A Winter's Tale, Part 21
Jan. 11th, 2008 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anjouficTitle: A Winter's Tale 21/23
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
comice aka Anjou (Anjou@rocketmail.com)
Posting Date: December 2007/January 2008
Rating: R for language and sexuality; M for Mature readers
Classification: Mulder/Scully, UST/MSR, AU
Archive: No archival until the story is completed, please. I'll be submitting to Ephemeral and Gossamer myself.
Spoilers: Through Two Fathers/One Son (S6), then AU. In other words, no Arcadia and beyond. Mytharc-y.
Disclaimer: All X-Files personnel belong to 1013 and Fox. All other elements are mine.
Author's Note: It's hard for me to believe that this is coming to a close. This story has lived in my head for such a long time -- I started writing it in 1999, after all. Thanks for indulging my flights of fancy.
Daily posts can be read on my fic journal:anjoufic, as well as Ephemeral and other XF fic sites. The whole tale will be archived at my website, No Other … , maintained by the generous dtg, when it is completed.
As always, thanks to my sister and editrix, Suzanne, for her support.
Summary: Cast your memory back to the dark days of Season 6, to the period immediately following the confrontation between Mulder and Scully in the Gunmen's Office. It is late winter, dark and cold, the landscape obscured and transformed by snow and ice. One must step carefully, for the very ground can be treacherous. This is a lesson Mulder and Scully have already learned when the pristine snow in Antartica yielded a long-buried secret. But the winter can hold many secrets, and could tell many tales, if it so chose.
This is but one.
~*~
Their lovemaking that second time was ardent enough that she stumbled over a pillow on the floor by the bathroom door when she went to wash up later. It had somehow traveled from their bed over the empty one, to lie in wait and trip her.
She turned from the door, the laughter bubbling in her throat and couldn't help but survey the room with her investigator's eye. If she were trying to reconstruct the last couple of hours, she could certainly make the case that this had been a crime scene, with the marked disarray of the bed and the damage done to the furnishings.
But the other clues, the pile of clothing intermingled on the floor, the askew lampshade on the nightstand, and of course, the body in the bed, told another story. Mulder lay on his stomach, barely covered by the bedclothes she'd left behind when she fashioned herself a toga out of a desire for warmth, if not modesty. His arms were under the one pillow that they'd found on the floor, and he regarded her sleepily, one eye peering at her from under the overhang of his tousled hair. The bruising and burn mark from the taser was still faintly visible on the skin over his ribcage, but even that jarring sight was a testament of his love for her and didn't detract from his overall beauty.
"Why don't you come recreate the scene of the crime from over here?" he asked. His tone was honeyed, despite the gritty quality of his sleepy voice. "The view is equally good."
"Not from my perspective," she answered archly, as he rolled and stretched languidly, propping himself up on an elbow. "My view is unparalleled." Her tone was rich with innuendo.
"Scully," he huffed in surprise.
She was secretly pleased to see a blush stain his skin. She'd always suspected that he was not as shameless as he pretended to be. Happily, he was shameless enough in just the right ways.
"We need to get back to the clinic," she said, and he sighed, but nodded his head. She knew that he wanted to stretch their idyll here to its limits, but it was after two in the morning, and reality, in the form of a worried four-year-old, beckoned. "Are you coming?" she asked, turning into the bathroom as she dropped her toga on the hapless pillow.
She only half heard his predictable response as she turned on the water in the shower.
~*~
They were lucky that Hannah was still asleep when they got back to Prometheus, although from the worried expression on her face when they crept into the room, Scully was sure that hadn't always been the case. She read Hannah's chart carefully, pleased to see that her vital signs had stabilized further as her temperature had continued to decrease. It was still elevated at slightly more than 100, but Hannah had not yet been on the antibiotics for 24 hours. However, the fact that it remained elevated raised a red flag for Scully. It could be that Hannah's infection was more resistant than she had anticipated. Conversely, she wasn't actually sure what Hannah's true body temperature was when she wasn't sick, and with the alteration of her genome, she couldn't assume that 98.6 was the suitable standard. She looked up at the clock to check the time. Hannah was voiding appropriately, so rehydration therapy had been discontinued. Her next batch of antibiotics would be hung in a few hours, and the line in her hand had been capped off for the moment. She made a note to check Hannah's hand to ensure that the needle was situated correctly before the next infusion was begun.
When she finished with her notation, she found Mulder sitting next to Hannah staring intently at their daughter. She felt a thrill of recognition at his expression as he sat, right arm braced on the other side of Hannah's small sleeping form, searching for the familiar in her. She moved from the end of the bed to the other side, looking from his beloved and well-known profile to the newly beloved and less known countenance of their daughter. She was making her own comparisons between the two of them, when she realized that Mulder's intent regard was slowly but surely waking Hannah. Like father, like daughter -- she could feel herself smiling, and didn't attempt to stop Mulder. It was probably better for Hannah to be reassured than to stay asleep right now.
"Scully?" Mulder's whisper cut through her reverie. He looked pointedly at the chart dangling from her hands before his eyes returned to hers.
"Oh," she began to answer, "she's …"
"Mulder?" Hannah's worried voice cut through hers, and Mulder's head snapped toward the child.
"Hi –" before his mouth had finished forming the word, Hannah had popped up out of the covers, flung her arms around his neck and burst into tears. "Oh, pumpkin," Mulder said sorrowfully, and Scully could see how sorry he was. "I'm right here, sweetheart," he said. "I'm so sorry that I worried you."
He rubbed her back as Hannah started to calm, then her body became rigid and she looked around frantically. She relaxed when she saw Scully. "You both left me!" she accused, and Scully dropped the chart on the night table and sat down on the bed next to Mulder, her left hip bumping against his right in the middle of the bed as they faced Hannah.
