Samuel 
By Invisigoth421 
invisigoth421@hotmail.com 

**********************************
Title: Samuel - Part 3 of 3
Author: invisigoth421
Email: Invisigoth421@hotmail.com
Rating: R
Keywords: Mulder/Scully UST (later RST)
Summary: Mulder and Scully get custody of Samuel, but someone doesn't want
them to get involved.

xxx

"Wait a minute," Mulder said, catching the breath which had completely left him a
moment before. "This can't be right. It has to be a mistake, Scully. It's
impossible. How...." His words trailed off. Maybe it seemed impossible, but Mulder
was already trying to think of how it *could* be possible.

Scully remained in her place at the table, shaking her head and staring at the
small, prophetic document in her hand.  She couldn't  believe what was going on.
In fact, she had already resigned herself to the fact that it was impossible.
Samuel, Mulder's child? It couldn't be right. It just...couldn't.

"Mulder, we have to get them to re-do the test," she said finally, "It can't be
anything other than a mistake."

Mulder took another deep breath. No matter how much air he took in, it didn't seem
to be enough. His chest was tightening up.  His nerves were shot. But she was
right. She had to be. There was no way in the world that he could be the father of
Samuel. Was there?

But what if...?

"Scully, what if it's not a mistake?"

There I go again, Mulder thought. Always the believer.

The famous Scully-eyebrow perked up. The famous Scully-skepticism kicked in right
away.

"Mulder, what are you saying? How is that possible?"

Anything was possible, even Scully would agree to that. And this time, there was
probably a perfectly scientific explanation for it.

"Scully, you're not the only one who's had unexplained experiences."

Definitely not. Mulder remembered several. Although he had never been abducted
like Scully, there had been many, many opportunities for something like this to
happen.

"Mulder, you were never abducted like I was. Do you think someone came over to
your house one night and harvested your sperm? And even if that did happen, do you
think it's just some kind of crazy coincidence that your sperm was used to
fertilize my ova?"

Mulder felt a sick joke coming on. And the situation was far to serious for his
liking. Time to throw a little Mulder-humor in there to release the tension.

"Scully, you know I love it when you talk dirty to me," he said, waiting for the
coming eternal damnation from Scully. She would either laugh or she would kill
him. He braced himself.

"Dammit Mulder!" Scully yelled. Strike one. " This is serious!"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry," Mulder said. And then he  was silent for a
moment, thinking, though he didn't need to. Every possible moment in his life came
back to him in floods of memories.

"When I was in Puerto Rico, Scully... do you remember that?" There had been
strange transmissions. Bright lights. A figure in the doorway. A presence he could
not explain. Who was to say something strange hadn't happened? Missing time? Even
an abduction? There had been no traces, but he had not really bothered to check.

"How could I forget? " Scully replied. "You nearly got yourself killed and I had
to come save your butt."

Mulder smiled. "But I saw something there that I couldn't explain, Scully. You
remember. I told you! The blinding light, the figure in the doorway. The man who
went outside and just... died, and I couldn't explain why. I don't remember
anything happening, but for all I know... Don't you see, Scully?"

To his surprise, Scully said nothing this time. No contradicting remark came from
her mouth.  She remained thoughtful, looking at him as though she was really
listening and perhaps considering his argument.

"And what about that time I was in the Arctic?" Mulder added, hoping he still had
her attention.

"Another one of your mad excursions in the middle of nowhere, when I had to save
your ass," Scully replied, a hint of a smile appearing.

"Something could have happened either of those times," Mulder went on. " It even
could have happened when I was imprisoned in Tunguska. You never know, Scully. I
don't think we should write it off. The possibilities are there. "

Scully tapped her fingers on the table top as she contemplated Mulder's words. He
was right. There was a possibility. A faint possibility, but a possibility
nonetheless. But if Samuel belonged to her AND Mulder... what were the
implications of that?

Even if they *had* managed to somehow fertilize her own ova with Mulder's sperm,
what were the chances that this would happen? Had it been a coincidence? Or had it
been intentional? And if it was intentional, one question remained: why?

"I think the first thing we should do is get the test re-done," Scully said,
continuing with her tapping. "They don't make mistakes very often, but I imagine
they have on occasion."

Mulder walked over to the window, the paternity test still in his hand, and peered
between the blinds. No black sedan. They had scared the little weasel and his
accomplice off, though there was no telling when they would come back.

"The car is still gone, Scully. I think it's safe. Let's go while we still can."


The ride to the hospital had been uneventful. Nobody had followed them, nobody had
protested when they asked to have the test re-done. Now they would have to wait
until that evening, or the next day, for the definitive results.

In the meantime, they  were back in the car again, and on their way to see Dr.
Freedman. Mulder's paternity test was of no consequence right now. Right now, all
Scully wanted to do was file for custody of Samuel. If it was ever going to
happen, she wanted to get it done so she could get on with her life.

But as they drove down the crowded Vancouver streets, the reality of the situation
suddenly hit Scully full in the face. Samuel was her child. That was certain. But
if Mulder was Samuel's father, what were they going to do? How would they work
their lives around it?

They couldn't pretend Mulder wasn't the boy's father. That would be wrong. Unfair
to Mulder and to the boy, who would probably like to know that his biological
father was around if Scully did endup getting custody of him. So how would they
arrange it?

Have Mulder come for visits on weekend like divorced couples often did? Scully had
a feeling that would remind Mulder too much of his childhood. There was no time to
avoid it. They needed to talk about it.

NOW.

"Mulder," Scully said.

"I know, Scully," He replied, almost to quickly as if he had been waiting to jump
on the opportunity to speak. "I've been thinking about it ever since we left the
hotel. I'm not in denial. I just don't know what to do."

"I don't either. I can't imagine how we're going to work our lives around it if he
belongs to both of us."

Mulder, ever resourceful, had an answer, albiet a non-confrontational one. "Let's
just think about it some more, Scully. The answer will come to us."


"Dr. Scully," Dr. Freedman said warmly as she and Mulder were hustled into his
office, by Cathy, for the second time in as many days. Scully held in her hands
the results of their tests, and she handed them to Dr. Freedman with a somewhat
forced smile. She was happy, but mixed in with the happiness was confusion.

"It was positive?" Dr. Freedman asked.

Scully nodded, remaining on her feet as Mulder sat down.

Dr. Freedman picked up the test results and began leafing through them. His
expression didn't change as he observed the tests.

Perhaps one look at Scully and Samuel together had convinced him of their
biological connection.

"I admit I was skeptical, Dr. Scully," he said finally, peering over his glasses
at Scully. "But I had a look at your medical records and everything seems to check
out. I believe the only step left is to finalize the adoption," the doctor smiled
"Although it's hardly an adoption if he's your child, is it? What you're really
doing now is filing for custody."

Dr. Freedman stopped talking as he came to Mulder's test result. He studied it for
a moment.

"It says here that your partner tested positive as well. In light of what happened
to you, and the fact that you've never given birth to a child, how is this
possible?"

Great. How do we explain this one without having him thin we're crazy? Scully was
at a loss for words.

It was probably best to simply tell the truth.

"I can't even begin to explain that to you, Doctor," She replied. "We're having
his test re-done for that very reason."

The Doctor smiled.

"Well, I have to say, Dr. Scully, since DNA testing has been available, I have
never seen a test come out inaccurate. There isn't much room for error. Your
medical records have made me aware of some very strange, unethical goings-on. I
won't question that now. All I need to know is if Mr. Mulder will be filing for
the custody as well."

Dear lord, why didn't we think of this? Scully wondered. Why didn't we talk about
this sooner? I don't now, Dr. Freedman. I have no idea what we're going to do.
We're not really lovers, we're just platonic friends who have suddenly discovered
we have a child together and we have no idea in hell what to do.

Unfortunately, Scully realized to late that she had left enough of a gap between
words for Mulder to speak.

"I guess I have no choice," Mulder said. "If he's my son."

*What* did he say?

Scully was about to protest, but something stayed her. Well, that was right,
wasn't it? It was ridiculous to think Mulder would refuse to recognize himself as
the father of his own son. She chose not to protest. As the boy's parents, it was
their duty to file for custody. They would work out the details later on.

"Good," Said Dr. Freedman  "now Dr. Scully, if you'll sit down, we'll go through
the proceedings."


"What are we going to do, Mulder?" Scully wondered out loud as they walked along
the street-lit sidewalk  back to their rental car.

The routine application for custody of Samuel had gone well. Dr. Freedman had seen
no problems, but both Mulder and Scully felt as though they had just revealed
their entire lives to a complete stranger. The subject of their dangerous jobs had
come up. Scully had assured him she would transfer to the FBI Academy, and Mulder
had assured him that his job was no longer dangerous. Not the assignments Kersh
was giving him lately.

I investigate piles of manure. You call that dangerous?

Mulder had almost laughed. All in all, they both felt it had gone well. And in the
end, Dr Freedman  had told them to expect several days wait before they were
contacted. Now came the true test. The wait. Scully was almost certain the
anticipation would drive her insane.

"Mulder, What... Are we going to do?" Scully repeated when she realized Mulder
wasn't listening.

"Look for black sedans, first of all," Mulder replied, scanning the area as they
walked.  He scanned the street for suspicious vehicles, but the only car within
his field of view was the rental car they had come in.

Had being spotted  scared Spender enough to send him running? Running back to
whoever was giving him his assignments?

Who *was* giving him these assignments?

Mulder was certain that it wasn't Skinner.

Skinner was a good man, with a strong sense of justice despite the moral
misgivings of some of the people for whom he worked. He also respected the two of
them and their work deeply.

