Title: What They Found
Author: Gillian Leigh
E-Mail: Sequel to "What He Knew". Three years after the "deaths" of their children and facing countless dead ends, Mulder and Scully have finally lessened the intensity of their search for answers, have come to accept that their children truly are dead and have begun the lengthy process of healing.
Disclaimer: If they belonged to me, the Lone Gunmen never would've died.

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Northeast Georgetown Hospital

December 20, 2003

All of the awful plastic chairs in the hospital hallway outside Scully's room were occupied. There was a heavy air of anticipation as the five adults seated in the chairs waited for any news. Maggie Scully sat in the middle, nervously tapping her foot. To her left, Monica and John Doggett sat beside one another, hands clasped together. She leaned against his shoulder. To her right, Kimberley and Walter Skinner sat in identical positions, hands clasped. Kim's right hand moved over and gently covered Maggie's left. The older woman gratefully took her hand. It had been hours.

Afternoon became evening, and evening became night, but still they all remained. Save for the occasional trips to the bathroom and vending machine, they didn't move. They didn't dare.

It was only when the hands on the large wall clock showed that the time was 11:24 p.m. and a resonating wail was heard, did they move. In practically the same moment they were all on their feet.

The door to Scully's room burst open, Mulder, looking exuberant and exhausted at the same time, rushed out, still dressed in his hospital scrubs. He went to Maggie first.

"Fox..." she began quietly, unsteadily. He took her hand in his, and couldn't help but smile.

"A boy. It's a boy," he said, laughing. Maggie cried as she hugged her son-in-law-- it was only a moment before he was in tears as well. "I, um, I have to get back to Dana..."

Maggie nodded. "Of course. Go back to your wife and son, sweetheart." For several minutes, their excited chatter was the only noise in the quiet hospital corridor. Once they'd gone, promising to return in the morning, the quiet returned.

Mulder still couldn't stop smiling. Glancing down at the wide-eyed baby in his arms, and his exhausted wife in the hospital bed, he didn't know that he would ever be able to.

"He needs a name, Mulder," Scully said, pulling her lengthening hair into a pony tail. He nodded. This time, they hadn't even considered names. They were lucky that they'd gotten the nursery furnished before the baby came. After what happened to the twins, they hadn't wanted to jinx anything. In doing so, they had prepared very little for this child, worried that he might never arrive.

"Yes," he replied quietly, studying their still-nameless child. He had a thick head of brown hair, blue eyes that would more than likely stay that way, and as of yet, an indistinctive nose that could go either way. "He does."

"My mother left the name book. She put it in my hospital bag before we left yesterday."

"Why don't we name him William?" Mulder queried, gently bouncing the yawning baby. "After your father..." After a moment's consideration he added, "...and mine." His wife smiled at him teasingly.

"And his uncle, too?" she questioned. He laughed.

"Yes, and after his uncle, too," he consented. She nodded her approval, stifling a yawn.

"Fox." Mulder looked up.

"Yes?" Scully laughed again.

"No, Mulder, his middle name should be 'Fox', after you." His eyebrows went up in surprise. 'Fox' had been Adam's middle name.

"Not after me," he said, gently sinking down onto the edge of her bed. "After his brother."

"His brother..." Mulder could see the tears in the corners of her eyes as she said it, studying their new baby. Wiping away the tears, she looked at the baby. "Well," she said, sniffling, "William Fox, welcome to the world."

Mulder quietly closed the door behind him, leaving his wife sleeping inside. He was too wired to even try to sleep yet, and he was starving. Carrying Liam in his arms, he made his way carefully to the nursery. The night nurse smiled at him as he approached the door, and gratefully opened it, ushering him inside.

"Hello, Mr. Mulder. How are our patients?" Susan questioned, extending her arms to take the baby. Mulder grinned.

"They're doing just fine," he replied, gently handing William to her.

"Does this little one have a name yet?" she queried, gently rocking the baby.

"William. We've named him William, after mine and Dana's fathers," he said, standing in close proximity to her. He was crowding her, but she didn't say anything; she was used to this over-protectiveness from new fathers. "But we're going to call him Liam. There are a few too many Bills in our family."

"Liam," she said. "Liam Mulder. That's a nice name." She smiled again. "I'm going to put him in his bassinet now, Mr. Mulder. Why don't you go and get some rest?"

"Thanks," he said, gently kissing the baby's forehead. "Goodnight, Liam. Sleep well."

Reluctantly, he left Susan holding his son, and departed the nursery. Running a hand over his face and through his hair, Mulder left the nursery, pausing at the window to watch as Susan deposited Liam into his bassinet. With a wide yawn he strode off down the hall, toward his wife's room in the hopes of getting some sleep.

He paused before the window, and looked in on the babies, all of them asleep in their bassinets. His eyes scanned the names, up and down the rows, until he found the particular one he was looking for. "William Mulder," he read aloud. How appropriate, he thought, a cynical smile gracing his lips. Named for his father's father—or at least the man Mulder believed was his father.

"You know the Mulders?" Startled, he turned to his left, and found himself staring at a red haired woman in scrubs. He nodded.

"Friend of the family," he replied. She smiled.

"It was brave of them to try again," she commented. "After everything they went through the first time..." She sighed, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yes," he replied, looking from the nurse to the child asleep in his bassinet.

"Susan," she said, offering her hand. He smiled, and shook her hand. Her eyes flickered down to the artificial limb that hung awkwardly at his side.

"Alex," he said. "Nice to meet you."

From the other end of the hallway, Dr. Josephine Rosenthal watched this exchange with clenched fists. As soon as Nurse Barron disappeared back into the nursery, she purposefully strode down the hall. She reached him, and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away from the glass windows of the nursery into a more secluded area of the hall near the stairwell.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed, her green eyes sparking with anger. "You're risking everything by being here!"

"The old man told me everyone in this hospital works for him," he replied. "Why the worries?"

"The Mulders are my worries, Alex. If Dana or Fox saw you, or any one who came to visit them, it would set off their internal alarms. It's like Fox's got a sixth sense about these things. I doubt he trusts any of us..." Krycek crossed his arms.

"What reason have you ever given them to trust you?" Jo turned bright red, and her mouth became a thin line.

"Get out of here," she ordered, keeping her voice low. He remained. "Don't make me say it again." Flashing his ingratiating smile, he left as quietly as he came.

Author's Notes: Well, I know that it has taken me a million years to update, but my life's a little hectic right now, and my muse has been less than cooperative. So, as I continue to go through the process of preparing for college, I can't guarantee that the chapters will come quickly or regularly. I'll do my best to update as soon as possible, but you'll have to bear with me! Thanks!