eighteen wheeler. 
Trapped. 
"He told me you think you are pregnant."

Scully nodded firmly, trying to bring the air of 
confidence to the conversation. "That is right."

Byers took a low breath in. "Dana-"

"Don't!" She said, pointing a finger at him. "Don't 
start the patronizing `Dana, you are infertile' shit. I 
hear enough of it from my own brain, I don't need it 
from you, Frohike, Langly and especially not 
Mulder." She spat out bitterly, holding his eyes 
steadily. She was tired of her given name being used 
in such a manner. Just because this was an emotional 
topic, did not mean she needed to be spoken to like a 
child.

Byers nodded. "We're are just worried about you, 
Scully." He quickly picked up on the fact that she 
was just as wary as everyone else. Her thoughts of 
pregnancy went against everything she knew as a 
doctor, but matched entirely with being a woman. 
She was torn. 

Scully rolled her eyes. "I don't need your concern. I 
just need someone to believe me for God's sake!"

"I understand that, I really do. But you have to know, 
and I'm sure you do, that this is a little. 
unexpected."

She took a breath, letting it out slowly to calm 
herself. "I do know that. But I am." She nodded, to 
herself not Byers. "I am. I must be."

Nodding Byers stood slowly. "Well I'll let you get 
ready for work." He opened the door to step out and 
came face to face with Benjamin. "Excuse me 
Benjamin, Scully was just about to get ready for the 
Medical Room." He said with a threatening voice, as 
threatening as Byers could be.

"I need to speak with her." He said bluntly and 
stepped around Byers and into the room.

Scully nodded to Byers so he would leave. She could 
tell that he wanted to stay and watch over her. There 
was no doubt in her mind that he would be reporting 
to Mulder about Benjamin's visit as soon as possible. 
With a frown Byers left closing the door behind him. 
"Good morning, Benjamin." Scully said as calmly as 
she could, the anger was still fresh. 

"You're pregnant?" He asked right away.

Scully starred at him, open mouthed for a moment. 
"You were listening to my conversation?" She asked 
in a soft shocked voice.

Benjamin looked startled for a moment then shook 
his head. "I was going to knock. but I heard you 
talking and you didn't sound too happy so I wanted 
to wait."

"But you were listening." It wasn't a question this 
time. Scully had spent years speaking to the lowest 
life forms in the world, listening to them try to 
waggle their way out of a question they didn't want 
to answer. Dana Scully was not easily lied to. 

He paused for a moment, still looking her square in 
the eye as his voice wavered slightly. "I was afraid 
that you and Mulder were fighting."

Scully pinched the bridge of her nose between her 
thumb and forefinger. She had been out of bed for 
only a short time and already wanted to forget about 
the whole day and go back to sleep. 

"Dana. are you pregnant?" Benjamin asked again. 

Scully looked up at him. "I. I might be. We really 
don't know."

"What do you mean `we?" 

Scully shook her head confused. "Huh?"

"Nothing. It's just you are a woman, it's your body. 
What is there not to be sure about?"

Bracing her hands on the edge of the table she leaned 
her weight back. "As you know, I shouldn't be able 
to become pregnant. So. we aren't completely 
convinced."

Benjamin used what he knew in his favor. "You 
mean Mulder doesn't believe you."

Scully's head shot up to look at him. "Neither of us 
want to get our hopes up, that's all."

"He doesn't believe you." He repeated. "What an 
asshole." He cursed out sharply. 

Scully felt her face flush with anger. Mulder might be 
an asshole at times, but he was her asshole. 
"Benjamin." She kept her jaw tight in an attempt to 
speak calmly. "I think you need to leave before I get 
angry."

He looked up at her with a shocked expression. 
"Excuse me?"

Scully nodded and stepped forward to open the door 
for him. "I don't appreciate you saying things like 
that about Mulder and I am very late." 

Benjamin narrowed his eyes, not moving from where 
he stood. "I am trying to help you, Dana. You don't 
need the added stress of Mulder not believing you are 
pregnant."

Scully shut her eyes fighting against her emotions. 
That was the first time anyone had spoken of her 
being pregnant, with no questions or conditions. 
"Please, Benjamin, I need to get going with my day."

"All right. I'll speak to you soon." He walked out 
the door with a tense posture. 

The door shut with a dull thud, another followed as 
Scully leaned her weight against it, rubbing her face 
in her hands.

Day 122
"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Mulder, calm down man." Langly said quickly 
stepping out of his path as Mulder paced a path in his 
room. Langly glanced over at Frohike in a silent plea 
for help.

"We wanted to be sure." 

Mulder glared at Frohike as he stepped up to him, 
closely. "When someone is stalking Scully you tell 
me." He hissed out before rejoining his invisible path 
along on floor.

"He's not stalking he's." Langly searched for the 
right words.

"Watching, following, lusting after." Mulder looked 
up at the ceiling as in if deep thought, then nodded. 
"Yeah I think that qualifies as stalking." They 
watched Mulder pace for a moment in silence. He 
was a caged animal. His mind fought between 
wanting to protect Scully, and their possible child, 
and wanting to flee. The thought of such a 
responsibly frightened him. But, oh, he wanted a 
child. More then his mind was even ready to grasp. 
Not that he gave it a chance. Whenever that thought 
of a baby crossed his mind-which was often-he 
pushed it away. The idea of thinking, planning, and 
loving this baby that might be, then having that 
dream stripped away, would kill him. And he knew 
it. His mind raced so fast he wasn't able to pinpoint 
one logical thought. 

Frohike leaned in close to Langly, keeping his eyes 
on Mulder's frantic pacing. "Where the hell is 
Byers?"

"He was smart enough to avoid the wrath of Mulder." 

"What did you just say?" Mulder asked sharply.

"Nothing." Frohike said quickly. Too quickly judging 
by the glare Mulder gave him. 

"Whatever." He mumbled. "I'm going to go talk to 
Scully."

"Wait, Mulder." He looked over at Langly 
expectantly. "Just take is easy. What I mean is don't 
get Scully all worked up." He added quickly.

Mulder nodded slowly. "Keep an eye out. And 
thanks." He added as an afterthought.

Moments later Mulder threw open the door to his 
room intent on talking to Scully, he had had enough. 
The tension between them was thick over her 
questionable pregnancy. He couldn't handle this 
anymore. He felt on edge and ready to explode. 
Enough was enough, but he stopped short when he 
saw her. She was curled up on her side asleep, shoes 
still on. Looking innocent and sweet. The vision 
made his heart ache. He had been about to walk in 
and fight with her without giving her a chance. He 
had let him anger get the best of him. The sick 
realization that that was just like his father made him 
shudder, another shudder followed at the thought of 
him ever treating a child that way. Yelling without 
listening. Shutting the door softly he knelt by the side 
of the bed and carefully pulled her shoes off. 

"Mulder?" She slurred sleepily. 

"Go back to sleep." He soothed as he spread a blanket 
over her.

"Where were you?" She asked rolling onto her back 
slightly to look at him as he sat at her hips. 

"Langly and Frohike wanted to talk to me." He 
explained pushing her hair from her face.

Scully sighed at the small contact and settled back 
into the bed. "What about?"

"Benjamin." He answered rubbing his hand up and 
down her side.

Scully frowned. "Oh. what did they have to say?"

Mulder thought through his wording for a moment. 
"He's been following you around Scully." He decided 
blunter was better in this case: less of a chance of his 
anger and frustration getting the better of him.

Scully stared at him for a moment. "He is always 
walking around Nova, Mulder. So am I. We run into 
each other." 

He just looked away and nodded. With a soft sigh he 
shifted and laid down next to her, his face level with 
hers but staring straight up. "I don't trust him."

Scully reached out and placed her hand over his 
heart. "I didn't trust Skinner when he first got here, 
but I do now."

Mulder nodded, but it didn't change his thoughts 
about Benjamin. Furrowing his brow Mulder tipped 
his head as he looked up at the ceiling. "Scully. 
have you ever noticed there's an `x' over our bed."

"Yeah, I did notice that." She rolled closer to him, 
settling her body neatly against his. As strained as her 
relationship with Mulder was at the moment she felt 
the need to be close to him. She was not about to let 
that fact that he didn't trust her instincts ruin them. 
Yes it hurt, hurt more then anything he had ever done 
to her. But she couldn't let it destroy them. He was 
all she had-all she wanted. 

Day 125
Movement to the side of where Mulder was working 
caught his attention. He looked up, shocked to see 
Scully. Her face was blank, and leaned back against a 
tree, her arms crossed protectively over her chest. 

"Hi." He said softly, wiping his hands on his jeans he 
slowly walked up to her. He craned his head down 
slightly to meet her eyes. "Scully?"

The moment her eyes locked onto his the blank 
expression crumbled away. With a choked sob she 
crumpled against him, letting out the tears she had 
been building. There was too much pain inside of her. 
Without Mulder to talk opening with everything little 
added up until this heavy weight settle on her heart. 
Mulder wrapped an arm around her waist to support 
her weak frame, the other cradling the back of her 
head. "Scully?" He asked desperately. She didn't 
answer in anything but wracking tears. "Jesus." He 
pulled her away from his slightly, taking his face in 
her hands. "What's wrong?" 

"I-" She choked on her words. "I love you so much it 
hurts."

Mulder shook his head slowly. He didn't understand 
what brought this on.

"And-" Mulder leaned in closer trying to dissever her 
whisper over the gentle breeze. "it scares me that you 
don't believe me, because you are all I have."

Mulder closed his eyes in pain. "I want to, Scully, I 
do. But if I do and you aren't it will kill me."

She swallowed forcefully. "It's killing me that you 
don't believe me." Mulder bowed his head slightly, 
still holding her face in his hands. "It's my body, 
Mulder. I know I am pregnant. Please-please believe 
me. 
Every doubt I have myself I have put away these past 
few days. I've put my faith in you countless times. 
I've trusted you even when my rational side 
screamed for me not to. I'm as sure of this as I have 
been about anything before. What will it take for me 
to convince you?" 

He pulled her back against him, pressing his lips to 
her temple. Just breathing softly into her hair. He was 
silent, they both were silent for what seemed like 
hours. Tilting his head lower, Mulder pressed his lips 
against her ear. "I believe you." And the weight 
lifted. 
 
Part 22
Day 128
Scully was having that dream again. At least it 
seemed like it. She couldn't move due to a weight on 
her belly, but she was awake. Prying her eyes open 
she looked around in the dim light and smiled; 
Mulder's head was pillowed on her stomach, his face 
turned up towards her. Reaching down she buried her 
hand in his hair, scraping her nails along his scalp 
lightly. 

Mulder opened his eyes sleepily. As his eyes focused 
on her he hummed from the back of his throat as his 
morning greeting.

She took it as such. "What are you doing way down 
there?" Scully asked with a smile.

He smiled shyly and rubbed his palm over her 
stomach. "Bonding?"

Scully laughed softly and ruffled his hair. "Knock 
yourself out."

Mulder shifted, pushing her shirt up and pressing his 
lips to her skin. He groaned at a knock on the door, 
sending soft vibrations through Scully's body. "How 
does that always manage to happen to us?" He asked 
climbing out of bed after pulling Scully's shirt down. 

"Luck." She mumbled sitting upright and running her 
fingers through her tousled hair. 

Mulder swung the door open. "What?" He asked 
harshly when he saw Langly. 

Scully shook her head and laughed softly at his 
greeting. 

"Sorry, I take it I woke you guys up. But you might 
want to know what water has stopped."

"What?!" 

Scully slid out of bed and walked over. "Last night 
the flow was a little slow, I didn't think anything of 
it."

"Does Benjamin know?" Mulder asked as he started 
pulling clothes out of the dresser.

"I think someone went to get him." Langly said 
sounding very uncertain. 

"We're going to get dressed. See if you can track him 
down." Langly obediently turned and shut the door. 
Mulder immediately started to pull on clothes. 

"Why do you think that is happening?" Scully asked 
as she followed his lead and began to dress.

"I don't know." Mulder sat to pull his shoes on. "But 
if it stays like this we are screwed." Mulder stood and 
opened the door for Scully, with his hand 
comfortably at the small of her back he led her down 
to the Main Room. 

They walked up just in time for Benjamin to speak. 
"Don't worry everyone. Let's just wait a while and 
see if it solves itself. The river that feeds into here-"

Mulder cursed under his breath and ignored the rest 
of what Benjamin was saying. 

"What the hell is he talking about?" Skinner's gruff 
voice said from behind them. 

Mulder shook his head, not bothering to answer. "I'm 
going to walk along the river, see if I can find the 
problem."

"Mulder, you aren't going alone." Scully said 
quickly. As much as she loved working in the 
Medical Room she cursed it for grounding her to stay 
near Nova at all times. 

"I'll go." Skinner said. "I'm sure we can dig up a few 
others to go along."

Mulder nodded. "Let's get moving then. Hopefully 
we won't have to go too far up the river and will be 
back soon."

"I'll see who else I can get to go along." 

"Great way to spend a Sunday." Scully mumbled.

"Sorry." Mulder whispered by her ear. 

"No it's not your fault. I'm just. sulking." She gave 
him a shy smile.

Mulder nodded over at Skinner who had gave waved 
for him that him and four others were ready. Then he 
leaned down and kissed Scully quickly. "I'll try to be 
back soon." He walked away, calling over his 
shoulder; "And yes I will be careful."

 
Amanda and Scully sat in silence, rolling clean 
bandages in the Medical Room. 

"This is truly boring." Amanda said dropping a half 
rolled bandage on the table. 

Scully nodded. "Yes, yes it is. I look forward to 
Sundays."

"Yeah." Amanda said in a far away voice. "Walter 
and I were going to go for a picnic."

Scully stared at Amanda for a moment. Trying her 
damnedest to picture Skinner on a picnic. It was 
impossible. She laughed softly under her breath. 

"What?"

"I... Nothing." She blushed slightly under Amanda's 
searching look. "I just have a difficult time picturing 
Skinner being so. domestic."

Amanda shrugged. "I have a hard time picturing 
Mulder not domestic."

Scully looked at her with a furrowed brow. Then 
copied her shrug. 

"What was Walter like before he got here?"

Scully leaned back in chair, oblivious to the fact that 
one of her hands was rubbing her belly. "The same I 
guess. A lot like Mulder I suppose. I've just never 
seen him `with' someone before. Do you know what 
I mean?"

Amanda nodded and picked up her bandage again. 
"My father doesn't like him." She said out of the 
blue.

"I don't think fathers like any man their daughter's 
are involved with." Scully supplied rationally. 
Amanda just nodded without making eye contact. 
Remembering what she had said about being afraid 
of her father Scully took a chance. "Do you think he 
will try to stop you from seeing him?"

Amanda wouldn't look up. "No, he'll just take his 
anger out on other people, like always."

 
Mulder kicked his muddy shoes off with a soft thud. 

"I'm awake." Scully said sitting up on her elbows. 

Mulder torn off his damp clothes and crawled straight 
into bed. "I'm exhausted." He mumbled.

Scully leaned over and kissed the center of his chest. 
"Did you find the problem?"

He nodded with his eyes closed. "Beavers."

"Beavers?"

He nodded again. "Fucking beavers built a dam."

Scully tried, but she couldn't help it. She laughed. 
"You know you are just going to have to go back and 
take it down again in a week."

"Thank you, Miss Obvious." 

Scully laughing softly, rested her chin on her hands 
in the center of his chest and looked up at him. 