No, if Spender was doing something underhanded, it wasn't Skinner who was to
blame.

"I'm sorry Scully," Mulder said when they finally got into the car. . "I just
wanted to make sure it was safe."

He turned the key in the ignition. the engine roared to life.

"I know Mulder," Scully replied. "But seriously, what ARE we going to do?"

"I'll tell you what, Scully," Mulder said, pulling out of the parking spot.

"Let me drive. Let's go find a nice park to sit in where we can talk about this
quietly, all right?"

As they drove away through the darkening city streets, Scully pondered the day's
events.

Something was wrong, she thought. For a man faced with such a strange and unusual
circumstance of adoption - Namely, a woman who has never given birth being the
bioligical mother of a child with a man she had never had sex with - Dr. Freedman
had been strangely agreeable, unquestioning, and helpful.

Of course, Scully's unusual circumstances were backed up by her medical records.
But that didn't matter.

Mulder had said he thought Freedman was innocent. But this time, Mulder might have
been wrong.

It had been far to easy.


A park.

A bench, overlooking the water. As they had strolled through the park along a
sprawling seawall,  Mulder had been struck by the beauty of Vancouver's harbor,
and the magical twinkling of the city lights across the bay.

Somehow, this brought back fond memories for Mulder, though he had never sat on
this particular park bench before. But it seemed that he and Scully were always
meeting and talking about life on park benches. It was fitting, now, that they
should discuss the outcome of their very future on a park bench.

Mulder sat down, focusing on the city lights reflecting in the water in front of
him, trying to calm his nerves. He took several shaky breaths which only served to
make him more nervous, for what he was about to discuss with Scully was no light
matter.

"first of all, Scully," He said  "Don't think you're the only one who's thinking
about this. It's been on my mind constantly. I just know that that test wasn't
wrong. I can feel it in my gut."

Scully had not sat down yet. She stood hovering over Mulder, pacing nervously. She
had apparently not noticed the beauty of the scene in front of him. Or if she had,
it did nothing to help her relax.

"Do you realize what we're getting into?" She asked, "With us both filing for
custody of him? How are we going to work that out?"

Mulder had had plenty of time to think about this, and he had thought about it
extensively. Now, if only his plan would go over without a hitch. :"Sit down for a
minute, Scully. I have an idea."

Scully regarded Mulder for a moment. What could he be up to? He had a strange look
on his face, like a child about to admit to his mother that it was him - and not
the cat- who broke the family heirloom. Whatever he was up to, it had to be good.
She sat down.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time," Mulder began "Before any of this
happened, actually."

Here goes, Mulder thought. Here's where I admit somethign to her that I've been
afraid to admit to myself.  He reached over and took her hand in his just for good
measure.

Mulder loved the feel of her soft, fair skin against his.

He loved it almost too much. He took a deep breath and continued.

"Scully, remember what we talked about yesterday? About what you were going to do
with your life, and how I was worried  I wouldn't see you again?" Scully nodded.
This was shaping up to be interesting. The anticipation was almost unbearable now.
What was he going to say?

"Well, I don't want that to happen, Scully," Mulder continued. "I can't bear the
thought of being without you. You've already been taken away from me in a sense,
by Kersh, by the FBI. And I know how much you want to have Samuel, and raise him,
and work at Quantico, but Scully... I..."

Why was this coming out all wrong? Dammit, he knew in his mind exactly what he
wanted to say. Why couldn't he say it out loud? Was there a short in the
connection between his brain and his mouth? He believed there was. It reappeared
now and then, usually when he wanted to say something important to Scully. He
winced, thinking of all the times he had wanted to say this very thing to her and
it had come out in the form of an innuendo or a sick joke. He remembered sitting
in the Florida woods surrounded by trees, darkness, and Moth Men. Injured and in
shock, he was overcome by Scully's kindness and willingness to take care of him,
and all he had thought of to say was some wisecrack about keeping warm by getting
naked in a sleeping bag.

Well, this time he wasn't going to blow it. He continued, trying to calm the
butterflies in his stomach as he did so.

"I don't want to be without you Scully. Ever again. I want you to go off and be
happy and raise Samuel, but I want to be a part of it too. And if he's my son,
that gives me the chance to be part of it."

Please let me be part of it Scully, Mulder pleaded in his mind. Please don't turn
me down. Don't break my heart.

"Mulder, what exactly are you..." She knew what he had said. She just wasn't sure
she'd heard right. Don' leave any room for misinterpretations, Dana.

"Scully, I'm trying to tell you how much I love you, all right?" Mulder said,
sounding increasingly exasperated. "There. I said it and it wasn't romantic at
all, was it?  It was pretty fucking awkward if you ask me. And I want to be a part
of your life, and raise Samuel WITH you, dammit! I want you and I to raise OUR
son, together. Now, go ahead and tell me you don't feel the same way."

Scully was completely taken aback. Not only by Mulder's words, but by his pleading
tone of voice.

But most of all, she simply could not believe what he had said. Had Fox Mulder, in
his roundabout, emotionally awkward way, just told her he wanted to spend the rest
of his life with her? Had he just told her he loved her? It seemed so. But was it
the truth, or just the emotion and intensity of the situation that was talking?
One never knew with Mulder. Although sometimes emotional intensity brought the
truth out of people who would usually never admit things like this otherwise.
Perhaps his judgment wasn't as clouded as she suspected.

"Mulder, do you mean that? " She asked.

It wouldn't hurt to make sure. "Or are you just so emotionally wiped out right now
that you're not thinking straight?"

Mulder shook his head. "Scully, I'm thinking as clearly as you're ever gonna get
me right now. Most of  the time I'm in denial of this. Right now I'm not. Please
don't... don't turn me down."

His eyes met hers, and suddenly Scully realized why Samuel's eyes had reminded her
so much of Mulder.  Upon noticing it, she came to wonder how she had ever missed
it.  Here was the explanation right in front of her. That test wasn't wrong. There
was no way in hell that test was wrong. The eyes on that little boy were they eyes
of Fox William Mulder. She would have defied anyone to suggest otherwise.

Scully  opened her mouth to reply, perhaps to tell Mulder exactly what he wanted
to hear. But she didn't have a chance.

There was a brief moment of silence, of awkwardness. And then she felt Mulder's
arms enfolded her, pulling her to him tightly. The sensation was wonderful. There
was so much tenderness, and so much caring in the gesture alone that one almost
could have gone on the hug alone. The words were unnecessary.

Still, Mulder chose to explain himself.

"Scully, I meant every word I said to you in the hallway that time, you know," He
said, his words muffled as he buried his face in her hair. Her hair smelled
wonderful. A mixture of her shampoo, her perfume, all the wonderful smells that
made her Scully.

"I know, Mulder. I'm sorry I haven't been more willing to talk about it."

"You, nothing. Its been me that's been avoiding it. And when I almost kissed you,
Scully - I meant that too."

Please, Scully. Please, please, please don't break my heart.

Dammit, why wasn't she saying anything?

"Am I making a fool of myself or what, Scully?"

Scully wiggled her small arms out of his grasp and wrapped them around his waist,
pulling them closer together. That action alone was enough to satisfy everything
Mulder had asked that night. But in the end, it was nice to hear the words. And
coming from Scully, these words meant a lot. Scully would never say them if she
didn't mean them. Far be it from Scully to risk getting close to someone she
didn't really, really care about.

"No Mulder" She said, her voice almost a whisper. " Not at all. I guess I've never
really thought about it, but I can't imagine myself with anyone but you. The
thought of being with anyone else never crossed my mind."

Mulder felt a warmth, a happiness, spread throughout his body. Had he ever felt
this content, this wonderful? He doubted it. Scully, you have just made me the
happiest man on earth. And making me happy is hard to do.

He tried to hug her tighter but it wasn't possible. There was no way they could
get closer together at this particular moment in time.

Not long ago he might have felt this was wrong, but now, what did they have to
lose? They would never work together again, Scully would be transferred back to
Quantico. Their work lives together had been taken away from them.

Who or What in the world was to keep them from being together in their personal
lives, and being happy?

Nothing at all.

Except...

Mulder suddenly had a vision of a sinister looking man in a black suit, cigarette
smoke swirling around his head like a satanic halo.

He pushed the image out of his mind. That bastard wasn't going to ruin this moment
for him. He might attempt to ruin everything else, but not this moment. This
moment belonged to he and Scully alone.

"Scully," he said.

"Yes Mulder?"

"Did I ever tell you how much I hate bees?"


"What does it say?" Mulder asked as once again, Scully sat in their hotel room
perusing a paternity test document. They had stopped at the hospital on the way
back from the park. The test had been finished, and the result did not surprise
Scully in the least. Not after her revalation with Mulder's eyes earlier that
evening.

"No error," Scully told him. "The test is right Mulder," she sat down on the bed,
the piece of paper still in her hand. She continued to stare at it, perhaps hoping
that if she did so enough, the result would change. Wouldn't life be easier if it
did?

Mulder sat down beside her, but didn't look at her. It was an awkward feeling,
though Mulder had expected it would be. Real life wasn't a bowl of cherries.
Beginning new relationships was awkward, no matter what the movies and television
tried to tell you.

Especially when the person you were beginning the relationship with was your best
friend, and you had just discovered you had a kid together.

"Now all we have to do is wait," Mulder said. And that was the part he was looking
forward to the least.

Scully said nothing. She stared blankly at the piece of paper, still trying to
will it into saying something else.

Just accept it Scully, Mulder said to himself. You can't change it. I know it will
be hard, but just accept it. Please.

A horrible thought came over Mulder. What if she had been just humoring him back
at the park? What if he had spilled his heart out to her and she had felt so bad
that she hadn't told him the truth?

