Title - Reunion (5/?) 
Author - donnah 
Email address - donnah@donnas-stories.com 
URL - http://www.donnas-stories.com/ 
Rating - PG-13 
Category - MSR, AU 
Spoilers - Requiem 
Keywords - MSR, AU, angst 
Summary - If he hadn't been abducted 
Feedback - Please 
Archive - Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit

Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunmen and 
Skinner all belong to Chris, 10-13, and Fox - Bless 
them for it!!  No infringement intended.


Reunion (5/?)

Scully - 

The wind had picked up by the time the guys got home.  
She had hot tea waiting for them and insisted they sit and 
get warm before even thinking about unloading.  It wasn't 
like any of the things they had brought home needed 
refrigeration.

"We've got weather coming in," Byers said after a few 
minutes.  "The temperature is dropping like a stone."

"It's early for this," she looked over toward the windows.

"Yes, but we don't know what having them in our 
atmosphere might have done.  And industry is kinda down, 
so theoretically there's less heat being generated.  No cars.  
Hey, if there's a next generation, we might have clean air 
for them," Langly said, then spotted the look on Frohike's 
face and looked down.

The three men exchanged glances but Scully ignored them.  
She wasn't ready to share her news, she couldn't really 
believe it herself.  And it could have been a false positive.  
Even as she had the thought she knew it wasn't true.  She 
was pregnant.  She and Mulder had created a child and he 
wasn't here to share it with her.

They ate canned stew that night and being a comfort food, 
it helped.  They didn't seem to notice how quiet she was 
and she took advantage of that.

It wasn't full dark but she started to rise to head for her 
bedroom when she heard it.  There was someone, 
something outside.  She had her gun in her hand 
automatically.  That drew the guys' attention, they hadn't 
heard anything.

"There's someone outside," she said in a low voice.  
Frohike's weapon was in his room and she shook her head 
when he motioned toward it.  "Stay back."

She moved quickly and quietly to the door and took a swift 
glance out the window closest to the door.  Yes, there was 
a figure out there and as far as she could tell it was alone.

Before she could convey this to the guys, there was a 
knock on the door.  That surprised them all and Scully 
motioned for Byers to open it, while she took a position just 
behind the door.

He  pulled the door opened cautiously and an older woman, 
tall, gaunt and obviously cold and exhausted stood there.  

"Please - " she managed to say through blue and trembling 
lips.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

Scully didn't wait for more, she stepped around Byers and 
pulled the woman into the room.  "Bolt it."  She led the 
woman to the wood stove and seated her, a glance at 
Frohike had tea being steeped immediately.

"Just relax," Scully said soothingly as the woman's 
trembles seemed to increase rather than to halt.

Frohike brought the mug of tea over and the woman 
wrapped her hands around it.  She nodded at the little man 
and managed to bring it to her lips.  Byers returned with a 
quilt and wrapped it around her shoulders.  She was able 
to smile her thanks.

After a couple of minutes she seemed to relax a little and 
leaned back in the chair.  "Th-thank you.  My name is L-
Lucy Burns."

"I'm Dana Scully.  This is John Byers, Ringo Langly and 
Melvin Frohike.  How, how did you get here?"

"I walked," Lucy said with a grimace.

Scully didn't dispute it.  The woman was dressed for winter, 
but winter in the city.  A sturdy wool coat over pants, knit 
cap that mostly hid iron gray hair, boots and gloves, but not 
enough to keep her warm outside tonight.

"When did you last eat?"

The woman shook her head.  Frohike was up again, to 
bring back something to go with the tea.

"Just relax, you're inside and safe.  We can talk in the 
morning."

Lucy's eyes were closing and she nodded.  She roused 
enough to eat the sandwich Frohike brought, then seemed 
to fall asleep after the last bite.

"Let's get her on the couch.  She can sleep here, close to 
the stove.  I can sleep in the chair and keep an eye on 
her," Scully directed.

"You need your rest too," Byers countered.