"I'm sorry, Hannah," Scully said. She leant toward Hannah, intending to kiss her forehead, but Hannah surprised her by wrapping her arms around Scully's neck to pull her closer, although she did not retreat from Mulder's lap.
"I was scared," Hannah hiccupped. "I don't like being alone."
Scully's eyes filled with tears as she fought back the images of Hannah alone and sick while her sisters were dying around her in that room in Albany.
Mulder put his right arm around Scully and tugged her closer so that the both of them were sheltering Hannah. She pulled her legs up onto the bed.
"I know, Hannah," he soothed. "We promise it won't happen again."
Hannah backed away from Mulder enough to look from one to the other of them suspiciously. She was rubbing the fabric of her nightgown worriedly between her fingers, a gesture that Scully hadn't seen her make in days. It caused an unexpected pang. "You promise?" she said querulously. Her eyes were large in her pale oval face, framed by her unruly, sleep-mussed hair.
"We promise," Scully said firmly.
"OK," Hannah said, after a minute. She curled up against Mulder with a contented sigh, but put a hand on Scully's leg as if to hold her there, watching her with one bright eye.
Mulder kissed Hannah's head, wrapping his left arm around her tight.
"Where'd you go?" she asked Scully softly.
"Back to the motel," Scully said. "I met Mulder there, and we got our things."
"Oh," Hannah said. "Are we going somewhere else?"
"Not until you're all better," Scully said easily. "So your – Mulder and I thought we should get our things so that we'd have them here with us." She was surprised at how easily calling Mulder 'your father' had almost slipped right out of her mouth. Luckily, Hannah hadn't noticed, but Mulder certainly had. He was grinning at her.
He nodded at her, encouraging her, but she wasn't sure how to explain that they were her parents to Hannah. In truth, she wasn't that sure of how much Hannah understood about parents and families. Everything Hannah knew about family life she'd learned from television, not from any real experience. And she wasn't sure if it was a blessing or an additional sorrow that Hannah didn't seem to realize that the other girls in her room in Albany had been her sisters.
She took a deep breath in. "Hannah, do you remember that Mulder told you we were going to try and find your family – to find out who your mom and dad are?" Someday, she knew, they would have to explain to Hannah just how it was that she hadn't been with them for the first years of her life, but today was not that day.
"Yes," Hannah said, but her lower lip began to stick out. She pulled her hand off of Scully, and turned her head, burying her face in Mulder's chest.
"What's the matter?" Mulder asked, looking down at her.
"I don't want to go away from you," she said. Her voice was muffled because she was speaking into Mulder's torso, but the petulant tone was clear.
Scully felt the tension that had gripped her at having this conversation just ebb away as Mulder jostled Hannah and kissed her head, trying unsuccessfully to get her to look up. Hannah just burrowed in deeper.
"You don't have to go anywhere, Hannah," Scully said surely, and Hannah became completely still in Mulder's arms. "I promise you. You belong with us, Mulder and me. We are your family."
Hannah's head popped away from Mulder's chest. One hand raised up to push the mass of curls that had flopped over her brow away so that she could look at them both. Her brow was drawn down in concentration as she looked from Mulder to Scully. "You're my mom?" she whispered.
Scully nodded, aware that she was smiling through the tears that were falling. "Yes," she said, "and Mulder really is your Daddy."
Hannah launched herself at Scully, and Scully gasped as Hannah threw her arms around her neck. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how very much she had wanted Hannah to do that. Her arms wrapped around her child fully for the first time and she closed her eyes and just held her. When she opened them, Mulder was regarding her with a heartfelt expression of love, tears streaming down his cheeks and over his wide smile.
"Hey!" he complained after a minute. "Don't Daddies get any hugs around here?"
Hannah giggled; Scully could feel the vibration against her neck, the rise and fall of Hannah's small body against her breast. It was an exquisite sensation. She bent her head and kissed Hannah on the cheek. "Do you think we should hug him, Hannah?" she teased.
"I already hugged him," Hannah said, speaking into Scully's neck.
Mulder pouted, and Scully could not help but laugh. His expression had a totally different resonance for her now.
"That was before I was your Daddy," Mulder said in a whiny tone.
Hannah giggled again, and Scully eyebrowed him. "Technically, Mulder …" she began, but he interrupted.
"So, that's it, then," he said. "No more hugs for Mulder?"
Hannah turned around out of Scully's arms, and looked at him sternly. "Daddy," she corrected. Then, she held out her arms.
Mulder looked like he might burst into tears, as he bent over to hug Hannah, leaving her in Scully's lap.
When he broke away from Hannah, he pointed at Scully and asked gently, "And who's that?"
"That's my mom," Hannah said in a satisfied and proud tone. She leaned back against Scully, who couldn't help but wrap her arms around her.
"Yes, she is," Mulder said, smiling through his tears, before he engulfed them all in a hug.
~*~
After breakfast, a new bag of cephalosporin was brought in by the infirmary Kurt. The clones in general seemed wary of Mulder, although the infirmary Kurt had relaxed enough to get within striking distance of Mulder when bringing in the new medication. After Mulder and Hannah settled down to watch some Sesame Street, Scully went in search of the Kurt with whom she'd spent much of the previous day.
Scully wondered how on Earth she was going to distinguish one clone from the other politely, but she was saved the embarrassment when she was approached by a clone shortly after she crossed the threshold of the large lab across from the infirmary space.
"Agent Scully," the clone said, "I take it that you were able to resolve matters with Agent Mulder?"
"Yes," she answered. "Agent Mulder still has a number of questions, as do I." She noted that the clone's expression held a hint of worry behind its usual imperturbable façade. "Agent Mulder understands that you are not personally responsible for his gametes being stolen. Notwithstanding that fact, however, it remains a very upsetting issue for the both of us."
