Title: Another Life 2/5
Author: Erin M. Blair
E-Mail: eblair@sonic.net
Classification: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst
Content: Mulder/Scully Romance. Alternate Universe.
Archive Notes in Part 1.
Authors' Note at the end of this story.
--------------------------------------------
ANOTHER LIFE (2/5)
Written by: Erin M. Blair
---------------------------------------------
Mulder's Apartment
Alexandria, VA
Three Weeks Earlier
That morning in early February was a
cool, crisp day. Dana Scully decided to
have an earlier start to see her partner,
Fox Mulder. She parked her car to see
him because she wanted to tell him
what she learned. Scully knew that Mulder
wanted to search for information about Diana
Fowley after she voiced her concerns
to him.
She turned off the car's engine, and
took out her key out of the ignition.
She got out of the car, grabbing her
purse and trench coat, and walked towards
his apartment. She could feel the cool
air blowing her auburn hair, and she pushed
back a wisp of her from getting into her
hair as she pulled open the front door of
his apartment building.
As she was walking down the hallway, she
inwardly smiled as she remembered the warmth
of Mulder's lips when they had their
near kiss before the bee stung her. Ever
since they had got back from Antarctica,
they had barely talked about it. *Maybe
we should,* she thought, *I know that
that I want to talk about it...*
Scully neared his apartment. The door
was slightly opened. With curiosity,
she peaked in through the small opening.
She gasped when she saw Diana Fowley
kissing Mulder.
At first, she told herself that it
was all her imagination. That she
dreamed it.
Deep within her, she could feel the
jealousy surging towards her brain.
She tried calming herself by taking
deep breaths. She couldn't stop her
anger no matter how hard she tried.
She was upset with Mulder because she's
in love with him; she was upset with
Diana because she took him. The tears
fell down her face, and she turned away
from the door towards the hallway.
She went inside the car, and turned the
key to start the engine. She backed out
of the parking space, and drove off.
Her mind was focused on Mulder when she
saw a car swerving into her direction. She
tried to put on the brakes when the car
hit her to put her into darkness.
Northeast Georgetown Hospital
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
Three Weeks Later
Mulder waited by his Scully's bedside,
and he grasped her fingers. He gave them
a little squeeze to show her that he's
still there. "The invitrofertilization's
a success, Scully. You're pregnant. We're
going to be parents."
He let go of her hand, and then he stroked
her stomach gently. "I hope that you'll come back
to me as I love you and our baby..." He paused.
"Please come back to me."
He hoped that she'll listen to his pleas, but
his faith was fading fast.
Mulder Residence
Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
Alternate Universe
Scully was full of happiness of being with little
Dani, the child that she'll never have. The child
that she'll never have with Mulder.
"Mommy?"
Scully looked up to see Dani, and she noticed the
concerned expression on the child's cherubic face.
At four years old, she looked like herself when she
was little with curly, auburn hair and blue eyes. "What
is it, Dani?"
"You're not going to go 'way," said Dani. She looked
at her mother, and sighed with unshed tears. "Like Aunt
Samantha?"
Scully frowned, and she held the little girl in a hug.
"No, Dani. I'm not going anywhere. Why would you
say that..?"
"Daddy said that you are, but Mommy, I don't want you
to go away."
Scully looked at Dani's clear blue eyes--much like her
own--and she tried to reassure her. "Daddy's worried
about me. I haven't been myself lately, Dani. I'm never
going to leave the both of you." She knew that the
"real" Dana Scully-Mulder of this universe will be back
when she goes to back to her own Mulder. *If I decide
to go back at all,* she thought, as she tenderly stroke
Dani's hair.
"Dana?"
She looked up at Mulder, and gave him a smile. "Fox,
there's something that we need to talk about." It
still felt strange to call Mulder 'Fox.'
Mulder gave her a concerned expression as he watched
his wife got up from the sofa that she's sitting with
Dani. He followed her to their den, and closed the
door behind them. "What's wrong, Dana?"
