It
took awhile for anyone to answer the door. He
knew he was on their surveillance camera, what was the problem? Did they not recognize him? Yes, he tried to disguise himself in this city,
but surely . . .Finally he heard the locks being disengaged.
“What
do you want?”
“Frohike? What - “
“Come
in Mulder.” Byers moved in front of the
smaller man and opened the door wider.
Mulder
entered and turned once inside, allowing them to relock the door. He didn’t feel very welcome. He didn’t try to enter the apartment. “What’s wrong?”
“What
are you doing here?” Frohike’s
hostility was obvious.
He
hesitated slightly, then looked at the other two men.
“I have some new information. I
wanted to get your take on it.” He
tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.
“What’s
wrong?” He tried to read their
expression, but neither man would meet his eye. “Is
it Doc? Is something wrong?” His voice shook slightly on the last word.
“Mulder
. . . “
“You
knock her up and then vanish. A real
sweetheart, you are.” Frohike made sure he heard that.
His
mouth fell open and he looked at Byers, but couldn’t get the man to look him in the
eye. It took him a long moment to find his
voice. “Doc’s pregnant?”
“Yeah.”
Finally Byers spoke.
“I
told you he didn’t know.” Langly
turned to Frohike.
Mulder
ignored them. “Can you get her over
here? I need to talk to her.”
“I
don’t know Mulder. She’s been
avoiding us lately.” Byers could see
what this was doing to him.
“I
have to talk to her. Please.”
Byers
glanced at the other two and nodded. He moved
to the phone and took a deep breath. “Dr.
Dana Scully please.” After what seemed
like an extremely long wait to Mulder, “Dana? It’s
John Byers. Could you come by?”
“John
- “
“Please. We have some information.”
John
heard her sigh. “Just for a minute,
okay? I get off at three. I’ll see you then.”
“Thanks
Dana.” He heard her hang up and returned
his own phone to the base. “She'll be
here after three.”
Mulder
nodded but said nothing.
”Mulder,
you want us to go over your information?” Langly
finally broke the silence.
He
reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a couple of computer disks and some printed
sheets. Langly took them and sat in front of
the computer.
The
other three men quickly became fascinated with the information, but Mulder himself was
unable to concentrate. After several
attempts, they left him alone. Even Frohike
was mellowing at his obvious discomposure.
It
was 3:35 before the buzzer sounded. Mulder
had pulled his hair back into a neat ponytail. He
didn’t want to look scruffy for her. He
was on his feet instantly and moved out of sight, then nodded to Byers who opened the
door.
“John,
let’s make this short. I’m tired
and I have things to do.”
Byers
looked over toward Mulder with no comment. She
turned to see what had his attention and her face went white.
Mulder
was already moving and had his arm around her, supporting her. “I’m . . . I’m fine.” He didn’t bother to argue with her,
bending over to place one arm under her knees and lifting her into his arms.
Byers
motioned toward his bedroom and Mulder carried her in, and shut the door behind them. He lowered her gently onto Byers’ bed. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,
I’m . . . I was surprised.”
“Doc,
I didn’t - “ He knelt in front of her.
“Aren’t
you going to ask if it’s yours?”
“I
know it’s mine.” He placed one hand
on her rounded belly. “You’re six
months.” She nodded, her eyes moist at
his words. “If I’d known . . .
“
She
shook her head and smoothed down the hair he had obviously been running through with his
fingers for some time.
“How
are you? Don’t say fine, I need to know. How are you really?”
“I’m
doing great. It’s been a picture perfect
pregnancy so far, if a little unexpected.”
“Unexpected?” He didn’t know how to react to that word.
“Well,
I was on the pill. I don’t - “
“This
baby was meant to be.” A tear escaped
her eye then and he caught it as it trailed down her cheek.
“Do you believe that?”
She
nodded, unable to speak. He sat beside her on
the bed then and took her into his arms. After
a few moments he put his finger under her chin and turned her face up to him. “How are you otherwise?”
She
understood his question and took a deep breath. “My
family isn’t exactly thrilled. Especially
my father. It’s kind of hard for him to
face the fact that his medical doctor daughter got in trouble from a one night
stand.”
“Not
a one night stand.”
“Okay,
three nights, but - “
“Doc.” She sighed. “I
need to talk to them.”
“That’s
not necessary.”
