Title: "For Better? Or Worse?"
Author: Angela W.
tapw@hotmail.com
Category: MSR (Mulder/Scully married)
Rating: R
Summary: Mulder and Scully have been married, and
continuing their work on the X-Files, for almost a
year when Scully begans to have some disturbing
symptoms.
Timespan/Spoilers: I'd put it sometime after Season
Seven in the "real" X-Files world. In my fanfic
series, this comes after "Redemption". Only spoilers
are for the cancer arc eps of Seasons Four and Five.
Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me.
They are the property of Chris Carter and 1013
Productions.
Feedback: If it's nice or contains *CONSTRUCTIVE*
criticism, feedback is valued. If you just don't like
the idea of Mulder and Scully being married, and doing
married-type things, don't read the story!

Part 1 of 2
------------------------------------------------------------------------

F.B.I. Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were
on a case in Alabama when the symptoms first appeared.
They had an early morning appointment with a witness
who was going to meet with them when she got off the
graveyard shift at the hospital where she worked.
However, when the alarm went off at five, Scully was
hit with an acute wave of nausea as soon as she slid
out of bed.

Brushing past her husband, she raced into the bathroom
and barely made it in time. When she finally stopped
retching, he gently smoothed her hair away from her
face and handed her a damp washcloth. "You okay,
Scully?"

"Ugh! Yeah, I think so."

"It was probably that Mexican food we ate last
night,"Mulder said. "The restaurant was a pretty
hole-in-the-wall joint."

"I know," she agreed. "And, yes, I was the one who
suggested Mexican food, even though it's not exactly a
regional specialty of the Deep South. But considering
that I've already had my comeuppance - literally -
don't bother with the 'I told you sos'. Are you
feeling all right?"

"I'm fine. You want me to go on the interview alone?"

"No, I'll be okay."

***

Scully did seem to get better as the day progressed.
She was able to eat a light lunch and do some analysis
work at the locak police lab in the afternoon. By the
time she met her husband for dinner - at a nice,
franchised national-chain restaurant this time - she
felt fine. But they had a meeting with the local cops
after that and, although it was not even 10 p.m. when
they returned to their hotel room, she could barely
keep her eyes open.

"You feeling bad again, Dana?" Mulder asked.

"Not bad, really," she replied with a yawn. "Just
incredibly tired. Which, considering we've been up
since before dawn, is hardly surprising."

"I've seen you pull days a lot longer than this and
still be going strong at midnight."

"Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact
thatwe've actually solved this case, or at least think
we have. During an on-going investigation I can
usually run on adrenalin, but this wouldn't be the
first time I've crashed once a suspect is in custody."

Scully brushed her teeth and changed into her
nightgown, then climbed into bed. Mulder spent a few
minutes jotting down notes for their report to Skinner
while the case was still fresh in his mind, then
joined her. He wasn't particularly sleepy, but there
were other things for a man to do with his wife in
bed.

Mulder pulled Scully into his arms and slid his hand
underneath her nightgown. He got a kick out of the
nightgowns she wore when they were travelling on
bureau business or visiting one of her family members.
Although outwardly much more demure than the ones she
wore when they were at home, she never wore anything
underneath them.

Scully sighed as her husband slid his hands along her
thighs, then gently skimmed her bottom before
beginning to stroke her back lightly. "You like
that?"he murmured.

"I LIKE it," she agreed, "but I don't think it's
affecting me the way you're hoping it would."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's making me even more relaxed. I'm enjoying
it, but I think I'm right on the verge of falling
asleep. Sorry," she whispered.

"It's okay," he said, kissing her cheek and reaching
up to switch off the light. "You go on to sleep,
baby."

***

The next morning, Mulder slipped out of bed early to
go for a run. Scully heard him leave, then decided to
go ahead and take a shower while he was gone. However,
as soon as she got out of bed, she was hit with
another attack of nausea. This one wasn't as bad as
the previous morning; she didn't actually vomit, but
she definitely felt queasy.

As they travelled to the airport, flew back to
Washington and spent a couple of hours working in
their basement office, Scully noticed the same
symptoms were repeating themselves in the same
sequence as the day before. Her nausea had subsided by
lunchtime and during the mid-afternoon to early
evening hours she felt fine. Once again, however, she
was absolutely exhausted several hours before her
normal bedtime. And, as much as she loved her husband,
the only thing she wanted to do once she climbed under
the covers was sleep.

"Dana, this is something more serious than the
after-effects of bad Mexican food, isn't it?" Mulder
asked as lay beside her.

"I do seem to have caught some kind of bug," she
admitted. "Probably just a mild case of the flu."

"I don't think you should go into work tomorrow."

"We'll see. Tomorrow's Friday. I'd like to go in, be
with you when we make our formal report to Skinner.
That way I can have the whole weekend free to relax
and recuperate with a clear conscience."

"Have you thrown up anymore?" he asked.

"No," she answered honestly. "Just that one time
yesterday morning." She didn't feel it was necessary
to alarm her husband by telling him that she'd been
quite queasy for most of the morning.

***

The symptoms came and went over the next few days.
They seemed less severe over the weekend, when their
stress levels were down. However, Dana noticed
something else unsettling as they made love on Sunday
afternoon. When Fox suckled her breasts - an activity
that normally ranked as one of her favorites - the
sensation was painful rather than pleasurable, and she
had to ask him to quit.

Monday morning brought a new X-File, this one taking
them to Kentucky. It also brought a resurrgence of the
symptoms. Her nausea was especially bad on their
flight out, even though turbulence was minimal.

"As soon as we get home, you're calling your doctor
for an appointment," Mulder said.

