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Title: Later Summary: Seven months later...Skinner POV Notes: It's an X File. I haven't even *seen* Requiem, but it seems that the fic-bug has somehow crossed the Atlantic. Any inaccuracies are wishful thinking on my part :o) For Nic, for existing It was early evening, on the day I was due to take off on my Christmas vacation. My brother has a cabin up in the woods, and I had arranged to join them for this year's celebrations. I had one or two people left to see, and then I was free for a whole week. It was the longest unenforced leave I had taken since I had been promoted eight years ago. I heard footsteps coming down the corridor, and looked expectantly towards the doorway. Kim had gone home hours ago, and there were few enough people left in the building for me to assume that anyone coming in this direction would be looking for me. With any luck it would be Michael's, and I could escape earlier than expected. The shape in the doorway could not have been more unexpected. "Mulder," he swayed slightly. "Sit down." I stood and maneuvered around the desk to help him. He shook me off, and instead leaned against the back of one of the big leather chairs for support. "Where is she?" His voice was dry, rusty, as though it hadn't been used for a very long time. It wouldn't be easy to explain this to him. "There's a few things you need to know, Mulder," I began. "Maybe you'd better sit..." "No," he shook his head violently, then pitched forwards, catching himself just in time to steady himself. "Where is she?" I had been ready to tell him everything, but I couldn't. It wasn't my place. He deserved to hear it from someone else. He needed a doctor. He needed Scully. I told him the truth. "She's at the hospital." Mulder lurched towards the doorway. I had no idea how he had got here, but I certainly wasn't about to let him drive in the condition he was in. I shot after him and grabbed his shoulder, almost causing him to fall. "I'll drive," I told him. Once we were in the car I tried again to explain the situation to Mulder. "There's something you really should know, about Scully," I began. He cut me off again. "Just drive." I did. It wasn't my place. He would find out soon enough. A few more minutes of anxiety weren't about to do him any more harm. Not when he found out what was waiting for him at the other end of the five minute journey. I had received the long awaited call that morning. A week after her due date, Scully had finally gone into labor. I could only pray I could get Mulder there in time. We pulled up in the No Parking zone in front of the main doors to the hospital. I could have given Mulder the number of her ward, her room, and the directions to get there, but I didn't. This was something he had to figure out for himself. He seemed to have found a renewed energy as he pushed himself from the car and stumbled towards the doors. I watched him for a few moments, just to make sure he got as far as the front desk, before moving the car into the parking lot. I could have gone home. I could have caught my flight. I could have been warmly ensconced in my brother's cabin by now. But something made me stay in the parked car, in the dark parking lot. Occasionally an ambulance went past, sometimes a car made its was slowly along the aisles of cars looking for a space. Once or twice a small group of people would wander past, looking left and right, having not paid attention to where they had parked in the first place. And almost two hours after I had switched the engine off a young couple walked right in front of my car, the woman holding a small baby, tightly bundled up against the December chill. They were smiling, and seemed oblivious to anything else in the world. They were happy. I couldn't help but wonder if Mulder would be happy, be content, with what he found in that hospital. Although I had been expecting it, I was startled when my cell phone rang, its shrill beeping cutting through the silence of the car interior. The screen showed me that the number was unidentified, but I knew who it would be. "Mulder?" "No Sir, he's asleep." It was Scully's voice on the other end of the line. "And so should you be," I admonished her, although I was eagerly awaiting the news I knew I would have shortly. "That's what everyone in here's saying," she told me, and yawned. I could imagine her smiling. "It's a girl. A healthy little girl." "Does she have a name yet?" I asked. "No." There was a pause, and I wondered if I should persue the matter. But before I could, she continued, "I want to wait until Mulder's awake again. Now that he's back..." I didn't want to have to console her from the other end of the phone line, nor did I want to intrude. "Of course," I soothed her, "I understand." I decided to change tack slightly. "You know I'm on holiday?" No point letting on. I could get a later flight. "Yes Sir, I'm sorry, I..." "Don't be silly, call whenever you like." I smiled into the phone. I could imagine the scene inside the hospital all too well; Scully struggling to stay awake long enough to get everything organized, while Mulder slept on the second bed they had no doubt managed to commandeer from somewhere. "Are you all right?" I asked. "I'm fine." I could hear her smiling again. "Honestly. Tired, but better than I have been in a long time." Not everyone would have grasped the enormity of her words, but I had no trouble picking up her meaning. "You get some rest, then," I told her. "I'll come and see you the moment I get back." "You'd better," she warned me, then yawned again. I could hear a second female voice, possibly a nurse, more likely her mother in the background, followed closely by a sharp, shrill cry. The baby. Scully's baby. Mulder's baby. "I have to go," she told me. I didn't argue, didn't offer any other platitudes. "Bye." It was enough. She didn't even speak, merely put the phone down. She knew I wouldn't mind. I turned the key in the ignition and waited a few seconds for the heater to clear the condensation from the windows. I knew there would be troubling times ahead for the two agents, but for some reason they didn't seem to matter to me at that moment. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the airport. I had a family to get to. And as for Mulder's family, it seemed that they had, at least for now, managed a happy ending. End Feedback to Diadem@cwcom.net
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