TITLE: Almost Home (20/?)
AUTHOR: Shoshana
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT: Gossamer, Spookys site, Xemplary,
etc.
SPOILER WARNING: Seventh season episodes through Requiem.
RATING: NC-17 (Most of the story is rated R, NC-17 parts will be
clearly marked)
CONTENT STATEMENT: MSR
CLASSIFICATION: SRA
KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance
SUMMARY: Post ep for Requiem. Mulder comes back... but he's
missing something.
DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me.
NOTE: Thanks to my great beta readers Amy, Keleka, Lisa and Sallie!

Almost Home (20/?)
By Shoshana

February 26nd, 2001
Monday
11:00 a.m.
FBI Headquarters

"Sure you're ready? We can go somewhere else until our meeting with
Skinner."

Scully reached across the car seat for Mulder's hand, initiating a
playful war between their thumbs as she waited for a response.

"No. I want to go in. I just needed a minute to collect myself.
How about you? Didn't you want to go somewhere for lunch, Scully?"
he asked.

Mulder knew he should have suggested a bite to eat before but his
thoughts had been focussed on what lie beyond the elevator doors of
the Hoover building.

"How about the cafeteria?" she asked with a devilish grin.

"You want to make a grand entrance or something, Scully? Alien
hunter Spooky Mulder returns to FBI headquarters accompanied by his
very pregnant consort Dr. Dana Scully?" he joked.

Scully looked over at him affectionately and rubbed her thumb over
his chilly palm. "Sure. I've been biting my tongue every time I've
heard snippets of conversation about us for five long months. I've
had to endure stares, people clamming up whenever I enter the room,
and stupid, ill-mannered questions from support staff who don't have
a clue what our work is all about. Yes, I'd like to make a grand
entrance. I've had it with all the rumors, Mulder. I want to show
everyone you had no intention of abandoning me, our child, or the X-
Files to fly off in a spaceship."

There was a trace of venom in her words, contempt for all the
morons who'd come out of the woodwork since Mulder had disappeared
last September. Every trip to the bathroom, and she'd had to make
plenty of them since the beginning of her pregnancy, became a test of
her self-restraint. Since November, women in the Hoover building had
freely commented on her condition while Scully used the facilities.

Most had the good sense to shut up when she would exit her stall and
step over to the basin to wash her hands. A few would apologize for
their thoughtless words. Some would ask her how she was feeling, ask
her if there was any word about Agent Mulder. Overall, they were
remorseful and Scully never encountered the same discourtesy twice.

However, there were thousands of employees in the building and it
never failed to happen on one of her more miserable days, coinciding
with some uncontrollable, quite natural surge of hormones through her
body. Those days she would wait until the gossip mongers had cleared
the restroom, then taken the stairs in lieu of the elevator--just to
get away from it all.

Mulder sensed the bitterness behind her levity and responded,
"Scully, we don't have to prove anything to these idiots. I'm sorry
I treated the situation so lightly... I didn't realize--"

Scully shook her head and interrupted him, "It's okay, Mulder. I
don't resent these people; it's human nature to gossip. I just... I
just would like to act like ordinary people for once, even if means
risking our partnership."

"There's no chance of that, Scully. Skinner would have said
something last Monday. There's no reason to split us up; there are
other married agents. They don't supervise each other, and I could
make a very good case why I don't supervise you anymore. Especially
since you managed the X-Files while I was gone," he reminded her.

Scully smiled at his optimism, but remained doubtful. She decided
to keep it to herself; there was no point in arguing about their
partner status. What will be will be, she thought. If the
bureaucrats decided to separate them as an FBI team, they would still
be together as a couple. Their love for one another and their child
bonded them forever.

"Still want to eat upstairs?" he inquired. Mulder smoothed down the
collar of her coat in the back, then twined his fingers through her
rapidly growing hair. He never wanted her to have short hair again.
Ever.

"Bring me something? After all, I have a lot of paperwork to catch
up on in the office," she openly fibbed.

Mulder leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek, "Yeah, I
think I can swing that. And Scully?"

"Yeah?"