"Dani. She overheard us last night. I have a feeling
that Dani thinks that I'll be going away or something."
"In a way, you will be..."
"Your Dana will be back in my place. You know that, Fox."
"I know," he whispered. He saw her face grimace with
pain. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," Scully said, quickly. She was in the "real"
Scully's body, and she felt a sudden queasiness. As a
medical doctor, she knew what was going on within "her"
body. "She's pregnant, isn't she?"
"Yes," Mulder said, quietly. "She's pregnant. Dana
told me before she took a nap..."
"I bet she's excited. I know that I would be if that
ever happened to me. Unfortunately, I will never know."
"Never say never, Dana."
"I still can't get used to you calling me that,"
remarked Scully, with a sigh.
"I know. It took me awhile before I was used to
her calling me Fox." He laughed. "I used to hate
people calling me that, but I started to like
my name whenever I heard her voice calling me
Fox." He paused. "I guess that I had become
used to it..."
"Oh?"
"You should try it sometime," Mulder said. He
gave her a small smile.
"I did. He didn't like it..."
"Really?"
"No, he didn't. However, he lets that Fowley
woman do it."
"Who's Fowley?"
"Diana Fowley..."
"Oh," Mulder said, with some recognition. "I thought
you meant something else." He saw her frown, and he
knew that Diana Fowley had something to do with her
being here. "It's because of Diana that you decided
to stay, isn't it?"
Scully nodded. "That's only part of the reason.
Several factors came into it. My job's a waste
of time. My partner doesn't trust me..."
"Your partner doesn't trust you?" Mulder echoed.
With a frown, he realized that she was talking
about the other Mulder. "I can't believe that
he wouldn't trust you. I trust Dana with my life.
She's everything to me."
"That's what he said."
Mulder saw the tears which were threatening to
fall down, and gave her a tissue.
"Thanks," Scully said, as she took the tissue
to dab her eyes.
"Go on."
"After Emily, I realized that I wanted to have children
after they had taken my ova. There's a part of
me wanted to get married and have children. Here,
I have that and more."
"Who's Emily?" Mulder whispered.
"My daughter. Actually, she's an alien/human hybrid
made from my ova which they stole from me. My only chance
to have a child died." The tears flowed from her
eyes, and he embraced her.
"You've suffered so much more than he did, Dana. I'm
not going to let you go back to that life. You're
staying here. Your partner doesn't deserve you after
what he put you through."
"We both suffered so much..."
"Dana, you suffered *more* than he did," Mulder said,
gently. "You deserve more than a partner who couldn't
trust you with his life."
Scully nodded, slowly, as she considered his words. It
was true what he had said to her. "You're right. I do
need someone that I can trust."
"Dana, I trust you..."
Scully nodded. "I trust you too." How come she keeps
feeling of being pulled in each direction? She could
feel someone was pulling her in, but who?
Northeast Georgetown Medical Center
Wednesday, 5:00 p.m.
"Scully, you've got to trust me on this
one. I know it's my fault that you're here.
It should have been me! I know that you
had seen Diana kissing me, but guess what,
Scully? I _didn't_ kiss her!" Mulder exclaimed,
as his hazel eyes filled with unshed tears. He
was losing his faith in Scully's recovery, and
it showed with his unkempt appearance. Ever
since he found out about her car accident, Mulder
hadn't slept.
Bill came back several times to prod him into
going to the cafeteria. He knew that Bill was
trying to be nice to him, and he thanked him
for it.
The truth was that Mulder couldn't be consoled.
He blamed himself for what happened to Scully,
and he refused to go on cases until "Scully's
all right."
"More than anything, Scully, I want you to
open your eyes and come back to me. I
want us to be together, and raise our baby.
We have a future, Scully... Please forgive
me... Please give me a sign to let me know
that you heard me." He looked at Scully to
see if she heard him, but there's no movement.
