Title: Another Life II: The Reunion of Souls (1/2)
Author: Erin M. Blair
E-Mail: eblair@sonic.net
Classification: SRA--Story, Romance, Angst
Content: Mulder/Scully Romance. Alternate Universe.
Spoilers: None.
Archive: OK to archive at: Gossamer 
and Xemplary. Others: ask me first.
Please forward to ATXC.
Disclaimer: Fox Mulder and Dana
Scully doesn't belong to me. They
belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen
Productions, and the FOX network. No
infringement is intended. 
Summary: Will Mulder continue to be stuck 
with an alternate Dana Scully or will 
his Scully return to him? 

-------------------------------------------
ANOTHER LIFE II: THE REUNION OF SOULS (1/2)
Written by: Erin M. Blair <eblair@sonic.net>
--------------------------------------------

FBI Academy
Quantico, VA
February 20, 1992
Alternate Universe

Fox Mulder was walking down the corridor
towards the Behavioral Science Unit where
he was assigned originally. As he walked
by, he could hear a low female voice in a
room teaching forensic medicine. To Mulder,
she had the voice of an angel and he wanted to 
listen to her. 

He could hear her voice telling the students
to take a five minute break, and then, she
walked out and ran into him.

"Sorry," she said, in an apologetic tone. "I
didn't see you there."

"It's all right. I'm fine," Mulder said with
a smile. He looked at her closely, and he 
noticed she had long, auburn hair and deep
blue eyes. She had a creamy complexion, and he
judged by her appearance that she was relatively new
at the FBI. A few years, perhaps?  "I don't think 
we've met before. I haven't been at Quantico for 
the past couple of years since I'm working in DC."

"I'm glad that nothing's broken," she said, as
she gave him a medical once over. "No, I haven't
seen you around here."

"I'm here to consult on a case with the 
Behavioral Science Unit. You?"

"I teach forensic medicine here."

"Would you like to get a cup of coffee?" Mulder
asked, hoping that she'd say yes. 

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Fox Mulder. Special Agent Fox Mulder." He 
paused. "What's your name?"

"Dana Scully." She added. "Special Agent
Dana Scully, MD. I'm a medical doctor."

"It's nice to meet you. A medical doctor?
What's your specialty? Pathology?"

Dana nodded. "Pathology."

"Do you work on cases?"

"Not really, but I would love to. I don't
work in the field."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I haven't been asked." Dana
looked at her watch, and those five minutes
were now up. "I've got to go back to my
students. Class will be out within an hour,
and we can go out then."

"That'll be fine. I'm looking forward
to that." He watched her enter the room
full of eager new students. All he knew 
was how much he was looking forward to 
see Dana Scully again over a cup of coffee.

He walked towards the Behavior Science
Unit, and he stood at the door of the 
agent in charge of the case. 

"Special Agent Mulder?" 

Mulder nodded. "That's me."

"And I'm Special Agent Michael
Kennedy," he said, as he extended
his hand in greeting. "I heard so
much about you. You work on the 
X-Files, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. I used to work in this
unit before I transferred to the 
X-Files."

"We found a body."

Mulder nodded. "Do you know what
caused the injuries?"

"No."

"Has it been autopsied?"

"It was just flown in tonight,"
the agent sighed. "I don't really
know who's going to do the autopsy
rather than the forensic instructor,
Special Agent Dana Scully." He saw
Mulder's smile of recognition. "Know
her?"

"I just met her." He paused, as he
decided to change the subject. "You
told me that you want me to help with
the profile."

Agent Kennedy nodded. "Yes." He handed 
him the case file. "I hope that you
can make sense of this."

"I'm sure that I will," Mulder said,
as he opened the file. He read the 
notes of the case. "There was traces
of some substance found at the scene?"

"We sent the vial to the lab. The results
should be back at any day now."

Mulder put down the file on the table, 
and looked at his watch. It was almost
time for him to take out Agent Scully to
lunch. "I'm sorry. I take a look of this
case file, and write out a profile."

Agent Kennedy nodded. "All right." He
watched Mulder leave the room, and he
noticed that he was headed towards the
forensic medicine's class room. 

Fox Mulder's Apartment
Monday, 9:30 a.m.
Present Day

Fox Mulder felt the warmth of the morning
sunshine on his brown hair, and his hazel eyes 
slowly focusing on his surroundings in his
apartment. He got up from the sofa as he 
heard some incessant knocking at the door.
"I'll get it. I'll get it."