"I can sleep in this chair.  Go on."

"Let me fill the stove first.  Scully, my door will be opened.  
Yell if you . . . "

The other two men nodded as well and she smiled.  "I 
promise.  Go on, I don't think she'll be moving for awhile."

Lucy did wake once in the middle of the night.  Scully sat 
up as she moved.  "Are you okay?"

"I, is there a restroom?"

"Yes, come on."  Scully rose and took her arm, leading her 
to the bathroom off of the lobby.  She waited just outside 
the door and escorted the woman back.  "Are you okay?"

"Overwhelmed."

"We all are.  Go back to sleep, there'll be time to talk in the 
morning."

Lucy nodded and pulled the covers back around her, 
sinking down into the couch.  She was asleep again before 
Scully got settled.

*****

They were both still asleep when Byers came to check on 
them.  Rather than disturb them, he started the coffee that 
morning and laid out some things to heat up for breakfast, 
intent on not waking them.
 
Scully was sitting up and stretching when he returned to 
the main room.  "Did you get any sleep?"

"Yes, she only woke up once.  She's totally exhausted," 
Scully spoke in a low voice.  "I'll put on some water for tea."

"Already have.  Go get dressed.  I'll keep an eye on her."

Scully nodded in gratitude then hurried to her bedroom.  
She was dressed and in the bathroom before it hit her.  
There were other people.  Maybe not many, but some 
humans had survived.  Mulder was one of them and he 
was on his way to her, to them.

 The other two men were up and dressed when she 
returned, but Lucy slept on.  They gathered around one of 
the tables in the dining area and sipped their hot 
beverages.  

"We got a light snow last night," Frohike told Scully as she 
took her seat.

"Snow?  It's too early."

He shrugged.  "It didn't last, but there was definitely snow 
on the railings before the sun got to it."

"That wood you got from the store won't make it through 
winter."

"Yeah.  We need to get started on that.  One more trip to 
the store should pretty much finish up what we have room 
to store here."

Scully shook her head.  "No, we need to get everything.  
We can store things in the cabins.  After Lucy's up, we 
need to head that way again."

"I'm up," came a hoarse voice from the main room.  

Scully rose, followed by the guys and they returned to the 
other room, bringing her tea.

"Thanks," she sighed as she took a sip of the hot tea.

"Do you think you could talk a little bit?" Scully took the 
seat nearest her and the others gathered around.

"Of course.  First, I want to thank you for taking me in.  I 
don't . . . "

"We're glad you found us and a little astonished as well."

Lucy nodded and took another sip of the tea, savoring it.

"Where did you come from?"

"Winston Salem."

"You walked here from North Carolina?  Alone?"

The older woman nodded wearily.

"Why here?  I mean, do you have family in the area?"

"No, I've never been here before.  It, it was just the 
direction that, that felt right."  She shrugged.  "What 
happened?"

"We only have theories.  We didn't see much.  What did 
you see?"

"Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I was at Baptist, that's the 
hospital in Winston.  I've been having problem with tinnitus 
so I was at the audiologist's being checked.  I was in the 
little sound proof room and the technician and nurse were 
outside the window.  I saw them stand up, like something 
had disturbed them and they hurried out of sight.  I thought 
the doctor had called them or something so I waited.  
Eventually, after I got mad at being left like that, I got up 
and left the exam room.  No one was there, no one, not in 
the office or waiting room or the halls.  I went to the window 
and looked down and there was no one walking around 
outside.  Then I got scared."  She looked up at Scully and 
saw her nod encouragement.

"I followed the map back to my car.  Baptist is huge and 
mostly a maze.  There were cars abandoned and in the 
way, but I got to my car and it wouldn't start.  I sat there for 
a little while, trying to decide if I was asleep or something, 
and finally I, I started walking home.  It was a few miles but 
not as bad as following I-40, so I got home in a little over 
an hour."

"Your family?" Frohike asked.

