Mulder's Seed

by Trycee

Time Frame: Season 8: Scully's Pregnancy, after Mulder was buried.

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files, this is written for fun not profit.

Where was it when she needed it most? That quiet reserve she could always draw from? Where was the steel collection and self-assurance she always projected? Like a nearly dried well, she couldn't pull up any more of it...she could only stare at it swimming in the darkness, unable to reach it.

It was enough that she had to forge on without half of her soul...he was gone now and she had to continue breathing but she was now betraying the secret between them. A secret to no one, she knew this to be true. But yet it was still their secret, one that she was no longer able to hide with the protrusion of her belly. The whispers had been there for years...she'd seen it in the eyes of the female agents who glared at her with obvious jealousy and who spread more rumors...she never knew their names, she comforted herself in the basement in Mulder's presence and later in his arms. It was also in the male agents who nodded but never hit on her, occasionally mistakenly calling her Mrs. Spooky. She was Mrs. Spooky from the moment she'd stepped foot in the basement and it was never a title she'd denied but secretly enjoyed. But now there would be no doubt about their relationship...her stomach had grown enough that she could no longer hide it beneath a few cleverly worn jackets or oversized sweaters. She was now showing for all to see. Not only would they know she was pregnant the minute she stepped into the J. Edgar Hoover building this day but she would also have to face her mother, which would be harder she felt than all the eyes that would be staring at her from that point on.

Scully stepped out of her car in the parking garage and immediately heard a gasp from a fellow agent whose jaw had dropped at her apparent condition. She stared for a moment and then turned from them, placing her ID on the collar of her jacket and grabbed up her briefcase and a lunch sack. She slammed the door and turned but the agent was now gone and she knew instinctively they had ran in spreading rumors. She stepped into the hall and immediately felt eyes staring and even saw a few people pointing in her direction. She tried to ignore them but she caught a few whispers..."Told you...Mulder's baby...Mrs. Spooky...", it was hard not too. A few agents gasped when they stepped foot into the elevator with her. She could hear the snickering behind her. She turned to face two older women. One was staring straight ahead shaking her head to no one in particular, the other was glued to her. She didn't recognize them but she turned back to face the elevator door. They stepped off on their floors, turning to stare at her stomach and then moved on. She felt as if she were in middle school again and was the pregnant teen that had gotten knocked up before her 13th birthday. Finally alone, she stepped out into the basement and made her way to her office. She opened it and was grateful she was the only one there, her stomach was growling and the pizza she carried with her wasn't going to make it until lunch.

She smiled a little to herself, this baby, like its father loved pizza She couldn't get enough of it and had actually vomited up things she normally liked, like yogurt and salads. She couldn't stomach tomatoes any more, but she absolutely loved fruit, but what she craved was meat...spare ribs, hamburgers, steaks...it was a matter of time before she would need a cow to satisfy this babies appetite but it was mostly pizza she craved...and Chinese made her queasy. She moved past the coffee, she wasn't allow to drink that during her pregnancy and pulled out a small paper plate and unwrapped the slices of pizza from last nights pizza delivery and put them in the microwave. She was so engrossed in the pizza and the delicious smell, she didn't realize Doggett had walked into the office. "Agent Scully," he said, startling her.

She smiled and waved in his direction, turning her full attention back to the pizza. He pulled out an orange juice he'd purchased for her. She walked past him to sit at the desk and he waited until she was comfortably seated.

"I brought you some orange juice, since the baby is craving fruit!", he smiled.

Scully looked up from her pizza, she had bitten into both pieces, savoring each bite. "Oh, how thoughtful, Agent Doggett. You didn't have to do that."

He looked at her stomach and then at her. "Since you can't drink the hard stuff any more," he said with a New York accent, gesturing to the coffee maker. "I thought I'd bring you something to pep you up for our case this morning."

She looked concerned. "Our case? Why wasn't I told about it first?"

