Title:  Surviving the News:  The Return 
Author:  Vickie Moseley
Spoiler:  definitely NOT 8th season, probably Requiem
Catgory:  MULDER/SCULLY ROMANCE
Rating:  PG-13
Disclaimer:  The truth is in here, Carter.  Read it and weep.  I won't take
money-you've got that all to yourself.
Archive: yes
Author's notes:  Dedicated to the X Philes for Mulder list serve.  Hope
this helps, guys.
Comments:  vmoseley@fgi.net

Surviving the News:  The Return
vmoseley@fgi.net

Maggie prayed and prayed for the day to come.  She waited by the phone,
expecting any minute it would ring and tell her the news she'd been hoping
for all the three long months of waiting.  When it happened, finally, one
rainy Thursday night late in August, she knew her work was just starting.

Georgetown Medical Center
August 31, 2000
10:13 pm

Maggie didn't even have to look hard after the elevators opened.  Walter
Skinner was standing just in front of them, apparently awaiting her arrival.

"She's causing the doctors a bit of a problem.  I'm hoping you can calm her
down a little," he said perfunctorily taking her arm and guiding her down
the hall past the stone-faced nurses at the desk.

"How is he, Mr. Skinner?  You didn't give me a lot of details over the
phone," Maggie said, trying to keep her tone even, all the while boiling
inside with fear, anger, joy, relief, she'd lost track of the emotions
churning within her.

Skinner licked at dry lips.  "The doctors say he's in bad shape.  No broken
bones or cuts.  No bruises that they can find.  But his brain activity . .
. is quite low, I understand.   They had to get him breathing again on
arrival.  He's on a respirator.  He's lost weight," he added with a
helpless shrug of his shoulders.

"Dana lost ten pounds when she was missing," Maggie said offhanded, as they
came to a glass enclosed room.  

She surveyed the room silently.   Her daughter was nowhere to be found.
Only one fragile body lying in a beehive of medical equipment and wires
occupied the room.  Maggie stepped into the room, walked over to the bed
and took a still hand in hers.  It was cool to the touch, almost cold.  The
fingertips, on closer inspection, were gray and the fingernails jagged as
if torn by scratching something hard and rough.  His eyes were taped shut,
and she could see they were sunken into his head, looking almost black
underneath.  She bit back a sob and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Welcome home, Fox," she said quietly.

From the hallway came a loud commotion of raised voices.  

"I don't give a flying fuck what you think!  I want those tests run again
and again and once more for good measure!  Don't bother to try and read the
results, just bring them to me!  And where the hell are the other cultures
I ordered?  Who the hell runs this place, the Girl Scouts?  Get me some
action or I'll have him transferred somewhere that knows something about
medicine!"

Skinner heaved a sigh next to her.  "Agent Scully has arrived," he said and
even in the circumstances, Maggie couldn't help biting back a chuckle.
Well, she admitted to herself, the girl continued to be her father's
daughter.  But the humor of the situation was soon overshadowed by concern
when Maggie saw her daughter for herself.

She knew Dana had been working day and night to find her partner.  But
Maggie hadn't seen her in several weeks.  Dana kept in contact by phone,
but it wasn't until she stood in front of her mother that the dark circles
under her eyes and the droop of her shoulders conveyed how much this ordeal
had cost her.  Maggie was afraid Dana might collapse right there in the
door of the room.

"Mom.  Mom, thank heavens you're here.  You have to help me.  You went
through this once, Mom.  Tell them.  Please, tell them!"

Maggie said nothing as she walked over to her daughter and took her in her
arms.  "Dana, let's go somewhere quiet and talk," she said softly.  

Dana crumbled in her embrace.  "Mom, this isn't how I thought it would be,"
she sobbed quietly, only loud enough for Maggie to hear.  "I was supposed
to be so happy.  He was supposed to be happy to be home."

"I know, Dana, I know.  And you will be happy just as he will be soon,
sweetheart.  Please, let's go sit down somewhere and you can tell me what
happened."

Dana straightened and hastily wiped at her eyes.  "I can't leave him, Mom.
I don't trust these vultures.  I won't go very far," she said fiercely.

"There's a family lounge just a few doors down.  You can even see this door
from there," offered the doctor, obviously relieved he was no longer on the
receiving end of Dana's wrath.

"Thank you," Maggie said with a tired smile.  "Mr. Skinner, will you join us?"

Walter Skinner was a man who looked like he'd never backed down from a
fight, but Maggie could see the hesitation in his eyes at her offer.  "It's
all right, Mr. Skinner.  I just want to ask a few questions, that's all.  I
think your involvement in the conversation will be most helpful."

Maggie hoped Skinner understood her code well enough not to argue.  She
wanted back up when dealing with her daughter and knew that Dana respected
her superior.  Maggie needed someone with a level head, and hoped he could
provide that.

Skinner chewed on his lip, but nodded and followed the two women down the
hall.  Once they were settled, Maggie took Dana's hand and gave it a
squeeze.  "Now, tell me, calmly, what's happened.  How did you find him?"

Dana took a moment to take a deep breath and then spoke in a calm, even
voice.  "I didn't find him.  He just showed up in the ER.  No one saw him
brought in, the Assistant Director has had agents check the security tapes,
no evidence of how he arrived there."  If Dana noticed her mother's furtive
glance at her superior, she gave no indication, as she looked down at her
hands.  "He wasn't breathing, but there was a pulse.  They immediately
began resuscitation.  He's on full respiratory support.  He's too weak to
breathe on his own."  

She stopped briefly to wipe at a tear that had trickled down her chin.  "A
scan of his brain shows no abnormalities, no internal injuries.  But his
Glasgow outcome scale was quite low on arrival and continues to be low.
His current level indicates a persistent vegetative state."  She raised her
head defiantly and angry flashed in her eyes.  "I asked for my medical
records from my hospital stay five years ago.  They can't seem to locate
them."

