When Lost Love Returns

AUTHOR: Jennifer C.
RATING: PG
SPOILERS: Scully's pregnant in it....what episode do you think it's a spoiler for? Slight one for "Christmas Carol."
CATEGORY: M/S relationship.
DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, neither Mulder, Scully, or any other of the wonderful characters that the all-knowing CC managed to dream up are mine. Do you really think I'd be living out here in the midwest where it's currently 35 degrees if they were mine?! I'd be living somewhere much warmer than here. All I can say is hail the king of sci-fi CC for creating such wonderful characters and this wonderful thing we all know and love called "The X-Files."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my first post-Requiem fic and I have read countless numbers of them since the season finale last May. I think it's absolutely intriguing to read all the different ideas people have about how CC is going to play this scenario out. This is my version, and some of you may not like the ending because it doesn't have as much closure as my fics usually do, but I hope that won't stop you from reading it anyway and enoying it for what it is.

Scully sat in the hospital room still not ready to believe the words she had just spoken. She could see from the look on Skinner's face that he wasn't ready to hear it either.
"I'm pregnant." The words echoed over and over in her head. She still couldn't believe she was saying this. That it was true.
Skinner seemed to be in a state resembling shock. It took the words a few seconds to register in his mind. Now he just stood there, staring at his agent.
"But.....how?" was all he could manage to speak. And even that was just a whisper. A thousand ideas ran through his head. But as he looked back to Scully, sitting in her hospital bed, her eyes spoke the words he already knew deep down. His answer was in her expression.
Not knowing what to think or feel, he simply nodded. He now understood the words she had spoken just moments ago. "We will find him," she had said barely audible through her tears "I *have* to." Now he truly understood her need to find him. She was carrying *his* child.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence and akwardness, Skinner spoke.
"Agent Scully, we will do everything we can to find him. You know that. And when you feel a little better, you can help us." He reached down and gave her hand a faint squeeze. She smiled up at him, tears still stinging the back of her eyes. She squeezed his hand back, and said "Thank you, sir." With that, Skinner left Scully to be alone. He knew she'd need time to process all that had happened to her in such a short amount of time. All that had changed.
**************************************************************
Scully watched Skinner walking down the hospital corridor until he turned the corner and could no longer be seen.
Now she was left alone with her thoughts. She felt so many emotions at this point. Sadness mainly.
"What am I going to do without Mulder by my side?" she thought to herself. She looked around the room, out the window, down the hallway. She just didn't know what to think anymore.
She just couldn't process the fact that she was pregnant. She had given up hope on ever conceiving and carrying a child of her own. She slipped her hand down to her stomach. She knew that part of Mulder was inside of her. Growing. A life that was forming because of the love she and Mulder had shared, both physically and mentally. She knew that no matter what, a part of Mulder would always be with her.
"One thing to always be thankful for," she thought to herself.
******************************************************************
6 months later
HQ of the Lone Gunmen
"Nice to see you, Scully!" Frohike chimed as he let her in the door.
"Nice to see you too, Frohike." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder. She took a few more steps before stopping to watch Byers and Langly as they huddled over one of the numerous computer monitors. "So what have you got for me today?" It was then that Byers and Langly turned from the screen and walked towards her.
"Hey Scully!" Byers said. Langly gave her a slight hug. Both were grinning ear to ear. The smile faded from her face as she asked the question she had asked every single day since Mulder had disappeared.
"Have we gotten any closer to finding him?" she asked solemnly. She had gotten used to hearing the same answer every day. Every day they would get serious expressions on their faces and inform her that "No, nothing new had turned up. But that they would keep looking." She knew they were doing everything in their power to locate him. It just seemed like time was running out. She had a bad feeling in her stomach, and she was pretty sure it wasn't because of the pregnancy.
They didn't surprise her this time. They gave her the same answer as they had every day before that. She could see the sad looks on each one of their faces. She knew how desperately they wanted to find Mulder, too. She smiled to try and brighten their moods.
"Hey you guys. I know you're doing the best you can. Don't feel bad. We'll just have to look even harder."
She nearly choked on her own words. She thought to herself "If we were doing everything we could, he'd be here with me right now. Not somewhere out there, all alone."
But she tried to keep a positive attitude around the Lone Gunmen. She knew that finding Mulder was almost as important to them as it was to her. And she also knew that with each day of not finding him they felt they were letting her down, and even more importantly, letting Mulder down. She had to be strong for them. For herself. For her baby. And for Mulder.
"Hey guys," she said smiling "I've had a hard day and I think I'm going to head home and try to relax a little. Let me know if you find out *anything*. Don't hesitate to call no matter what time it is." And with that she left to go home.
**********************************************************
Scully's apartment
20 minutes later
She put her key into the lock and opened the door. This day had been a particularly stressful one, and this pregnancy wasn't making it any easier. Not only did she have morning sickness, but it always seemed to hit her *after* she got to work. On more than one occassion she had been hit with a sudden wave of nausea and hadn't quite made it to the bathroom on time. Today was one of those days. She'd had to come home and change clothes.
She wasn't used to the extra hormones either. She'd be sitting at her desk and ask Mulder a question aloud, and at receiving no reply, actually be surprised on occasion. That always made her cry. She found that part of the pregnancy the most annoying of all.
"What would Mulder think if he saw me breaking down like this all the time?" she thought to herself. She had always been such a strong, stable woman. "I'm an emotional roller coaster!" Mulder would be surprised to say the least.
Now that she was home, all she wanted to do was take a nice, hot bath. That had been on her mind all day. Her feet hurt, her head hurt, and she was just plain exhausted. She'd been so focused on looking for him that she hadn't taken proper care of herself. She'd spent so much time doing everything she could to find Mulder that she hadn't considered her baby. No....*their baby*.
"He may not be here in person, but our miracle is always inside me." she thought to herself with a sheepish grin. There were times when she took comfort in knowing that the product of their love grew stronger inside of her everyday. Just then, the baby kicked. Scully jumped, a little surprised, then rested her hand gently on her stomach.
"Hi in there!" she said with a big smile "Haven't heard much from you today." She now rested both her hands on her stomach "What do you say we take a nice bath and relax a little?" The growing baby squirmed inside of her once more. Scully just stood there, hands on her stomach. This miracle still never ceased to amaze her. All the times she'd put her hands on Tara's stomach when she was pregnant with Matthew. She'd felt him moving and kicking from the outside and wondered to herself what it would feel like from the inside. Now she knew and it was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. All these years now she had been a scientist and she knew all about growth and development. But it was times like this, when she was feeling her own baby moving and kicking, that she would think to herself "Isn't it amazing that in a short 9 months, a brand knew life is forming inside of me?"