"I'll tell you what, next time Benjamin can drag his 
ass out there and do it himself."

Scully just made a soft agreeable noise. 

Mulder sucked in a long breath, causing Scully to rise 
on his chest, then fall as he let it out slowly. "I can't 
believe he just wanted to leave it. What an ass."

"Mulder." Scully interrupted. "Let it go." 

He let out a sigh. "Sorry." Mulder rubbed his palms 
up and down her back. "How are you feeling?"

Scully slipped her arms around his waist and turned 
her head to the side. "Good." She answered in a long 
breath letting herself slip into sleep against his warm 
body. 

Day 130
"How far along do you think you are?" Mulder asked 
in a whisper as he traced his fingers over her 
stomach. Clothes had been shed and Mulder was 
examining her body with great detail. Noting each 
and every subtle change. 

Scully's eyes were closed under his gentle caress. 
"Three months or so." She answered lost in the fog of 
arousal.

Mulder nodded against her skin. He pressed his lips 
just above the patch of red curls between her thighs. 
Scully bit her lip to remain quiet, not wanting to ruin 
the silent atmosphere of their room. Mulder watched 
her, closed eyes and head tilted back slightly as he 
ran his tongue from the spot he just kissed all the way 
up to junction of her ribs. Scully arched up under him 
slightly. Mulder slipped both his hands under her 
waist before she set her body down and held her up to 
him as he spread open-mouthed kisses over her 
abdomen. Darting his tongue in and out of her navel 
summoned a breathy call of his name from the 
woman beneath him. He placed her back down on the 
bed and slid up to be level with her face, his erection 
bumping insistently against her hip. "What, Scully?" 
He asked pulling her ear lobe into his mouth. 

"You're teasing me." She said with a smile. 

"No I'm not." He answered kissing a trail down to the 
base of her neck. 

She encouraged him to move lower with a hand on 
the nape of his neck. "Certainly seems like it to me." 
She said softly, not minding his teasing. 

Ignoring her gentle push he moved to her lips and 
kissed her deeply, their tongues tangling languidly. 
"I'm just savoring you." He whispered with his lips 
still against hers. Brushing her nose gently with his 
he moved to kiss her shoulder. 

Scully followed him with her hands stroking and 
kneading whatever flesh she could reach, leaning 
towards his lips, his hands, any part of him that 
would touch her. 

Mulder pulled the soft skin of her clavicle into his 
mouth and suckled gently. He didn't stop until he left 
a small mark claiming her. Sliding one of his hands 
from her waist he danced his fingers along the tender 
flesh of her inner thigh. Struggling to keep her 
breathing even, Scully raised her leg and bent it up 
resting on her foot at his waist. She was desperate for 
more contact now. Mulder slid down her body a little 
more to pull a swollen nipple in his warm mouth as 
his fingers stroked her opening with a frustratingly 
light touch. 

Finally surrendering, Scully let the sensations take 
over her control and she thrust her hips up toward his 
hand. His fingers slid slightly into her body. Scully 
whispered his name in a plea for release of the 
growing tension in her body.

Mulder pressed two of fingers deep into her warmth, 
then out. In a slow paced rhythm. Another breathy 
cry escaped Scully's throat as he switch to lave 
attention onto her other breast. He waited until she 
was thrust her hips in the rhythm with his hand, 
before he lowered his mouth from her chest. He spent 
long moments nuzzling and kissing her tummy as he 
increased the contact with his fingers on the special 
spot inside of her body. Feeling her reach that last 
moment before her release he moved down lower and 
pulled her swollen bud of nerves between his lips. In 
the midst of her release Scully called Mulder's name. 

The next thing Scully felt was Mulder tender hand 
stroking the side of her neck and his erection, hot and 
hard, pressed against her thigh. She opened her eyes 
as she felt him nuzzle her neck. Bringing a leaden 
feeling hand up she touched his cheek lightly.

Mulder picked up his head and kissed her gently. 
With the urging of Scully's push he rolled them so he 
lay on his back with his head resting on the pillows.

Leaning down Scully kissed him again, deeper yet 
calm and relaxed. She shifted to kneel over him and 
took Mulder into her body with a practiced thrust. 

He pulled his lips away with a pleasant shudder as 
Scully straightened up and took him fully into her 
heat. Without a pause Scully moved in a steady 
rhythm. 

Mulder lay still beneath Scully; letting her take 
control for as long as he could bare. He forced his 
eyes open as he began to lift his hips to meet her 
body. Keeping eye contact he pressed his palm 
against the warm skin of her belly. His hand just 
resting against her.

Mulder's eyes snapped closed as Scully pressed 
down on him one final time. 

Scully shut her eyes as she felt the warmth of 
Mulder's release in already occupied-but waiting 
womb. The blissful heat flowed through her veins as 
she relaxed and lay her head down on Mulder's 
shoulder, savoring the quiet moment and rush of 
endorphins. 

After a few moments Mulder raised his hand to the 
small of Scully's back, all four fingers rubbing in a 
small soothing circle. 

Scully shifted, letting Mulder slip from her body so 
she could lay closer his chest, her head under his 
chin. 
Mulder tugged the crumpled blankets over them. "I 
love you." He whispered pressing his lips to the 
sweaty hair at her forehead. 

Scully echoed the words in her half sleep state, his 
fingers still rubbing the base of her spine. 

Day 133
Mulder walked in the open door of the Medical 
Room rubbing his hands together. "Cold out there 
today." Was his greeting to Scully.

She looked up from the research she was doing. 
"Season's are changing." Standing up she took his 
hands in her smaller ones, rubbing them for warmth. 
Leaning forward she breathed a hot puff of air into 
the compartment their fingers made. "Better?" She 
asked looked up through her lashes at him.

Giving her a half smile he nodded. "A little." He 
leaned down and pressed his cold nose into her neck. 
Letting out an embarrassingly girly shriek she 
jumped away but Mulder caught her waist in his 
hands. "No you don't." He said with a laugh, his 
fingers sliding under her shirt to tickle her sides. 

Scully immediately doubled over with laughter, 
batting him away the best she could. "Cut it out!" She 
cried twisting and turning in his grasp. But with his 
hands trapped in her shirt there was no way for her to 
get away. "Mulder!" She giggled. Changing her plan 
of fighting away from him she threw her weight onto 
his body, making him stagger back a step, his hands 
losing contact for only a second. 

"You think you're so tough." He teased pushing part 
of his weight back against her so she stumbled. When 
she lost her balance during a fit of giggles Mulder 
caught her around the waist. 

"That's enough. Stop!" She said in a wheeze from 
laughter. 

"What the hell are you doing to her?" Benjamin 
fumed from the open doorway. 

Mulder looked up, hands still under Scully's shirt, his 
smile fading. 

"He's being a jerk, that's what he's doing." Scully 
said, still grinning. 

Mulder looked back at her and couldn't help but 
smile at the flush of laughter in her cheeks. "And you 
love me for it." He said finally pulling his hands out 
from under her shirt. 

"Yes I do." She said softly getting up onto her toes to 
kiss his cheek. Standing on her feet again she looked 
over at Benjamin. "What can I do for you today?"

Benjamin was looking at Mulder sternly. "I heard 
screaming."

"Oh. I was laughing." Scully said wiping tears from 
her eyes. "Someone was tickling me." She poked 
Mulder in the side, a look of pure amusement spread 
over her face as he bent slightly with a smirk. "Oh. 
look who's ticklish." She went to poke him again but 
he caught her hands in his. 

"Oh no you don't." He said shaking his head. 

She giggled softly, practically forgetting Benjamin 
was in the room. "Come on. Let go."

Mulder rotated their hands so that their fingers 
interlocked. "Are you going to be good?"

"Mulder, I'm always good." She said with a sly 
smile.

"Ohh. You are wicked today." Mulder said shaking 
his head. "Too bad I have to go back to work." He let 
go of her hands and she pouted like a little girl. He 
leaned down and kissed her quickly. "Benjamin." He 
said with a curt nod and reluctantly left the two 
knowing Benjamin would point out his break was 
over if he didn't go then. 

The moment Mulder stepped out the door Benjamin 
stepped toward Scully taking her arm in his hand. 
"Are you ok?"

She looked up at him with an amused expression and 
gently stepped out of his grasp. "Of course I am. We 
were just having fun, fooling around."

Benjamin stood frozen in tension. "I don't believe 
you." He said bluntly. 

Scully turned to him with eyebrows raised. "Excuse 
me?" 

He took a step towards her, causing her to step back 
and into the table. "Don't make excuses for Mulder. I 
saw the way he grabbed your wrists." 

She shook her head slowly. "Mulder wasn't hurting 
me." She said softly. "He never has and never will." 

Benjamin shook his head, his anger toward Scully 
building. "Don't you see? He controls you. He held 
you so you couldn't move. He is much larger then 
you and uses it against you all the time. Just covering 
up his aggression with a game." 

Scully unintentionally flinched as a glob of spit flew 
from Benjamin's mouth and landed on her cheek. 
"Could you please stop yelling at me Benjamin." She 
requested with an eerily calm voice wiping at her 
cheek. 

Benjamin took another step forward causing Scully to 
lean back over the table slightly. "You aren't 
listening to me, Dana. Mulder is dangerous." 

"That's enough, Dad." Amanda said from the 
doorway.

Benjamin glanced over at her. "Dana and I are 
talking, Amanda, please leave."

"No." Scully said quickly. "I want you to leave, 
Benjamin." Scully pressed her hands against his 
chest, pushing him away. The moment he stepped 
back Scully took a deep breath, not realizing she 
wasn't letting herself breathe with him so close. 

"I'll speak to you again about this, Dana. I want you 
to think about it." Benjamin spoke as he walked 
backwards out of the room. 

Scully leaned against the table-by choice. 

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Amanda asked slowly. 

She forced out a laugh, trying to be reassuring when 
her inside where shaking with fear. "No, I'm fine 
Amanda." She sat heavily in a chair. "I'm fine." 

Part 23
Day 133 (continued)
Mulder walked into his room, colder then the last 
time he walked into Nova. He stopped short when he 
saw Scully. "Scully? What is it? What's wrong?" He 
sat beside her on the bed where she had her knees 
pull up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her. 
"Are you hurting?" He asked pulling her arms and 
legs away from her body to look at her. 

She shook her head. "I'm ok." She whispered. 

Mulder took her face in his hands. "You're not ok. 
Did you have another dream?"

Scully leaned forward and pressed her lips against his 
neck, but didn't relax into his arms. "No. I didn't 
have a dream." 

He rubbed his hands up and down her back trying to 
be patient. "So you're not in pain and you didn't have 
a dream. I can keep guessing if you'd like?" Mulder 
teased gently trying to get her to relax. 

Scully pulled away with a faint smile. "After you left 
the Medical Room today I spoke with Benjamin."

Mulder groaned. "Shit. what did he say?"

Fiddling with the sheets, Scully wouldn't look back 
up at Mulder. "He was trying to convince me, I guess 
I could say, that you were hurting to today."

"In the Medical Room?" He asked in confused shock.

Scully nodded. "Saying you just did things like that 
to show dominance over me. He just wasn't listening 
to me at all."

Mulder rubbed his forehead for a moment. "Did he 
hurt you?" 

"No." She said softly.

"Ok." Mulder reached over and rubbed the back of 
her neck with his hand. "Get your shoes on." He said 
getting out of bed. 

"Why?" Scully finally looked up at him. 

Mulder knelt at the side of the bed and pulled out 
their bags that hadn't been touched since they got to 
Nova. "We are leaving."

Scully swung her legs over the side of the bed so she 
was in front of Mulder. "No. Mulder we can't just 
walk away from here."

"Scully, I'm not about to sit around and wait for 
Benjamin lose it. I don't trust this guy and I don't 
think you do either. There is no reason for us to stay." 
He went to stand up, bags in hand, but Scully placed 
her hands on his shoulder.

"Mulder, just let this go. It will be ok."

He tossed the bags down violently. "Fine, if you 
don't want to leave I'm going to go punch some 
sense into that son of a bitch."

Scully grabbed his face in her hands and forced him 
to look at her. "No. We can not leave here and we 
can't afford to be kicked out."

The realization hit Mulder suddenly. He closed his 
eyes with a defeated sigh, leaning down he pressed 
the top of his head into Scully's belly.

"It will be ok." She repeated with her lips pressed 
against the nape of his neck, her hands skimming 
over his back. "We've been through worse. I don't 
like it anymore then you do, but we have to stay here 
right now."
He nodded against her body.

Day 137
Skinner had the horrible the feeling, the one when 
you know someone is watching you. He turned his 
head discreetly over his shoulder, making it look at if 
he was only stretching after digging potatoes from 
the ground. 

"You have a fan." Mulder said deadpan as he walked 
up along side Skinner, kneeling down in the dirt to 
start work for the day.

"That guy gives me the creeps." Skinner mumbled. 

Mulder smirked. "I wonder if he is related to the 
Smoking Man."

Skinner let out a snort of laughter. "Wouldn't surprise 
me one bit." He trailed off looking at the sky as a 
ship drifted over top of them. The trees were slowly 
losing their leaves; Nova's sparse protection would 
be 
lost along with them.

Neither man said a word about the ship. No one said 
anything. It was all too common now. Less then a 
year ago Mulder searched, with all his strength, to 
prove such things existed. His whole life spent on 
one purpose. But back then he didn't know what life 
was really about. He lost that focus the night he lost 
his sister. But now, with Scully and what could be the 
biggest surprise of their lives on the way, he wanted 
to go back. To change what he did. Everyone makes 
mistakes. It's part of human nature. Mulder made too 
many. He wished he could go back and change his 
life, Scully's life. But wishing never did any good. 
And if the wish came true, would anything be any 
different?

Day 140
Scully circled her middle fingers over Mulder's 
temples as his head lay in her lap. A soft sigh of 
contentment breathed from his lips. Scully smiled 
down at him, sliding her hands from his forehead she 
brushed his hair back. He was close to sleep, she 
could tell by his even breathing and the way his body 
relaxed completely under her hands. The lines of 
worry gone from his forehead, from his eyes. At the 
moment he was at peace in the silent room. She hated 
to leave when he was like this, even for a moment. 
She knew the moment she slipped his head from her 
lap, and her hands ceased their gentle roaming he 
would remember where they were, what was 
happening, what could happen. But she had to go, 
even for that short moment. So she lifted his head 
gently, feeling the way he tensed ever so slightly. 
Without a word she leaned over and placed a soft 
lingering kiss on his lips and slipped quietly from the 
room and down to the Main Room. It was quiet this 
time of night. Most were in bed already, safely and 
happily tucked in with their loved ones. Forgetting 
about the hard labor that waited for them the 
following day, forgetting about Them, forgetting 
anything that wasn't that exact calm moment. Few 
were out, like Scully, collecting wood to keep them 
warm during the night. But words never seemed to be 
spoken at this time. It was as if everyone was 
invisible to each other. The only sounds Scully heard 
where the crackling fire and the dull thud of the wood 
she pilled into the carrier. Supplies over one shoulder 
Scully walked languidly back to her room, her body 
in no rush but her mind racing her. Without a thought 
Scully rubbed the base of her neck with her hand as 
the other opened the door as quietly as the thick 
wood would allow. As she knew he would Mulder 
lay as she left him, the subtle changes of tension and 
worry visible to only her. She added the wood, 
stripped some of her clothes away and climbed into 
bed again faster, and quieter, then one would have 
thought possible. With Mulder's even beating heart 
under her ear Scully lulled to sleep with no worries in 
her heart, she would keep those buried in her mind 
until morning.