"I'm a widow.  I have two sons, one's married with two 
children, the older one is . . . sometimes he lives with me 
and sometimes he's homeless.  I hadn't seen him in a few 
days.  The phones were out, no one was at home in the 
neighborhood . . ."

"That was true of us as well, Lucy." Scully took up the tale 
to give the woman time to recover.  "We were together in 
these guys' apartment.  There was a hum, a vibration.  It 
was . . . beckoning, but it wasn't 'right' and when Langly 
there decided to go see what was going on, I stopped him.  
We hid in a closet but there was a light, dangerously bright, 
we could see it even in the closet.  When it passed, 
everyone was gone.  We heard it several times, but moving 
farther away."

Lucy stared at her, then at the three men individually.  
They all nodded their agreement.  "What could do that?"

Frohike took that one.  "Aliens."  Scully winced but didn't 
correct him.

"Aliens?  Little green men?"

"Gray," Scully spoke before she could stop herself.  Lucy 
turned to stare at her.  "Sorry, it's . . . sorry.  We have no 
proof, we don't really know what happened.  It does appear 
to have been wide spread and capable of knocking out 
power, disrupting communications - "

"Humans couldn't have done this," Frohike looked at Scully, 
his expression determined.

"Lucy, are you still having the tinnitus?" Scully looked back 
at her.

"Uh, no.  I'm not.  I haven't had any since, since I left the 
doctor's office."

Scully nodded.  Maybe they had been in orbit for awhile.  
"Why don't you guys go ahead and make the supply run.  
I'll stay here with Lucy.  And look for clothes too while 
you're there.  Lucy will need - "

"Oh!  My pack," Lucy got to her feet.  "I must have dropped 
it.  I was so exhausted I didn't realize."

"We'll look for it.  You take it easy.  Scully - " Byers 
motioned for Scully to follow him into the kitchen.  Once 
they were alone he touched her shoulder.  "We can't leave 
you alone with - "

"Byers, I can take her.  And I don't think I'm going to have 
to.  I'm armed and I'll stay that way."

"One of us - "

"No.  We need the supplies you're bringing.  It's bad 
enough that I'm not going to help.  I'm not helpless."  The 
look of concern on his face did not go away.  She took hold 
of his hand and squeezed it.  "Thank you, but you have to 
trust me.  I can look after myself."

"And all of us too," he sighed.  "Okay, we'll hurry."

She nodded.  

After they had set off, she returned to the kitchen to 
continue storing supplies.  In a few minutes Lucy followed 
her.  "May I help?"

"You sure can.  We've got a lot of supplies we need to 
store so we can get to them."

Lucy looked around.  "Where are your fresh foods?"

"We haven't been bringing those.  They're already pretty 
far gone."

"Yes, but they're going to seed.  You'll need them in the 
spring."

Scully looked at her, feeling inadequate.  "I wasn't thinking.  
Of course we need seeds and cuttings.  I don't - "

"Don't beat yourself up.  Next time those men go to the 
store we can ask them to bring those things here and some 
egg cartons.  Now that they're made out of Styrofoam, the 
cartons aren't much good for anything except seedlings."

"You know about these things."

Lucy smiled.  "Yes, after I retired from the library I became 
quite the gardener.   I'd like to take that on as a project 
here."

"You were a librarian?"

"Thirty years.  When I started we had card catalogs, I bet 
those people who demanded we go to computers are sorry now, 
that is if any of them are still . . . "  She shook her head.  
"What about you?"

"I'm an FBI agent and a medical doctor, a pathologist."

Lucy gawked at her for an instant.  "I guess I never thought 
of that combination."

"We are pretty rare," Scully smiled at her.  

"What about the men with you?"

"They published a newsletter called The Lone Gunman."

"Are you serious?  We had a subscription at the library.  I 
never missed it.  I had no idea.  I'll have to thank them 
when they get back.  No family?"

"No, they're each other's family, and mine now.  I'm afraid 
everyone else is gone."

