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Title: If Alex Fell 7. Will of the Wind Thanks to those who wrote and asked for more; you know who you are. Your emails are sources of great joy and inspiration. To Mimsy and Jen who manage to kick my butt at all the right times and for Jenna, wherever you may be. Feedback: Yes, please. Praise will make my day. Flames will be used to lure Alex to my door. Either way, I win. Can you say 'incendiary device'? Sorry, inside joke. Talk to me people. "The voices in the wind Will of the Wind by Kenny Loggins November "What happened to the other syringes of vaccine?" Alex yawned and rolled over. "What?" "The other syringes? We used three; Dana used three on the guys and one for research purposes. What about the other three?" "I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Katie pushed the blanket away and started to get out of bed. Alex put his hand on her leg before she got too far. "I meant in the morning." Katie smiled. "I know. I'm gonna get up for a little while; I can't sleep." "Want some company?" She looked down at her husband. He was trying to keep his eyes open, but having little success. Poor guy. She'd been having trouble sleeping for the last week or so and Alex, bless his heart, had been staying up with her every night. "No, you go back to sleep," she said. "I might go do a little writing." "'K." Katie slipped quietly from the room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to her computer and sat down. It took a little doing to find a comfortable position these days, but tonight, her computer chair fit the bill. She logged on to check her email and found Miranda online. HEYES: Hi. Busy? MIRA7: No, just doing some research. Feeling ok? HEYES: Yeah. Just haven't been sleeping well. MIRA7: Have you told Dana? HEYES: Yes. Why are you up doing research at this time of night? MIRA7: Couldn't sleep either. HEYES: So how's it going with John? MIRA7: Very good, Katie! You waited a whole two minutes before asking this time. HEYES: LOL! I've been working on my self-restraint. ;-) MIRA7: I can tell. *g* MIRA7: Things are going well. HEYES: But? MIRA7: How do you do that?? This is print, for crying out loud! You can't see my face. HEYES: It's a gift. What's wrong? MIRA7: Nothing's wrong, really. I just miss him. He's here every other weekend, but it's not enough, you know? I want more. HEYES: Are we talking 'more' as in time or 'more' as in 'more'? MIRA7: both HEYES: Care to elaborate or is this where I casually switch to another topic? MIRA7: Depends. HEYES: On? MIRA7: How much you really want to know about my personal life? HEYES: Just tell me whatever you feel comfortable sharing, sweetheart. MIRA7: There's not that much to tell. HEYES: And that's the problem? MIRA7: Am I being impatient, Katie? I mean, we've known each other for almost seven months and yet he still acts like he's afraid to touch me. Taking it slow is one thing, but damn! HEYES: Have you told him this? MIRA7: I've tried, but we get so little time together. I tried to get up the courage to say something at Halloween, but I chickened out. What's wrong with me? HEYES: There's nothing wrong with you. You love him and you want to show him. He loves you; no doubt about it. Maybe there's a reason why he's dragging his heels. Ask him. MIRA7: I don't know how. HEYES: Write it down. MIRA7: ?? HEYES: You said you chickened out when you tried to talk to him. Write it all down and send it to him. That way, you can think it through and find the right words. MIRA7: Maybe. HEYES: Hey, even if you don't send the letter, it might help you figure out what you really want. MIRA7: Has to be better than what I'm doing now, right? HEYES: Right. MIRA7: Thanks. I think I'm going to try and get some sleep. You should probably do the same. After all, you're sleeping for three. *g* HEYES: Feels like three hundred. Dana says that twins tend to come a little earlier than single babies do. I hope she's right, because I'm ready when they are. MIRA7: Just when I think I'm the impatient one, you come along and remind what the word really means. LOL! There are some things you just can't rush, Katie. HEYES: I know, I know. Ok, you get some rest. I think I might try and do that myself. Sleep well. MIRA7: You, too. Katie closed the instant message window and scrolled down through her favorites file. She clicked on the folder containing name sites. Choosing one at random, she double-clicked and began sorting through names. Neither she nor Alex wanted to know the sex of their babies in advance, but as she read through all the choices, she began to wonder if it wouldn't be easier to have a clue. Light from the bathroom and the closing of the door distracted Katie from her search. When the door opened again, she watched as Adam came out, rubbing his eyes. "You ok, sweetie?" Adam walked over to her. "Yeah, just hadda go pee." He put draped one arm across her belly, then laid his head down as well. "Whatcha doin?" "Looking at baby names." He lifted his head and stared at her. "Why?" Katie pushed the hair out of his eyes. "We have to call the babies something. I don't think they'd like being called Hey You and Squirt, do you?" The expression on his face was a mixture of surprise and confusion. It made Katie feel as if she'd just made a most ridiculous statement. "But mommy, the babies already got names." "They do?" "Sure." "And you know what those names are, Adam?" "Uh huh." "How?" He let out a big yawn. "The babies told me. I told Uncle Mel, but he said not to tell you 'cause you and daddy didn't want to know if the babies were boys or girls until they were born." Katie chuckled and gave his head a playful rub. "You stinker. I should have known you'd have all the answers." She closed out the name site, then logged off. "Well, I guess I don't have to worry about finding the right names now, do I?" "Nope. Do you wanna know?" She thought about it for a minute and almost said yes, but changed her mind. "No. But let's tell your daddy in the morning. If he wants to know, then you can tell us, ok?" Adam nodded, then yawned again. Katie yawned as well. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go back to bed." Miranda signed off, but made no move to go to bed. There was more to the John situation than she'd let on. A secret she'd been keeping, not only from John, but from everyone at home as well. Maybe, on some level, he knew she hadn't fully revealed who she was. Maybe it was time to let him in all the way. She opened a new document page and took a deep breath. "Now or never," she said. An hour later she sat back and reread the finished product. John, I have something to tell you, but every time I've tried, both on the phone and in IM, I freeze up and chicken out. LOL! Can you freeze up and chicken out at the same time? I suppose I freeze up on the phone and chicken out in IM; does that make more sense? It's a little after three in the morning. I should be sleeping, but my courage is up now, so before it disappears, I'm writing to you. There's something I do here a few nights a week and up until now, I've managed to keep it a secret. Truly a secret, you understand, even Tyler, who knows everything about me, doesn't know. Tonight, I realized that I wanted to share this with you and the revelation scares the shit out of me. I've never wanted to share this with anyone, not even Katie. Not that she wouldn't be supportive or might disapprove, mind you, but because it's the one thing I have that's exclusively mine. Up until now, I've needed that little piece of me that no one else could see. But tonight...tonight I realized how empty it is without you. How empty I am without you. This isn't just about me missing you, btw. It's about me needing you. I need you, John. You know I love you, but did you know that I need you, too? I need your voice in my ear, I need your hand in mine, I even need to see your screen name appear whenever I log on, I need you in ways I can't begin to understand or adequately express. What I need right now is for you to come over here tomorrow night. If you really can't make it, I'll understand. I know it's short notice, but I also know that you're not involved in anything pressing at the moment. The guys can spare you for a few days. Please come. Love, She logged on and was relieved to see that Katie wasn't still around. After pasting the letter into email, she sat still for a moment. Her index finger gently tapping the mouse, the cursor hanging over the send button. The buddy-in sound startled her; John was up and online. "Oh shit," she muttered, then hit send and logged off. She pushed her chair back from the desk and stared at the screen. "Oh, real mature, Miranda. What's next, calling and hanging up?" The phone rang a few seconds later. "Hello?" "You ran out on me." "I know." "I'm packing right now. Be there in a few hours." "John, you don't have to rush over here. Go to bed, get some rest. I have classes until..." "I know when you have classes," he interrupted. "You go to bed and get some sleep. When you wake up, I'll be there." "Ok, but I doubt I'll get much sleep." A silence hung on the line. "Miranda?" "Yeah?" "I need you, too." "Promise to wake me up when you get here?" "I promise." Tuesday John slipped into her bedroom and put his bag on the chair by the desk. He'd promised to wake her, but she was sleeping soundly and she had to be up in an hour anyway; he couldn't bring himself to do it. He also couldn't bring himself to walk down the hall to the guest bedroom. Before he knew what he was doing, his shoes were off and he'd crawled into bed beside her. Miranda felt the bed dip and smiled as his arm went around her waist. He'd come to see her a number of times in the last few months, but this was the first time she'd had him in her bed. It wasn't exactly what she'd envisioned when she'd pictured them in bed together, but it was a good start. She'd made it abundantly clear that she was ready for more, but John had always held off. At first she'd believed it had to do with the difference in their ages, but as they grew closer, she'd come to understand just how much damage his previous lover had done. He was afraid of making the same mistakes all over again; afraid of losing her. She snuggled back against him and closed her eyes, never letting on that she'd been awake. He knew she was awake; he'd seen her eyes flutter open and the smile that lit up her face at his touch. He also knew that she wanted him here and wasn't going to let on that she'd awakened for fear of scaring him away. Right now, there was no fear, only warmth and a sense of coming home. John closed his eyes. The alarm went off at seven. Getting out of bed was the last thing Miranda wanted, but John would be annoyed if she cut class and, to be honest, going would make the day go by faster. Less time to think about the evening and worry about his reaction. She carefully moved his arm and got up. He shifted slightly, but didn't wake up. After showering and getting dressed, she wrote him a quick note, tucked it into his hand and left for the university. Katie picked up the phone and dialed Scully's number. "Scully." "Good morning, Dana. Are you busy?" "Actually, we're in the car on our way to Dulles." "Where are you headed this time?" "Michigan." "Ah, an abduction in Kalamazoo? Apparitions in Battle Creek?" she teased. Scully laughed. "I wish. This isn't one you need to hear about right now. Is everything all right?" "I'm still not sleeping well, but other than that no problems. I thought of something last night and wanted to ask you about it." Mulder glanced over at Scully. "Problem?" Scully shook her head and put her hand over the receiver. "Katie's thinking again," she whispered. He grinned. "Uh oh." Scully snickered quietly and hoped that Katie hadn't heard their exchange. "What did you want to know?" "What happened to the other three syringes of the vaccine?" "I still have them. Why?" "Why do you still have them? Shouldn't they have been administered to someone by now? It's getting late, Dana. We should really be thinking about this." "I have thought about it." Scully closed her eyes and let her head fall back against headrest. "Look, I can't have this conversation right now, Katie. We'll talk in a few days, all right?" "Yeah, sure. I didn't mean to upset you," Katie said. "I'm sorry." "I'm not upset." "Yes you are, I can hear it in your voice. I'll let it go for now, but only until you're back up here. Oh, did Adam tell you that he knows what we're supposed to name the babies?" Scully breathed a sign of relief at the sudden change of conversation. "Yes he did. Frohike told him to keep it under his hat though. Did he tell you their names?" "No. He asked if I wanted to know, but I told him we'd better wait and ask Alex first. I have to admit I'm more than a little curious, but if Alex doesn't want to know, then I'll wait, too." "All right, now I'm scared. That's twice in the last few minutes that you've exhibited signs of patience." Scully asked. "Who are you and what have you done with Katie?" Mulder laughed out loud. "Tell Mulder to stop laughing at me," Katie said. "I have my moments. Granted, they're few and far between, but I do have them." Mulder pulled into a parking space and turned off the engine. "Katie? We're here. We'll see you in a few days." "All right. You two be careful." "We will." Scully hit the end button and put her phone back in her pocket. "What was that all about?" Mulder asked. "She wanted to know about the three remaining syringes of the vaccine." "Oh." He got out of the car and opened the trunk to get their bags. "You've never told her what happened?" "No." She reached out and took her bag from him, so he could close the trunk. "You had to know that she'd ask someday." Scully started walking toward the terminal. "Yes, Mulder. I knew she'd ask." "What are you going to tell her?" "The truth. She's not going to like it and you know she's going to want to try and fix it. I can see her calling my mother..." Mulder stopped. "You know, Scully, you once accused me of not giving Alex enough credit. Aren't you doing the same thing to Katie right now?" "You know how she is, Mulder." "I also know that she'd never go behind your back and do something to upset you. We'll tell her what happened and that you've made your peace with it. She'll understand." Mulder started walking again. "You have made your peace with it, haven't you?" "I wasn't given any other option, was I." He yawned and felt his fingers curl around the paper in his hand. His eyes struggled open and he looked first at the paper, then at the clock. Eleven? John smoothed out the note and began to read. Had to get moving. Hope I didn't wake you. Be back around two. I love you, More tangible evidence of her love for him. Each note, each email, each instant message, all proof of her feelings for him. He'd saved them all, tucked them away in a private, password-protected file that he opened whenever he felt the need to be with her. This was real. That last time, with Suzanne, was only a fantasy. They'd never shared memories, spent evenings stargazing, learned what makes the other laugh or cry. Other than the ring, which was never his to begin with, he had nothing tangible to hold on to. Why had he never seen this before? Langly had told him over and over again that Suzanne was user and a liar and that the love affair was all in his head. While he'd never wanted to believe that she was only using him, John was now able to concede that maybe what he thought was love, was nothing more than a protective device to keep him from the outside world. It was easier to play the damaged lover and keep people at a distance, than to open up and let someone in. Katie heard giggling coming from their bedroom and went in to see what was going on. Adam and Alex were wrestling, making a general mess of the sheets and blankets. "Come on, daddy. It's time to get up!" Adam squealed. "You been sleeping all day." "No, I don't want to get up," Alex answered. He put a pillow over his head. "I'm staying here forever." Adam giggled and tugged on the pillow. "No you're not. I'm gonna make you get up." Alex peeked out from under the pillow. "Oh you are, are you? How do you think you're going to manage that?" "Like this." Adam jumped off the bed, then grabbed Alex's right leg and began to pull. Alex allowed Adam to pull his leg over the side of the mattress, before realizing that Adam knew something he'd forgotten; his arm lay on the dresser across the room. He felt his body begin the inevitable descent toward the floor. "Oh shit," he muttered, as his backside made contact with the floor. Adam stood back, his arms crossed against his chest. "See, I told you I was gonna make you get up." Katie put her hand over her mouth and tried not to laugh out loud. "Are you all right, Alexei?" she managed to ask through her laughter. "Remind me to believe him, the next time he threatens to make me get up." Adam came closer and extended his hand. "Need some help, daddy?" "Sure." Alex took Adam's hand and before Adam could react, pulled his son onto his lap. "Gotcha," he exclaimed, tickling his son until Adam begged for mercy. Katie sat on the edge of the bed, next to her boys. "Be nice to him, sweetheart. He knows what we're supposed to name the babies." "He does?" Alex stared down at the giggly little boy in his lap. "You do? Did you tell your mom?" Adam shook his head. "Nope. She said we hadda ask you if you wanted to know, first." He smiled at Katie. "Right, mommy?" "Right." "Do you wanna know, daddy?" Alex gazed at Katie. "No, honey, I don't want to know. You can tell us after they're born." Katie nodded, then leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "I thought you might say that." Alex patted his son on the back. "All right, you. Scram so I can get dressed." Adam scrambled up and out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Did you talk to Scully?" "Yeah." "What did she say?" "She said she still had them. When I asked