"I do see that," the clone said. "I cannot say that I truly comprehend it, but I do recognize that." He paused. "What did you wish to speak to me about? As yet, I don't have any answers for you on the bacteria colonies from the child's samples, but expect to within the next few hours. In my opinion, she is responding well to the treatment."
"Yes, she is," Scully answered. "And I thank you for looking after her last night in Agent Mulder's and my absence. We'll be remaining in the infirmary with Hannah until her situation is resolved, if that's all right with you."
The clone nodded. "Of course," he said.
"I did want to discuss your ideas about strengthening Hannah's immune system," she said. "It appeared to me from Agent Mulder's description that the facility she was discovered in was maintained as a sterile environment. I wondered if you have any knowledge of that."
"I wouldn't characterize it as sterile," the clone said, "but it was certainly restricted. My understanding is that the children were in an environment that limited their exposure to microbes, probably for the purpose of getting the most pure response to the virus. The staff took precautions to not expose the children to any elements outside the room. In fact, until Agent Mulder removed this last child from the facility, it's doubtful that any of the children had ever been in an unrestricted environment." He paused. "Her relative health given the limitations that she was raised under is actually a testament to how robust her innate immune system is."
"Are you saying that you don't think Hannah is going to require gene therapy to boost her immune system as we discussed yesterday?" Scully asked, surprised.
"That is unknown at this time. It would be my recommendation that the child be given the standard immunizations that she should have received up until this point. It would be preferable that the process be done in a controlled environment such as this, once she has truly recovered from this current infection. Her response to the introduction of those new elements into her system will give us a more accurate picture of how well her immune system is functioning."
"You seem to have made a large shift in your opinion since yesterday evening," Scully said. "Does this have anything to do with Agent Mulder's display of anger?"
The clone blinked once, then again. Scully had the impression that he was insulted by her question, but he answered her. "Agent Mulder told some of my brothers that he took Hannah into a mall after he found her."
She nodded.
"A mall," the clone said firmly, "with hundreds of people and millions of microbes to which she'd never before been exposed. The fact that she isn't deathly ill, considering the circumstances of her early life, makes the case for her immune resilience."
Scully shook her head in thought. "I hadn't actually considered it from that perspective," she said. "I'd assumed that she'd gotten ill from that exposure, of course, but never considered that she actually withstood more contagion than she was exposed to. She may be more like her father than I'd suspected," she mused.
Off Kurt's questioning look, she continued. "Agent Mulder and I have worked in close quarters for a number of years," she said. "And over that time, I've observed that his susceptibility to illness is strikingly low. For example, our offices were changed from a small space in which just the two of us worked, to a large room where more than fifty agents worked. During the weeks following the move, I spent much time fighting illness. Agent Mulder did not show any signs of illness."
"Intriguing," the clone said. "Do you know if either of his parents showed this same capacity?"
Scully shrugged. "I have no idea," she paused. "I could ask Agent Mulder, but can't see how that would aid you."
"I admit that the question is purely one of curiousity, considering how it is that the colonizing virus replicates," the clone paused. "Agent Mulder's resistance to that virus is unprecedented, as you know, but we had not considered that his microbial resistance in general might be high."
Scully nodded. "I see. You realize, of course, that immunity is considered to be an acquired human trait."
"I concede that is the general understanding, but if humans can inherit predispositions toward certain immune syndromes from mutated genetic material they inherit from their parents, the reverse postulate should also be entertained," the clone said. "In fact, it may go a long way toward explaining the function of this so-called natural immunity which you brought up yesterday. There must be a genetic explanation for such an ability."
"You think this might be a fruitful research avenue as far as your vaccine work is concerned?" Scully asked. She had to admit that she was intrigued by the notion.
"I cannot foresee its ultimate worth," the clone said, "but it certainly appears to be worth investigating."
Scully nodded, thinking. "I believe that I may speak for Agent Mulder in this case. If we can assist you by giving you genetic samples for you to study, we're willing to do so."
"That offer is appreciated," the clone said, "and I accept it. Did you have any other matters you wished to discuss?"
"Yes," Scully answered. "I have concerns about how Hannah was created. You have referred to the recombination of human and alien DNA as being unstable a number of times; your brothers made mention of that to Agent Mulder as well. I want to understand what implications that will have for Hannah in the long-term," she said. "In addition, I'm concerned that if we stay here for the length of time that it will take to inoculate Hannah successfully, we'll be putting your operation at significant risk."
"The first answer is more complex, and one I'm not sure that we can answer easily without doing a more in-depth analysis of how exactly the child's genome was altered," the clone said. "That will require some time and more information than has been found so far in the records Agent Mulder procured. As to the second part of your statement, I'm not sure I understand how you and Agent Mulder would be putting this operation at-risk," the clone said.
"I have an implant," Scully said levelly. "Agent Mulder and I are not aware of the breadth of what it can do, but I do know that if we continue to stay out of sight, the chances of me being called via it will rise."
"I'm sorry, Agent Scully," the clone said, "I should have mentioned this yesterday. We broadcast a dampening signal around this building. Your implant cannot be activated within a radius of four square miles."
"What implications does that have for my health?" she asked.
"None in the short term," the clone answered. "The implant is essentially a micro-transmitter and receiver that can only be removed by a tool that transmits an appropriate signal. Removal of the implant without that device provoked the broadcast of a malevolent electronic impulse that began the process of cancer replication in your nasopharyngeal cavity. When an implant was resituated and began receiving electronic impulses from their systems, it halted and reversed the process."
"But they won't be able to locate me," she said. "Won't that make them suspicious?"
"Perhaps," the clone answered, "but there are many sites that are dampened. It will take time for them to figure out which of the many sites you're at."
"I admit that I don't know how the implant works, but I can't imagine that scenario to be likely," she argued. "If word gets out that Mulder and I are missing, I'd assumed that they'd be able to work backward from the last place my signature was recorded at. Logically, the nearest dampened site would be the first place to search."
