Reunion (5/?) PG-13

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 the Dewey decimal system, 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."

*****