From: xf_emily_sim@yahoo.ca   
      
   Title: S.N.A.F.U.   
   Author: Emily Sim   
   Headers: see chpt. 1   
   ************   
   Chapter 38   
      
   The case had stalled. Two weeks of silence. There had   
   been   
   no more white envelopes slipped under the door, no   
   Krycek   
   waiting in the dark to drop another breadcrumb of   
   information. The lack of movement from any quarter was   
   the   
   most telling of all. Either somebody had got exactly   
   what   
   they wanted, or something had gone horribly wrong.   
   Although   
   Mulder was still looking, keeping the file open, it   
   really   
   didn't matter much to Scully anymore. She had hit a   
   wall   
   and couldn't see a way over it.   
      
   For her, confirmation that there were other children   
   out   
   there, more Emily's, had been more than she wanted to   
   know,   
   despite the suspicions she'd harbored since that   
   fateful   
   December. So much for that whole truth setting you   
   free   
   bit; all this truth did was drive a deeper wedge into   
   a   
   partnership that was already fractured.   
      
   She paused in the office hallway, using the wall to   
   support   
   her weight as another cramp sliced across her abdomen.   
   It   
   had been two weeks since Dr. Parenti had implanted the   
      
   embryos and she didn't need anyone to tell her what   
   was   
   happening. It was a familiar feeling. Twice she'd gone   
      
   through this. Twice she'd grieved the loss as if it   
   had   
   been a real child, something other than blood and   
   cells her   
   body rejected. She took a few deep breaths as the pain   
      
   subsided and continued to make her way to the   
   washroom.   
      
   Another searing pain halted her progress, this time   
   accompanied by a gush of liquid. She could feel it   
   trickling out the sides of her underwear. So much for   
   the   
   heavy duty Kotex she'd used in anticipation of this;   
   she   
   hoped her panty hose would keep it contained until she   
      
   could make it to the stall.   
      
   She had done the lab work herself earlier in the   
   morning,   
   though there was little need for it. She already knew   
   what   
   was going to happen when she started spotting   
   yesterday,   
   but even in this she needed hard evidence. She refused   
   to   
   see it as anything other than gathering evidence. To   
   do   
   otherwise would be to face one more loss and she   
   didn't   
   think she had the capacity for that. Not right now   
   with she   
   and Mulder at odds, and Diana Fowley alive, ready and   
   willing to step back into Mulder's life.   
      
   She'd drawn the blood herself and asked one of the   
   technicians she trusted to let her run it through.   
   They   
   were used to unusual requests from the Spooky Patrol   
   so it   
   didn't raise a red flag, at least a visible one. There   
   was   
   only so much that could be done to guard against the   
   men   
   hidden in the shadows.   
      
   She'd already done a urine test; the blood work   
   confirmed   
   those results. Irrefutable, empirical data. She   
   angrily   
   swiped at a tear and continued her halting progress   
   down   
   the hall. For once she was grateful for the seclusion   
   the   
   basement office held.   
      
   She pushed open the bathroom door and made it to a   
   stall   
   before the cramping began in earnest.   
      
   The most difficult part for Scully wasn't the pain.   
   She was   
   ready for it having tucked extra panties, hose, and   
   extra   
   strength Advil's into her bag that morning knowing   
   what she   
   faced.   
      
   The most difficult part right now was the guilt at the   
      
   sense of relief she was feeling. It wasn't that she   
   didn't   
   want a child; it was just that the cost of this   
   indulgence   
   had never been clearer.   
      
   And the price was too high.   
      
      
   *************   
      
   Mulder was finding it hard to concentrate on what   
   Skinner   
   ways saying to him. His thoughts were focused on the   
   empty   
   chair and his absent partner who he had only seen   
   briefly   
   earlier this morning. She had seemed preoccupied, but   
   of   
   course everything was F.I.N.E. when he asked. He was   
   getting so fucking sick of fine that he wanted to   
   strike it   
   from the English language.   
      