Day 145
A new tradition had been started. Poker. 

Mulder calmly, with shameless pride, laid his hand 
out for the others to see. 

Frohike groaned. "Bastard." He mumbled and shoved 
the pile of rocks towards Mulder- that was all they 
played for. Money was a thing of the past. 

Langly and Byers cheered; they had folded a while 
ago.

"I think I should quit while I'm ahead." Mulder said 
leaning back smugly in his chair.

"I'll get you tomorrow." Skinner said aimlessly 
shuffling the already worn deck of cards. 

Without bothering to knock Scully walked in stifling 
a yawn with on hand. She planted herself on the 
Mulder's lap, one arm over his neck, still yawning.

"Tired, Scully?" Mulder asked with a smirk.

She nodded when she finally finished her yawn and 
placed the now free hand over the gentle swell of her 
belly. "I'm going to go to bed I think, you coming 
soon?"

Mulder nodded, proudly gesturing to his winnings. 
Scully just rolled her eyes.

"Hey Scully, you and Amanda should play with us 
some time." Byers said.

"Yeah." Langly said quickly. "We can turn it into 
strip poker." He rubbed his hands together as he 
waggled his eyes brows. His expression quickly 
sobered at Skinner and Mulder's glare.

Scully paid no attention to him, just climbed off 
Mulder's lap. "Good night everyone." She said 
leaving. 

"Man, I think that was your cue that you are expected 
elsewhere." Frohike said with a slightly jealous tone.
Mulder stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah I 
think so." He suddenly straightened up, remembering 
something that he wanted-needed to know. "I wanted 
to ask you guys if you've seen Benjamin around 
Scully."

"No more then usual." Byers said. 

Skinner leaned forward, bracing his arms on the 
tabletop. "People have been talking." At the 
questioning gazes he continued. "I've heard a lot of 
hushed talk about Benjamin. Doesn't sound like 
many people like him, much less trust him."

Mulder shook his head in amazement. "This place is 
not going to make it with him."

"What the hell are we going to do about it? He still 
has too many people behind him." Skinner said with 
a disgusted snort.

"Idiots." Langly muttered. 

"No. they are just na=8Bve." Byers defended for some 
unknown reason.

Mulder stood to leave. "Oh to be na=8Bve." He said in a 
dramatically wistful tone. "How wonderful it must 
be." The door shut behind him in a slam. 

Day 146
"Scully, stop. It's me." Mulder said firmly as she 
pushed at him. He had been sleeping comfortably, 
one arm draped over Scully's waist when he woke to 
her frantically shoving him away in her sleep. Mulder 
immediately moved, but that wasn't good enough for 
her dream world. It didn't look like she was going to 
let up until she pushed him right off the bed. "Scully, 
wake up. Come on."

Those words weren't any different then the ones he 
had been uttering for the last five minutes but for 
some reason they did the trick. With a soft gasp 
Scully sat up and pressed a hand to her mouth.

Mulder moved back towards her, rubbing her back 
lightly. "You ok?"

"It was Benjamin." She whispered. "The man in my 
dream has been Benjamin. I saw him this time." 
Mulder nodded carefully. He wasn't sure what she 
wanted him to say about this. 

"Why am I having this dream about him?" She 
looked up at him with eyes pleading for any logic.

"You fear him. You're dream is your way of 
dealing with it."

Scully shook her head. "I was having this dream 
before he did anything odd."

Mulder gently pulled her back down to the bed. "The 
unconscious mind is a lot smarter than the conscious. 
You may have just been hiding how you felt towards 
him from yourself."

They lay in a thoughtful silence for long moments 
before Scully spoke again, in a soft whisper. "How do 
I make them stop?"

Mulder pressed his lips to her temple. "I don't know." 
 
Part 24
Day 155
Scully sat up with a jolt, knocking Mulder's body 
from his position around her. "Scully?" He rasped in 
a sleep thick with voice.

Scully shuddered slightly. "Mulder. They're here."

"What?" Mulder asked softly.

Scully placed a trembling hand over the back of her 
neck. "They're here." She turned to him, suddenly, 
with panic in her eyes. "Mulder, no one can go out of 
here! Don't let them." 

"Scully.. Are you sure?" He asked carefully. 

Scully nodded frantically. "I feel it Mulder." She 
tightened her grip on the back of her neck. "Please 
Mulder. don't let anyone leave Nova."

Mulder watched her for a moment. 

"Mulder, please!" 

"Ok." He got out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans 
and his shoes. "I'll get Skinner." 

Scully just sat in silence with her hand pressed 
against the nape of her neck, as if moving her hand 
would allow the multitude of siren voices calling her 
to take control. 

Mulder pulled a shirt over his shoulders, just as he 
began to button it the walls of Nova, the floors, the 
ceiling, the world around them shook. 

"Mulder go." Scully said in a soft desperate voice. 

Without another word Mulder stumbled from the 
room as the sound of explosions echoed in the rocks, 
leaving his ears ringing. He involuntarily stopped and 
pressed his hands to his head as pounding began. It 
was too loud, too intense. He slouched against the 
wall, bracing himself with his arm as the tremors past 
through his whole body. He let himself rest for a few 
moments before taking a deep breath and pushing 
himself from the wall. 

People scattered in every direction. Mulder yelled his 
warnings not to leave but nothing could be heard over 
the explosions. 

"Mulder!" 

Mulder turned around, picking his name out amongst 
the horrible noise in that odd way people are able to. 
Skinner grabbed his shoulder and turned him towards 
him. "What the hell is going on?!" Skinner yelled 
even though he was inches from Mulder's face. 

Mulder opened his mouth to answer, although he 
didn't have much of one, when the shaking stopped. 
The roar from the outside stopped. Slowly people 
quieted. Waiting. 

The all too short wave of silence was destroyed by a 
new noise. One so loud and shattering it was almost 
beyond Earthy comprehension. The earth shook 
around them. Everyone tumbled to the floor. 

Mulder covered his face as he felt shards of glass rain 
down on him as some of the lamps exploded. Small 
avalanches filled the exits of Nova with rocks and 
boulders. Dust filled the chimneys; all the fires were 
snuffed out quickly. The once fresh clear water, 
immediately ran dark with debris. 

Then it stopped. Just as quickly as it started, it 
stopped. 

Mulder lay flat on his back, the cool rocks calming 
his adrenaline rushed body. An even louder ringing 
sounded in his eyes, his head felt like it was on fire, 
his ears burning. It hurt too much to move for quite a 
few minutes. 

With a deep painful breath Mulder forced himself to 
sit up. He couldn't hear the people around him due to 
the ringing but he could see them. Many lay as he 
just had, clutching their heads in pain. Some trying to 
stand in the very dim light. 

Skinner struggled to sit by Mulder, flashing him a 
look filled with pain and fear. 

Closing his eyes, Mulder leaned his head back 
against the wall to let the ringing and pounding 
diminish enough so he could stand. 

After what seemed like ages Mulder hoisted himself 
to his feet. His hearing had cleared somewhat. "Is 
everyone ok?" He asked looking around from where 
he stood at the opening of the Main Room. He 
nodded at the muffled replies. No one seemed 
seriously hurt. 

"We need to get out of here!" Someone yelled. 

"Relax." Mulder said sipping into his professional 
tone to calm. "We'll be safer down here."

"We are going to run out of air.We are trapped.. 
Where's Benjamin?. Why is it so dark?.. Oh God, 
look at the water." 

"Just relax." Skinner called out. "We'll be fine down 
here for the time being."

Mulder leaned closer to Skinner. "I couldn't stop 
people from running out of here."

Skinner nodded gravely. "I think it's safe to say they 
didn't make it." 

People started to gather around Mulder and Skinner, 
asking them questions. "Should we try to dig out of 
here?"

"We should wait a few hours. Let the air clear some." 
Mulder said rubbing his temples lightly. 

"What about the fires?"

"I'll try to rebuild the main fire is a while, if it stays 
lit then the air should be clear enough for us to 
breathe." Skinner said as Mulder nodded his 
agreement. 

The two men stood and answered question after 
question. People trusted their leadership instinctively. 

"Well there goes the rest of this year's crops." 
Someone mumbled bitterly. 

"We'll be fine." Mulder said seriously. "We have 
more then enough canned food to get to next season."

"That's right." Benjamin said walking over to them. 
"I've planned ahead of course."

Everyone reluctantly turned away from Mulder and 
Skinner to Benjamin as he rambled on about how he 
would take care of everything. "Let's start to get 
these doorways cleared." He instructed. 

"Mulder said that we should wait for the air to clear." 
Someone called.

"Oh he did, did he." Benjamin said with a glare 
towards Mulder.

"The fires are out, Benjamin." He called. "Look at the 
water. The air won't be any help at all. I remember 
the sky from bombing not nearly this close. Unless 
you want the clean air in here to be ruined and all of 
us suffocate I'd suggest you leave the rocks where 
they are." 

Benjamin's jaw clenched in anger. "Everyone please 
check on your friends and family. Make sure 
everyone is ok." He said without breaking the harsh 
gaze he held with Mulder.

"Amanda." Skinner breathed in relief as she walked 
up. "Are you ok?"

Letting out a shaky breath she gave him an even 
shakier smile, touching his arm lightly. "Yeah. 
Everyone who comes to the Medical Room seems to 
be ok. Nothing I can't handle on my own."

"On your own?" Mulder asked softly. "Scully isn't in 
there with you?"

Amanda shook her head slowly. "No. I thought she 
was with you."

Mulder's eyes clamped shut in terror. "Oh Jesus." 
 
Part 25
Day 155 (continued)
Mulder's eyes clamped in terror. "Oh Jesus." 

"Mulder?" Skinner asked softly. 

Mulder opened his eyes. "The chip. She knew They 
were coming because of the chip." 

"Chip?" Amanda asked dumbfounded. 

Skinner waved the question away for the time being. 
"You go check your room, we'll look around here."

"God I hope she didn't go outside." Mulder mumbled 
as he took off jogging towards their room. He felt his 
heart stop when he stepped into their dark but 
definitely vacant room. Forcing down his terror 
Mulder raced down the hallway, away from the Main 
Room to the nearest doorway. 

Even in the dim light Mulder could pick out Scully's 
form huddled on the floor into front of the caved in 
entrance. 

"Scully." Mulder breathed in relief. He strode over to 
her in determined strides and knelt beside her. 
"Scully?"

She didn't answer, didn't even knowledge him. "I 
have to go. I have to go. I have to go." She murmured 
as she clawed at the rocks. 

Mulder carefully reached for her hands. "Scully 
stop." He clasped her hands in his and pulled them, 
bloody and scraped, away the rocks. She fought 
against him tiredly still murmuring. 

"You found her." Langly said, relieved, as he hurried 
towards him.

Mulder looked at him. "We have to get her back to 
the room. Is that hallway crowded?"

Langly glanced. "Not too bad."

Mulder nodded. "Come here and hold her hands for 
me."

Langly walked over, obviously confused. "What the 
hell did she do?"

"She's being called." Mulder answered softly as he 
scooped Scully up in his arms, pinning her hands 
down to her chest with the arm wrapped around her 
shoulders. "Are you guys ok?" Mulder asked 
realizing this was the first time he had seen Langly 
since whole ordeal began. 

Langly nodded, not taking his eyes off Scully. "Yeah, 
we came to check on you , and Skinner told us Scully 
was missing."

"Good." Mulder shifted Scully in his arms, tucking 
her head under his chin. "Ok Scully, let's go." He 
whispered.

Her only response was mild struggling and her 
continued whimpers. 

Mulder pushed his way through the hallway and to 
their room. "Langly, can you find Skinner?"

He nodded and left after he opened and shut the door 
for Mulder. 

Mulder set Scully down on the bed gently. She 
immediately sat up again. "No." He said gently, 
pushing her back down. 

"I have to go." She said in a distant voice fighting 
against his grasp on her hands. 

"You aren't going any where." Mulder pinned both 
her hands in one of his and pressed them against her 
chest to hold her down. 

Without knocking Skinner walked into the room. "Is 
she ok?" 

Amanda walked in behind him. "Oh God. Dana, 
what did you do to your hands?" 

"Amanda." Mulder interrupted. "Can you go get 
some bandages so we can clean her up. If anyone 
asks about her say she hit her head but will be there 
to help the nurses whenever she can. No one needs to 
check on her."

She nodded but didn't take her eyes off Scully. 
"What's going on? Why is she acting like that?"

Skinner turned her toward the door. "Please, 
Amanda, go get the bandages. I'll explain everything 
when you get back. Don't tell anyone about this."

"Ok." She said weakly and left the room. 

Skinner turned back to Mulder who was struggling to 
hold Scully down without hurting her. "How is she?"

"Completely out of it." Mulder tilted Scully face 
towards him with his free hand. Her glazed eyes 
stared back unseeing, she was pale and sweating. 
"Can you check who that is?" Mulder asked at a 
knock the door.
Skinner opened the door for the Gunmen to walk in. 
"Is she ok?" Frohike asked. 

Mulder didn't answer, he just focused on trying to 
hold her down as gentle as he could. But she fought 
constantly, pushing and twisting. Mulder had to use 
both hands to hold her now as he began to tire.

Amanda came back in quickly sitting by the bed. 
"Byers, can you get me some water? Mulder I need 
you to move your hands." 

"If I let go of her she is going to hit you." Mulder said 
matter of factly as he took a wrist in each of his 
hands. 

Amanda looked at him in confusion and fear but set 
about cleaning Scully's restlessly moving hands. "I 
can't wrap then while she is moving." She said 
frustrated. 

"Just do what you can, hurry. I don't think I can hold 
her like this for long." 

Skinner moved to the side of the bed. "I'll take one of 
her arms."

Mulder reluctantly let go and held one of her hands in 
both of his. 

"Damn it. Amanda hurry up. She's a lot stronger 
then she looks."

"Ok, done." Amanda said after another minute. 

"Mulder.. We can't hold her like this forever." 
Skinner said obviously struggling.

"She wasn't fighting like this at first." He mumbled. 

They were silent for some time. Everyone was 
thinking the same thing but it was Byers that worked 
up the courage to say it. "I think you are going to 
have to tie her."

Mulder looked over at him sharply. "I'm not going to 
tie her."

"Mulder, we don't have a choice." Skinner said.

Amanda walked over, with the spare bandages in her 
hands. "We can use these. They will be softer then 
anything else."

Mulder looked down at Scully. 

"Mulder.. We won't do this if you don't want us 
to." Skinner said softly. "But I think we should before 
one of us gets hurt." When Mulder still didn't say 
anything Skinner went on. "You aren't doing this to 
Scully. She isn't herself right now."

"God damn it." He hissed out, tears in his eyes. "Do 
it." Mulder couldn't bear to look at Scully as Amanda 
carefully tied her hands above her head to the 
headboard. When it was done he sat back against the 
wall with his eyes closed. But he could still hear 
Scully's heavy breathing and her ever present 
murmur. The bed moved slightly with her still 
struggling. 

"Walter. please tell me what is going on." Amanda 
said as she sat heavily in a chair. 

