Title - Her Son (3/?)
Author - Donna
Email address - donnah@donnas-stories.com
URL -  http://www.donnas-stories.com/
Rating - PG-13
Category - MSR, Angst, AU 
Spoilers - None  
Keywords - MSR, Angst, AU
Summary - What if that first time had been just a little 
different
Feedback - Please 
Archive - Anywhere, just let me know so that I can visit

Disclaimer - Mulder, Scully, the Lone Gunmen and Skinner 
all belong to Chris Carter, 10-13 and Fox.  No infringement 
intended


Her Son - Part 3

He wanted to call her; he woke up wanting it, but refused 
the indulgence.  At work, he buried himself in the case 
Patterson was exploring, making notes, looking at 
evidence.  It did distract him, at least until lunch.  The break 
was unwelcome today.  Immediately his mind returned to 
Dana.  He reached for the phone to call his friends, to ask if 
they had anything for him, but they knew how to reach him 
and they would, when they had something. 

He grabbed a semi-stale sandwich from the cart and slipped 
downstairs.  No one had disturbed the door; the hair he had 
laid across the doorknob was still there.  He couldn't say 
why he was there.  He had the files that mattered to him 
memorized, but this was where he needed to be, since he 
couldn't be where he wanted to be - there was no way he 
could explain just showing up at her place now.  He'd 
wanted to go to the park and join them for the small birthday 
party.  He couldn't explain why really, but he was drawn to 
them.  Maybe he really had bonded with them during the 
hostage situation.  He shook his head and retreated from 
the room, replacing the hair. 

His lunch hour wasn't over, but he returned to his official 
desk and picked back up the information he'd been working 
with.  At least Patterson would be pleased, though he'd 
never admit it.

It was after four when he felt the hand on his shoulder.  
"Are we getting together tonight, Fox?" 

Mulder looked up and spotted Diana.  "Uh, I'm not sure what 
kind of company I'd be tonight." 

"Bad case?" Diana looked over his shoulder at the 
information scattered around his cubicle. 

He shrugged.  That was as good an explanation as any.  He 
wasn't going to explain what was really on his mind.  In the 
first place, he didn't think she'd be that pleased that he had 
another woman on his mind, and he knew how she felt 
about his theories. Again he felt regret that he'd ever 
mentioned any of it to her, but it was too late to take it back. 
"Come on over to my place, Fox.  We can have a relaxing 
dinner and put it out of your mind." 

Well, that was probably the best offer he was going to get 
today and the guys hadn't called.  He gave her a lopsided 
grin.  "Sure, sounds good." 

She nodded.  "I'll see you around six?" 

"I'll be there." 

***** 

He was, but he was feeling even more uncomfortable about 
it now.  He hadn't even bothered to go home to change, 
spending that hour down in his place in the basement, 
looking for other files that matched the two he now held 
safe in his office and his mind. 

She had picked up dinner, but instead of Styrofoam, there 
were plates on the table.  She'd pulled iced mugs from the 
freezer and, after opening the door for him, began pouring 
beer into one for him.  "Come on; let's eat while it's warm." 

He took the mug and slipped into 'his' chair at her table.  
She sat across from him and they made small talk, rather, 
she made small talk while they ate.  He tried, but his mind 
kept returning to his files.  When they were finished, Diana 
rose from the table.  
 
"Go have a seat in the living room.  I'll be right there." 

He obeyed without much thought, and took a seat on the 
couch.  She joined him in just a minute with another beer.  
She handed it to him and sat beside him.  "You haven't 
relaxed much." 

He shrugged and tried to smile.   

"Drink your beer," she whispered and he took a sip.  She 
loosened his tie; he hadn't even thought to do that and 
unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt.  He looked 
down, watching her hands, but not commenting.  She 
leaned in closer and kissed his ear, his neck.  Her hand 
caressed his chest and began unbuttoning his shirt there 
too.  When her hand found flesh, he leaned forward and 
put his mug on the table.   