She tested the temperature of the water and settled herself into the tub. She exhaled and shut her weary eyes. The squirming baby calmed too. As she laid there, immersed in soothing hot water, she heard a loud thump outside her apartment door and one loud knock. Then silence. She got up immediately and dried herself off. She pulled on her pajamas and grabbed her gun on the night stand. She walked cautiously towards her front door. She first looked through the peep hole, but she saw nothing. "Don't panic Dana." she told herself over and over again.
"Hello?! Is anyone there?" She asked through the door, voice quivering slightly.
What Scully heard next sent shivers through her spine and made her whole body stiffen.

"Scully?!" She knew that voice anywhere. And although it was whispered barely loud enough to hear, she still recognized it. Mulder was home.
Scully quickly opened the front door. Mulder's thin body, which had been slumped against her door, fell backwards onto the floor at her feet.

"Oh my god!!!" she shrieked then bent down to drag him the rest of the way into her apartment. Mulder was barely conscious, and his face was pale and thin. Scully wanted to cry, but she held it together for him. She managed to get him onto her couch, and knelt down beside him to examine him.
"Mulder.....do you know where you are?"
Mulder nodded "Yeah, but how did I get here?" he asked in a low voice.
"I don't know, Mulder. Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" she asked very concerned.
"My head is throbbing. But other than that, no, nothing hurts."
"Scully, how long have I been gone?" he asked, seeing the look of concern in her eyes.
"Sshhhh Mulder. We'll talk about that later." She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I'm just so glad that you're back with us!"
Mulder wondered to himself what the 'us' in that statement meant, but the truth was that his head just hurt too damn bad to think about it right now.
"Mulder, I'll be right back." she said and squeezed his hand. She went and grabbed her phone.
************************************************************
Scully's apartment
One hour later
Skinner had been the last to arrive at Scully's apartment. It was nearing 9:30 now. He walked in to see a room filled with Scully and the Lone Gunmen. Then his gaze wandered over to the couch, where Mulder sat, looking very confused. Skinner gave Scully a relieved smile, then walked over to where Mulder sat, staring at the wall. He sat next to him. After a few moments, he spoke.
"Mulder?" Mulder sat there staring ahead for a few seconds before he turned to look at him.
Skinner began "Mulder, are you alright? Do you know what happened to you or where you've been for all this time?"
Mulder didn't answer. He simply nodded his head 'no' and turned his gaze to where Scully stood talking to Byers.
Around 10:15, while Scully sat to ask Mulder a few more questions, Skinner decided it was probably time to leave them alone to talk. After all, they did have a lot to talk about. Skinner dropped a not-so-subtle hint to the Gunmen and all of them left shortly after saying their goodbye's to Mulder and Scully.
***********************************************************
Scully's apartment
10:30 p.m.
Scully carried in the sandwich from the kitchen she had made Mulder. He still sat in the same spot, now watching her instead of the wall. She smiled when she noticed him looking at her. She knew there were probably a million questions he had to ask himself, and she bet she could guess what the first one would be about.