The clone seemed to be giving her answer serious thought. "We can transmit our data, disassemble necessary laboratory equipment and move within a twelve-hour period. We've had to do so before. Do you know if your absence has raised such an alarm?"
She looked at her watch. "Agent Mulder should be checking in with some of our allies to see if the trail they planted to cover our absence has worked. We expect to know that answer in a few hours."
The clone nodded. "I'll tell my colleagues to prepare, just in case." She stepped aside to give him room to pass her, but the clone didn't move. "There is one other thing that you should consider, Agent Scully."
She nodded, encouraging the clone to continue.
"We have the removal tool here. If you desire it, we can safely remove their implant and free you from their machinations."
~*~
Scully followed the sound of Mulder's raised voice through the hallway that led to the loading zone of the warehouse, not surprised to find him in the relatively unused area. Hannah had told her that "Daddy got a call from a man he told me to call 'creepy Uncle Melvin', and had to go away because he was scaring the Doctor Kurt," before she continued on with her coloring.
Mulder was gesturing largely across the room, still unaware of her presence. "That's not even a question, Frohike."
He paused.
"I'm telling you that I know it, and that should be good enough," he said heatedly. "10 years, Melvin."
He paced as he listened. "Yeah, well the point is that I want to know who did this – I need to know who did this to us. Every single one of them, and you can start with Jonathan Buckley, M.D., the quack that had me ingesting the black oil."
"l-e-y," he paused. "I have no idea. Wait, I remember that his diploma said that he graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School," he rubbed his forehead, "1956. And don't forget Dr. Scanlon. All the information I've got on him is in the file. You have the back-up for that, except for the update on my home computer." He made a face. "Whatever, Langley. And then there's that ratfucker CGB Spender. I know he walked away from the flambé at El Rico. I need to find the hole he slithered into. I owe him. I figure we'll be even in about twenty-five years."
He paced, walking in tight circles. "Last, I don't have any of the information with me that I took from the day after," he paused, and then continued. "Where was Diana Fowley in the fall of 1994?"
He sighed. "Could you just look it up, Frohike?"
"I'm not sure Scully would appreciate me telling you," he said. The hand he'd been gesturing with braced itself against his hip. "Scully does not keep secrets from me!" he said indignantly, and she found herself hiding a smile at his blatant lie. The thing was, he seemed convinced that he was telling the truth.
"Eventually, we tell each other everything," he insisted.
"Yes, we do, Frohike," he said through gritted teeth and paused. "That is none of your business." He made an exasperated noise and then listened for a few seconds before saying, "Because Scully thinks that she was there in the train car, that's why," in a dark tone.
"Guys?" Mulder pulled the phone away from his ear to see if the call had been dropped. "Cheap piece of … " he muttered, "Guys? Oh, you are there." He listened. "Of course, I believe her!" he yelled. "She would never say something like that if it wasn't true!"
He listened again, "Because I want to know where she was, Frohike. I want to know what her assignment," he spat the word out, "was." There was another, longer pause, and then Mulder said, "I promise you -- I swear on Samantha's grave -- if she did this to us, if she participated in any way in what they did to Scully then she will be first up against the fucking wall!" His voice had been rising steadily in volume and anger as he spoke. "First!"
She had been walking toward him, but his outburst stunned her into immobility. She stopped and leant against an empty desk as Mulder's words swirled around in her head. Scully couldn't believe that he actually meant that he'd kill her, but the tone of his voice told her exactly how furious he was at Diana Fowley. In a sick way, his words, crude as they were, were a declaration of love for her more powerful than any promise of forever.
He paused again, "Thank you, Byers. Listen, I have to go back, Hannah's still freaked out because of last night and I don't want to leave her alone for too long."
Mulder hung up without saying goodbye, only to turn around and come face-to-face with her. All forward momentum on his part ceased, and he ran a hand through his hair, hard. The tips of his ears turned red. "Scully," he said, in an embarrassed tone, "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," she answered him thoughtfully. She held out a hand to him, and he crossed the distance between them a bit warily, and took her hand. She motioned for his other hand, and he dropped the phone into the pocket of his shirt before he gave it to her.
She tugged on his hands until she pulled him into the space between her legs. She regarded his hands, running her thumb over his friend's wedding ring, remembering how painful it had been to her to see Diana Fowley holding his hand months ago. "First up against the wall, Mulder?"
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," he said sheepishly. He was definitely blushing. "When the revolution comes."
"Are we going to lead that revolution, Mulder?" She kissed his hand and smiled up at him, watching the slow smile break over his face as her words sunk in. She opened her hands and pressed her palms against him while he mirrored her movements. She linked their fingers together, pushing Mulder's hands towards him until he resisted her.
He was nodding before he spoke, "About time, don't you think?" He pressed back against her and they balanced somewhere in the middle, meeting for a kiss. After a few minutes, he drew back from her with a questioning expression on his face. "What's up, Scully?" he asked.
His intuition was really quite striking – she had to admit it.
"I have some things to tell you," she began, and immediately, his brow creased in worry. She raised their still linked hands and ran a finger over the lines, smoothing them away. "No," she said, "for once, Mulder, it's not anything bad."
~*~
Part 22
Author:
comice aka Anjou (Anjou@rocketmail.com)Posting Date: December 2007/January 2008
Rating: R for language and sexuality; M for Mature readers
Classification: Mulder/Scully, UST/MSR, AU
Archive: No archival until the story is completed, please. I'll be submitting to Ephemeral and Gossamer myself.
Spoilers: Through Two Fathers/One Son (S6), then AU. In other words, no Arcadia and beyond. Mytharc-y.
Disclaimer: All X-Files personnel belong to 1013 and Fox. All other elements are mine.