Skinner sat next to her, speaking softly. "Scully is an 
abductee." Amanda's eyes widened. "About six years 
ago she went missing for three months. When she 
returned she didn't remember anything." Skinner 
shook his head trying to find the simplest 
explanations. "She found out later that she had a 
small metal chip implanted in the back of her neck. 
She had it removed and almost immediately came 
down with an inoperable tumor. The cancer spread 
and become worse. It was cured when Mulder found 
another chip and replaced the one she removed. 
That's why this is happening. They are calling to 
her." Amanda slowly shook her head in confusion. "I 
know it's hard to understand. But leave it at that for 
now." Skinner didn't mention her infertility, that 
wasn't of question at the moment. "They didn't want 
to tell anyone. We need to keep it to ourselves."

She nodded quickly. "Of course." 

 
Mulder opened is his eyes slowly over an hour later, 
the Gunman had already left and Skinner and 
Amanda still sat quietly in the corner. "She's quieting 
down." He said softly. Glancing up at her wrists he 
felt a wave of nausea wash over him. "God. She's 
bleeding." 

All three jumped at loud pounding on the door. 
"Dana! Are you in there?!"

"Fuck." Mulder mumbled. 

"I'll take care of it." Skinner said. 

"No. I'll get it." Mulder pushed himself off of the bed 
and opened the door a small amount. "Scully is 
resting." 

"I want to see her. What did you so to her?" 
Benjamin ranted. 

Mulder braced the door as Benjamin pushed. "You 
aren't coming in, Benjamin."

Benjamin shoved his weight into the door, throwing 
it open an other inch or two before Mulder regained 
his balance. "I can see her! She's bleeding." 

Mulder felt his anger, mostly towards himself, boil. 
"You can't come in." Mulder pushed all his weight 
against the door to shut it. 

"Mulder." 

His head shot over to the bed at the soft whisper. Her 
struggling was gone and now just a confused and 
painful tug pulled the bindings. 

"I've got the door." Skinner said. "Why these damn 
things don't have locks in beyond me." He mumbled.

"Scully? Can you hear me?" 

She nodded slightly. 

"I'll untie you." 

"No." She whispered stopping Mulder. "Don't."

Mulder stooped close to her, having a hard time 
hearing her soft voice over the pounding and yelling 
at the door. "But. you are hurting yourself."

She shook her head, her eyes rolling back in her head 
slightly. "I have to stay like this. I don't know if it is 
over yet."

Mulder took his hands from her wrists and cupped 
her face. "Are you sure?"

She nodded dully. "I don't want the baby to get hurt. 
Leave me tied."

"Scully?" He said firmly as her eyes slipped closed. 
"Scully, stay with me." 

"I'm here." She whispered.

Mulder pressed his cheek against her belly. He 
drowned out Benjamin's noise and focused on the 
labored rise and fall of her breathing. 

Part 26
Day 156
Scully struggled to consciousness. Her head pounded, 
her ears rang painfully, her whole body was sore, and 
her arms were tingling from being tied for so long. 
"Mulder?" She whispered hoarsely. 

"Yeah, sweetheart?" He walked from his post by the 
door and sat by the bed. Benjamin had given up his 
pounding hours ago. Skinner and Amanda had left a 
few hours after that. And since then Mulder sat by the 
door, which was barricaded by a chair. 

"Can I have some water?"

Mulder nodded and brought a glass to her lips with 
one hand while the other tilted her head slightly. "Not 
too much. I don't know how much water we have 
stored."

She nodded to tell him she was done. "The water 
hasn't cleared?"

Mulder shrugged. "I don't know. Skinner said he 
would tell me as soon as he knew. I think everyone is 
resting now." With a furrowed brow he looked her up 
and down. "Are you cold?"

"A little."

He carefully spread a blanket over her. "Scully, do 
you think I can untie you now?"

She thought about it for a moment. She felt like 
herself, just tired. "Ok." She nodded slowly.

Mulder let out a long breath of relief and carefully 
untied her bruised and swollen wrists. Scully cradled 
them, numb, in her lap as Mulder took turns cleaning 
and bandaging them. "I'm so sorry." He whispered 
brokenly.

"Don't be. I. I don't even want to think about what 
could have happened if you hadn't done this." She 
tugged his arm to pull him down next to her. Using 
all the energy she could muster she rolled onto her 
side and tucked herself against his body. "If you 
hadn't I might have hurt you trying to leave. or hurt 
the baby." Scully forcefully swallowed the lump in 
her throat. "You had to do it. I'm thankful you did."
Mulder said nothing. Just ran his hands lightly up and 
down her back. 

"I'm so tired." Scully whispered after long moments 
of silence. 

Pressing his lips to her temple Mulder whispered to 
her; "Go to sleep. You need to rest." 

"So do you." She said as she drifted. 

"I'm fine." His breath tickled her hair.

Despite how tired she was Scully smiled. "That's my 
line."

Mulder gave her a sleepy smile against her skin. "I 
love you, Scully."

"Mmm." She mumbled close to sleep. "Love you 
too." 

Day 161
Mulder woke with a start to a knock at the door. He 
carefully shifted Scully, still asleep, out of his arms. 
Tucking his gun to his side he leaned against the 
door. "Who is it?"

"Skinner." 

Mulder placed his gun back on the dresser top and 
moved the chair away from the door then stepped out 
into the hallway rubbing his face. 

"I woke you, sorry." Skinner said.

"No, no. Don't worry about it. What's up?" 

Skinner nodded his head in the direction of the Main 
Room. "Air just cleared enough for a fire, not a very 
strong fire, but it's a start. The water. I don't even 
want to mention the water. Looks like we are stuck 
down here another day."

Mulder sighed and leaned back against the wall after 
a quick glance at Scully. "I dread getting out there 
and seeing if anything is left."

Skinner nodded. "Hopefully some livestock made it. 
Animals are smarter then they look, maybe they 
found someplace to go. But the fields are going to be 
ruined. I don't know how much we will be able to fix 
before the ground freezes."

Nodding, Mulder glanced again at Scully, not 
wanting to let her out of his sight for long. "It's going 
to be hell."

"How is she?" Mulder's continuous glances didn't go 
unnoticed by Skinner. 

"She's... resting. I think that is the most I can hope 
for-" Mulder broke off sharply as he watched Scully 
roll over in bed. She immediately settled again so he 
turned some of his attention back to Skinner. 
"Anything with Benjamin?"

Skinner shook his head. "Nothing I know of. He is 
pretty busy with people's questions. I haven't seen 
Amanda yet this morning."

Mulder wasn't able to suppress a yawn. He smiled a 
little ashamedly. "Sorry."

Skinner smirked and gestured to Mulder's room. "Get 
some more sleep. I'll check in with you guys as soon 
as anything happens. And I brought some water." He 
handed over a reserve jug.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later." Mulder nodded 
appreciatively before stepping back into the cold 
room. He struggled to build a small fire before 
slipping back into bed.

Scully murmured wordlessly at his familiar presents 
and cuddled close to his warmth. 

Mulder wrapped an arm around her small body and 
burrowed his face in her hair. "It's going to be ok." 
He whispered to her sleeping body. "Please, God, let 
everything be ok." 

Day 161
Scully nudged Mulder with her elbow to rouse him. 
He gave a sleepy grunt as question. "Someone is at 
the door." She whispered out, her head still ached and 
it took more energy then she had to move her arms. 

"I'll get it, you stay right there." Mulder answered 
immediately hoisting himself up. 

"I wasn't planning on moving." Scully mumbled 
while trying to find a comfortable position for her 
aching body. It was impossible. 

Mulder moved the chair securing the door and 
opened it a crack expecting to see the Gunmen or 
Skinner. He frowned when coming face to face with 
Benjamin. "What can I do for you?" He glanced over 
his shoulder, partly to check on Scully and partly to 
make sure his gun was still on the dresser. 

"I want to speak with Dana." Benjamin said with a 
strident voice.

Scully gently pushed her way under Mulder's arm 
that was braced against the wall between the open 
door. "Yes, Benjamin?" She tried to keep the 
irritation from her voice, but she was tired of this. 
She and Mulder were finally together and the only 
one causing a problem was Benjamin. 

"Scully." Mulder said gently. "You need to rest." He 
slipped his arm down from the wall to around her 
waist.

She glanced up to him with a small smile. "I will. I 
just want to see what Benjamin needs so I can do just 
that." She turned back to Benjamin expectantly. 

"Can you step out? I'd like to talk to you alone."

Scully shook her head and leaned more against 
Mulder for support "I'm very tired. What is it that 
you want?"

Benjamin narrowed his eyes at her stubbornness. She 
wasn't making this any easier for him and he felt his 
anger build more and more each time he tried to help 
her, and she refused his help. She just didn't seem to 
realize that she would be better off without Mulder. 
He needed to show her, somehow, that her place was 
with him. "I think you should come with me." He 
held out a hand expectantly. 

"What?!" Mulder asked in disbelief. "Who the hell do 
you think you are?" Scully placed a hand over his 
chest when he went to take a step forward. The gentle 
pressure reminded him that they had to be careful. 

"You aren't good for Dana, Mulder. I'm afraid for 
her safety when she is with you."

"Benjamin." Scully said quickly, in a tone that left no 
room for argument. "I appreciate your concern, but 
you have everything backwards." She leaned heavily 
back against Mulder, trying to convey that this was 
where she wanted to be. "Please, I want to go back to 
sleep." 

"I want to know what happened the other night, 
Dana. People say-"

"I don't care what people are saying." Scully 
interrupted quickly. "I hit my head and I was 
unconscious. I am still recovering. Good bye." She 
pressed back against Mulder, he took the hint and 
shut the door, securing it quickly as Scully crawled 
back in bed.

Mulder sat at her hip on the edge of the bed, 
smoothing the blankets up around her. 

With a sudden gasp she sat upright.

"What? Scully, what?" Mulder panicked, ready for 
her to start fighting to leave Nova again. 

A slow smile spread across her face, then a soft 
laugh. "The baby." She placed her hand over her 
steadily rising belly. "I felt it." She laughed again, in 
amazement.

"You did?" Mulder tentatively placed his hand over 
tummy.

Nodding she moved his hand to where she felt the 
slight sensation. "I doubt you can feel it. It was just a 
small. flutter almost." Scully said sadly, she wanted 
Mulder to share this. 

Mulder just smiled, rubbing her soft skin lightly.

Scully giggled. "There it is again." 

Mulder leaned forward, pressing his forehead against 
hers. He couldn't feel the movement, but he knew it 
was there. The look of complete wonder of Scully's 
face was enough evidence for him. 
 
Part 27
Day 163
"Scully." Mulder rubbed Scully's thigh lightly to 
rouse her. 

"I'm awake." She said sleepily, rolling on to her back 
to look up at him. 

Mulder tenderly tucked a strand of hair behind her 
ear. "I've got to go. We're going to try clearing a 
doorway."

Scully sat up with a yawn. "Ok, I'll come give you 
guys a hand."

Mulder laughed and pushed her shoulders until she 
was lying down again. "That's pretty funny Scully."

"I'm feeling much better, Mulder." She said sternly, 
sitting up again.

"Then go to the Medical Room." He replied as he tied 
his shoes. 

Scully just glared at him. She knew she shouldn't be 
doing anything else, but it didn't mean she was happy 
about it.

"Don't give me that look." He leaned over and kissed 
her cheek. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye." She grumbled. 

 
Mulder wiped the sweat off his forehead with the 
back of his arm. 

"Hey! I see light." Mike called from his spot, 
crouched on the ground. 

Mulder kneeled down beside him and peered out the 
small opening. "Looks hazy but clear enough to 
breathe." Squinting he looked around in the low light. 
"Let's start up there." He pointed to the high right 
corner of the opening. 

"We can't reach that high." Mark pointed out.

"You noticed that too." Skinner mumbled. "Well we 
really don't have a choice. If we start any lower the 
whole thing might tumble in on us." He glanced over 
his shoulder, pausing to smile as Scully and Amanda 
walked up perfectly aware of their situation.

Scully touched Mulder's arm lightly. "Boost me up 
on your shoulder, Mulder. I'll do it."

"No." Mulder said plainly, shaking his head.

"I can do it." Amanda said before Scully continued. 
"Walter, you can hold me up there."

Skinner nodded, avoiding Scully's bitter gaze. "Ok, 
Mandy." He said lifting her up to sit on his right 
shoulder, his hands securing her legs.

Mulder leaned close to Scully's ear, trying not to 
laugh. "Mandy?"

"Shh." She said swatting at his arm. 

Mulder stood up right with a soft chuckle. 

Benjamin walked up wordlessly, no one 
acknowledged him either. They all stood in silence as 
they watched rock by rock tumble away to expose 
dusty dry air. 

Still without a word they all walked out into the open. 

Swallowing thickly, Scully placed a hand over her 
mouth as she looked around. "Oh God. Mulder."

He just nodded absently. 

The Earth was turned upside down in front of them. 
Trees lay half buried, the once organized fields were 
no longer visible, the barns in the distance were only 
partially standing, the destruction was endless. 

"Ok." Mulder said softly after some time, breaking 
the silence. "Let's.start looking around. There 
should be twelve people." He used the word people 
carefully, they were looking for bodies. It was that 
dreadfully simple. 

"Hopefully some livestock made it through this. We 
should check the water too. See how that is looking." 
Skinner added. 

Benjamin had looked on in an angry silence. "Now 
wait a moment." He said through clenched teeth. 

Everyone turned to him expectantly. 

Benjamin struggled to find something to tell them all. 
But the truth was; he had no idea what to do. 

"Everyone stay in groups of two." He said quickly. 

People nodded and paired off. 

"Dana, you come with me." Benjamin stepped 
forward to take her arm. 

Mulder immediately stepped in front of him. "No. 
She's not going anywhere with you." Scully touched 
Mulder's arm lightly, trying to bring his focus back 
to her. It didn't work. "This has gone far enough."

"Mulder." Skinner said in a warning voice.

"You just leave her alone. Is that clear?" Mulder took 
a step forward, anger blazing in his eyes. 

"Mulder." Scully said sternly. 

"I think you are the one that should leave her alone, 
Mulder." Benjamin said as he took a step to close 
more the space between him and Mulder. "She 
belongs with me."

"You are fucking insane!" Mulder yelled. Everyone 
had left but Skinner, Amanda, and Scully. Their pleas 
for the men to calm down went unheard. 

"You are dangerous! You hurt her. I've seen you. I 
can see the bruises on her wrists. Do you beat her at 
night? When you are angry? When you want sex with 
her? You force her into it, don't you? You don't even 
want that baby."

"Bastard." Mulder lurched forward at him. 

"Mulder, stop!" Scully stepped between the two men 
and took a hold of Mulder's wrists. 

He froze. "Scully, let go." He pulled his hands away 
but she held fast.

Benjamin moved forward, seeing Mulder fight 
against her hold. But Skinner stepped in front of him. 
His solid weight effectively making Benjamin 
reconsider his thoughts of pulling Scully away from 
Mulder. But he didn't want to stand there and watch 
him brainwash her into thinking she was good for 
him any longer. It made him sick, to watch the way 
Mulder controlled her every thought. How an 
intelligent woman could fall under the spell of such a 
man was unimaginable to Benjamin. 

"No." She said shaking her head. The only way 
Mulder was going to get to Benjamin was to push her 
out of the way. "I want you to walk away from this 
Mulder. You have nothing to prove. Mulder, look at 
me."
He tore his furious gaze away from Benjamin and 
looked down at Scully's pleaded eyes. "Scully, let 
go." He said softly even as he fought to control his 
breathing. He shifted slightly under her hold, hoping 
she would let up.