"There you go." she said, placing the sandwich in front of him on the coffee table. As Scully started to lift her hand away from the plate, Mulder caught her wrist.

"I missed you so much Scully." he said.
She froze in place. All this time she had dreamed of this day. The day when she would have him back again. When they could hold each other again. Now that he was actually here, she was almost too afraid to believe that after all this time he was right here sitting in front of her.
She looked down to where his hand held her wrist and she could feel the tears begin to fill her eyes. When he'd first showed up there, she had been too afraid for him to cry. Then everyone had come over and she felt she had to be strong in front of them. But now it was just them. Alone.
She moved slowly to sit next to him on the couch.
He just watched her, studied this new version of Scully. He was confused by her present condition, yet he thought to himself that he'd never seen her look more beautiful.
She began "Mulder I....." she now let the tears fall freely, let herself be vulnerable in front of him. "Mulder, I was so afraid I would never see you again." That was all she could manage.
He pulled her close to him and she burried her face in his neck and cried harder than she ever had. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her, but he knew right now wasn't the time.
He stroked the back of her hair with one hand and with the other he traced circle on her back.
Her crying eventually subsided and Mulder placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head so that he could look into her eyes.
She cupped his face in her hands and began to trace his features with her thumbs. First his forehead, then over his eyes, his nose, his jawline, and eventually his pouty bottom lip. She could feel her hearbeat speeding up in her chest as he began to lean in to kiss her. Their lips met so tenderly, but his kiss still sent a shiver down her spine. That tender kiss grew into a passionate one. As their lips parted, she slipped her tongue over his lips, and his tongue met hers with equal passion. She drew comfort from the warmth and familiarity of his kiss. Finally they parted, both breathing heavily. She looked back into his eyes. And as he looked into hers, he could see exactly what she was feeling, what she was thinking. He knew that now it was alright to ask her what he needed to know.
"Scully.....how?" was what he finally said. "I mean when? How did you get," he motioned to her stomach "like this?"
She sat in silence for a moment, then looked back into his eyes. Then a smile formed at the corner of her mouth and she said "You mean to tell me you've forgotten all about that night already?"
Mulder's mouth dropped open at hearing this. The stunning realization slapping him in the face.
"You mean....."
"Yes."
"But how? You were supposed to be barren. How did I....get you....and then?"
She laughed and began to intertwine their fingers.
"I'm not sure exactly how I got pregnant, Mulder. Well, I mean I know *how* I got pregnant, I just don't know how it was possible. When the doctors told me that I was pregnant, I made them do every test that can be done to make sure it was right. But every test turned out positive. I'm carrying your baby, Mulder."
Mulder just watched her. He wondered if she'd noticed that while she had said this, she had unconsciously slipped her hand down and was resting it on her stomach.
After a long silence, he spoke up.
"I can't believe this! You....like this....it's the most amazing, wonderful thing I've ever seen!" She smiled "Well believe it Mulder. She's yours." Then he looked up at her with astonishment.
"You mean it's a girl? You already know?"
"Yes. I found out about a month ago. I was waiting for you to come back to us so we could give her a name."
With that she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach next to her own. He just stared at her swollen stomach, amazed at the miracle that lie within. Then the baby kicked and Mulder's face lit up. He brought his other hand up to rest on her stomach and they sat like that for what seemed like hours.
After sitting there, feeling their baby moving and kicking, alive inside of Scully, she broke the silence.
"Mulder, it's been a long day. I'm really sleepy. What do you say if we head off to bed for the night?"
Mulder was the first to stand, extending his hand to help Scully off the couch. She accepted and heaved herself up. They walked hand in hand to Scully's bedroom and he helped her into her pajamas, then into her bed, pulling the covers over her. He then stripped down to his boxers and slipped in on the other side of the bed and scooted as close to her as her stomach would allow him to. They laid there with their foreheads pressed together, savoring the chance to hold each other once more.
~Fini~
Author's Notes: Immediately after I saw "Requiem" I started getting all these ideas for a great post-Requiem fic. I am currently writing another post-Requiem fic called "A Result of Love." That one WILL be finished before the 8th season premiere on Nov 4! I promise!! So anyone who has read this one and liked it enough to read another one of my works should come back and read it after I'm finished!!! : )

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