“Yes. It is. But
I’m not sure it would be wise right now.”
She
nodded. “What are your plans?”
“They’ve
changed.” His hand went back to her
swollen abdomen.
“What
were they?” Her hand covered his.
“I
was going to drop off the information I’d accumulated with the guys and leave. Only be in town a couple of hours.”
“You
weren’t going to call me?”
He
looked down, then back up at her face. “I
thought I was protecting you.”
“And
now?”
“I
can’t leave you. I won’t leave you.”
She
leaned against his strong body and for a moment let him comfort her. “You can’t stay here. The military hasn’t given up on finding you. The colonel comes by the hospital randomly,
checking to see if you’ve come back.”
He
stiffened, “has he bothered you?”
“Annoyed
maybe. He can’t prove anything.”
“He
knows you’re pregnant?”
She
smiled slightly. “On me it’s a
little hard to miss.”
“I
want you to leave with me.”
“What?”
Mulder’s
eyes widened at the movement within her. He
swallowed but didn’t know what to say, didn’t know if he could speak. She smiled at his reaction and placed a soft kiss
on his cheek.
“Are
you . . . “ He stopped to center himself. “I
don’t want you to even go by your apartment. We
need to get out of town, now.”
“Mulder,
I can’t just leave. My job, my family. I can’t.”
“Doc
- “
“My doctor’s here - "
“Do
you trust him?” His eyes were intense
now. “What tests has he run?”
“I’ve
been going to him for years. We don’t
socialize or anything.”
“And
the tests?” His grip had tightened
but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Nothing
unusual. He asked if I wanted an amino and I
said no. I’m under the age where
they’re considered necessary. Mulder,
what?”
“Was
he okay with that?”
She
thought about that for a moment. “He
seemed to be, now you’ve got me wondering.”
“Anything
else, anything unusual about how he’s treating you?” He was so tense.
She wanted to caress his face, try to calm him down, but her own mind had
clicked into gear and he saw her hesitate. “What?”
“It’s
silly. My doctor is in a practice with two
other OB-GYNs. Usually when you have your
monthly visits you rotate among the doctors so that you are familiar with everyone. You never know who might be on duty when you go
into labor. But all of my visits have been
with Dr. Hambright. I even teased him about
it last time and he made some comment about doctor’s privilege.”
“He’s
monitoring you. Doc, can you draw your own
blood? Would it be safe?”
“Yes. What are you thinking?”
“I
want these guys to make sure everything’s okay.
What about an ultrasound?”
“Dr.
Hambright scheduled one, but I had to miss the appointment.
He rescheduled it but I haven’t gone yet. I know the date of conception, so we didn’t
need it for that. Mulder, what are you
thinking?”
“That
I’m going to do whatever I have to do to keep you safe.” She relaxed slightly and managed to smile. “We need to get out of town tonight.”
“Mulder,
I can’t. If I don’t show up at work
tomorrow everyone will notice. They would
start looking for me, for us.” She
kissed him quickly. “Think about it,
vanishing would raise every flag. I should go
to work like normal tomorrow. I’m
working three days on, four days off right now - moving toward my maternity leave. If I work tomorrow
- like normal - we could have a four day head start.”
“Did
I fall in love with your brains or your beauty?”
“I
hope it wasn’t my body.” She looked
down at the largest part of her and chuckled.
“I
can’t imagine you more beautiful that you are right now.”
She
looked away, a blush heating her face. After
a moment he kissed her forehead and rose. “Let’s
get your blood, then we need to get you home. You
said you were tired.”
“I’m
not anymore.” He took her hand and
lifted her to her feet.
While
Langly and Frohike helped her with the blood sample, Mulder took Byers aside. “Her apartment, her car?”
“We
check them both twice a week at random times. Her
car’s been clean; we only found one bug at her place.
As far as we know it’s still functioning fine in the apartment directly
above hers.”
Mulder
nodded, he’d been right to ask them to keep an eye on her. But it should have been him. He looked up when she entered the room. “I want you to go home, pack a few
things.”
“Where
will you be?”
“If
I can get one of these guys to give me a ride, I’ll be meeting you at the backdoor
very shortly.”
She
smiled broadly and looked over at Byers. “No
problem. Go home Dana, we’ll be right
behind you.”
