Disclaimer: These characters belong to Chris Carter, 1013 and Fox, not me. None 
of that infringement stuff is intended, 'kay?

Thanks: To Char Hall, who read this story about a million years ago [actually it 
was more like January] and encouraged me to fix it up. Took me a while, but 
here it is, and I think a little closer to the centre of the target. As always, 
comments are heartily embraced!

**

The Baby
by Megan Reilly
eponine119@worldnet.att.net
April 30, 1996

Both agents were working diligently in their basement office when the 
noises came outside the door. Agent Scully turned away from her paperwork and 
looked. Mulder continued to push papers about on his desk, determined to ignore 
the sounds. Scully rose to investigate.

"It's rats," Mulder told her. It didn't stop her.

She opened the door and went out into the hall. After a moment, she 
called to him. "Mulder, I think you'd better see this."

The tone of her voice was enough to pull him out of his chair. Mulder 
didn't think his partner was in actual danger, but he approached the door with 
his hand on his gun. He stepped out into the hall.

He didn't see anything. He didn't even see Scully and he hoped that she 
hadn't disappeared. Then she came around the corner into the dim basement 
light. "Scully...it, that..." he began, horrified, his eyes wide as he stared 
at what she was holding in her hands. She nodded. He wondered if he should 
draw his weapon, but he didn't think she would be amused by it. "It's a baby."

"Why yes, Mulder, it appears to be." She was being smart with him.
	
He backed away from her, his eyes fixed on the sleeping thing in the car 
seat she was holding. "What's it doing here?" he asked.

Scully just looked at him. "There's no card, Mulder."

"What do we do?" he asked. "Maybe we should put it back."

"Put it back?" Scully's voice rose in disbelief.

Mulder shifted uncomfortably, still unable to look away from the creature 
she was holding. "Whoever left it is bound to realize...and then they'll be 
back looking for it."

Scully nailed him with a look. "I don't think someone just *forgot* their 
baby, Mulder."

"It's possible," he said and she continued to give him that look he hated. 
"I'll remind you not to ask me to babysit," he joked, trying to relieve the 
tension he was feeling.

She sighed. "I'd better go inform Skinner," she said, moving past him to 
set the carrier on her desk. But then she didn't go; she was still looking at 
him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Mulder demanded. Scully raised her 
eyebrows, looked at the baby, and turned to go. Mulder blushed a dark red as he 
realized what she thought. He followed her to the door and called after her, 
"It isn't mine!" She didn't turn, but another agent who happened to be walking 
by did. "Lose a baby?" Mulder asked, trying to find some humor in this. When 
the man's only response was to walk more quickly toward the copy room, Mulder 
shrugged and went back into the office.

Curiosity made him tiptoe over and peek in on the thing on Scully's desk. 
Its little red face was all scrunched up in sleep, its tiny fists curled and 
resting near its face. Sleeping, thought Mulder, that was a relief. It 
certainly was small, he thought, and leaned against the desk to get a closer 
look.

The baby's eyes popped open and Mulder froze, his heart racing. The two 
eyed each other warily. Then the infant started screaming. Mulder was shocked 
that such a huge noise could come from such a small creature.

What was he supposed to do?

The kid screamed louder and Mulder was tempted to join in. He knew what 
he had to do. Gingerly he parted the yellow blanket and picked the baby up. It 
contemplated him carefully, interested enough to stop yelling. By the time he 
got a good grip on it, the baby's eyes closed again.

OK, Mulder had to admit this thing was slimy and sticky, but the baby was 
also a comfortable, warm weight against his chest. He jiggled it a little and 
the baby smiled and cooed. To his surprise, he found himself smiling down at 
it. Cute little thing, he thought.

Scully walked in and stopped short when she saw Mulder holding the baby. 
Her mouth opened and her eyes widened and she just stood there like her heart 
was melting. She could not believe the tender look on her partner's face.

Suddenly aware he was being watched, Mulder looked up from the baby to her 
and she tried to mask her feelings. "What'd Skinner say?" he asked and she 
would swear he looked years younger.

"We're taking care of it," she said.

Mulder felt a jolt of fear at the notion of such responsibility. "He said 
that?"

"No. Skinner said he'd notify the proper authorities and maybe they'd get 
around to looking for its mother sometime Monday."

"But it's Friday afternoon," said Mulder.

"Exactly. We can't turn this baby over to those people for three days. 
We could find its mother faster than that." Scully motioned for him to pass the 
baby over to her.

Mulder did and couldn't help smiling as he watched her talk to it. 
"Hello, baby, hello," she said softly. "Whose baby are you? Hmm?" With all 
this attention, the baby woke. One look at Scully and it started screaming 
louder than before. Scully struggled to quiet it with no luck. Mulder took the 
child from her arms and it stopped crying instantly, gazing up into his eyes 
with open fascination.

"Huh," said Scully. "It likes you." She stopped herself. "We can't keep 
calling it 'it'."

Mulder glanced up. "What do you mean?"

"It's not an it, Mulder, it's a person. Or, at least, it will be, 
someday. We should be calling it he. Or she." Mulder didn't reply, looking 
at the child in a new light. "We should check it out," she finished.
	