Would Scully do that?

Well, there were ways of finding out.

"Scully, I hope I didn't scare you back there at the park," Mulder said. It was
beating around the bush, but surely it would lead him to the answer sooner or
later.

To his surprise, Scully came back down to earth. She looked up from the paper and
actually smiled at him.

"No, Mulder!" she said, putting  a reassuring hand on his knee. "No. Everything
you said.... I'm sorry. I'm no good at emotions. I never have been. I feel the
same way you do Mulder. I'm glad you had the guts to bring it up because I never
would have."

Amazing, Mulder thought. 5 years of working with her had given him a pretty good
understanding of when Scully was lying about her feelings.

She didn't lie to him often. In fact, Scully had never lied to him about anything
- except when it came to her feelings.

She wasn't lying this time.

"Do you think we can do this?" he asked, wondering why he now needed to ask this.
Hadn't he just been silently berating Scully for worrying about the same thing? Oh
well. The human mind was not something that worked on rationalism or logic.

"Do... what?" Scully asked, though she knew very well what he meant.

"Raise a child together, " Mulder said. "Do you think we can make a go of it?"

It took Scully a moment to find a reply, but there was one lurking somewhere in
her mind. When she spoke, her words were calm and sincere.

"You're my best friend Mulder. I wouldn't want to make a go of it with anyone  but
you." "Do you love me, Scully?" Mulder asked. She had admitted she felt the same
way, but she had not, at this point, actually said "I love you" to him. What was
it about needing to hear those specific words before you could actually believe
it?

She turned her head to him and raised an eyebrow again. Damn that eyebrow! It made
him nervous. It usually meant that she was regarding him, or something else, with
a certain amount of scrutiny. Mulder didn't like scrutiny. He didn't like being
analyzed.

"Do you love ME, Mulder?" She asked.

Ouch. That hurt, Scully. Send it right back at me.

"Scully, I believe I already told you that."

"Mulder... I... I'm so bad at this. I 've already admitted to myself that I don't
let people get close to me, because I don't want to lose them. But that doesn't
make it any easier for me. It's so hard to do this. I'm afraid I'll lose you,
too."

"I'm not going anywhere Scully. Not without you," He took her hand in his again.
"Just promise me you won't leave me in the dust because you're afraid to follow."

"you won't leave ME in the dust, will you Mulder?" Scully asked. "you have
before."

"because I was afraid," Mulder admitted. "That if I didn't do something callous
and ignorant, you'd figure out I was in love with you and break my heart." He
smiled. "Interesting the way the mind works, isn't it? And I'm a psychologist. I,
of all people, should've figured out what was going on."

Scully smiled at him, but her eyes still held a certain amount of hesitance and
fear.

"Mulder, give me time. Give me time to open up. I can't do it all at once just
like this."

All at once?

"You've known me for over 5 years, Scully."

"Jesus, Mulder, you know what I mean. I've known you for five years as a co-worker
and a friend, but nothing else. Just give me time."

Mulder sighed. Well, there would be plenty of time. All that mattered now was that
he had not made a complete ass of himself, as far as he knew. At least Scully
returned his feelings to some degree. Right now, that was all that mattered. He
could live with that.

He could live with most of that. But there was something else he had to take care
of before he could be content.

"Scully?" He asked purposefully.

She didn't reply, but gave him a "what now?" look.

It won't be easy, he thought when he saw that look. We're going to drive each
other nuts.

But at this point in time, who cared about that?

Mulder leaned closer to her, allowing his lips to softly brush the skin of her
cheek. She didn't protest, so he kissed her again, this time a little bit closer
to her lips. It took him several tries, but he finally managed to get up the
courage to  reach her lips. When he did so, he was met with far more approval than
he had ever expected.

He had dreamed about kissing her for so long. Even long before that night in his
hallway. when the stupid bee had appeared and ruined the best moment of his life.
He thought back to the first time he had wanted to kiss Scully.

Perhaps it was on their first case together, when she had burst into his hotel
room scared to death of what had turned out to be two mosquito bites on her back.
That could have been it. But Mulder suspected it was sometime after that. He
recalled a stakeout in his car, and a conversation about iced tea, love, and
rootbeer. That was over 4 years ago. Why had it taken so long to finally get up
the courage to do this?

Because they were human. They were imperfect, and both extremists in their
beliefs.

Both neurotic, he thought, trying not to laugh as he explored Scully's mouth with
his.

But now they were two FBI agents in different fields of work. Co-workers and
partners no longer, there was room in their lives for something more. If they were
going to be kept from being together as friends, they would have to take it one
step farther.

Now be a gentleman, Mulder,  reminded himself, feeling his hormones start to get
out of control. Don't get overly excited and freak her out more than you already
have.

He pulled back. Scully did not protest, but when he looked her in the eye she
smiled. Her face was flushed, her hair a little bit tousled. She looked beautiful
and more human than he had ever seen her in his life. It made him want to kiss her
again. It made him want to do more than kiss her.

Slow down, Fox, he told himself. Don't rush it.

He cleared his throat nervously and smiled.

"it's late," Scully said, obviously feeling as awkward as he did about the
situation.

"It is," Mulder replied. And what else was there to say?

Scully got up without another word and disappeared into the bathroom. Mulder
watched her go, sighing with regret. Forging an intimate relationship with Scully
was not going to be easy. He could see it being pretty damn frustrating.

But you're no prize either, Mulder reminded himself.

Bedtime, he added.

Getting ready for bed was a quick job. One, two, pants & shirt on the dresser,
sleep in your boxers and undershirt. He crawled into bed, shivering against the
cold and starchy hotel sheets, wondering what the hell they were made of.

Scully emerged from the bathroom dressed in the blue pajamas he had gotten so used
to seeing over the past few days. Just something else to add to the list of things
that defined Scully. The eyebrow, the yogurt with bee pollen she ate every day,
the gold cross she wore around her neck, and now her blue pajamas. He liked
knowing these things about her . It made him feel closer to her.

He watched as Scully made her way to her bed slowly. As she lifted the corner of
the blankets and began to crawl under, she hesitated, glancing up at Mulder for a
moment. They exchanged another nervous smile and Scully looked away again.

She wouldn't get away with it this time.

"Scully," Mulder said, determination in his voice.

"What?" she replied, looking up at him nonchalantly.

"You're not going to sleep there, are you?" There, I said it. Now she can slap me
or yell at me... or agree with me. Is that possible?

Scully's  eyes widened. She took on the expression of a deer caught in headlights.

Clear it up quick, Mulder told himself.

"No, no, Scully, I don't mean.... what you think I mean. I just... want to be
close to you. Is that OK?"

Scully relaxed.  Without a word, she got out of her own bed and made her way over
to Mulder's.

It was the strangest feeling in the world, crawling into bed with Mulder. Scully
had seen him at his worst. She had helped him when he was sick, bailed him out of
trouble, saved his life numerous times, and even shot him. Still this one took the
cake.

Yet it didn't feel wrong. It was unusual, but the feeling of crawling into a cold
bed next to Mulder's warm body was comforting.

Comforting and arousing, let's not deny it, Dana.

She relaxed into bed and snuggled against hi, feeling safer and more comforted
than she had ever allowed herself to feel. Mulder put his arms around her and
pulled her to him, kissing the top of her head.

You are an amazing person, Mulder, Scully thought. Most guys would take total
advantage of a situation like this. But you won't Mulder, I know you won't. You're
the most caring, trustworthy person I know.

Sleep came easily for both of them. Easier than it had in many, many years.


Mulder awoke to find the sun pouring through the cracks in the blinds in hazy
little slivers. The room was dim despite the sunlight. The clock read 9 AM, and
Scully was still sleeping beside him.

There's no way I'm getting out of bed now, Mulder thought. I'll stay here forever.

He rolled over and pulled Scully's small form to him again, hooking their bodies
together like two spoons in a drawer.

Damn the telephone, Mulder thought when it rang just as he was sinking back into a
blissful sleep.

Scully didn't hear the phone. Or  perhaps she ignored it.

Good, let her sleep. She needs it.

Mulder jumped out of bed and grabbed the phone.

A moment later, he was shaking Scully's shoulder frantically.

"Scully, wake up!!"

"Huh... wha....?" Scully Mumbled, lingering in the hazy world between sleep and
consciousness.

Mulder's words made her day. Her week? No, her life.

"Scully, we got custody of Samuel."

XXXXXX

Scully once again felt a swarm of butterflies take up residence in her stomach.

She was getting very familiar with the route from their hotel to Dr. Freedman's
office, but for some reason this time it seemed to be taking forever. What was it
about anticipation that made things seem to take forever?

Mulder drove in silence beside her. He didn't appear nervous outwardly, but Scully
could see it in the way he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were
almost white. She was sure that when they returned the rental car, Mudler's
fingerprints would be permanently embossed in the steering wheel.

They were both nervous wrecks.

And why not? Their lives were about to change forever. Samuel would be waiting at
Dr. Freedman's office with his foster parents - belongings packed, and ready to go
with Mulder and Scully back to DC.

But something was wrong. Scully remembered her ordeal with Emily. The little girl
had not only been deathly ill, but she had also been the subject of a sinister
agenda. Samuel was part of that agenda too, but Dr. Freedman had indicated that
the boy suffered no illnesses of any kind. He was not subject to any tests or
strange treatments. Not as far as they had been told. Was it possible that Samuel
was the next step up? A more genetically perfect creation, with fewer flaws than
his predecessors? It was possible. But that still did not explain the relative
ease they had experienced in getting custody. Surely the people responsible for
Samuel would not let her - and least of all Mulder - get near the boy. He was
evidence, after all. Oh, they had been surveilled and followed and watched, but no
direct action had been taken to prevent the adoption.