All he could do was sit back and wait. His
faith had finally shattered.
For good.
"I love you, Scully." Mulder got up from his
chair, and walked near the door. He turned
to face the comatose, pregnant Dana Scully. "If
you don't want me in your life, I understand."
His hazel eyes were misty with unshed tears as
he opened the door to face the world with
despair.
Mulder's Apartment
Wednesday, 8:00 p.m.
Mulder finally got home after driving around
for hours not caring where he headed. All he
wanted to do was to think. With a groan, he sat
down on his sofa, and recalled his last words
to Scully. "I wasn't being fair..."
"No, no. You were being fair..."
Mulder turned around in his apartment to
see her. "Scully?" He paused, as he was
surprised to see her. He looked at her
clear blue eyes, and saw her shoulder-length
auburn hair. "Aren't you..?"
"In the hospital?" Scully inquired. "Yes,
I'm still in the hospital, but my mind isn't.
It's far away to an alternate universe."
At first, he didn't hear her right. "What
do you mean by alternate universe?" He paused.
"That's why you couldn't wake up?"
Scully nodded. "It has nothing on you. The
alternate Mulder's so different from you." She
paused, as she was trying to find the words to
describe him. "He's mature, caring,
supportive, and he's very protective of me. He
doesn't want you to hurt me anymore."
"So he wants to keep you?"
Scully nodded. "Yes, he does. Mulder, on that
alternate plane, we're married and have a
daughter." She paused, as she decided to
reveal what she had discovered. "My abduction
never happened there, and I'd never had cancer."
"Scully, those things made us stronger. We'd
grown closer because of what happened to us."
"I'd seen so much, Mulder. Whatever you do,
don't lose your faith in me. Don't do what I
did..."
"What did you do?"
"I lost faith in you, Mulder. I thought that
you love Diana Fowley, not me." She saw him
gasp, but she reassured him. "I know that I
jumped to the conclusions, and I paid dearly
for that."
He was going to say something to her, but
she was gone.
He got up from his sofa, and his eyes focused
on his apartment. No Scully.
Had he seen her? Was she in his mind? A vision
of what he wanted her to tell him?
He didn't know.
"I guess it's an X-File," he muttered. He heard
an incessant knocking at his door, and he moaned.
"Go 'way!"
"Fox! I need to talk to you!"
It was Diana Fowley, and he opened the door. His
voice was full of anger when he saw her. "Do
you want to finish the job?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Scully," Mulder said, with a cry. "She's in
the hospital as if you care."
"Why?"
"She's fighting for her life... She could die
at any time. She's in a coma because of what
you pulled on me! Don't deny it!"
"Just because I kissed you?" Diana inquired, as
she was shaking her head in disbelief. "Fox, you
pulled away from me..."
"I know that, Diana. Scully saw what happened, and
she thought that I love you. She's devastated, Diana!
She got in a car accident which put her in a coma!"
Diana looked concerned as she took in what Mulder
said. She gasped. "Oh my God!" She looked down at
the floor, and then looked at Mulder. She could tell
that he was devastated at what happened to Scully,
and was filled with helplessness. "I'm so...sorry...for
what happened."
"You damn well should be!" Mulder exclaimed, with a
roar of anger. "If it weren't for you, Scully
would have been fine!"
Diana's face was full of pain as she realized that
she shouldn't have put Mulder on the spot with her
kiss. "I'm so...sorry. Please forgive me..."
"I'll never forgive you!" Mulder exclaimed. "Get
out, Diana!" He watched as Diana left his apartment
in tears. After she left, he broke down in tears. His
face was full of pain and sorrow as the guilt of what
happened came flashing through his mind. "Scully, I'm
so sorry..."
End of Part 2 of Five Parts
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- Erin Blair
- eblair@sonic.net
- "And if I quit now, they win."
- from the X-Files: Fight the Future Movie