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Title: Katherine Summary: Scully's future daughter comes back to try to change her past during a time of indecision in Scully's life. Note: This jumps around a lot, both in time and points of view I hope you can follow I wrote this before "The End" so disregard the fact that their office really did burn down I have no knowledge of science what-so-ever so if nothing makes sense I apologize Grammar, spelling, and tense mistakes are there, so expect them and ignore them And thank you to my 11th grade English teacher who gave me a C on my exam instead of a D so that I could keep my A average for the year I don't know what the hell happened FBI Building Basement As Scully walked into the office she glanced around at the walls and desk. It had been a long time since she had been in this office but it hadn't really changed much Still there were the UFO posters and abduction clippings from newspapers Of course there were some additions to his collection. She had been asked to come and clean out his office, taking away anything that needed to be kept, before all his "trash", as they called it, was thrown out After glancing around with a sad sigh, she grabbed a box, sat down at his desk, and began riffling through his many trinkets. "God," she thought, "he sure did keep a lot of shit in here." She left his sunflower seeds and pornography magazines and videos in his desk, then thinking better of it, she grabbed the pornography items She almost smiled. Frohike would want them. She found a few pictures of Samantha, Mulder's sister, and placed them in the box. Those needed to be kept. She also tossed in his NICAP hat he had kept it that long, he had probably wanted to remember Max by it. Glancing at the wall she decided to take just one poster, his I WANT TO BELIEVE poster. It seemed to fit him so well and it had always been the first thing she saw when she walked into the office. She began walking out of the office then turned around She wanted to look through the file cabinet because he occasionally stuffed something important in there She sat the box back on the desk and opened the top drawer It opened with a creak and she flipped through the files. Nothing, nothing, nothing Then after the last folder a long, fat, white envelope caught her attention. "Mr. Mulder" was printed on the front of it in careful, capital letters, almost like the writing of a child. There were no addresses on it and the only other writing was at the bottom In dark print it said, "Please do not open until 2001" Scully picked it up and turned it around in her hands, examining it from all angles. "It's strange that Mulder would not have opened this 2001 was five years ago He could have opened it long ago, and it's not like him to leave something unexplored." She puzzled over this and whether or not she should open something that wasn't for her Finally her curiosity got the better of her and she carefully opened it, believing no harm could come from her looking at its contents now. Inside were many sheets of white, lined, notebook paper carefully folded to fit the size of the envelope Unfolding the papers, she saw that they were covered with sloppy cursive writing. She began to read. "Dear Mr. Mulder," It was obviously a letter addressed to Mulder A twinge of conscience told her not to read someone else's letter but her curious mind told her it was okay because the time had long ago passed and Mulder had obviously forgotten about it She began reading again. "Dear Mr. Mulder, I'm writing this letter to inform you of what has transpired since we talked and what I plan to do. I can give you this information because by the time you read this everything will have already been changed and you already are living the consequences of my actions It is too late for you to change anything, no matter what the outcome has been ......" FBI Building Basement "Hey Scully, you want to go somewhere and get something to eat? After all this paperwork I feel like going somewhere to relax a little." "Sorry Mulder," his petite red-haired partner replied. "Ethan's coming over and I told him I would actually cook something tonight instead of my usual order-in meals." "All right then, see you Monday," he replied as they went to their cars. "Damn it," he thought angrily, "She's seeing that prick again What the hell does she see in him." But Mulder knew exactly why Scully was attracted to him. Ethan was 6'2" with blonde, naturally curly hair, and a physically powerful body. He was an investigative reporter for the "Washington Post" and he and Scully had met when he was covering a case Mulder and Scully had worked on. He had never ridiculed Mulder or his theories any of the times they had met and had actually seemed interested in some of their cases He imagined that was due to what Scully had told Ethan about him. At any rate, if Ethan hadn't decided to ask out Scully, Mulder probably would have liked the man, but since he had, and Scully had accepted, Mulder hated him intensely. Mulder had almost worked up the courage to express his love and devotion to Scully when he had discovered their relationship. Mulder had decided to wait patiently for them to break up and then he would approach her. That had been ten months ago, and they were still together. At first he had been unable to understand why Scully would stay with someone like Ethan, someone so normal and scientifically ignorant, when she thrived on the excitement of her job and lived for her science. Ethan was so different from Mulder But then it had dawned on him that that was probably exactly what she wanted. After putting up with Mulder, his wild theories and obsessions, and the danger of the job, she probably wanted to go home to someone safe and undisturbed. Now Mulder's hate for the man was extremely intense. He hated Ethan as much as the shadow government men who had taken Scully from him because he felt Ethan was doing the same thing, except that Scully was happy about it In fact, he couldn't ever remember seeing her happier. It contrasted sharply with Mulder's increasing moodiness and depression but she never seemed to notice or didn't care. Anyway, she never commented on his condition and never asked how he was anymore. They were still partners but their close connection was breaking. Mulder pondered all this as he drove home. Upon entering his apartment he flung down his coat and keys and ordered some Chinese for delivery. He sighed as he resigned himself to another lonely Friday night of just him and his videos. He perused through his video collection and made a few selections until the Chinese food finally got there. He popped in Naughty Nurses III and began eating This had always been one of his favorite videos because it featured a short, red-haired "actress" who reminded him of Scully. But tonight it wasn't enough. It wasn't her on TV and she wasn't here with him. He could go to a bar somewhere and pick up a redhead and pretend she was Scully while he fucked her meaninglessly, but he didn't want that. He wanted Scully here, so he could look at her face, touch her soft hair, and hold her in his arms as long as he wanted. Then Mulder got a visual image of Ethan and Scully together and it made him physically ill When he got out of the bathroom he tossed the mostly uneaten Chinese food in the trash and exited his apartment. He got in his car and started driving to her house. He knew he wouldn't knock on her door or make his presence known to her in any way. He had done this once before and had felt guilty about it, but it helped him just to see her After he had finally left the last time, he had promised himself he wouldn't do it again, but he had left the binoculars in the car and here he was again. It was to be expected of him, it was in his obsessive nature. He turned his lights off as he neared her apartment and parked across the street. He saw Ethan's car parked there and felt hot flames of hatred rise up in him and he nibbled angrily at some sunflower seeds. He looked at her window where light was coming through and was disappointed to see the blinds down as always. As he was watching, something moving under the window caught his attention. He looked through the binoculars and saw that a figure in all black was at the window, peeking through the blinds. Alarm immediately shot through Mulder as visions of Duane Barry flashed in his mind Immediately he got out his gun and exited his car through the passenger's side. He ran behind the houses across the street from Scully's until he was far enough away from her apartment