"I guess you're right. I keep thinking I'm almost
overthis - whatever it is - but then the symptoms
come back," she replied.

***

Because they were working closely with the agents from
the Lexington field office, Mulder and Scully hadtaken
the precaution of registering in separate hotel rooms
with connecting doors, just as they had done in the
years before their marriage. The precaution was
especially needed because one of the agents, a man
named Welch, had gone through the academy with Mulder
and the two of them had never particularly cared for
each other.

"What's wrong with your partner, Spooky?" Welch asked
when Scully got up from their early morning briefing
for the second time.

"Scully's got some kind of bug, I think," Mulder
replied. "She started feeling bad last week. I
thoughtmaybe having the weekend to rest up would put
her back on her feet, but I guess not."

Agent Adams, a man in his late 50s who was partnered
with Welch, opened his mouth as if to say something.
But when Mulder glanced at him, he just shook his
head.

All four agents worked hard long into the night. When
Mulder and Scully returned to their hotel, she was
obviously exhausted. Mulder didn't bother with the
rigamarole of spending a few minutes in his room
first, although neglecting the ritual of mussing the
bed and putting a couple of personal items in plain
view would be something he'd soon regret.

Mulder and Scully were both in a deep sleep when the
pounding on a door in the corridor jerked him
instantly awake. "Hey, Mulder, wake up!" It was
Welch's voice. "We got another one."

Mulder quickly slipped through the connecting door and
opened the door leading from his room into the
corridor. He saw both Welch and Adams standing there.
"Okay, okay, hold on. Let me get some pants on and
then I'll go wake up Scully."

Without replying, Welch pushed his way into the room.
He took a quick glance at Mulder's obvious
sleep-disheveled state and a longer one at the
pristine bed. Then he crossed the room to the
connecting door that was still partially open.

"Hey, Agent Scully's sleeping in there! You can't
just," Mulder began. But before he could intercept
theother agent, Welch had slipped through the door and
flicked on the lights.

By the time Mulder and Adams had made it to the
doorway, Welch was staring at a sleepy Scully
sittingup in bed. "We've got another one, Agent
Scully."

"If everybody will get out of here, let me get
dressed, I'll join you gentlemen in less than five
minutes," she replied.

"Agent Adams and I will wait for you in the lobby,"
Welch said, a small smile flickering at the edges of
his mouth. "As for your. . .partner, pretending that
you need to be modest in front of him would be an
insult to everybody's intelligence, wouldn't it?" To
punctuate his words, he let his gaze deliberately go
from the side of the bed that still bore the imprint
of Mulder's body to the desk chair where Mulder's suit
coat was folded across the back. Then he turned and
left.

Mulder was quiet for a moment after the other agents
had left. He sent up a silent prayer of gratitude to a
deity he wasn't sure he believed in that his wife had
been too tired for lovemaking when they returned to
the hotel. At least they were both clothed, after
afashion. He had on a T-shirt and boxers, she was
wearing a sleep shirt that was down right modest and
there was no lingering smell of sex in the air.

Scully sighed. "He's going to report us, isn't he?"

Mulder nodded. "I'll talk to Agent Adams. He's the
senior partner. Maybe he can persuade Welch, but I
doubt it."

Scully sighed again. "Seems kind of ironic, doesn't
it, that we get busted on a night when we weren't
even. . ."

Mulder gave a small smile at that. "Yeah. Hey, you
feeling okay?"

"Not really. Maybe I can accidentally-on-purpose puke
on Welch's shoes."

***

The next night, when the case had been wrapped up,
Scully went straight to bed and Welch went off
somewhere. Probably to alert somebody at headquarters
that Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, both
members of the bureau's X-Files Investigative Unit,
had a relationship that was more personal than F.B.I.
protocol permitted between personnel in the same
division. Skinner already knew and had agreed to them
continuing to work as partners as long as they were
discreet. But they'd just blown that sky-high.

So Mulder was left alone with Agent Adams at the field
office. "About last night," Mulder began, "AgentScully
hasn't been feeling well. You saw some of her symptoms
yourself yesterday morning. I thought she might get
worse during the middle of the night. It just seemed
prudent to be where she could wake me
easily if she needed me to take her to an emergency
room or something."

Adams sighed. "Welch has it in for you for some
reason, Agent Mulder. He's already informed me he
plans to contact headquarters with news of your
indiscretion. For all I know, that's what he's doing
even as we speak."

"And you?" Mulder asked.

Adams sighed again. "If I'd been the only one to
witness it, I'd figure that what went on between two
consenting adults in the middle of the night was their
business, not the bureau's. But if I'm asked to either
confirm or deny my partner's story, I'll have to say
that even though you seemed to have been sleeping, the
bed in the room registered to you hadn't been slept
in. And that I saw some of your clothing in the room
registered to Agent Scully."

"I understand," Mulder said.

"For what it's worth," Adams added, "I'll also go on
record as saying that it had been obvious to me
earlier in the day that Agent Scully was feeling
unwell. Also that both of you had on a fair amount of
clothing when we came in. But I don't think it's going
to help you and your partner much, son. The bureau's a
stickler about even the appearance of impropriety
between male and female agents. Even if you were just
sleeping in the same bed with her so she could wake
you easily in the event she became sicker, that's
still enough for them bust up your partnership."

Mulder nodded. He, of all people, couldn't ask another
agent to be part of a cover-up.

***

It was Friday afternoon when the agents arrived back
in Washington. Mulder took Scully home and brought in
their bags while she phoned her doctor for an
appointment.

"He can see me first thing Monday morning," she told
her husband as she hung up.