"What can be done for him?" Maggie asked quietly.  Before Dana had a chance
to answer, a tall man in scrubs with a neatly trimmed beard stood in the
entry way to the lounge area.  

"Dr. Scully.  I'm Dr. Lansing.  Dr. Daly is on a cruise ship in the Bahamas
and can't be reached.  I'm his partner."

Dana stood and took the man's outstretched hand.  "I don't suppose you've
seen my medical records lying around the office somewhere," she said, only
half jokingly.

He smiled and showed her a set of perfectly formed white teeth.  "No, I'm
afraid not.  But Larry did show me the file not long after I joined his
practice.  He considers you his own personal miracle patient.  So, I'm
aware of the case and what treatment was used."

Dana almost sagged with relief.  "Then would you kindly tell Dr. Kevorkian
on staff here that I have no intention of discontinuing the respirator or
anything else that might jeopardize my partner's recovery?" she asked tersely.

He smiled again, this time only slightly dimmer.  "I've already consulted
with Dr. Miller and all attempts to implement Agent Mulder's Living Will
have been postponed until such time as you decide to invoke them.  He's
going to receive supportive care for the time being.  I've put a rush on
the last set of blood tests.  We should hear something more in a couple of
hours.  Until then, I suggest you get some rest.  You look beat."

"Thank you," Dana said, not responding to the veiled order of rest.  She
turned to her mother.  "I think I'll go back in and sit with him a while.
If you want to join me, Mom?" her voice trailed off and Maggie jumped to
her feet.

"Of course, Sweetheart.  Where else would I be?"  She shot Skinner a quick
apology and followed her daughter down the hall.

Dana was seated in the bedside chair and had her partner's hand in hers
before Maggie got in the door.  A quick scan of the small room showed a
straight backed chair behind the door.  Maggie dragged it over to the foot
of the bed and sat down with a sigh.

"He's so thin," Dana murmured, half to herself.  "He never got the weight
back from his run in with the tobacco beetles.  Then . . . this happened."

"We'll just have to fatten him up, Sweetheart.  Let's see, as I remember,
Fox has a soft spot for my meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy," Maggie
said, hoping to inject a small ray of light in the gloomy atmosphere of the
room.

"Did you think of that, Mom?  When I was brought back and I was in a coma,
did you think of ways to 'fatten me up'?" Dana asked suddenly, her eyes sad
and distant.

Maggie swallowed back bitter tears.  "We didn't know what had happened to
you, baby.  We were so scared.  Fox . . . Fox was so angry, he just wanted
to find the men responsible.  I was afraid he'd get himself killed before
it was over.  Melissa . . ."   Angrily she swiped at a stray tear and
continued.  "Missy was spouting her New Age mumbo-jumbo.  Dr. Daly didn't
know what to do.  And your Living Will was so very specific."

Dana nodded.  "Damned things.  I should have changed his years ago, after
we brought him back from Alaska.  Thank God their fax was down or I would
have had even more of a fight on my hands when he flat-lined at Eisenhower."

"I didn't want to give up, Baby.  I hated giving the go ahead to . . ."
Maggie couldn't hold back the tears any longer.  Her shoulders heaved with
the force of her sobs.

Dana was over to her in an instant, holding her tenderly.  "It's OK, Mom.
I understand.  I would have done the same thing, I swear.  It worked out,
and now I'm fine."  She pulled back and let Maggie wipe at her face.
"Besides, Mom.  Hearing of that time, as sick as it seems, is giving me
hope.  That was a very dark time, and I know you all had reasons to give
up.  But you didn't, not really.  And that's what I have to do now.  I
can't give up.  Too many people are counting on him," she said, gently
rubbing her stomach and giving Maggie a tired smile.

"He'll be so excited, Sweetheart," Maggie said, struggling to stop the
waterworks of her eyes.

"I hope so.  I think he will, honestly.  I just want to see the look on his
face," Dana said wistfully.

"To answer your question, after you woke up, all I could think of was ways
to get you to eat.  Remember?  Melissa and I snuck up milkshakes and that
banana split," Maggie said, the heaviness on her heart finally lifting a
little.

"Do I remember?  I was the one who had to explain to 'Jabba the Nurse' that
the reddish brown stain on my sheet wasn't from blood, but from
strawberries and chocolate syrup," Dana giggled.  "Oh, as long as you're
making a list of things you cook that Mulder likes, add your beef stew,
your lasagna, your deep dish apple pie with the crumb crust, your dressing
for turkey, your . . ."

Maggie laughed and held up her hand.  "Dana, hold up!  I'll be cooking for
a month of Sundays!"

"Oh, and your fried chicken!" Dana added for good measure.  "He's always
comparing the food we get at the greasy spoons on the road to your cooking.
 Mind you, he's the one who picks those places to eat.  Then I have to
listen to him complain that the gravy is lumpier than yours, or the chicken
breading doesn't stick to the meat like yours does.  He drives me crazy
sometimes," she said lightly, then looked over at the man in the bed and
bit her lip.  "Most times," she whispered.

Maggie grabbed Dana's hand and squeezed.  "All this talk of food has made
me hungry.  I'm betting you didn't eat dinner, either," she said with a
knowing look.

"He arrived about 4:15 this afternoon.  I came here straight from the
office and I haven't given food much thought," she admitted.

Maggie stood up, and walked around Dana so she could stand next to the bed,
near Fox' head.  "I'm just going to steal her long enough to get her to
eat, Fox.  You rest, rest all you can.  You and I both know what it's like
to keep up with her and you're going to need all the strength you can
muster."  She leaned over the rail and kissed him on the forehead.  

Dana took her mother's place and kissed him tenderly at the corner of his
mouth.  "I won't be long and Skinner is just outside," she assured him.
Then she brushed back his hair and kissed him again on the forehead.  "I
love you, Mulder." 