to cross the street undetected by the person at her window. He did so silently, then walked towards her place from behind the houses on her side of the street. He came up from behind the apartments, around the side, and snuck up behind the stalker. He could see it was a short person, about 5'1" or 5'2" and he saw no weapons, but couldn't be sure. He also hadn't detected any other suspicious persons in the area. He wanted to take this person quietly so Scully wouldn't know he or anyone else had been outside her window. It would be strange for him to be there and any more scares could cause Scully to leave the Bureau, or at least the X-Files division, and therefore him. He aimed his gun at the person's head and whispered, "This is the FBI, drop any weapons in your possession and turn quietly around." Mulder was shocked when a large-eyed, frightened looking child turned around to face him. He couldn't tell if it was a male or female because there was a black hat covering its head, hair, and ears, and its face and hands were painted black. It visibly relaxed when it saw Mulder but he was startled when it said, "Don't shoot Agent Mulder, I'm unarmed, and I mean no harm." "How the hell do you know my name?" was Mulder's reply to this but the girl, as he could now see it was, just smiled at him. He then demanded to know what she was doing outside Scully's house and the girl replied that she should like to know the same of him Forgetting that he had a weapon and should be arresting this girl, he stammered that he was her partner The girl coolly stated that she didn't believe these were working hours and that he had been sitting in his car across the street from her apartment, instead of inside, suggesting he wasn't here for work purposes. Mulder was speechless at having been caught, but then he remembered himself and attempted to take the strange girl into custody As he did so, she started to move backwards and stepped on a stick. It broke with a sharp crack and she let slip a loud "SHIT" as she fell backwards. Mulder knew Scully's sharp ears had heard this commotion. He grabbed the girl and dragged her to her feet as he started to run. She struggled with him but he hissed to her that they had to get the hell out of there and she ran with him as he pulled her across the street towards the car Scully, however, was very quick and looked out the window in time to see a man in a white dress shirt and dark dress pants push a figure all in black into a dark colored car before climbing in himself and driving off She cursed herself for being unable to get the license plate. Ethan came up to her at the window and asked her what she had seen She told him and indicated that she was going to call Mulder Ethan took a bit of offense to this and argued that they were gone and he was there, so a call to Mulder was not needed tonight. She hadn't told him about her abduction because she hated to talk about it, so he didn't understand her concern. She didn't want to tell him about it tonight either so she allowed herself to be reassured. Ethan then offered to stay over if she didn't want to be by herself. She smiled, he was always offering to stay over, but the odd thing was she always refused him She desired to have that sort of intimacy with Ethan, however she could never convince herself to give herself completely over to him At first she had supposed that nearly six years of training herself to trust no one but Mulder had left her uneasy about doing that which required the ultimate level of trust with someone But ten months had passed and now she really did trust him, but something else was holding her back She knew what it was, it was Mulder. Before Ethan, Scully had entertained many fantasies about Mulder that FBI partners weren't supposed to have about each other. She had known she wasn't his type, not tall, busty, or pretty enough, but she had still dreamed Then Ethan came along, but occasionally Mulder was the one in her dreams at night and whose name she would scream, waking herself up But tonight was going to be different Ethan was sweet and kind She loved him and he loved her. "All right," she said, "you can stay over I think I will feel much better with you here." With that she started kissing him passionately and unbuttoning his shirt. He was a little surprised but began taking off her shirt and leading her into the bedroom Her shirt off, he laid her on the bed and began kissing down her soft stomach as he unfastened her bra in the back She ran her hands through his hair but tears were streaming down her face Hearing a sob escape from her lips, he looked up at her and saw that she was crying. He stopped and went over to her drawer, got out a sweatshirt, and put it on her She was still crying and he sat down on the bed and held her She slumped back in his embrace and continued to cry. Gently he asked, "Dana, what's wrong? I can see you're not ready for this." Scully knew exactly what was wrong She was being touched and kissed in the right way but by the wrong man She loved Ethan very much but he wasn't Mulder and no one else would do She didn't want to tell Ethan this though She had always told him that she and Mulder were partners and nothing else and he had never concerned himself about Mulder But that's what they were, partners and nothing else, and probably never would be. "I'm fine," she finally managed to say in a somewhat controlled voice "I just need a minute." "You are not fine, Dana, and you need more than a minute. Do you do this when no one's around? Do you break down and cry by yourself? Who comforts you? No one? I can't stand to see you so distraught I want to be here to comfort you when you fall apart. You think you have to be so strong and brave for your job and you never let anyone know when you're upset or need help." He got up and went into the other room for a moment and Scully used the opportunity to get herself together She didn't like being this vulnerable She didn't know why she was crying, except that things in her life felt confused and uncertain right now The only thing she knew was right was her job Ethan had it ass backwards. Ethan then came back with something in his hand and he kneeled at the foot of the bed where she was sitting. "Dana," he began, "I was going to wait for some perfect romantic moment to do this, but I guess now is the right time I want to take you away from here, away from Mulder and the FBI, where you keep getting hurt I love you so very much I want to protect you and always be with you I know this is sudden, but I also know what I want And I want you Every day, all the time, forever Will you marry me?" Scully was shocked to say the least. Her immediate thought was to say no, but she saw the adoring look in his eyes and couldn't disappoint him just then. "I can't say yes tonight Ethan, but I'm not saying no either. I need time to think about this I don't make important decisions without serious thought you know." She smiled at him a little awkwardly, hoping he wasn't upset. He smiled warmly back at her. "Of course, sweet, sensible Dana Take all the time you need I'll let you be alone tonight to think it over I love you. Good-bye." He kissed her forehead and started to get up but she reached for his hand, "No, stay Just stay with me tonight I would really like your company." She gave him a hug and he held her tightly in his powerful arms. He laid her down on the bed and he fell asleep like that, her in his embrace. As she started drifting off to sleep, Scully realized that his presence wasn't as comforting as she had thought it would be She felt that if someone wanted to take her again, Ethan wouldn't be able to stop them, and his arms around her made her feel constrained and unable to easily get to her gun. Then she thought about his proposal. She was in love with Mulder but he never showed any interest in her at all. She didn't see herself fitting into his world of conspiracies and a missing sister, as anything more than a partner. She wasn't in love with Ethan, but she did love him a lot; maybe she should marry him. He was safe, stable, and she wouldn't be alone anymore Perhaps her life would start moving in the forward direction she wanted it to instead of the endless, tiring circles it was currently spinning in She didn't want to move or leave the Bureau but she could get a transfer out of the X-Files division and away from Mulder Nice home, safe husband, safer job, should she go for it? If she held out for Mulder she could easily see herself as a 50-year-old single FBI agent, still chasing after aliens, who hadn't been laid in 20 