"I'm going with you."

"If it will make you feel better. But it's probably
just some sort of virus. May have even run its course
by the time the weekend's out."

"That's what you said last weekend," he reminded her.
"Hey, I'm going to swing by the office for an hour or
two, fill out the paperwork and check in with Skinner.
Why don't you just stay here, maybe take a nap?"

Scully agreed with Mulder. And that scared the hell
out of him. Because he knew his wife had to be feeling
really bad in order to let him make a solo report to
their boss.

***

It was just after five when Mulder knocked on
Skinner's door, but the older man was still seated at
his desk.

"Agent Mulder. Come in. Where's Agent Scully?"

Mulder closed the door, then sat down across from the
A.D.'s desk. "I need to talk to you about that.
Scullyis sick again."

Skinner stared at him for a moment. "Do you mean her
cancer's come back?"

"We don't know. She's got a doctor's appointment
firstthing Monday morning, so neither of us will be in
then. Right now, she's home sleeping."

"How long has she been sick?"

"A couple of weeks. At first we thought it was just a
mild case of food poisoning from a hole-in-the-wall
restaurant we'd eaten at. Then she thought it might be
some sort of flu. But the symptoms keep lingering.
Scully says that it's probably nothing, that I'm
overreacting, but. . ."

"Take as much time as you need on Monday, both of
you.But let me know as soon as you can, okay?"

"Of course. Here's our report. The case was actually
relatively straight forward, as X-Files go. I'll be
glad to answer any questions you have concerning it in
a moment, but there's something else I think you ought
to know. I mean, you'll know soon enough anyway, but I
thought I owed you the courtesy of telling you myself
before you received an official report from the agents
in Lexington," Mulder said.

A small smile lurked at the corner of Skinner's mouth
as he asked, "What did you do now?"

Mulder sighed. "We got busted. By the Lexington
agents. We'd registered in separate rooms with a
connecting door but, of course, we were only using one
of them."

"The other agents caught the two of you, um," Skinner
hesitated. In other circumstances, Mulder might have
enjoyed the spectacle of his unflappable boss being at
a loss for words.

"All we were doing was sleeping. Scully was too
tired,too sick for anything else. I think it was
pretty obvious, though, that we'd been sharing the
same bed."

This time, it was Skinner's turn to sigh. "Maybe it's
for the best, Agent Mulder. If your wife is going to
be requiring medical treatment, you're most likely
going to want to be able to publicly acknowledge your
relationship."

Mulder nodded. "Maybe you're right, sir."

Skinner took the report. "Go on home, Mulder. If I
have any questions about the case, I'll give you a
call."

***

When Mulder arrived home, he was surprised to see
Scully up and sitting at their computer.

"I thought you were going to take a nap."

"I did, for a while. Then my Mom called; she was
checking to see if we were back in town. I told her
we'd come over for dinner after Mass on Sunday."

"That'll be nice," Mulder said. He meant it, too.
Despite the antagonistic relationship that stand-up
comics claimed between men and their mothers-in-law,
Maggie Scully was one of his favorite people.

"Want to know what I'm doing now?'

"Yeah."

"I logged into some medical data bases, entered in my
symptoms. There are several possible diagnoses, but I
assure you none of them are life-threatening."

"Such as what?"

"Well, the most likely is some sort of flu; just like
I've been telling you. Some of the symptoms could also
indicate mono, but I think we can probably rule that
out."

"Why?"

"It's highly contagious. You'd almost certainly be
infected by this point as well."

"Any other possibilities?"

"Several. Most of them are self-limiting or easily
treatable. A few are chronic, but not fatal."

"Go on."

"Well, okay, some of my symptoms could indicate
adult-onset diabetes. Diabetes can't be "cured", but
the symptoms are easily manageable through diet
regulation and, when necessary, insulin injections.
Lots of diabetics live until their 70s. Also, do you
remember a disease that got a lot of press about 15
years ago, called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?"

"Sure. Wasn't it nicknamed Yuppie Flu?"

"That's the one. Although sufferers could be of any
age, gender or walk of life, the majority of victims
were just like me: women in their thirties with high
stress jobs. There's no real cure for it, but nobody
dies from it and the symptoms usually come and go."

"I'm still going to worry until you're checked out by
an actual doctor who's familiar with your medical
history."

"I know. But let's try and enjoy the weekend, okay?"

He nodded.

***

By Saturday afternoon, Scully's symptoms seemed milder
and she had a suggestion for that evening.

"Let's call the guys, see if they want to meet us at
that Chinese restaurant near their place."

"Are you up to that?" Mulder asked.

"I'm feeling fine right now. Besides, we've been out
of town so much lately, we haven't really seen the
guys much."

"Dana, if you tell me you're getting lonely for
Frohike, I'm going to be jealous."

In response, Scully stuck her tongue out at her
husband and dialed the phone. She reached the Lone
Gunmen's answering machine and suggested they all meet
at the restaurant around seven. When Mulder and Scully
arrived, however, only Frohike and Byers were there to
greet them.

"Hi, guys," Scully said, kissing both of the men
lightly on the cheek. "Where's Langley?"

"Believe it or not," said Frohike, "he has a date."

Scully gawked at him as she sat down. "You're
kidding!I didn't know any of you ever went out on
dates! In fact, I thought you didn't even KNOW any
women other than me!"

"Langley does this once in a while," Byers explained.
"He'll hook up with some woman in a cyberchat room
andarrange to meet her for coffee or something."

"Usually the woman takes one look at Langley and runs
off in the other direction, screaming," Frohike added.

"There was that one woman, about a year ago, that he
actually went out with three or four times," Byers
said.