She ate half a cup of yogurt and refused all attempts to get her to eat
more.  Maggie glared at her stubborn daughter as she choked down the better
part of a Caesar salad.  Maggie didn't feel like eating, either, but she
was trying to set an example.  Unfortunately, Dana was defiantly ignoring it.

In less than 20 minutes, they were making their way back to the Intensive
Care Unit.  Dana still got nervous glances from the nursing staff as she
breezed by them, but Maggie smiled at each in turn, hoping to win at least
one or two of them to her side.  She knew Dana was hell on wheels when Fox'
health was concerned, but Maggie didn't think it was a good idea to
alienate everyone on the ward for no reason.

Maggie heard the sigh that escaped her daughter's lips as they entered the
room.  But Dana held herself unnaturally erect and sat primly on the edge
of the seat.  Maggie noticed the effort she was taking to distance herself
from what was happening, even from the man lying in the bed next to her
chair.  It hurt to watch her daughter put up her shields and hide behind
her walls.

"Honey, he needs you," Maggie said softly, almost as if Fox could hear what
she was saying.

"It's been so long, Mom," Dana said with a deep, heart-rending sigh.

"So long that you've forgotten what it feels like to be in his arms?"
Maggie prodded.

Dana's face crumbled under the weight of her tears.  "I dreamed of it every
night."

"Then why are you sitting there on the stiff, uncomfortable chair?  Get in
the bed with him," Maggie taunted.

Dana's eyes snapped up and held her mother in her glare.  "Mom, the wires,
the tubes!  I can't just crawl in next to him with all the garbage around
him!"

Maggie shook her head emphatically.  "Dana, honey, I see two people who are
very much in love and haven't seen each other for three months.  Now,
you're enough of a doctor to know how to move those tubes and wires without
hurting him or disconnecting any of them.  And you're enough of a woman to
know he needs you to hold him just as much as you need to hold him.  It
could be just what he's waiting for to bring him the rest of the way home."

At Dana's wide-eyed realization, Maggie smiled and stood up, gathering her
purse.  "I think I'll see if Mr. Skinner could use a cup of coffee.  I'll
let the nurse at the desk know if I leave the floor and where I'll be so
they can reach me.  You two have some catching up to do."  She punctuated
her comments with a wink and left the room.

Down the hall, Walter Skinner stood rubbing his eyes and talking quietly to
another younger man with papers in his hand.  He looked up when he saw Maggie.

"Has something happened?" he asked anxiously.

"No, nothing has happened.  I just thought they needed some time alone.  I
don't want to interrupt anything."

He nodded his dismissal to the young man and shook his head.  "Just the
report of the evidence gathering team.  No one saw anyone unusual at any of
the entrances this afternoon.  If I didn't know better, I'd say he was
'teleported' onto that gurney in the ER," he added with disgust.

"You look like you could use some coffee," Maggie said, changing the subject.

"Love some," was the relieved reply.  

Maggie led the way to the family lounge where she'd seen a coffee pot set
up earlier.

They got their cups and found a place to sit.  After an awkward silence,
Skinner looked over at Maggie.

"I'm sorry to call you down like this," he said, stirring the cup that he'd
already stirred.

"Where else would I be?  I want to thank you for calling me."

"I know Scully, er, I mean Dana would have gotten around to calling you
sooner or later . . ."

"She had other things on her mind.  I'm really glad you were here for her,
Mr. Skinner.  Dana respects you so much and you've been a Godsend to her
these last months."

Skinner's eyes narrowed and he let out a snort.  "Some Godsend," he muttered.

Maggie's eyes lowered as she heard the self-accusation in his voice.  "Mr.
Skinner, Dana told me you felt responsible for Fox' disappearance.  You
don't still feel that way, do you?"

"Mrs. Scully, I know you mean well, but this is something that's very hard
for the average person to understand.  Dana trusted me to bring Mulder back
safely, and I failed in that.  Do I still feel that failure?  Yes, I do.
Every day he was missing, every time I saw the haunted look in her eyes, I
felt that failure.  I felt it again this afternoon when he was returned
more dead than alive.  And, God willing, when he does wake up, and he does
recover, I will still feel that failure.  It's something I have to learn to
live with until the day I die.  But I promise you this, I will never fail
anyone like that again."

"You forget, my husband was in the military, Mr. Skinner.  I know all too
well the kind of failure you're talking about.  But you can't let it
consume you.  You can't let it blind your eyes to your successes."  

He stared down at his cup and she decided to take a different tact.
Carefully avoiding the difficult subject of missing agents, they sat in the
lounge and talked, mostly how they were going to deal with the two young
people just a few rooms away.  Maggie never doubted that Fox would wake up.
It was his recovery that she worried about.  He would need a lot of care,
just as Dana had needed care after her return.  But Fox was a fiercely
independent man and would rebuke any attempts of help from outsiders.
Woefully, Maggie realized that list probably included her and his Assistant
Director.  The only person Fox would allow to help him was Dana.

But that was the other variable in the equation.  Dana had been running
full tilt since Fox' disappearance.  It would have been a grinding
existence in the best of times.  But Maggie also knew too well how tired
her daughter had been in the early stages of her pregnancy.  Maggie had her
children young, but Charlie had come along just before she turned 30.  She
was amazed at how much harder it was having a baby at 30 than it had been
at 20, 23 and 25.  Somehow, age did make a difference.  Dana was 35 and the
normal strains and stresses of pregnancy were even harder on her in her
emotionally distraught state.

So, Fox would need Dana healthy and Dana needed to get her own strength
back to deal with her recovering partner as well as the growing new life
inside her.  Maggie had to use the quiet time she had to form a battle
strategy - a battle of wills against two very strong opponents.