years. That thought scared her. She suddenly realized that before she answered Ethan, she needed to talk to Mulder, to find out if he thought of her as anything except a partner or if he ever could. Ethan was asleep so she carefully got up, grabbed her coat and gun, and slid out the door. She was in her old sweatshirt and jeans with rumpled hair but she guessed Mulder had seen her worse than this. Of course he had, she laughed, he'd seen her covered in shit. She got into her car and drove towards Mulder's. She entered the apartment building and went to his door His window had been dark but she knew he was awake, with the TV on. She could hear it as she stood outside his door. She knocked on the door and called out softly, "Mulder, it's me." Then to her surprise she heard a female voice exclaim, "Shit, I'll stay in the bedroom Keep her out of here." Then there were scurrying noises and a door slammed shut. Mulder stammered out, "Just a sec' Scully." Scully felt a rush of anger, jealousy, and embarrassment come over her Her Mulder was with another woman. "Mulder, if this is a bad time I can come back tomorrow," and she turned to leave as she held back tears. As Mulder opens the door and calls for her to come in he sees her leaving his building. He runs out to stop her but is too late.. She is already pulling away. He slowly turns to go back inside and feels nauseous. "If she's angry with me, hates me, she'll never...". He walks back inside. Scully's House Scully slowly woke up from her drug-assisted slumber and looked around. It took a minute to realize where she was. She hated that the drugs made her like this and she hated that she could no longer sleep unless she took them. She stood up and wandered aimlessly about her large New England home for signs of life A note left in her kitchen told her that her mother had gone to get groceries. She looked at her calendar: Dec. 15, 2016. Her daughter had an appointment with her therapist today, but Scully doubted she had went. She only went when Scully pleaded with her to and frankly Scully didn't care anymore, the therapy had never done any good. She'd been going since she was four when her father died and it hadn't helped her at all. It still made Scully very sad to think about her husband, even though it had been twelve years since he had been killed Her few short years with him had made everything before worth it. Before their relationship she had thought she was sufficiently happy, despite the gruesome nature of her job, but then, being with him, loving him, it made her life after his death seem completely void and intolerable. She had their daughter of course, but she only served to remind Scully of him. Scully knew she had been a terrible mother, her own mother had even had to come live with them to help, but it was so difficult The child had always been extremely intelligent and before the murder she had been a happy, normal little girl But then she had distanced herself from her mother and began working in her "lab" when she was only five. At first her "lab" was her bedroom, but then she had caught her room on fire and Maggie had suggested they build her a separate facility away from the house. This was where the girl had spent most of her past seven years. She never spoke to Dana about what she was working on and though she was much closer to her grandmother than to Scully, she had only hinted to Maggie at what she was building. Maggie had once told Scully that her daughter really did love her very much and had said that she only wanted her mother to be happy. That everything she did was to make her mother happy again. Scully had cried when she heard this, at how useless her daughter's efforts would be. What a waste of her time, of her life Scully was never truly happy anymore, there were only days that were less sad for her. Thinking about her daughter gave her a strong desire to walk out to the lab and give her a hug. She pondered this a moment. A simple thing for most mothers but she hadn't given her a hug in at least ten years. The last one had been before she had gone to her first day of school. School had been another problem with the girl. The genetic tampering done to Scully's ova before Mulder had recovered it had caused the child to have an extremely heightened intelligence. First grade bored her to tears so she was "disruptive" in class. They tried placing her in higher grades but she was always bored and behaved badly. The teachers suggested a school for the gifted and Ritalin, so Scully enrolled her in a special school but refused to put her on Ritalin. When she proved uncontrollable at that school, home schooling or strong medications were the only options. Scully chose home schooling and found that by providing her daughter with plenty of scientific textbooks and her own lab, she was not a problem at all. She loved science, had always been very inquisitive, just like her mother. She preferred physics, but unlike her mother, she had never expressed any interest in medical school now that she was old enough to think about college. She just stayed in her lab and did God knows what all day, every day. After arriving at the building, Scully carefully opened the door. She had only been here a few times and the amazing mess of the place was overwhelming. There was literally stuff everywhere. Metal, wood, wires, glass, test tubes, beakers, lab setups, strange liquids, chemicals, papers, books, and everything else imaginable were thrown everywhere as if a tornado had gone through the place. At first she couldn't see her daughter, but then she spotted her fiery red hair in the corner of the room. She was on her knees, bent over a metal frame of a box about two feet by two feet. Wires, buttons, and other attachments were all over it Scully called out to her and she jumped around very quickly, obviously surprised to see Scully. She instinctually stood up in front of the box but Scully wasn't going to ask her about it anyway. Her daughter looked at the ground and said quietly, "I didn't go to see my therapist today I'm sorry, I didn't want to go." Scully nodded, "I didn't come here to scold you, I just want to see how you are." The girl looked uncomfortable and mumbled that she was fine. Then she questioned, "And how are you? Not sick I hope You've had some sleep?" Scully nodded her assent and then walked up to her 16-year-old daughter and hugged her. Her daughter did not reciprocate the hug and only whispered to Scully, "I'm going to make it better I'm going to make it all ok." Scully's eyes filled with tears and she turned and left the lab Her daughter sat back down with her machine and began working on it again. It is almost done, almost perfect I will soon make everything better What I haven't told my mother or even my grandmother is that I have been building a time machine for about nine years I built a smaller version of this box several years ago and have done extensive testing with animals to determine the exact nature and regulations of traveling through time I call it a time machine but actually it is more of a transporter. You can travel to a different time but you can only do it once and there is no coming back. Through my tests I have learned that whenever you go, it has to be before you were conceived or after you have died. If you go to a time when you already exist then both of you will implode and cease to exist. I have also learned that you can disappear from the time you travel to for a few other reasons as well If you change the past in such a way as to cause yourself to not be born then you will disappear because you never would have existed You also disappear if you change something that causes you to not need to go back in the first place This second item is what I have placed all my hopes on. The goal of my whole life is to make my mother happy again because if she is happy, then she will love me That's what I really want, my mother's love I seek her approval just as she sought her father's approval when he was alive Stupid thing to seek I guess Logically I know she loves me, all mothers love their children simply because they're theirs. But I often wonder.. She never tells me she does. Everything I do seems to be bad, to disappoint her. Everyone tells her I'm a bad child, I guess I am. I try to be good, but I can't, it's no use When I'm around she ignores me, and often cries I want her to stop crying, to be happy, and to love me The only way this will happen is if my father is alive again His death has destroyed my mother, and consequently my life Since I can't raise him from the dead, I will