He opened the door, and saw it was Dana
Scully. *Dana Scully-Mulder,* thought 
Mulder, *in my Scully's body.* "Dana,
come in." To differentiate his Scully
from the one in front of him, he had 
decided to call her 'Dana.' So far, it 
worked. 

Dana nodded, as she walked into his 
apartment. "Nice place."

"Thanks." 

She walked towards the computer, and
looked at the window. "This is awfully
familiar. My husband lived in the same
apartment before we married."

"He has taste," Mulder said with a 
smile. 

"Yes, he does," Dana said wistfully.
She missed being with her husband, and
wanted to return to him. She sighed, as
she absentmindedly rubbed her pregnant
torso. "We have to find a way to bring
your Scully back to you, and for me to
return to my husband."

Mulder sighed. "I know." He paused, as
he noticed that Dana was having trouble
sitting down to the couch because Scully's
pregnancy was finally showing. "We'll 
think of something."

Dana looked at her pregnant body, and 
sighed. "It has been four months, Mulder.
If you want to be technical, I'm trapped
in your Scully's body. She's having your
baby, not me. Scully's in my body, and 
she can feel the baby that I created with
my husband." She saw Mulder's hazel eyes
which were full of compassion. "I feel that 
I'm missing out on my life."

"There has to be a way, Dana. We have to 
find out what triggered it."

"And how are we going to do that? All I
did was take a nap! Then I found out
I'm in my other self's body."

Mulder nodded then he gave her a
small frown. "You also found out that 
Scully and I aren't married." He sighed.
"I can understand how that can be very
shocking."

Dana nodded. "It's a shock all right. However, 
I do know there's got to be an explanation for
this. We have to find out why this happened to 
both your Scully and me." 

He gave her a smile. "Did I ever tell
you how much you remind me of her when
I first met Scully?"

"Yes, you told me that a few months 
back. After all, she's me."

"I know. However, both of you have
different experiences."

Dana sighed. "Let's talk about what
triggered it."

"I don't even know, Dana."

"We have to think about it - it could
be our answer."

"I don't want to talk about it. What
happens if we try, but something 
goes wrong? I'll never forgive myself
if something happens to the both of
you." He sat down beside her, and he
watched her put his arms around him.
He could feel the warmth of her body
against his own. For a minute, he could
honestly believe that he was with Scully. 

"That's not going to happen, Mulder."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. However, I do know that I 
wouldn't do anything that might 
jeopardize both of us." She paused, as 
she gazed into his hazel eyes. "I hope 
you'll trust me on this."

"I do."

Mulder Residence
Monday, 9:30 a.m.
Alternate Universe

Scully opened a navy colored album which 
was worn from years of usage. She turned
the pages carefully because the photos were
threatening to fall out. 

Apparently, after reading Dana Scully-Mulder's 
letters and journals, Scully learned that 
both of them had lived the same events 
until she met Mulder in 1992. After that,
the events were different. *The other Dana
met him in an entirely different manner. He
had seen her at Quantico a few weeks before
their official meeting. By the time they
were officially partners, they had fallen
in love. It was a whirlwind romance.  A few 
months later, they were engaged. In December, 
Dana Scully married Fox Mulder. They
became partners in every sense of the word at
both home and work,* thought Scully, as she 
looked at the wedding photos. 

As Scully studied the photographs, she noticed
that they looked very much in love on
their wedding day. She fingered her other self's
lacy, flowing white gown, and she wished 
all of this happiness happened to her. She felt
a tinge of jealousy over this other Dana 
Scully-Mulder. She couldn't help feeling this 
way, but she felt it all the same. 

One thought remained.

*I wish it happened to me,* thought Scully, as
she closed the photograph album. She closed
her eyes for a few minutes as she needed some
time to reflect. She needed to understand why
she was here in the first place. She had several
good theories as to why she came here and Dana
went into her own world. 

She didn't know how to go back.

She opened her eyes to look at a few pictures
of Dana Scully-Mulder, and in every picture,
she had the same innocent expression like she
had when she first met Mulder. It's good to 
know that nothing bad happened, but she knew
that Dana still suffered the death of her 
father. That hadn't changed. 