Author's Note: It's hard for me to believe that this is coming to a close. This story has lived in my head for such a long time -- I started writing it in 1999, after all. Thanks for indulging my flights of fancy.
Daily posts can be read on my fic journal:
anjoufic, as well as Ephemeral and other XF fic sites. The whole tale will be archived at my website, No Other … , maintained by the generous dtg, when it is completed.As always, thanks to my sister and editrix, Suzanne, for her support.
Summary: Cast your memory back to the dark days of Season 6, to the period immediately following the confrontation between Mulder and Scully in the Gunmen's Office. It is late winter, dark and cold, the landscape obscured and transformed by snow and ice. One must step carefully, for the very ground can be treacherous. This is a lesson Mulder and Scully have already learned when the pristine snow in Antartica yielded a long-buried secret. But the winter can hold many secrets, and could tell many tales, if it so chose.
This is but one.
~*~
Their lovemaking that second time was ardent enough that she stumbled over a pillow on the floor by the bathroom door when she went to wash up later. It had somehow traveled from their bed over the empty one, to lie in wait and trip her.
She turned from the door, the laughter bubbling in her throat and couldn't help but survey the room with her investigator's eye. If she were trying to reconstruct the last couple of hours, she could certainly make the case that this had been a crime scene, with the marked disarray of the bed and the damage done to the furnishings.
But the other clues, the pile of clothing intermingled on the floor, the askew lampshade on the nightstand, and of course, the body in the bed, told another story. Mulder lay on his stomach, barely covered by the bedclothes she'd left behind when she fashioned herself a toga out of a desire for warmth, if not modesty. His arms were under the one pillow that they'd found on the floor, and he regarded her sleepily, one eye peering at her from under the overhang of his tousled hair. The bruising and burn mark from the taser was still faintly visible on the skin over his ribcage, but even that jarring sight was a testament of his love for her and didn't detract from his overall beauty.
"Why don't you come recreate the scene of the crime from over here?" he asked. His tone was honeyed, despite the gritty quality of his sleepy voice. "The view is equally good."
"Not from my perspective," she answered archly, as he rolled and stretched languidly, propping himself up on an elbow. "My view is unparalleled." Her tone was rich with innuendo.
"Scully," he huffed in surprise.
She was secretly pleased to see a blush stain his skin. She'd always suspected that he was not as shameless as he pretended to be. Happily, he was shameless enough in just the right ways.
"We need to get back to the clinic," she said, and he sighed, but nodded his head. She knew that he wanted to stretch their idyll here to its limits, but it was after two in the morning, and reality, in the form of a worried four-year-old, beckoned. "Are you coming?" she asked, turning into the bathroom as she dropped her toga on the hapless pillow.
She only half heard his predictable response as she turned on the water in the shower.
~*~
They were lucky that Hannah was still asleep when they got back to Prometheus, although from the worried expression on her face when they crept into the room, Scully was sure that hadn't always been the case. She read Hannah's chart carefully, pleased to see that her vital signs had stabilized further as her temperature had continued to decrease. It was still elevated at slightly more than 100, but Hannah had not yet been on the antibiotics for 24 hours. However, the fact that it remained elevated raised a red flag for Scully. It could be that Hannah's infection was more resistant than she had anticipated. Conversely, she wasn't actually sure what Hannah's true body temperature was when she wasn't sick, and with the alteration of her genome, she couldn't assume that 98.6 was the suitable standard. She looked up at the clock to check the time. Hannah was voiding appropriately, so rehydration therapy had been discontinued. Her next batch of antibiotics would be hung in a few hours, and the line in her hand had been capped off for the moment. She made a note to check Hannah's hand to ensure that the needle was situated correctly before the next infusion was begun.
When she finished with her notation, she found Mulder sitting next to Hannah staring intently at their daughter. She felt a thrill of recognition at his expression as he sat, right arm braced on the other side of Hannah's small sleeping form, searching for the familiar in her. She moved from the end of the bed to the other side, looking from his beloved and well-known profile to the newly beloved and less known countenance of their daughter. She was making her own comparisons between the two of them, when she realized that Mulder's intent regard was slowly but surely waking Hannah. Like father, like daughter -- she could feel herself smiling, and didn't attempt to stop Mulder. It was probably better for Hannah to be reassured than to stay asleep right now.
"Scully?" Mulder's whisper cut through her reverie. He looked pointedly at the chart dangling from her hands before his eyes returned to hers.
"Oh," she began to answer, "she's …"
"Mulder?" Hannah's worried voice cut through hers, and Mulder's head snapped toward the child.
"Hi –" before his mouth had finished forming the word, Hannah had popped up out of the covers, flung her arms around his neck and burst into tears. "Oh, pumpkin," Mulder said sorrowfully, and Scully could see how sorry he was. "I'm right here, sweetheart," he said. "I'm so sorry that I worried you."
He rubbed her back as Hannah started to calm, then her body became rigid and she looked around frantically. She relaxed when she saw Scully. "You both left me!" she accused, and Scully dropped the chart on the night table and sat down on the bed next to Mulder, her left hip bumping against his right in the middle of the bed as they faced Hannah.
"I'm sorry, Hannah," Scully said. She leant toward Hannah, intending to kiss her forehead, but Hannah surprised her by wrapping her arms around Scully's neck to pull her closer, although she did not retreat from Mulder's lap.
"I was scared," Hannah hiccupped. "I don't like being alone."
Scully's eyes filled with tears as she fought back the images of Hannah alone and sick while her sisters were dying around her in that room in Albany.
Mulder put his right arm around Scully and tugged her closer so that the both of them were sheltering Hannah. She pulled her legs up onto the bed.
"I know, Hannah," he soothed. "We promise it won't happen again."
Hannah backed away from Mulder enough to look from one to the other of them suspiciously. She was rubbing the fabric of her nightgown worriedly between her fingers, a gesture that Scully hadn't seen her make in days. It caused an unexpected pang. "You promise?" she said querulously. Her eyes were large in her pale oval face, framed by her unruly, sleep-mussed hair.