have to stop him from ever being killed This is the fantastic goal of my amazingly pathetic existence. My father's job had caused him to have a lot of enemies, prominent, important people whose corruption he had uncovered. Through various methods, I have discovered who the man was that ordered my father to be killed. It hadn't been a popular decision in this man's circle but as he was the most powerful one, and he had had an old vengeance against my father, it had been done I believe that if I go back and kill this man, my father will still be alive, and my family will be a happy, normal one Mine and my mother's present states of misery will not exist, she will be happy so she will love me, and I will be saved. Time travel was not a new notion even when I had started on my machine all those years ago The government possesses machines such as the one I have built, though I had to build mine on my own. They do not let the technology out, or even acknowledge its existence, so I had come up with my own design which they do not know about. The idea is simple: enter your time coordinates into the machine and the time coordinates of when you want to go to. The machine parts the atoms of space between the two times creating a small slit through which a being can pass. Of course this slit is a vacuum and if you don't have enough momentum to get through, you suffocate in emptiness and are never heard from again. But with a little luck you are through the vacuum and coughing and gasping in the desired time in about a second. This is a simple enough process that even I was able to figure it out. The reason the government isn't using time travel is that there is no return function, no way to return to your original time period. This isn't a problem for me because I don't want to come back, my life will be reinvented and I as I am now will cease to exist But most people in the government want to be able to come back if something goes wrong or there is an emergency, however no one is able to do this yet. I don't care about that though, so on this night I'm preparing to go back to 1998 before I was conceived, to change the past. I am dressed in black stretch pants, a black sweatshirt, black shoes, gloves, and black hat in which I have stuffed all my annoying red hair Then I smear black face paint all over my face and hands to completely disguise my identity. They will find me out soon enough with their atom scanners but this should buy me at least a little time. I enter the present coordinates 12152016 and then 11271998 which is when I want to go to. My father was still alive and I was not conceived yet I see that the machine has parted the atoms and the vacuum is ready I glance one last time at my lab and take a big breath. Whatever happens, this is the last time I will see this beloved place of mine. Then I force myself through the opening with as much force as I can muster Immediately all the air is sucked out of my lungs and I feel as if I will suffocate. For a brief moment I fear I haven't made it through and am stuck in the vacuum, but then cold air fills my lungs, and as I gasp and choke, I realize I am successful I am there and my plan has worked. I open my eyes and look around I have come out upon some pavement. Glancing around, my surroundings reveal to me that I am in a fairly empty parking lot of a convenient store. No one seems to have taken notice of my appearance I start walking away towards a dark alley knowing I shouldn't be seen because my appearance will attract negative attention, though it was necessary to dress this way. Time is against me now because the government will be tracking me. They have devices that monitor when anything foreign enters their time, as I have just done. A special force is probably already examining my scanned image and preparing to find me They will be disappointed to discover I don't have what they're looking for. Though I must hurry, I want to see my mother first, to see her young and happy. I know the approximate location of the apartment, but I consult a telephone book for the exact address. As I am in the cab on the way to her residence, I anticipate seeing her I know that I cannot knock on the door and introduce myself or even let her see me The resemblance is too strong and the slightest change in the present could possibly change events enough that I am never born I will only peer at her through a window if one is available. Nearing the apartment I sneak through bushes and creep along the side of the apartment building till I spot a window that I believe will allow me to view inside her apartment. There is a dark car parked across the street with a man inside who is watching my mother's residence through binoculars. He does not concern me because I know he will not hurt my mother If he was going to kill her then I wouldn't be here. He does not appear to see me, so I continue to approach the window. The blinds are down so I attempt to peer under them I can see Scully only a little, but if I turn my head just right I can see that she is sitting on a couch with a man whose head I can't see. She looks so happy in there, talking, smiling, laughing with the man I have only hazy memories of her this way, while my father was still alive. This sight of her makes me want to cry and I feel the burning tears welling up in my eyes. I hate crying when my contacts are in. Suddenly I hear whispering from behind me telling me to put down my weapons My heart pounds as I realize this is the man from the car. Apparently he had seen me. As I start to turn around it registers that the man said he was with the FBI, the agency my mother works for Looking at him I see he is my mother's partner Mulder, and I am instantly relieved I tell him not to shoot and he is surprised that I know his name I smile at him. "What are you doing outside this residence?" he questions me. I reply by asking him the same thing. His answer, that he is her partner, is feeble and I call him on it, and comment that I saw him watching the place from his car. Again he is surprised, but then he pulls out his handcuffs to arrest me This won't do so I start to back away Suddenly I tumble backwards and hear a snap, having tripped on something. "Shit" I say, perhaps a little too loudly. Suddenly he grabs me and starts to drag me across the yard. I don't want to go with him but he tells me that we have to leave quickly or Scully will see us, so I willingly run towards his car with him. He shoves me in the car and climbs in after me. We pull out quickly and speed down the road, but I look back and see that her blinds are up and someone is standing at the window. She saw us, but did she know? She doesn't know me but she might have recognized her partner. No matter, we are now out of sight. "Where do you live? I'll take you to your home," Mulder tells me. "I'll give you directions," I reply. I lead him about ten minutes away from Scully's apartment and tell him to drop me in front of an apartment building there. As I get out of the car, I thank him for bringing me home. "And stay away from my partner's apartment," he scolds me. "You too," I chide him. He is unsettled by me, but starts to pull away as I slowly walk towards the building. When I think he is out of sight, I duck into the nearby alley and start to run. He must have seen me because he backs up and turns into the alley, pursuing me. He catches me and throws me back into his car. "Now, where is your home?" he questions again. I remain silent. He glares at me and I glare back at him. He remains silent and I can tell he is thinking things out in his head. He wants to know how I know his name and finally he asks me. I tell him that I have met him before but he is not satisfied and prods me for more information. I say nothing and he tells me he will take me back to his apartment to interrogate me further. I just smile at him and look at the scenery as it goes by. Soon we pull up to what I assume is his apartment building. We go in and he pretty much leads me at gunpoint to apartment 42. He unlocks it, ushers me inside, and locks it again I ask him if I may use his restroom. He shows me where it is and tells me to wash the black off my face and hands I am not eager to do this but I comply. When I emerge from the bathroom he is sitting on his couch watching some infomercial about a food dehydrator. He looks over at me and I see the instant recognition in his eyes, as I knew I would. "You look exactly like her," he gasps "Younger, but essentially the same." He is right. With my blue contacts hiding my one facial feature inherited from my