Skinner left the hospital about 1 in the morning, promising to be back
after a few hours of sleep.  Maggie found her way down the hall, quietly
peeked in the door to Fox' room and smiled.  Dana had indeed found a way to
wiggle around the tubes and wires and was sleeping peacefully with her arms
wrapped around Fox' chest and her head on his shoulder.  Maggie wasn't a
doctor, had left nursing school to marry the young Naval Ensign who had
stolen her heart, but she recognized some improvement on the various
monitors.  What encouraged her the most was the EEG, which was now
displaying significant spikes in a regular pattern.

Silently, she blew them both goodnight kisses and returned to the lounge,
where she plumped up an arm rest on one of the sofas, and fell fast asleep.
She knew she was going to need her rest, too.

The sunlight through the window was warm on her face, but it was the hand
on her shoulder that brought Maggie fully awake.  That, and the
unmistakable aroma of fresh coffee.

She opened her eyes and smiled up at her daughter.  "Good morning,
sweetheart.  How are you doing?"

Dana smiled and handed over the coffee, carefully sipping from her own cup.
"They're changing his sheets, so they threw me out," she said, not really
answering the question.  Even so, Maggie could see the circles under her
daughter's eyes weren't quite as defined as they had been during the night.
But still, the younger woman couldn't seem to stop pacing the small lounge.

"I thought I noticed some improvement in the monitors before I fell
asleep," Maggie said, judiciously bringing up the subject that she knew her
daughter wanted to discuss.

Dana's smile increased by several magnitude.  "His brainwaves are much
stronger this morning.  He's off the respirator, just a nasal cannula," she
said proudly.  "Of course, he's still out for the count, but knowing him
the way I do, that won't be for long."

"Did the rest of the tests come back?" Maggie asked, sitting up and
discovering that a blanket had magically appeared and covered her during
the night.  She folded it carefully and laid it on the arm of the sofa.

Dana nodded, still sipping her coffee.  "Yes, they did.  They showed
nothing, really.  There were a few indications of prolonged weightlessness,
but nothing definitive.  No real proof of what was done to him," she bit
out sourly.

"Does it really matter that much, sweetheart?  He's back and he's
improving.  Isn't that what you've dreamed for all these months?"

This time the smile was bittersweet.  "You can only tell yourself that so
often, Mom.  Then it starts sounding like a lie to hide from the truth.
They've done this to us so many times, my abduction, Mulder's dad and
Missy's murders, my cancer, his mother's suicide, mom, the list is getting
so long it's absurd!  I have to find those bastards, I have to know what
they did and I have to make certain they don't do it to us again!  There
will be justice this time!  There's too much at stake," she added with an
unconscious brush of a hand across her stomach.

Maggie bit her lip to keep hot tears at bay.  "Oh, Sweetheart.  Please,
please reconsider this path.  I know you think you know what you're doing,
but you don't and it won't help Fox and it won't keep you safe."

An angry flick of red hair was Dana's response.

"Sit down," Maggie pleaded.  When Dana only stood more stiffly, the request
became a command.  "Young lady, you will sit down and you will listen to
me.  Now!"

In surprise, Dana found her chair and sat on it in shocked silence.  Maggie
realized she probably hadn't used that tone of voice in 15 years.  She
almost smiled when she realized it hadn't lost its effectiveness.  Maybe
they could get through this time after all.

"Dana, you know I respect you.  I know that you are very good at your job.
You tell me very little about what you and Fox do, but from what I do know,
you are two of the best agents at the FBI, and I don't think I'm just being
your mother when I say that."

Scully started to interject something, but Maggie held up her hand and shot
her a fierce scowl.  "But, all that said, you are not the only people who
can do your jobs!"

The stunned look on Scully's face lasted only a split second before she
started to object again.  But Maggie had her number.

"I don't want to hear about how important your work is, or how you are the
only ones who can do it.  I want you to sit there and think about two very
important points.  One, the man you love and thought you had lost is lying
in that bed right now and needs you."  

Maggie was quiet for a moment, letting that statement sink in.  Scully sat
still as stone, her top teeth imbedded in her lower lip to where Maggie
wondered why it hadn't started to bleed.

"And two, you are carrying his child.  A child, a miracle you never thought
you could have.  And that baby needs you."

The tears slowly making their way down her cheeks were the only movement on
Scully's face.

"So I don't want to hear any more about vengeance or justice for the men
who did this to Fox or to Missy or to you.  Is that clear?  You have
responsibilities much closer to home right now and it's about time you
realized how much of your effort they require!"

The two women sat in silent tension for several long breaths.  At one
point, Maggie almost expected her daughter to walk out of the lounge, and
probably never speak to her again.  But just as Dana started to open her
mouth to speak, just when Maggie was certain she would fight back tooth and
nail, a nurse startled them both by entering the room and tugging at Dana's
sleeve excitedly.

"Dr. Scully!  He's waking up!"

Maggie resisted the overpowering urge to run down the hall and rush into
Fox' room.  Instead, she walked slowly behind her daughter, and then
stopped just outside the door.

In her enthusiasm, Dana had thrown the door all the way open, and Maggie
had the perfect view of what was going on in the small critical care room.  

Fox was lying much as he had for the last 36 hours, but his entire
appearance had changed.  He was still pale, deathly pale.  But even though
his movements were weak, he reached up and cupped Dana's face in his hand,
tears streaming down his cheeks.  Dana's back was to the door, but Maggie
could see her daughter take his hand and kiss it gently before allowing it
to return to her face.

"Do . . . better than that," Fox admonished in a voice Maggie wouldn't have
recognized.  Dark circles framed his eyes but they were shining with a deep
longing.

Dana said nothing, but leaned in and kissed him on the mouth, just as
gently as she'd kissed his hand.  That wasn't enough for him and he pulled
her closer and kissed her as passionately as he could manage.  Maggie
blushed slightly and started to turn away, but her movements must have
caught his eye.  He called out to her.

"Mrs. Scully?"