"You have parents, siblings?"

"My mother, she was in California when . . . visiting my 
sister-in-law and nephew.  My older brother was on 
maneuvers.  I don't know what happed to them or my 
younger brother and his family.  I'd like to think they weren't 
taken, or that they're going to show up here but . . ." Scully 
took a deep breath and shoved down on the emotion that 
threatened to overwhelm her.

"Who is Mulder?"  Scully jerked at the name and Lucy's 
expression turned to one of concern.  "I'm sorry, I - "

"He's my partner, my FBI partner."

Lucy looked confused at that.  "I would have thought 
husband."

Scully's blush was unavoidable.  "We're . . . together.  
Where did you hear his name?"

"Last night, when you were sitting with me.  You fell asleep 
at one time when I was awake.  You were calling for him."

Scully's eyes dropped and Lucy changed the subject.  
They visited until the guys returned with their carts full once 
again.  

To Scully's surprise, one cart was full of less than fresh 
vegetables.  "What made you think of this?"

"Well, Byers made the comment they were going to seed," 
Scully and Lucy exchanged glances, "and it made us 
think."

"I like these guys," Lucy said to Scully.

"Oh, and we found your pack," Byers said, pulling it from 
the cart.

Her eyes lit up and she took it from him reverently.  "My 
pictures are in here.  I didn't pack enough clothes, 
obviously, but I couldn't leave everything behind.  When I 
go back I'll . . ." her voice trailed off and no one commented 
on her future plans.

"Uh, speaking of clothes, we ducked into the ski shop and 
found some sweats we thought would fit you.  You know, 
there's lot of shops there we haven't even checked.  We've 
been concentrating on food but there are other things we're 
going to need."  Byers dug through the supplies to find the 
bag with the clothing in it.

Lucy just stared at them for a long moment.  "Th-thank 
you," she finally managed to say and all three men blushed 
at the obvious emotion behind her words.

Scully cleared her throat, the emotion had gotten to her too 
and she blinked back tears.  "I think Lucy and I need to go 
with you tomorrow.  We might have different ideas about 
what we need."

"Good idea.  For now looks like we have more things to 
store," Frohike nodded.

"You know we haven't taken the time to check out the other 
buildings here.  I know the cabins have fireplaces, I don't 
know if they have kitchens but having supplies in different 
areas might be a good idea," Scully's eyes were far away, 
planning again.

"The barn is huge and we don't have any animals, so that's 
a good place for things that the cold won't hurt," Byers 
picked it up.  "I don't think we're going to be bored for a 
long time."

Scully chuckled at that, coming back to them.  They had no 
idea.

The next morning, they all returned to shopping area.  
Langly headed to the grocery to continue there, Byers and 
Frohike headed to previously unexplored stores and Scully 
and Lucy headed for the ski shop the guys had search 
previously.

Scully was very relieved to discover that it wasn't only ski 
equipment.  They ignored the skis and poles entirely, 
concentrating on the clothing and boots.  Lucy watched as 
Scully added children's clothing to the cart but kept quiet.  
If there were no children left . . . 

They were nearly through stuffing the carts they had when 
Byers and Frohike joined them.  Frohike was nearly 
bouncing with excitement.  "We found a wilderness shop!"

Scully looked confused and looked over at Byers.

"Survival stuff, knives, bows, fishing equipment and MREs 
- "

"And stock of those wind-up flashlights, like the laptops," 
Frohike interrupted.

"Laptops," Scully looked back over at Byers.  "Were you 
thinking the power would come back on; because I'm pretty 
confident there are no crews out there working."

Byers grinned.  "No, remember that project, the $100 
laptops for third world countries?  We were part of the beta 
group.  They were equipped with wind-up power.  We 
brought them with us along with all the CDs and thumb 
drives we had."

Stunned Scully looked between the two men.  "I love you 
guys."

Byers blushed, but Frohike grinned a leer at her.  "I knew 
you'd realize it someday."