"No, dad." Amanda said as Benjamin went to move 
out of Skinner's hold. "You leave them alone. This 
has nothing to do with you." Angry tears ran silently 
down her cheeks. "Why can't you leave them alone?"

Benjamin glared at his daughter. "So you are with 
them now?" He gestured to Skinner with a nod of his 
head. "This one has your mind messed up. You don't 
know who you are anymore."

"No." She said shaking her head. "I finally do know 
who I am, dad. For the first time." 

Scully ignored everyone else, just focusing on getting 
Mulder to listen to her. "Please Mulder. Listen to 
me." When she had his eyes locked with hers she 
continued. "You don't have anything to prove. 
Everyone here knows you would never hurt me." She 
spoke softly, just to him. But the three on lookers 
heard her. "You've saved my life more times then I 
even want to count. You take care of me, you don't 
hurt me. You would never hurt me."

Mulder looked away, his emotions were too high. His 
mind was torn between forcing Scully away so he 
could end the problem with Benjamin. But if he did 
that he would have to do just that; force. It was a 
word he just didn't know when it came to Scully. He 
couldn't do it. Scully was right. It was impossible for 
him to hurt her. 

"Look at me, love." She said softly.

Mulder looked back, swallowing back emotions as 
tears swam in his eyes.

Scully slid her hands from his wrists to his face, 
cupping his stubbled cheeks in her warm palms. 
"Walk away from this. He isn't worth it. Ok?"

Mulder nodded in her grasp.

Scully smiled a soft gratified smile. "Ok. Let's go 
back to our room for a little while. I think I need to 
lie down and rest."

Mulder nodded again. 

She tipped his head down, pressing his forehead to 
hers. "Thank you." After a moment, they walked, in 
silence back down to their room. 
 
 Part 28
Day 165
Amanda watched Skinner carefully. "Walter?" He 
didn't reply to her soft voice. "Walter?" She asked, 
slightly louder. Certain he was sound asleep she 
slipped out of bed. She dressed quickly, keeping her 
eyes on him. As silently as possible she crossed the 
room and crouched by the dresser. She carefully 
opened the bottom drawer, mindful of the squeak she 
knew would come. Taking quick glances at the bed 
she pushed her hand under the piles of clothes until 
she felt the cool metal of a gun. Slowly, quietly she 
tucked it in the front of her jeans before standing. 
With one last look at the sleeping man she stepped 
out the door and into the silent halls of Nova.

Day 168
Mulder rubbed his hands together for warmth. "We 
found Henry." He said simply to Scully as he stepped 
into the Medical Room.

Her hand wavered slightly as she put away towels at 
the news. Henry was the last body missing. "Where?" 
Scully asked, only because she had nothing else to 
say. 

Mulder didn't answer. Stepping up behind her he 
wrapped his arms around her waist and set his 
forehead on her shoulder. 

"Are you ok?" She asked softly after some time. 

"Yeah." He breathed against her neck. "I'm just worn 
out. We started rebuilding the barn today." He stood 
straight so that Scully could turn in his arms. 
"Enough animals made it so that we should be able to 
rebreed the stock." He added rubbing his face. 

"Still clearing the trees from the fields?" 

He nodded. "I think we will be doing that until next 
season, but at least we can use those trees for fire 
wood." He shook his head, obviously wanting the 
topic to be over with. "Are you done here?"

Scully looked around to make sure she has cleaned 
up after the day. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good. I need to get cleaned up then I'm going to 
pass out in bed." Mulder placed a hand on the small 
of her back and guided Scully from the room. 

Scully immediately set about filling the fireplace with 
wood as Mulder stripped down to his boxers. "Lay 
down." She instructed him, pointing to the bed.

He gave her a quizzical look but gladly complied. 

Taking a seat by his legs, Scully rung out a cloth and 
washed away the day's sweat with the damp towel. 

Mulder watched her through heavy lids as she 
finished with legs, after lifting them to wash 
underneath also. She sat down on his thighs and 
bathed his chest in long smooth strokes. 

With each pass of the cloth Mulder felt a little more 
of the stress and tension ease from his body. 

Scully watched as his eyes slowly closed, his breath 
deepening, his body relaxing under her fingers. 
Picking up his hand she studied it as she washed 
away the dirt. His skin had toughened from the hard 
conditions. But underneath the wear and tear it was 
still that same hand. Loving and tender, but strong 
and lethal. 

"Turn over." Scully whispered, getting up on to her 
knees so he could do as asked.

In his half sleep state, Mulder rolled. Without 
bothering to shift his body from his initial position he 
settled heavily into the bed. 

Scully sat softly on his lower back, not wanting to 
interrupt his calmness. Calm was a luxury Mulder 
didn't allow himself these days. He was constantly 
glancing over his shoulder, speaking in hushed tones 
with Skinner, he watched Benjamin without anymore 
pretense. 

Scully ran the cloth over his back and shoulders, 
savoring the way his muscles yielded to her 
ministrations. Rubbing the cloth against the back of 
his neck she tilted her head to look at his face. He 
was asleep. Peaceful and as unguarded as he would 
let himself become at this time. Scully tossed the 
damp cloth to the side and lay facing him. She ran 
her fingertips down the side of his face before letting 
her palm rest over his cheek, his breathing puffing 
warmly against the tender skin of her wrist. Shifting 
slightly she moved closer to him, wrapping her arm 
around his neck. Blanketing his body with hers. 
Offering what minimal protection she could from the 
things that threatened him. 

Say 170
"Mulder."

Mulder poked his head out from under where he was 
trying to repair a collapsed chimney. "Yeah, 
Benjamin?" He kept his voice as even and free of 
hatred as possible. 

"I need you to do a job."

"I'm doing one right now." He stated, moving back 
under the stones. 

Benjamin narrowed his eyes at the man. "Well you 
can finish it tomorrow."

With an audible sigh Mulder pushed himself out from 
under the walls of Nova and stood, brushing the dust 
from himself. 

Benjamin met Mulder's eyes steadily. "Walk to the 
river, make sure there aren't any trees down. We 
don't need to have bark and dead leaves in our 
drinking water." With his orders delivered, Benjamin 
turned and started to walk away. 

"Excuse me?" Mulder asked dumbfounded. 

"I'm sure you can handle the job on your own. If any 
trees are down you and your friend Skinner can go 
back tomorrow and drag them out." He called over 
his shoulder. 

Glaring at the older man's back Mulder sucked in a 
deep breath, with it his pride. Kicking a rock from the 
pile he was using to repair the chimney he set out 
towards the river.
 

"There you are." Scully said relieved. Without giving 
Mulder a chance to shut the door she wrapped her 
arms around his neck.

He placed his hands gently on her waist. He was still 
too angry about the day's events to fully appreciate 
Scully being in his arms. 

"You all right?" Scully asked releasing his from her 
hold.

He nodded. "Yeah." His voice was coated with 
annoyance.

"Good." She said with a satisfied nod. "Now get out 
of here."

Mulder looked at her with a confused expression. 

"The guys stopped by and told me to send you over 
for some poker as soon as you got back." She 
explained.

Mulder shook his head slowly. "No. I'll stay here. I 
haven't seen you all day." 

"I know." She said as she turned him toward the still 
open door. "But I will still be here in a few hours. Go 
relax. Take some of your anger out on them when 
they try to cheat." Scully teased lightly. 

Mulder glanced over his shoulder at her. As much as 
he missed her, he didn't want to sit still. He needed to 
be doing something to control the emotions bottled 
up inside him. "Ok." He complied softly. "I won't be 
too long."

Getting up on her toes Scully placed a lingering kiss 
on his cheek. "You take as long as you need."

Mulder smiled, for the first time that day. "Thanks, 
Scully."

She just smiled in response and pushed him in the 
direction of the Main Room.

Day 174
"Shh." Mulder soothed softly in Scully's ear. The 
dreams had become worse. Twice a night. Never 
changing, never giving more information.

With a shaky breath Scully sunk back into Mulder's 
chest as his hand stroked her hair lightly, her head 
resting on the other. 

"Ok now?" He asked softly, placing a light kiss on 
the side on her neck. 

Scully nodded numbly as she stared unseeing at the 
wall in front of her. 

They lay in silence for a long time, each lost in their 
own thoughts. A slow smile crossed Scully face as 
she took Mulder's hand in hers. "Feel this." She 
whispered, pressing his palm against her belly.

He let out a soft quick breath against her neck as he 
felt the gentle kick from inside her womb. 

Scully ran her hand from his wrist to elbow over and 
over as he felt the movement of his child for the first 
time. 

It was many minutes before Mulder slid his hand 
from her stomach to her cheek, turning her head to 
press his lips against hers. His tongue parted her lips 
gently but insistently. She gladly accepted as she 
turned fully onto her back. Mulder wasted no time 
covering her body with his. Scully felt the warmth, of 
his body, and anticipation, spread through her like a 
fire. 

Eager to feel her skin against his, Mulder pulled 
away the few clothes they were wearing to bed. He 
pressed open mouthed kisses to her belly, her breasts, 
her neck, and finally to her mouth again. "I love 
you." He breathed. Kissing her again before she got a 
chance to reply with words. So she answered in 
actions. She pulled his body into the cradle of her 
thighs, welcoming him into her. 

The invitation did not go unanswered. 

Scully broke their kiss with a soft whimper. His 
movements were slow, deliberate, and almost 
dreamlike in their languorous quality. But wonderful. 
Tilting her head, Scully watched his face. Their eyes 
met, and locked. Wavering only as each reached their 
peak. 

Mulder settled, with a long breath, against her body. 
Scully held him against her, in her, not ready for any 
connection-spell to be broken. Weaving a hand into 
his hair she pulled his ear to her lips. "I love you." 
She finally responded, in words. 

Part 29
Day 176
"No, dad."

"Amanda you don't have a choice." Benjamin 
slammed his fist down on his table, Amanda startled. 
"I am telling you this is what you have to do, and you 
will do it."

She couldn't look at him. As much as she wanted to, 
as much as she knew it would help her stand up 
against him she couldn't. She was too afraid. 

"You will respect me, Amanda." He said firmly. 
"You will do as I ask." 

Day 179
"Dana, how are you feeling?"

Scully smiled politely at Mary as she waited to pick 
up the morning rations. "Fine, thank you."

The elderly woman glanced from Scully's face to her 
belly. "Bigger everyday." Scully nodded in 
agreement. "How far along are you now?"

"About five months." 

"I barely showed with my first child, but my second-
my poor husband had to roll me everywhere after 
seven months. I have a feeling you are going to have 
the same problem, being as petite as you are." Scully 
laughed softly as Mary reminisced. "Are you and 
Mulder planning on having any more children?" 

Scully froze, the question being a complete surprise. 
After a moment of thought she spoke. "I hope so." 
She picked up her bag. "Have a good day, Mary."

"You too, Dana." Mary called after her.

The moment Scully stepped into her room she 
handed the bag of food over to Mulder and sat at the 
table. He insisted on making breakfast for her every 
morning. 

"What are you thinking about?" Mulder asked after 
long moments in silence.

Scully glanced at him, his back to her as he cooked. 
Fiddling with the edge of a book sitting on the table 
she spoke softly. "The baby-do you want this baby?" 
She blurted out, her voice fun of fear and worry.

He turned to her slowly, looking her straight in the 
eye. "Yes, of course I do."

Scully began to speak again-looking at the floor-
before he even finished. "We weren't planning on 
this. I know you didn't think it would happen. And its 
not like I asked you if it is something you wanted."

Mulder stooped down in front of Scully's lap, taking 
her face in his hands. "I want this baby more then 
anything right now."

She still wouldn't focus on his eyes. "I know you 
aren't going to walk away from me. I know you will, 
you already are taking responsibility-"

Scully was cut off by Mulder's soft laugh. "Oh, 
Scully." He looked up at her with an amused smile. 
"You are the most intelligent woman I have ever met, 
but sometimes you are pretty dense." He stopped 
smiling, though, when he saw her desperate need for 
reassurance. Moving close to her, he turned her face, 
looking directly into her eyes. "I want this baby. 
There's no simpler way to say it. You and this child 
are the only reasons I am still at Nova. You know me, 
this place isn't working for me. But you are making it 
bearable. You are keeping me sane. like you always 
do. And I want this baby. I'll say it over and over for 
the rest of my life if you need me to." He was silent 
for a moment. "I'll be honest with you, since you can 
always see through me when I try to bullshit. I am 
scared. Scared shitless actually. The idea of being 
responsible for the upbringing of a person is. I 
don't even know how to describe it. But I swear to 
you Scully, and to our baby, that I will do a better job 
then my father did."

Leaning forward Scully kissed a tear that ran down 
Mulder's cheek. "I know." She whispered, her 
forehead against his. "I know that. You are a good 
man-the best I have even known. Better then my 
father." She admitted softly. "And those aren't easy 
footsteps to follow. I know you'll be a wonderful 
father because he was."

Mulder let out a sigh and burrowed his face into the 
crook of her neck. 

Day 181
"All right, spill it." 

Amanda looked up at Skinner from where she was 
aimlessly stirring a bowl of rice. "What?"

Skinner sat beside her giving his best interrogation 
expression. "These past few days you have been 
acting strange."

"Strange?" She leaned back in her chair, crossing her 
arms over her chest. 

He nodded, not changing his train of questions 
despite her defensive posture. "Yes, strange." Skinner 
counted the mannerisms on his fingers. "You've been 
quiet, jumpy, preoccupied, I can go on if you'd like?"

Amanda stood from the table, pushing the chair 
violently. "I don't need this."

Skinner stood and took her arm in his hand quickly. 
"Mandy, wait." 

"What?" She asked not looking at him. "So you can 
act like my father some more, no thank you." 

"I wasn't acting like your father."

"Yes you were." Pulling her arm out of his grasp she 
spun around. "Telling me how I am acting and what I 
am doing wrong."

"Amanda, I was not telling you what you were doing 
wrong." Skinner spoke softly, calmly. "I was just 
trying to figure out what is wrong." 

"No." She said sharply. "You are trying to tell me 
what to do."

Skinner watched her for a moment. She was close to 
tears and trembling. He lowered his voice even more. 
"That's not true. I just want to know if something is 
bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me, nothing is wrong. All is 
right with the world." Amanda's voice was still sharp 
and defensive. "I'm going now."

"Mandy?" He called after her.

"No, Walter. Leave me alone." The slamming door 
emphasized the end of their conversation. 

Day 184
Scully rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "I'm tired." 
She stated simply.

"Then you should go to bed." Mulder said just as 
simply.

She looked over at the bed with distaste, one hand 
over her protruding belly. "It's not easy getting into 
bed, I hope you realize this."

Mulder smiled as he nodded. "I know. I've seen you 
try to get in and out of bed." He couldn't help but 
chuckle at the visual.

Scully sat on the edge of the bed with a pout. "Not 
funny."

"I know. I know." Mulder said walking over to her 
feet. Taking her legs in his hands he swung them up 
and onto the bed. 

Scully relaxed back against the pillows. "I hope you 
come back before I need to get up again."

"Would you rather I stay?" 

She waved him away lightly. "No, go play with your 
little friends."

Mulder sat on the side of the bed. After placing a 
light kiss on her lips he pressed his forehead against 
hers. "You sure?" 

"Yeah." She placed her hand on his cheek. "I'll be 
fine. I'm just going to go to sleep."

"Ok." Mulder pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'll 
try not to wake you when I come back."
Scully nodded as she closed her eyes. 

