From: Momof4cats@aol.com
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 19:36:41 EST
Subject: Story
Source: direct

Date:  November 8, 2001
Title:  "Welcome to Bellefleur"
Author:  Catmom
Category:  V
Rating:  G
Spoilers:  EBE, Without
Keywords:  M/S Angst/Romance
Summary:  Scully goes through the motions of life after Mulder is gone.
Disclaimer:  The X Files and its characters belong to Chris Carter and a few
other folks.  Let's hope their mothers taught them to share.
Archive:  Well, if CC can share, so can I.  Just tell me where so I can visit.
Feedback:  Always welcome to Momof4cats@aol.com


"Welcome to Bellefleur"


SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2000
GEORGETOWN, VA


Dana Scully opened the door to her apartment building slowly.  Her bruised r
ibs had not fully healed yet, and the door, which she usually had no problem
 with, seemed heavy in her hand.

Under normal circumstances, Mulder would have opened the door for her.  He w
ould have also stayed with her for a few days, fawning over her, making sure
 she didn't exert one more iota of strength than she had to while she recove
red from her injuries.

However, her life wasn't under normal circumstances.  It hadn't been for a w
eek since Skinner came back from Bellefleur and told her that Mulder was ...=
 that Mulder was ...

Scully walked over to the mailboxes, dropped her duffel bag on the floor, an
d opened the postal container.

In the few days that Scully had been in Arizona and in the hospital, her mai
l carrier had filled every possible open space in the small 4" x 4" x 14" co
ntainer.  Fortunately, Scully didn't get a lot of bills or magazines.

Scully unzipped her duffel bag and tossed in her mail.  After closing the ma
ilbox, Scully turned around and peered at the stairs.  Usually she walked th
e two flights to her apartment, but today she picked up her bag and headed t
o the elevator.  She didn't have the strength or energy to climb stairs.

Getting off the elevator, Scully ran into her landlord, Mr. Cobin.  After th
eir mutual greetings, the kind, middle-aged man innocently asked her, "Did y
ou ever catch up with Agent Mulder from the other day?"

"Agent Mulder?" Scully asked, confused.  Very few people outside the FBI kne
w that Mulder was missing; her landlord wasn't one of them.

"Yeah, from ... what was it ... Wednesday or Thursday?  The day I was fixing
 the antenna, and you asked me if I'd seen a man in the building, and I told
 you that I saw Mulder."

Scully quickly recalled the conversation, and then remembered rushing back t
o her apartment hoping to find Mulder.  She hadn't found him, but she did fi
nd her computer -- missing.

Had that really only been Wednesday?  Today was Sunday.

How long would it be before she saw Mulder?  Another week?  A month?  Or the
 same three months that she was gone?  Were the people who took her the same
 people that took Mulder?  Were they going to put a chip in his neck?

Was CGB Spender involved?  Would Mulder develop cancer if they removed the c
hip?

"No, he ... uh ... left for Oregon a few days ago and hasn't gotten back yet
," Scully stammered, telling what could be considered the truth.

"Oh, okay.  Well, I better get back to work.  Mrs. Majewski's sink is clogge
d again.  I don't know what that woman ... " Cobin's voice trailed off as he
 opened the door to the stairwell.

Scully took a step closer to her apartment, then turned and called out, "Mr.=
 Cobin?"

Cobin looked at the redhead.  "Yeah?"

"You have my work and cell phone numbers, don't you?" Scully checked.

"Yeah." 

"If you ... if you see ... Mulder again, give me a call.  Okay?" Scully aske
d.

"Okay," Cobin said in agreement, yet most likely not understanding her reque
st.

Scully then realized how ridiculous it sounded -- if HE saw Mulder before sh
e did.  Her partner.  Her lover.  The man she worked with.  The man she slep
t with.  The man Scully saw almost every day for the past seven years, but t
he same man who Mr. Cobin saw maybe seven times in his life.  Oh yeah, right
.  He was really going to see Mulder before she would, Scully thought to her
self satirically.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cobin.  I guess I should tell you," Scully said with a heavy
 heart.  "Agent Mulder ... "  Could she bring herself to say the words?  To
fellow FBI agents, it seemed no trouble.  Maybe because it might help find M
ulder faster.  However, could she say the words to a civilian?

"Agent Mulder went missing last Monday.  He was, from what we can determine,=
 taken against his will while doing some investigative work in Oregon," Scul
ly managed to say.  The part about the aliens, the alien ship, the alien bou
nty hunter, Cobin didn't need to know about.

"Monday?  But I saw him after that," Cobin pointed out.

"No, Mr. Cobin.  You saw a man who can disguise himself to look like differe
nt people, but it wasn't Agent Mulder," Scully explained to her landlord.

"Really?  Well, that would explain why he didn't say anything.  Agent Mulder
's always been real friendly to me.  I'm real sorry to hear that," Cobin sai
d, expressing his condolences.

"I don't know if he's going to be returned after some exchange is made, or w
ind up in the hospital, or just come walking in the door, but please call me
 immediately if you see him," Scully asked Cobin.

Cobin opened the hallway door farther.  "I'll do that.  You take care of you
rself now."

"Thanks, Mr. Cobin," Scully called as she resumed her walk toward her apartm
ent.  I have to take care of myself, Scully silently told her unborn child,
for both of us.  For all three of us.  It's what your daddy would want me to
 do.

Once inside, Dana Scully walked over to her kitchen table and placed the duf
fel bag on top.  She opened the bag, got out the mail and placed it on the t
able.  Nothing looked crucial -- utilities bill, credit card bill, the lates
t issues of TV Guide, her health and fitness magazine and "The Lone Gunmen."

The Lone Gunmen.

Seventy-two hours ago, the publishers of that newsletter, The Lone Gunmen th
emselves, were at the same kitchen table, poring over maps and locations of
alien sightings, trying to help in the search for their friend.

As Scully lifted her bag from the table and walked to her bedroom, her heart
 pained at a memory.  She once said to Mulder that The Lone Gunmen were the
most paranoid people she had ever met.  How ironic that those same paranoid
men were now going to be amongst her strongest supporters as she went throug
h this difficult time.

Scully emptied the clothes from the bag, sorting out what needed to be washe
d and what could be simply put away.  At one point, she felt a cardboard-lik
e piece of paper.  Pulling it out, she realized it was a post card.

As she looked at the front of the card, her knees almost gave out.  It was a
 picture of the "Welcome to Bellefleur" sign along the main highway into the
 Oregon city.  The sign was a landmark in the directions given to Mulder and
 Scully on their first trip to the city.

Scully's heart beat faster.  Was this some clue to Mulder's whereabouts?  Sh
e quickly turned over the card and began to read.  It took less than a nanos
econd to recognize the handwriting as that of Fox Mulder's.

"Dear Scully -- I found this postcard at a gas station when Skinman and I ne
eded a pit stop.  Do you remember this sign?  'Turn left at the Welcome to B
ellefleur sign.  You can't miss it.'  And we were so busy talking, we almost
 did!  It's hard to imagine that was seven years ago.  We'll have to have so
me sort of anniversary dinner when I come back -- and yes, I know it's your
turn to pick out the movie.  See you soon.  All my love, Mulder."

Ignoring the tears streaming down her face, Scully brought the card up to he
r lips and kissed it.  Then, covering her heart with the card, she closed he
r eyes and said, "Hurry home, Mulder.  Hurry home."


FINI