She rolled her eyes and they began moving toward the 
grocery to pick up Langly.  Excited now, they were already 
discussing what they wanted to haul back on their next trip.

*****

She and Lucy were gathering fallen wood to add to the pile.  
The guys were working on winterizing the cabins and the 
house.  They didn't need the other structures to live in this 
winter with only the five of them, but there had to be more 
people and if any of them found there way here, they 
wanted to be ready.

Scully stopped, looking around. 

"Dana?"

"Someone's here," Scully said quietly.

Lucy began scanning the edge of the woods, looking for 
whatever Scully had seen.  Scully dropped the wood in her 
arms and pulled her pistol from the back of her waistband.  
Startled Lucy dropped her wood as well, then bent down 
and picked up the largest piece.  Then she saw him.

A young man walked wearily toward them, stumbling just a 
little.  He had a pack on his back and something in his 
arms as well.  He spotted them too and stopped.

Scully moved slowly toward him and realized he carried a 
little girl in his arms.

"Are you real?" his voice cracked and he stood still.  His 
eyes flicked to the gun then away.

"Yes.  Is anyone else with you?"

"No, just my daughter, Emma.  I'm Chuck.  We've been 
walking . . . "

"Let's get inside.  I'm Dana, this is Lucy.  We have three 
men with us as well."

"A regular town," he kind of grinned.

"Headed that way.  Go to the lodge."

"Are you going to shoot me in the back?"

"Not unless I have to.  Come on."  Scully motioned for him 
to move ahead.  Lucy nodded to her and took her place 
beside him.  

"The stove's already warm.  When did you last eat?"

"Last night.  I felt like I had to keep moving, that we were 
heading toward something.  That there were other people."

"That's how I felt too," Lucy agreed.  "How old is she?"

"Almost four.  She wants her mother."

Scully's steps faltered slightly at that but no one noticed.  
She hadn't told anyone yet, had kept from thinking about it 
except at night when it filled her dreams.  She pushed that 
aside.  They had a stranger here and precautions had to 
be taken.

Lucy opened the back door and preceded Chuck inside.  
"Put Emma on the couch in front of the stove.  She'll warm 
up.  I'll put on some water."

"Thank you," he said simply as he gently laid the little girl 
on the couch she indicated.  She curled around the pillow 
as he pulled the afghan from the back of the couch over 
her.

Lucy filled the kettle and placed it on the woodstove.

"Lucy, please go let the guys know we have company."  
Scully kept her distance, the pistol still in her hand but not 
aimed at anyone.

"I'll be right back."  The older woman headed out the front 
door, closer to the cabins.  She wasn't exaggerating.  
Frohike burst into the room in minutes, the other two right 
behind him.  Their glare at the young man frozen beside 
the stove caused him to take a step closer to the couch.

"They're not going to hurt you," Scully assured him.  "We 
just haven't seen many people lately."

After a moment he nodded, glancing back down at Emma.

"Have a seat, Chuck.  We need to talk."

He took the seat at Emma's feet and Scully nodded.  The 
child was his main concern as it should be.  She let Lucy 
take the warm tea over to him and took a seat slightly away, 
still holding her gun.  "How far have you traveled?"

He took a sip of the warm liquid and sighed.  "I'm not sure.  
Where are we now?"

Scully smiled slightly at that.  "Millboro, Virginia."

"Virginia, I didn't realize.  I should have, we crossed a lot of 
mountains.  We were in Mount Lebanon outside of 
Pittsburgh."  

"Where were you headed?"

He shrugged.  "I didn't have a plan, some place warmer.  
We were looking for people.  Half the time when we'd 
come to an intersection I'd ask her which way she wanted 
to go.  She led me here as much as anything.  A couple of 
times she was quite insistent on a direction."

"You let a kid decide - "

"What would have been a better way?  I'm here," he met 
Langly's eyes at that and no one disagreed.