"We are going to act like ordinary people. We're going to get
married and we're going to move and we're going to have a baby. I
don't want to miss out on any more events in our life, even the minor
ones--like running out for ice cream at two o'clock in the morning
or..." He gave her slender hand a caress with his lips, then
continued, "Or dashing off to the Bureau mess hall to get you lunch."

"You think you'll be able to handle it if you can't remember
someone?" she fretted.

"Sure. I don't see why not. I'm not always Mister Personality
around here anyway. I remember last year and I don't recall being
too chummy with anyone other than the lab staff. Seems to be me
we've already alienated everyone else, possibly as far back as
Antarctica. Don't ask me for details of the OPR meeting though, I
only know what I read in my journal. That's one reason I'd like to
spend some time in the office--let's take some files home with us. I
want to review some of the cases dealing with the alien virus."

"That's exactly what I was going to suggest, Mulder. I'm going to
be home a lot for the next few months. I haven't had this much time
to study chemical analyses of what we've discovered for years. Not
to mention the need to study our own blood--" she added a little
anxiously.

"I know," he interrupted. "I didn't want to ask you to do this,
Scully, but no one else can. We can't trust anyone else with the
information. I don't want to take Krycek's warning seriously, but
I'm afraid we're going to have to. We don't know who followed us on
the highway last night... or why. I'd like to find out though."

"I think we have to use the lab when no one's around, Mulder. I've
done it before, and I can do it again. You don't have to worry about
asking me to do anything--it helps to work. It takes my mind off
other things..." Her voice trailed off at the end as she studied her
hands, clasped loosely in her lap.

Mulder lifted her chin with his forefinger and looked into her eyes.
"Hey, nothing's going to happen to you or the baby, Scully. I
promise." He leaned over for one chaste kiss, then told her, "Come
on, let's get going. It will be one o'clock before you know it and
I'm looking forward to seeing Skinner again. This time I won't be at
a disadvantage; I think he knew something was wrong last Monday but
was too polite to bring it up. Maybe we ought to give him a chance
to ask me a few questions before we tell him about the memory loss."

"You think he already knows?" she asked.

"Yes, I do. But it's just a hunch, Scully."

Scully gave a mild groan, accompanied by a grin.

"I know, I know. But how many of my hunches have turned out to be
valid theories... tell me that?"

"Oh, once in a while..." she waffled.

"Scully... I may only remember last year, but I can name ten cases
off the top of my head when my first impressions proved to be true.
You're just being difficult, aren't you?"

She smiled at him indulgently and responded, "I'm hungry, Mulder."

"Argh, woman," he growled affectionately. "You never cut me a
break." He leaned over and kissed her on the nose. "Let's face the
music, sweetheart."

Scully laughed and popped her car door open. Mulder did the same on
his side of the sedan, rushing around to help her climb out
gracefully. They were soon in the elevator descending to the
basement.

No one was in the car when they got on; not many people used the
lower floor for anything but office supplies and major copying
duties. Scully got out her keyring and opened the door which still
boasted Mulder's nameplate. He smiled at the addition of a second
one below, Agent Dana Scully, M.D. How had he neglected to get her
one before?

The office smelled musty from being closed up for the last few
weeks. Scully doubted anyone but the cleaning crew had been in here
lately. Her temporary partner didn't have a key anymore, but Skinner
had access to the office at any time. She hadn't minded that at all;
if Mulder hadn't returned, he would have been her liaison to
important databases.

She could still get around pretty well in her sixth month, but she
had a realistic expectation she might be confined to bed the last
month of her pregnancy. If Mulder hadn't been back by then, she
would have done whatever she could from home to find him. But he's
home now, she thought to herself. She smiled to herself, basking in
the joy returned to her life since last Monday night.

"What's so funny, Scully?" Mulder asked, amused by her Mona Lisa
smile.

Forest-colored eyes searched for any renovations or improvements of
note. Everything looked pretty much the same, except for the
addition of another desk, crammed into the far corner of their
claustrophobic domain. The partner's space, he mused. Thank God
Skinner had found her someone untainted by the Consortium. Of
course, he thought, there was no assurance her temporary partner was
clean. He could have been waiting for the right moment to...