"Diana, I'm sorry.  I need to go." 

"Fox - " 

"Really.  I'm sorry, but I'm not able to do this tonight.  I 
appreciate dinner, but I need to go." 

She watched him for moment.  He was right; she hadn't 
been able to reach him tonight.  She decided to cut her 
losses.  "Okay, Fox, try to get a good night's sleep.  Maybe 
lunch tomorrow?" 

"Sure.  I'll call you when I get a break and we'll meet up." 

She did smile then, it was just the case he was working on, 
no doubt.  Patterson could be a real prick.  She leaned in 
and kissed him once more, and he managed to respond.  
Then he was up and headed for the door. 

He headed home, not allowing himself to return to the 
office.  There was no need; there was no more information 
in the files for him to stare at now anyway. 

***** 

After a less than restful sleep, populated with dreams of the 
past, intermingled with Dana playing the starring role, he 
took a quick shower.  He was brushing his teeth when the 
phone rang.  He spit and hurried to his bedroom.  "Mulder." 

"You have time to stop by before work?"  It was Byers' voice. 

He felt his heart rate increase.  "Yeah.  Did you - " 

"Not over the phone.  See you soon."  The phone went dead 
and Mulder had to smile. 

He was pulling into a space at their building in less than 
twenty minutes.  He really needed to start leaving earlier.  
The traffic was great this time of day.  They were already 
unlocking the door when he approached. 

"You found the info?" 

Byers nodded.  "Come on." 

Frohike met them at the door with a mug of coffee in his 
hand.  He handed it to Mulder, who took it gratefully.  He 
hadn't taken the time to stop and get any, so this was 
especially welcomed. 

After a couple of sips, he nodded.  "What'd you find?" 

Frohike smiled.  "The records.  Come on."  He led them to 
the workroom, where Langly was scrolling through 
information on his screen.  His coffee was sitting untouched 
in front of him. 

"Mulder, great hack.  This was major cool." 

"You weren't caught?" 

"We've done all this work for you, and you insult us?" 

"Sorry."  Mulder grinned.  "What was I thinking?" 

"I tell you, they ran every test in the book on her." 

"She was told she'd been drugged the whole time she was 
gone." Mulder commented, leaning forward to see the 
screen. 

"Not with anything we recognize," Frohike said. 

Mulder smiled.  "Then it couldn't have been made by man." 

Langly grinned and Frohike chuckled. 

"Go ahead, spell it out for me." 

"She wasn't restrained; there were no marks on her.  No 
sign of sexual assault." 

Mulder flinched but kept quiet. 

"Mulder, they ran some truly funky tests on her." 

"Like?" 

"Like full body scans, blood tests on things even we've 
never thought to do.  They were checking her lymphocyte 
population, her damn gluco-cordacoids.  Those are not tests 
you run on someone that shows up unattended in an ER.  
We don't even know what they're for." 

"To test for weightless sickness," Mulder said without 
emotion. 

"Weightless?  You're kidding, right?" Byers looked at 
Mulder. 

Mulder looked up and shook his head.  "Was she 
pregnant?" 

Langly blinked at that.  "Uh, yeah.  They confirmed a 
pregnancy." 

Mulder leaned back then.  The baby, he wasn't this Allen 
guy's kid after all.  No sexual 'assault,' however they could 
easily have done an in-vitro procedure.  But why?   

"Mulder, you okay?" Byers put his hand on the man's 
shoulder. 

"Just thinking.  I, uh, I need to get to work.  This is good; this 
is exactly what I needed.  Thanks, guys.  Can I have a 
copy?"  He placed his mug on the table and took the 
printouts, then headed for the door.  Frohike trailed him and 
opened the door. 

"Man, you okay?" 

Mulder seemed surprised to find Frohike beside him.  
"Yeah, I'm good.  Thank you for this." 

"It was our pleasure.  Is there anything else we can do?" 

"I'll be in touch."  Mulder nodded and headed for his car. 