And Dr. Freedman had asked far too few questions.

Yes, it had been too easy. That had been esdablished already.

Scully did not voice her concerns to Mulder. Mulder, she supposed, would already
have thought of it.

Or perhaps it was because she didn't want to face it.


Still, the ride to the Child Services center went without a hitch. And when Scully
walked into Dr. Freedman's office to see Samuel sitting there across from the
doctor's desk, she was filled with a happiness she could never have imagined.

It was nice to feel happiness. She wondered how long it would last before it was
taken from her.

The little boy sat calmly in a chair that was too big for him, playing with an
action figure of some kind. His foster parents were not there, and Scully imagined
they had said their good-byes already.

The boy looked strangely calm for a child who was about to be uprooted from his
familiar existence by people he barely knew. But that was the odd thing she had
noticed about him. He appeared to be entirely accepting of the change, something
Scully had never seen in such a small child before.

But he wasn't a normal child, now was he?

"Samuel?" Scully said softly, kneeling down to his level.

The little boy looked up from his activities and a huge smile blossomed on his
small face.

"hi Dana," he said, putting down his action figure. He climbed out of the
ridiculously big chair and wrapped his tiny arms around Scully's waist. A hug.
Scully couldn't believe it.

"thanks for coming to get me, Mom," Samuel whispered. "I knew you were out there
somewhere."

Scully looked around to see if anyone had heard, but it appeared Samuel's words
were meant only for her. She glanced over at Mulder to see that he was smiling
brightly.

He called me "mom!"

"I always wanted real parents," Samuel added, smiling over at Mulder.

"We think he's taking this remarkably well," Dr. Freedman, silent until now, piped
in. "I've never seen such rapid acceptance of an adoption, but Samuel is an
exceptional child."

"He certainly is," Mulder said, marveling at the boy's intelligence, calmness, and
most of all his similarity to Scully. If only things would work out better for him
than they had for poor little Emily.


It was barely noon when they left Dr. Freedman's office for the last time. Scully
took in a deep breath of the fresh air. It was city air, but for some reason it
seemed fresh today. Happiness surrounded her like a ray of sunshine. Even Mulder
could see that his usual somber partner was walking on air today. In one hand, she
held Samuel's suitcase. With the other, she guided the little boy across the
street to their rental car.

If this is what it's going to be like, Mulder thought, then I'm happy.
Unfortunately, someone didn't want it to be like this. And they were sitting right
across the street in a black car.

"Scully," Mulder said in a warning tone. He  hated to break her serene moment, but
at this point he had no choice.

He tilted his head suggestively towards the black car, hoping the boy - and the
people in the car - wouldn't see it.

Scully caught Mulder's hint, and hustled Samuel into the car. She looked up again
just in time to see a figure in a black trenchcoat leave the vehicle and enter the
building.

It was not Spender this time. In fact, neither Scully not Mulder could tell who it
was.

"Not good," Mulder said. "Take care of Samuel. I'll be right back."

"But Mulder you..." ... have no weapon, she meant to add, but it was too late.
Mulder was already across the street, following the sinister figure who had
emerged from the black car. Scully glanced at the car again, noticing that the
driver still sat behind the wheel. She couldn't tell who it was from here, but it
didn't look like Spender this time.


Mulder entered Freedman Child Services for what seemed like the twentieth time in
less than a week.

Cathy still sat behind her desk. The figure in the trenchcoat was nowhere to be
seen. Another bad sign.

"Did someone..." Mulder started to ask.

Before he could finish, the figure appeared again. Black coat, black hat, collar
pulled up so the face wasn't visible. And it was coming from the direction of Dr.
Freedman's office.

"Wait!" Mulder called as the figure exited the building. At his word, it broke
into a run.

Mulder followed in hot pursuit, but the figure's head start was his undoing. He
got out the door just in time to see the black sedan pull away and down the
street.

He looked over at Scully. She waved at him, indicating that everything was fine.

Mulder gave her the "I'll be a minute" signal and went back inside.

Cathy still sat behind her desk, sorting through papers. It appeared as though she
had missed the whole thing.

"Did you talk to that person who just left?" Mulder asked her.

Cathy looked up from her paperwork.

"No, I didn't. I didn't even see them come in. Who was it?"

No time to answer. Mulder took off down the hallway to Dr. Freedman's office.


He was too late.

Mulder had hoped beyond hope to open the door and See Dr. Freedman sitting there
staring at him, wondering what the hell Mulder was doing rushing into his office
like this.  Instead, Dr. Freedman, lay slumped over his desk, blood pooling on the
fine wood, and covering the wall behind him.

>From the looks of it, he had been shot in the head at point blank range. By that
person who had just ran out of the building.

And it wasn't anyone he recognized this time.

This was not looking good at all.

"Cathy," Mulder said when he re-emerged in the reception area. He tried to sound
calm and collected, so as not to alarm her.

It didn't matter. His words were going to alarm her no matter what.

"Call the police. Dr. Freedman's been shot."

XXXX

Shot.

Dr. Freedman had been shot.

Mulder still couldn't believe it. And even as he drove his own car home to his own
apartment in his own hometown, he still did not feel safe. Of course, neither he
nor Scully had been implicated in the shooting. Cathy had spoken to Dr. Freedman
after they had left the first time, and Cathy had clarified this. The police had
come. There had been a routine investigation.

No fingerprints had turned up. The Murder weapon had been unregistered.  No motive
had been found. Mulder supposed they might have turned up more evidence of a
motive, had a bunch of Dr. Freedman's' files and papers not been stolen.

A motive. Mulder had plenty of ideas.

One in particular loomed in his mind over all the others.

Their adoption of Samuel had been far too easy. Why, Dr. Freedman hadn't even
quesitoned the strange circumstances under which Mulder and Scully had turned out
to be Samuel's parents.

Dr. Freedman knew more than he had let on about Samuel and who he was. That had to
be the answer.

Perhaps he was even a part of the agenda, like that bastard who had been treating
Emily. Perhaps he had sought to allow Scully to have Samuel despite his orders.
Was that possible? It seemed the only likely explanation. But if Scully's having
Samuel was the problem, why hadn't they bothered with them at the office? They
were right there, in plain sight, yet they had struck at Dr. Freedman and left
their main target alone.

A warning? Or were they  working in a specific order?

Eliminate Dr. Freedman. Then eliminate the other interfering parties. Then recover
the evidence. Or in this case, the child.

All in due time.

Fox Mulder did a U-turn in the middle of the street and headed back towards
Scully's house.


Home.

Scully felt a wave of relief wash over her as she unlocked the front door to her
apartment. The flight home had been uneventful, save for the fact that she and
Mulder had brought back their son on the plane with them.

That term still sounded so odd. their son.

Our son.

Mulder's and my Son.

It boggled the mind.


Samuel had been happy to be going with them. He had talked for most of the trip
home, telling them about himself and how much he hated living with his foster
parents. They had mentioned Dr. Freedman's death to him briefly, but had kept the
cause form him. They didn't want to  disturb his world any more than necessary
right now.

But considering the boy's intelligence and level of observance, it was possible he
knew more than they did.

Samuel had asked them many questions.

He has asked why he'd never met him if they were his parents, how they had found
him, and so on, and so on. Mulder and Scully had found themselves exhausted by the
time the flight had landed, but that was what it was all about.

Their lives would never be the same again.

I miss Mulder already, Scully realized as she opened the door and allowed Samuel
to enter. He had simply gone home to check on his apartment, but after almost a
week of being with him, and two nights of sharing a bed with him, she suddenly
felt lonely again. She found it unusual, but then WAS it so unusual? Perhaps she
had just been so lonely before that she had gotten used to it. Now that she knew
what it was like to not be lonely, the feeling was magnified tenfold.

But she wasn't alone. Samuel was here, and Scully had never been happier in her
life.

Perhaps what she was more than anything was worried. Mulder was by himself. She
and Samuel were alone. Together, she and Mulder could protect each other from
anything. Separate, they didn't fare as well.

She was almost certain that Dr. Freedman had allowed Samuel's adoption against
someone's will, and that he had been killed not only as an evil necessity but as a
warning.

*You're next.*

The words appeared in her mind without precedent.

Where did *that* come from?

Scully felt herself shudder.

"Am I going to live here forever now?" Samuel asked, his pleasant young voice
breaking her morbid thoughts.

Scully smiled, setting down the suitcases that belonged to her and Samuel. She
locked the door again, wishing she had more deadbolts and then laughing as she
thought of Byers, Langly and Frohike.

"At least until you grow up, Samuel," she replied with a smile.

"Good. I'm tired of changing houses all the time. I'm glad you came to find me,
Dana."

Samuel had called her 'mom' only once. Since then he had insisted on calling her
Dana, perhaps because she had introduced herself as Dana. Not being used to
calling adults by anything but their first names, Samuel was finding it difficult
to remember to call anyone "mom".

"You can all me "mom", Samuel," Scully said with a smile.

"OK Mom," The boy replied with an impish grin.

"And I'm supposed to call Fox 'dad" too, aren't I?"

Scully marveled at the mature and articulate vocabulary this 4-year-old had. "Yes,
he hates his name so I'm sure he'd prefer 'dad' to 'Fox'".

"Will you call me Sam then, instead of Samuel? I like it better."

Sam. Scully had never thought about it before, but she couldn't help but smile
when it occurred to her. Sam, Samuel. Sam, Samantha. Mulder would like that one.
Mulder would probably find more meaning in it than there actually was. She smiled
to herself.

"Where will I sleep?" Samuel asked.