"We promise," Scully said firmly.
"OK," Hannah said, after a minute. She curled up against Mulder with a contented sigh, but put a hand on Scully's leg as if to hold her there, watching her with one bright eye.
Mulder kissed Hannah's head, wrapping his left arm around her tight.
"Where'd you go?" she asked Scully softly.
"Back to the motel," Scully said. "I met Mulder there, and we got our things."
"Oh," Hannah said. "Are we going somewhere else?"
"Not until you're all better," Scully said easily. "So your – Mulder and I thought we should get our things so that we'd have them here with us." She was surprised at how easily calling Mulder 'your father' had almost slipped right out of her mouth. Luckily, Hannah hadn't noticed, but Mulder certainly had. He was grinning at her.
He nodded at her, encouraging her, but she wasn't sure how to explain that they were her parents to Hannah. In truth, she wasn't that sure of how much Hannah understood about parents and families. Everything Hannah knew about family life she'd learned from television, not from any real experience. And she wasn't sure if it was a blessing or an additional sorrow that Hannah didn't seem to realize that the other girls in her room in Albany had been her sisters.
She took a deep breath in. "Hannah, do you remember that Mulder told you we were going to try and find your family – to find out who your mom and dad are?" Someday, she knew, they would have to explain to Hannah just how it was that she hadn't been with them for the first years of her life, but today was not that day.
"Yes," Hannah said, but her lower lip began to stick out. She pulled her hand off of Scully, and turned her head, burying her face in Mulder's chest.
"What's the matter?" Mulder asked, looking down at her.
"I don't want to go away from you," she said. Her voice was muffled because she was speaking into Mulder's torso, but the petulant tone was clear.
Scully felt the tension that had gripped her at having this conversation just ebb away as Mulder jostled Hannah and kissed her head, trying unsuccessfully to get her to look up. Hannah just burrowed in deeper.
"You don't have to go anywhere, Hannah," Scully said surely, and Hannah became completely still in Mulder's arms. "I promise you. You belong with us, Mulder and me. We are your family."
Hannah's head popped away from Mulder's chest. One hand raised up to push the mass of curls that had flopped over her brow away so that she could look at them both. Her brow was drawn down in concentration as she looked from Mulder to Scully. "You're my mom?" she whispered.
Scully nodded, aware that she was smiling through the tears that were falling. "Yes," she said, "and Mulder really is your Daddy."
Hannah launched herself at Scully, and Scully gasped as Hannah threw her arms around her neck. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how very much she had wanted Hannah to do that. Her arms wrapped around her child fully for the first time and she closed her eyes and just held her. When she opened them, Mulder was regarding her with a heartfelt expression of love, tears streaming down his cheeks and over his wide smile.
"Hey!" he complained after a minute. "Don't Daddies get any hugs around here?"
Hannah giggled; Scully could feel the vibration against her neck, the rise and fall of Hannah's small body against her breast. It was an exquisite sensation. She bent her head and kissed Hannah on the cheek. "Do you think we should hug him, Hannah?" she teased.
"I already hugged him," Hannah said, speaking into Scully's neck.
Mulder pouted, and Scully could not help but laugh. His expression had a totally different resonance for her now.
"That was before I was your Daddy," Mulder said in a whiny tone.
Hannah giggled again, and Scully eyebrowed him. "Technically, Mulder …" she began, but he interrupted.
"So, that's it, then," he said. "No more hugs for Mulder?"
Hannah turned around out of Scully's arms, and looked at him sternly. "Daddy," she corrected. Then, she held out her arms.
Mulder looked like he might burst into tears, as he bent over to hug Hannah, leaving her in Scully's lap.
When he broke away from Hannah, he pointed at Scully and asked gently, "And who's that?"
"That's my mom," Hannah said in a satisfied and proud tone. She leaned back against Scully, who couldn't help but wrap her arms around her.
"Yes, she is," Mulder said, smiling through his tears, before he engulfed them all in a hug.
~*~
After breakfast, a new bag of cephalosporin was brought in by the infirmary Kurt. The clones in general seemed wary of Mulder, although the infirmary Kurt had relaxed enough to get within striking distance of Mulder when bringing in the new medication. After Mulder and Hannah settled down to watch some Sesame Street, Scully went in search of the Kurt with whom she'd spent much of the previous day.
Scully wondered how on Earth she was going to distinguish one clone from the other politely, but she was saved the embarrassment when she was approached by a clone shortly after she crossed the threshold of the large lab across from the infirmary space.
"Agent Scully," the clone said, "I take it that you were able to resolve matters with Agent Mulder?"
"Yes," she answered. "Agent Mulder still has a number of questions, as do I." She noted that the clone's expression held a hint of worry behind its usual imperturbable façade. "Agent Mulder understands that you are not personally responsible for his gametes being stolen. Notwithstanding that fact, however, it remains a very upsetting issue for the both of us."
"I do see that," the clone said. "I cannot say that I truly comprehend it, but I do recognize that." He paused. "What did you wish to speak to me about? As yet, I don't have any answers for you on the bacteria colonies from the child's samples, but expect to within the next few hours. In my opinion, she is responding well to the treatment."
"Yes, she is," Scully answered. "And I thank you for looking after her last night in Agent Mulder's and my absence. We'll be remaining in the infirmary with Hannah until her situation is resolved, if that's all right with you."
The clone nodded. "Of course," he said.
"I did want to discuss your ideas about strengthening Hannah's immune system," she said. "It appeared to me from Agent Mulder's description that the facility she was discovered in was maintained as a sterile environment. I wondered if you have any knowledge of that."
