Title: Another Life (4/5) Author: Erin M. Blair E-Mail: eblair@sonic.net Classification: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst Content: Mulder/Scully Romance. Alternate Universe. Archive Notes, Disclaimers and Spoilers are in part 1. Author's Note at the end of this story. ------------------------------------------------ ANOTHER LIFE (4/5) Written by: Erin M. Blair ------------------------------------------------ Northeast Georgetown Medical Center Thursday, 9:30 a.m. Mulder could feel the warm sunlight coming from the window, and his hazel eyes focused when he saw her. He thought that it was Scully, but then, he remembered. It was Dana. He saw her watching him, and her face was lined with concern. He realized that he slept in a chair by her bedside at the hospital. "What..? How?" "You'd slept here all night," Dana remarked. "I thought that you would go home." Mulder shrugged. "I didn't want to leave you." He paused, as he looked at her with compassion in his eyes. "Not like this." "You're very devoted to my other self. Weren't you?" Dana asked, quietly. She realized why she was there instead of Scully: to understand what would happen if things were different. Mulder nodded. His hazel eyes focused on her face as she gave him a smile. "You can say that. We've been through so much together." Dana frowned. "That's what you said yesterday." She wanted to learn more about her other self's life. "I want to know more about her." "You know something, Sc--I mean, Dana. You're just like her especially when I first met her." "How?" "Section Chief Blevins assigned us in early 1992." "That's when you first met your Dana Scully?" Dana asked, as she gave him a questioning glance. She saw him nod. "Have you seen her in other places?" "No, why?" Mulder asked, as he saw her smile. "What?" Her smile deepened as she remembered when she first saw him. "We met at Quantico in 1991, and he came into my office asking me if I could help him on a case. He said he'd heard a great deal about me because of my reputation as a forensic pathologist. I was so new at the FBI that I didn't know I even had a rep!" She paused, as she slightly laughed. She watched him give her a small, sad smile. "What's wrong?" Mulder sighed. "Nothing's wrong. It's just that I wish I met her sooner." He frowned. "If I had known from the start that she wasn't a spy..." "Don't worry about it," Dana said, reassuringly. "I'm sure that your Scully wouldn't think the extra amount of time mattered." She shrugged. "It doesn't with me. If it makes you feel better, Fox and I had that 'spy' comment when we met officially. We had a feeling that they were listening in our conversation." She noticed that Mulder was relaxing a bit from what she said, and she smiled. Her eyes were lit with happiness as she reflected on her early relationship with her own Fox Mulder. "We knew then that we're going to have a good friendship. I had no idea how much it'll change my life." "I was wondering if you called him 'Mulder' like how Scully calls me," Mulder said, with a sigh. Dana nodded. "At first, we did it in a professional sense. However, when we first started to date, we started to call each other 'Fox' and 'Dana' because we realized that it would be silly of us to continue it in our personal lives. Since we're married, we call each other 'Fox' and 'Dana.'" "Professionally?" "Sometimes...um, we do call each other 'Mulder' and 'Scully." She paused, as she fingered the soft, blue blanket. "I would say that we call each other by our first names all the time. I don't know why, but we're very intimate with each other." She paused, as she looked up at him. "Are you?" "What do you mean?" "Are you intimate with her? In a sexual way?" "No, but we're intimate in an another way." Dana sighed. "What way's that?" "I guess that we're intimate in a romantic way. It's not sexual, but I feel that we're soulmates. I don't know...maybe I'm crazy." Dana murmured softly. "No. No. You're not crazy at all. I feel the same way towards my Fox." "I thought you never believed in that kind of thing," Mulder said, shocked. "I don't. However, I do believe in love." Dana sighed. "When I first saw him, I knew he was the one for me. I miss him." "I'm sure that you'll be with him soon, and I know that you miss your Dani. My Scully will take good care of your daughter. I know she will." "I know," Dana murmured. She felt her tummy to feel where her pregnancy would have been. "Where's the baby..?" "What baby?" "*My* pregnancy." "You're in my Scully's body," Mulder said, with a sigh. He watched her fingers touch her short, auburn hair and her eyes were wide with skepticism. "And she's pregnant." "How can that be? You said you aren't sexually intimate with her," Dana asked, as her eyebrows arched with skepticism. "It was an IVF procedure while she was in a coma," Mulder said, with a sigh. "It was with her egg and my sperm. It was inserted into her uterus, and she's pregnant." "That's pretty wild if I say so myself. Why?" Mulder walked towards the window, and he looked at clear, blue sky, which was the same color of Scully's eyes. Then, he turned around to face Dana. "I know it's kind of wild." "You can say that again," Dana murmured. "Go on." "I wanted her show her how much she means to me, and how much I wanted her to come back. I thought that if I give her a child, she would do anything to return. I love her so much, Dana. I just want her back." "Will you marry her?" "Hell, yes." "I have a question." "What's the question?" "Does she want a baby with you?" "I know she does." "How do you know?" "We had a talk about it once before she had cancer," Mulder said, with a sigh. "When she found out that she couldn't have children, she was devastated. I wanted to give her something back