father, I do look like Scully. I remove my black hat and my red hair flows down around my shoulders I smile at him I knew before coming that I would be unable to hide my resemblance to my mother from people who know her The disguise was simply to buy some time before "they" located me So I hide my eye color, the one trait to give away my father's identity. It is important that this information not be disclosed because my mother is not married yet and has not even decided who she will marry. It is important that my presence not influence anyone's thoughts or actions I have done my homework. I know Agent Mulder is in love with Scully, but is very uncertain how to proceed with her If he were to know that he is my father he would do things in a different manner, and I won't be born. By the same token, if he were to know that Ethan is my father, he would also do things differently, perhaps give up on Scully, hastening her marriage to Ethan and causing me again to not be born. But I don't tell him any of this yet I just smile my Scully smile at him as he jumbles out several questions at once. "Who are you? What's your name? Is Scully? But how? She can't. Who's your father? Are you a hybrid?" "One at a time Mulder," I laugh at him "As for my identity, you may call me Katherine, though that's not my first name Yes your partner, Agent Scully, is my mother I think that's obvious. And how? If you don't know how babies are made already, then perhaps we should start with the birds and the bees." I continue to smirk at him, I find his shock amusing. He begins again, "But Agent Scully was tested. She can't have childr-" "Mulder," I interrupt him, "you are aware, I'm certain, of Scully's ova, taken from her during her abduction. Did you think them not viable? Emily was a result of one of these, you know." "Is that what you are? Some kind of hybrid? But you're so much older. Are you the result of some kind of advanced development treatment?" "No, I'm not any of those things. I do have a little alien DNA in me because of some "tinkering" done to the ova. That's why I look so much like Scully. The alien DNA in the ovum basically made all of her genes dominant over my father's But I am 95% human, and..." I pull a sharp knife out of his kitchen drawer. He immediately pulls out his gun and points it at me. I take the knife and slice the palm of my hand and hold it out to him. "...as you can see I bleed red blood, just like you. No green stuff, no toxic fumes, and if you pierce the back of my neck I'll probably die, just like you'd probably die if I did it to you." I rinse my hand in his sink and he gives me some gauze to put around it. "If you're not created by them, then how?" "I believe you have that answer, Agent Mulder. Surely you haven't forgotten about the ova you stole from the Lombard Research Facility. Were you ever planning to give them to her?" "I-" he starts but I keep going. "I know, I know, you were planning on them being kind of a wedding present when you two got married. That's a good idea. You should definitely do that. But make sure you give them to her no matter who she marries. For my sake at least." Again I smile at him. "You, you're a child that will be born from one of those ova." I nod at him "You've somehow come back to here, now, but why?" "You figured it out and I must say you've accepted the idea very quickly. I would have assumed it would give you quite a shock to discover such things can be done." "I've had experience with this sort of thing before. A man came back, about two years ago. We investigated him for a case." I nod and am about to ask if I can leave when it starts to come together for him. "Oh God, you're Scully's daughter! You told me I should give her the ova even if she marries someone else. She's dating Ethan. Oh God, she's going to marry him! You're HIS daughter!" He's panicking and hyperventilating I need to calm him down so I find a paper bag and get him to breath into it. "I didn't mean that Agent Mulder. Calm down. Anyone could be my father Ethan, you, Skinner your boss." That surprises him. "Calm down. I can't tell you who my father is. I have to be very careful. I can't change too many things or I might not even be born." He looks at me with scared eyes "Then why are you even here?" I decide I should tell him, he'll probably try to find out if I don't "My father will be killed , when I am four. By a man who hates him very much. His death just about kills my mother. You wouldn't even recognize the Scully I live with. We barely speak.. She takes so many drugs to help her nerves and help her sleep. Grandma Scully had to come live with us. She loved, still loves him so much I have to do something I'm here to kill the man before he even seriously ponders the idea of killing my father." He looks at me with wonder "Will you go back then?" "No, I will cease to exist because my father will never be killed Instead there will be me with my whole happy family who know nothing of what I have lived. I will just disappear from right in front of you." "So when you vanish I'll know you succeeded." "Either that or I did something which causes me to never be born." I pause, I really need to get going. "Hey, can I borrow your car?" "What for?" "I have to find him before "they" find me. It will be a lot easier by car." "Who's "they"?" "Your government. They've been tracking me since I broke the electron barrier when I entered this time." "I want to go with you." "What, so you can see who I kill? So you can find out who my father is? I think not. Now give me the keys." "I have to-" There is a knock at the door. We freeze Then a voice familiar to us both. "Mulder, it's me." "Shit, I'll stay in the bedroom, keep her out of there. She can't see me." "Just a sec' Scully." I stay in the room. She says something that I don't understand. After he opens the door I hear nothing. Cautiously I peep out from behind the door and see the door open but no one inside I cautiously walk over to the door and look out into the hallway. I see Mulder coming back towards me, his face is somber. " She left," he says this with despair in his voice. "Give me your keys," I request again. "I'm going with you." "No, I have to do this alone. I'll drop you off at Scully's." "Why? She doesn't want to talk to me. She LEFT!" "You need to talk to her. She came here to see you.. She must have heard me talking and guess what she thought." "Oh God damn it, she thinks I was with someone else This is your fault, if you hadn't been here-" "If I hadn't been here then YOU would have been with a petite red-haired prostitute you picked up on your way home from her apartment When you wouldn't have answered the door she would have used her key and walked right in on you and "Lola Bigcups" and you know what Scully thinks of men who hire prostitutes You should be thanking me At least now you are innocent." "What am I supposed to tell her?" "That you were babysitting for the apartment across the hall. When the little girl heard Scully she thought it was her mother come home from a bar drunk and she didn't want to go home. Okay? Now let's go." "You can drive?" "Of course." He tosses me the keys and I catch them easily. We walk to his car, get in, and I start up the engine I peel out of the parking lot with a loud screech of the tires. He buckles up and laughs, "You drive like your mother." Government Building The computer hummed along in its usual manner as it monitored the field of green dots covering the Earth on the computer screen. Changes on the monitor occurred so rarely that it wasn't even worth it to pay a person to watch over it. Only a dozen alarms in the 25 years the system had been in place, and those had all turned out to be small insignificant objects. But the computer's job was very important. So important it had ten backup power systems in case the power was cut If anything was detected by the computer, calls were placed to the most important men in the United States, men so important that there was no record of their existence anywhere. Suddenly there was a disturbance on the map. The required phone calls were automatically placed by the now active computer. The computer zeroed in on the movement United States-Eastern Coast-Just Outside D.C. The computer got the exact location and the size of the object that had passed through the scanners. It was large, human size The computer assembled the data from the scanner and came up with a composite of the object and printed out ten copies. In five minutes a man in military uniform entered the room, collected the printouts, and took them to a nearby conference