"'Night, Scully." He whispered before standing to 
leave the room, turning off the lamps to leave the 
room in almost complete darkness. 

***
Amanda sat in the silence of her room. The book she 
held in her hands had been on the same page for over 
an hour. 

For over a week Amanda had been waiting in a stage 
of readiness. Waiting for the sign that time had run 
out. That time had caught up with her and she 
couldn't pretend any longer. 

The creak of the door opening next door to her 
snapped her wandering mind back to the task at hand. 
With a deep steadying breath Amanda stood from her 
chair.

***
Scully jerked awake. The only sound in the room 
were the quick puffs of her breath, the only light the 
hot timbers left in the fireplace. 

She gave herself a moment to recover from her all 
too familiar nightmare. 

It was cold in her room. But getting out of bed to put 
more wood in the fire just to get back in bed a 
moment later did not seem logical. She pulled the 
blankets up under her chin and settled back into the 
bed, putting the dream out of her mind. Mulder 
would be back soon she knew. He could get the fire 
going again, hopefully she wouldn't have the dream 
again before he returned. 

***
"Hands above the table, Frohike." Langly said with a 
suspicious glare. 

Frohike returned the look. "Why? What do you think 
I am doing under here?"

"Frohike. the possibilities are frightening." Mulder 
supplied with a smirk. 

"Very funny." He mumbled.

"I've got nothing." Skinner's cards slid across the 
table before colliding with pile of small rocks.

Byers looked up from his cards with raised brows. 
Langly leaned over. "What's up his ass?" Byers just 
shrugged. 

"I don't even want to talk about it." Skinner said 
sternly, hearing them despite their pathetic attempts 
to whisper. "I'm not going to think about it either."

"Trouble in paradise?" Mulder asked ignoring 
Skinner's request not to talk about it.
Skinner groaned. 

Mulder nodded to Skinner's wordless response. "I 
know how you feel. Just when you think everything 
is going well, something happens."

***
Benjamin leaned his head against the wall. The 
sounds of muffled men's voices came through the 
thick wood. 

With a self satisfied nod he turned and made his way 
down the hallway. 

***
Scully was roused, only slightly, by the near silent 
sounds of movement in the room. She shifted a little. 
As soon as she met the resistance of the still 
unaccustomed weight of her belly she stilled. It was 
just easier. And the scenario was always the same. 
She had just woken up from one dream it seemed and 
yet she was having another. 

The feelings where there. Someone was in the room, 
but not Mulder. She couldn't move easily, because of 
the baby. And it was dark, without even opening her 
eyes she knew it was.

Scully stiffened suddenly. Briefly a small part of her 
mind fought the rest, this was not her dream. But it 
was. She forced her eyes open to see the shadowy 
figure of Benjamin standing over her. Just like usual. 
But something was different this time. As he reached 
his hand out to touch her she could hear his low raspy 
breathing. That had never happened before.

Before she could move, or even yell out, before she 
had time to think a gunshot echoed off the stone 
walls of Nova. A thick moist warmth spread over 
Scully's body as crushing weight pinned her down. 

Part 30
Day 184 (continued)
***
His heart stopped. The gunshot echoing off the walls 
of Nova stopped everything, just for a missed 
heartbeat. 

"What the fuck?" Skinner muttered.

Mulder didn't hear him. He had only one thought in 
his mind. Scully. 

His chair fell to the side with a dull thud, the door 
smacked against the wall as he threw it open. And 
Mulder ran. He ran with his heart in his throat down 
the hallway. His shoe clad feet thumped along the 
stone floor in an unearthly speed. He saw the door to 
his room, wide open, what seemed miles away. His 
breath came out in harsh, uneven pants in the cool 
dark air. 

Finally, after what seems like hours but was only a 
few moments, Mulder stepped into his room. And 
stopped dead in his tracks. 

The metallic smell of blood was thick in the air, 
making his stomach turn sharply. The still air was 
bitter on his tongue with the smoke from the gun still 
settling around him. His heart pounding in his ears 
drowned out all the other slight noises in the room. 
The soft crackle of the diminishing fire. The panicked 
breathing of Amanda. And the strangled sounds of 
struggle from Scully's bed. 

All at once Mulder began to breathe again, to think 
again. He pushed his way past a trembling Amanda 
and to the bed. 

"Mulder." A panicked rasp came from Scully as she 
tried to move out from under the weight of Benjamin. 
With a disgusted tug Mulder pulled Benjamin's limp 
body from Scully. The hot blood was a shock to his 
clammy hands. The thick liquid soaked through his 
shirt. 

Benjamin's body landed with a heavy thud at his feet. 
"Scully?" Mulder asked looking her up and down. All 
he could see was blood. Glistening and fresh over her 
clothes, over her skin, splattered on the bed, pooling 
on the floor. "Are you hurt?" Mulder ran his hands 
over her body, feeling for anything. "Scully." 

She only trembled under his questioning touch. 

Mulder took her face in his hands, shuddering at his 
blood-coated fingers slipped on her damp skin. "Are 
you hurt?"

She still didn't answer. 

"What the hell?" Skinner said in a daze from the 
doorway. "Amanda?" Skinner kneeled beside the 
chair she sat in, ignoring the rest of the room. 

"I had to." She whispered.

"What?" Skinner glanced over at Mulder. Skinner 
saw Benjamin's body. He saw Scully covered in 
blood. 
He saw Mulder desperately trying to get her to 
respond to him. 

"I had to." She repeated. "He was going to take her."

"What?" Was all Skinner was capable of repeating, as 
he looked closely at her pale drawn face. 

Amanda continued in a barely audible whisper. "I 
knew he was going to do it. I've known for a long 
time. I've seen it before. This isn't the first time he 
has tried to do this." Streams streamed down her face. 
"I-I couldn't let him do it to Dana. I couldn't." She 
began to sob opening. 

"Shh. Shh. It's ok." Skinner pulled her head down to 
his shoulder. 

"Scully?" Mulder asked with desperation. "Fuck." He 
cursed softly. Leaning down her carefully pulled her 
shaking body up into his arms. She was cold and 
slippery from the blood. Her drying cheek stuck to 
Mulder's now bloodied shirt. He secured her body 
against his, whispering his love into her ear. Pushing 
his way through the gathered people in the hall, he 
managed to order the Gunmen to follow him. With 
determined strides, unhindered by Scully's weight, he 
made his way to the vacant Medical Room. The thick 
scent of blood followed them like a cloud through 
Nova. 

The short walk seemed to last for hours as Scully 
shivered in his hold. But finally he set her down on 
an empty cot. "Byers, can you make a fire." Mulder 
didn't bother to listen for a reply. "Langly, Frohike, 
don't let anyone in." Mulder turned back to Scully, 
immediately pulling off her soaked clothing. He 
waited until Byers closed the door behind him, a 
fresh fire in the corner of the room, before he 
removed the last of Scully's clothing. He lay her 
down and quickly covered her with a blanket as she 
starred up at the ceiling with glazed eyes. Mulder 
pulled his wet shirt over his head quickly. He picked 
Scully back up in his arms and brought her over to 
the fire. He sat, cradling her body in his arms rocking 
gently. "Scully. Come on, come back to me." He 
whispered brokenly. 

After what seemed like hours passed Scully finally 
came back to her body again. She finally felt the cold 
her body was reacting to violently. The fleeting 
thought that she was in shock went through her mind. 
All she did was burrow herself more into the warmth 
of Mulder's body. In response his arms tightened 
around her, holding her closer to him. His breath 
tickled her neck comfortingly as he pressed his 
temple to hers. No words were spoken. None were 
needed at the time. Mulder continued to rock her 
slowly letting Scully's mind come back to itself. 

***
"Amanda, I need you to tell me what happened?" 
Skinner said softly. He had brought her back to her 
room, where it was quiet. 

"I killed my father." She said simply. "He was going 
to hurt Dana."

Skinner nodded and leaned back in his chair. 
According to the Rule Book anyone who committed 
murder was banned from Nova and to be shot if seen 
within Nova's area. 

Those were Benjamin's rules. 

But Benjamin was dead. With a perfect shot to the 
back of his head. At the moment his body was being 
taken away from Nova, not to be buried in the newly 
constructed cemetery where the bodies of the ones 
who died during the attack rested. In the two hours 
time that had passed no one objected to his burial 
away from Nova. No one mourned his death. No one 
demanded punishment to Amanda. They only asked 
one question; were Dana and the baby ok. 

***
"Mulder." Scully murmured against his neck.

Mulder pulled away slightly, one arm cradling her 
back the other stroked her dried blood streaked hair 
from her face. "Yes?"

Scully let her eyes slip closed as his warm hand 
settled on her cheek. "Just Mulder." She said softly. 

He pushed his lips to her forehead with a slight nod. 
"I'm here." 

A shiver ran through Scully's body. She tucked 
herself impossibly closer to him, as if trying to crawl 
under his very skin. 

As far as he could, Mulder inched closer to the fire. 
His hand skimmed her belly. But he didn't voice his 
concerns. Scully knew them. 

"I think I'm ok." She said softly. "I feel ok. Cold and 
shaky, but ok."

Mulder rubbed his free hand up and down her arm. 
"I'll warm you up."

"It's ok." She slurred slightly. 

"No it's not." He whispered into the near silence of 
the room. "You are in shock." 

She said nothing. Letting her fingers flex against his 
bare chest. His skin was warm and firm next to her 
chilled fingers. Scully focused on the slight dip the 
pressure of her touch made on his muscles, instead of 
the replay of her living nightmare when she closed 
her eyes. A slight shudder shot through her body as 
her skin remembered the feel of hot blood spilling 
over her, the dead weight of his body on top of hers, 
the fear that had settled itself in her heart. 

Day 185
Scully woke slowly. She tensed for a moment when 
she realized she was nude, but the familiar warmth of 
Mulder's body against hers relaxed her. She opened 
her eyes, Mulder spooned up closely behind her. 
They were laying a cot pulled up close to the 
dwindling fire. Scully felt warm and safe in Mulder's 
tight hold. Carefully, even though she knew he would 
wake, she shifted in his arms and turned to face him. 

Mulder's eyes fluttered opened just as Scully pressed 
her face into the warmth of his shoulder. He gave a 
wordless greeting by skimming his hand along her 
shoulder blade to the bend in her knee, then back up 
again. He repeated this until his hand felt hot from 
the gentle friction of skin on skin. 

With a soft sigh Scully bent her leg over his waist, 
her arm around his rib cage, effectively holding him 
to her. The heat between their skin encased in heavy 
blankets was almost unbearable. Scully shifted until 
she poked a foot out into the cooler air surrounding 
them. After a moment she was still too warm. 

Sensing this, feeling the same himself, Mulder 
shrugged the blanket from their upper bodies. 
Scully's back glowed from the fire. Her hair was hot 
from the heat of the flames as Mulder buried his hand 
in it. He gently tilted her head up and pressed his lips 
her hers. Scully released a breath into his mouth, 
taking in his. Wanting more contact with him Scully 
shifted closer to his mouth. A deep moan became lost 
in their kiss as the bottom swell of Scully's stomach 
brushed Mulder's erection. Neither knew who the 
moan came from. 

Scully could feel the questions and concerned words 
forming in Mulder's chest. But she wouldn't allow 
them to surface. She didn't want any words. She just 
wanted to feel. 

With a steady push she rolled Mulder onto his back. 
He made a soft questioning sound in his throat, but 
Scully wouldn't release his mouth from hers to let 
him voice it. 

The blankets pooled around Scully's waist as she 
straddled his thighs, the only thing separating them 
was the thin cloth of Mulder's boxers. 

Mulder shifted, pulling them up until his back was 
against the wall, their faces level. His breath came 
out in heavy waves through his nose as his hands slid 
up her back, over her arms wrapped around his neck, 
back down her back then up to cradle her breasts. 

A soft gasp escaped her mouth, threatening to break 
the kiss. But Scully wouldn't allow it. The ache low 
in her belly was becoming urgent. She had to feel 
him. She had to have the pleasant sensation of his 
body stretching and filling her. With each touch, she 
felt him erase the horrible feeling of blood on her 
body. She wanted shared sweat and tears to wash it 
away. With a shaking hand she pushed Mulder's 
boxers down enough to release him. She took his 
hardness into her hand, feeling the mutual need 
between them.

With a groan Mulder pulled his head away, but 
Scully followed him. She pressed her tongue against 
his in a silent cry as she sank down on to him. All the 
breath left Mulder's lungs, brushing across her sweat 
dampened face. Mulder took control of the never 
ending kiss as Scully began to rock above him in 
short determined strokes. With every touch of his 
engorged skin against her swollen flesh a little more 
the nightmare eased from her mind. She knew she 
would never forget it. But with Mulder touching her 
it was easy to push the fear into the back of her mind. 

The kiss stilled as their need for air became more 
urgent, but their lips didn't part. Pressing closer 
together with each down stroke of Scully, separating 
marginally as she moved away, only to return at a 
faster pace. With a sudden firm press against 
Mulder's mouth Scully's body clutched and pulled at 
his. Their soft sounds lost within each other. Scully 
wouldn't still, or slow. Sweat dripped down her 
spine, cooling her heated skin for only a moment. 
Mulder's hands clenched rhythmically on her waist. 
Until with a strong pull against him he shuddered and 
released into her body. 

The kiss finally broke as they struggled to regain 
their breathing, foreheads pressed together. They 
were silent for many moments, just listening to their 
slowly evening breathing and the crackle of the fire. 

When Scully finally spoke they were the words that 
Mulder needed to hear. "I'm ok now. We are both 
ok." The only words he needed.
 
Part 31
Day 185 (continued)
***
The cool air hit the heated skin of Mulder's chest as 
soon as he opened the door out into the hallway. He 
shivered, but that was better then walking around in a 
blood coated shirt. 

"Mulder, is everything ok?" Byers said jumping up 
from his spot on the ground with Langly. No one had 
seen Mulder or Scully since last night. 

"Yeah, we're all right." He rubbed the back of his 
neck with his hand as he looked out into the Main 
Room. 
"What about everything out here?"

Langly shrugged. "Everyone is pretty much going 
about their business. There are a lot of questions as 
what to do now though." 

Mulder snorted with a slight laugh. "Like I know."

Byers looked at Langly for a moment before 
speaking. "Everyone wants you to take over."

In response Mulder let out a sharp laugh then rubbed 
his face. "Oh God." He groaned. 

"They trust you. You have done a lot since the attack 
so everyone looks up to you now. We need someone 
to-"

"Why me?" He interrupted. Then quickly held up a 
hand. "Right now I just want to go get some clean 
clothes for Scully and I." 

Langly gestured for Mulder to follow him while 
Byers stayed behind. "We moved all your things into 
a new room."

Mulder followed in a daze. Too many thought were 
swimming around his mind for him to focus on 
anything but walking behind Langly. He barely 
registered the friendly yet sympathetic smiles of the 
people he passed. He murmured indifferent responses 
to those who greeted him. 

Langly opened the door to his new room in the East 
Hallway and left him to change. 