"Mulder?"

"Huh?"

"What are *you* thinking about?" she inquired thoughtfully. "You
seem far away."

"Your partner Charlie. I was having paranoid thoughts..." he
admitted a bit shamefacedly.

"Oh, don't worry about him. The guys bugged his apartment the whole
time he worked with me. He's completely clean," she told him
confidently.

Mulder grinned at her, then wove his arm around her waist. She
didn't resist, though he knew she would have done so a year ago.
There had been a hands off policy at work as soon as they'd started
sleeping together.

"Scully, you committed an illegal act! I'm flabbergasted at your
temerity. So... find out anything interesting about your temporary
partner?"

He whispered his last sentence in a voice laden with prurient
interest. Scully choked out an indignant laugh at his accusation.

"Mulder! He's a nice guy! And no, I didn't listen when he had
women over, you pervert!" She shuffled her feet a bit and looked
down at the floor shyly, "I left that task to Frohike."

Mulder chuckled at the visual image of his trollish friend, and
whoever else happened to be at the Gunmen's office, listening to
Charlie get some action.

"All in the interest of keeping you safe, of course?"

"Of course," she replied, finally succumbing to a few giggles.

Mulder took her by the hand and they wove their way around his old
desk. It had a sprinkling of dust from disuse, but was still pretty
much like he'd left it. Scully had carved herself a workspace,
leaving his toys and other familiar objects at rest.

"You spent a lot of time down here, Scully?"

"Yeah, I didn't like to leave until eight or nine at night. It
always made the nights go faster when I had just a few hours to kill
at home. Or your apartment. I started staying there more the last
few months."

"For the tub?" he guessed.

"Yeah, for that, and just to be there as much as I could..." Her
voice wavered as she continued, "I wanted to be near you. I couldn't
smell you in my apartment anymore..."

Tears brimmed in her eyes, and Scully felt slightly silly. She'd
resisted crying all day, why now? Perhaps because they were
absolutely alone now--she could let it all hang out if she wanted.

"Hey, come here," Mulder crooned, pulling her into his arms, then
gently wiping the wetness off her cheeks with his thumb. "I'm sure I
did the same thing when you were gone. God knows... I still can't
remember those three months. Maybe I'm better off not retrieving sad
memories, Scully. I was pretty terse in my journal entries... with
good reason, I'm sure."

"You know I'm not terribly sentimental, Mulder--but I felt like I
was going over the edge some evenings. I couldn't talk to my mother
or the guys sometimes. There were times when I was so alone..."

Scully tightened her arms around his back and leaned her cheek
against his chest. Mulder shushed her before she could say more,
kissing her forehead several times before telling her, "Come on, why
don't you sit down? It's getting close to noon and you need to eat
lunch. I'll run upstairs and get something, okay?"

"Okay," she responded, smiling up at the crooked grin on his face.

She reluctantly moved out of his arms and navigated around piles of
manilla folders on the floor. She carefully sat down in the
adjustable office chair, her latest bout with its stability fresh in
her mind. Mulder stepped back to admire her, trying to remember when
she'd usurped his seat last--it must have been shortly before he'd
left for Bellefleur a second time. He shook off the memory when she
smiled at him, clearing her throat with an understated 'harumph.'

"Chef's salad? Milk?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Sure. Extra milk... okay?"

"Okay. I'll just be a few minutes. This kind of service doesn't
come cheap, you know."

"What?"

Her lips curled into a little bow as she realized he was teasing
her. Mulder walked over to her and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Payment received," he whispered, before turning to leave.

Scully watched him walk to the door, then turn and glance at her one
more time before locking the door behind him. He didn't have to do
that, she had her weapon with her--it was *their* office, for
goodness sake! She appreciated it nonetheless. It was getting
easier to accept his protection when he gave it without patronizing
words of caution.

Mulder strode over to the elevator doors and punched at the button
beside him. Ten seconds later, the metal barrier parted and he
collided with a man slightly shorter than himself yet a good thirty
pounds heavier.