room. There were no windows in the room only a decagon-shaped table with ten chairs around it. The man placed one printout in front of each chair, then left. Ten minutes after that all ten men were arriving at the conference room and seating themselves at the table. An older man, smoking a cigarette, took charge of the meeting immediately. "This is the one we've been waiting for gentlemen What do we know about it?" "Well," began one man who was in charge of interpreting the computer printouts "The being is human size 5'1", though not necessarily human. It has what appears to be two arms, two legs, two eyes, a mouth, and a nose. It walks upright. Gender could not be determined The presence of hair could also not be determined because of the presence of what appears to be a hat, though the being may have no hair at all. It arrived just outside of D.C. The computer has printed up the exact coordinates. It is my opinion that a being of this size is not merely a guinea pig, but perhaps the first traveler and may very likely have the return device." The man with the cigarette looked closely at the location of where it had entered. "I'll handle this situation and present the group with my findings 24 hours from now I assume the tracking devices are in order and working." "Yes sir," replied another man at the table "The subject is leaving an easily traceable electronegative charge everywhere it goes. Starting at its point of entry you should be able to easily trace its movements and quickly catch up with it." "Then gentlemen, you need not further concern yourselves with this matter." The smoking man got up and left the room, immediately reaching for his cell phone The being's entrance point had been very near Agent Mulder's apartment. Too near for it to be just a coincidence, so he intended to handle this matter fairly personally. A Street November 28, 1998 Scully sped her car down the road while big salty tears flowed down her cheeks. She knew in her mind that she had no right to be so upset with Mulder, as she was the one with a boyfriend. And of course he wouldn't just stay home every night, pining for her, though that's what she had hoped for. He was a good looking man, so much Scully ached thinking about it, and he would have all the women he could handle. Fuck him though, she didn't need this crap God you want to don't you Dana She had waited too long messing around with him and his troubled psyche. He couldn't and would never be able to handle a relationship with her, even if he wanted to, which obviously he didn't. It wasn't worth it. Yes it is Dana, and you know it You'd sell your soul to Cancerman to have Mulder look at you just once with as much fascination and desire as he looks at those girls in his magazines and videos She smashed the horn with her fist as hard as she could in frustration. Several other drivers slowed down and moved out of her way. She realized they perceived her as dangerous and probably drunk, so she stopped with the horn and took a few deep breaths. Then she fished out her cell phone and dialed her home number. It rang thrice then a groggy voice answered "Hello?". "Hi sweetie, it's me, I just went out for a drive to clear my head and I didn't want you to worry about me I'm on my way home now and I'm ready to talk." "Oh, ok," he replied confusedly. He hadn't even realized she was gone. Someone could have taken you again and he wouldn't even have woken up. "I'll be right there, bye." She hung up the phone and felt a wave of nausea rush over her. Was she really sure she wanted to do this? She should be happy and confident about an important decision like this, but she felt a little uneasy about it. She pulled up to her apartment and went inside. She expected to see Ethan up and maybe making coffee, but he wasn't Instead she found him still in her bed, having fallen back asleep. "Glad you're so interested in what I wanted to discuss," she muttered to herself. She nudged hum gently to wake him up but he didn't respond. Next she tried whispering his name seductively in his ear and caressing his face with her hand. He swatted at her with his hand and grumbled something in his sleep about pesky flies. She was getting angry and was tempted to bitch slap him across the face to wake him up. You wouldn't have this trouble with Mulder. He would have been up worried sick when you called and he would have known what to do with you when you whispered in his ear like that The only fly he would have complained about would be if he couldn't get his pants undone fast enough for you Scully shoved the voice out of her head. She was going to marry Ethan, right? She loved him a lot, right? She slipped off her pants and sat on top of him, with her legs straddling his chest. She dropped her face to his and let her hair brush across his cheek Then she began kissing his forehead and cheeks and waited until his eyes finally shot open. She told him that she would marry him, then kissed him on the lips, tasting him. He tasted sweet, like cotton candy, and she loved cotton candy. She moved away from his mouth then, and traveled down his neck and chest with her kisses. He was a little stunned and didn't even make a move to finish undressing her. She was about to remove his boxers when he sat up and told her to wait. He got out of bed, toppling her off of him, and got the ring out of his pants pocket. He slid it on her finger then kissed her deeply on the lips. Laying her back down on the bed, he told her to proceed. She sat back on his chest and began again, but she felt strange. "Is this what it's going to be like with him?" she wondered to herself. Mulder knows what you want, what you need, where you like to be touched, and he wouldn't disappoint She mentally scolded herself for these thoughts since they were completely false Mulder wouldn't know any of these things, as they had never been even remotely intimate with each other. . He knows you well though, Dana, and he knows what you like As Scully was mentally arguing with herself, Ethan grabbed her waist and rolled her over on her back, kissing her neck and shoulder. She was surprised at his sudden change of attitude, but she wasn't complaining This was what she wanted. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK "Who the hell would that be?" Ethan panted in irritation. As if to answer him, Scully heard the all too familiar "Scully it's me." come from the other side of her front door. "That stupid son-of-a-bitch What does he want at this hour?" "I don't know Ethan, I'm going to go find out." She got out of bed but forgot to put on any pants, though the sweatshirt she was wearing came down to a somewhat decent length. Maybe he wants you Dana Yeah right. Ethan followed her out of the bedroom to give Mulder a piece of his mind. Scully opened the door and Mulder began "Scully, we really need to talk-" He stopped short as Ethan appeared at Scully's side. He quickly assessed the situation-2:00 in the morning, Scully in a sweatshirt, Ethan in boxers, both looking flushed and sweaty. "Can't it wait for work on Monday, Agent Mulder?" Ethan almost growled out. "Yeah, uh, sure it can." Mulder stammered out. Then. He saw the ring on Scully's finger and his breath caught in his throat. He turned to go but realized. He had no car, Katherine had already left Why the. Hell hadn't she known Ethan would be. Here? Well, maybe she had and this was. Her hint to Mulder as to who. Her father is. He felt like. He was going to be sick. "Uh, Scully, can I borrow your car? The girl I was babysitting seems to be joyriding with mine at the moment." "Sure Mulder," anything to get him out of. Here. She grabbed her keys off the coffee table and tossed them to him. Then it registered in. Her mind what he had said. "What? The girl you were babysitting stole your car?" "No, she lives across the hallway. She borrows my car sometimes, it's not a big deal. She'll bring it back." He turned to go, realizing. He had saved himself. "You were babysitting?" Scully repeated. "Well I don't really have to watch. Her much, she's 16 But. Her mom likes to hit the bars a lot and comes home drunk with company, so Katherine comes over sometimes and watches TV so she doesn't have to stay home alone. She was there when you stopped by earlier Sometimes if. Her mom is too bad she hides at my house till it wears off." He paused. "Well thanks for the car I'll get it back to you in one piece." He turned to go. "Oh, and congratulations both of you.". He smiled unconvincingly and left. Her building, puked just outside, and got into. Her car. "That guy has to be a few fries