Mulder wandered in with interest. The room wasn't 
any larger the one before, though it was long in 
shape. Immediately in front of him was the fireplace, 
with the table in front of that. To the left the bed was 
pushed in the corner with the dresser across from it at 
the foot of the bed. Atop the dresser were the pictures 
of Scully's family and Samantha. He walked to the 
dresser, unbuttoning his jeans and toeing off his 
shoes as he went. After pulling on his fresh clothes he 
gathered the same for Scully. He turned, to the leave 
the room, but stopped with a soft smile. In the corner 
opposite the bed a crib was pushed up against the 
wall. Placing the armful of clothes on the table next 
to their rations he walked over to the crib. It was dark 
oak, obviously old, but sturdy, and strong. Mulder 
ran his hand along the smooth edges. He finally felt 
like things were falling into place for them. 

Day 186
It was silent. Uncomfortable, tense, waiting silence. 

"Just ask, Walter." Amanda spat out.

Skinner glanced up at her from his set at the table, 
she starred stony faced back at him as she leaned 
against the far wall. "I just would like to know how 
you knew this was going to happen?"

Amanda shrugged slightly, she was stalling, she had 
been stalling for the last few days. "I told you. I've 
seen it before. He lusts after a woman, she doesn't 
respond how he thinks he should, so he takes her."

"And he had done this before?"

She dragged the toe of her shoe on the stone floor, 
avoiding his eyes. "A few times."

"No one else knew about this?" Skinner urged her on 
gently. 

"They knew. But ever since he started Nova no one 
had bothered to stand up to him, they didn't think 
they could without being kicked out."

"What exactly did he do with the women he took?"

Amanda looked up at him sharply, then away again. 
"I don't know." She murmured. "But no one would 
see them for a few days and then. they just weren't 
the same."

Skinner nodded slowly. "You didn't want it to 
happen to Scully?"

"Of course not!" She began to pace the long wall of 
the room. "She's always been so nice to me, to 
everyone. She is so happy with Mulder. I couldn't 
bear to watch my father take that away from her.. I 
was afraid he would hurt her baby. He didn't want 
her to have it. He didn't want her to have anything 
with Mulder." She trailed off.

Skinner remained silent for many minutes. "So you 
took my gun."

She nodded. "I had to." 

Slowly Skinner stood from the table, leaning his 
weight on the edge as he watched her continue to 
pace. "You stole it from me."

Amanda stopped and looked at him in awe. "This 
isn't about you, Walter." She said firmly before 
shaking her head in disgust, continuing to pace. 

"It is when MY gun is used to kill someone." Skinner 
immediately regretted his harsh tone. 

"You think I don't feel badly?" She asked facing him 
with an icy stare. "I know you have killed before, 
Walter. You know the feeling of killing a stranger, or 
even someone you had spoken to before. But you 
have never killed a parent-your only parent. Do you 
think I don't regret stealing from you? That I don't 
think about the fact that I shot my father in the back 
of his head without him knowing I was there? I think 
about it every second of the day." She finished in a 
barely audible hiss. 

Skinner met her hard gaze with a softer one. An 
understanding one. "Believe it or not Amanda, but I 
can imagine how you feel." 

Slumping against the wall in defeat, Amanda didn't 
look at Skinner. "I don't think that's possible." She 
whispered.

Day 188
Scully fiddled and shifted the contents of the dresser 
around. The shirts, once in the top drawer, she moved 
to the middle drawer. It wasn't right. She moved 
them back to the top. But she didn't like having the 
pants on the bottom, she moved those higher. She had 
no clue were to put the spare sheets for the bed, they 
took up too much room. With a defeated sigh as sat 
on the end of the bed with an arm load of clothes, 
looking with question at the offending furniture. 

Mulder, who had been watching Scully for the last 
hour at the table, walked over and took the 
unorganized clothes from her and shoved them into a 
random drawer, holding up a hand to stop her from 
getting up to move them. He sat down next to her. 

Scully was sitting, her hands turning restlessly in her 
lap. The moment Mulder sat by her she 
unconsciously leaned into him.

"What's going on?" He asked gently, placing an arm 
around her waist.

"Nothing." With a soft smile she looked up at 
Mulder. He leaned down and met her for a gentle 
kiss. Scully broke away with a slight laugh, placing 
her hands over her belly. 

Mulder smiled, placing a hand next to hers. Leaning 
over he kissed her temple, then leaned over more and 
kissed her belly before standing. 

"Where are you going?" Scully asked quickly. 

"I told you yesterday, some people want to meet me 
in the Main Room. Do you want to come? It's 
basically going to be about me running Nova." 
Mulder shook his head is astonishment. 

Scully thought for a moment before shaking her head 
and sliding up further on the bed. "No, I'll wait for 
you here." 

Mulder pulled another shirt over his head before 
stepping out into the cool hallways of Nova. "Are 
you sure?"

"Yeah. Will you be back soon?" 

With a few long strides Mulder kissed her again. "I'll 
do my best."

Scully caught his face in her hands, pressing another 
kiss on his lips before letting him go. "Hurry."

Mulder gave her a small smile and a nod before 
leaving the room. 
 

"Hey." Mulder greeted discreetly to Skinner as he 
walked up to his side. It was no secret that Mulder 
wasn't comfortable with the responsibility that 
people wanted to place on him. 

"We were beginning to wonder if you were going to 
show." Alex called, with a pleased smile, from across 
the room.

Mulder let out an uncomfortable laugh. The meeting 
was small, only a dozen people. Mulder knew them 
all, they were the ones who were always working. 
Always looking out for others. 

"Well let's get right to the point so you can get back 
to Dana." Alex continued. "You already know, we 
want you-and Walter to take over Nova." He held up 
a hand to stop Mulder's immediate protests. "I know, 
and we all understand it's a lot of work and 
responsibility and we know you have a lot to deal 
with having a baby on the way. But someone has to 
do it, and everyone feels that you and Walter are the 
best bet. And Walter has already agreed."

With a slow nod Mulder leaned back against the wall, 
hands deep in his pockets. 

"We need people, more then one so we won't have 
the problems we did with Benjamin." Matt started up 
after Mulder said nothing for many tense minutes. 
"You and Walter have experience working together." 
Mulder let out a soft private laugh as he remembered 
the many times he and Skinner locked horns in the 
old days. Matt ignored his strange response. "We 
need you two to take care of any problems, you have 
before. As well as possible with Benjamin around." 

"I understand what you are saying." Mulder finally 
spoke up. "I am flattered that you thought of me, but I 
don't know if it's necessarily a good idea."

"Why not?" Alex asked quickly. 

Laughing at himself, Mulder shook his head. "I don't 
know. I would just hate for it not to work out. 
Maybe we should just hang in there for a while. 
Finish the clean up and just see what happens."

"I saw three ships yesterday." Linda said from the 
back of the group. She was a small frail woman, but 
she wasn't afraid to voice her opinions or thoughts at 
any time.

Mumbling a curse Mulder rubbed his face.

"You handled it well last time, Mulder. If something 
like that happens again it would make us all feel 
better to have you in charge." 

Mulder looked up at Linda nodding. "I'll think about 
it." He said after a few moments. "That's all I can 
promise." He turned to Skinner. "I'll get in touch 
with you, Skinner, we can talk about this."

"Whenever you have the time." Skinner said with a 
nod.

Mulder said curt good byes and left to go back to his 
room. 
 
Part 32
Day 190
"Maybe you should just do it, Mulder." Scully said 
stroking her fingers through his hair.

"Do what?" He asked not moving his head from its 
spot pillowed on her breasts as his hand rubbed her 
protruding belly lightly. 

Scully smiled at the back of his head. For the past 
few days Mulder has been in his own little world; 
deep in thought. "Agree to run Nova."

He let out a deep sigh, half his focus on Nova and 
half on the gentle motions against Scully's flesh 
under his palm. "I don't know." He mumbled after 
some time. "I'll admit, I'm flattered they want me. 
But it's a lot of work. What if people change their 
minds suddenly? Then what? Am I supposed to walk 
away and let someone else take over?"

"You wont be doing it alone. Skinner already said he 
would do it. People are more likely to trust two 
people's joint decisions, rather then one. You can 
back each other up if it comes to that."

"Skinner and I only get along so well." Mulder 
grumbled. He frowned slightly; the baby had stopped 
kicking a few moments ago. As gently as he could, 
Mulder rolled over onto his other side so he could 
look up at Scully's face. 

"It will be fine." She said cupping his jaw in her 
hand. "I think you should do it."

With a thoughtful sigh Mulder nodded. 

Day 192
Amanda wouldn't turn around. She knew Skinner 
was standing behind her in the doorway of the 
Medical Room. 

"Mandy?" He called to her after a few tense 
moments.

"Yes?" Was her curt response. 

Skinner walked into the room, shutting the door 
softly behind him. "Can we talk?"

"About what, Walter?" Amanda pointlessly moved 
the contents of a shelf around, anything not to face 
Skinner. 

"You certainly aren't making this easy." 

"I don't know what you are talking about."

Skinner slammed his palm down on the tabletop. 
Amanda jumped. "Fine, Amanda." He said standing. 
"Act like a spoiled brat-"

She spun around with a look of anger that stopped 
Skinner's sentence dead. "Don't you dare say that, 
Walter!" 

"Well its true" He struggled to keep his voice in 
check. "Amanda, you won't even talk to me, or 
anyone for that matter."

"That's because the only thing people want to talk 
about is how I killed my father." Amanda swallowed 
back a sob.

"That's not true. We don't have to talk about that. We 
can talk about anything at all. Hell, we don't even 
have to talk." He took a tentative step towards her, 
with his hand out stretched. But stopped when she 
took two steps away. "Let's take a walk, it's fairly 
warm outside."

"No." She said firmly. 

Skinner let out a frustrated breath. "Amanda. 
please, don't shut me out."

"I'll do whatever I want." Amanda turned away from 
him as she silently cursed herself for sounding so 
childish. 

"I give up. When you want to speak to me again I'll 
be waiting for you." With that Skinner slammed the 
door behind him. 

***
"Mind if I sit down?" Scully asked shyly as she 
walked up to Skinner, he sat near the front of the 
church room, they were the only two there at a fairly 
late hour. 

Skinner looked up, surprised, but pleased. "Please 
do."

Scully carefully lowered herself into the chair. 

"Mulder just announced his acceptance, I'm sure you 
had a part in that." 

She laughed softly. "It did take a little 
encouragement. I think he is feeling a little 
overwhelmed at the moment."

Skinner nodded. "That's understandable." He glanced 
over his shoulder towards the door for the church. It 
seemed, for the first time since Scully was attacked 
she came along. Skinner hadn't seen her anywhere, 
outside of her room, without Mulder. "Where is he?"

"Getting a few books." 

He nodded again as the silence took on a tense 
undertone. "I'm worried about Amanda." Skinner 
said after a few long moments. "I'm.. I'm trying to 
help her but she just won't let me." 

"She might just need some time." 

"No. Everyday I think she is getting worse. It's like 
I'm losing her piece by piece. It's like she doesn't 
even want anything to do with me anymore." 

Scully was silent for a few moments. "Skinner. she 
just lost the only man in her life, by her own hand. 
She is probably feeling a wary towards you now."

Leaning back in his chair, Skinner rubbed his face. 
"But if I let her slip away I might not get her back."
Sensing Mulder's presence, Scully glanced over he 
shoulder to see him standing in the doorway. Placing 
a comforting hand on Skinner's arm she rose. "If I 
see Amanda I'll try to talk with her. Give her time, 
these changes aren't easy on anyone." 

"I know. Take care, Scully." He said as she walked 
down the aisle. 

Day 194
"Hey, Scully?"

"Hmm?" She didn't look up from her partly reclined 
position on the bed reading at Mulder, who sat at the 
table. 

Mulder paused for a moment. For days he had been 
working up the courage, figuring out the wording, to 
ask this. "Scully. How did you know Benjamin was 
going to come after you?" He spoke in one long 
breath. 

Slowly she looked up from her book and met his 
curious and nervous eyes. "I.. I don't really know. 
Maternal instinct maybe." She said with a slightly 
uncomfortable laugh.

At her response Mulder stood from his chair, gaining 
some confidence that she actually answered the 
question. "Maternal instincts caused dreams seeing 
into the future?"

Scully let out a long breath. "Mulder. I really don't 
know."

As if he didn't hear her, he went on. "I just don't 
understand how you knew. I'm not questioning that 
you did by all means. I was there. I saw the way you 
reacted to the dreams." He sat on the edge of the bed, 
starring at her intently. "I wish there was a way to 
research and study it."

"You're sounding like me." Scully muttered with a 
slight smile. 

Mulder laughed, with a nervous edge. He didn't 
know why this conversation was so touchy for them. 
Maybe it was because he had too many things on his 
mind, too many questions that Scully could react 
oddly too. "I just want answers."

Scully dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "I just 
want to forget about it."

He nodded slowly. "I don't think you have forgotten 
about it, Scully."

She swallowed thickly. "I. think I am over it." 
Scully was never able to lie outright to Mulder, 
unless she was lying to herself at the same time. 

"Scully." Mulder placed his hand on her knee to bring 
her eyes up to his, they had strayed to the closed 
book in her hands. "We both know you are far from 
over it."

"What do you mean by that?" She said, suddenly 
feeling defensive.

"Scully. You don't- it's impossible to get over 
something so quickly."

"Don't analyze me, Mulder." Scully said sternly. 

He held up a hand. "I'm not. I've just noticed you are 
acting differently."

"How so?" She asked tentatively, not really sure if 
she wanted the answer or not. 

Mulder paused for a moment, he hadn't planned the 
wording for this, he was hoping he would have to talk 
about it. "You barely leave the room. And when you 
do, its only when I go with you. That's not like you, 
Scully." 

"I don't want to talk about this right now, Mulder."

"Scully-" He started before she interrupted. 

"I'm not up to it right now, I'm tired." She said 
quickly, knowing he would not push the subject after 
he saying that. 

"It's.. just going to take time, Scully." Mulder 
spoke calmly, as if softening the tone of his voice 
would take the edge out of hers. "And I'm here for 
you."

Scully nodded, swallowing her pride. Hearing her 
own words used toward her made her realize just how 
far from being healed she was. And how lucky she 
was to have Mulder to help her. 

Part 33
Day 197
"There she is." Scully said gesturing discretely 
towards Amanda as she walked into the Medical 
Room.

Mulder let out a long breath. "I really think you 
should let Skinner and Amanda work it out for 
themselves. It's really none of our business."

"Mulder." She said in a decisive tone. "I told Skinner 
I would talk with Amanda when I saw her. She must 
have realized it because she has been avoiding me for 
days. Now before she manages to get out of sight 
again, I'm going to see her. Will you wait here for 
me?"

With a defeated sigh Mulder leaned against the wall 
by their pile of firewood. "Yeah."

"I'll try not to take too long." She called as she 
walked across the Main Room. 

Hearing Scully enter the room Amanda looked up 
from where she was putting a book away. "I was just 
leaving." Amanda said quickly. 

Scully stayed in the doorway. "Amanda, I wanted to 
talk with you for a moment."

"I really have things I need to do." She said trying to 
side step Scully, not being rude enough to push her 
aside, but she wouldn't let her pass. 

"It will just take a moment." At Amanda's reluctant 
nod Scully shut the door and gestured towards the 
table for Amanda to sit with her. 

"I suppose this is about what happened." Amanda 
began, not making eye contact with Scully. "About 
what my father was trying to do. I'm sorry, I really 
am." She began to speak quickly. "I should have 
warned you about him. About what he would try to 
do if you didn't return his affection." 

"Amanda." Scully said firmly to stop her rambling. 
"It's not about that. I don't want to talk about that any 
more then you do. This is about Skinner."