her why, she said she couldn't have this conversation right now, but that she'd explain when they come back in a few days." "Where are they off to now?" "Michigan. She didn't tell me what the case was about." Alex got up off the floor and put on a pair of jeans. Katie handed him a shirt from the closet. He took a good look at her face and frowned. "Did you get any sleep last night?" "A few hours. Not much," she admitted. "We'll figure something out. You've got to get some sleep soon; you look exhausted, baby." "I look like shit, you mean. And don't bother telling me I don't. I've looked in the mirror and it's a scary sight. I'll talk to Matthew later on." "Turn right at the next light," Miranda instructed. "You know, John, it would have been easier to just let me drive. Or is this a guy control thing?" John looked at her and frowned. "It's not a control thing, Miranda. I'm trying to learn my way around the city and I can't do that from the passenger seat." "Sorry, I should have thought of that. Next left, Village Street. You're looking for Thistle's about three blocks up on the left." "Thistle's?" "Yeah. It's a family-owned pub. The couple that owns the place were playing with their new puppy, trying to get a read on his personality before they named him. The pup got tangled up in some thistles in the woods behind their house, so he was christened Thistles. Mick and Angie opened the pub four years ago and decided to name it after the dog, since they figured they'd get stuck in the thorns of business ownership." "And this is the big secret you wanted to share with me?" "No, don't be stupid. Just roll with it, ok?" She glanced over at him. "It's a nice place; you'll like it." John parked the car, got out, then went around to open Miranda's door for her. "THIS is a guy control thing," he teased. "And here I was thinking you were being chivalrous," Miranda sighed. He chuckled and gave her a kiss. "See, it's the best of both worlds, we get to be in control and make women think we're gentlemen at the same time. Don't tell anyone though; it's a part of the secret guy handbook. We're not supposed tell members of the gentler sex." Miranda crossed her heart. "Your secret's safe with me, kind sir." They entered the pub. Miranda led John to a table near the front of the room and draped her jacket over the back of the chair. "Hungry? Angie makes a killer burger." "Did I hear my name?" "Yes you did," Miranda answered. "John, this is Angie Rawlings, co-owner of this fine establishment." Angie beamed. "So, this is the mysterious John? We were beginning to think you were a figment of Miranda's imagination." "I didn't realize I was common knowledge, outside of the loft," John said, looking over at Miranda. Miranda blushed. "It took a little doing, but we dragged the dirt out of her when she came back to school. That bounce in her step told us something pretty damned good had happened to her." Angie winked at Miranda, who blushed even deeper. "So, usual tonight, darlin'? "Yeah." "What about you, John? Something to eat?" "Well, Miranda says you make a mean burger." "You look like a well-done kinda guy, right? John nodded. "Cheese?" "Sure." "Can I get you a beer with that?" "Definitely," Miranda answered. John started to protest, but she cut him off. "I'll drive home. You want the beer; trust me on this." Angie nodded in agreement. "Pitcher, maybe?" Miranda shook her head. "No, I want him relaxed, not plastered." He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Anything else I need, ladies?" "No, I think that'll be all for the moment," Miranda replied, giving him a grin. "Be back in a few," Angie said. Three men came in from behind the stage and began to set up for the evening's performance. The blonde put his guitar on the stand, hopped down, then walked over to their table. "This him?" "Yeah." The man stuck out his hand. "I'm Jacob. Miranda and I are friends from high school. Nice to finally meet you, John." John shook his hand. "Tell me, does everyone here know my name?" "Pretty much," Jacob chuckled. "We're a close-knit group. Our motto seems to be mi secreto es su secreto." "Jacob," came a call from the stage. "Better get up there. Neil still gets all weirded out before a performance. See you after the set." John stared at Miranda. "I had no idea you had such close friends up here." "There are still a few things you don't know about me." The band started playing, ending all conversation for the moment. About halfway through the first song, Miranda leaned over. "Be right back," she said, motioning toward the ladies room. John nodded, then turned his attention back to the band. The song ended and Jacob began to speak. "Good evening everyone and welcome to Thistles. I'm Jacob, Neil's on bass and Roger's on drums. Together we're Dumbstruck, but most of you knew that already." He smiled as the crowd let out a collective sound of amusement. "What you may not know is that tonight marks our three-year anniversary here at Thistles." The crowd applauded; the guys waved and smiled. "We started off as a garage band, playing the odd birthday party or wedding reception, until WXIZ announced their battle of the bands competition. We decided to jump in and see how we'd do, but found out that we were missing a key component. It took a little cajoling and some outright lying, if I remember correctly, but we found what we needed. You regulars know what I'm talking about; it's the reason we always do a good business on Tuesday nights." John tuned out Jacob's rambling and turned around to see where Miranda was. Angie appeared with his beer and put it down on the table in front of him. "She'll be out soon enough. Relax, enjoy the music." He picked up the beer and took a swig from the glass. Angie smiled. "There you go." She patted his shoulder and walked back to the kitchen. "...haven't done this in years, but we thought tonight was a good time to put it back in rotation." Jacob started playing as the lights dimmed considerably. John took one more look at the bathroom door, then slid down in his seat. He took another drink, put the glass back on the table and closed his eyes. You must understand that the touch of your hand, makes my pulse react. His eyes snapped open at the sound of the girl singer's voice. Out of the darkness and into the spotlight stepped Miranda. Only this wasn't the woman he'd come in with. This one was wearing an off the shoulder clingy black sweater and some incredibly tight black leather pants. And this one could sing. And was drop dead sexy. All he could do was stare at the stranger in front of him. What happened between the table and the stage? When exactly did this transformation take place? He focused on her face when she moved closer to edge of the stage and leaned toward him. There's a word for it. There's a phrase for it. But whatever the reason, you do it for me... She was doing it for him right now, he realized. Slightly embarrassed, he scooted his chair a bit further under the table and hoped that no one would ask him to stand anytime soon. Miranda finished the song to thunderous applause. John, still stunned by her surprise, didn't react right away. The expression on his face must have been enough, because Miranda smiled. "Take a breath, John," Angie said, startling him. "Thought I'd wait a while before bringing you your food. We didn't want you to choke on anything. Still hungry?" "Actually, I think I'll wait on the food, if you don't mind." "I suspected as much." Miranda started the next song. "She's something else, isn't she?" "Incredible," he sighed. "Just wait. The first one might have knocked your socks off, but it's the ballads where she really shines. I have a feeling she's gonna do her favorite for you this evening." "Which one is that?" he asked. "You'll know it." She pulled a chair out and sat down beside him. "You're the only one from back home that knows about this, so keep it under your hat until she's ready to let the rest of them in on it, ok? We've been trying to get her to bring Tyler and the rest of the gang up here, but she keeps resisting. Maybe now that she's let you in," Angie's voice trailed off. "Maybe, but I think I'd like to keep this version of Miranda to myself for a little while." Angie shook her head and snickered. "Yeah, kinda thought you'd say that." She stood up and pushed the chair back under the table. "Holler when you're ready for something to eat." A few songs later, Neil slid a stool over to Miranda. She sat down and took a deep breath. "I'm gonna slow it down a bit." She smiled at John and continued. "Angie asked me to do this one tonight. I think it's her way of saying I told you so, but I love the song, so I'm going to do it anyway. Love Will Come To You." Miranda looked back at Jacob and nodded. He stepped next to her and began the intro. He didn't recognize the name of the song, but once she started he remembered it well. Rites of Passage was still stuck in the back of his album collection. Langly had been merciless when he'd found the lone Indigo Girls album playing on the stereo, way back when, when albums were the norm and CDs just the upstart wannabees on the market. Jacob provided the harmony. Their voices blended beautifully and for the briefest moment, John felt a flicker of jealousy. Then she sang right at him "and I wish her insight, to battle love's blindness, strength from the milk of human kindness; a safe place for all the pieces that scatter, learn to pretend there's more than love that matters" and it was gone. Why those words offered the reassurance he seemed to need, he didn't know, but somehow they did. The crowd was applauding. Jacob took the mike. "Miranda's going to take a break right now. There's a certain someone in the audience tonight that needs her more than we do, but maybe if we're real nice, he'll let her come back up and play for the next set. Is that all right with you, John?" "Uh, yeah," John stammered. "Of course." He reached for the tie that wasn't there, needing something to help him regain his composure. Being center of attention was not something he was used to. Miranda jumped off the stage and sat down at the table, facing John. "So? Are you all right with this?" "Who are you?" he asked. She looked puzzled and a little scared. "What?" "I walked in here with an adorable lady and then all of a sudden this sexy, confident, incredibly talented woman appeared wearing your face. I mean, I knew you were all of those things, but...wow!" Miranda bit her lower lip. "Is that a good wow?" "That's definitely a good wow," he answered. "I had no idea how much was hiding in there." Miranda relaxed. "You scared me for a second. I really hoped you wouldn't be too freaked out by all of this." "It was a surprise," he admitted. "Why don't you want to share this with Katie and Alex? My God, Miranda, they'd be blown away. And Frohike," he laughed. "We'd have to beat him off with a stick." "I'll tell them eventually. I wanted to see how you'd react first." "I reacted a little too favorably for a public place," he said, the words slipping out before his inner censor had a chance to stop them. He looked down at the table and grimaced. "I can't believe I just said that out loud." Miranda slid her chair next to his. "Oh really? Care to elaborate?" "Miranda!" She giggled. "OK, not here, but maybe later?" He glanced up at her and raised his eyebrows. "Maybe." This time Miranda's face flushed, ever so slightly. "Don't say anything you're not prepared to back up." John put his arm around her and pulled her close, then kissed her a little longer than proper for a family establishment. "That's why I said maybe." "What's it going to take to turn that maybe into a definitely, John?" She touched his cheek and gazed at him. "I'll wait as long as it takes, but you have to know by now that I'm not going to walk out on you. And if it has anything to do with Alex or anyone else back home, I'd like to remind you that they're not here and I'm well past the age of consent." Jacob plopped down in a vacant chair at their table. "So, you sticking around for another set or are you taking off?" "I don't..." "We're staying." John said. "Now that the initial shock has worn off, I think I'd like to hear more." "Cool! Ten minutes and we're back on." Jacob handed Miranda his soda. "Here, take a sip, you look a little flushed. You all right?" "I'm fine. This sweater's too warm for these lights, that's all." Jacob looked from Miranda to John and back again. "Yeah, right. Look, if you two want to get out of here, it's cool." "What part of 'we're staying' confused you?" Miranda snapped. Jacob held up his arms in mock surrender. "Sorry! Geez, someone needs to get laid." Miranda opened her mouth to respond, then thought better of it. She pushed the chair away from the table and stood up. "I need a drink," she said, before heading back to the kitchen. "She's not usually so touchy," Jacob said, looking a bit bewildered. "Don't worry about it. She's not mad at you." "Uh oh. Trouble in paradise?" John shook his head. "No. Well, nothing I can't fix." "Good luck, man. I know what she's like when she's pissed and I wouldn't wish that on anyone." "She has a bad temper?" Jacob laughed. "Yeah. It doesn't surface too often, but when it does, you'd better find a safe place to hide." He saw Roger and Neil making their way toward the stage. "Gotta go make some music. And hey, she'll be fine by the end of the set." He motioned at the stage. "This is like magic; it heals all." "You look like shit, Hanna," Matthew said. "When was the last time you slept for more than an hour?" "I don't know. Seems like it's been a few days anyway." "More like a week," Alex added. "I went out this morning and got some chamomile tea and lavender oil." Matthew raised his eyebrows at Alex's last statement. "Natural remedies, Alex? I'm impressed." "My mother used to use them," he explained. Katie grimaced. "Chamomile tea?" "Don't make that face. It's one of the best natural sleep remedies around," Matthew answered. "You'll drink it and you won't give us any crap about it." "My mother used to make me drink that stuff when I was sick. I hated it!" Katie sighed and let her head fall back against the couch. "But I need sleep." "We could try the lavender oil first," Alex offered. "All you have to do is inhale that." "That's fine," said Matthew. "But if the oil doesn't help, promise me you'll give the tea a try." "I will. I'm too tired to fight." "Hang in there a while longer, ok? I have a feeling these little ones are going to be making their debut a little early." "They can slide on out anytime they're ready, Kid." "Well, let's see if we can talk them into waiting a few more weeks, all right?" "I'll see what I can do." They drove home in silence. Even though he'd only had the one beer, she'd taken the keys and he didn't see any sense in making an issue of it. She pulled into the driveway and got out of the car without saying a word. He followed her into the house and locked the door behind him. "We need to talk." "I've said everything I need to say, John." He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Well I haven't. Come here." She stepped closer and allowed him to brush a strand of hair back behind her ear. "So?" "Come on." He led her over to the couch and sat down. "I've been going over this in my head for the last hour, so just listen and let me get it all out." She nodded and sat back. "I won't insult your intelligence by saying that I'm not still a little sensitive to our age difference, but it's only a little and it's not the reason I keep putting you off." "Then what is it?" Miranda asked. John held up his hand. "Just listen. Don't say anything." "Ok." "I want to make this a proper romance. Yes, it's old fashioned, but what's wrong with that? I like the idea of dating. I like holding you in my arms and kissing you. I like the feeling of nervousness that comes from wondering if you'd mind if I slid my hand up a tiny bit more. What would you do if you suddenly found my hand on your breast or cupping your backside? How would you react?" "John." "Hush! What I'm trying to say is, I don't want to skip over anything. The minute we become adults, it seems like we throw away all of the steps that lead to consummating a relationship. We meet, fall in love, or lust, as the case may be, then it's one, two, three and under the sheets. I've gone that route. I don't want to rush this time." He looked down at the floor. "Did you know that every night last Summer, I stayed awake wondering if you were thinking of me. If you were, this is embarrassing, if you were, you know, finding ways to..." "Ease the ache?" Miranda interjected. John sighed in relief. "Yes." "I was. Were you?" He nodded. "Constantly. Like I was sixteen again." He looked back up at her. "Not an evening goes by that I don't wonder what it would be like to make love to you. What you would feel like under me. What sounds you'd make. I want very much to find out, but at the same time, I don't want to miss the rest of the discovery process. There's something to be said for going to bed wanting." "I think I get it," Miranda said. "When Sawyer and I first started going out, the best part of the evening was making out in the back seat. There was always that decision in the heat of it all, that how far do I let him go thing. Once we finally had sex, some of that thrill went away. Of course, pretty much after we started having sex, he became an asshole, but that's another story." "Sawyer?" Miranda shrugged. "My biggest mistake. Guess I never really told you much about him." "Tyler and Katie filled in a few gaps here and there." He saw her mouth go thin. "They thought I should know. Don't be angry with them." "I'm not. I should have told you myself." "It's not important," John said. "What is important is that you and I work this out." "I agree." She took a deep breath. "Ok, intellectually, what you're saying makes perfect sense. Delay gratification, no rushing; sound practice. Emotionally, I gotta tell you, it's not that