Scully got up, and took out an address book
from the Dana's desk drawer. She fingered the 
worn pages, she decided to look under "S" 
for Scully. She wanted to know if Melissa was 
killed in this reality. As she scanned the entries, 
there was a current number for her sister. *Missy's 
alive,* remarked Scully, shocked. *How's that 
possible?* 

She walked towards the living room, and she saw
Mulder watching television. "Can I ask you something?"

Mulder nodded. Her expression told him how shocked
she was. "Is there something wrong? You look as 
though you'd seen a ghost."

"I feel as though I had." She showed him the address
book which shows a listing for Melissa. "It's a 
listing for Melissa. How can that be?"

Mulder sighed. "In your world, she's not?"

"She was killed in a mistaken identity. They 
thought she was me," Scully said, with 
a sigh. "That's why I was so startled seeing
her name in Dana's book. She's alive, right?"

"Melissa's alive. Dana told me that she was
missing for a few years but came back in 
1994 when Dani was born."

"She's alive?"

Mulder nodded. 

"I wish I could see her," Scully said,
wistfully. "I know it's not a good idea.
For years, I'd blamed myself for her death. I
never said this to anyone, but I did." 

Mulder frowned when he heard this. With compassion
in his eyes, he grasped her fingers. She was so 
much like his wife, and he didn't want to see
her in pain. "You're not to blame for Melissa's
death. Blame the people who are truly responsible."
He pulled her close to him, and he stroked her 
back. "You're not to blame for anything. I'm so
sorry that all of this happened to you in your
universe." 

"It's not your fault," Scully said, softly. "I
don't blame anyone for what happened to me. I
blame myself."

"You're not the cause. All of these things 
happened because of fate." He paused, as
he couldn't help admiring how beautiful she
was. "Deep down, you know that these events
couldn't have been helped. That's what fate
is. I wish that there was some way that Dana
and I could give you some happiness."

"I'm sure Dana knows how upsetting my life
really is," Scully said with a sigh. 

"It can't be that bad," Mulder said, gently. 
"Don't worry, my wife can handle anything 
especially someone like me. She had a lot of
practice. Believe me."

"Oh, I believe you. It's just that your other 
self is so different from you."

"How so?"

"You're a lot easier to talk to." She sighed.
"Is that odd?"

Mulder smiled. "No. It's not odd at all. I'm glad
that you can talk to me." He saw her frown. "What's
wrong?" He gave her a look of compassion, and he 
wanted her to continue to feel open. *As long as
she's here, I'm going to help her in every way that
I can.*

"Nothing. It's just that I wish that Mulder and I
were more open like we are."

"I'm sure you will." He turned the television
off, and looked at Scully. "Although you may not 
know it, I'm sure that my other self loves you. He
trusts you."

"How do you know this?"

Mulder laughed. "Well, he's me. I'm him." His 
hazel eyes became serious as he looked into
her clear, blue eyes. "I love Dana with 
all of my heart and I know he loves you. If he 
doesn't, he's an idiot." He paused. "He's even more 
an idiot if he thinks he's in love with Diana Fowley."

Scully couldn't believe what she heard from 
him. It stunned her to the point where she 
couldn't find the words to express how she 
felt. "You hate Fowley?"

Mulder nodded.

She whispered. "Why?"

"She almost broke up my marriage to Dana. I'll
never forgive her for that."

"What happened?"

"It happened last year, and Diana came back into
my life. She said that she wanted to help with a
case that I was working on with Dana. I told her 
no, but she still couldn't get the picture. I wanted
nothing to do with her. She left on very bad terms. 
She was my partner back in 1991, but I..."

"You were her partner?"

"Yes, briefly. She left because I wouldn't 
return her feelings."

"She was in love with you?"

"I wouldn't say that. With her, it was 
pure lust. Anyway, to make a long story 
short, she told Dana that I had feelings
for her. For Diana. That was a lie, but Dana 
believed it." He paused, as he nervously 
fingered his tie. "I wished her skepticism
had kicked in. She was so upset that she took
Dani to see her mother. I had to tell Dana
that she makes me a whole person, and how 
much I love her. I also told her Diana
was a complete liar." 

"So she believed you?"

Mulder nodded. "I was so afraid she'd
leave me. She's my whole life."

"Why couldn't *Mulder* see Diana like you could?"

Mulder frowned. "Is Diana a vicious liar?"

