Mulder
took a deep breath and leaned back. That was
everything he could tell them. There could be
no mention of the other, of where they were living now, or their friends that had helped
them from here.
"I
know you have questions, lots of them, but Doc is exhausted. This has been a very long day and she's not fully
recovered from the birth. I'm going to put
her and Will to bed, then I'll come back down and answer all of the questions that I
can."
"Mulder,
I'm - "
"Don't
say it. Come on."
Dana
smiled and looked over at her mother. "I
guess I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the
morning."
"He's
right, Honey. Get some rest and we'll talk
then."
Mulder
helped her to her feet and waited as she kissed her family goodnight. He took the baby from her, then placed his other
arm around her and held her close as he helped her up the stairs.
The
Scully's sat quietly, absorbing the information they had received. Bill drained his glass and checked the bottle, it
was empty as well. He rose and flipped on the
TV, the others didn't bother him.
When
Mulder returned, Mrs. Scully and Missy had retreated to the kitchen and Charlie had joined
Bill in front of the TV. "She
okay?" Charlie looked up.
"Yeah. Being here is the best thing for her."
"She
should have been here all along." Bill
muttered.
"I
wish she could have been. I wish it had been
safe for her."
Bill
kept quiet at that and turned back toward the TV. "Hey,
Mulder, have you heard this story?" Charlie
increased the volume. "Labs all over the
world have gotten these samples and they can't analyze them. I heard some of this on the radio on my way in. They're saying the DNA is weird. They were trying to say it was all a hoax, but the
CDC, Walter Reed, and the Mayo Clinic have received this stuff. Now the news says its in London, Paris and
Frankfort."
"What's
weird?"
"They're
saying it's not..." he chuckled, "not from earth.
If that's true..."
"Who
was trying to say it was a hoax?"
"Well,
after they said it was extraterrestrial, some spokesman tried to. When the reporters started asking questions he
retreated. Then they got word that the information was
worldwide. The 'authorities' are regrouping,
and they're calling on religious leaders."
"Religious
leaders? Are they expecting mass panic or
something?"
"Well,
if we've got proof of ET, they might. A lot
of people don't want to think that we're not alone in the universe."
Mulder
nodded, he needed to get to a phone, talk to the guys, but he needed privacy for that. Besides, he'd promised to be here to answer
questions. He looked up as Mrs. Scully joined
them.
"Is
she sleeping?"
"I
hope so. She's very glad to be home."
"And
we're very glad she's here and safe, she and the baby."
He
noted that he was left out of that pleasure, but he wasn't surprised. He waited for a moment, then sat beside Charlie
and looked up at their mother. "I
assume you have questions."
"Yes,
Mr. Mulder, but not tonight. I need to sleep
on this and in the morning, I need to bring my husband home. I'd rather talk about this later. I think I'll go on to bed too." She turned to Missy, "You're welcome to stay
here tonight. I'll find a bed somewhere, or
you can sleep with me."
"I
think I'll head on home, Mom. But I'll be
here in the morning when you bring Dad home."
Mrs.
Scully nodded, "Drive carefully." She
walked her daughter to the door and kissed her goodnight.
"Guys, you know where everything is." Both boys stood to give their mother a goodnight
kiss. Mulder stood as well and she took his
hand. At the last minute she brushed a
kiss against his cheek. "Thank you for
bringing my baby girl home."
He
was speechless, but managed to nod. Once she
was out of the room he sank back down onto the couch.
Charlie grinned over at him. "She
keeps us on our toes too."
"Yeah?"
"What
about your family?"
"Well,
you know about my sister. My father
was...was murdered a few years ago. Then Mom
died of a stroke shortly before I went missing this last time. Doc is my family, Doc and Will."
"I'm
sorry." Charlie touched his shoulder.
Mulder
looked up at him and gave him a sad smile. "She
more than makes up for any loss."
Bill
sat watching them, not speaking, just observing. He
wasn't sure how he felt about this man, and he had tons of questions, but he did love
Dana. Even he had to give him that.
"I
think I'll go up." Bill stood. "Thanks for bringing Dana home. Dad needs this too." Mulder nodded.
After
a few minutes Charlie spoke again. "You
want me to hang with you, or do you want some time alone?"
"I..."
"It's
okay. It was a long day for you too. I'm glad you're part of the family Mulder, you
make Dana very happy." He clapped his
new brother-in-law on the shoulder and headed upstairs, not waiting for any comment.
Charlie
headed for Bill’s room, and didn’t bother knocking.
“What
do you want?”
“I
want a promise.”
“A
promise?” Bill didn’t bother to
rise from his seat on the bed.
“Yeah. Dad’s coming home tomorrow. Don’t call anyone about Mulder.”
“He’s
wanted by the military. He’s a threat to
National Security.”
“That’s
the story, yeah. You know my feelings on
that; we don’t have to debate it now. I
just want your promise that you won’t call until we know more. For Dad,
Bill.”
After
a long moment Bill gave a reluctant nod. "Not
yet, but I’m not convinced he’s as innocent as you think he is.”
“Fine. I just don’t want Dad or Dana hurt if we can
help it.”
“Go
on to bed, Charlie. I won’t call yet. You have my word.”
*****
Mulder
relaxed back against the sofa, letting his head drop back, exhausted both mentally and
physically. After a minute he sat up and
reached for the remote, finding CNN. If this
was the top story, he needed to know what was being said.
He
listened for a while, a smile beginning to grow on his face. Then he reached for his cell phone. "Hi."
"You
close?"
"Yep."
"Seen
the news?"
"Oh
yeah." Mulder's smile grew. "Did you send anything to Georgetown?"
"Nope,
only the big research institutes. If we sent
to them, it might remind them of the last time you surfaced."
"What
are you hearing?"
"They jumped to the ET conclusion pretty fast after it became international. No one in the US would say it, but the people in Paris jumped right on it."
"What
about Russia?"
"They
got it, they're just not talking yet. Brazil
seems to be asking the best questions - former Nazi's?
We don't know."
"Are
you safe?"
"Yeah. We covered out tracks a couple of thousand ways. Our DNA doesn't even show anywhere, if they go
that far - and they will. How's Dad?"
"Good. He's coming home tomorrow."
"Do
you want the house under surveillance?"
"Yeah,
if you can manage it. If our good colonel
shows up, I want a lot of noise about it - press, police, whatever. I'm not going quietly and if they mess with my
family . . ."
"We
get it. Relax tonight, no one's going to
bother you."
"Thanks."
"Our
pleasure. Get ready for a second wave in the
near future."
"Be
careful." Mulder broke the connection
and rose to his feet. The exhilaration hadn't
lasted long. He was in a deadly game here,
and his family was the only thing that really mattered.
He climbed the steps wearily and silently made his way into their bedroom. He stripped down and crawled in beside her.
"Ummm,
love you."
"Go
back to sleep Doc." He spooned around
her and to his mild surprise, drifted off to sleep himself.
*****
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