"I wouldn't characterize it as sterile," the clone said, "but it was certainly restricted. My understanding is that the children were in an environment that limited their exposure to microbes, probably for the purpose of getting the most pure response to the virus. The staff took precautions to not expose the children to any elements outside the room. In fact, until Agent Mulder removed this last child from the facility, it's doubtful that any of the children had ever been in an unrestricted environment." He paused. "Her relative health given the limitations that she was raised under is actually a testament to how robust her innate immune system is."
"Are you saying that you don't think Hannah is going to require gene therapy to boost her immune system as we discussed yesterday?" Scully asked, surprised.
"That is unknown at this time. It would be my recommendation that the child be given the standard immunizations that she should have received up until this point. It would be preferable that the process be done in a controlled environment such as this, once she has truly recovered from this current infection. Her response to the introduction of those new elements into her system will give us a more accurate picture of how well her immune system is functioning."
"You seem to have made a large shift in your opinion since yesterday evening," Scully said. "Does this have anything to do with Agent Mulder's display of anger?"
The clone blinked once, then again. Scully had the impression that he was insulted by her question, but he answered her. "Agent Mulder told some of my brothers that he took Hannah into a mall after he found her."
She nodded.
"A mall," the clone said firmly, "with hundreds of people and millions of microbes to which she'd never before been exposed. The fact that she isn't deathly ill, considering the circumstances of her early life, makes the case for her immune resilience."
Scully shook her head in thought. "I hadn't actually considered it from that perspective," she said. "I'd assumed that she'd gotten ill from that exposure, of course, but never considered that she actually withstood more contagion than she was exposed to. She may be more like her father than I'd suspected," she mused.
Off Kurt's questioning look, she continued. "Agent Mulder and I have worked in close quarters for a number of years," she said. "And over that time, I've observed that his susceptibility to illness is strikingly low. For example, our offices were changed from a small space in which just the two of us worked, to a large room where more than fifty agents worked. During the weeks following the move, I spent much time fighting illness. Agent Mulder did not show any signs of illness."
"Intriguing," the clone said. "Do you know if either of his parents showed this same capacity?"
Scully shrugged. "I have no idea," she paused. "I could ask Agent Mulder, but can't see how that would aid you."
"I admit that the question is purely one of curiousity, considering how it is that the colonizing virus replicates," the clone paused. "Agent Mulder's resistance to that virus is unprecedented, as you know, but we had not considered that his microbial resistance in general might be high."
Scully nodded. "I see. You realize, of course, that immunity is considered to be an acquired human trait."
"I concede that is the general understanding, but if humans can inherit predispositions toward certain immune syndromes from mutated genetic material they inherit from their parents, the reverse postulate should also be entertained," the clone said. "In fact, it may go a long way toward explaining the function of this so-called natural immunity which you brought up yesterday. There must be a genetic explanation for such an ability."
"You think this might be a fruitful research avenue as far as your vaccine work is concerned?" Scully asked. She had to admit that she was intrigued by the notion.
"I cannot foresee its ultimate worth," the clone said, "but it certainly appears to be worth investigating."
Scully nodded, thinking. "I believe that I may speak for Agent Mulder in this case. If we can assist you by giving you genetic samples for you to study, we're willing to do so."
"That offer is appreciated," the clone said, "and I accept it. Did you have any other matters you wished to discuss?"
"Yes," Scully answered. "I have concerns about how Hannah was created. You have referred to the recombination of human and alien DNA as being unstable a number of times; your brothers made mention of that to Agent Mulder as well. I want to understand what implications that will have for Hannah in the long-term," she said. "In addition, I'm concerned that if we stay here for the length of time that it will take to inoculate Hannah successfully, we'll be putting your operation at significant risk."
"The first answer is more complex, and one I'm not sure that we can answer easily without doing a more in-depth analysis of how exactly the child's genome was altered," the clone said. "That will require some time and more information than has been found so far in the records Agent Mulder procured. As to the second part of your statement, I'm not sure I understand how you and Agent Mulder would be putting this operation at-risk," the clone said.
"I have an implant," Scully said levelly. "Agent Mulder and I are not aware of the breadth of what it can do, but I do know that if we continue to stay out of sight, the chances of me being called via it will rise."
"I'm sorry, Agent Scully," the clone said, "I should have mentioned this yesterday. We broadcast a dampening signal around this building. Your implant cannot be activated within a radius of four square miles."
"What implications does that have for my health?" she asked.
"None in the short term," the clone answered. "The implant is essentially a micro-transmitter and receiver that can only be removed by a tool that transmits an appropriate signal. Removal of the implant without that device provoked the broadcast of a malevolent electronic impulse that began the process of cancer replication in your nasopharyngeal cavity. When an implant was resituated and began receiving electronic impulses from their systems, it halted and reversed the process."
"But they won't be able to locate me," she said. "Won't that make them suspicious?"
"Perhaps," the clone answered, "but there are many sites that are dampened. It will take time for them to figure out which of the many sites you're at."
"I admit that I don't know how the implant works, but I can't imagine that scenario to be likely," she argued. "If word gets out that Mulder and I are missing, I'd assumed that they'd be able to work backward from the last place my signature was recorded at. Logically, the nearest dampened site would be the first place to search."
The clone seemed to be giving her answer serious thought. "We can transmit our data, disassemble necessary laboratory equipment and move within a twelve-hour period. We've had to do so before. Do you know if your absence has raised such an alarm?"
She looked at her watch. "Agent Mulder should be checking in with some of our allies to see if the trail they planted to cover our absence has worked. We expect to know that answer in a few hours."
The clone nodded. "I'll tell my colleagues to prepare, just in case." She stepped aside to give him room to pass her, but the clone didn't move. "There is one other thing that you should consider, Agent Scully."
She nodded, encouraging the clone to continue.
"We have the removal tool here. If you desire it, we can safely remove their implant and free you from their machinations."