She
hadn’t paid this much attention to ensuring she wasn’t followed for weeks. Suddenly it was important again and she was doubly
careful. Her hands were trembling slightly
with anticipation as she let herself into the apartment.
Pack,
she needed to pack. She was going to run away
with him. She hadn’t even hesitated. Even as he was putting forth the idea she was
formulating plans on how to get out of town safely. That
surprised her a little; she wasn’t an impulsive person, not usually. But when he was around - she caressed her
protruding stomach. She laughed softly to
herself, okay maybe she was impulsive. She
belonged with him, and if he thought they weren’t safe here, she believed him.
She
had her suitcase laid out on her bed when she heard the tap at her backdoor. She hurried to open it and let him in. Before she could speak he had her in his arms, his
lips on hers. She didn’t even see Byers
move past them into the apartment.
When
she could speak, he stopped her again and bent closer to whisper into her ear. “Let him check it out first.”
She
nodded puzzled, but whatever he thought . . . Shortly Byers rejoined them in the kitchen. “All clean.
See you guys later.” Then
he let himself out the door.
“What
was he talking about?”
“He
was checking your apartment for bugs, listening devices.
I’ve had them check periodically since I left.”
“They’ve
been in here? Checking my apartment?”
“And
your car.”
“Why?”
“I
wanted to make sure you were left alone, that they really didn’t think you knew where
I was.”
That
took her a moment to absorb that.
“You
were looking after me even after you . . . But they never found anything, right?”
“Once. Here in the apartment.” Her eyes widened and his grip on her tightened. “Don’t worry. The guys didn’t destroy it, they only moved
it, to the apartment upstairs.”
She
still didn’t speak, trying to take it in. He
had been right, they were following her, watching her.
How much danger was she in? Was
her child safe?
“I
told you, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.
I’m getting you out of here. Remember
when you fed me that first day and I said I couldn’t reciprocate. Well I can now.
I have a place, a different identity in another part of the country. I want you with me.
Please think about it. Doc, I
want you with me.”
“They
. . . they were in here?” He realized he
was supporting her and moved her toward the living room to seat her gently on the couch. He squeezed her hand gently then went into the
kitchen and returned quickly with a glass of water.
“Doc,
here. Take a sip. Come on, stay with me.” She obeyed him silently, giving herself over to
him. “Doc? You okay?”
“I
. . . they really want you, don’t they?”
He
nodded solemnly. “That’s why I want
you out of here. I want you where I know they
aren’t looking. And I want you with me. I need to confess something to you. I could easily have sent the information I brought
. . . I needed to know you were safe. I
didn’t plan to see you, I didn’t think I could handle that and then just leave
again, but I wanted to be in the same city for a little while.”
Her
hand came up to his face. It was shaking
slightly but when she touched him she steadied and drew his face down to hers.
"I
want you Doc. I know I don't have the right
-"
"Mulder,
stop. Stop right there. You have the right, I gave you the right six
months ago and I have no intention of taking it back.
Besides, I want you too. I . .
. I look a little different."
He
smiled then as his eyes raked her again. "Maybe
a little, but I can't wait to see more."
"That's
the problem, there's so much more to see." He
chuckled then and her eyes drifted close as his hands began an exploration of her body.
He'd
forgotten none of the things that she enjoyed. What
he wasn't prepared for was her enthusiasm. His
concern about her ‘condition’ diminished quickly.
He was the one in danger here and he was enjoying every minute of it.
*****
She
had only been gone a few minutes and he already missed her so much he ached from it. She was coming with him, she trusted him that much
even after what he had done to her. He had no
memories, but somehow he knew that he had never had a child. This one, this child that they had created was
very nearly the most important thing in the world - following only her.
He
was startled from his reverie by the sound of someone trying to unlock the front door. Shit! He
had to get out, something had alerted them. He
quickly moved to the back door and slipped out, grateful that everything he had brought
was on his back. He pulled the door silently
closed and made sure it was locked from the inside. He
hid himself in the alley and watched to see if he was followed from the apartment.
After
a moment he moved farther into the alley and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He quickly dialed the number at the apartment of
her friends.
“Yeah?”
“Go
check on Doc. Now!” He broke the connection to ensure there would be
no trace.
“Mulder? Hey guys! There’s
a problem!”
Frohike
and Byers were in the room instantly. “What? What else did you find?”