to her because I love her." He paused, with determination in his hazel eyes. "I'd do anything for her. Please don't doubt me." Dana's face grew thoughtful as she contemplated what she was going to tell him. "Last night, I doubted your love for her, but I can see how much you love her. I was wrong. You *do* love her, and I know how much you want her to return." "Thank you for understanding," Mulder murmured. "You're welcome," Dana said, as she gave him a smile. "Like I said to you before, I know she'll come back to you. In fact, I know she loves you." "How...How do you know that?" "I just know. It's hard to explain, but somehow, we made a connection with our minds. She loves you." "I know," Mulder whispered. Mulder Residence Thursday, 9:00 a.m. Alternate Universe "Mommy!" Scully heard the little girl's cries, and she hurried towards Dani's bedroom. As she opened the room, she noticed that the room was done in pink and white down to the wall paper with pink flowers among the white background. She walked in, and saw Dani sitting up, crying. Tenderly, she sat down beside the little girl, and she gave her a hug to calm her down. "What's wrong, Dani?" "You're going away," Dani murmured. She broke free from Scully's embrace, and her blue eyes welled with tears as she fingered the soft, warm, pink blanket. "I thought that we'd already talked about it," Scully said, softly. She tenderly stroked Dani's shoulder-length auburn hair. "Not really," Dani said. She sighed. "I don't wanna lose you, Mommy." "Why would you lose me, Dani?" "I won't be your little girl anymore 'cause you'll have another baby with Daddy." Scully knew exactly what Dani was talking about: the new baby. She remembered how she felt when her parents had Charlie, and she felt that she was being replaced in her parents' hearts. "Dani, no matter what happens, we love you. We'll always love you." Scully gave her a kiss on her cherubic face, and embraced her. She looked up, and she noticed Mulder standing in the doorway. "Don't worry, it's safe." Mulder smiled at Scully and Dani. "I should hope so." He watched Scully walked up to him. "I heard Dani crying, and I saw you walked in here. Is everything all right?" Scully nodded. "She's all right for now." "What do you mean by that?" Scully walked out into the hallway away from Dani's bedroom with Mulder following her. "Sibling rivalry. She's jealous of the new baby that Dana's carrying." "I thought it was about you," Mulder replied. He sighed, as he looked at her. "I should have thought about it especially after what happened when we told Dani." "What do you mean?" "Before she took that nap, we told our daughter the news that we're going to have an another child. Our little Dana Kristine didn't like the news very well. She thought the baby was taking her mother away from her." Scully nodded. "I know exactly what she was feeling. She's jealous as I was about Diana Fowley and my Mulder. I thought she's taking him away from me." "You probably wanted someone who loves you, and Dani wanted her mother's attention. Both of you got your wishes." Scully looked at Mulder. "Is that your theory?" "Yes." "It's a pretty good one. I'd never thought of that." "The reason that you hadn't come up with this theory because you hadn't known about Dani." "True." Scully sighed, as she thought more about what happened between her other self, Dani, and herself. "I have an idea what happened, and how to solve it." "What is it?" "I need your help. If it works, it'll bring me back to my Mulder, and you'll have your Dana back. Most of all, Dani will have her mother back. What do you think?" Mulder sighed, as he didn't want to lose his wife. "I'm a little reluctant, Dana. I don't want to lose you. However, I know that you can't stay here. It sounds to me that you do have a plan in mind. I'll do anything to help you." "Thank you," Scully whispered, as she hugged him. "What's this?" "For being Mulder." "I'll never forget you, Dana. I hope that you'll find the happiness that you deserve. I just hope that you'll believe in miracles." Scully gave him an arched eyebrow in response. "What do you mean?" "Whatever you do, Dana, don't shut yourself off from anyone." Scully frowned. "I don't do that." "Oh yes, you do." Mulder sighed, as he looked at Scully's puzzled expression. "When I first Dana, she wasn't really open to extreme possibilities like you are now. She never realized it, but she closed herself off... She's more open now, but it took time for her to be open with me. I expect that it's the same with you." "I'm more open to extreme possibilities but I need proof," Scully said, as she watched Mulder sigh. "What's wrong?" "That's not what I meant." "Which was?" "I want you to be open with your Mulder." Scully sighed. "That's easier said than done." "Why do you say that?" "I don't know. It's easier being with you. I feel like I can tell you everything, but with my Mulder, it's hard. We put up these walls and it's hard to break them down." Mulder frowned. He wanted Scully to be happy when she gets back to her own world. "Maybe you're the one who needs to tell him how you feel." Scully whispered. "You're right. How come I'm so afraid to tell him?" "I don't know. However, I do know that he loves you." He paused, as he remembered something that he wanted to tell her. "You have to believe in miracles. I believe what happened to all of us happened for a reason. Things will be better for all of us. It has to be." "You believe that it happened for a reason?" "I have to. I have to believe that's why my Dana is with your Mulder, and why you're here with Dani and myself." "I want to get back. I miss him so much," Scully said, with determination. "I have to get back." "You will. I know you will." End of Part Four of Five Parts.