"Yeah, a couple of nights he didn't even come home,"
Frohike said.

"Do you two ever go out?" Scully asked. She was
honestly curious. For the first time, it dawned on her
that she didn't really know much about the personal
lives or family histories of these men who had been
such good friends to her for so many years.

"Not here in Washington," Byers said. "But I'm the
oldest of six children - four sisters between me and
my little brother - so when I go home to Pennsylvania
for holidays and weddings and graduations and such,
one of my sisters usually has a friend she wants to
set me up with. And I usually go. It's a pleasant way
to spend an evening and it helps reassure my family
that I'm not gay. Which, in case you've ever wondered,
I'm not."

"I never thought you were," Scully said truthfully.

"Are you still carrying a torch for Suzanne?" Mulder
asked.

"I'd rather not get into that," Byers said stiffly.

"You ought to just let it go, Byers," Mulder said.

"This is sage advice, coming from a man who spent the
better part of a decade living like a monk because he
quote refused to cheat on unquote a woman he wasn't
even sleeping with!" Byers snapped.

"Yeah, well, we might not have been having sex, but
atleast we had a relationship!" Mulder answered. "We
saweach other almost everyday, talked to each other,
even touched each other. I'm not pining my life away
for a woman who quite likely doesn't even remember
me!"

"Whoa, back up," Scully said. "I assume you're
talkingabout us?"

"Well, yeah, of course," her husband replied.

"You actually said that to the guys? About not
cheating on me?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"Mulder, that's so sweet!"

"Why don't we move on to Frohike's lovelife, or lack
thereof."

"Lack thereof is a right," Frohike agreed with a
smallsmile. "Other than you, Scully, I don't really
know any women. Unless you count my Aunt Virigina."

Scully smiled. "I remember you mentioning her once.
Your Aunt Virginia who lives in Virginia. Are you
close to her?"

"Fairly so. She never married; so she tends to side
with me when I'm trying to convince my Dad that just
because I've never married, my life isn't miserable."

Scully smiled again. It was nice to talk to the guys
about something other than conspiracies and computer
traces. She'd have to discuss Suzanne with Mulder more
when they got home.

The meal passed pleasantly enough until just at the
end. Suddenly, Scully felt herself in the grip of an
almost overwhelming attack of nausea. "Excuse me,"
shemuttered, then got up and literally ran to the
restroom. She made it as far as the sink before losing
her entire dinner.

Mulder stayed at the table with their friends. "Was
itsomething I said?" Frohike asked.

"No," Mulder said, his voice tight. "She's sick. She
has been for the past couple of weeks. She's got a
doctor's appointment set for first thing Monday
morning."

"Do you mean. . .has her cancer come back?" Frohike
asked gently.

"I don't know. She keeps assuring me that it's just
something minor, the flu or something. She'd been fine
all day today, and I was almost beginning to believe
that maybe she was getting over it, but now this."

"What are her symptoms?" Byers asked.

"The two main ones seem to be nausea, especially when
she first wakes up in the morning, and extreme
fatigue."

"It sounds like," Byers began, but then shook his
head, "never mind."

"Let us know what the doctor says, will you?" Frohike
inquired."

"Of course," Mulder agreed.

***

On Sunday, Mulder skipped his usual morning jog to
attend Mass with his wife. It wasn't something he did
often, but when Scully's health was in jeopardy he
believed in hedging his bets and covering all his
bases. Then they drove over to her mother's house.

"Fox, I want to tell my Mom that I haven't been
feeling well."

"Okay, but why?"

"Well, when I first got cancer, she was really hurt
that you knew before she did. She said she had a right
to know when the health of her only living daughter
was in jeopardy and I guess she's right. Especially
since you told the guys last night."

During dinner, Scuully casually mentioned she had a
doctor's appointment the following morning and gave
her mother a brief rundown of the symptoms she'd
experienced.

"Dana, I think you're," Maggie began and then,
stoppedsuddenly.

"What, Mom?" Scully asked.

"It. . .sounds like something I experienced when I
wasin my 20s and 30s."

"Something you had more than once?" Mulder asked.

"Yes," Maggie agreed. "If it's the same thing, it's
definitely a self-limiting condition. Nonetheless, you
ought to see a doctor."

"What did you have, Mom? Certain conditions can be
inherited."

"I'd really rather not say, Dana. I'd hate to raise
your hopes in case what you've got is more serious.
Just let me know what you doctor says as soon as you
can, okay sweetheart?"

"Of course, Mom."

***

When they returned home, Scully gave a huge yawn. I'm
going to take a nap. Why don't you come in the bedroom
and cuddle up with me? You can read or watch TV or
something."

"Sounds good to me," Mulder agreed.

Scully was asleep practically as soon as her head hit
the pillow. Mulder grabbed a magazine from the bedside
table and was soon absorbed in one of the articles.

About an hour later, Scully stirred and wiggled
against her husband. Oooh, this was interesting, she
thought as she moved her leg against his body.

"Fox, are you looking at one of my Victoria's Secrets
catalogs or did Frohike loan you a magazine last
night?"

"I'm reading 'Omni', sweetheart. Why?"

"Well, gee, Mulder, I've always known you got turned
on by little green men, but not usually to this
extent." She stroked him through his pants to let him
know what she meant.

"That's not from my reading material. It's from being
snuggled up next to you."

"Why don't we do something about it?"

"You sure, Dana? I know you haven't been feeling well
lately."

"Well, I am feeling kind of lazy. So I think I'll
justlay back and let you make love to me. All I'll do
is relax and enjoy it."