“No,
not this. Mulder just called. He said go check on Dana. He was as close to frantic as I’ve ever heard
the man.”
“Okay,”
Byers took immediately charge. “You two
head down to the hospital, find her, keep an eye on her.
I’ll head over to her place and see if I can find him.”
Langly
and Frohike nodded and all three of them headed out for their various destinations.
Once
at the hospital Frohike grabbed some maintenance coveralls and Langly slipped surgical
greens over his clothes. They separated, both
heading for the ER and kept their eyes open for her.
Frohike spotted the military first and increased his pace. When he saw Colonel Baldwin he realized he was
towering over Dana and his manner was less than pleasant.
Frohike
grabbed some gauze from an unlocked cabinet and wound it around his hand. Then he hurried over towards them, spotting Langly
over to the side. “Hey Doc, Doc can you
help me?”
She
looked over at the familiar voice and knew immediately that he was there to help her. And he’d never called her Doc, Mulder had
sent him. What had happened at her apartment?
“Can’t
you see she’s busy? Find someone
else.” The colonel dismissed the smaller
man.
Scully
bristled at that and turned her back to the officious toad.
“Here sir, come in here and let me look at that.” Frohike followed her, putting himself between her
and the colonel. Langly moved in quickly, to
act as her aide.
“What’s
going on?” She whispered, her body
shielding his lack of injury from view.
“We
don’t know. He called us and said to
find you and make sure you were safe.” She
almost smiled at that; he was still looking after her.
Langly
looked toward the entrance of their cubicle. “We’ve
got to get rid of him.”
“And
how we gonna do that?” Frohike hissed at
him.
“I’ll
see if Byers has our friend, one of them might have a plan.”
*****
Byers
had lost no time getting over to Dana’s apartment.
He headed immediately for the alley behind her place and pulled in. He got out, looking around and left the door open
to keep from making a sound.
Mulder
startled him by appearing beside him. “Have
you got her?”
“Frohike
and Langly went to the hospital to check on her. I
thought you might need some help too.”
“Yeah,
we’ve got to get over there. Someone
came into her apartment after she left. I
went out the back. I didn’t see
them.”
“Come
on, let’s get you out of here. I’m
sure they have her.” Mulder nodded and
entered the car. He didn’t protest when
Byers headed back toward their apartment. Somehow
he hoped she would be there waiting for him. Fear
nearly overwhelmed him when she wasn’t.
He
turned to Byers to demand that they get over to the hospital when the phone rang. “Yeah?”
Byers grabbed it on the first ring.
“The
big guy’s here and he’s harassing our friend.
We’re with her now but he’s hot on us. Can you get rid of him?”
Byers
looked over at Mulder, “Yeah. We’ll
handle that from here. Don’t leave her
side.” He broke the connection and
turned to Mulder. “The colonel is there. The guys have her separated for now but they want
us to get him out of there.”
Mulder
stood silent, thinking frantically. “Do
you . . . do you know his commanding officer?”
“Yeah,
General Foreman. What are you thinking?”
“We
need to get him on the phone. Which of these
damn phones is the hardest to trace?”
Byers
tossed him a phone, then went to the bank of instruments and began making some
adjustments. Finally he turned back to
Mulder, “Okay, now what?”
"Do
you know the general's aide's name?"
"Lt.
Colonel Nixon." He grinned.
"Not
Richard." Mulder looked up at him.
"You're
remembering?"
Mulder
frowned then, "I don't think I ever forgot that."
"Oh,
well anyway he's Philip Nixon. What's your
plan?"
"To
get the good colonel away from the hospital. Think
you can sound like a hard ass Lt. Colonel?"
Byers
shook his head. "Not as well as you
can."
Mulder
took a deep breath. "Let's get her out
of there. You know the number of the
ER?" At the other man's nod he gripped
the phone tighter. "Let's do this." Even Byers sat up straighter at the tone of voice
he used to get Colonel Baldwin to the phone.
"Sir. This is Lt. Colonel Nixon. General Foreman wants you and your team in his
office ASAP."
"Has
he found . . . “ The colonel hesitated then, he was in public.
"He
wants you over here. The general will brief
you when you arrive." Then he broke the
connection. It would seem more like an order
that way.
"You
sound like you're used to command." Byers
venture
"They're
threatening Doc. I can sound like whatever I
have to." Byers nodded. "Can you get hold of Langly? Find out if it worked?"