She bit her lip as she turned back and allowed her relief to cascade over
her.  She'd dreamed of this day, dreamed of this very reunion, and the
reality far exceeded her dreams.  

"I'm right here, Fox.  Welcome home," she said, swallowing back her tears.

Dana moved back, so that Maggie could take a place next to the bed.  Fox
reached his hand out to her and she took it and clasped it to her heart.

"We're so happy to have you home," she said, knowing how inadequate that
must have sounded.

"Happy to be home," he replied with sigh.  His eyes drooped and he
struggled to keep them open.  She knew it was time for her to leave.

Dana noticed his exhaustion, too, and started to fuss with his blankets.
"Time for rest, G-Man.  We'll all be here when you wake up.  I might even
be able to scrounge up a certain AD and a few computer geeks to see you.
The AD has been so happy you came back to us.  You won't believe the
paperwork involved when an agent disappears," she teased.

"Yeah, I would," he reminded her, though he never bothered to open his
eyes.  "Don't go too far, OK?" he added, his voice growing fainter.  Still,
Maggie had no trouble hearing the need in that voice.

"I'm not leaving your side.  I'll be right here.  You just sleep.  I'll be
right here when you wake up."

The doctor came in and quietly began to examine his patient, while Dana
stood to the side observing his every more.  Maggie waited a few moments,
until she was sure everything was under control, then she touched Dana's
shoulder.  "I'm going to call and let Mr. Skinner know that he's awake,
finally.  Then I'm going out to find you some real coffee.  I'll be back as
soon as I can."

"Food, mom.  I'm starving," Dana said, never taking her eyes off her
partner's face.

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart.  I'm going to feed you.  And then we'll see
about getting a decent cot in this room so you can get some rest, too."

As she turned to leave, Dana kissed Maggie's cheek just the way she'd
kissed Fox' hand.  "Thanks, Mom.  And I haven't forgotten what we were
talking about.  I just need a little time to take it all in, all right?"

Maggie drew in a deep breath and nodded.  "I understand, sweetheart.  I'll
be right back."

No sooner had she walked into the hallway than Maggie saw Walter Skinner
stepping off the elevator.  He must have noticed her relieved smile,
because his shoulders straightened and he hurried toward her.

"Good news?" he asked, his eyes conveying his hope and excitement.

"The best.  He's breathing on his own and he just woke up.  The doctor is
in with him now.  Fox looks pretty shaky, still, but the improvement is
just . . ."

"Spooky?" Skinner said with a grin, the first Maggie had ever seen on the
man's face.  It was highly contagious and she grinned in return.

"I was going to say miraculous," she said, barely holding back a laugh.

"That works, too," Skinner admitted, instantly growing serious.  "Has he
said anything about what happened?"

Maggie shook her head.  "He was awake only long enough for us to say hello.
He's easily exhausted.  He fell asleep after just a few words."

"Well, knowing Mulder, he'll be 'holding court' in a few hours.  I can talk
to him then."

Maggie sighed and chewed on her lip a moment.  "Mr. Skinner, I really wish
you wouldn't."

Skinner looked surprised, then offended.  Maggie quickly held up her hand.

"I don't mean I don't want you to talk to him.  I just mean I wish you
wouldn't interrogate him about his disappearance.  Not yet.  They have so
much they have to talk about.  And he's so sick.  Even though he's
improving it will take days before he's well enough to leave the hospital.
I just wish you'd let it all be until they've had a chance, just a little
time, to catch up," she pleaded.

"Mrs. Scully," Skinner said, lowering his voice to a gentle whisper.  "It's
been three months.  We have to get this investigation going again.  We were
at our wits end!"

Maggie nodded all the while he was speaking.  "That's my point.  It's been
three months.  And if this is like Dana's kidnapping, he won't remember
anything except in his nightmares.  And even they won't give you the kind
of information you need to investigate.  Mr. Skinner, this ordeal has been
awfully hard on all of us, but especially on Dana and Fox.  Can't we let
them go forward, just a little, before we drag them back into the madness?"

Skinner silently considered her words.  "Let's do it this way.  If Mulder
does remember anything, he'll want to tell me about it, immediately.  If he
doesn't bring it up, I won't.  How's that?"

Maggie smiled.  "I can live with that.  Wouldn't be any use trying to stop
him from talking if he decides he wants to," she added with a wry grin.  "I
was just going to find Dana some breakfast.  Fox is asleep and I expect the
doctor's going to be in there for a while.  Care to join me?"

Skinner looked down the hall toward his agent's room and sighed.  "Sure.  I
could use a breakfast that wasn't eaten in a car or at a desk."

"I hear they even have real silverware in the cafeteria," Maggie teased and
pressed the elevator button.

Maggie didn't pressure the AD any further on leaving Fox alone, and the
time in the cafeteria passed in relieved discussion of the mundane details
of making sure both young people got the rest they needed.  Maggie made it
clear that she was taking both of them home as soon as Fox was released and
Skinner made no objection.  In fact, he thanked her more than once for her
presence and her support.

With a bagel with egg, a container of yogurt, a cup of decaf coffee and an
apple in a small brown bag, Maggie made her way up to ICU.  She was
surprised when not blue but hazel eyes met her gaze as she set the bag down
on the dresser near the bed.

"She's asleep," Fox whispered and resumed stroking the red hair on Dana's
head.  She was in the bed with him, snuggled up against him as if to ensure
no one could ever take him away from her again.

"Looks like she found a bed," Maggie said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Fox drew in an uncomfortable breath, but it wasn't pain that crossed his
face, it was uncertainty and embarrassment.  "Mrs. Scully, about this and
the kiss and . . ."

Maggie reached over her daughter's head and placed one finger on the young
man's lips.  "Shush.  You're both adults.  It's absolutely none of my
business.  But if it makes you feel any better, Dana told me about the two
of you after you . . . disappeared."  Even looking at him in the same room,
the word was still sharp with memories and caught in her throat.