"Mulder! Good to see you! I just found out you were back!"
exclaimed the paunchy, but pleasant looking brown-haired man. He
extended his hand in a such a friendly manner Mulder was forced to
reciprocate.

Exasperated by his inability to place this man from his past, Mulder
found it difficult to disguise his bewilderment. He tried to erase
the confusion from his features, but the stranger had already noted
his befuddlement.

"Hey, Mulder, I know I've gained a lot of weight in the last couple
years, but surely you remember me? Tom, Tom Colton. Sorry if I
caught you off guard. I just heard about you and Dana."

Mulder searched his memory frantically, settling on a case he'd read
about in his journal. 1993. No wonder he couldn't recognize this
man; they'd worked on the Tooms case together but Mulder hadn't seen
a photograph of him among the ones Scully had shown him last week.

"Oh, Tom. Tom, I'm sorry. You do look different. You grew a
beard, didn't you?" Mulder hedged a bet the beard was a new addition
to the man's visage. "How come you have a Visitor's pass and not an
FBI ID on your lapel?" Mulder asked, attempting to evade scrutiny of
his own faulty memory by focussing on Tom's status as an agent.

"Didn't you hear? I quit the Bureau about a year and a half ago and
formed a company with a few friends. Security systems, personal
safety seminars, that kind of stuff. We're still struggling, but I
think it will work out. Didn't do much good for my personal fitness
regimen, though," Tom remarked, patting his extra girth.

Mulder grinned, then answered, "It suits you, Tom. You look happy
to be a civilian. To tell the truth, Scully and I spend so much time
out of town some months we never hear the latest buzz around the
water cooler. I guess you were on your way to say hello to Scully,
weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was just visiting a few friends in the bullpen. Hey!
Congratulations, Mulder! I mean... I don't mean to be presumptuous--
" he stammered.

"No, no. It's true. Scully and I... we're getting married soon,"
he admitted.

"That's great!" he responded, offering Mulder his hand once again.

Mulder grasped his hand firmly, internally praising some unknown
deity for getting him through yet another awkward situation.

He gestured with his hand toward the office door and said, "Go
ahead, Tom. I'm on my way to pick up lunch, but I'll be back in ten.
I'm sure Dana would like to see you."

"I'll just be a minute. Got a client interview at one p.m. but I
wanted to give her my best wishes. Take care, Mulder. It's good to
see you made it back... from wherever those *gray* Reticulans had
you," he quipped.

Mulder smiled and replied, "Thanks, Tom. I don't know if they were
gray or not, but they were definitely Reticulans..."

Tom grinned back. "I know you're full of it, Mulder. No matter
where you were, I'm glad you're back. I'm glad Dana has you," he
remarked honestly.

"Thanks, Tom," Mulder replied, with equal sincerity. "*I'm* glad to
be around now. I'm going to fly before Scully has to wait much
longer for that great cafeteria food. Take care of yourself," he
concluded, shaking Tom's hand for a third and last time before
running off to summon the elevator.

Thirty minutes later, Mulder felt like he'd just run an obstacle
course. He managed to pin a frozen smile on his face from the moment
he emerged from the elevator on the second floor. People waved
cheery hellos, some stopping him in the hallway to shake his hand.
Spooky had never been so popular among Hoover employees before--
they'd generally avoided him like the plague.

He imagined once the search had been called off for Agent Fox
Mulder, MIA, the news had spread like wildfire. Scully's pregnancy
was no secret, even though she'd secluded herself in the basement the
last few months. No one believed the baby could be anyone else's--
she'd never been seen with any other men--at least not in the same
way everyone associated her with Mulder.

Mulder tried to be gracious, but finally had to tell some well-
wishers he was on a tight schedule and move along. The line moved
swiftly at the cafeteria and he was eternally grateful those in line
to either side of him were total strangers. If he had to converse
with someone he couldn't remember, Mulder was ready to leave the
building for the nearest McDonald's.

"Special delivery!" he shouted before entering the office. He
looked around the basement hideaway, trying to spot Scully among the
familiar clutter. "Scully?" he questioned when he didn't see her
scarlet tresses.