Byers
turned immediately to another phone and punched in a number. "What's happening?" Then he smiled and nodded at Mulder. "Bring her here." He broke the connection and nodded. "GI Joe's already out the door, his
storm troopers on his heel. Good work."
"Not
without you guys. You know we're going to
have to vanish."
Byers
nodded, "That doesn't mean you're alone. We
can set you up with some pretty sophisticated stuff."
He could see the hesitation in this man's eyes. "We don't want her hurt either. If a problem develops we can make changes
instantaneously, you wouldn't be completely alone."
"That
would be better for her. Let me think about
it." Byers nodded and turned back to his
work. This man had a lot to think about.
Mulder
was ready to chew fingernails by the time they appeared on the surveillance camera. Waiting out of sight was nearly his undoing,
but Byers raced to unlock the door.
She
was in his arms in moments and he wasn't sure he was ever going to be able to let go. When he allowed her to breathe again she gave him
a tremulous. "What happened?"
"I
don't know unless they spotted me. Right
after you left the apartment someone came in. I
got out the back and called the guys. God, I
thought they had you." He pulled her
back to him again.
"They
almost did. Colonel Baldwin was pushier today
than usual. If Frohike and Langly hadn't
shown up . . . “ She shuddered slightly.
"We've
got to get out of town. We're not going to be
able to go by your apartment. I don't know
why they were there, but we're not going to chance finding out."
She
took a deep breath and nodded. "They'll
know we're missing."
"They
might have discovered you were packing."
"Yes,
but I have four days coming up, remember? If
I go by the apartment and get my stuff and call Mom to let her know where I'll be, we
could still - "
"That
would mean you going in alone. I can't -
"
"Mulder,
she has a point. If you could get out of town
with them thinking she's coming back, it would be a big advantage."
Mulder
wheeled on him. "I will not put her
in danger! This is an unacceptable
risk."
Langly
actually stepped back, but Dana put her hand on his arm.
"Mulder, please. They're
right. If these people think I still don't
suspect and am just going to visit with friends - we can give them a wrong direction, I
can even check in with my parents to keep them from becoming suspicious. It's a good idea."
The
look of conflict on his face nearly brought her to tears.
"Mulder,
we can protect her. I swear, we won't let
them have her. She can drive up to the front
like always and go in. We'll be at the back,
we can go in first, very quietly."
"I'll
be the one to go in." He said it quietly
this time but with even more intensity.
"You
can't." They all turned to look at her. "You can't be anywhere near my apartment. If they are there, you're the prize they’re
going for. If they still can't prove I know
you, they might just keep watching."
"Might. Doc,
I can't - "
"This
is the way it's going to go. My car is close
by, Frohike and Langly will take me to it. I'll
let them go ahead of me. They'll have my key
to the back door and let themselves in. Once
they've checked out the place, if it's empty, I'll come in and call Mom. I'll tell her I'm on my way to Virginia to see my
friend Zoe for a couple of days. She has a
couple of kids and it would make sense for me to visit her.
I'll pick up my suitcase and leave. They
can follow me out; make sure I'm not followed. I'll
drive to the train station and park - that way Mom won't be worried about me driving
alone. I'll slip out the side and they can
bring me back here."
They
all stood there staring at her, their mouths open. "Well?" She said, "Let's get going."
Byers
looked over at Mulder, "And to think I thought you sounded commanding."
She
flashed him a smile and moved toward the door. "Come
on!"
As
though attached by rubber bands, Langly and Frohike followed her to the door.
"Wait
a minute!" Mulder found his voice and
was at her side in two steps. "Doc, I .
. . “ He looked at the other two, "If you let anything happen to her . . .
“ He left the threat hanging but they both nodded.
"Mulder,
I'll see you in less than an hour. It's going
to be okay. You have to believe it." His lips silenced her and her arms went around him
as he pulled her close.
"Don't
be late."
She
smiled at him then. "It would help if I
could get started." Her hand caressed
his cheek and she moved toward the door again as he made sure he was out of sight.
Once
they were gone, Byers looked over at Mulder as he returned to the room. "They'll look after her."
He
nodded but didn't speak. There was nothing
else to say on the matter. Now he had to
wait, something he knew he did badly. It was
going to be a long hour.
*****
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