Fox nodded, understanding and acceptance on his face.  "How long?" he
asked, his voice rough.

"It's the second of September," Maggie said gently.

Fox closed his eyes and opened them slowly.  "Almost exactly how long she
was missing," he said and sighed deeply.  "Damned if they aren't
consistent," he added with a dour shake of his head.

The head on his chest stirred and a muffled groan issued from it.  "Is that
coffee I smell," Dana said, not bothering to either lift her head or open
her eyes.

"Coffee, bagel with egg, yogurt and an apple.  Wake up, sleepy head.  It's
time for breakfast," Maggie told her with a grin.

"Geez, Scully, you got enough there for the Fifth Armored Division!  Gonna
share?" Fox chimed in with a matching smile.

As Dana climbed off the bed, she exchanged a look with her mother and an
almost imperceptible shake of her head.  Maggie bit back a comment and just
watched the scene play out.

"I haven't eaten in about three days, G-Man.  You'd have to arm wrestle any
of this away from me and in your current state of strength, I'd win."  

"Do I get any food?  I mean, I've been away, too," he whined, seeking
sympathy from any quarter.

Maggie took pity on him, even if her daughter wasn't buying the act.  "I'll
go ask the nurse if you get breakfast, Fox.  Dana, if you have a minute, I
want to talk to you."

"Oh oh, you're in trouble.  Bet it's 'cause you wouldn't share," Fox teased
and then settled down in to the pillow and was asleep before the two women
had a chance to leave the room.

Dana was still chewing on the bagel like it was the first food she'd seen
in weeks.  The coffee had accompanied them into the hall and occasionally
she would take long drafts and just close her eyes in contented bliss.
"Yeah, Mom?  What's the matter?"

Maggie was so pleased to see her daughter's change in attitude she almost
hated to broach a difficult subject.  "Sweetheart, when are you going to
tell Fox about the baby?"

Dana's eyes narrowed and she refused to look her mother in the face.  "He's
still too weak.  I can't hit him with something like that, Mom.  I want him
to get some strength back."

Maggie wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that.  In her experience, the
father usually always felt left out if not informed almost immediately.
Her own husband had been dismayed when she waited to go to the doctor
before telling him her suspicions of pregnancy.  And Maggie knew how much
the truth meant to her daughter and her partner.

"You sure about that, honey?  I think Fox could take a little good news."

Dana shook her head, this time looking her mother straight in the eye in
quiet confidence.  "Mom, he just woke up from a coma.  He's been missing
for three months.  I have no idea what he's remembering about the time he
was gone, because I remember I had no memories of my abduction at all.  For
him, it's still the end of May.  I intend to tell him, don't worry.  I just
want to ease him into it.  Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Maggie bit her lip and nodded.  Dana gave her a smile and turned to go back
in the room.

Each time Fox went to sleep, he sleep for four or five hours.  But when
he'd awaken, it was for longer and longer periods.  By evening, the AD
visited and was able to stay for 15 minutes before the excitement started
to take its toll.  Fox seemed more interested in making up for lost time
than in trying to remember what he'd just gone through.  Dana kept the
subjects of discussion light, focusing on how the basketball season had
ended, the fact that Fox' beloved Yankees were once again going strong and
would soon guarantee their play off berth.  Maggie stayed in the
background, silently counting off the number of missed opportunities when
Dana could have told Fox about the baby.  For some reason, her daughter
just didn't want to bring up the subject.

Skinner noticed it, too.  Maggie had made a point to alert him to Dana's
wishes about the matter, so that a casual reference wouldn't spill the
beans, as it were.  But as the days drew on, and Fox regained his strength,
even the AD began to wonder aloud if keeping the subject at arm's length
was a good approach.

"I think Mulder's suspicious, but he's afraid to say anything," Skinner
admitted to Maggie in their now familiar table in the cafeteria.  The AD
had just spent about a half hour alone with his now returned agent.

"Suspicious-how?" Maggie was quick to jump on the subject.

"He was asking me about her health.  Remember, we were pretty worried about
her at the time Mulder disappeared.  She'd already fainted a couple of
times while they were in Oregon.  And then she passed out completely in the
Bureau.  Thank heavens those flakes from that underground paper were around
or she might not have been taken to the hospital until morning."

"That was the night Fox was taken," Maggie said quietly.

"Um, yes, it was," Skinner said, dropping his eyes to the formica table top
of the cafeteria.  "I just think it would ease his mind if she told him the
truth."

"The truth is so important to both of them," Maggie said with a tired sigh.

"So, did I hear right?  The doctor is thinking of cutting him loose?"
Skinner said, stirring his coffee even though it didn't need it.

Maggie understood the subject had been changed but was too tired to fight
it.  "Yes.  Dr. Lansing has checked him from head to toe.  Aside from the
residual weakness, he's fine.  The dehydration was taken care of after the
first day or so.  The malnutrition is slowly being addressed, but he
certainly doesn't have to be hospitalized for that.  I can fatten him up
better than any hospital rations, anyway," she added with a sly grin.  "And
he's starting to make a nuisance of himself with the nursing staff.  Dana's
too tired to keep him in line and her temper's getting short.  Then she
feels guilty because she's not being as patient as she should when all this
time she's just wanted him home.  I think the best place for both of them
is at my house, safe and cared for."

Skinner raised an eyebrow.  "Have you told them this plan?"

It was Maggie's turn to stir her coffee.  Finally, she let her eyes travel
up and meet the AD's.  "Not in so many words.  But Fox and Dana are
reasonable people.  I'm sure they'll realize that this is the best option
for all of us."

Maggie had never heard an Assistant Director snort before, and wasn't all
that certain she wanted to hear it again any time soon.

Later, in Fox' hospital room, she realized why he had such a reaction.