"Where were you when . . . "

"Emma and I were in my workshop in the basement.  I felt 
it and Nikki . . . " he paused for minute, "my wife called 
down and asked if I heard it and said she was going to go 
check.  I started up the stairs too and Emma had a fit.  She 
grabbed my leg and screamed, keeping me downstairs.  
Since I didn't think it was that big a deal I picked her up 
and comforted her.  The light startled us and she buried 
her face in my chest.  That scared me, the fact that we 
could see that bright a light down in the basement.  The 
windows are painted black; we were seeing the light from 
the stairwell."  He shook his head.  

"After that I grabbed her up and raced upstairs.  Nikki was 
gone, just gone.  I couldn't find her anywhere.  I wouldn't 
put Emma down, so we checked the neighbor's houses 
together.  We never found anyone, until . . . " He looked 
back down at Emma who was stirring a little.

The little girl rolled over then and opened her eyes.  She 
blinked at the sight of the small crowd around her.  Her 
gaze landed on Scully and her eyes widened.

"Hi, Emma.  Don't be scared," Scully said softly.  "You and 
your daddy are going to stay here with us for awhile."

Emma clambered into Chuck's lap but didn't stop staring at 
Scully.

"Would you like some hot chocolate with those tiny 
marshmallows?" Lucy asked the little girl.

Scully bit her lip to keep from laughing at the look of 
longing on the child's face.  Lucy nodded.  "I'll get it."  She 
headed for the kitchen and found the box of instant 
chocolate and fixed her a mug.  "It's too hot for now, wait 
just a little bit for it to cool off."  She set the mug on the 
coffee table in front of the little girl and handed her an extra 
marshmallow to tide her over.

Conversation became easier after that.  Lucy told her story 
and Scully and the guys related theirs.  Emma just watched 
everyone, especially Scully and slowly drank the warm 
chocolate.

"What did you do, Chuck?"

"I'm an engineer."

"He can't drive a train," Emma said, her first full comment 
and she looked over at the scary little man when he 
chuckled.

"I bet he would have been a good engineer for Thomas," 
Lucy smiled.  "My grandson loves Thomas the Train."

Emma nodded seriously and Chuck hugged her.  "I was 
hoping to get my own crew, eventually be a contractor on 
my own.  I did construction in the summers to put myself 
through school."

"Sounds like you could be handy to have around," Lucy 
said quietly.

"Nikki thought so," he still winced at her name, but relaxed 
back into the couch with Emma in his lap.

The little girl looked over at Scully then.  "Where's the 
baby?"

"What?" It was Byers that asked, Scully just looked at the 
girl.

"The baby boy.  He should be here."

They all looked at Scully now.  "Do you know what she's 
talking about?" Byers was staring at Scully's pale face.

"I, I don't . . . "

"She's talked about some baby before, in her dreams.  I 
don't know what she's talking about.  She hadn't mentioned 
it awake before," Chuck offered.

Scully sat forward, she didn't know these people, she was 
comfortable with the guys, and getting to know Lucy, but 
she didn't know Chuck at all, though she had noted his 
care of his daughter.  "What baby are you talking about, 
Emma?"

She shrugged.  "The little one.  I thought he'd be here."

"Dana?" Byers was staring intently at her now.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then met his eyes.  "I'm 
pregnant."

Langly goggled at her, Frohike's eyes popped and Byers 
sank back into his chair.  Lucy and Chuck were obviously 
confused but kept quiet.

"When were you going to tell us?" Byers voice was laced 
with pain.

"I haven't known that long.  I didn't know when he left, it 
never occurred to me.  I didn't . . . I took the test after we 
got here."

"It explains a lot," Frohike finally spoke.  She nodded then.  
"When?"

"Spring.  I haven't . . . "

There was silence then for a long time.  Emma looked up 
at Chuck, uncertain at the atmosphere.

"Are you okay?" Byers finally asked.

"I, yes, I think so.  The dizziness is mostly gone."