~*~
Scully followed the sound of Mulder's raised voice through the hallway that led to the loading zone of the warehouse, not surprised to find him in the relatively unused area. Hannah had told her that "Daddy got a call from a man he told me to call 'creepy Uncle Melvin', and had to go away because he was scaring the Doctor Kurt," before she continued on with her coloring.
Mulder was gesturing largely across the room, still unaware of her presence. "That's not even a question, Frohike."
He paused.
"I'm telling you that I know it, and that should be good enough," he said heatedly. "10 years, Melvin."
He paced as he listened. "Yeah, well the point is that I want to know who did this – I need to know who did this to us. Every single one of them, and you can start with Jonathan Buckley, M.D., the quack that had me ingesting the black oil."
"l-e-y," he paused. "I have no idea. Wait, I remember that his diploma said that he graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School," he rubbed his forehead, "1956. And don't forget Dr. Scanlon. All the information I've got on him is in the file. You have the back-up for that, except for the update on my home computer." He made a face. "Whatever, Langley. And then there's that ratfucker CGB Spender. I know he walked away from the flambé at El Rico. I need to find the hole he slithered into. I owe him. I figure we'll be even in about twenty-five years."
He paced, walking in tight circles. "Last, I don't have any of the information with me that I took from the day after," he paused, and then continued. "Where was Diana Fowley in the fall of 1994?"
He sighed. "Could you just look it up, Frohike?"
"I'm not sure Scully would appreciate me telling you," he said. The hand he'd been gesturing with braced itself against his hip. "Scully does not keep secrets from me!" he said indignantly, and she found herself hiding a smile at his blatant lie. The thing was, he seemed convinced that he was telling the truth.
"Eventually, we tell each other everything," he insisted.
"Yes, we do, Frohike," he said through gritted teeth and paused. "That is none of your business." He made an exasperated noise and then listened for a few seconds before saying, "Because Scully thinks that she was there in the train car, that's why," in a dark tone.
"Guys?" Mulder pulled the phone away from his ear to see if the call had been dropped. "Cheap piece of … " he muttered, "Guys? Oh, you are there." He listened. "Of course, I believe her!" he yelled. "She would never say something like that if it wasn't true!"
He listened again, "Because I want to know where she was, Frohike. I want to know what her assignment," he spat the word out, "was." There was another, longer pause, and then Mulder said, "I promise you -- I swear on Samantha's grave -- if she did this to us, if she participated in any way in what they did to Scully then she will be first up against the fucking wall!" His voice had been rising steadily in volume and anger as he spoke. "First!"
She had been walking toward him, but his outburst stunned her into immobility. She stopped and leant against an empty desk as Mulder's words swirled around in her head. Scully couldn't believe that he actually meant that he'd kill her, but the tone of his voice told her exactly how furious he was at Diana Fowley. In a sick way, his words, crude as they were, were a declaration of love for her more powerful than any promise of forever.
He paused again, "Thank you, Byers. Listen, I have to go back, Hannah's still freaked out because of last night and I don't want to leave her alone for too long."
Mulder hung up without saying goodbye, only to turn around and come face-to-face with her. All forward momentum on his part ceased, and he ran a hand through his hair, hard. The tips of his ears turned red. "Scully," he said, in an embarrassed tone, "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," she answered him thoughtfully. She held out a hand to him, and he crossed the distance between them a bit warily, and took her hand. She motioned for his other hand, and he dropped the phone into the pocket of his shirt before he gave it to her.
She tugged on his hands until she pulled him into the space between her legs. She regarded his hands, running her thumb over his friend's wedding ring, remembering how painful it had been to her to see Diana Fowley holding his hand months ago. "First up against the wall, Mulder?"
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," he said sheepishly. He was definitely blushing. "When the revolution comes."
"Are we going to lead that revolution, Mulder?" She kissed his hand and smiled up at him, watching the slow smile break over his face as her words sunk in. She opened her hands and pressed her palms against him while he mirrored her movements. She linked their fingers together, pushing Mulder's hands towards him until he resisted her.
He was nodding before he spoke, "About time, don't you think?" He pressed back against her and they balanced somewhere in the middle, meeting for a kiss. After a few minutes, he drew back from her with a questioning expression on his face. "What's up, Scully?" he asked.
His intuition was really quite striking – she had to admit it.
"I have some things to tell you," she began, and immediately, his brow creased in worry. She raised their still linked hands and ran a finger over the lines, smoothing them away. "No," she said, "for once, Mulder, it's not anything bad."
~*~
Part 22
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 01:40 am (UTC)This part was great although I admit to being a bit upset that MnS stayed away from Hannah for so long. Poor little thing!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 05:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-13 02:56 am (UTC)My fav fic of all time! (its heaps long too... )
Heres a link:
http://krycek.gossamer.org/author/10156-1.html
look further down at the middle of the page.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 06:36 am (UTC)M&S aren't going to stay in hiding forever, though, right? Because I really want to see Skinner's reaction, if nothing else. :p
And you're almost done-- oh no! Will there be sequels? *puppy eyes*
no subject
Date: 2008-01-12 04:11 pm (UTC)Honestly? I hadn't even considered that. I've got a Bones crossover that I'm working on after this, which is also the fourth story in the Ghosts universe and then I've got "Justice" to finish. So, um, maybe?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-14 05:16 am (UTC)And actually you've been able to wind it up more neatly (as of Chapter 22) than I thought you'd get to, so I may be happy without sequels. Unless you wanted to write one. ;)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-18 03:30 pm (UTC)I never say never, but ... this was conceived of as a one-off, and I tried to make it as complete as possible, you know? I'd have to get a great idea to continue and right now? Not even considering the notion.
Just wanted to say
Date: 2008-08-03 04:22 am (UTC)Re: Just wanted to say
Date: 2008-08-04 01:23 am (UTC)