Ah yes, the boy's room. Well, it would be time to excavate the spare bedroom,
wouldn't it?

"Your dad is coming over again later," Scully told him.

That felt so weird.

"Your Dad." Mulder. Her child. Mulder's child. She still couldn't grasp it. She
shook her head, trying to clear away the confusion. "He's going to help me clean
out my spare room for you."

He would, if it was even safe for them to stay here. Scully had a very strong
feeling, judging from past experience, that her home would not be the safe haven
she hoped it would be.

"I'm so glad you came to get me, mom," Samuel said, smiling. . "I was tired of
being visited by strange people all the time."

Wait, what was this? Strange people visiting him? This called for further
investigation.

"What sort of strange people, sweetie?" Scully asked. "The men who came to visit
every couple of weeks."

Strange men? visitors? This sounded disturblingly familiar.

Scully knelt down and  looked Samuel in the eye.

"What did these men do?" she asked.

Samuel shrugged. "They talked to my foster parents. They never told me what about
but I know it was about me. I listened at the door sometimes. I heard my name. "

Scully thought for a moment, saying nothing.

"That's what that black car was doing when we left Dr. Freedmans' office wasn't
it? Those were the same men who came to visit all the time. "

"Samuel, did these men ever talk to you?"

He shook his head. "But I know Dr. Freedman knew them.I saw them at his office
once."

Things were falling into place. There was confirmation now, that something strange
had been going on. Dr. Freedman had known, but had allowed Samuel's adoption
anyway. Scully now had no doubt in her mind that this was the reason the man was
dead.


Why can't my life just work out normally for once?

Just once?


She looked at her watch. it was 5 PM, and Mulder had promised to come over for
dinner and to help her get Samuel's room ready. But that was not the real reason
he was coming over, and they both knew it. They were afraid to be alone, and
afraid for Samuel.

And, too, there was the feeling of a new-found relationship and not wanting to be
apart from one another, but those fuzzy feelings of lust and romance -however
awkward  - had to be set aside. What really mattered now was that nobody got
killed.


Mulder arrived at 6:00 on the dot, obviously mirroring Scully's feelings of
anxiety at being apart.

He hadn't quite expected to feel as nervous as he did. Seeing Scully had never
made him nervous before. But this time, when she answered the door, he felt more
awkward around her than ever before. And all he could do was stand there for a
moment, wondering what he should do. Hug her? Kiss her? Both?

Neither?

He opted for the kiss. He leaned over and planted a small kiss on her cheek. To
his surprise, Scully smiled and pulled him closer, hugging him. Was she actually
happy to see him?

"I missed you," she said.

Scully had admitted an emotion. If several weeks ago, Mulder had been asked to
define the impossible, that would have been it. Perhaps Scully admitted her
emotions to others, but very rarely to him. Yet in the past few days, he had
gained more insight into the enigmatic Dr. Scully and her emotions than he ever
had. And he liked it.  If only it didn't have to be under such strange and awkward
circumstances.

"I missed you too, Scully," he said.

"Hi dad!" Samuel called from the living room. He had unpacked some of the toys he
had brought with him, and they were already scattered all over the living room
floor.

Welcome to motherhood, Scully thought. At least he had remembered to call Mulder
"dad"

"Is it my imagination," Mulder whispered in her ear, still holding her "or is he
adjusting unusually quickly?"

Scully nodded. "It scares me, actually, but he seems right at home."

She pulled away and looked into his sad, hazel eyes. Mulder's eyes. Samuel's eyes.

"There's definitely more to him than meets the eye," Mulder whispered back. "He
reminds me a little of Gibson."

Scully nodded again. Indeed, there was something odd about Samuel. He was a little
too mature, too articulate, and too observant for a boy his age. Emily had just
been a normal little girl, but Samuel was different.

Wishing to feel as though her life was as normal as possible, Scully quickly
changed the subject.

"Mulder, I don't feel like cooking tonight," She said. "What do you say to pizza?"
Scully  leaned purposefully towards Samuel as she said this.

"Pizza!" Samuel cried in the enthusiastic voice of a little boy who couldn't be
happier. It made Scully happy. It proved there was a little boy in there, after
all.

Mulder grinned. "Didn't this all start with pizza?"

"I believe it did", Scully replied, and then changed the subject again. She had
noticed as soon as she had seen Mulder that he looked concerned, distant, as
though his mind was elsewhere. She had been trying to resist asking him why.
Perhaps she really didn't want to know. But in the end, curiosity got the better
of her.

" Is something wrong?"

The answer he gave was the last thing she wanted to hear right now.

"I was followed here," He whispered so Samuel wouldn't hear. "I couldn't see who
it was but I'll bet you anything it was that little weasel Spender again, and I'll
bet you anything they're parked outside, too."

Damn.

Spender.

Neither of them had dared hope the sinister events would be over with Dr.
Freedman's death, and they most certainly weren't.

Trying not to let Samuel notice she was concerned, Scully made her way over to the
window and peered out.

Night had fallen. Scully could see the last traces of light in the sky as the sun
sank behind the city buildings. Below her the street was quiet. The car parked
across the street did nothing to disturb the serenity. She could see the two
figures sitting in the front, watching. She could not see their faces.

Scully looked at Mulder and nodded once. That was all she needed to do. He knew
what she was trying to say. His fears had been confirmed. They were being watched
again.

"What's wrong?" Samuel asked, seeing the concern on their faces.

Yes, unusually intelligent, articulate and observant to say the least. Nothing
would get past this boy.

"Nothing Samuel," Scully lied. But why lie? Samuel was obviously smart enough to
catch a lie, but if he did he decided it wasn't worth pursuing. He shrugged and
went back to his playing.

"I'll order the pizza, Mulder, if you can start straightening out the spare
bedroom," Scully said as she picked up the phone, wondering if the voyeurs outside
would be interested in what she and Mulder were having on their pizza.


"Is the car still there?" Mulder asked from the warm refuge of Scully's bed.
Scully shut the bedroom door behind her as she entered the room, shivering and
thinking about how nice it would feel to crawl into bed with Mulder. But was it
safe to try and relax?

Samuel was safe in Scully's spare bed. The front door was locked and bolted. "It's
there. They haven't come out, they're just sitting there watching." Mulder sighed.
This was too much. There was no feeling worse than being afraid in your own home.
Or in his case, Scully's home. Where could you go when home was no longer safe?

"Should I sleep on the couch Scully? " Mulder asked. "Just in case? You never
know."

Scully regarded Mulder for a moment. She had longed to curl up to him and sleep
away the night without worry, but that was now impossible. It would be a good idea
to have someone out in the living room. The sooner any potential intruder could be
intercepted, the better.

But it would be wrong to expect Mulder to do it.

"I'll do it Mulder" Scully told him  "You can stay in my bed."

"Yeah, but...""But nothing, Mulder. I can take care of it."

"But I'm used to sleeping on the couch," Mulder said, smiling.

Scully laughed. "It's OK," she leaned over him and planted a kiss on his forehead.
She relished in the feel of his skin against her lips, wishing that there was more
time... to enjoy this.

Perhaps there would be.

Mulder pulled her closer and kissed her on the lips gently, tenderly.

"Good night Scully," he said.  "I love you."

"I love you too," Scully whispered.


Scully awoke the next morning on her living room couch and painfully recalled the
night before.  Sleeping on her couch had not been the most comfortable experience.
And the knowledge that two spies sat outside her building did nothing to aid in
her slumber. But it had to be done.

If anyone tried to get in and harm Samuel, someone had to be there to stop it.


"Wake up, sleepyhead," Mulder's voice called from the vicinity of the window.

"I am awake," Scully replied, opening her eyes. Mulder was fully dressed, and as
she had suspected, had resumed his post as the window-watcher.

"The car's still there Scully.," he said.   "I'm getting to the bottom of this. I
thought I'd wait till you woke up, at least." He moved away from the window.

Is he nuts? Scully thought. Stupid question.

"What, out there? " She said out loud. "Mulder, have you forgotten that we're
suspended? They took away our guns. And I think it's more than likely that
Spender, or whoever it is out there, is armed."

But nothing could sway a determined Mulder.

"You have a gun, don't you Scully?"

Well, yes, she did. Scully had her own personal weapon, unissued by the FBI,
but...

"Mulder, if you use that on anyone while you're suspended you won't just be
suspended anymore, you'll be fired! And I will be too, considering it's my weapon.
Not to mention arrested. "

"I'll use mine, then. I brought it with me," Mulder said with a smile. "Jesus,
Mulder, don't mess with my head."

"I can't stand this anymore, Scully. I'm going out there. Will you stay here in
case anything happens?"

Scully sat up, throwing some of her blankets onto the floor. "Mulder, you're
crazy!"

"Like a fox!" Mulder said, grinning at his silly little pun. He grabbed his weapon
and headed out the door.

He *is* nuts, Scully thought to herself as she watched him go. But was there ever
any doubt of that?


Crouched behind the bushes of the front walkway, Mulder could see the black car
more clearly than he had before.

And the results of this new viewpoint did little to surprise him.

Agent Jeffery Spender sat in the driver's seat of the black car.

Mulder had suspected that. Once a weasel, always a weasel.

He still couldn't see who sat beside Spender, but he definitely held a certain
amount of suspicion as to who it was. Especially knowing who Spender was working
with these days.

Whoever they were, they would be watching the apartment carefully. They would
expect him to come out the front door.  Moving from behind these bushes was out of
the question.