short of a Happy Meal." Ethan mumbled as he headed back to the bedroom. Scully stood in the doorway, stunned. He was babysitting Dana, babysitting Not fucking some girl he picked up. "Oh God," she sighed as she hurried past Ethan into the bedroom. "What?" Ethan asked. Scully grabbed. Her pants and got them on quickly, then tugged on. Her shoes. "Ethan, I need your car keys." "What for? Are you following Mulder?" "Yeah, it's complicated, but we need to talk Can I please have your keys?" "I'm going with you,". He stated firmly, pulling on his shirt. She didn't want him to come but she assented to get the keys, and they ran out to his car Scully saw where Mulder had vomited outside. Her building. He saw the ring, Dana, nice ring. Congratulations, Dana. She peeled out of the parking lot and could just see his car turning a corner several blocks down. He appeared to be. Headed to his apartment. A Street Mulder had no idea where Katherine had gone. He drove on autopilot to his apartment. He still felt sick to his stomach,. He had an empty feeling inside, tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he felt light-headed. Oh, God, she had been wearing a ring, his ring Not Mulder's. He shook all over and could barely see the road. Somehow. He made it to his apartment If. He had been well. He would have immediately noticed that something was wrong, but in his current condition. He wasn't paying attention to much of anything. Two black cars were parked at his apartment building. He entered the building and as. He opened the door to his apartment one of the men waiting inside his apartment grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He didn't even care Then. He smelled the smoke. "Where is she, Mr. Mulder?" "What?" He looked up at the Smoking Man through blurry eyes One of the men kicked him in the ribs. "I'll ask you one more time, Agent Mulder Where is the girl?" "I have no idea what you're talking about I don't even care anymore." Three men started punishing him for his stubbornness with kicks and punches all over his body. He thought they felt good compared to what. He like felt inside. Then another man piped up, "Sir we have the signal." Immediately the ass-kicking stopped and all the men disappeared Mulder got up and rushed out of his building. He saw the Smoking Man and company pulling out. He hopped into Scully's car only to find the tires had been shredded Scully was going to kill him Or maybe. Her fiancé would do it for. Her. He cringed. Just then Scully pulled up in Ethan's car with Ethan in the passenger's seat Mulder stumbled up to the car and climbed into the back seat, imploring Scully to follow the black cars already speeding out of sight Scully hit the gas though she was unsure of who they were following or why they were doing it. She did it on blind faith in him. "Hurry Scully We have to follow them, I have to find out." "Find out what Mulder?" He looked at. Her eyes in the rear view mirror and said nothing. "Is it about your sister?" He shook his head no but kept looking at her deeply. She knew whatever it was, it was very important to Mulder. She slammed the gas pedal to the floor and Ethan buckled up. Inside CSM's Car 2:37 a.m. "She left. Her vehicle several minutes ago Sir. She now appears to be in a large field outside of town." "Excellent." The man stated as. He took another drag from his cigarette "Pursue. Her into the field." Inside Ethan's Car "Mulder the cars are entering some kind of field ahead." "Follow them Scully," Mulder replied urgently. "Mulder, what are we doing? Who are we following?" Mulder didn't answer her. He didn't know how to. Field It was easy for me to locate the man I need to kill I was informed of his current residence before I left home The son-of- a-bitch should know girl scouts don't sell cookies at this time of night. I lead the man at gunpoint through the field quickly I hope the tall weeds will conceal the body from Mulder I want the men who are pursuing me to erase all evidence before Mulder can see anything. Finally I tell the man to stop and get down on the ground. Next I command him to lay on his back I quickly take out my gun and shoot him in the stomach The silencer on the gun keeps my position a secret but the man's screams cause the men to get out of their cars and come in our direction The shot doesn't kill him, it's just unbelievably painful, which is what I want Let him feel pain, and fear, and anger for once Like I feel everyday of my life Like Scully feels everyday of. Hers Then carefully I pull out a large knife. It cuts through human bone as easily as a tomato. I plunge it down into his chest through the skin, muscles, and ribs, but not into his. Heart. He screams in agony. "It will all be finished soon," I tell him, "and you can curse me from. Hell." The men are very close now and Mulder won't be too far behind I cut open his chest cavity to expose his still beating heart I reach into his chest and grasp his. Heart in my hands. This is what I have been waiting for, longing for, praying for I squeeze I squeeze as hard as I can, with as much effort as I've ever put into anything in my life I feel his hot blood splash on my face, in my mouth I taste it and I want more but, his. Heart no longer beats. He is dead, and I am - Field "Scully, did you hear that scream?" He didn't wait for an answer or even for. Her to fully stop the car. He jumped out and ran rapidly towards where a cluster of suited men were gathered. He caught a glimpse of a body but it was so covered in blood that. He could not make out its face. Just then he heard Scully running up to him, calling to him. He remembered that Katherine had warned him against allowing Scully to see anything that might influence her, though. He doubted it mattered much anyway Nevertheless,. He quickly spun around and faced Scully as she approached him. She had seen a bloody man and was running towards the men to see if she could. Help Mulder grabbed her as she was running by him, and held her back. "What are you doing Mulder? That man over there needs medical attention and. He's being rapidly disposed of by those men. Mulder, Cancer Man is over there." She looked at him questioningly. "No Scully, don't look Forget about it That man is dead already Let's get out of here." "Mulder, what's the matter with you? They're erasing evidence of the man you were pursuing right in front of your face. Why are you letting them get away? And Mulder, who is that person?" "don't know I want to look but I can't let you see him. And I'm...afraid to look I don't think I really want to know who it is because I'm afraid of what the answer is." "Mulder-" "Scully I normally wouldn't do this and I'm very sorry," he says and picks her up and carries her towards the car. Scully struggled in Mulder's arms. She was furious. "Put me down right now, Mulder What the hell is the matter with you? I can't believe you're doing this." Just then Ethan caught up to them after having finally decided to join the festivities Mulder reluctantly put Scully down softly on her feet and she went to Ethan, who led her back to his car. She was still fuming Mulder looked back but the field was empty and all of the men's cars were gone he grudgingly walked back to his car that Katherine had left at the edge of the field. "I'll get your car fixed Scully, don't worry about it.". She nodded at him, but wouldn't speak to him, or look at him, and got into the car with Ethan, who then took off. Mulder got into his car and drove off as well A few miles down the road he pulled to the side of the street and cried Then he threw up That bottle of tequila he had at home was looking pretty good. Road "Sir, she must have returned to her time using a return device Although we were not able to recover it from her, if such a device exists it will be only a matter of time until another traveler comes We will be successful next time." "Perhaps," the man stated, lighting a Morley cigarette, "but I believe you to be mistaken I don't believe this entity had a return mechanism Judging by its last act I believe it just ceased to exist We're all aware of how that happens." "But Sir, how could the death of one insignificant man affect anything of great importance?" "Very easily," he replied and inhaled his succulent cancer stick. FBI Building Basement Scully looked up from the letter in a daze, processing in her mind what she had just read At first the letter had seemed so unreal, like fiction, but she could recall the events in the letter of which she had been a part. She remembered her visit to Mulder's apartment all those years