"No, Mom, absolutely not.  I am not going to invade your house.  Not when
we both have fully equipped apartments.  It's silly.  I can take care of
Mulder.  I'm fine.  We just need some time, to ourselves."

To Maggie, Dana looked all the world like her seventeen year old self,
announcing that she was not going to Mass because it was boring.  Maggie
quickly wiped the image out of her head and turned to her daughter's
partner in a silent appeal for reason.

Fox was no better.  "I appreciate the gesture, Mrs. Scully, but I really
just want to go home.  Going to your house, as nice as it is, well, I just
wouldn't feel comfortable.  Besides, I think my fish have disowned me."

"Um, Mulder.  About the fish . . ." Dana said guiltily.

"I take it they have all joined the ranks of the Great Beyond?" he asked
with a resigned sigh.

"No.  I took them over to my place.  I was getting tired of traveling all
the way over the bridge every night just to feed your fish.  Byers and
Langly helped me move the tank.  We can move it back . . ."

"No, that's all right, really, Scully.  I'm sorry you had to do that at all."

"Enough!"  Maggie's voice cut through the general discussion and left both
of the other occupants of the room staring at her in shocked amazement.

"Now, you will listen to me, young lady, and you too, young man!  You are
both coming to my house.  I don't care if you don't want to impose, I don't
care if you don't feel comfortable and I certainly don't care about the
damned fish!  Mr. Frohike has been bugging me on a daily basis to give him
something to do and fish-sitting seems an activity right up his alley.
Now, I'm not saying you will be moving in, but at least for a week I want
to be on hand and available to make sure both of you get the rest you need
and eat enough to regain your strength.  And there will be no further
discussion on the matter.  Is that clear?"

Skinner entered the room and found two very subdued agents and one very
red-faced woman.  

"Am I interrupting?" he asked meekly.

"No, Mr. Skinner, we were just discussing when I'm picking Fox up tomorrow
to take him to my house.  Isn't that right, Fox?"

Fox swallowed and then sought out his partner's eyes.  A moment of silent
discussion ensued, but a consensus was quickly reached.  "That's right as
rain, Mrs. Scully.  I think Lansing said something about noon, didn't he,
Scully?"

"That's what he said earlier, yes.  We'll have you to Mom's in time for a
late lunch, Mulder."

Maggie beamed at them both.


What Maggie didn't understand at the time, but soon became apparent, was
that she was aiding and abetting her daughter's silence.  The trip home was
uneventful, but tiring.  Fox slept most of the trip, waking at the end.
Fortunately for all of them, Skinner had driven his own car to Maggie's
because he was needed to get Fox into the house.  By the time they had the
agent firmly staked out in one of the downstairs bedrooms, close to the
bathroom, everyone was exhausted.

With very little prodding, Dana went off to take a nap.  But instead of
lying down in the room with her partner, she headed off to the den and
stretched out on the couch.  Maggie and the Assistant Director watched her
and exchanged dismayed looks.  "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Maggie
whispered as she walked Skinner to the door.

"They've got communication skills that the military would kill for.  But
I've discovered they tend to ignore the items that involve their personal
lives.  I really don't think the situation would have played out any
differently if they'd gone to either of their apartments."

"Are you telling me my work isn't finished," Maggie asked with a tilt of
her head and a coy grin.

"I'd say it was just beginning," Skinner said, allowing his eyes to smile
even if his face held its serious expression. 

Maggie regretting not getting any lunch on the table before everyone headed
off for naps, but she made up for it with an early supper.  Oven fried
chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy (low fat in deference to her daughter's
wishes) and fresh green beans.  She had just enough time to throw together
an apple crisp that they could eat with the half-gallon of vanilla ice
cream.  She was busy turning the chicken when she heard bare feet on tiled
floor behind her.  "Morning, Sweetheart," she said without turning around.
"Have a nice nap?"

"I think I've napped enough for the next two years," came a voice much
deeper than the one she expected.  She twirled too quickly and almost
dropped the glass baking pan of chicken on the kitchen floor.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Scully, I didn't mean to scare you!" Fox responded quickly
and put his hands on her shoulder to steady her as she got the dinner back
in the oven.

"You didn't scare me, Fox," Maggie objected, but she knew he saw the lie.
"Well, you did, a little.  But you surprised me more than anything.  You're
supposed to be in bed!"

Fox pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down gingerly in it.
He studied his fingernails for a long time, picking idly at his left index
finger and an imaginary hangnail.  "Yeah, well, I should be in bed, someone
else I know should by all rights be awake," he said, not raising his eyes
to meet hers.

"She's very tired, dear.  She's spent the last three months . . . well, I
think you remember how you spent the three months she was missing," Maggie
said.  It was a diversion, but in many ways, it was also the truth.

"I thought she had more sense than that," Fox huffed in disgust.  

Maggie just gave him a scowl and shook her head.  

"How has she been?  I mean, I know she's tired but has she been . . .
sick?" he asked hesitantly and when Maggie looked at him, his head was down
and he was staring at the salt and pepper shakers he'd begun to twirl in
his hands.

Maggie licked her lips.  It was her opening.  It was her opportunity to
broach a subject she knew needed to be discussed.  But how could she do it
without betraying her daughter's trust, or the trust of the man sitting
across from her.

"I think you should talk to Dana, dear."  She let out a breath and waited
for his response.

He went sheet white at her words.  "The cancer," he choked in a tone so low
as to sound more like a growl.  His shoulder's hunched in and she felt like
she was watching him deflate right before her eyes.  No, this had been the
wrong approach, of that she was most certain.

"Fox," she murmured as she hurried around the circular dinette and took him
in her arms.  "No, Fox, no.  It's not the cancer.  She's very healthy,
really."

"Then why do I feel like she's hiding something from me?" he asked roughly
through tearfilled eyes.