He managed to submerge himself into Patterson's case 
when he got to the office, and actually came up with an idea 
that Patterson decided needed to be checked out.  Mulder 
felt unexpected relief when Patterson assigned that task to 
someone else.  Unusual, but he found he didn't want to be 
out of town right now. 

He didn't admit his intentions to himself, but when he left 
work that night he headed to Dana's apartment instead of 
home.  He sat just outside for a few minutes, but couldn't 
make himself leave.  Finally, he opened his door and 
stepped out.   

Mulder took the elevator up and stood outside of her door.  
Again he hesitated, but it was probably the last time he'd 
see her and he wanted, no he needed, a little time with her.  
He knocked on the door.   

She opened it with a surprised smile on her face.  "Mulder?  
Come in, it's good to see you." 

"Thanks." 

Her smile faded.  "Is everything okay?" 

He forced a lopsided grin.  "Been a long day.  I hope you 
don't mind." 

"Of course not.  Please, come in."  She stepped aside and 
he entered.  "May I have your coat?" 

He nodded and slipped it off, letting her hang it in her coat 
closet. 

"Will's already asleep?" 

She nodded.  "You need to see something."  She put her 
finger to her lips and led him down the hall.  She pushed 
open the door to Will's nursery and they entered quietly.  
She pointed to the crib and he moved in that direction.  In 
the light of the nightlight, he saw the boy, asleep with his 
head resting on the shoulder of his 'Mudder Air', his hand 
resting on the bear's arm he had obviously been holding 
until he fell asleep. 

Mulder felt unexpected tears, which he blinked back.  This 
kid had gotten to him, him and his mother.  Yes, there was a 
connection - that was the real reason he was here. 
He turned and smiled at her.  She spotted the tears.  Her 
look of concern told him that.  He silently followed her from 
the room. 

"Mulder," she turned to him once they were back in the 
living room.  "What's wrong?" 

"Do you mind?"  He pointed to the couch. 

"Of course not.  Would you like something?  Wine?" 

"You know, that might be a good idea." 

"I'll be right back."  He took a seat, and she hurried into the 
kitchen.  He could see through the archway that a cup from 
a fast food restaurant and a sippy cup sat on the counter.  
She poured them each a glass of wine and returned.  He 
took his glass from her and watched her take a seat beside 
him. 

"Are you okay?" she asked after he took a sip. 

"I, I need to tell you a story, and I'm afraid I'll never see you 
again afterward." 

She blinked and reached for his hand.  "I hope that's not 
true.  Will and I enjoy your company very much." 

"That's before you decide I'm insane.  I need you to listen." 

She nodded. 

***** 

It was late, the wine glasses were empty.  She hadn't said 
very much, just listening, hearing the pain as well as the 
words.  He leaned back, exhausted emotionally as well as 
physically.  This was not a story he'd ever told before in this 
way.  "Do you want to call the white coats, or should I?" 

"I don't think you're crazy," she said quietly. 

He gave a sad laugh.  "Hell, I think I'm crazy.  Did you hear 
what I just told you?  My sister was - " 

"I heard you," she interrupted. 

"And?" 

"Well, I can see some similarities to what happened to me, 
but it's, what do you call it - circumstantial evidence?  Is that 
why you told me about this?" 

"Dana, I . . . " He looked away, then straightened his 
shoulders.  "I did something you're not going to be happy 
about." 

"What?" 

"I had some friends of mine hack into the system at Walter 
Reed, and check on your records." 

Her eyebrow rose then.  "You did what?" 

"I used you.  I apologize, but I needed to know what a 
military hospital would, would look for, if this was what I 
suspected.  You didn't just show up there.  You were left 
there by the people in our government who work with these 
. . .  beings."  

She drew back a little at those words and his heart sank. 

"You have my medical records?" 

"No, just the tests that were done while you were there.  I 
wasn't trying to . . . I guess I should get out of here." 