Scully nodded. "I already told you this. I don't
want to talk about this."

"If you want to go back to your world, we
have to talk about it," Mulder said, gently. "It's
probably the biggest hurdle. I know why Dana's in
your world, but we need to know why you're here. I 
know that Diana's the obstacle." He heard her groans
but he decided to ignore her. "Listen to me, we have
to talk about this." *I have to get her to trust 
me, and I wish I could throttle my other self
right now.* "I need you to trust me."

Scully sighed. "I would like to trust you, but it's
hard for me."

"I understand how you feel, but we need to find 
a way for you to get back to your world." He 
paused, as he saw her face lined with worry. 
"What are you afraid of?"

She looked at him, and noticed his face was
full of concern for her. "I appreciate your
concern, Fox, but I'm fine."

Mulder didn't buy that line for a second
as his wife had said it on occasion. It
usually meant that she *wasn't* fine. "Come
on, Da--Scully." He almost called her 'Dana'
like he called his wife, but decided to use
the name that he used to call her. "Come on,
Scully, don't give me that. I know you're not
fine. You're far from being fine. My other 
self must have been like a total jerk to you."

"He's not that bad," Scully said, defensively.

"Yes, he is. You told me that he doesn't trust
you, and he trusts Diana more than you. It 
sounds like he doesn't understand what Diana
is."

"And you do?"

Mulder nodded. "I discovered a long
time ago she was working for them. I'm sure
she's the same way in your world." 

Scully couldn't believe what she was 
hearing. "How did you find out?"

"It wasn't hard," Mulder replied,
as he remembered how he found out. "I
find out through some sources Diana
wasn't to be trusted. Let's just say
they were right."

"How did Dana react to the news?"

"Dana had a feeling that Diana wasn't
to be trusted. I guess it was women's 
intuition. That kind of thing. After what 
happened last year, I knew Dana was 
right."

"You believed her?"

Mulder nodded. "Of course, I did. Dana's 
my life. I had no reason to doubt my own
wife."

"That's true. It's just...I wish 
*Mulder* believed me instead of Diana."

Mulder frowned. He heard the sorrowful
tone of Scully's voice, and it hurt him
deeply to hear how much his other self
hurt her. "I believe you, Scully." He
paused, as his frown deepened. He was
at a loss of what to do to help her. *There
has got to be a way to solve this, once 
and for all.* "I believe you."

She was touched by his kindness towards 
her. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome," Mulder murmured. When he
noticed she was having trouble getting
up, he got up to help her. "Let me give you
a little boost."

"I'm fine."

Mulder gave her a little boost which helped
her to get out of the chair. "It must be really
hard carrying that extra load."

Scully sighed. "Tell me about it. I wonder how
your wife feels about being me."

"I don't know."

Fox Mulder's apartment
Alexandria, VA
Monday, 10:30 a.m.

"Fo--Mulder," Dana corrected herself,
as she walked into the kitchen. She saw
Mulder was pouring iced tea into two 
glasses. "I figured out something."

Mulder looked up to see her thoughtful
expression. "What is it?"

"I think that I know what might have
happened. I was going over everything
that you told me about your Scully and
my Dani. It's all about a wish."

"A wish?"

"I know it's incredible, but I remember
how jealous my daughter was. When Fox and
I told her about how I was going to have
another baby, she was upset."

"Are you saying Scully was jealous too?
Of what?"

"You have the answer to that question. I
certainly don't. I think that you need to
ask yourself these questions: Why would she 
become jealous? Do you know why?"

"Diana Fowley."

"What about her?"

"When she met her, I had a feeling Scully 
didn't like her. I didn't know why. Now I do.
It's all coming together." Mulder paused as he
looked at Dana with concern. "She saw me, Dana.
She saw me kiss Diana!"

"What are you gonna do, Mulder?" Dana asked
softly. Her blue eyes were full of concern 
for him. 

"You'll see."

End of Part One.

Author's Notes: This is the sequel to
"Another Life"--enjoy. Thanks to my
new beta reading team and my friends
at the SEFAMSRN, AnXFObsession, and 
ErinMBlairXFFanfic. 

I dedicate this story to Tanja and Joey 
for their support. 

Feedback: Much appreciative. Positive or 
negative comments are welcomed. I would 
like to learn where I went wrong in the 
story so I can improve as a writer. Send 
to: eblair@sonic.net