ago and his subsequent knock on her door. Their trip to the field and Mulder's strange behavior there How the next day he had come to her apartment, slid the keys under her door, and left without speaking. She had run outside to find her car spotless, with four brand-new tires on it. Then she thought about the author of the letter who had claimed to be her daughter This letter writer claimed her name was Katherine, but her daughter's name wasn't Katherine But that would explain... "Oh God," Scully started to think about what the implications of the letter were Then she took a deep breath to calm down. She grabbed the letter and threw it down in the box, then picked up the box and ran out of the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building. She raced towards home in her blue convertible. It had been so much fun to drive to Maine she had decided to buy one Now she was glad for its speed. She should have flown down to D.C. instead of driving. Finally she pulled into her driveway and looked at their house A large New England house, just like in the letter, but that certainly wasn't evidence. It could easily be a coincidence.. She reached for the box of Mulder's things and went inside. Immediately she heard her six-year-old daughter yell "Mommy's home, Grandma!" and heard her scampering down the stairs Scully placed the box on the counter top and prepared for her greeting. Moments later a red-haired lightning bolt streaked into the kitchen and jumped into her mother's arms Scully lifted her up, gave her a kiss, and looked at her face. She looked exactly like Scully when she was that age, except for her eyes. She had her father's eyes Just like the girl in the letter. "Where's your father, sweetie?" But before she got an answer, her mother walked into the room. "Dana, honey, we ordered pizza for dinner. There's some left over in the fridge if you want some. She's had her bath and practiced her French, German, and Spanish." "That's great Mom, where's-" "Oh, he should be home soon he called and said one of his appointments was running late And you got a call They found the final body in the Adam's case and they need the autopsy done by 10:00 tomorrow morning for the hearing." "Thanks Mom, and thanks for watching her this week while the nanny's on vacation." "It's no trouble I always love spending time with my granddaughter How was your trip to D.C.? I didn't expect you home quite so soon." "Oh, it was fine, Mom, a little sad though, seeing the office again, remembering all the time I spent there They're reverting it back to a copy machine room again That's why I had to clean it out after all this time I found-" Just then a car pulled into the driveway and her daughter wiggled out of her arms and over to the door. It flung open and her husband dropped his briefcase on the counter and picked up their daughter in one fluid motion he tickled her mercilessly until she cried out with laughter, "Daddy put me down, Please!" When he did put her down she tried to retaliate but he snatched her up again and spun in circles a few times When he put her down again, she fell over from dizziness and laughter. "She just had dinner If she throws up, you get to clean it up, Mulder." Scully frowned at him he grinned like a naughty little boy, and bending down, kissed her passionately on the lips. "Of course, Doctor Scully, but I'm confident Samantha's not going to throw up. She loves to be spun around, don't you Sam? Oh, hi Mom, how are you?" He kissed his mother-in-law on the cheek. "Just fine, Fox, dear Sam was no trouble But I do have to be going I'm playing poker with some friends of mine tonight." "Allright, thanks Mom. Talk to you later," Mulder and Scully said in unison. "Bye Grandma," Samantha called and gave her a hug and kiss good-bye. When Maggie left, Scully turned to Mulder, "cleaned out the old office today." "can't believe after all these years they're turning it back into the copy room I would have thought it would have been made into a shrine for us." Scully laughed, "I'm surprised they didn't burn it down the day we left With you a Boston field agent and me county coroner, there's no more X-Files division. It really was just wasted space." Mulder was rummaging through the box. "Scully, I had no idea you wanted my old tapes I would have given them to you long ago I don't need them anymore I've got something better." "What, a rubber woman?" she smirked at him. "No, surprisingly a real one. Somehow I managed to convince this gorgeous, intelligent woman to marry me." he grabbed her and pulled her near him, kissing her deeply "think it was the hair that won her over." Scully ran her fingers through his dark, silky hair. "Oh yeah, Mulder, defiantly the hair Actually the films are for Frohike I know you share the same taste in women." "But hopefully we don't share the same woman," he smirked back at her. "Don't be so sure," she arched her eyebrow at him and he looked a little surprised "But seriously, I need to talk to you." "Okay." He shed his coat and they went into their large family room. Without being told, Samantha got up from the chair she had been curled up in, reading, and went to her room on the second floor. Mulder flopped down in a lazy boy and watched Scully, who sat on the couch, wondering what was bothering her. She pulled out the envelope and letter and handed them to Mulder. "Do you know what this is?" she asked him in a worried tone. He did of course; he had pondered that letter many times since he had received it. "do, but I never opened it. Obviously you read it and it has upset you." Scully took an deep breath, "Is it true Mulder? I doubted at first but it is very detailed." "I've never read it, but as far as I know it is true The girl who wrote it, whom I met, she was your daughter, Scully. She had to be. She looked exactly like you. She knew things, about you, about me, even about Ethan." he choked on the last word. Scully proceeded slowly, not sure if she wanted answers "Is Samantha that girl?" "don't know. She told me her name was Katherine, but she wouldn't have given me her name if it was Samantha That would have revealed too much But that's why I wanted one of Sam's middle names to be Katherine, because I hoped it was her I have no idea who her father was I never figured it out I knew it would be in the letter, who she killed, and that's why I never opened it I didn't want to know if it wasn't me That day, when you left Ethan at the alter, and came after me in the parking lot, I was so happy I didn't care if that's what was supposed to happen or not." "Is that why you never said anything when you entered the church?" Mulder nodded, "wanted it to be your choice If you said 'I do' and married him, I wasn't going to interfere with your happiness I just wanted you to know I was there When you came running out there and I turned around and you ran into my arms, I decided to never open the letter." They were both silent for a moment, then Scully quietly whispered, "It was Krycek." He looked up at her, "What?" "It was Krycek, Mulder The man that girl killed, the man who she believed would kill her father was Alex Krycek. It was you all along Mulder.. It was always you." Mulder looked down, tears started falling down his face. "Is it her, Mulder? Is Samantha the girl you met?" Mulder looked up. "don't know Genetically maybe They both look extraordinarily like you. They're both extremely intelligent. But inside Scully, it's not the same little girl." He paused. "I don't think it matters anyway. It wouldn't have mattered if Ethan had been Katherine's father, and I don't think it matters if they're the same person or not." They looked into each other's eyes Samantha, having changed into her pajamas, padded into the room and crawled onto the couch. Laying down, she rested her head on Scully's lap. "I'm tired Mommy," she yawned and closed her eyes. Scully looked down at her lovingly, and gently stroked the child's soft red hair as she fell asleep Scully bent her head down and lightly kissed Samantha's forehead. Still gazing at the child she softly said, "It doesn't Mulder. It doesn't matter at all." The End "just put money in the magic fingers." - Dana Scully, "Bad Blood" "Scully?" "Yes?" "Marry me." "was hoping for something a little more helpful." -"Chinga" "...sometimes I think about Scully as Mulder's human credential..." - David Duchovny, "Inside the X-Files" "Scully you have to believe me No one else on this whole damn planet does or ever will You're my one in 5 billion." - Fox Mulder, "Folie a Deux"
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