"You got a Sleeping Beauty fantasy, Dana?"

"Get your gorgeous rear in gear here, Prince
Charming!"

Mulder laughed and stood up to shed his clothes, then
returned the bed and gently but quickly removed
Scully's clothes as well. Then he lowered his mouth to
hers for a deep, tender kiss.

"Mmm," Scully whimpered.

"Still want me to leave your breasts alone?"

"Yeah, you'd better."

"You know, sweetheart, they look bigger. And your
nipples are a darker color."

"I'll mention that to my doctor. It could signify
something. But right now I want you."

Mulder moved his hands down his wife's body, drawing
lazy circles on her belly and thighs. He was in no
mood to rush things. Eventually, he let his fingers
wander down to the juncture of her thighs.

After playing with her for a few minutes, while
kissing her cheeks, chin and neck, he scooted down and
lifted her legs up over his shoulders. He stared at
her, open and glistening before him. She looked
different down here, too. Redder, more open than she'd
ever been before. He decided to wait until later to
mention it and began to trace her outer folds with his
tongue. She squirmed and moaned, but after a few
minutes whispered, "Fox, stop."

"Why?"

"I want you in me. Now."

He nodded and slid her legs down to his hips, then
slipped inside her. He went slowly, prolonging the
pleasure for both of them. Eventually, she came to a
shuddering climax, moaning his name. A few minutes
later, he did the same.

As they were cuddling in the afterglow of their
lovemaking, Mulder noticed his wife looking at him
with a strange expression on her face.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"I'm scared," she admitted softly. "Of tomorrow. Of
what the doctor might say."

Mulder smiled gently. He knew it took a lot for Scully
to admit her fears. "I know. So am I. But we'll get
through it the same way we've gotten through
everything since we first met: together."

***

The next morning, after the doctor has taken blood and
urine samples and Scully had explained her symtoms to
him, she redressed and met with Mulder and the doctor
in his office.

"Dana, you symptoms are somewhat puzzling. I need to
ask you a few more questions which somewhat personal
in nature," he said, with a glance at Mulder.

"We don't have any secrets from each other," she
said,reaching over to hold her husband's hand.

"All right, then. When you came in for youer last
check-up, almost a year ago, you said you weren't
sexually active and hadn't been for several years. Is
that still true?"

"No," Scully replied. "I became sexually active
again- for the first time in a number of years -
shortly after my last visit with you. Why?"

"Are you in a mutually monogomous relationship or
haveyou had multiple partners?" the doctor inquired.

"We're married!" Scully and Mulder said in unison.

"You're married?" the doctor asked. "I thought Mr.
Mulder here was your partner."

"We work together AND we're married," Scully snapped.
"Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, of course not," the doctor said. "I'm going to
run a couple more tests; I'll be back in a few
minutes."

"What was that all about?" Mulder asked as soon as
thedoctor left the room.

"It sounds as if he suspects I may have contracted
some sort of sexually transmitted disease," Scully
replied. "But that's impossible."

"You're damned right it's impossible! Dana, not only
had I not has sex for YEARS before we were married,
not only did I ALWAYS used a condom before we were
married, I'd been tested. Twice. Once about six months
after my last pre-marital encounter and again about
six months before we got married. Both times I came
back clean."

"I know, Fox, I know. Let's just wait and see what he
has to say."

A few minutes later, the doctor came back with a
somber expression.

"I"ve got good news and bad news," he said. "The good
news is, you don't have anything that can't be easily
dealt with. The bad news is, I apparently misdiagnosed
some of your problems when you first came to me
several years ago.

****


-----------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimed, summarized, etc. in Part One.
Part 2 of 2


-----------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you mean?" Scully asked curiously.

"I don't know how to tell you this, since I'm the one
who told you it couldn't happen, but. . .you're
pregnant."

Scully opened her eyes wide with astonishment. "What?"

"We can arrange for the procedure to be done as
quickly as possible," the doctor said.

"What procedure?" Scully asked, at a loss.

"Given your medical history, I think termination is
the only," the doctor began.

"NO!" screamed Scully. "I will NOT have an abortion.
I'm Catholic, I don't believe in it and, in any case,
I happen to WANT this baby!"

"Miss Scully," the doctor began again.

"My name is NOT 'Miss Scully,'," she snapped back.
"It's Dr. Scully if you're talking to me as a fellow
professional or Mrs. Mulder if you're talking to me as
an expectant mother."

The doctor sighed and turned to Mulder. "Maybe you can
talk some sense into your wife, Mr. Mulder. Attempting
to carry a pregnancy to term could be life-threatening
for her."

"I would never try to persuade Dana to do something
that would violate her beliefs or go against her
conscience," Mulder said.

The doctor shook his head. "Well, if you're both going
to be obstitnate about it, I'll call an obstetrician I
know who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. I'll
try to get you in sometime this week, because this is
about as high-risk as it comes. The mere fact that
you're over 35 and have never given birth before would
make it high-risk. When you factor in your medical
history, we're talking stratospheric-risk."

After a few minutes, the doctor returned and said, "I
talked to the doctor. She's actually had cancellation
and can see you immediately after lunch. You do
realize, don't you, that the increased hormone levels
of pregnancy could aggravate you cancer? And that
aggressive treatment of your cancer, such as
chemotherapy or radiation, could result in birth
defects?"

"I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it,"
Scully said. "I've been cancer-free for almost four
years now, so I'm not particularly worried about it."

***

As they left the doctor's office, Scully stopped and
looked Mulder in the eye.

"Fox?"

"Yeah?"

"We're going to have a baby!" she screamed, launching
herself into his arms.