What they wouldn't expect, would be for him to come at them from behind. The back
door of Scully's apartment building led into an alley, which conveniently
connected to the road a few blocks up. Within five minutes, Mulder was walking up
the sidewalk behind the black car, his heart pounding in his throat like it had
several days ago when he had come to tell Scully the news of his search. Fear of
Scully's wrath now came a close second to the fear he felt now. Not for himself,
but for Scully and Samuel. What kind of life would they ever be able to have?
Samuel had been kept under wraps in Vancouver. Now that he had been adopted by the
last people his "creators" wanted to hear about, Mulder suspected there would be
hell to pay.

The thoughts left Mulder's mind as he drew nearer to the car. He  could now see
the sides of their faces as he approached from behind. They both had their heads
turned, necks craned slightly upward to watch the apartment building. The driver
had binoculars.

And neither of them were expecting Mulder to approach from behind.

He could see Spender clearly now. He could also see the other Agent who was with
him. The long brown hair and the aquiline facial features were all too familiar.

And it didn't surprise him one bit.

After all, it explained her strange behavior lately.

It explained her strange demanding that Mulder hand over the X-Files to her and
Spender.

It explained her underhanded "tattle taling" to Kersh when he refused. They were
up to something. And there was no way Skinner was behind this. Skinner was a good
man. A just man.

No, these two were working for someone higher up than Skinner. Perhaps out of the
bureau all together.

Mulder walked up to the passenger window of the car and knocked on it. Spender
jumped.

Diana Fowley jumped higher. Her head whirled around to look Mulder straight in the
eye, and her face held the strange expression of a child caught smoking her
mother's cigarettes.

Spender gunned the engine and made to drive away, but Fowley stopped him. She
rolled down the window.

Is she going to try to explain this to me? That was too ludicrous. "Hello, Fox,"
Fowley said.

That was enough.

"Don't' call me that *ever again*," Mulder growled, anger seething in his voice.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

Fowley stumbled over her own words trying to explain herself. Perhaps she did feel
some remorse for spying on the man she had once shared her life with. If she did,
it wouldn't do her any good.

And leave it to Spender to ruin it anyway.

"We're surveying what we told might be unauthorized action by you and agent
Scully," Spender piped in.

"And what unauthorized action is that?" Mulder asked  "Having our own lives?
Wanting to be left alone without ass holes like you watching our every move? Who
put you up to this? Was it that cancer man?"

"Fox," Fowley said. Her tone irked him even more. He was angry, and she was calm,
and her tone suggested that she knew full well that she had the emotional upper
hand.

"We know about your trip to Vancouver, and about Agent Scully's son. "

"Of course you do. We saw you watching us in Vancouver too. Dammit, tell me who
put you up to this! I know it wasn't Skinner. Who do you work for?"

Spender and Fowley exchanged glances. Mulder clamped a hand down on the window of
the passenger door. If they were going to drive away, they would have to take his
arm with them.

"We have reason to believe the child is a threat," Spender said.

Oh that was rich. That was funny. A great way to cover your ass, Spender. "A
threat?" Mulder cried, his anger rising. "A threat to what? To the secrecy of the
underhanded operation that created him? A man is dead because of this. Why can't
you just let the boy live in peace?"

There was no reply. They would not risk giving anything away.

"Well, you two get the hell out of here," Mulder continued " And tell your chain-
smoking boss that if he thinks he's going to get near that boy, he's got another
thing coming. "

He stepped away from the car.

"Fox, you're making a big mistake," Fowley pleaded, her eyes wide.

"Don't you ever call me Fox again, you fucking whore," Mulder said. He felt months
- no, years - of resentment flow out of him with the words. "You've betrayed me in
every sense of the word. Get out of my life."He leaned over, staring intently at
Spender. Perhaps he could  scare him just a little bit.

"And as for you, you little weasel... Skinner is going to hear about this."

"We'll see about that," Spender said as he put the car in gear. They drove away in
a flurry of squealing tires and burning rubber.

Mulder watched the black car drive away. He stood there alone, fighting the urge
to draw his gun and just shoot them both.

He would go to prison for murder, but it would be worth it.

Not this time, he thought. He had a responsibility now. He had Scully, and Samuel.
He couldn't let them down now by going off on a wild killing spree.

The best thing to do now would be to get Scully and Samuel out of here.


Scully didn't need to ask Mulder anything when he reappeared in her apartment. She
didn't have a chance.

"Spender and Fowley," Mulder said. "Spilling out some rhetoric about Samuel being
a threat, but that's all they said.

"A threat to their agenda," Scully said. "A threat to their secrecy."

Mulder nodded. "Whatever their reasons, it's not safe here Scully. Not here, or at
my apartment. We have to get out of here."

"But where to? My mother's?"

"No, that would only put her in danger. I was thinking more along the lines of my
family's old Summer Home at Quonochontaug."

"But... doesn't that cigarette smoking man know where it is? he was there once
with your mother, wasn't he? So after our places are ransacked, they'll go
straight there. Why don't we go to my family's summer home instead? I have a key."

"Yeah, OK, whatever works, Scully. We just need to get out of here."

Scully sighed. After all the traveling and moving around they had just done, it
was now too much to ask to spend a few peaceful days at home.  And no matter where
they went, it would only be a matter of time before someone tracked them down
there, and they would have to leave again.

A life on the run had not been what she had in mind.

But keeping Samuel safe was, and that was all that mattered right now. She had
taken on the responsibility, and now keeping him safe was her top priority.

"Let's go," She said.


The Scully summer home looked like nobody had been there in years.

In actual  fact, no one had set foot in the house since Bill Scully Sr. had died.

The front door took some effort to open, although after much shaking and rattling
it finally swung open. The furniture inside was covered in plastic to protect it
from the dust, but the rest of the house hadn't escaped it. Nor had it escaped the
multitudes of spiders who had insisted on building homes in every corner.

"This place is creepy," Samuel noted as they entered. He had been quiet the entire
trip, and Scully dared not to try fathoming what was going on in the boy's mind.
Samuel knew he was in trouble. There was no hiding it from him. He knew why they
were leaving, and that people were after him. He didn't seem to be scared. Perhaps
he was used to this.

"It'll look better once it gets cleaned up a bit," Scully said hopefully.

"Cleaned up a lot," Samuel offered, nodding. He studied a cobweb curiously. The
fact that it still had an enormous spider living it only served to feed his
fascination more.

He watched the arachnid closely, poking at its web to see if he could get it to
move.

"My god Mulder, that's the biggest spider I've ever seen..." Scully said, staring
at the huge abomination her son was playing with.

Samuel jumped when the spider suddenly skittered towards him, and then up the wall
into the darkness.

For a moment, Scully wished she could do the same. Just run off into a dark corner
and hide from those who would hunt her, and her family.

"Why don't you two go upstairs and clean out the bedrooms?" Mulder asked. "I'll
start down here. It'll keep our minds off things."

"Sure," Scully replied, taking Samuel's hand. Anything to keep her mind of things.
She started to lead him towards the staircase, but Samuel had other ideas.

"Why do these people want to hurt me?" the boy asked without warning.

Never mind keeping our minds off things, Scully thought. It was probably best to
tell Samuel the truth.

"Sam, do you know where you came from?" Scully asked. It was bes to approach this
as gently as possible.

Samuel shook his head. "No. All I remember is a lot of foster homes."

Scully cleared her throat. How did you tell a child this sort of thing? She
glanced up at Mulder, who was looking on as if he really wanted to hear this.

"Well, Sam... " Scully continued. "We're your parents, that's all that matters.
But let's just say you're different from other kids."

"I know that," Samuel said. "Everyone thinks I'm weird."Scully smiled.

"You're not weird, Sam. But you're different because these strange men made you
different. And they don't want anyone to know that they did that. That's why they
were always visiting your foster parents - to make sure nobody knew what they
did."

"But then why did they let you come and get me?" He asked.

"Dr. Freedman let us come and get you," Scully said. "And we don't think those men
wanted him to let us. That's why he's dead. And they don't want us to have you,
that's why they're watching us."

"But why do they do this?"

"Because they're bad men, and your dad and I know a lot about them because we work
for the FBI. They're afraid of us."

Samuel appeared to understand. If he did, that was good, because Scully did not
feel she fully understood her own words.

"The men who visited you," Mulder, who up until now had been silent, asked "Did
you ever see a man who smoked a lot of cigarettes?"

Both of them had thought of it. Neither had sought to voice it until now. "Once,"
Samuel replied. "When I first went to live with Anna and George. He came the first
day I was there. "

That was enough. Mulder had known all along what was going on, but Samuel's answer
confirmed everything.

Neither he nor Scully spoke, but Mulder's look conveyed all. "We're into something
big, Scully."

Big was right. perhaps too big.

"I'm not scared," Samuel said. "you guys will protect me."

If only we could be so sure we can, Samuel, Scully thought. She took his hand
again and led him towards the stairs.

Once they were out of sight, Mulder shut and bolted the door behind him. He headed
into the living room, observing the dust covered plastic and cobwebs that
surrounded him. Why did this have to happen now? It was Scully's last chance to
find what she wanted. His last chance to be with Scully, which was the only thing
he wanted. Now the possibility that he and Scully might never get to live together
in peace with their son loomed over his head. It was too much to bear.

The thought of cleaning up the living room suddenly became unthinkable. Mulder sat
down heavily in a plastic covered chair, coughing as the dust rose up around him
and clouded the air. The coughs quickly turned into something more. Mulder buried
his face in his hands and let the tears come.


Nighttime came with a feeling of ominous dread.

Mulder and Scully lay together in the bed that had once been used by Scully's
parents, while Samuel slept on a small mattress on the floor next to them.

They had managed to clean a fair amount of the house, at least to the point of it
looking reasonably civilized again. The cobwebs were gone. The spiders had been
moved outside by Samuel, who refused to squash them.