Amanda visibly cringed. "I. I don't really want to-"

"I understand that." Scully interrupted. "But you need 
to think about what this is doing to Skinner. I have 
known him for a long time, and this is the first time I 
have ever seen him happy. He loves you, I know you 
know that. You need to think about him."

"I do, trust me. I think about him often, even when I 
try not to."

"Well tell him that." Scully said with a slight laugh. 
"He feels like he is going to lose you."

"I'm scared I'm going to lose him." Amanda 
whispered as she studied the grain on the tabletop. 

"Don't let it happen then." Scully gave Amanda a 
reassuring smile when she finally looked up. "Talk to 
him. Do whatever you have to do so that you don't 
lose each other."

Day 200
Scully quickly looked up from her book and froze 
Mulder with an accusing stare. "Why do you keep 
looking at me?"

Mulder opened his mouth to say something, but 
nothing came out. He just shook his head stupidly. 

"Well stop it." Scully grumbled looking back down to 
her book. "You are starting to freak me out."

"Sorry." He mumbled, looking down only to glance 
up at her again under his lashes. 

"Mulder." Scully warned.

"I'm going for a walk before bed." He said jumping 
up suddenly.

Scully looked up at him quickly. "I'll go too."

The thought of telling her that he needed some time 
alone entered his mind, but left just as quickly. "All 
right." Mulder handed her a heavy sweater to add to 
her clothing. "We'll stay in Nova. It's too cold for 
you to be walking outside at this time of the night."

"I'm not going to freeze, Mulder." Scully was 
ceaselessly amused by Mulder's over-protective 
streak. She hadn't found it funny when they were 
partners, but now, away from the censorious eyes of 
OPR and their other detractors, she allowed his 
pampering, without any protest. Well, not much 
anyway. 

"I know that but." He trailed off, with no plan to 
elaborate on his thoughts. "Ready?"

Scully reached up and turned down the last of the 
lamps to a very dull glow. "Yes."

"Let me know when you get tired." 

Scully smiled at him as he shut their door. "I will. 
Walking might help my back." She added aimlessly. 

"You didn't tell me your back was bothering you." 
Mulder looked her up and down as if that would 
explain her aliment. 

Scully shrugged. "Nothing much. Just a little achy." 
They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, 
only giving brief greetings to the few people making 
their nightly trips to the woodpile or the water source. 
"Mulder?"

"Hmm?" He glanced at her for a moment. He was 
enjoying the silence. It gave him time to think. About 
nothing in particular, just to let his mind wander and 
decompress.

Scully's speech faltered for a moment. "Do you want 
a boy or a girl?"

Mulder let out a nervous laugh. "I. I don't know, 
Scully."

She looked at him in disbelief. "Yes you do."

"Scully, no matter what I say it won't be the right 
answer. This is a trick question."

"There is no right answer." Scully insisted. 

Mulder let out a tense breath. "Ok, I'll tell you. But 
don't ask me to explain why or anything, ok?"

"Deal." She said excitedly. 

He looked at her with an unidentifiable smile. "Girl."

"Really?" At his nod she made a soft intrigued sound. 
"I figured you would want a boy."

"Why's that?" 

Scully shrugged. "I don't know. The father's usually 
want a boy. You know, to play football with-"

"We don't have a football." Mulder interrupted with a 
grin. 

Rolling her eyes, she continued. "And the mother's 
want girls to dress up and play with their hair."

"Are you saying you want a girl?" He asked quickly. 

Scully thought about it for a moment. "Not 
necessarily. I really don't know what I want."

"Yes you do." Mulder used her words against with a 
mischievous smile. 

"No, really. I don't." 

Mulder shrugged. "Fine. Don't tell me, it's ok." He 
looked at her with his kicked puppy face.

Scully laughed softly, taking his hand and 
sandwiching it between both of hers. "Seriously. I 
don't know. That's why I asked you. To see if it 
would motivate direct thinking in one particular 
way." Scully studied the differences in their hands for 
a few moments. "It didn't though." She smiled up at 
him. "I still don't know. I guess it doesn't matter."

"I know it doesn't. I would like a baby girl. But a 
boy. Well, as you said, male pride in a male 
offspring. 
But the thought of a little girl, as beautiful as you... 
That's a wonderful thing too."

Scully blushed slightly as he directed her back into 
their room. She has no idea how long they were 
walking for, she barely remembered passing the main 
fire quite a few times. Her feet now ached slightly, 
but the rest of her body felt refreshed. They both 
stripped away most of their clothes, without turning 
up the lamps and settled into bed. Mulder gently 
rolled Scully on to her side, facing away from him. 
Scully smiled sleepily as Mulder pressed the heel of 
his hand against the base of her spine applying 
pressure. 

"This good?"

"Mmm." She sighed softly. "A little higher. Perfect." 
Scully said as he found the right spot. She fell asleep 
before his hand left her body. 

Day 203
Mulder jolted awake to the pounding at his door. 

"Mulder! Mulder there's a fire!"

He stumbled from the bed, the sheets tangled around 
his waist slowing him down. "I'm coming!" Mulder 
yelled as he pulled on his jeans and shoes. 

"Mulder?"

"Go to the Medical Room." He told Scully as he 
pulled open the door to the hallway, the acid smell of 
smoke was still light in the air, but strong enough to 
send another rush of adrenaline through his body. Out 
of the corner of his eye Mulder saw Scully nod. 
"Where is it?" He asked a panicked Eric once he 
stepped out the door.

"Jane's room, right next to mine." 

Mulder nodded and they made their way down the 
hall at a gallop. "Is she still in there?" 

"No, but her son is." Eric said softly between huffs of 
the thickening air.

Mulder's stomach dropped. Jane had a five year old 
son, James. Her husband was killed during the first 
attacks when most of their house collapsed on them. 
She had made the hike to Nova alone with her young 
boy. 

"She left him to get firewood, she started talking with 
someone. Jane says he was asleep." Eric continued. 
Rounding the slight curve in the hallway, Mulder 
struggled not to completely double over as the smoke 
filled his lungs. Squinting in the gray haze he saw 
Skinner and a few other people struggling to control 
the flames with buckets of water. "Is he still in 
there?" Mulder called to Skinner as he crouched by 
his side at the doorway, trying to look in amongst the 
flames and smoke. 

Skinner nodded grimly as he coughed. 

"Should we start moving people out?" Kevin asked as 
he threw another bucket of water into the room. 

"No." Mulder said with a quick look down the 
hallway, people had started to gather, forming an 
assembly line to pass water quickly. "It shouldn't 
spread beyond this room. It's too cold to have people 
standing outside if it's not necessary." Water was 
continually poured into the room, it began to be 
difficult to hear anyone over the sizzles and pops of 
the fire. "I'm going to go in there." Mulder said 
suddenly.

Skinner grabbed his arm forcefully. "No you aren't"

"I have to." Mulder pulled his shirt up over his mouth 
after wetting all his clothes down until he was 
soaked. "The fire is over in that corner." He pointed 
to the direct right where Jane said the dresser and 
lamps were. "I'll check the bed which is over there." 
The far left side of the room. 

"I can't let you do it." Skinner said. 

"Scully would go in herself if she was able." Mulder 
said with firm contact with Skinner's eyes. He knew 
Skinner was thinking about Scully, so was he. "I'll be 
in and out. Just like that." Mulder snapped his fingers 
before ducking his head and crawling into the heat. 
The moment the flames surrounded him Mulder felt a 
panic, starting deep in his chest and spreading every 
where. His fingers to his toes. And he froze. 

For how long he didn't know. Time stood still as he 
felt his clothes heat and begin to singe on the edges. 
A hot ember sparked and landed on the back of his 
hand. Mulder jumper and flicked it from his hand. 
With a deep burning breath he forced his body 
forward. Ignoring the fear and focusing on finding 
the young boy somewhere in the small but smoke 
filled room. 

Barely making the bed out amongst the thick air, 
Mulder made his way towards it, all the while 
struggling to get enough air into his lungs. Behind 
him he could hear the sizzle and sputtering of the fire 
as it was doused with water. Boiling drops of 
condensation fell from the ceiling onto his skin. He 
could feel where blisters were beginning to form on 
his partially exposed arms. But he was finally at the 
bed. Feeling his way around he hoisted himself up 
onto the edge. It was impossible to see through the 
steamy haze. Mulder felt around the bed. His 
stomach started to knot more with each inch he 
reached and did not encounter James. Finally, 
reaching the furthest corner he found the warm 
bundle of flesh curled into the sheets. He tried to call 
out to him, but only choked on the smoke. Mulder 
tucked the boy under one of his arms and dropped 
back down to the floor. Judging by the suddenly 
decreasing brightness of the room the fire was almost 
out, but the smoke still made it impossible to see. 
Dragging James as best he could, Mulder made his 
way toward where the door should be. He could hear 
Skinner calling his name, but could only cough and 
wheeze in response. Mulder inched his way along the 
floor, cringing as the tender skin on his palm came in 
contact with the remaining embers and hot water. 

Suddenly James was pulled from under his arm and 
someone grabbed Mulder by the collar, hauling him 
out of the room and down the hall into cleaner air. 
Mulder lay coughing and gagging for a few long 
moments as James was carried off to the Medical 
Room. Finally, being able to breathe, Mulder lay on 
his back, eyes closed, and let the cool air burn his 
lungs.

"Mulder? Are you all right?" Skinner asked, kneeling 
by his side.

He just nodded numbly. 

"Ok. Scully is with James now. He was breathing 
when you pulled him out, burned pretty bad in some 
places. Can you get up? Scully is going to want to 
take a look at you."

Mulder just nodded again. After another moment's 
rest he rolled over onto all fours, letting himself catch 
his breath again before Skinner helped to his feet. 

"Oh she is going to kick your ass." Skinner said with 
amusement as he dragged Mulder down the hallway. 
After a long slow walk Skinner opened the door of 
the Medical Room and deposited Mulder on the 
nearest cot.

Scully glanced up from where she was tending James 
with an obvious look of relief to Skinner as he gave a 
slight nod and left to start cleaning up the damaged 
area. With a final check on James, Scully walked to 
Mulder and pulled a chair in front of him. "Are you 
ok?" She asked cupping his jaw in her palms. Mulder 
nodded tiredly. "Do you think you can talk?"

Mulder thought for a moment. Judging by the pain 
that just breathing caused he wasn't in a hurry to try 
speaking. So he shook his head slightly. 

Scully nodded and tugged on his tee shirt until he 
raised his arms so she could pull it off. Next she 
unbuttoned his jeans and motioned for him to lie 
down so she could pull his shoes and pants off. Once 
left in only his boxers she bought a tub of water over 
and a soft cloth. Mulder let his eyes slip shut as 
Scully washed the soot from his face. Scully frowned 
at the frequency of his cringes when she hit a tender 
or blistered area. "You have a lot of burns." She said 
softly. "None look to bad, nothing a little aloe and 
bandaging won't take care of." 

Mulder made a soft agreeable noise in the back on his 
throat. A moment later he let out a hiss as Scully 
began to carefully clean the large burns on his hands 
and arms. 

"This will only take a minute, then you can get some 
rest." She said softly. After wrapping what spots 
could be, Scully ran her hand through his hair. 
"You're hair is pretty singed too." She said with an 
amused smile. 

Mulder just murmured wordlessly. 

"Get some sleep." She pulled a few blankets over 
him. "I want to stay here with James tonight, so you 
might as well to."

Opening his eyes slightly Mulder tugged on Scully's 
hand, trying to pull her down in bed with him. She 
shook her head slightly and leaned down to kiss his 
forehead. "I want to clean James' burns again in a 
little while. Then I will go to sleep. I promise." She 
rubbed his cheek until his eyes closed again and his 
breathing evened out. 

Day 204
At Mulder's painful groan Scully walked over and sat 
on the edge of the bed. "Good morning." He groaned 
louder. "You look like hell." She said good naturally, 
rubbing her hand over the center of his chest. 

"I feel like hell." He whispered hoarsely as he 
struggled to sit up. "How's he doing?" Mulder 
gestured to James asleep on the other side of the 
room. 

"Good." Scully tilted his face each way to look at the 
burns. "His mother will be back in a few minutes, 
then, since you are awake we can go back to our 
room. I want you to rest for another few days." With 
a sigh she let go of his face and leaned in close. "I 
hope you realize what you did was really stupid."

"But very necessary."

"I know." She mumbled.

"How are you?" Mulder asked softly, placing his 
hand on her belly. 

Scully put her hand over his. "Good. I'm tired 
though. I didn't get too much sleep last night." The 
door opened and Scully smiled over her shoulder at 
Jane. 

"Oh, Mulder." Jane ran and wrapped her arms around 
his neck, oblivious to his wince of pain. "Thank you 
so much. I. There aren't any words to express.."

"It was my pleasure." Mulder said slightly 
uncomfortably when Jane stepped back. 

Scully stood, sensing Mulder's uncertainty on how to 
handle this. "Well Jane, if you need anything I'll be 
in my room."

"Yes, of course. You both get some rest."

Scully helped Mulder to his feet, the best she could 
and they slowly, but determinedly left the room. 

Mulder glanced at Scully nervously out of the corner 
of his eye as they walked down the hallway. Opening 
his mouth to speak every few seconds, but changing 
his mind and clamping it closed again. 

When they reached the doorway of their room Scully 
stood in front of it, hands braced on the frame to 
block it. 

"Scully. What are you doing?" Mulder wasn't sure 
if he should be concerned that this was some reaction 
to the hormones raging in her body or if she had 
finally had enough of his stupid stunts and was 
kicking him out. 

"We aren't going in until you tell me why you keep 
looking at me like that, and what it is that you want to 
say but can't seem to work the guts up to." She 
smiled at him as he turned his head away from her in 
embarrassment. "Come on Mulder, you know you 
can't pull one over on me." Scully laughed softly.

"I.. It's nothing. It can wait."

"No it can't." She said, still smiling at him. She knew 
she had him now. "I want to know what has you so 
preoccupied lately."

Taking a deep breath Mulder met her eyes. "Ok..I 
um." He trailed off.

Raising her eyebrows Scully waited, with a small 
smile. "Spit it out." She said after he struggled for a 
moment.

Flashing her a nervous smile, Mulder focused. 
"Ok.. Will you marry me, Scully?" 

Scully laughed, Mulder wasn't sure what to think 
about that. "Sure, Mulder. I'll marry you." Scully 
continued laughing as she turned to open the door, 
Mulder caught her around the waist and turned her 
back to him. 

"Scully. I'm serious." 

Leaning her weight back against the door she smile 
up at him. "Mulder, there is no marriage in Nova. We 
both know that. I'm not going anywhere so you don't 
need to give a meaningless title to us."

Mulder let out a long breath, turning his eyes away 
from her.

"What?" She asked losing her smile. "Mulder, why 
are you acting like that?"

He suddenly laughed, an embarrassed and nervous 
laugh. "The other day I. I talked to Father Ryan.."
"Mulder?" 

"He um. He said he will marry us. Of course there 
won't be any papers or anything. but I know a 
religious wedding would have something you 
wanted." Mulder trailed off, shaking his head at his 
stupidity. 

"You would do that for me?" Scully asked softly in 
disbelief.

He nodded. "You know I would do anything for 
you." He paused, gauging her reaction. "So. how 
about it?" Biting his lip he leaned down slightly to 
her level. "Will you marry me?" 

Scully smiled as she wrapped her arms around his 
neck. "Yes, I'll marry you."