easy. So, how about this; I promise to back off a little, if you promise to kick it up a notch." John moved closer and put his arm around her. "Kick it up to where?" "Pick anything. Good grief, John, in all this time you've never once made anything resembling an improper advance. Find some unexplored territory and do a little hands-on investigating." Friday Scully and Katie turned the corner and headed toward the park. It had been a few days since she'd been out of the loft and she was hoping a walk would help ease the restlessness. Besides, Katie had wanted a little time alone with Dana anyway. "I'm glad the lavender oil helped," Scully said. "I was worried about you." "Don't tell Alex, but I was worried about me, too." Katie stopped for a moment to stretch her back. "Does your back hurt?" "No, I'm a little stiff, that's all. How did the case go?" "It was..." Scully searched for the right word. "It was unpleasant. You don't want the details of this one, believe me." "You're probably right. Are you ready to tell me about the remaining syringes of vaccine now?" They crossed the street and walked into the park. Scully stopped by a bench, then sat down. She patted the seat beside her and waited until Katie sat down before talking. "Promise me that you won't try to do anything about what I'm going to tell you." "Why?" "Just promise, Katie." Katie frowned. "I don't like making promises based on no information, Dana, but ok." "You asked me why I hadn't inoculated my family and the truth is, I tried. About a year ago, Mulder and I went to my mother to explain what was about to happen and to administer the vaccine. I thought she'd understand and go along with the plan." "But she didn't?" "She listened calmly, but when we were done, she told me that under no circumstances would she allow me to inject her with this vaccine. Her argument was that if God intended for the world to end, then so be it. Who was she to interfere with His plan?" "That doesn't make sense. Didn't she vaccinate you and your brothers and sister against the usual childhood illnesses? How is this any different?" "She thinks that what we believe are aliens, are really angels handing down God's judgment on the Earth. Those who are meant to survive will do so based on faith and to try and protect ourselves from divine intervention is pointless and possibly borders on heresy." "That's insane, Dana. Did you try to tell her that? Did you show her the evidence?" Scully stared at the ground. "I tried. Mulder tried. We went round and round on this for weeks before she finally told me that she didn't want to see me anymore." "She won't speak to you? Oh Dana, I'm sorry. Maybe if we talked to her now." "No! It's a dead issue. I may not agree with her, but I have to respect my mother's right to put her faith in God." "Even if it means she may not survive the virus?" Scully raised her eyes from the ground and turned to Katie. "Yes. Her faith is important to her and nothing I can say is going to change that." "What about your brothers?" "I can't go to them now. Bill's already made it clear that he supports my mother and that I need to leave her alone until I come to my senses. Charlie won't return my calls; I'm pretty sure Bill had something to do with that, too. It's taken a while, but I've made my peace with their decision." Katie slid back on the bench. She didn't know what to say, so she chose to say nothing at all. She wanted to pick up a phone and call Mrs. Scully, shake some sense into the woman. On the other hand, Dana was right; her mother was an adult, capable of making her own decisions and following her heart. Who were they to tell her she was doing the wrong thing? "You're being awfully quiet, Katie? Tell me you're not looking for a loophole in your promise." "No, I think you did the right thing." "You do?" "Yeah, I do. In the end all we have to hold on to are our beliefs. Your mother's beliefs are as strong as ours and even though we have something more concrete than faith to base our beliefs on, who are we to tell her that she's wrong?" "I'm glad you understand." They sat quietly for a while and watched the people in the park. Some walked dogs, others ran. Children played on the playground under the watchful eyes of parents or nannies or older siblings. Teens played basketball and flirted with girlfriends or boyfriends. Couples strolled down the path, holding hands, laughing at private jokes. Both wondered silently at how the process of living could seem so normal, yet so surreal. "What now?" Scully, startled by Katie's sudden intrusion into her thoughts, turned toward her. "What do you mean?" "Who gets the vaccine now?" "I don't know." "Surely there must be someone you know and trust, Dana. We can't let it sit there much longer." "There is someone," Scully said. "But I'm not sure he'd be willing to join up with us." "Who?" "Skinner." "The one Alex infected with those nano things? The one I've heard so much about over the years?" Scully nodded. "He wasn't exactly thrilled when we told him about Alex's change of allegiances." "But that was a long time ago. Even if he doesn't trust Alex, certainly he trusts the two of you." "He does. I thought we had him persuaded to come and see for himself a few years ago, but something happened and suddenly he became adamant about not having anything to do with Alex." Katie looked puzzled. "What happened?" "I'm not sure. One minute he was willing to take a chance on him, then suddenly he changed his mind." "Have you asked him about the vaccine before? Is he willing to accept it?" "No, we wanted him to come here, talk to you and Alex, see everything we'd gathered before asking him to make that kind of decision." "Maybe it's time to try again. He doesn't have any family, does he? I seem to remember one of you saying something about him losing his wife and not having any children." "Sharon died from injuries sustained in an auto accident. They didn't have any children." "Let's invite him to come here for Thanksgiving." "Oh, Katie. I don't know." Katie pushed her bulk off the bench. "From what I've heard, he's a good man. You trust him, the guys trust him, and I know Alex wouldn't mind the chance to," Katie paused. "I don't know what the right word is, apologize, atone?" "I'm not sure either is exactly right, but I think I know what you mean." Scully stood and they walked back toward the loft. "Alex is so different from the man we used to know. I know that 's been said a million times, but it's the truth. Skinner may never be able to accept him as anything more than the murderous..." Katie interrupted. "I get the point, Dana. Oddly enough, it makes me all the more sure we should invite him here." Scully chuckled. "Why does that not surprise me? Ok, I'll talk to him on Monday. I can't promise that he'll agree, but I'll try." "He'll agree." "You think so?" "Yeah, I have a feeling about it. He may not want to come, but he will." Washington, DC Skinner pulled out the file and thumbed through the papers. Every time Mulder or Scully mentioned Krycek to him, he ended up here. The pages had been held, read, tossed aside so many times that some of the papers were becoming tattered. Not that it mattered, the bastard who'd sent it to him had conveniently provided a disk containing all the same information. The file arrived by messenger; days after Scully had confirmed Spender's death. Even in death, the old man had found a way to make his life miserable. In the beginning, he'd scoffed at the contents. Surely this was a joke, a sick, twisted joke designed to mess with his mind and distract him from more important matters. He'd even put the file in a drawer, fully intending to shred it at a later date. Then the pictures appeared on his desk a week later, followed by the computer disk a few days after that. The pictures were analyzed and found to be authentic. Only then did he begin to take the contents of the file seriously. After a full year of research, inquiries and calling in favors, Skinner was forced to resign himself to reality. While it may have been a joke on a cosmic level, what the papers revealed was true and undeniably real. Boswell Alex swallowed hard, almost choking on his Szechuan shrimp. "Oh baby, no way! He'll never agree to come here." "You don't know that. Mulder, pass me the egg rolls, please. Dana said they almost had him talked into coming down a while back, maybe now he'll be willing to give it a shot." "Shooting is a very real possibility," he muttered. "What do you think, Mulder?" Mulder handed Katie the container with the egg rolls. "I don't know. Like Scully said, we'd finally convinced him to give you a chance, then all of a sudden he changed his mind. If anything, his negative feelings about you increased twofold." "After everything I did to him, I can't believe he'd ever agree to come here," Alex said. "At least not in peace." "I agreed to come here," Mulder reminded him. "You never stood a chance of refusing, Mulder," Katie teased. "We pretty much ambushed you." "No," Mulder corrected. "YOU pretty much ambushed me. If you hadn't been there, none of this would have happened." "Well, I can't exactly take a day trip to DC right now, so the two of you are going to have to convince him to give us a chance." Scully and Mulder exchanged skeptical glances. "You know, Katie," Mulder said. "If you were to waddle into Skinner's office," he grinned and left the rest of his suggestion hanging. "Oh, very nice. Fat jokes from the king of nose people. You know, Fox, you could always threaten to sneeze on Skinner if he refuses." "Here we go again," Scully whispered to Alex. Alex suppressed a chuckle and began moving the boxes of food to the other end of the table. Washington, DC "This looks complete, agents. Is there anything else you want to add before I sign off on your report?" "No sir, this was a fairly straightforward case, for a change," Mulder answered. Skinner signed the report and closed the file. He looked up and saw that Scully had her I-want-to-ask-you-somethingbut-I-don't-know-how face on. "Something on your mind, Agent Scully?" Scully shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Sir, Mulder and I were wondering if you had plans for Thanksgiving." "Nothing special. Why do you ask?" "Well." She cast a glance at Mulder, who was perfectly content to let her do the talking. "You see, Katie thought that..." "Katie? You mean Mrs. Krycek?" "She, we, thought it would be a good time to try again. Things are different now, Walter. If you could just give him a..." "I'll think about it," Skinner said, cutting off the rest of her sentence. "You will?" Mulder asked. Skinner scowled at him. "Yes, Mulder, I will. Now get out here. I'm sure you have some expense reports to fill out before the holiday." He pretended to be busy as the agents exited his office. As door clicked closed, he pulled up the image file on his computer; surveillance photos from earlier in the month of Scully and Katie's stroll in the park. Alex's wife was eight months pregnant with twins, according to his sources. He scrolled to a close-up of her face. She looked kind, not at all the type of person who might find herself mixed up with the Krycek, the Alex, he knew. Skinner scrolled down to the most recent photos of Katie and Alex together. More pictures from the park. Alex was pushing their son, Adam, on one swing, while Katie sat on an adjacent swing, smiling as she watched. A pictureperfect, happy family, he thought. Can Krycek really have changed that much? Mulder and Scully seemed to think so and god knows that Mulder was always a hard sell when it came to trusting people. If Mulder believed, why couldn't he? "I want to believe," he said softly, almost laughing at his choice of words. His finger touched the face of small boy in the picture. "Especially now." "What did she say?" "What do you think she said?" Mulder leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "Knowing Katie, she said that he'd be there and that she had a feeling about it." Scully smirked. "Oooh, so close." He sat up and put his hands on the desk. "I'm wrong?" "Only half wrong," she admitted. "She did say that he'd be there, but not because she had a feeling." "Where did I lose half a point?" "Adam told her that Skinner would be there." Tuesday afternoon MIRA7: Boo! Str8laced: What are you doing on? Shouldn't you be in class? MIRA7: I AM in class. Guest speaker today and the guy is deadly BORING!! He also seems to think that we're undergrads without a clue. Str8laced: When are you coming home? MIRA7: Leaving as soon as class is over, which should be in about thirty minutes. Angie and Mick left for Schenectady this morning, so no gig tonight and no reason to hang around. Bags are packed and in the car. Str8laced: What about class tomorrow? MIRA7: canceled Str8laced: Want me to tell Katie you'll be home in a few hours? MIRA7: OMG!! Mr. Excitement is done! Tell Katie I'll be home for dinner. Str8laced: Will do. BTW, I love you. MIRA7: I love you too. See you soon. Frohike came around the corner and saw the smile on John's face. "She comin' home?" John nodded. "She'll be here in a few hours." "You want some advice from an old man, Byers?" "Sure." Frohike put his hand on John's back and leaned in to get right in John's face. "Marry that girl," he said, then stepped back. "That's what I hope to do, someday." "Why someday? What's wrong with now?" "It's a little soon, don't you think?" "So what? The lady makes your toes curl, man. I've never seen you happier." "I think it's too soon. She still has almost two years of school left and she's only twenty." "Stop thinking so much, John." He frowned, then continued. "Look, you two love each other; you're good together. What are you waiting for? You think she can't go to school and be married at the same time? Or is it still about the age difference?" "No, of course not. I just think we need a little more time." Frohike shook his head. "If you say so, but don't wait too long, ok? She's never going to be old enough for you and school is a temporary state of being. Follow your heart and everything else will fall into place." John got up from his chair and moved toward the elevator. "I need to go tell Katie she's on her way home." He pushed the button, then turned around. "Mel?" "Yeah?" "Thanks." Washington, DC Skinner hesitated outside the office door, before going inside. He saw Scully over by the file cabinet, replacing a folder in the drawer. He cleared his throat so as not to startle her. "Oh. I didn't hear you come in, sir," Scully said. "What can I do for you?" He placed his hand on the back of his neck and gave it a squeeze. "If I was to go for Thanksgiving tomorrow, how exactly would I get there?" Scully smiled. "Well, Mulder and I are leaving this evening. You're welcome to ride over with us." Skinner took his hand away from his neck. "No, I'd rather drive alone, but thank you. I'm still not sure about this." Scully wrote down directions to the loft and handed it to him. "Sir." She stopped. "Walter. Mulder and I have a spare room waiting for you. Go home, pack a bag for the weekend, get in your car and drive." "I don't know, Dana." She touched his arm. "Give him the weekend. That's all I'm asking. Alex wants so much to make things right." She squeezed his arm gently. "Come with an open mind. You might be surprised to find out just how much the two of you have in common." Skinner looked down at his shoes. You have no idea, Scully. "All right. I'll come up in the morning." Scully let go of his arm. "Good. I think Katie said something about dinner being at two." He nodded and started to leave, but turned back when something occurred to him. "Do we dress for dinner?" "No, we're a casual group. Byers has even given up his ties." "You're kidding?" Scully chuckled. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. It's a different world in the loft. You'll see." Boswell "He's really coming?" Alex took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Why's daddy 'fraid of Mr. Skinner, mommy?" Katie grimaced, not knowing how to explain this to her young son. Alex held out his arms. "Come here, Adam." Adam went over to his dad and climbed into his lap. "A long time ago, before I met you mom, I wasn't a very nice person. I did some pretty rotten things to a lot of people, including Mulder and Dana." "But Mulder and Dana like you now," Adam said. Mulder opened his mouth to make a snippy comment, but held his tongue when he saw Scully's disapproving glare. "Yeah, I guess they do, but it wasn't easy for them find something in me to like, kiddo. Your mom had a lot to do with that." "Then maybe mommy can make Mr. Skinner like you, too." "We'll see. If nothing else, at least I'll have the chance to say I'm sorry." Miranda and John sat, safe in each other's arms, watching the clouds move across the night sky. "Alex is really freaked out about this Skinner guy coming here tomorrow," she said. "What's the deal with him anyway?" John kissed the top of her head. "How much do you know about Alex's past?" "He's told me a lot about his past and who he used to be." "And he never mentioned Skinner?" "Not that I can remember, or not by name anyway." "Years ago, when he was working for the Consortium, Alex infected Skinner with organisms, nanotechnology to be specific, that could be controlled with a Palm Pilot device. Alex brought him to the brink of death more than once with that thing." "Oh shit! That was Skinner?" Miranda said. "No wonder he's freaked. What happened? I mean, are those nanobots still in him?" John shrugged. "We're not sure. We believe that the nanobots would eventually break down and be expelled as waste. I do know that Alex destroyed the controlling device before he met Katie. " Miranda stayed silent for a few minutes. "Why do you think he's coming?