It almost looked lived in, though Mulder wondered why they bothered. He had a
feeling they would not be staying here for long.

In fact, the feeling was so strong that Mulder very nearly jumped out of his skin
when he heard the sound downstairs.

It was a strange sound, hard to recognize at first. He turned to Scully, hoping
she could identify it.

She nodded in response to his questioning look. She had heard it too. Samuel,
fortunately, was fast asleep.

"What is it?" Mulder asked.

A thumping, metallic jangling sound. She had heard it several times before.

"It sounds like someone trying to jimmy the lock on the front door," She replied,
feeling her adrenaline rise.

"Jesus!" Mulder said, leaping up out of bed as fast as he could without waking
Samuel. He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his gun. Scully did so too, grabbing
her weapon and then grabbing her boy, who woke up with a start, but did not cry
out.

"It's all right, Sam. Everything's going to be fine," Scully tried to reassure
him.

The sight of his father racing out of the room with no shirt on and a gun in his
hand did little to convince Samuel of this fact.


The house was quiet.

Too quiet.

Mulder felt himself wince every time a floorboard creaked as he moved stealthily
through the hallway. The sound had momentarily stopped. But it didn't take long
for it to resume. Now that he was closer, he recognized without a doubt the sound
of someone trying to pick the lock.  It sent chills up his spine.

He approached the door from around the corner, knowing that whoever was out there
could not see him from this angle.

Now, just wait it out Mulder.

Wait.

The shaking of the lock continued. It was giving the intruder as much trouble as
it have given Scully earlier that day.

There was the sound of the lock finally giving in. The shaking stopped. Mulder
seized his opportunity. He grabbed the doorknob and flung open the door, aiming
his gun at whoever happened to be standing there.

The face he saw didn't surprise him at all.

Unfortunately, Agent Spender turned and ran before Mulder had a chance. No time to
think.

Mulder gave chase, wincing as the cold November air bit through his naked upper
torso. Spender ran as fast as he could off the deck and into the front yard, but
he was no match for Mulder. There had often been comments made at the bureau that
if you needed someone to chase down a crook on foot, Fox Mulder was your man.
Nobody could run faster than him, and he knew it. He was upon Spender before the
younger agent saw him. Spender cried out as Mulder knocked him to the ground.

But before he had a chance to question Spender, or hit him, or yell at him, or do
anything else that would give him such great joy, a thought came to him.

What if this was a diversion?

What if someone else was in the house at this very moment, creeping up on an
unsuspecting Scully and her son. Their son?

Of course, Scully was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and the boy.

But that wasn't the point. His mission here was not to beat up Spender, as much as
he wanted to. His mission was to protect his family.

"To hell with you," Mulder said, getting to his feet.

"What?" Spender asked, wheezing. "you... aren't going to kill me?" His voice was
taunting, sarcastic. It was almost as though he wanted Mulder to chase him. He
didn't want him to go back to the house.

"Later," Mulder said, getting up. He broke into a run.  

"Wait!" Spender yelled."Mulder, you don't have a chance in hell!"

Mulder didn't hear him as he ran through the damp grass back towards the welcoming
light of the house.

All he heard was the sound of the gunshot, and the sound of a child screaming.

The scenario ran through his mind before he even saw it.

Spender *had* been a diversion.

There had been someone else in the house all alone. Seeing that Mulder had left,
they had shot Scully and taken Samuel.

These were the things Mulder's imagination created.

He hadn't expected to be right.


Mulder skidded around the corner and into the brightly lit bedroom where he had
left his partner and his son a moment before.

The sight that greeted him was something he had hoped he would never have to see.
He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping it would go away and when he opened them
again everything would be fine.

But it wasn't so.

Scully lay on the floor, her weapon still in her hand. Blood was seeping from a
wound in her abdomen and slowly covering the white dressing gown she wore, and
pooling onto the wooden floor beneath her. Samuel was nowhere to be seen.

"Scully, no!" Mulder whispered.

Images of a life without Scully flashed through his mind. He got down on his knees
beside her.

Just close enough to see that she was still breathing.

He reached down and took her blood covered hand in his. She stirred.

Mulder breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was still with him for now. There
was no telling how bad the wound was.

"It's all right Mulder," Scully said suddenly, her voice weak. "I don't think it
hit anything vital."

If only that were true. Would she lie to him so he wouldn't be afraid? He didn't
know.

"But Scully...." You'd better be telling the truth.

"Mulder, trust me. I'm a doctor...." She coughed. "I know where my organs are...
Its.... not fatal. Not for a while, anyway."

Mulder decided he didn't believe Scully one bit. But if she was telling him this

it was for a reason. She wouldn't lie to him without just cause.

"It was Agent Fowley," Scully added, wincing.

"She took Samuel?" Scully nodded, her face twisting in a grimace of pain. "Go get
them..."

"But... you're hurt..."

"Dammit, Mulder, I"m fine! *go get them!*"

Mulder sighed in exasperation.

Damn you for being so stubborn Scully. He bent over and kissed her on the
forehead, trying not to look at the wound, or the pool of blood that was growing
larger on the floor. Fatal wound or not, she was going to bleed to death if she
didn't get help.

He grabbed his cell phone from the bedsite table and handed it to her. "Do you
have the strength to call 911?" he asked.

Scully nodded.

Mulder kissed her again and ran out of the room.

He made it to the front door just in time to see Fowley running through the front
yard with a small, child-shaped burden in her arms. Had she been waiting in the
house the whole time, just looking for an opportunity to get out without him
seeing? He was falling into all of their traps.

Mulder ran out the door again, this time not noticing the November cold as it bit
and stung him. The cold didn't matter now. What mattered was getting his son back.

"Stop, Diana!" Mulder called, running as fast as he could, wishing she didn't have
such a head start on him.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" Mulder yelled again.

Would she take him seriously?

She did.

She stopped running and turned to face him, holding Samuel tightly as he squirmed
in her arms.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mulder could see two more men approaching from the
vicinity of the driveway. One of them was Spender. the other was someone he didn't
recognize. The man who had shot Freedman, perhaps?

"Don't make me do this, Fox," Fowley said, her voice sounding sad, almost
regretful.

Do what? Mulder wondered. What could she possibly do that was worse than she had
already done?

"Do what? Do something worse than you're already doing?" Mulder asked, voicing his
thoughts.

Fowley didn't reply. Without a word, she propped Samuel's small form under one arm
and drew her gun.

"If you come any closer, I'll shoot the boy!" she called to him, pressing the
barrel of the weapon against Samuel's small head.

Why would she shoot Samuel? Wasn't he the reason all of this was going on? Wasn't
he the very reason they came here? If they wanted the boy dead, he would have been
long ago.

Mulder could bet that Fowley was under direct orders not to harm the boy. She was
bluffing.

Or stalling him. Spender and the other man were still approaching. Slowly drawing
closer.

Mulder aimed his weapon a little more accurately.

"I'm warning you!" Fowley called, pressing the gun harder into Samuel's head.

"You won't shoot him, Fowley!" Mulder called "You can't! You'd spoil the agenda!"

>From somewhere up the road, Mulder heard the sound of sirens, growing closer with
every passing moment.

The boy screamed.

Fowley reacted, perhaps to Samuel's cry, but moreso to the sound of their
impending failure coming from just up the road. She gave Samuel a hard smack with
the butt of her gun to silence him. That was enough for Mulder. He fired.

The shot whizzed through the air and struck a tree somewhere behind Fowley. But it
was enough. She dropped Samuel. Her attention was off of him just long enough for
the boy to start running.

Samuel didn't appear to know where to go.

He just knew he had to run.

Fowley ignored Mulder and gave chase to the boy. Spender broke into a run after
Samuel as well.

The third party whom Mulder did not recognize continued to approach him. "Stop it,
damn you!" Agent Fowley cried, unable to keep up with Samuel, who ran faster than
any child Mulder had seen.

Takes after his father, he thought, experiencing a brief interlude of fatherly
pride.

It vanished when he saw Fowley fire at him.

She fired her gun. At Samuel.

At Mulder's son.

It was the last straw.

Fatherly pride became fatherly protective instinct.

Mulder heard his weapon fire before he realized that he had pulled the trigger.
She might not have meant to harm Samuel - Mulder suspected not. Perhaps she had
only meant to cripple him so he couldn't run, but that didn't matter. What
mattered was that she had fired.

This time, the bullet did not hit a tree.

Mulder heard the sickening sound of bone snapping as the bulled hit agent Fowley
in the back of the head. She fell to the ground and lay still. There was no time
to feel remorse or guilt.

Samuel kept running. He was limping now, but Mulder could not tell if he had been
hit.

"Run Samuel!" Mulder called, now able to see the lights on the approaching
ambulance and police cars. "Run towards the police car!" he yelled, and began to
run towards his son.

Samuel continued to run.

But this time, Agent Spender had the advantage.

He caught up to the boy and grabbed him from the very spot where he stood. Samuel
screamed again, causing spender to cover the boy's mouth with his hand to silence
him. Mulder gave chase again, ready to blow Spender's head off as well if he did
not let the boy go.

Where had the third man gone to?

That was Mulder's last thought  before something hard and cold struck him on the
head and the world faded to black.

XXXXXX

Bright Lights.

Bright Lights, strange noises.

A beeping noise.

It sounded oddly familiar.

Scully opened her eyes. Above her, a bright yellow light gleamed down from the
hospital ceiling. The beeping noise came from the EKG monitor on the table beside
her.

What had happened?

It all came back at once. Samuel. The summer house. Agent Fowley firing her gun
and the horrible, searing pain. She remember the pain, the blood, and Mulder. And
dialing 911 before she passed out.