He looked offended. "Skinner figured since you are...well, you'll soon be going on maternity leave in a few months...that I needed to start learning the X-Files a little bit."

Scully took a swig of the orange juice. It was too sweet but she tried to drink it anyway. She eyed Doggett but then nodded her head in agreement. "Whats the case, Agent Doggett?"

"Its a kid that claims to be able to disappear...on command...or so they say..."

"Still a skeptic, hunh Agent Doggett?"

He smiled warmly. "If I'm correct Agent Scully, you were one for nearly 7 years. I did read most of your case notes."

She thought back to all of the cases she'd reviewed over the years. "I was then but I didn't know the truth."

"And what truth is that, Agent Scully?"

"That we are being misled," she announced, sitting up at the desk. "We are being led around by our tails, Agent Doggett. The truth is that we are not alone!"

He chuckled out loud. "You sound like him..."

"I should,"she said, quietly. "I certainly should..."

He looked at her puzzled but shrugged it off. He handed her the case file. "Its a kid in Virginia. I'm not sure how you feel about traveling. If you're not able too right now, I can take the case on myself."

Scully had begun warming up to Agent Doggett. She trusted him though not fully, there was only one person she trusted fully and that was Mulder. But Doggett had proven that he could be trusted and she knew too that he had a crush on her that still persisted despite her pregnancy. He had never asked her who the father was, they weren't close enough for that and she would have never answered him anyway, but she knew too that he felt protective over her and she appreciated that. He was tolerating her mood swings and her fits of tears she couldn't control and never once complained about her to Skinner. But Skinner too had become protective over her and she did appreciate the hovering of both men but they were poor substitutes for one person...Mulder, and Skinner knew it but Agent Doggett, did not. She didn't want to explain to him that she was now pregnant with her deceased partners child...that the bond between had encompassed her entire life and that she was soul-less now...a shell of what she once was. She couldn't explain that to him. He was her partner by a mere few months and it wasn't his place to know, though she knew the rumor mill probably educated him long before. It was still not his business ,she felt to hear it directly from her.

"Agent Doggett," she began. "Normally I would grin and bear it but this baby doesn't agree with me," she smiled as she rubbed her small protruding stomach, her baby bump. "My feet are swollen and the only place I'm going is to my mother's..."

"Okay," he nodded. "I'll go and investigate it..."

"With an eye to the paranormal," she reminded him.

"With an eye to the paranormal," he said with a straight face. "Will you be here?"

"Not for long, no...", she said, hopping up. "I've got a few autopsy results I can work on at my mother's. Do you have her number if you can't get a hold of me on my cell phone?"

"Yes, you gave it to me already."

"Alright," she said, grabbing up the reports she needed. "I will be there. If anyone needs me, let them know that. But call me as soon as you talk to this kid, okay?"

"Sure thing!", he smiled. "You okay to go to your car?"

She looked down at her small stomach. "Agent Doggett, I'm not even half as big as I'm gonna be...I'm not even wobbling yet."

He smiled shyly. "I've been through this before..."

Scully looked surprised. "You have?"

He tightened up, regretting his slip but he could tell she wouldn't leave until he explained himself. "My wife...my ex-wife and I had a son...he was murdered..."

"I'm sorry, " she said softly. She touched his hand. "Agent Doggett, I didn't know."

"I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about that."

She could see the sadness in his eyes. "Agent Doggett...I lost a child too...My daughter Emily...I'm sure you've read the report."

He looked surprised. "Actually, no...you told me not to read your personal files."

"Yes I did, " she said, remembering her firm request for him to not snoop in her business. She was hormonal at the time and felt it was an invasion of her privacy but she knew him a little better now, enough to know he was an honest man. "Well, I would still like it to be kept private just as I'm sure you would. I may not fully understand your grief but the lost is still there..."

He looked down at his shoes and then back up to the small red head. "I'll call you when I talk to him."

"Alright," she said sadly. "Talk to you then..."

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