Maggie bit her lip to keep from shouting out the answer.  "Sweetheart, you
have just been through a horrible time.  You were gone for three months and
so many things can happen . . ."

He pulled away from her, his eyes growing dark.  "She doesn't love me," he
said slowly.  "I left her and she had time to think about us and now she
doesn't want . . ."

Maggie quickly put her index finger up to his lips to staunch the flow of
words.  "No, sweetheart, you are never to think that.  That is the furthest
thing from the truth!  She loves you, you have to know that.  She's been
miserable without you!  Please, don't doubt her love for you, not for one
minute!"

She held him for a long moment.  He pulled away and wiped at his face.
"Then what is it?  Why won't she tell me what's wrong?"

"Mom, Mulder?  What's going on in here?"  Dana stood at the door to the
kitchen, a pillow crease still evident on her cheek.

"Dana, either you tell him now, or I will," Maggie said through clenched
teeth.  "This man has been through enough already.  He deserves the truth!"

Mulder sank back in the kitchen chair, looking like a prisoner about to
receive his sentencing.  

Dana slowly walked into the room, then sat in the chair next to her
partner.  "Mom, if you insist on bringing up the subject, can I at least
tell him in private?"

Maggie nodded and started to leave, but Mulder caught her hand.  "No,
please, I have a feeling this affects all of us.  I would like you to stay."

Maggie looked over at her daughter and Dana simply shrugged one shoulder.
She sat back down.  The three of them sat, hands clasped between them,
Maggie reaching across the table to take her daughter's other hand.

"Mulder, when you left for Oregon, we were both a little worried about my
health.  I want to assure you right now that there is absolutely nothing
wrong with me."

Mulder looked at her quizzically.  "The fainting, the chills?  What were
those?  The flu?"  His tone of voice was tinged with a hint of sarcasm.
Maggie had to stifle a laugh, but one look at his face and she realized
this was no laughing matter to him.

"No, they weren't the flu, but they were easy to explain if you understood
the context of the symptoms," Dana said, shakily at first, but warming up
to her subject.

"Scully.  Don't 'doctor' around the bush.  Give this to me straight.  What
the hell is wrong with you?" Mulder asked, and though she knew it was
unconscious, Maggie felt his grip on her hand tighten ever so slightly.

"I've never had to tell anyone this, I'm really not sure how to do it,"
Dana said with a shake of her head.

"It doesn't get any easier with the second, or third or fourth,
sweetheart," Maggie assured her.  "Try doing it over a ship to shore phone
line," she added with a wink.  She got the desired result, Dana smiled.

Fox was shifting his stare from one woman to the other.  "Am I the only one
here who doesn't get the joke?"

"Mulder, what if I told you that I believe in miracles?" Dana said
suddenly, and Maggie was pretty sure she should have taken the chance to
leave when she had it.  They deserved some privacy in this discussion.  But
Fox was still holding tightly to her hand and she couldn't leave without
breaking some fingers, hers or his.

"I know you believe in miracles, Scully.  But you've always told me they
don't happen to people like us," Fox said slowly, taking in shallow
breaths.  His face was no longer gray, but his eyes were dark with
determination.

"Well, they do, Mulder.  The reason I had the fainting spells, the chills,
all of it, was very simple in the grand scheme of things.  Mulder, I'm, or
rather, we're . . . pregnant."

Fox didn't say a word.  He sat frozen for a full minute and all during
those sixty long seconds, Maggie thought he'd had a stroke.  He didn't even
seem to be breathing.  Then suddenly, he shot out of the chair and was
hugging Dana as if protecting her from falling bombs.

Dana started laughing, and the two of them tumbled to the floor, Fox
shifting his weight just enough at the last second so that she landed on
him and not the hard surface.  Quickly, he gathered her into his arms
again, laughing with her now.

"How?  How did it happen?" Fox demanded between giggles.  "I mean, we
didn't think about . . ."

Dana quickly put her fingers to his lips.  "Mulder, not in front of my
mom!" she admonished and then broke into more giggles as he showered kisses
all over her face.

Maggie watched it all, laughing while relieved tears rolled down her face.
Finally, she stepped over to tower above them, reaching down to help them
both to their feet.  "That floor is too cold for either of you.  Now, out
of my kitchen, I have dinner to make."  She swatted them both on the
behinds as they scurried out of the room.  "Oh, and Fox, start a fire in
the fireplace, would you?  Dana, you know where everything is.  It's a gas
log, no lifting for either of you.  I'll call when dinner is ready, but
that probably won't be for another half hour or so."

Maggie had to call them three times for dinner.  Finally, she squared her
shoulders and marched into the living room.  She found them in front of the
fire on the floor, Dana sitting with Fox spooned against her back, holding
her and rocking her gently while they whispered to each other.

"Dinner is served," Maggie said primly and the two young people looked up
together and then at each other.  Slowly, Dana started to unwind, but Fox
stopped her, hopping up and then pulling her to her feet.  

"Shouldn't I be carrying you over a threshold or something?" Fox asked as
he guided her to the dining room with a hand on the small of her back.

"That's after a wedding, Mulder," Dana said with a smirk.

"Something I would like to have discussed at some point in the near
future," Maggie interjected as she placed the serving dish of mashed
potatoes on the table.

"Mom!" Dana objected.

"We'll talk about it, Mrs. Scully.  I'll make you a promise right now," Fox
said reassuringly.  He looked over at Dana and reached out to take her
hand.  "I don't have a ring or anything yet."

"Right now, I just want to relax, enjoy having you home . . ." Dana said,
then looked hungrily at the food on the table, "and eat!" she finished,
grabbing for the plate of chicken.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Fox agreed, digging into the mashed potatoes
with one hand and reaching for the gravy with the other.

Maggie sighed.  Slowly, a smile grew on her lips.  It wasn't going to be
any easier keeping three of them in line, but she knew she was up for the
challenge.

The end

Vickie