Scully looked down to see the bandages wrapped around her abdomen. Putting her
fingers to the spot she felt a scar, and brand new stitches.

Well, she had been right. The wound had obvisouly not been fatal.

But where was Mulder?

All she needed to do was look to her left to find him. He sat there, in an
uncomfortable hospital chair, sound asleep. A small bandage adorned the left side
of his head, but other than that he appeared to be in fine shape.

Save for the dark circles under his eyes.

"Mulder," Scully said, finding out the hard way that it hurt like hell to speak.

He opened his eyes, smiling when he saw that she was awake.

"Scully," he said. I'm so glad you're OK, Scully. If anything had happened to
you...

"What happened?" she asked, cutting him off before he could add the words he was
thinking.

Mulder took a deep breath, and Scully saw for the first time that his eyes were
red and bloodshot, his cheeks streaked red the way they often are when someone has
been crying a lot.

Had Mulder been crying? Why?

Where was Samuel?


"Oh god, Scully... I'm so sorry," Mulder said, the happiness draining from his
face.

"I'm so sorry.""Mulder!" Scully said "You're scaring me! What happened? Where's
Samuel?"

How could he say it? How could he let her know her dreams of having a child had
just been destroyed - again?

"They took him," Mulder replied as gently as he could.

He looked away so he wouldn't have to see the look of pain and devastation on
Scully's face when he said so. "I tried to save him," He added. His voice cracked
as he tried not to cry again. He had done enough crying when he had woken up in
the hospital, and when Scully had been in surgery. He had cried for himself, his
loss. But mostly he had cried for Scully. Samuel had been her last chance, and now
he was gone.

"I almost had him. Diana... was shooting at him," he said. "So I shot her. She's
dead Scully."

"Did she hit him?" Scully asked.

"I don't know."

Scully said nothing, and Mulder quelled his fear and looked her in the eyes. Her
eyes were sad. But it was the lack of sadness or shock that surprised Mulder. Had
she become so numb to pain like this that she didn't feel it anymore? Or had she
simply been expecting this outcome all along?

No, it was neither. Scully was in shock, plain and simple. The reality would not
hit her now. It would hit her sometime in the next few days, when she was alone.

"Someone hit me on the head before I could get to him," Mulder continued. " I saw
Spender get him. They took off before the police could catch them. They searched
for hours for the car they were driving."

"Did they find them?" Scully asked, knowing the answer would be no.

"They found the car, abandoned at the side of the road. No trace of Spender,
Samuel, or the other agent. I just talked to Skinner and Spender hasn't reported
for duty since the incident. He's gone, Scully. They're all gone."

Scully sat in the drab hospital bed, staring straight ahead at the cold, sterile
walls. She suddenly recalled how she had felt, sitting here in this same hospital,
dying of cancer. That was all over now, but this pain was far worse. She would
have preferred death to this, the loss of another child. The last child she could
ever hope to find that was her own.

But somehow, Samuel's loss had not surprised her. In a way, she had prepared
herself for it from the moment they had seen that black sedan parked outside their
hotel room. It had seemed then that there was no way out, and Samuel's
disappearance was only a matter of time.

Perhaps Samuel was just like Emily. A miracle that was never meant to be. Or maybe
he was just a miracle that was never meant to be *her* miracle. "Agent Fowley is
dead?" Scully asked, trying to keep her mind off Samuel. Mulder nodded.

"I'm sorry, Mulder," She said. "I know what she meant to you."

"She meant something to me once, Scully," Mulder replied "But not now, and not
when I shot her. I'm the one who should be sorry Scully. I let them get away. I
lost Samuel... I lost our son. I don't know... how you can forgive me. I won't
blame you if you never do," he lowered his head.

Scully squeezed Mulder's hand, letting the tears that came to her eyes flow freely
down her cheeks.

"Mulder, whatever happened, it wasn't your fault. You tried. I might as well blame
myself for getting shot. I could have helped if she hadn't shot me. "

"They hit me from behind..." Mulder said, almost as if he hadn't heard her. He was
still trying to explain his failure. His imagined failure. It hadn't been his
fault.

"It's OK Mulder," Scully said. "Mulder, I love you. I always will, no matter what
happens."

Is there no end to this woman's strength? Mulder wondered. She's the one who
should be comforted, not me. Mulder sat up and took in a deep breath. Try to be
strong for Scully just once, Mulder.


"Agent Scully," a voice said from the doorway.

Scully and Mulder looked up.

It was a very welcome surprise to see Skinner in the doorway.

"How are you feeling?" Skinner asked, entering the room.

"I've felt better," Scully replied.

"Agent Mulder told me what happened," Skinner said. "I'm sorry for your loss."

There was an awkward silence for a moment. Skinner looked at the floor, shuffled
his feat, and then  spoke again.

"Well, the reason I'm here, Agents... There was an interesting development.
Apparently, AD Kersh is nowhere to be found. He disappeared around the same time
as Spender."Mulder's eyes widened. "Kersh?" He asked. He had known Kersh was a
jerk, but he had never suspected this. Scully, too, looked surprised, though
perhaps not as surprised as he.

"I should have known," He said finally. Why not? Had Kersh ever seemed to have
anything on his mind other than destroying Mulder's life's work?

"And I'll bet our chain-smoking friend had something to do with this, too," Mulder
said. He didn't have to ask Skinner, he knew.

Skinner appeared thoughtful. "I really don't know, Agent Mulder. Although with
that man, you can pretty much assume he's behind everything."Scully had said
nothing. She remained staring off into space.

"But that's not all I came here for," Skinner added, clearing his throat.

"There are two open positions at the X-Files now, and we need some passionate,
experienced agents to fill those positions."

Mulder perked up. So did Scully. This was unusual. Mulder had talked to Skinner
and told him the whole story, from Scully's interest in finding Samuel to the
discovery that there was more to their relationship than just friendship. Skinner
had taken it well, but Mulder had suspected that was because they no longer worked
for him.

"What about protocol?" Scully asked. "Rules? Two agents working together cannot
carry on a personal relationship..." she trailed off. She was too upset to worry
about this right now.

"I'll expect you two to report in for work once you're ready," Skinner said,
ignoring Scully's statement. He left without another word.


"How does it feel, Scully?" Mulder asked, watching as his partner made her way
through his living room to sit on his couch, wincing as she did so.

She had made a speedy recovery, but she had been released from the hospital only
the day before and the bullet wound was still sensitive.

Still, she couldn't complain. She was alive.

That had to count for something. If not, there was no way she would still be here.
It was amazing what one could go through and still want to live.

"Better than when it first happened," Scully replied. She managed to find a
comfortable spot on Mulder's  couch and relaxed, sighing in contentment as the
pain subsided.

"I think I'll be able to start work soon," she added.

"Do you miss Samuel?" Mulder asked as he sat down beside her. It was a dumb
question. Perhaps he asked it more as a way of telling her how much he missed the
boy. Their lives would never be the same.

"More than you can imagine," Scully replied. "Not a day goes by when I don't think
about him. " she paused for a moment, thoughtful.

"Do you think we'll ever find him?" she asked.

Mulder remained silent for a moment. He didn't know the answer. There were times
when he was certain they would never see him again. But he couldn't say that to
Scully. He couldn't crush her hope. Right now, that was all she had left.

"We've got the X-Files back now, Scully. " was what Mulder said instead.

"We've got an outlet, and we can keep searching for the truth and for Samuel until
we find him. We'll find him Scully," yes, that felt right.

And perhaps they would find him.

"Mulder... " Scully began " Do you think he was... a coincidence?"

"What, you mean the fact that he was made from both of us?" Mulder asked.

Scully nodded. "What are the chances of it being a coincidence? But if it was
itentional, then why would they do it? What would be the purpose?"

"I don't know Scully," Mulder replied.

"And maybe we never will know," She said. "I wonder if all of the children were
made from both of us, Mulder. Did you ever think of that? Maybe Emily was your
daughter, too."

Mulder nodded. "I thought of it."

"We could run a test between Emily's blood sample and yours and find out..."
Scully's voice trailed off.  She was trying to run on false hope again. That was
not good.

"Maybe someday, Scully," Mulder said. "But not right now. I think you need time
before you start thinking about that."

Scully nodded again. "it was silly of me to think that it would be any different
than it was with Emily," she said.

"Why do you say that, Scully? You tried. We both did."

"but if we'd left well enough alone, he'd still be a happy enough little boy. We
uprooted him from his existence, put him through hell, and this is how it ends up.
Losing him is the easy part. The part that I can't stand is wondering what
happened to him."

Mulder sat in silence. She was right.

Partly.

"I'm sure he's all right," Mulder added. Yes, the boy would have to be fine. They
wouldn't harm the child they had come after so diligently. "But I think what
matters the most is that he got a chance to know us. to know YOU. He knows who his
parents are, Scully. Maybe that will give him more hope, or more happiness than he
had before."

Scully wrung her hands together.

"Maybe," she said. And that was what she would have to cling to. The hope that
Samuel was alive, and being treated well. And maybe he was better for the
experience of meeting his real mother and father.

In the meantime, she had Mulder.

"I'm so sorry, Scully," Mulder said again. "I can't imagine how you must feel."

Scully reached out and tousled his hair with her hand.

"I feel like shit, Mulder," She said. "but I have to go on. Life goes on." Mulder
smiled and pulled her close to him, gently so as not to hurt her still fragile
body. He soaked in the sensation of having her close to him -the smell of her
hair, the feel of her soft skin. This was real life. This was Scully.

Samuel was gone, but he would never let Scully go.

THE END

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