Mulder laughed and spun her around. "I take it you're
happy about this?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Very much so. A little worried, thanks to Dr. Killjoy
in there, but happy, too."

"I feel sort of stupid. I mean, a fifteen-year-old
high school dropout could have probably diagnosed me
as being pregnant," Scully said. "I've had all the
classic symptoms - morning sickness, fatigue, tender
breasts - and it just never even occurred to me."

"I think your Mom suspected. Come to think of it, I
think maybe Byers did, too."

"My Mom's been pregnant four times, I can see why she
might suspect, by why do you think Byers did?"

"He kind of started when I described some of your
symtpoms. Remember, he's the oldest of a large family,
so he's probably somewhat familiar with what a woman
goes through when she's pregnant."

"I'm going to want to go tell my Mom as soon as we
finish with this other doctor."

"Of course. Are you up to eating lunch?"

"I could probably handle something light," she agreed.

After the first doctor, the obstetrician was a
pleasant surprise. She was a middle-aged black woman
who said, "I've been going over your medical records;
they were faxed to me. Let's check you out."

The examination ws brief and the doctor soon met with
Mulder and Scully in her office.

"We've got some good factors and some bad factors
here," she began. "You're in your late 30s and this is
your first pregnancy; also, you had a serious illness
several years ago. Those, obviously, are minuses. On
the plus side, your overall general health is good.
Your weight is right for your height, your blood
pressure is great and you don't smoke. Do you drink?"

"I'll have a glass of wine occasionally with dinner,"
Scully answered. "Other than that, no."

"Well, to be on the safe side, let's go ahead and
eliminate all alcohol for the duration of your
pregnancy. Another factor in your favor seems to be
the fact that you're happily married. Was this a
planned pregnancy?"

Scully smiled. "Not exactly, but please don't take
that to mean we don't want the baby. You see, I'd been
told - when I had cancer - that if I survived, the
treatments would most likely leave me infertile." This
was actually an oversimplification of Scully's
fertility problems, but since the cancer and her
infertility had been linked, she saw no reason to try
to explain the whole scenario to this doctor. "My
husband knew that. Even though we weren't romantically
involved at the time of my fight with cancer, we were
already close friends. Shortly after we got married, I
told him I'd like children, if it were at all
possible. We agreed that we'd wait until our first
anniversary, then meet with a fertility specialist to
see if there was any way I could get pregnant, perhaps
through in vitro fertilization. We'd also agreed that
if the specialist said it was impossible, we'd look
into adoption. This. . .simply finding out we've
conceived a child in the normal way, without medical
intervention, is better than anything we ever dreamed
of. Our first anniversary is just a few weeks away. We
couldn't ask for a better present."

"I'm happy for you, then," the doctor replied. "Even
with all the medical technology we have available
nowadays, sometimes miracles do happen. You're not the
first patient I've had who's become pregnant after
being told it could never happen for her. I'm not
comfortable with the idea of you continuing to work
full-time. I'm going to give you a form to turn into
your boss. Somewhere in the 25- to 30-hour a week
range is fine, but no more than that. I'll want to see
you twice a month and you are to call me immediately
if you have any spotting. Here's a prescription for
some pre-natal vitamins and. . .congratulations,
Dana!"

***

Scully left the doctor's office feeling happy. And,
she realized with a start, horny. For the first time
in several weeks, she really wanted to make love with
her husband. Yesterday afternoon had been enjoyable,
but she had acted more out of desire to fulfill Fox's
obvious need than because she honestly felt sexual
desire. Now, she couldn't wait to be alone with him
again!

When they got to the car, Scully leaned over and
kissed him. Long, slow and deep.

"What was that for?"

"Just because I love you."

"I love you, too. Let's go tell your Mom."

***

Mulder and Scully walked up to her mother's house
holding hands. Maggie opened the door and peered at
them suspiciously.

"All right; you two have the same look on your face as
you did the time you came here to tell me you'd run
off to Las Vegas and eloped! What's going on now?"

"Mom, I'm pregnant!"

Maggie hugged Dana close. "Oh, honey! I'm so happy!
Those symptoms you were describing. . .pregnancy was
exactly what it sounded like. But I thought you
couldn't?"

"So did we. I don't know how it happened."

"Honey, remember that talk I had with you when you
were eleven?"

Mulder laughed at that and Scully blushed and rolled
her eyes.

"You know what I mean, Mom!"

"Of course I do. It's a miracle, sweetheart." she
paused to push the hair away from her daughter's face
and stare into her eyes. "Are you going to be okay? I
guess, considering this is your first baby and that
you've had some medical problems in the past, that
it's considered a high-risk pregnancy?"

"Yeah, Mom, it is. But I'll be fine."

"Maggie, I really hate to drag Dana away at a time
like this, but we need to get back to the office
sometime soon."

"I know, son. You two get going. I'll call you
tomorrow night, honey. We can talk longer then."

"Bye, Mom. I love you."

"I love you, too. Take good care of my grandbaby for
me."

***

Assistant F.B.I. Director Walter Skinner stared at the
papers on his desk. He might have been able to fend
off one of the problems, maybe two, but not all three.
He had a orders from the Justice Department to
deactivate the X-Files. The unit was considered
inefficient and unneeded at the present time. Unlike
Mulder, Skinner was not prone to see conspiracy behind
every bureaucratic decision. Most likely, the X-Files
were the victim of nothing more sinister than budget
cuts.

The second request, suprisingly, was from the F.B.I.
director himself. Skinner was being asked to relieve
Special Agent Fox Mulder of his current duties in
order to head up a task force on serial killers. It
seemed things had come full circle; it had been
Mulder's early success as a profiler that had led to
his being allowed to work on the X-Files. Now, his
sucess on a recent high-priority X-File was leading
him back to being a profiler for violent crimes.