"You should have told us," Frohike's voice was hard but 
she heard the fear underneath.

"I, I'm sorry.  I was trying to . . . to find a way."

Lucy leaned forward.  "We need to start some dinner.  This 
conversation can wait."

Byers opened his mouth to protest, but then shut it.  She 
was right.  Lucy glanced over at Scully and she rose to 
assist in cooking dinner.

"Scully, maybe you should - "

"Don't.  I'm fine."  She turned away from them, Chuck still 
sat silently, not completely understanding what was going 
on.

"Come on," Byers rose, "we can get some more work done.  
It's not dark yet."

Langly looked between his two friends, then stood up and 
headed toward the door.  Reluctantly Frohike followed.  

"Uh, can we help?" Chuck watched them.

"You don't have to help, but you could come with us for a 
tour.  Would you like that, Emma?"

It was the least scary of the three, the one with the beard, 
that spoke so she nodded taking a tight grip on her father's 
hand.

Scully listened for them to leave and gave a sigh of relief 
when she realized they were out of the house.  Lucy turned 
to her.  "Look, I know we don't know each other very well, 
but as the only other adult female and apparently the only 
one that's given birth around here, I think we need to talk."

Scully glanced up at her, then away.

"You look like a normal, healthy woman.  Why were those 
three guys so freaked that you were pregnant?"

Scully took a deep breath.  "Because I've been told that I'm 
barren.  And I've had a . . . spotty health record over the 
last six or so years."

"Spotty how?"

A ghost of a smile crossed Scully's face and was gone.  
"That could take a while."

"I'll start on dinner, you talk."  Lucy took out a large pot and 
filled it with water for the noodles.

Scully watched for a moment, then took a deep breath.  
"Well, I was abducted, missing for three months and 
returned in a coma.  My mother removed life support, it 
was that close.  I woke up.  Shortly after that I discovered a 
microchip in the back of my neck.  I had it removed and 
very shortly came down with sinus cancer.  Mu-Mulder 
found another chip and replaced it.  The cancer went away.  
Then I was stung by a bee that was carrying a virus.  Again 
Mulder located me and gave me a vaccine that, that 
destroyed the . . . what was growing inside of me."

"Hold it, back up a minute.  When you were kidnapped - "

"Abducted," Scully corrected.

"Okay, abducted.  Who took you?"

"Aliens," she said with a defeated sigh.

"The gray ones you talked about."  Scully nodded.  "They 
put the chip in."  Again Scully nodded.  "The bee was 
carrying a virus?"

"An alien virus.  My body became a, an incubator for an 
alien fetus."

There was a long silence then and finally the older woman 
sank into the nearest chair.  "Go on."

"There's not a lot more."

"There doesn't need to be," Lucy said dryly.

Scully surprised herself by chuckling at that point.  "You're 
right.  Look, I don't expect - "

"Good, because I need to assimilate what you've said, but 
if all these things have happened to your body . . . "

"I know.  If I were my doctor I would probably advise me to 
terminate the pregnancy because there is no way of 
knowing what all of this has done to the ba-fetus.  What I 
didn't mention," Lucy's eyes widened and she waited.  "I 
found my biological daughter a few years ago.  I did not 
give birth to her, but I was her mother.  She was terminally 
ill and passed away shortly after I found her.  This 
child . . ."

"Was Mulder her father too?"

Scully blinked, "No."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

After a long moment Scully whispered, "thank you."  It was 
very nearly inaudible but Lucy nodded.

"Well, I understand the men's concern.  Since you are a 
doctor, I'm going to count on you to look after yourself, 
blood pressure, weight gain, and though a degree in library 
science doesn't exactly make me qualified to second guess 
you, I expect you to be honest with me about your 
condition.  I'm old enough to be your mother and I've had 
two children and two grandchildren.  That makes me the 
ranking expert for now.  Okay?"

Startled Scully nodded.  "Yes, I, I'll need your help."

"Good.  Now let's finish dinner."

*****