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, if someone did to you what Alex did to him, would you be willing to discuss it over dinner? It seems to me that there must be an ulterior motive." "Maybe. We'll find out tomorrow." Thanksgiving Day Skinner pulled up to the garage doors, leaned out of the car window and punched the entry code into the keypad. He parked his car in the first available space. "You're here, now what?" he muttered to himself. He patted the seat nervously, then opened the door and got out of the vehicle. As he reached for his bag in the back seat, the garage door closed, startling him. Scully had mentioned that it was on a timer, but he'd momentarily forgotten it was even open. He closed the car door and made his way to the elevator. Including the basement, there were six floors in the building. Floors one and four were unoccupied. Floor two belonged to Mulder and Scully, three to the Lone Gunmen and five to Katie and Alex. He knew all this from the private investigator he'd hired to keep tabs on Alex for the last few months. He pushed the button for Mulder and Scully's floor. Drop the bag off in his room, freshen up, then go upstairs, that was the plan. Steps one and two were easy. Step three was another matter entirely. The door opened and Skinner stepped into the room. A small boy was sitting on a chair in the living room, staring at him. "Hi." "Hi," Skinner answered. "Who are you?" Adam frowned. He knew that Mr. Skinner already knew his name, so why was he pretending he didn't? "I'm Adam. You're Mr. Skinner. I came down to get you." "Oh. You did?" Adam nodded. "I told Mulder I was comin' down to get his baseball glove, but I was really waitin' for you." When Skinner made no move to come further into the room, Adam continued. "Do you got a baseball glove, Mr. Skinner?" "Um. I think I still have one stashed in a closet at home somewhere." Adam hopped off of the chair and came over to Skinner. "That's ok, you can use Mommy's. She can't play right now anyway." He took hold of Skinner's bag and started tugging on it. "Come on, your room is over here." Skinner followed Adam to the designated room and allowed the boy to put the bag on the bed. "My daddy's 'fraid of you," Adam blurted out. "He thinks you're still mad at him for doing the bad things to you." Skinner sat on the bed and stared at the boy. "Did he tell you that?" "Yeah. He said he wouldn't blame you if you were still real mad at him, 'cause he wasn't a nice person before and hurted you real bad. Are you still mad at him?" Good grief! Not ever having had children of his own, he had no idea how to even begin to approach this subject. Were all three and a half-year-old kids like this? "I don't know what I feel right now, Adam. That's part of why I came." "You came to tell my daddy something 'portant," Adam said. "But don't worry, I didn't tell anyone." Skinner furrowed his brow. Now the kid was starting to spook him. "What do you think I've come to tell your father?" "I don' know," Adam sighed. "I can only see stuff sometimes. Mulder says I'm getting spooky." "Mulder called you spooky?" Skinner snickered in spite of himself. "Mulder said you acted kinda grumpy sometimes, but I don't think you're grumpy right now. I think you're scared to go upstairs." "Maybe a little," Skinner admitted. Adam walked over and put his hand on Skinner's. "Come on. You don't gotta be scared. Everyone's waitin' for you to come be part of the family." Skinner took the little boy's hand, then leaned in to look Adam straight in the eye. "Promise to protect me if they're not happy to see me?" Adam grinned, then rolled his eyes. "You're silly, Mr. Skinner." Scully tapped Mulder on the shoulder. "Shouldn't Adam be back up here by now? He's been gone for almost fifteen minutes." Mulder looked at his watch and frowned. "Maybe he's having trouble finding the glove. I'll go down and check on him." The elevator whirred to a stop, then the door opened. They watched as Adam and Skinner emerged. "I should have suspected," Scully whispered to Mulder. "Look what I found, Mulder," Adam said in a singsong voice. "Where's my glove, kiddo?" "On four, where we left it yesterday." Mulder put his hands on his hips, trying to look annoyed. "You knew Mr. Skinner was here, didn't you?" Adam nodded. "Mommy said that everybody gets scared if they have to do stuff all alone, so I went down to help Mr. Skinner not be scared to come up and see us." Scully bent down and kissed Adam's cheek. "That was very nice of you, Adam. Why don't you go tell everyone that Mr. Skinner is here." They watched as Adam ran off toward the kitchen. "Interesting kid," Skinner said. "He's a special little boy," Scully replied. "So I gathered." Frohike emerged from the kitchen. "Skinner!" He trotted over and clapped Skinner on the back. "Good to see you, man." "Good to see you, too." They chatted for a moment, before the rest of the gang trickled out of the kitchen to greet the newcomer in their midst. Skinner shook hands and made small talk, all the while watching for Alex and Katie to appear. Scully put her hand on his arm. "They went out for a walk," she said softly. "Katie thought Alex could use a walk to settle his stomach. He's really nervous about all of this." Skinner gave her a quizzical look. "I can't picture him being scared or nervous about anything." "He's done nothing but pace the loft since he woke up this morning," she told him. "We thought it might be better if he wasn't in the room when you got here." Tyler came into the room and handed Skinner a beer. "You looked like you could use this," he said. Skinner swallowed hard. "Yeah, thanks. I guess I could." "Word of advice, Walter?" "Ok." "If you need it for courage, drink up. They're coming up the sidewalk right now." Alex pointed to an unfamiliar car in the garage. "He's here." "Are you all right?" He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yeah. I guess so." As they walked past Skinner's car, Katie's right knee buckled. Alex grabbed her before she fell too far. She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. He brushed the hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. "Are you all right, baby?" Katie closed her eyes and forced her breathing to slow to a steady, relaxed pace. "That was weird," she said. "What happened?" "A wave of incredibly strong emotion, like when Miranda touched me before Victor died. Flashes, but nothing solid to grab on to this time. Just strong." Alex stopped breathing for a brief moment. He remembered all too well the flashes and the nightmares leading up to Victor's murder. They'd done everything they could to prevent it from happening, but in the end, they'd lost. Or maybe things turned out the way they were supposed to; he wasn't sure. "Just like last time?" he asked. "No, I don't feel that anyone's going to die, but there's death in there. Death, life, loss, gain, confusion," she put a hand up to her eyes. "Take me upstairs, please. I need to get out of this garage." He led her to the elevator and held her all the way up. His worries about seeing Skinner temporarily replaced by concern for his wife. The elevator door opened and they could hear the sounds of conversation coming from deep in the loft. "Sounds like they're all on the other side, do you want to go lie down?" Katie smiled and shook her head. "No, it was just a fleeting thing. I'm fine now." Alex stared into her eyes, making sure she was really all right. "Ok, but if it starts up again," he warned. "If it starts up again, you'll know," she answered. "Come on, let's get this show on the road." Katie took him by the hand and led him toward the voices. Six of them were sitting at the large table that had been set up in the once empty area of the loft, near the window. Skinner, Mulder and Scully sat with their backs to Katie and Alex, Miranda, John and Tyler were seated facing them. Frohike, Langly and Adam were hard at work in the kitchen. Katie couldn't make out the specifics of the conversation, but everyone seemed relaxed and in a good mood. Alex's hand tensed around hers as they approached the group. She raised his hand to her lips and planted a kiss on it. "There they are," Miranda said. "We were beginning to think you weren't going to come back." Skinner turned around to face them. He eyed Alex and noted the deathgrip he had on his wife's hand. "Kry...Alex," he said. "Walter," Alex replied. He hesitated a moment, let go of Katie's hand, took a step closer to the table, and extended his hand toward Skinner. Skinner didn't make a move to accept Alex's outstretched hand, but Alex didn't want to give up right out of the gate. He opened up his jacket to expose the lining. "Look ma, no Palm Pilot," he quipped and waited for some sort of reaction. Once again, he extended his hand. Skinner was still for a second, then gave a half-smile and reached out to shake Alex's hand. A collective sigh of relief eased the tension the moment had caused. "So, Walter, I guess you've been introduced to everyone else." Alex put his arm around Katie and pulled her forward. "This is my wife, Katie." Skinner stood and reached to shake Katie's hand. Katie smiled and extended hers as well. As their hands touched, her body reacted as if she'd stepped on a live wire. Her eyes went wide and her face paled. The room began to spin and this time she went down before Alex could catch her. The room became a sudden flurry of activity. Scully ran over to Katie's side, Mulder went for a damp rag. Alex knelt at her side helplessly, while Scully checked her vitals. Miranda clung to John, who, never having seen a woman wilt like that, clung back. Skinner stood, stunned, not knowing what was going on, but suspecting that he somehow had been the cause. Katie came around and was carried off to her room by Mulder and Alex. Scully followed close behind. They put Katie on the bed and moved out of the way so Scully could examine her patient. "What happened out there, Katie?" "I saw," she stopped and looked over at Alex. "I'm not sure." Katie started to sit up, but Scully held her down. "I need to talk to him, Dana." "Which him?" "Walter. I need to talk to him right now." Scully frowned and shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea right now, Katie." "Neither do I," Alex added. "You scared the hell out of me out there." "I'm sorry, Alexei," she whispered. "You know I can't control this." "I know." Katie sat up in spite of Scully's efforts to keep her horizontal. "Dana, I have to talk to him." "Later. Right now you need to rest." "I'm fine. I promise I'll stay in bed, if that's what you want, but I need to talk to him right now," she insisted. "Katie." "Now, damn it! Mulder, go out and get him. Please?" Mulder looked from Katie, to Scully, then Alex. "You know I'm going out there." Scully raised her hands in surrender. "Sure, fine, go get him." "What happened? What did I do? Is she all right?" he asked the room. "She'll be ok," Tyler said. Miranda turned to him. She was shaking and having a difficult time keeping her voice steady. "I've never seen her do that before, Ty." "I have," he said. "About four years ago. It wasn't quite as scary as this one, but I have seen this happen before." "You've seen what happen before? What's going on?" Skinner asked. Tyler walked over to Skinner and studied the man briefly before attempting an answer. "Katie feels things sometimes. Usually they're brief flashes, but every so often one will hit her the way you saw a minute ago." "So I caused this?" "In a manner of speaking, yes. That's the hardest I've ever seen her get hit and I have to tell you, Walter, I'm a little freaked out right now." Miranda pulled away from John and approached Skinner. Her eyes narrowed. "You didn't come here to hurt Alex, did you?" "No..." "Walter?" Skinner spun around at the sound of Mulder's voice. "Yes?" "She wants to see you." Skinner didn't move. She feels things. She knows. Shit. "Walter? Now would be good." When Skinner started to move toward the door, Mulder turned and went back into the room. "He's coming." "Good. Now the rest of you go away,'" Katie said. "Not too long, Katie." "I'll be all right, Dana. Go out and get those guys moving on dinner. I'm getting hungry." Mulder and Scully met Skinner at the door. "Is she all right?" he asked. "Yeah, she'll be fine. Just don't let her keep you too long," Scully said. "All right." Skinner entered the room, but stayed close to the door. "You, too, Alex." "Katie, I..." "I know, you don't think it's a good idea. Please, just go for now," she pleaded. "It's important that I have a few minutes alone with him. There's something I need to ask and it will be better if you're not here." Alex opened his mouth to protest again. "Please?" He closed his mouth and left the room without a sound. "Close the door and come over here," Katie ordered. Skinner did as requested. She patted the side of the bed. "Sit." "But, what if..." "It won't happen again. Sit, please. I want to be able to look at you without getting a cramp in my neck." She smiled and patted the spot again. "I won't bite." Skinner sat. "Is it true?" Katie asked. He thought about playing dumb, asking if what was true, but decided it would only make this harder. He nodded. "I've checked and double-checked. There's no mistake." "How do you feel about it?" "I don't know." "He's not going to want to believe it anymore than you did, you know." "I know." "But you have to tell him." "I know that, too." "Not right now, though." Katie touched his hand. This time Skinner jumped, afraid she'd pass out on him again. She laughed. "Relax, I told you it wouldn't happen again. It doesn't work that way, all right?" He willed himself to relax, taking a slow, deep breath. "When do I tell him?" "Later tonight. I'll shoo everyone out around eight or so, about the same time we put Adam to bed. When he's asleep, then you can break the news to Alex. I'll even go in the other room, if you think it will make things easier." Katie stretched uncomfortably and put her hand on her belly. "Boy, they're really active all of a sudden." She smiled at Skinner. "You've gotta feel this," she said. Skinner shifted away a little. "No, I don't think..." "Oh, stop it," She grabbed his left hand and held it over the spot where one of the twins was making his, or her, presence known. The baby kicked his hand. Walter drew back, startled at first, then moved his hand back to where it had been. A foot or a hand maybe, seemed to move gently across Katie's belly, like one of the babies was stretching an arm or a leg. He followed the movement with his hand, amazed at the thought that something living was actually growing inside this woman. Logically, he knew that this was how the process worked, but having never had children or even been around a pregnant woman he knew well enough to touch in this manner, the reality had not been driven home. "Amazing," he whispered. "I thought you'd like that," Katie said, smiling up at him. "None of it really makes sense until you feel them move for the first time. That's when it becomes real." "What are they talking about in there?" Alex wondered aloud. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll be told eventually," Tyler said. "Judging from the way Katie went down, it's got to be something wild." "That's what I'm worried about." Alex walked out of the kitchen and toward the bedroom door. Tyler followed him. "Alex, don't do it." "I just want to be sure everything's all right." The door to the bedroom opened before Alex made it halfway across the room. Katie stepped out through the door, followed closely by Skinner, who was watching her every step, as if afraid she might topple over at any second. Skinner saw Alex and made a helpless face. "I told her she should stay in bed." "I'm sure she had a colorful response to that suggestion," Alex said, frowning at his wife. "Look you two, I'm going to waddle over to the couch, where I'll prop up my enormous feet and let everyone wait on me, all right?" She looked from Alex to Walter, then back to her husband. There was concern from both, but neither offered up an argument. "Good. Alex, would you get me a drink, please?" "What do you want?" "Ginger ale." "Make sure she goes straight to the couch," he said to Skinner. Walter put a tentative hand on Katie's back and led her to the couch. He slid the table over closer, so that she could prop her feet up on it. "He's going to ask what happened," Katie said. "Maybe you'd better head over there." She tilted her head in Mulder and Scully's direction. "I'll try and get him to hold off until later." Skinner did as she said. Mulder and Scully had been right about her; Katie was a force to be reckoned with. Tyler leaned over to kiss Katie goodbye. "See you tomorrow, sweetie." "Drive carefully and tell Matthew we missed him." Miranda met Tyler at the elevator door and gave him a big hug. "I want to know everything happens here tonight," Tyler said quietly. "I'll log on later this evening and look for you, if I find out what's going on," she answered. "I don't know though. Katie's already mentioned that she wants us to disappear in a little bit, so information might be scarce." "Well, see what you can find out," he said, as he stepped into the elevator. Miranda turned and went back to join the group, or what was left of them. Frohike and Langly had already gone downstairs for the night. Katie was busy putting Adam to bed. She tugged on John's arm. They'd made plans to go see movie. Had it been warmer out, they would have simply gone up to the roof, but the temperature outside was currently 36 degrees with a brisk wind; not optimal weather for a long rooftop rendezvous. They said their goodbyes, grabbed their coats and left for the evening. Katie came out of Adam's room, closing the door behind her. She was chuckling and shaking her head. "What's so funny?" Alex asked. "Your son. You know how Mel's been reading Harry Potter to him at nap time?" "Yeah?" "He tried to tell me that the baby's names were Harry and Hermoine. Little toad had me going, too, until he started giggling." Mulder frowned. "Harry and Hermoine? He was supposed to say Rubeus and Rita." "You put him up to that?" Katie smacked him playfully. "You jerk." "What? You