"Wait, please.  Do, do you have the information?" 

He nodded and moved toward the closet.  He withdrew a 
handful of folded papers from his jacket pocket.  The 
pregnancy test had been carefully removed. He thought 
about the tiny boy lying in the crib in the next room.  He was 
her son, wasn't he?  There were no red curls, no button 
nose.  The baby's eyes were darker than hers.  No sexual 
assault?  Shit, it was the ultimate rape. 

"Mulder?" 

"Sorry."  He spotted the look of fear that flitted across her 
face, quickly hidden as she took the papers.  Regret welled 
up in him.  Should he have done this?  Had he used her 
just to get information on Samantha? 

While she was looking through the papers, he took the wine 
glasses into the kitchen and put them into her dishwasher.  
Then he took the sippy cup and removed the lid, the cup 
went into the dishwasher, but he slid the lid into his pocket, 
then he removed the straw from the fast food cup and took it 
as well. 

When he returned, she was perusing the papers.  "I don't 
know some of these tests."  She held the paper up and 
pointed. 

"That's a test they run on astronauts after they've been in 
space.  They can get weightless sickness, lose bone mass." 

"Why would they . . . I was tested for problems in outer 
space?" 

"Well . . . " 

"Oh my god!"  She looked up at him then, for reassurance. 

"We don't know that's what - " 

Her arms went around herself and he saw she was 
shivering. 

"Dana, I'm sorry."  His arms went around her then and she 
didn't pull away.  Instead her arms went around his waist 
and she rested her head against his chest. 

They sat that way a long time and eventually her shivering 
slowed and stopped.  She took a deep breath and finally sat 
up.  "May I keep these papers?" 

"Sure.  One thing I think I should point out - " She stiffened, 
and his arm around her tightened.  "You're in perfect 
health.  I don't know if you had any problems before.  
Looking at you, I'd say you didn't, but your health was not 
harmed." 

She blinked and a small smile began to appear.  "I guess 
that is something.  My pregnancy was perfect and all of 
Will's exams say he's above the curve." 

"That's good, right?" Mulder asked. 

She did smile then.  "Yes, that's good.  He's tall for his age, 
ahead in things like motor skills, verbalization." 

"Shows you're a good mother." 

Her eyes met his.  "Thank you." 

"You're feeling better." 

She nodded.  "I am.  You need to go?" 

"I should.  Go on to bed.  I'm sure the kid will have you up 
bright and early in the morning." 

She chuckled at that.  "You are so right.  Mulder, thank you 
for coming tonight, for sharing what happened - " 

"For scaring you to death?" 

"You've given me plenty to think about." 

"Not tonight.  Go on to bed and I'll give you a call tomorrow." 

"Yes, please."  She stood and he followed, and let her lead 
him to the door.  He took the coat from the closet and 
suddenly found his eyes focused on her lips.  It wasn't 
appropriate, but then neither was coming over here to tell 
her she'd been abducted by aliens.  He leaned over and met 
those lips.  The contact was electric and their arms were 
back around each other.  When they broke for air, he 
scanned her face.  No condemnation, a little surprise but 
she seemed pleased. 

"I better get out of here," he said quietly. 

She nodded and opened the door.  He left without another 
word.  It was late, but he headed for his friends' place first. 

It took some knocking, but Frohike finally appeared at the 
door.  He was wearing full pajamas, but Mulder decided 
against comment.  He pulled the sippy cup lid and the straw 
from his pocket.  "Can you check the DNA on these?" 

"What time is it?" 

"It's late, I'm sorry.  Could you get DNA from these and 
compare it?" 

"Yeah, what are we looking for?" 

"After what was done to her, I want to know if the kid really 
is hers." 

"What would it matter?" 

"I just need to know." 

Frohike yawned.  "Want to come in?" 

"No, no I don't need this tonight.  Go back to bed, but let me 
know." 

"You got it."  Frohike closed the door in his face and he 
turned back toward his car. 

*****