The third report was the one Mulder had warned him
about the previous week. It was from Agent Welch,
detailing allegations of improper sexual relations
between Special Agent Fox Mulder and Special Agent
Dana Scully. Apparently half the bureau had received
copies of the report, including Assistant Directors
Kersch and Cassidy. Skinner knew that nothing pissed
A.D. JoAnna Cassidy off like allegations of improper
sexual relations between male and female agents in the
same division.

All this was on top of the fact that Scully might be
sick again. Skinner walked out into the corridor and
ran smack into Mulder and Scully.

"We need to talk to you," Mulder said.

At the same time, Skinner said, "I need to talk to you
two."

The three of them paused for a moment, before Skinner
said, "In my office."

Once the door was closed and they were seated, Skinner
said, "I'm going to have to reassign both of you."

Scully chose the same moment to say, "We're requesting
to be removed from the X-Files, sir."

Skinner stared at both agents. "I'm glad everybody's
on the same page here, agents. Would it be too much to
ask that I talk and you listen, then you talk and I
listen?"

"Of course not, sir," Scully said softly.

"Actually, maybe you two should talk first," Skinner
said. "I know you've not been feeling well, Agent
Scully, and that you had a doctor's appointment this
morning. Given your past medical history, and the
friendship we've developed over the years, I've been
quite concerned. How sick are you?"

"I'm not exactly. . .sick, sir."

"What are you, then?"

"I'm, um, pregnant. Given my medical history, not to
mention the fact that I'm over the age of 35 and this
is my first baby, it's considered a high-risk
pregnancy, so I'm requesting temporary limited duties.
I've got a form from my doctor, if you need it for the
paperwork."

"Congratulations, I guess. I assume this is something
you both want?"

"Very much so," Mulder said.

"I had been under the impression, given your past
health problems, that this wasn't, er, an option for
you, Agent Scully."

"That had been our impression as well, sir. I don't
know how it happened," Scully said.

For only the second time in all the years they'd known
him, Mulder and Scully heard Skinner laugh. "Didn't
your mother ever tell you about the birds and the
bees, Agent Scully?"

Scully blushed and Mulder laughed. "You know, Dana,
that is the second time TODAY you've set yourself up
like that!"

"Look, Mulder, if all you're going to do is give me a
hard time," Scully began, then she realized the
unintended double entrende of her words and dissolved
into a fit of giggles.

"Can we all please compose ourselves, agents?" Skinner
said, attempting to sound like his old, stern self and
failing miserably.

"I'm okay now," Scully said. "I'm just. . .happy."

"I'm happy for you, too. Both of you. This news
couldn't be more providential, because I'd have to
reassign you regardless."

"Why?" Mulder asked. "Are the X-Files being shut down
again?"

"Yes," Skinner replied. "But before you start
screaming conspiracy theories at me, Mulder, I
honestly think it's just budget-related this time
around. Even with the two of you saving a bit of money
by sharing a hotel room during most of your recent
out-of-town trips, your travel expenditures are still
way higher than the bureau's agent average."

"Where are we going?" Mulder asked.

"Here's where you're going, Agent Mulder," Skinner
said, handing the younger man a copy of the request
from the director.

"The DIRECTOR wats me to head up a task force?" Mulder
asked, amazed.

"Yes," Skinner replied. "Spooky or not, you're the
best profiler the bureau's got. Try not to piss
anybody off. I'll run intereference for you the best I
can."

"What about me?" Scully asked.

"Well, I didn't know you'd be requesting limited duty,
but I think we've got a situation that will work out
perfectly for you," Skinner said.

"What is it?"

"Are you familiar with an Agent Palmer, an instructor
out at Quantico?"

"Of course. She must be nearing retirement age by now.
She was sort of a mentor to me when I taught out
there," Scully said.

"Well, she's recently requested a limited teaching
load as well. It seems her husband is dying of some
sort of rare, progressive illness and she wants to
spend as much time with him as possible. Would you
like to take over half her classes?"

"That should work out perfectly," Scully said.

"Something else you should both be aware of," Skinner
added.

"What?" Mulder asked.

"You're likely going to be yanked up before a review
board on allegations of improper sexual conduct,"
Skinner replied.

"Shit!" Mulder said. "Welch?"

"Yeah, and he's got A.D. Cassidy on it."

"How do we play it?" Scully inquired.

"Absolutely straight," the A.D. answered. "But time is
of the essence. You two are officially off the
X-Files, and officially reassigned, as of right now.
Today. The review board won't meet until sometime
later this week. When asked about your relationship,
tell them you're married and former partners.
Remember, I knew about the relationship from the
beginning and granted your request for a temporary
exemption from the policy that prohibits married
couples from working as partners."

"Won't that get you in trouble, sir?" asked Scully.

He shook his head. "I don't think so. I've found a
precedent. In any case, I'm not experiencing a
high-risk pregnancy, Agent Scully. I don't want you
worrying about me."

"You're our friend," she said.

"Hey, you said you've found a precedent. You mean
there's been another married couple who worked as
partners?" Mulder asked.

"Not a married couple," Skinner said. "But, actually,
there is no policy that applies specifically to
married couples. As you both well know, illicit sexual
relationships are prohibited between agents in the
same division. However, sex between a husband and wife
isn't illicit. The other policy, the one I'm going to
cite a precdent for, is the the one that prohibits
immediate family members - whether they be spouses,
siblings or parents and adult children - from working
in the same division. Back in the 1970s, they granted
an exemption to that policy; allowed two brothers,
both of whom had connections to a notorious mob
family, to work on the same task force. Cassidy and
Welch are going to do their best to turn this into a
sex scandal. I'm going the other way - concentrating
on the fact that you two are a family."