"Here," she voiced from the door. "Another trip to the john. So,
what did you think of Tom, Mulder?" she asked lightly.

"Boy, Scully. That was a close one. If he hadn't put on so much
weight... I mean I really didn't know who he was... he thought it was
his size, not my recollection of him. I must not have seen him since
he left the FBI. It's a good thing I ran into him, though. It
prepared me for what lay ahead on the second floor. There were a few
people I had to smile at like some goofy clown; luckily no one
thought it was odd I didn't know them by name."

Mulder was obviously relieved to be in their out-of-the-way
sanctuary. He set the bags down on an empty desk and pulled two
chairs over so they could eat on the flat surface. Scully rummaged
through the food before sitting down, carefully placing her salad and
drink to one side.

"I'm surprised Tom dared to show his face around here after some of
the rumors he's spread in the past, Mulder. He does seem to be a
changed man. Since he got married..."

She caught Mulder's eye as he was sitting down. He sheepishly
responded, "I hope you don't mind that I told him we were getting
married, Scully. I couldn't allow him to think--"

"It's fine, Mulder. I don't mind. In fact, I think my mother has
come up with March tenth as a possible date. That okay with you?"
she asked coyly, tilting her head to one side.

Mulder smiled and scooted his chair closer to her side. "Yeah, you
know it is." He took hold of her left hand and fingered the antique
ring she continued to wear. "You sure tried to chase me away before
I regained my memory, Scully."

His tone was light, but she knew how aggravated he'd been before
she'd green lighted the nuptials on their way back from Rhode Island.

"Humph," she replied with mock indignation. "Just another case of
the two of us seeing circumstances through a totally different lens,
Mulder. I'd never chase you away, but I would make you slow down and
think things out rationally."

He leaned over to kiss her cheek quickly, then agreed, "You always
have, Scully. I hope you always will."

Mulder turned his attention to the hamburger and fries he'd brought
back for himself, tearing the bag apart and spreading a dozen napkins
across the table to capture the grease.

"You're lucky I'm past the queasy stage or I'd be out of here in a
flash," Scully teased. She picked at her salad, fishing out the
pieces of cheese and egg with care.

"Did you get morning sickness? I never thought to ask," he queried
before taking a huge bite of his burger.

"It was bad for a few weeks after I first found out. It got better.
The dizzy spells went away as soon as I made sure I ate enough
protein. I guess skipping meals probably contributed to that symptom
more than anything."

"We, I, thought you were sick, Scully. The night you came to my
motel room... I wish we'd done something then," he reflected
solemnly.

"We couldn't have known, Mulder," she assured him, running her hand
along his forearm.

"No, but I wouldn't have left you here if I'd known you were
pregnant, Scully. You have to believe that. I don't think anything
would have made me leave you if I'd known. Even a cloaked spaceship
in Oregon," he responded quietly.

Scully reached over and swiped her finger across his chin, capturing
a stray dollop of ketchup. "I believe you. But--" she sighed
pensively.

"Buh wha?" he mumbled around his fries.

"I don't want you to stop trying to solve problems because of me, or
because of the baby. That's what we do, Mulder. It's our job to
save people's lives, and if we have to..."

"We have to look out for ourselves, too. We've taken enough chances
for humanity, Scully. I want to see you have a good life. If that
means cutting back on the X-Files, or if it means finding something
else to do with my life, that's what I'll do."

Scully shook her head, "No, we can't give up on our work, Mulder. I
agree... there may be less dangerous ways to go about it, but there
will always be pitfalls for us--because of what we know... because of
what we carry in our bloodstream."

She spoke with a tone of resignation which hurt him physically, tore
at his gut. He wanted to make it crystal clear what his priorities
in life were now he was back home to stay. Mulder never wanted her
to doubt his devotion, no matter what path they followed in the
coming months.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt again, Scully," he responded
determinedly. "Or the baby. That's the whole reason we're here this
afternoon--to see Skinner... to explain what we think happened to me,
what we know happened the other day. I don't think anyone else in
the FBI will take us seriously."

"Oh, really?"

The voice behind them startled Mulder and Scully; they reached for
their weapons instinctively and turned around.

fin

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