   He had been unable to verify the information Diana had   
      
   given him. There had been nothing he could uncover   
   that   
   lent any credence to her claims regarding the cloning   
   project, but that didn't mean her claims were false.   
   He'd   
   seen the mark on Kristen's neck and Scully had been   
   able to   
   confirm the anomalies with her blood.   
      
   And Hannah had seemingly vanished into thin air. He   
   could   
   find no trace of her. The guys had hacked the airline   
   manifests of all the major carriers and some of the   
   private   
   ones as well. They had found nothing. He was tired of   
   dead   
   ends, lost little girls, and having Samantha dangled   
   in   
   front of him like a carrot on a stick.   
      
   "Agent Mulder, have you heard anything I've said   
   here?"   
      
   "I've heard you sir, and there isn't room in this   
   department for another agent."   
      
   Skinner gave him a blank stare and Mulder felt his   
   stomach   
   lurch.   
      
   "Scully?" Mulder stood, unsure how to read Skinner's   
   barely   
   perceptible nod. "Does she get any say?"   
      
   "It's out of my hands, Mulder. I wouldn't be assigning   
      
   another agent if it wasn't."   
      
   "Who? Who is being assigned to the X-Files? _Sir_." He   
   knew   
   Skinner wasn't at fault but felt stung anyway.   
      
   "Agent Fowley."   
      
   "What? That's outrageous. Why wasn't I consulted?"   
      
   "Mulder, listen --"   
      
   "I will _not_ listen. What explanation did Agent   
   Fowley   
   give for her 'death'? Since when can an agent vanish   
   and   
   reappear with no questions asked?"   
      
   Skinner grimaced. "You know these men; there isn't   
   anything   
   they're incapable of orchestrating. The official   
   explanation is that she was on assignment with the   
   counter   
   terrorism unit in an undercover role."   
      
   "Very convenient. Scully won't like it."   
      
   Skinner cleared his throat. "Agent Scully --"   
      
   "No -- whatever it is -- no."   
      
   "You have no choice, Mulder. Scully was temporarily   
   assigned to Quantico earlier this morning."   
      
   Mulder exploded. "Does she know?"   
      
   "I just came from a meeting with her; it was her   
   suggestion   
   to pursue that avenue." He whistled softly at Mulder's   
      
   obvious surprise. "You weren't aware of our meeting.   
   What   
   the hell is going on between you two?   
      
   "It's a long story."   
      
   "Is it about Hannah? Or Kristen?"   
      
   "It's about everything, Sir.   
      
   ************   
      
   "When were you going to tell me, Scully?"   
      
   "Mulder?" She entered the office to find him pacing.   
   Not a   
   good sign.   
      
   "I just came from a meeting with Skinner who informs   
   me   
   that my _partner_ is considering other options."   
      
   Scully lowered herself to her chair. "Quantico is   
   short   
   staffed and we're essentially stalled right now.   
   There's   
   been no new evidence with either Hannah or Kristen,   
   and   
   Skinner's being pressured to close the file. This is a   
      
   temporary assignment."   
      
   "He said you were offered a choice."   
      
   "Offered, Mulder. I haven't said yes."   
      
   "The last time they separated us you ended up with a   
   bullet   
   that nearly killed you."   
      
   "This isn't the same thing. I'd only be there as a   
   consult   
   for the forensic team."   
      
   "He made it sound like you were leaving."   
      
   She cleared her throat. "Look, this is --"   
      
   "When were you going to tell me?"   
      
   "I'm telling you now."   
      
   "About the baby. The almost baby. The IVF. When were   
   you   
   going to tell me?"   
      
   "I -- it --" She dropped her head into her hands   
   hiding   
   both her anguish at the hurt in his voice and the dull   
   ache   
   that cut across her abdomen.   
      
   "I saw the lab work, Scully. It wasn't hard to find   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)