don't like the names?" "Dana, get him out of here before I slap him silly." Mulder gave Katie quick peck on the cheek. "You'd have to catch me first, Shamu." "Oh yeah, laugh now Pinocchio. As soon as I deliver these babies, my weight will go down. You, however, will still need a half dozen clothes pins to shut that puppy off from the smell of all the diapers you'll be changing." Skinner hung back and watched as the four friends laughed and shot snotty remarks at one another. Who were these people and what had they done with his formerly serious agents? He couldn't remember ever seeing Mulder or Scully laugh and as foreign a concept as that was to him, seeing Krycek, Alex, laugh was even more peculiar. The entire day had been strange. The Gunmen seemed pretty much the same, except for Byers. Gone was the stuffy suit and tie uniform he'd always worn. Skinner had gotten the impression that the young woman on his arm was responsible for the change. He hadn't quite figured out how that relationship had come to be, but he couldn't help noticing how very much in love they were. Tyler was a character. Nice guy, but a bit over the top at times. He was married to Katie's best friend, Matthew, who, if he understood correctly, was a doctor. Apparently, Matthew would be by tomorrow, so he'd have the opportunity suss out this relationship then. Assuming he was still here tomorrow, that is. A lot depended on how things went with Alex this evening. He looked down at the manila envelope on the table. He'd gone downstairs to get the file about an hour ago, knowing that Alex wouldn't accept anything he had to say without seeing the documentation. Maybe not even then. "Well, that's everyone," Katie said, startling Skinner from his thoughts. "I'll leave you two alone." "Maybe you should stay, Katie," Skinner said. "It might make this easier." "Make what easier?" Alex asked. "I've waited all afternoon for an explanation; stop being so damned enigmatic and tell me what the hell is going on." "Sit down, Alexei. This is going to take a little time." Alex sat down on the couch next to Katie. Skinner pulled his chair closer to the coffee table, opened the manila envelope and took out the file. "I've been trying to figure out what to say to you ever since I made the decision to come here," he began. "I still don't know. The lawyer of a mutual friend of ours sent this file to my office about a year ago. Seems he'd been hanging on to this information until the time was right. Apparently it was in his will that I be given this file upon his death." "Spender?" "Yeah." "So this isn't good news?" Skinner tapped the file against his hand. "I'm not sure how to classify this information right now. I guess that's up to you." Alex glanced at Katie, but found no answers there. He looked back at Skinner. "What's in the file, Walter?" "Show him the picture," Katie said. "The first one." Skinner opened the file and pulled out the picture on top. He looked at for a moment, then handed it to Alex. Alex accepted the picture. He eyed it casually at first, then more carefully. "What is this? Why did he send this to you?" "Because of this," Skinner said, as he handed Alex the next photo. "But that's not my..." "No, it's mine." Alex's eyes widened. He stared at Skinner, then back down at the two pictures. "This is a joke, right? You can't be serious?" Skinner shook his head. "That was my first reaction, too. I've spent the last year painstakingly researching everything in here. It all added up, but I still couldn't believe it, until I had the lab run DNA tests." "But how..." "I put a man on you a few weeks ago. Remember that day at the park when you sliced your finger open on the swing?" Alex glared at him in disbelief. "You set that up?" "It seemed like the best way to finally confirm everything. I couldn't very well just come over and ask for a tissue sample, now could I?" "You son of a bitch! You've been spying on me and my family?" Alex was livid and ready to go over the table at Skinner. Katie put her hand on his arm. "Stop it. He had good reason." "Bullshit! He had no right." Katie reared back and glared at him. "Don't you dare! I have never thrown the past back at you before, Alex, but after everything you did to this man, you owe him." Alex stood and walked out of the room. He was confused and angry and Katie's words stung more than he wanted to let on. He pulled his jacket off the hook and slammed the back door behind him. Down the stairs and out onto the street. He needed to think, needed to be away from both of them right now. Skinner sighed as he drummed the table nervously with his hands. "That went well." He saw Katie staring toward the back of the loft. She looked so sad. "Katie, I'm sorry." She shook her head. "It's not your fault. You were doing what you had to do. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped on him, but he wasn't listening." She looked back toward the door again. "I should go after him." "No way. I'm not about to let you go out there. Scully would have my hide." "He shouldn't be out there by himself right now." Skinner stood up and went to get his jacket from the back of the dining room chair where he'd left it earlier in the day. "Where would he go?" "He might not appreciate what you're trying to do." "Tough," he answered as he slipped on the jacket. "He may think he can treat me like dirt, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let him treat you like that." "He's never treated me with anything but love and respect, Walter. Alex is the best thing that's ever happened to me. He's overwhelmed and doesn't know how to handle it." Skinner nodded. "Ok, but I'm still going after him." "When you leave the garage, turn right and walk down to the light. Turn left at the corner and look for a pub called Bandits. He'll be in the alley." "In the alley?" "Ask him about it when you find him." Alex paced the alley. How did this happen? How could he have come this far and not known, not been told? All those years alone. He didn't want it to be true, not now. Not after everything he'd done. But it had to be true. Skinner would never have told him if he hadn't been one hundred percent positive. Why had that old bastard, done this to him. To them? What possible purpose had it served? "Don't be stupid, Alex. It served the ultimate purpose of exacting a final revenge from the grave," he muttered. He leaned against the brick, then slid to the ground and wrapped his arms around his chest. Skinner spotted Bandits from down the block. He peered in through the window first, before walking around to the alley. It took him a minute, but he finally saw Alex sitting on the ground, barely two feet away from the dumpster. He approached cautiously, not wanting to make matters worse by barging in. Alex heard footsteps coming toward him, but didn't make any move to acknowledge the presence. He knew who it was and he knew how he'd been found. Any other time, it would have been her footsteps coming down that alley, but not this time. She was here with him though; he could feel her. "Alex?" "What?" Skinner sat down next to him on the hard pavement. "I, um, don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do here." "Neither do I." Ten minutes passed with neither saying a word. Skinner sat helplessly as Alex started to shake. He watched a tear slide down the younger man's cheek. "I almost killed you," Alex whispered. "That bastard wanted me to kill you. Hell, there were times when I wanted to kill you." Skinner stared straight ahead at the brick wall on the opposite side of the alley. "You know, I hear it's common for siblings to want to kill one another, from time to time." There, he'd said. Put the word out in the open for both of them to hear. Somehow, sitting here on the cold, hard pavement seemed a fitting beginning to this newly discovered relationship. "Now what?" Alex asked. "Where do we go from here?" "I don't know about you, but I think my ass is frozen. What do you say we go home and thaw out. Maybe apologize to my sister-in-law for causing her so much grief this evening." Skinner struggled to get back to his feet and offered a hand to Alex. "She's crazy about you, I hope you know that." "She's my world." "I can see that," he said. "So, what's the deal with the alley?" Alex smiled and looked down at the ground. "This is where she found me, where I got my second chance." "Want to tell me about it?" Alex straightened up to his full height and nodded. "Yeah, I think I do." Katie paced the floor of the living room for quite some time, before sitting back down on the couch and turning on the television. She flipped idly, not finding anything in particular to watch, so she left it on some true crime show. Her back had been aching on and off all day, but was now rapidly reaching unbearable. She stood again, in hopes of stretching out whatever kink had built up. The elevator whirred, then stopped. When the door opened, it was Mulder, not Alex and Walter, who stepped off. "I couldn't sleep," he explained. "Is everything all right?" Katie took a few steps in his direction, then stopped and put her hand over her mouth. "No, I don't think so." Mulder rushed over and put an arm around her. "Easy. Where are we going, to the couch or the bathroom?" "Bedroom. Then you need to get Dana; I think I'm in labor." He helped her into the bedroom and onto the bed, before running to get the phone. "She'll be here in a minute. Can I get you anything? Where's Alex?" "He and Walter had some things to work out; they'll be back in a while." "Do you want me to go find them?" "No." Katie let out a soft moan and rolled onto her side. "Back hurts." Mulder went around to the other side of the bed and climbed in next to her. He put his hands on the small of her back and began a gentle massage. "Is that the spot?" "Yes." "Try to relax. Scully will be here soon." Mulder continued his ministrations until Scully arrived. She knelt beside the bed and put her hand on Katie's forehead. "Pretty sneaky way to get a back rub," she teased. Katie gave her a weak smile. "Works on Alex every time." "So where are we?" "My back's been bothering me all day, but about fifteen minutes ago, on a scale from one to ten, it became an eleven." "She was also complaining about being nauseated," Mulder added. "Did she throw up?" "No, it seemed to pass once I started rubbing her back." "Are you still feeling sick, Katie?" "A little, but it's not too bad right now." "Where's Alex?" "Out with Skinner. I offered to go look for them, but she said they'd be back soon." "Ok, I need you to go in the other room and keep an eye out for them while I check to see where we are. If they show up, keep them out there until I come out and let you know what's going on, all right?" "You heard the lady, Sammie. I'm being kicked out of the joint." He kissed her cheek and slid off of the bed. "If he's not home by the time Scully's finished, I'll pick up where I left off, ok?" "Thanks, Fox." "I know you don't want to hear this, but you're going to have to roll over on your back," Dana said, as she put on a latex glove. Katie rolled over, closing her eyes against the pain shooting up her spine. "Hurts." "I know. I'll make this as quick as I can. Hold on." Dana pushed Katie's jumper up and eased down her maternity underwear. She pressed against Katie's legs to encourage her to open up a little wider. "How long has your back been bothering you?" "All day, since about seven this morning, I guess." Scully removed her hand and took off the glove. "Well, I hope you have everything ready for these little ones, because you're at seven centimeters." "I'm that far along? It's too early, Dana. We said we wanted them to wait until December." "They don't seem to be sharing our views on that subject." Dana helped Katie roll back onto her side. "It's early, but it's not too early. Don't worry. I'm going to give Matthew a call and tell him to get over here. Are you sure you don't want me to send Mulder after Alex?" "Not yet. If they're not back in fifteen minutes, then I'll ask him to go." "Ok, I'll send him in. Be back in a few minutes." Scully went to the door and called for Mulder. "They're not back yet?" "Not yet. Should I go find them?" "Katie wants to wait fifteen minutes before sending out a search party. Why don't you go in and rub her back while I call Matthew." "So she's in active labor?" "Oh yeah." John and Miranda pulled into the garage, just as Alex and Skinner were making their way down the sidewalk. "Well, neither of them appears to be bleeding," Miranda said. "Maybe everything's all right after all." Alex called out to them. "How was the movie?" "Awful!" Miranda replied. Alex gave her a hug. "Good, just the way you like them." "So, Walter. How was your evening?" John asked. "It was interesting," he answered. Miranda couldn't wait any longer. "Ok, so are you two going to explain why it was we were all asked to leave this evening?" Alex and Walter exchanged a look, then both shook their heads. "Later," Alex said. "Come on, I need to get back upstairs." Scully poured a mug of coffee and started to walk back into the bedroom. She heard the elevator start up and stood by the door. "There you are!" she said, taking Alex by the arm. "Go wash up." "What? Now? Is she all right?" Scully pulled him to the bathroom door, talking on the way. "She's been in labor all day, but didn't realize it. We're at seven centimeters. Mulder's in with her, rubbing her back and keeping her comfortable, but she needs you, so move!" "Shouldn't we be on our way to a hospital?" Skinner asked. "Oh no, Katie doesn't do hospitals," Miranda said. "We have everything we need here," she called out to Scully. "Dana? Do you need me to call Matthew?" Scully hurried back out to them. "No, he's already on his way. I could use some help changing the bedding. I didn't want to make her move too much until Alex got back. She's in a lot of pain." "I'll go get everything." "I'll go down and tell the guys. Is there anything we can to help?" "Not right now, but I have a feeling that Adam won't be asleep much longer. I'll need you to keep him calm and entertained." "I can do that," Skinner said. Scully looked taken aback by his offer. "Well, yeah. That would be great. Tell you what, John. Why don't you and the guys stay downstairs and get some rest? I'll send someone down when it looks like we're close." John hurried out the back door to catch Miranda before going down the stairs to alert Frohike and Langly. Miranda and Alex showed up at the same time and followed Scully into the bedroom, leaving Skinner alone. He went into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee, before sitting at the table. Now what? He drank about half of the liquid in the cup, then decided to go check on Adam. Adam was sitting up in his bed. He knew what all that noise meant; the babies were coming. Then it was quiet. He slipped out of bed, but before he got to the door, it opened. "I thought you might be awake," Skinner said to him. "Is mommy ok?" "She's fine." "Are the babies here yet?" "No, not yet. I think it's going to be a few hours." Adam turned his head sideways and looked up at Skinner. "Are you really my uncle?" Skinner knelt down to bring his face down to eye level with the boy. "It looks that way. Is that all right with you?" Adam grinned. "Sure! Now daddy gots a brother, just like I do." Skinner stood and walked with Adam out to the living room. "So, the twins are boys?" "One of them is a boy. The other one's a girl. Don't tell mommy and daddy, they want to be s'prised." Miranda emerged from the bedroom. "Hey brat, how come you're not in bed?" "How's mommy? Can I go see her?" "Not right now, sweetie. We had to make her get up so we could get the bed ready; she's pretty uncomfortable. I'll go tell Dana that you're awake and I'm sure she'll let you go in for a few minutes, later on. Ok?" Miranda went back into the bedroom and came out a few minutes later. ""It's all set. Mulder will come get you when it's your turn to go in. Don't worry, she's fine." She gave Adam a kiss on the top of his head. "I'm going downstairs to be with John and the guys. Do you want to come with me?" "Uh, uh. I hafta be here 'til the babies come or else mommy won't know what to name them." "It's going to be a while." "S'ok. I have Uncle Walter to keep me company." He looked up at Skinner. "Right?" "You bet." "Well, ok. If you change your mind, come on down." She smiled at Skinner. "He must really like you, Walter. See you later." Katie tried to stretch, but found that any movement at all made her back hurt worse. Alex's hand was working on particularly tense spot, without much success. The constant barrage of suggestions and comforting words wasn't helping either. She just wanted to be left alone with Alex. "Guys, I don't want to be rude, but could you just go away for a while?" She closed her eyes against the shooting pain. "I need a little time, ok?" "All right. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes," Scully said. "Alex, if anything changes." Alex stopped rubbing Katie's back. "I'll let you know," he answered. Mulder and Scully left the room, closing the door behind them. "Alex?" "Yeah, baby." "Would you hold me?" He climbed up on the bed and pressed his body against her back. One arm draped gently over her belly. "How's that?" "Better. Heat feels good." "Ah, I get it. You didn't want to be held, you wanted a human heating pad," he teased. She let out a little laugh that was cut short by a contraction. "Busted. Ow." He slowly rubbed circles on her belly. "It's all right. Shhh." "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to hurt you." "Don't worry about it. I know." "I love you so much." "I know that, too." He felt some of the tension in her belly go away and her breathing became slow and even. Good, maybe she'd fallen asleep. He closed his eyes as well. "What happened with Walter?" "I thought you were asleep." "No, just resting before the next one hits. What happened?" "He found me in the alley. We talked." "And?" "And we talked, Katya. What did you expect?" "Was it a good talk?" "We talked about you, so yes, it was a good talk." "So you're going to give each other a chance?" He felt her belly tighten. "Here it comes, baby. Hang on." Katie cried out, then started panting to help work through the contraction. "Answer...the...question." "Almost done, hold on. Yes, we're going to give each other a chance. Breathe. Let's concentrate on this for the moment." "They're starting to come closer together. Go get Adam." "You sure? Might scare him to see you hurting like this." Katie shook her head. "It's ok. We talked about it. He knows it hurts and that it might look scary, but that everything will be ok. It'll scare him more if we keep him away." Alex rolled over to the end of the bed and got up. "Want anything else?" "More water." "Be right back." Alex left the door open, just in case. He saw Adam and Walter on the couch. Mulder was sitting on the chair across from them. Matthew was talking to Scully, presumably being caught up on Katie's current condition. Tyler was in the kitchen cleaning, if the sounds emanating from the room were any indicator. He ruffled his son's hair. "Hey kiddo. Want to go see your mom for a few minutes?" Adam hopped off the couch and ran to the bedroom. "I'll take that as a yes." "He's been worried," Skinner said. "That's a perceptive young man you have there, Alex." "He inherited that from his mother, but his gift is much stronger." "I've been wanting to test his abilities, but we decided to wait a little while longer," Mulder added. "I need a drink. Anybody want anything while I'm up?" "Would you get Katie a glass of ice water?" "Sure." When Mulder was out of earshot, Skinner rose and stood close to Alex. "Adam knows." "I'm not surprised. Has he said anything to anyone else?" "No, he seems to understand that it's not something we want to share right now." "Yeah, he would." Alex looked toward the bedroom. "Look, if you want to let everyone in on this, go ahead." Skinner looked around the room, then back at Alex. "No, not yet. There's something much more important going on this evening. Tomorrow is soon enough." Mulder chose that moment to show up with the glass in hand. "Tyler says to tell you he's got a huge bowl of ice chips ready." "Thanks." He saw Matthew and Scully go into the bedroom. "I'd better get back in there." "Mommy?" Katie opened her eyes and smiled at her son. "You can come over." Adam ran over to the bed and put his hands on her belly. "Does it hurt?" "Not right this minute." He sighed and nodded. "Just when the 'tractions start." Katie chuckled. "Yeah, just when the 'tractions start." "I like Uncle Walter. I'm glad daddy has a brother now." "Me, too sweetie. Does everyone else know?" "Uh, uh. We're gonna wait 'til the babies are here." "Did your daddy or Uncle Walter tell you that?" "No, but that's what they're thinking." He felt her belly get hard under his hands. "It's gonna hurt, isn't it, mommy?" Katie bit her lower lip and nodded. Adam ran to the door to get someone and almost knocked Scully over. "Mommy's startin' to hurt again, Dana." "I'll take care of her, don't worry. Remember what we talked about?" "It looks scary, but it's gonna be ok," Adam repeated. "Good boy," Matthew said. "Hey, do me a favor. Go ask Ty to play a game with you or something." "'K. Don't forget to come get me when the babies are born." "I won't forget." "Come on, Hanna. One more big push. That's it. Bear down now, hard." Matthew carefully helped ease the baby's shoulders through, then let the infant slide the rest of the way out of Katie's body. "Oh shit! Dana, I need your help!" The second baby's head was already trying to emerge. "Hanna, I need you to push again, this other little one is in a big hurry to get out." Three, two one, plop. This little one needed no assistance. She was bound and determined not to be any further behind her brother than absolutely necessary. Matthew wasted no time cutting the cord and handing the baby off to Scully. Katie had started contracting again and again, until both placentas had been delivered. After taking care of all the necessities, Matthew got up and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. "Damn! When you're ready to get things over with, you don't mess around." Katie tried to smile, but found her mouth would only just barely turn up at the corners. "What are they?" Scully walked over with two bundles in her arms. "Well, this one's a boy," she said, handing the first bundle to Alex. "And this one's a girl." Matthew helped Katie sit up so that she could hold her daughter. She looked down at the baby in her arms, then at the one in Alex's. Scully and Matthew moved away from the bed and finished cleaning up the room. Neither wanted Adam coming in and seeing the aftermath of the birthing procedure. "Are you ready for me to get Adam?" Matthew asked. Katie nodded. "Yeah, we need to know what to call these little ones." "I'll go with him," Scully said. "Send Adam out when you're ready for visitors." Matthew walked over to the couch, where Adam lay sleeping, his head on Skinner's lap. "How is everyone?" Skinner asked. "Mom and babies are doing fine. Dad's holding up pretty well, too," Matthew answered. He ruffled Adam's hair. "Hey sleepyhead. Want to see your brother and sister?" Adam rubbed his eyes and stretched. "Yeah. I hafta go potty first." "I think we can a couple more minutes. Lots of soap and water on those hands when you're done. No touching the babies with gross fingers, ok?" Adam frowned and put his hands on his hips. "I always wash my hands, Uncle Matty." "Yeah, yeah, I know. Hurry up, will ya? Those babies are waiting for you to give them names." "'K. Be right back." "So? Boys, girls, one of each?" Miranda asked. "One of each," Scully answered. "The boy is five pounds eleven ounces and the girl is five pounds eight ounces. All fingers and toes present and accounted for." "That's pretty small, isn't it?" "For a single birth, yes, but for twins that's about average." Adam ran out of the bathroom and over to Matthew. "Can I go see them now?" "What did we tell you about your mommy and what you can do when you go in there?" Adam carefully ticked off all of the instructions on his fingers. "No running. No jumping on the bed. Talk quietly so I don't scare the babies. Don't touch mommy's belly 'cause it's gonna be sore. Be very, very gentle with the babies. Can I go now?" "Yeah, go on." He ran across the room, but stopped at the bedroom door. Adam peeked in and saw his mommy and daddy on the bed, holding the babies. "Mommy?" "Hey punkin. Come on in." "Are they sleepin'''?" He walked quietly to the side of the bed and stood on his tiptoes to see his sister's face. "No, they're awake," Katie said. "Go around on the other side so you can climb up here and see them better." He walked around to his daddy's side of the bed and climbed up slowly. The bed moved a little as he crawled closer to Alex. "I'm not apposed to make the bed bounce," he said. "You're fine, kiddo," Alex said. He patted the space between he and Katie. "Come up here." Adam made his way to the spot they'd cleared for him. When he was set, Alex put his new son into his firstborn's lap. "He's so little," Adam whispered. "How'd you know this one was a he?" Alex asked. "Daddy!" Adam rolled his eyes. The baby snuffled and started to fuss a bit, then settled down when Adam touched his hand. "Don't cry." "I think he wants you to introduce him to us." Adam looked at Katie and smiled. "But mommy, you already know his name. I made you save it for him." Katie chuckled. "I thought so." Adam planted a kiss on the baby's forehead. "Hi, Joshie." He looked at Alex. "You hold him now." Alex took Joshua away from Adam and cradled his newly named son close to his heart. Katie then placed their little girl in Adam's lap. "Her turn," Katie said. "Hi baby." Adam bent down and kissed his sister's forehead. She looked up at him and made a mewling sound. "Her name is Kayla Nicole. Isn't that right, KayKay?" Kayla yawned and closed her eyes. "That's a pretty name, Adam." "I didn't pick it, daddy. She did." "Well, I'm glad you were here to tell us so we didn't give her the wrong name." "Ok guys, we have some people who want to meet our newest arrivals. Maybe one of you should go out and get them." "Here," Adam said, moving Kayla toward her. "Uncle Matty said that was my job." He waited until Katie had Kayla safe in her arms, then scooted off the bed and out the door. He stood just outside the door and called to the group. "Anybody want to see my babies?" Miranda made a mad dash to the door, leaving John and everyone else in her wake. "No running, Randa!" "Sorry, Adam," she said, as she slowed down at the door. "I won't run in the room." John followed. "I'll make sure she behaves." One by one they all gathered around the bed to see the twins. Scully and Matthew stayed off to the side, allowing the rest to get close. All except Skinner who stood over by the door. Miranda oohed and aahed over her new siblings. Many smiles and words of congratulations were exchanged. Adam crawled back up on the bed and into the spot he'd vacated a few minutes earlier. "Ok, so what are their names, Adam?" Miranda asked. "Or are you going to make us wait even longer?" Adam grinned. He pointed to the baby in Alex's arms. "This is Joshua Peter Krycek, me and Randa's new baby brother." He turned and touched the baby in Katie's arms. "This is Kayla Nicole Krycek, me and Randa's new baby sister." Miranda bent down and touched Kayla's hand. "Can I hold her?" "In a minute," Katie said. She looked at Alex, her eyes motioning toward the door and Skinner. "This might be a good time." "I think you're right." Alex looked away from his wife and over at Skinner. "Walter, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come over and meet your newest niece and nephew?" Skinner pushed off the doorframe and walked over to the bed, never once looking at the people around him. He stopped near Katie, who patted the mattress next to her. "Here, Walter," she said. "Why don't you hold your niece?" He took the baby from Katie and held her close. "She's beautiful," he said quietly. "Since no one else has the nerve to ask, I will," Tyler said. "When you said Walter should meet his niece and nephew, were you speaking figuratively, Alex?" Alex lifted his eyes slightly and shook his head. "So that's what was going on! You two have got some serious explaining to do." "Later, Ty," Katie said. Alex handed Joshua to Miranda. "Here sweetie, why don't you introduce him to the rest of the family." Matthew saw Katie beginning to fade and stepped in. "Ok everyone, you've got five minutes before I throw you out. It's been a long night and these two," he said, pointing to Katie and Alex, "need to get some rest." Langly shook Alex's hand, while Frohike gave Katie a quick kiss. "You did good," he said. "Thanks, Mel." He and Langly slipped out of the room. John took Joshua from Miranda. "He's so tiny." He touched Joshua's hand and his widened when the baby grabbed hold and squeezed. "Makes you want to have one of your own, doesn't it?" He smiled at her. "Yeah, it does." Scully took Joshua from John's arms. "You can practice on the twins later. For right now, think you could pry Adam away from this bed and put him in his own?" "Sure." Miranda went over to the bed. "Hey brat. Let's let your mom and dad get some sleep, ok?" "Do I hafta go?" John scooped Adam up into his arms. "Yes you do. Come on, maybe we can get Frohike to read another chapter of Harry Potter." "Ok. Night mommy. Night daddy." "Night baby, I love you." "Love you, too." Tyler slipped out of the room with them, as did Matthew. Mulder sat down next to Alex. "Brothers?" "Kick in the head, isn't it?" "But how?" "Not now, Mulder," Scully said. "I'm sure they'll explain it all to us later on. For now, we need to leave them alone." Skinner took his eyes off Kayla and turned to Mulder. "There's a file on the table in the living room. Everything's in there. I'll be out in a few minutes." Mulder nodded and stood. "Fair enough. Call me if you need diaper assistance, Sammie." Katie chuckled. "Don't think I won't take you up on that, Fox." Mulder laughed and walked to the door. "Coming Scully?" "In a minute. I'm going to help put the babies down and I'll be right out." "I can do it, Dana," Skinner said. "Go on." "You're sure?" He smiled at Kayla and pulled the blanket a little closer around her shoulders. "Yeah, I'm sure." "Ok, not too much longer." Scully smiled and added, "Uncle Walter." Alex watched Scully close the door on her way out. "You know they're going to be waiting for you out there." "I can see it now. Mulder will be going through the file and handing each page to Frohike as he finishes. Frohike will be shaking his head and saying 'unbelievable'. And the others, who knows." Skinner kissed the tiny finger gripping his. "I should put this little one down and go out there." He stood and carried Kayla to the bassinet. "On her back or stomach?" he asked Katie. "Back." Katie's eyes fluttered closed, but she fought to stay awake. Alex got up and put Joshua in the second bassinet. "Are you going to be all right?" "Yeah, no problem. I've faced Senate subcommittees, I can handle this crew." Katie yawned and closed her eyes. "Don't send him out there alone, Alex." "I'm not leaving you." She forced her eyes open again. "It's the living room, Alex, not a cross country trip. I need to go to sleep now. You're just gonna lie here and keep me awake worrying about what's going on anyway, so go." "You're right." He looked at Skinner. "She's right, I'll never get to sleep now." "Sure you don't mind, Katie?" Skinner asked. Katie mumbled something neither could understand. "That's a yes. Let's go do this," Alex said. The scene was slightly worse than they'd expected. Someone, probably Tyler, had made more coffee. Everyone was gathered around the big table pushing pictures from one person to the next. Half-filled cups were scattered amongst various papers. Mulder was reading one report aloud. Frohike was holding at the DNA results up to the light and muttering 'unbelievable'. They hung back a second. Alex took a deep breath. "Well, let's go." "You first." "Oh no, Walter. Age before beauty." "I believe the expression you're looking for is pearls before rats." Alex smirked. "Cute." He gave Skinner a playful shove. "Move it old man." "Oh good, you're both here," Mulder said. "The physical evidence is here, but where's the back story?" Tyler asked. "I don't understand. I mean, I get the whole DNA thing and that you guys have the same father, but what I don't get is how." "Spender had all of this?" Mulder asked. "Yeah," Skinner replied. "The man had quite a sense of humor." "So, give," Tyler was growing more impatient by the minute. "Is he always like this?" Skinner asked Alex. Alex nodded. "You get used to it." Skinner pulled out a chair and sat down. "Get comfortable. There are still a few blanks, but I think I've managed to piece together most of the story." He accepted the cup of coffee Scully handed him, took a sip and put it on the table. "My grandfather was a member of the International Olympic Committee. In 1951, Russia petitioned for international committee recognition of its National Olympic Committee, so that the Russian teams could compete in the games. The petition was approved and the Russian teams began preparing to compete in the Helsinki games in 1952. In July of 1951, my grandfather was sent to Russia partly as a goodwill ambassador to the Russian National Olympic Committee and partially to get a glimpse of Russian training techniques." "So he was a spy of sorts?" Scully asked. "Yeah," Alex answered. "It runs in the family." Skinner rolled his eyes. "Anyway, he was sent over in early June, so he decided to take his sixteen year old daughter with him. My grandmother had died a year earlier, kidney disease, I believe, and he was reluctant to leave my mother for more than a few days at a time. My mother, being a lover of poetry and art, was quite content to spend her days wandering through the Russian State Museum. She was particularly fond of one painting, Aivazovsky's The Ninth Wave. One day, while sitting in front of this painting, she was joined by a young man, who was studying Hovahannes Aivazovsky for a school report." Alex smiled sadly. "Aivazovsky was my father's favorite painter. He was fascinated by his paintings of ships on the ocean. He published a paper on him. Hell, I think it was the paper that got him invited to speak at the conference in New York." Skinner nodded. "Those were my mother's favorites as well. She had a book of Armenian painters that she'd brought back from Russia. She used to show me the pictures when my grandfather wasn't around." "Did she ever talk about my father?" "No. Only that she was pretty sure he'd been killed and that we were never to speak of him in front of grandfather. Years later, I was able to get the story of how they'd met and how I came to be, but that was all she would ever tell me. I tried to find out his name, but she said she couldn't remember. She was afraid of what my grandfather would do, if he found out that she'd given me my father's name." "So what happened to them? Don't stop now," Miranda begged. "Well, they began to talk. My mother had learned enough Russian to get around on her own and my father had picked up some English from somewhere. I'm not really sure. Do you know, Alex?" "No, by the time I started talking, both of my parents were fairly fluent English speakers. We spoke both languages around the house." "As far as I've been able to determine, they must have fallen in love and spent every available moment together. Judging by my date of birth, mother would have gotten pregnant shortly before she and my grandfather returned home. I don't even know if my, our father ever knew about me." He looked at Alex. Alex shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I could tell you that he did, but