"Should I mention my pregnancy?" Scully asked.

"If you're asked why you've requested limited duty,
tell them it's for medical reasons. If they ask
directly what your health problems are, tell them a
high-risk pregnancy. But if they initially ask you
about your relationship with Agent Mulder, I don't
think you want to jump right in with 'He's the father
of the baby I'm expecting.' Now go on, get out of
here, get your stuff out of the basement office. First
thing tomorrow morning, get yourselves over to Violent
Crimes and out to Quantico," Skinner said.

The agents nodded and left.

***

When they had finished boxing up all their personal
items, Mulder and Scully took one last look around the
basement office where they had spent so much time
together. Then Scully gave a wicked grin and walked
over to lock the door.

"Whatcha doin', babe?" Mulder asked.

"Mulder, do you remember, right after we got married,
when I said it would undermine our professional
integrity for two F.B.I. partners to mave love in
their office, even if they were married to each
other?"

"Yeah, I remember," he sighed. "I suppose you were
right. Although it seems a damned shame that years of
fantasies of taking you on the desk had to go
unfulfilled. Why, Scully?"

"Mulder, as of this afternoon, we're NOT partners
anymore. In fact, technically, this isn't even OUR
office anymore," she pointed out with a smile.

Mulder leaned back and grabbed the edge of the desk
for support. He looked so damned sexy like that,
Scully thought. His jacket was off, his tie was askew,
his shirt sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms.
And she wanted him. Bad.

"Scully, are you sure? I mean, as much as I want to, I
wouldn't want to hurt you or our baby in order to
fulfill one of my sexual fantasies."

"Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"Who said a damned thing about fulfilling YOUR
fantasies?" with that, Scully dropped to her knees in
front of him and hand him unzipped and in her mouth so
quickly that her stunned husband hadn't even had time
to speak.

Mulder let out a stifled moan. Scully was giving him a
blow job. In the office.

After a few minutes of this sweet torture, she licked
him a final time, stood up and said, "Take off all
your clothes, Mulder. Then lay down on the desk."

"Yes Ma'am!" Mulder replied. When he was totally naked
and reclining on the bare wood of the desk, she began
to strip for him. Slowly. Provactively. When she was
just as nude as he was, she crossed over to the desk
and straddled him. He put his hand to the nape of her
neck and pulled her mouth to his for a long, deep
kiss.

Scully whimpered. He smiled and traced a path down her
back and bottom to slide a finger inside her. She was
almost impossibly wet.

"Don't," she whispered, when he slipped another finger
inside and began to massage her.

"Am I hurting you?"

"No, it's not that. It's just that I'm close and I
want us to try to climax together this time."

He nodded and helped her sheath him inside her. She
rode him for several minutes and just when he felt her
internal muscles begin to clench and saw her face
begin to flush, he let the full reality of the
situation hit him - he was fucking Scully on a desk in
their office - and came at the same moment she did.

When they finally came down from their mutual high,
she sighed softly and nuzzled her face into his
shoulder. "Come on, sweetheart. We can't sleep here.
Married or not, if somebody discovers us naked on a
desk in an office that isn't even ours anymore, we are
going to be out of the bureau so fast it'll make our
heads spin."

"Mmm, yeah. You're right."

They slowly redressed and Mulder took one last look
around the office to make sure they had everything.
Then he hoisted the last of the boxes under one arm
and draped the other one around Scully's shoulders.

As they exited the elevator at the main floor, they
ran into Special Agents Carla Stonecypher and Michael
Kingsley. Although Stonecypher and Kingsley were
another pair of longtime male-female partners in their
late 30s, that was where their similarity to Mulder
and Scully ended. The other two agents were strictly
by-the-book, specializing in solving white collar
crimes like embezzlement and wire fraud. Also, nobody
ever even hinted that Stonecypher and Kingsley might
be romantically involved. He was married with what
seemed to be, even to a Catholic like Scully, an
incredibly large number of children; six, she thought.
Stonecypher was widely rumored to be a lesbian. Scully
didn't necessarily believe the rumors, but she didn't
totally discount them, either.

"Hey, we heard you two are being split up, taken off
the X-Files," Kingsley said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to hear it," Stonecypher said in an
attempt to be sympathetic. "I know that unit has
always been your baby."

"It's okay," Mulder said with a smile, shepherding
Scully toward the parking garage. "We're going to have
a real one now."

As Mulder and Scully continued down the hall,
Stonecypher turned to her partner with a perplexed
look on her face. "What do you suppose he meant by
that?" she asked.

***

Once they reached home, Scully reclined on the sofa
while Mulder tried to whip up a simple supper for the
two of them. His culinary skills left a lot to be
desired, but when he put his mind to it, he could
usually scramble eggs or assemble soup and sandwiches.

Just as he was bringing the plates to the table, a
knock sounded on the door. He checked the peephole.
Frohike. Mulder swung the door open to admit their
friend.

"Hey, G-people! Hope you don't mind me just dropping
in like this, but I was in the neighborhood and wanted
to know what the doctor said about Dana."

Scully smiled and motioned for Frohike and Mulder to
both join her on the couch. "He said we're going to
have a baby!" she said with a huge grin.

Frohike was startled for a moment, then he gathered
both his friends into an awkward embrace. "That is
fantastic news!"


***

Author's e-mail: tapw63@yahoo.com