if he did, it was a secret he took to the grave. I'm sorry." "That's as much as I know for sure, from the limited information my mother gave me. Well, that and they both shared a love of the Russian poet Sergei Esenin." Alex cleared his throat and began to recite. "'In this life it's not difficult to die. To make life is more difficult by far.'" "You're familiar with Esenin?" "Required reading in my house. Esenin and Rimbaud's A Season in Hell. Cheerful stuff to foist on anine-year-old." "Geez, Alex, I didn't read Rimbaud until I was in high school," Miranda said. "Talk about depressing." "Well, that explains your middle name," Alex said. "Yeah, that was my mother's big act of rebellion. My grandfather insisted on Walter, after his father, but she insisted on Sergei." Alex drained his coffee cup. "Well, I guess this is where I pick up the story. My parents met while both were teaching at the university. My father was twenty-four and my mother twenty-two when they got married. I showed up two years later. When I was still an infant, they defected to America while attending a conference in New York. They taught at NYU, I grew up, went to school. Everything was pretty normal, until they were killed in an auto accident when I was ten. I was eventually adopted by a friend of my father's and was groomed to be the person you all knew and despised." He raised his head and made eye contact with Skinner. "Look, don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be a victim here. I made my choices and I have to live with the results of those choices." "But you're not that man anymore," Katie said. Everyone spun around at the sound of her voice. "What are you doing out of bed?" Alex got up and put his arms around her. "Should she be out of bed, Dana?" "If she feels up to it," Scully answered. "Have you gotten any sleep?" "Yeah, I just needed to go to the bathroom. I was going back to bed, but I heard Alex talking and I wanted to make sure he was all right." Alex hugged her close. "Well, as you can see, I'm fine. You should go back to bed." Katie looked over his shoulder at Walter. "Are we good, Walter?" "Yeah Katie, we're good." She rested her head on Alex's shoulder. "Good." She pulled out of Alex's embrace. "All right everyone, go home and get some sleep. "You two," she said, pointing to Matthew and Tyler, "pull out the couch. It's crummy outside and I don't want you on the road." January "For crying out loud, Hanna, will you stop slamming the keyboard?" Matthew put his hands on her shoulders. "What is wrong with you lately? You've been a bitch on wheels!" Katie pushed the keyboard tray in hard. "Well thank you very much, Kid. I needed that helpful observation." She stood up and got right in his face. "I'm tired, I can't put two sentences together on a page that make sense, I have Michelle breathing down my back for the next chapter and I have haven't gotten laid since early November. Does that clear things up for you?" "You and Alex haven't? We cleared you weeks ago, Hanna, what's the problem?" Matthew pulled her into his arms. "Talk to me." "They never sleep at the same time, Matty. It's like one of them always has to be awake to watch out for the other." She buried her face in his chest. "I love them, really I do, but I'm starting to crack." Matthew felt the front of shirt getting wet from her tears. He kissed the top of her head and held her tighter. "Why didn't you tell us how bad it was getting, Hanna? I knew you weren't sleeping well, but you seemed to be handling it. I thought it was just normal new parent, 2 AM feeding exhaustion." "They're my babies, it's my job to take care of them. Alex does as much as I do, but he seems to handle it so much better. I can't manage to do anything right anymore." He rocked her as she sobbed into his shirt. "Oh, Katie, it's all right. Let it all out." She cried in his arms for a good fifteen minutes, before calming down enough to push away from him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go to pieces on you." "Hey, don't I always pick up the pieces?" "Yes you do and I love you for it." "Have you told Alex how you're feeling?" "No. I can't go back to being that little girl who falls apart every time she gets scared. I don't want him to think I'm weak." Matthew put a hand on each shoulder and squeezed gently. "You, are not weak. You are one of the strongest people I know, Hanna. What you are right now, is exhausted and well on your way to being depressed." He moved her over to the couch and pushed her down onto the seat. "Now, this is what we're gonna do. I'm going to get the headphones and pop something relaxing into the CD player. You are going to close your eyes and listen." Katie started to get up. "I can't. Josh will be awake any minute now wanting to be fed, Kayla will probably wake up as soon as he's done eating, then they'll need to be bathed and changed." "And I'll take care of it. You are not to move from this spot for at least an hour. Doctor's orders." "But." "No buts." Matthew walked over to the CD rack and chose a couple of CDs. He put them in the player and brought her the headphones. "Now, get your feet up on that table. Close your eyes and rest," she started to protest again, but he cut her off. "I mean it. If you get up from that couch before those CDs are over, I will put your ass in the hospital, Hanna." One look at his face told her that this was no idle threat. She put on the headphones, curled up on the couch and closed her eyes. When he was sure she was going to stay put, Matthew picked up the phone and called downstairs. "I need the three of you up here now. We have a situation and I want to put a plan in motion before Alex and Adam get back. No, Langly, it's Katie; it can't wait. Get up here and for God's sake, be quiet." He'd no sooner hung up the phone when he heard one of the babies start to cry. Matthew ran to the bedroom and picked Joshua up before his cries woke up his sister. "Sshh. Don't cry, kiddo." Joshua nuzzled Matthew's shirt. "I know, you're hungry, aren't you? Come on, let's go grab a bottle." The elevator door opened and out stepped Frohike, Langly and Byers. Frohike looked like he'd just woken up. "What's wrong with Katie?" he asked. "Keep it down," Matthew scolded. He pointed to the couch. "I don't want her to hear what's going on. Follow me, I've got to heat up a bottle for this little guy before he starts wailing." Once in the kitchen, baby slurping happily on his bottle, Matthew laid out the problem and his solution. Frohike looked stunned. "November? No shit?" "Yeah," added Langly. "I always thought of these two as twice-a-niters, you know?" John frowned at his friend. "Langly!" "What? Just because you're not getting any, doesn't mean the rest of the world isn't humping merrily along." "Don't go there, boys. This isn't about you, it's about Katie. Look, Mulder and Dana aren't going to be back for another week, so it's up to us. Are you in or not?" "Yeah, sure, no sweat," Frohike said. "We're good with babies." "John?" "Of course. I'll give Miranda a call and let her know we've got Adam for a few days. We promised him he could come and stay with us sometime anyway, so no big deal." Matthew smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'll call Mulder and let him know that Ty and I will be using their place for the next few days. We can switch off with the twins so none of us gets over tired." "Well, that's all settled, now how are we going to pull this off. Katie will never agree to any of this." "I know she won't. This is where it gets underhanded," Matthew said. "John, you pack a bag for Adam. Don't worry about toiletries, you can call Miranda and have her pick up a toothbrush and whatever else he might need in that department. I don't want any motion on that end of the loft. Take his bag downstairs, then come back up here. We're going to prepare an nice, simple dinner and act as if nothing is unusual." "Then what?" Langly asked. "How are we supposed to get the munchkins out of here?" Matthew shifted from one foot to the other. "Then I do something completely immoral, unethical and illegal." Frohike's mouth dropped. "You're gonna slip 'em a mickey?" "In a manner of speaking," Matthew answered. "Just a mild sedative. They need the sleep, we need a little time to move the kids downstairs. It won't hurt them; it's something I've prescribed for both of them before." "Matthew, slow down, man. We know you'd never do anything to hurt them, just like we know that they're too damned thickheaded to let us do this for them voluntarily. Relax, we're on your side." "Good, because Katie's going to want to kill me when she wakes up and finds out what we've done. Alex leaned back in his chair. "That was delicious, Matthew. Thanks for cooking tonight." "No problem. I thought you guys could use break. Finish up your drink so I can get the dishes started. You, too, Hanna." "Is this the Chianti from the other night?" Katie asked. "It tastes a little off." "Tastes fine to me," Langly said, taking a big swig and finishing his glass. Katie shrugged. "Maybe it's just me." She swallowed the last little bit and put her glass on the table. Kayla woke up and started to fuss. Frohike reached over and started the swing again. She calmed quickly and stared at him. "I think she likes you, Melvin," Katie said. "Of course she does. She's my little princess, aren't you." Frohike rubbed his finger on her cheek and was rewarded with a smile. "See?" Matthew cleared the dishes from the table with a little help from Langly. Both Alex and Katie stood to help, but were shooed out of the room. "Couch, both of you. We'll start the movie in a minute," Matthew said. "Dinner and a movie?" Alex glanced at Katie. "We must have been very good today." "He's up to something," Katie whispered. She covered her mouth as big yawn came over her. "Sorry. Guess I'm not as awake as I thought." Alex yawned, too. "Now look what you've started," he teased. He looked around. "Where'd Adam and John go?" "John said something about having to call Miranda. Adam probably went along to say hi." "Would you not worry about the kids? Sit, relax." Matthew popped in the DVD and started the movie. "Now, forget about everything and enjoy the movie. We'll take care of the kids for you." Alex woke and tried to focus. He stared at the clock on the VCR/DVD player until the blurry numbers became clear. "What the fuck?" He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock again. On the couch next to him, Katie was still fast asleep. No crying, no noise at all in the loft. Where was everyone? He slid to the edge of his seat and rested his elbows on his knees. Perched on the table in front of him was an envelope with both of their names on it. "Oh shit," he muttered, as he picked up the envelope. Katie shifted positions on the couch, but didn't wake up. Alex opened the envelope and began reading the letter inside. His eyes widened as his questions were answered and he wasn't sure if he should race downstairs and kill every last one of them, or kiss them all. Alex turned to look at Katie, just as she opened her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked." "Just after nine." Katie shot up. "After nine? Why did you let me sleep so long?" "Calm down, listen." She listened. "I don't hear anything." "I know." "Why don't I hear anything, Alexei?" "We've been set up, baby. Matthew slipped us a sedative in our wine and while we were out, abducted our children. We are utterly and completely alone for the next four days." "Whoa, back up a minute. Matthew drugged us?" "Yeah, he apologized for that, but it was the only way they could get the twins and all of their stuff out of here without us knowing." "He apologized? You've spoken to him?" Alex shook his head and held up the letter. "The twins are just downstairs and Adam is in Pittsburgh with John and Miranda. They didn't want to take the babies too far away, in case we freaked out on them, I guess," Alex said. "And we'd already promised Adam that he could go with John to visit Miranda." "I knew Matthew was worried about me, but this is flat out devious. I didn't know he had it in him." "Me either. Good thing he's on our side." "It feels weird. It's so quiet." "What do you want to do? Should we go down and get the twins or take advantage of what we've been given?" Katie slid over close to him. "I know I'm supposed to be outraged right now at having my children taken away from me without my knowledge or consent." "But?" "But, we know where they are, we know that they're safe and I know that if I don't let them do this for us, that I'll end up a basket case by the end of the month." She put her head on his shoulder. "I lost it in front of Matthew this morning," she said. "Broke down completely, just like I used to do when things got a little tough." "That explains why he went to such extremes." Alex picked up the letter. "It also explains this line 'Remember sex? That pleasurable activity you two once used to engage in on a regular basis? It's still fun. You should try it again.'" Katie grimaced. "Oh yeah, I kind of told him that we hadn't, you know, since before the twins were born." "If Matthew didn't know that, then he's the only one," Alex chuckled. "Mulder called me on it the night before they left." "He did?" "I, uh, almost took his head off with a baseball that night. He kind of put two and two together," Alex said sheepishly. Katie kissed his shoulder. "It's been a long time. I'm not sure I remember how." "Me either." He kissed her, then stood up and held out his hand. "Want to see if we can figure out where all the parts are supposed to go?" She took his hand and allowed him to help her up. "This is going to sound silly, but can we go soak in the whirlpool first?" A smile slowly spread across Alex's face. "Sounds nice. Why don't you get it started and I'll go get us something to drink." "Alex?" "What?" "Does the fact that we're not racing downstairs to get the twins make us bad parents?" "No, just tired parents who need a break and who are lucky enough to have friends willing to risk life and limb to give us some time alone." Katie nodded and went into the bathroom to start the whirlpool. She tossed her clothes on the floor and climbed in. Alex put two bottles of water on the edge, stripped off his clothes and arm and climbed in beside her. Alex settled in and closed his eyes, letting the jets and bubbles work their magic. "Ooooh, this was a very good idea." "Yes it was." They soaked for an hour, alternately talking and enjoying the quiet around them. Alex finished his water and as he put the empty bottle on the edge of the whirlpool, noticed the pruned state of his fingertips. He touched Katie's cheek and she opened her eyes. "Ready to get out," he asked. He trailed his fingers down to her breast and felt her shiver at his touch. "Oh, your fingers are all wrinkled," she said. He continued his journey downward and lightly skimmed her clit. "I prefer to think of them as ribbed for your enjoyment." She arched into his touch. "Mmmm. I se your point." He kissed her again and lifted his hand from her body. "Come on, let's take this elsewhere." They climbed out of the whirlpool and toweled off. Katie hung the towels on the bar and went to gather up their clothes. "Leave them," Alex said. "We'll clean up later." "Want this?" she asked, holding up his arm. "Bring it," he replied. "But would you mind if I left it off?" "No, I don't mind. You should know that by now." She put her arms around him and kissed the stump that was once his left arm. "Sore?" "Yeah. I was so tired when I got into the shower this morning, that I forgot to take the damn thing off. It stayed wet for most of the day." "Want me to rub some lotion on it?" She realized instantly from the smirk on his face, that this was probably not the best phrasing of that particular question. "Never mind." "What?" he chuckled, "I wasn't going to say a word." They walked to the bedroom, his arm around her shoulders. She covered her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to conceal a yawn. He chuckled softly. Katie giggled. "I'm sorry. I'm just so tired." He gave her a squeeze. "Me, too. I hope you're not expecting much more than a brief encounter, because I think that's about all I have in me tonight." "Brief is good. I don't have the energy for much more than that." He stopped her at the bedroom door. "Why do I feel like I should be carrying you into the room?" She dragged him over to the bed and put his arm down on the nightstand. "You know what?" "What?" She pulled him down on top of her. "You talk too much." Four Days Later Matthew poked his head out of the elevator. "Hello? Is it safe to come in?" Alex came out of the kitchen. "You're a brave man, coming up here without reinforcements." "You'll notice I'm still in the elevator," Matthew said. "I can have this door closed in fifteen seconds." "That's ok, we decided we've let you live a little longer, but we're never going to drink anything you prepare again." Matthew stepped cautiously off the elevator. "Uh yeah, about that. I really am sorry, Alex. It was the same stuff I give Katie when she's hurting so bad. I was desperate; it was a last resort. If I'd thought she'd let us do this for you voluntarily, I never would have," his voice trailed off as Katie emerged from the bathroom. "I should kill you, Kid." She advanced on him, slowly, as if stalking her prey. "You must be packing bowling balls in those trousers to do what you did to us." "Hey, Hanna." He raised his hands in a defensive posture and took a step back into the elevator. "Look, you were losing it. I did what I had to do to protect you. You don't know how close I came to putting you in the hospital." Katie reached out and snagged his right arm. Matthew pulled back, but she held strong. "Come here you idiot," she said, dragging him out of the elevator. She put her hands on his face and pulled it down to hers. "I love you, dumbass," she said, before giving him a big kiss. Matthew relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. "You had me worried for a minute." "So where are my babies?" "Downstairs with Frohike and Langly. We'll bring them up in a little while. I wanted to come up and see if their room was ready." "What do you mean? We'll just put the bassinets back in the bedroom." Matthew shook his head. "No, you won't. They need to be in their own room now. Part of the reason their sleep schedule has been off is that they're feeding off the two of you. They don't sleep well, because you don't sleep and vice versa. You've been perpetuating the problem all along." He walked them back to the room they'd prepared for the twins before they were born. "Look, you have a perfectly good room all ready for them. Put them in it." "But what if they wake up and need me?" Alex came up behind Katie and put his arms around her. "We have a baby monitor, Katya." "We've had them in their own room for the entire time, Hanna. Not only are they sleeping at the same time, we got them to sleep a full eight hours through the night." "Eight hours?" Alex was stunned. "You got them to sleep for eight straight hours?" He let go of Katie, grabbed Matthew and gave him a kiss. "I love you, Matthew." Matthew grinned. "So, I'm forgiven?" "Matthew, if the twins sleep through the night up here, you'll not only be forgiven, you'll be granted sainthood." "No, that's ok," Matthew said. "Just promise me that the two of you will ask for help next time. You have a huge support group, take advantage of it." "We will," Alex promised. "Right, Katie?" "Definitely." March They pulled back from one another to catch their breath. Shirts unbuttoned, clothing rumpled and slightly askew, hair mussed. "It's late," Miranda said quietly. "We should probably get some sleep," John added. He waited a moment, before getting off the couch and extending his hand to help her up. A hand she accepted, grateful for the assistance, as she'd managed to get one leg semi-stuck between the cushion and the back of the couch. Once up, they walked down the hall and stopped in front of Miranda's room. She leaned against the doorjamb. This had become ritual; make out on the couch, stop when things got too hot to handle, walk to her door, kiss goodnight, and watch John walk to his room, close the doors and fall asleep alone. It was a ritual she was resigned to; the cards were John's, not hers. She'd left it to him to decide how they were played. She closed the door around and went into her bathroom to begin getting ready for bed. John walked to his room, but stopped in the doorway. No more, he thought. He turned around and walked back down the hall. With only the slightest hesitation, he pushed open the door. Miranda was standing, naked from the waist up, facing away from the door. He didn't think she'd heard the door move. John stepped up behind her and planted a kiss on her shoulder. A sharp intake of breath and her head moving toward the opposite shoulder told him that his intrusion was a welcomed one. "Are you sure?" she whispered. "Still interested?" he answered. Miranda turned in his arms and looked up into his face. "For a smart man, you sure ask some stupid questions." Angie threw her arms around Miranda. "Oh honey, that's wonderful! What made you finally decide to do it?" John, having missed the first part of the conversation, choked on his beer. "Miranda!" "Serves you right for not paying attention, John," she smirked. "I was just telling Angie that I'd decided to invite everyone up here to hear me sing. We talked about this last night, remember?" "Oh, yeah. Of course." John's face turned an attractive shade of scarlet and he turned away in the hope that Angie wouldn't notice. "I see that's not the only thing you made the decision to do last night." Angie laughed. "It's about damned time!" She patted John on the shoulder and continued. "So, when is this gathering going to occur?" "Not sure yet. I think I might leave the details up to John. He can play the let's cheer up the lonely coed trump card or something." "I'll figure something out," John said. "We need to do it on a weekend though, if we're going to get everyone here. Mulder, Scully and Skinner aren't going to be able to take off in the middle of the week." "Well, you just let me know. We can always shut down the place for a private party." Miranda shook her head violently. "Oh no, don't do that. I couldn't handle having only family out here. This whole idea is making me queasy as it is; don't take my regulars away from me." "Angie, would you tell her to stop worrying?" "Stop worrying, Miranda. You're gonna knock 'em dead." She gave Miranda a hug. "I'd better get back and help Mick finish up so we can get out of here. Keep me posted. Hey, you know what? I'll bet I can get Dee to come and take care of the kids for you. That way Katie and Alex can relax and not have to worry about those babies." "I don't know, Katie's never left any of the kids with anyone outside of the family," Miranda said. "I'm not sure she'd go for it." "Ah hell, they'd just be upstairs, hon." "She's looking for excuses, Angie. I'm sure Katie will gladly accept your kind offer, especially knowing the twins will be close by." "I think so, too. Try and get her to lighten up, will ya?" "I'll do my best." Angie snickered and went back to the kitchen. The phone rang in the basement office. Mulder stopped pitching pencils into the ceiling tiles long enough to pick up. "Mulder." He sat up in his chair when he realized who was on the other end of the line. "John? Is everything all right? Oh good." He relaxed. "No, it's just that you don't usually make social calls, that's all. What can I do for you?" Mulder checked the calendar to see if anything was already on the schedule for the weekend. "Looks clear right now," he said. "But you know the routine; we could be called away at the last minute. What? Oh, I don't know, you'd have to ask him. I'm sure he'd like to be included. I'll ask him, if you want, but I think it would mean more if you invited him personally. Do you need his number? Ok, see you then." Scully came into the office and saw Mulder hanging up the phone. "Anything interesting?" "Gathering in Pittsburgh this weekend." "In Pittsburgh? It's not Miranda's birthday yet. What's the occasion?" Mulder shrugged. "John says that she's having a hard time right now and could use a little family support. He thought it would be nice if we all descended on her this weekend. He's even calling Skinner." "Hmm. She must be feeling pretty low for him to be breaking his no social calls at work rule. I guess we'd better plan on going." She looked up and saw new additions to the pencil garden in the ceiling. "I take it you've finished the report on the Ramie case?" "Almost. I was waiting for you to get back. I don't have your autopsy notes." Scully sifted through the papers on his desk, frowned, then went for her briefcase. "Sorry, I must have forgotten to get these out." They worked together to add her information to the file. As they were finishing up their summary, they heard footsteps in the hall. "Afternoon, sir," Scully said. "Afternoon, Agents," Skinner replied. "I just got off the phone with Byers. Do either of you know what this gathering is all about?" "Apparently, Miranda needs a little family time," Mulder answered. "At least that's the story John gave me." Skinner frowned. "You know, I realize that I'm new to this whole family thing and I don't know Miranda all that well, but does that story ring true to you?" "Why do you ask?" "I don't know. Something in John's voice made me think there was more to it than that." He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I'm reading something into this that isn't there. I assume you'll be going?" "We're planning on it," Scully answered. "Do you want to ride with us? Between Miranda's house and Alex and Katie's townhouse, there's plenty of room, but parking might be a problem." "Yeah," Skinner nodded. "That would great. While I'm down here, are you through with the Ramie report?" Mulder pulled the last page from the printer and added it to the folder. "Timing is everything," he quipped, as he handed the folder to his boss. Frohike pulled Byers aside. "I know you're full of shit. What's really going on?" "What are you talking about?" Byers glanced around the room. "I want to give Miranda's morale a boost, that's all." "No way. You can sell that line to them, but you can't fool me; I've known you too long." "Not here," John muttered under his breath. "I knew it." Frohike kept his poker face on. "Let's grab a beer." "Ok." "We're blowin' this pop stand for a few hours," Frohike announced. "Anyone need anything while we're out?" No one seemed interested in using Frohike and Byers as errand boys, so they left the loft and wandered down to Bandits. They found a booth in the back and ordered a pitcher. "So, what's the real story?" John looked around to be sure that no one from home had changed their mind and decided to join them. "You have to promise to keep this between you and me." "Have I ever broken a promise to you?" "No." Frohike poured some liquid into his glass; then did the same for John. His eyes widened when John lifted and drained the glass. "Well I'll be damned. You're actually going to take my advice?" John nodded and pushed his glass toward Frohike. "Go easy on this one, all right?" He poured and pushed the glass back to his friend. "So that's what this weekend is about?" "No, not entirely. There's another reason, but I'm not at liberty to talk about that." "Oh hell, don't tell me she's pregnant." "No!" "Just checking, man. Don't get testy on me." "For crying out loud, Frohike!" "It was a legitimate question, now that you guys are finally getting it on." John's mouth dropped open. "Am I wearing a sign?" Frohike laughed and nodded. "Your face says it all, John." "Shit," John muttered. "Does she suspect anything?" "No. I mean, we've talked about it, but it's always been in the abstract distant future." "Ring?" "Not yet. I was hoping you'd help me out with that." Frohike grinned. "You bet. When do you want to go? Do you know her ring size?" "Tomorrow, I guess. And yes, I know her ring size." "I suppose you have this all planned out, right?" "Almost. There's one other thing I need to arrange, but it won't be a problem." "Can I help?" John shook his head. "No, this is something I'll have to do on my own." Miranda paced the back room, holding her stomach. "Oh god Angie, I'm not going to be able to do this." Angie wiped her hands off on a rag and put her arm around the young woman's shoulders. "Now calm down, hon; you'll be just fine." "But they're all out there." She groaned and clutched her stomach tighter. "I'm gonna be sick." Angie tossed the rag onto the counter. "Look, go stick your finger down your throat and get it over with, if that's what you need to do. I'm telling you, it won't help your voice one bit and you'll still have to go out there and sing, so snap out of it!" "Gee thanks." "Well, you're being stupid." Angie leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. "That room is filled with people you've been singing to for the last three years and the people you love most in the world. So what if they haven't heard you sing before? Hell, sweetie, you could go out there and stink up the joint and those people would still love you!" "I know that, Ang, but they're ALL out there." "Yeah, isn't it wonderful? These people dropped everything to come out here, just for you. You don't know how truly blessed you are, Miranda." Miranda eased her grip on her stomach and closed her eyes. She took several slow, deep breaths, before opening her eyes again. "You're right. Thank you." "You ok now?" "Yeah, I think so." "Good. Now brush those bread crumbs off your backside and go fix your hair. You've got about five minutes before you go on." Katie sat down next to Alex and Skinner. "The kids are all set upstairs. Dee seems really sweet. Adam took right to her." She looked around and took in the surroundings. "It was nice of Miranda's friend to set up a babysitter for us." She looked at Scully, Mulder, Matthew and Tyler. "Have you ordered yet?" "Not yet. We thought we'd wait until the boys got here," Matthew answered. "Langly headed straight for the bathroom and I think Frohike went off to talk to John." "Has anyone seen Miranda?" Skinner asked. "No," Alex answered, looking around. "I'm beginning to think we've been set up, but I'm not sure for what." "John said that this was one of her favorite places and that he thought it would be nice if we spent some time here with her," Katie said. "And you've gotten no feelings about this evening? Nothing seems strange to you?" Alex asked. "I'm getting all kinds of weird vibes about this." Katie sighed. "Ok, maybe it does feel a little strange. John has been acting weird all week and Miranda barely said anything when I IM'd her the other night, but I'm trying to roll with it. They've obviously gone to a lot of trouble to bring us all here for something and I'm not going to ruin the evening by over-analyzing. Why don't the two of you just relax." Langly came to the table and took the first open seat. "We got menus or anything yet? I'm starving." Katie pushed her menu over to him. "Knock yourself out, Ringo." Frohike and Byers joined them at the table. Frohike grabbed the menu in front of Mulder and began browsing through the selections. Byers looked over his shoulder, pretending to be interested. "Where's Miranda?" Alex asked. "Oh, she'll be out in a minute. I think she went upstairs to see Adam and the twins." "Adam was asking about her," Katie offered. "Looks like the band's about ready. Are these guys any good, John?" John suppressed a grin. "I think you'll enjoy them." Their waitress arrived and took everyone's order as the band began to play. Langly listened for a bit, then leaned over toward John. "Well, they're not the Ramones, but they don't suck." Frohike rolled his eyes. "Oh, high praise indeed." The first song ended and Jacob went into a spiel similar to the one he'd delivered when John came to Thistles. Katie shushed everyone when realized that Jacob was saying something about them. "Oh yeah, I'm supposed to say that this is for Katie, Alex and everyone at the loft," Jacob added. "They know us?" Katie asked John. "You might say that," he answered. The house lights went dark and the band began to play. John closed his eyes and crossed his fingers that Miranda was all right. Angie had said she was a mess earlier, but that she'd calmed down. He hoped she was right. This bloody road remains a mystery. A spot came on, washing Miranda in blue light. This sudden darkness fills the air. Langly choked on his drink. "Holy shit!" What are we waiting for? "This is the other thing you couldn't tell me?" Frohike whispered. John nodded. Won't anybody help us? "She's hot!" What are we waiting for? John chuckled. "Yes she is." He glanced over at Matthew and Tyler. Both were too stunned to speak. Alex had a dazed grin on his face, while Katie's eyes were wide, her fingers barely covering her open mouth. Skinner, on the other hand, was grooving to the tune. Mulder tapped Scully on the shoulder and pointed to their boss. "Now there's something I never expected to see." "Miranda or Skinner?" she asked, directing her attention back to the stage. "Both," he answered. Miranda finished her song and looked at John for support. He gave her a thumbs up and blew her a kiss. She smiled and went into the next song. Katie leaned over and smacked John on the arm. "How long have you known?" "A few months." "And you didn't say anything?" "No. She asked me not to." He smiled and turned back to watch Miranda. She finished her last song of the set and put her mike down, thoroughly intending to exit the stage, just like always. Jacob held on to her arm and prevented her from leaving. "Oh no, you're not leaving quite yet, my friend," Jacob told her. "We're not through with you." Miranda gaped at him, not knowing what in the world he was talking about. "I get to play Casey Kasem this evening, only this dedication isn't going out over such a long distance," Jacob said. He led her to the edge of the stage and had her sit with her legs dangling over the side. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "Just sit." Jacob took a step back and continued. "There's a certain gentleman in the house this evening that asked us to do something for you. We wanted to have him sing it, but he was quite convincing when he insisted he had no musical talent whatsoever." Miranda looked at John and giggled. She loved him, but the man couldn't carry a tune if his life depended on it. Jacob nodded at John, then at Roger and Neil. "Let's do it." He sat down next to Miranda as the music started behind him. Find me here, Frohike gave John's knee a squeeze, so no one else would see him giving his friend some last minute encouragement. John swallowed hard, checked his pocket, then stood and walked toward Miranda. And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by it?' Would you tell me John took Miranda's hand. Roger and Neil continued to play, but Jacob stopped singing and held the microphone so that everyone could hear John. "Someone close to me gave me some very good advice a while back. It took a little while to sink in, but I finally decided he was right." He took another deep breath. "I love you, Miranda. You are the light to my soul. Did you know that?" She bit her lower lip and shook her head. "Well, you are, just like the song says, you're everything to me and I thought it was time to let you know that in a more tangible way." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small velvet box. "I should be on bended knee, but the stage is too high for that to be appropriate." He opened the box and showed her the ring. "Miranda Jenkins, will you marry me?" Tears puddled at the corners of her eyes. "You know, John, for a smart man, you ask some really stupid questions." The End
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