"Oh," said Mulder slowly. "OK, you're the doctor." He shrugged and 
offered the baby back to her.

"It doesn't take a doctor," she muttered, and took the child. It started 
crying the moment Scully touched it. Her, she corrected herself. 

"Congratulations," said Scully with a wry smile. "It's a girl." She hastily 
closed up the only spare diaper that was in the carrier.

Mulder reclaimed care of the crying child, picking her up from the desk. 
She stopped crying and waved her hand at his eyes.

"That's amazing," Scully said.

"Women love me," joked Mulder, grinning at Scully conspiratorially.

"I know." Scully rolled her eyes. Although she officially considered it 
to be an insult to her maternal instincts, she was a little relieved the baby 
had bonded with Mulder. She felt uncomfortable with her, as though everything 
she was doing was wrong. Scully sat down on the edge of the desk. "Where do we 
start?"
	
Mulder paced, and the baby loved it. "You're sure there wasn't a note?" 
he asked.

To be sure, she looked through the carrier again. "Nothing. But...these 
things are brand new, Mulder."

"And?"

"And the baby's not. Why would someone buy all this stuff to abandon 
their kid?"

"Maybe they just misplaced it," he said. He had to try his favorite 
theory once more.

"Has it really been so long that if a case doesn't have something abnormal 
about it, we don't know what to do?" asked Scully.

"That's it, maybe it's an alien baby," kidded Mulder, amazed at how much 
holding the child had lightened his mood. Scully gave him a warning look. 
"Sorry, trying to be funny."

"Try harder," she suggested, watching them. "It is odd how much that baby 
likes you," she commented after a moment.

"Scully, it isn't mine," Mulder informed her sharply.

"How do you know?" asked Scully with wide blue eyes, perfectly innocent.

"I know. Of course I know," he assured her. "If it was your baby, you 
would know."

"That's different!" she cried.

"You know what, Scully, this baby actually looks a lot like you," Mulder 
said, impressed by her horrified reaction.

"Just what are you getting at?" she demanded.

"Really, Scully, look." Mulder turned so she could see the baby. "And 
it's - she's - got these huge blue eyes -"

"All babies have blue eyes."

"You know that's not true," Mulder said with a slight laugh.

"Standing around here is not solving anything," Scully pointed out to 
change the subject.

"Then what do we do?"

"We need some supplies."

**

Super Supermarket
6:17 p.m.

They were in a very long line that was not moving. Apparently Friday was 
the popular night to buy groceries after work. The line wrapped all the way 
around the frozen food section.

"I hate this," Scully said, leaning on the cart, which held baby food, 
milk and diapers.

Mulder's shoulders sagged and his arms ached from holding the baby. "Are 
you sure she can't sit in the cart?" he asked, not for the first time.

"She's too little," Scully said. All she wanted to do was go home and 
take a very long, hot bath. Her eyelids drooped with exhaustion. It had been a 
long week. She looked over at Mulder. He looked even tireder than she did. 
"Want me to take her?" she asked.

Mulder shook his head. "I don't want her to scream."

"Thanks." The line moved up a little.

"What a precious baby!" the woman behind them cried suddenly, with 
incredible energy. Both agents turned to stare at her. "And goodness, she 
looks just like her mama, don't she? What's her name?"

"Uhhhh-" said Scully.

Mulder smiled. "Leia," he said.

Scully gaped at him. "Mulder, you are not naming this child after a 
character in Star Wars!" she cried.

"Well, what would you name her?" Mulder asked.

Scully hadn't given the subject any thought whatsoever. She'd assumed 
they would find the baby's mother. She was also extremely aware of the woman 
staring at her. Her mind was amazingly blank and she looked around her as 
though she was drowning. Her eyes fixed on the cover of the TV Guide. 
"Phoebe," she said, as the name of the sitcom character pictured was the only 
female name she could think of.

Mulder jumped. "We are not naming her Phoebe," he hissed at her.

"Well," said the woman, looking embarrassed. "She must be your first."

Scully didn't even bother responding. But to her surprise, she heard 
Mulder say, "No, we've got three others at home. Boys."

Scully looked at him as though he'd gone insane. "What're their names, I 
wonder?" she murmured. No one seemed to hear her.

"And one on the way," Mulder added impulsively, throwing his free arm 
around her.

He's crazy, she thought, absolutely nuts. Scully shook her head and moved 
away from him. "Let me take the baby out to the car," she said.

"You don't want to do that," Mulder cautioned her with a pointed look.

"He's right, it's much too cold out there for a baby," the woman chimed 
in.

"Give me the baby," Scully demanded.

"No!"

It had become a battle of wills and his refusal only made her more 
determined. Scully suddenly felt she had something to prove. "Give her to me," 
she said and lifted the baby out of Mulder's arms.

And the child started screaming. Scully felt like every person in the 
store was staring at her. Embarrassed, she tried to calm the child, clutching 
her closer to her chest, but she just couldn't do it. "I think you've made your 
point," Mulder said quietly, taking the baby back.

The crying ceased instantly. Scully was tempted to take it up herself.

"What a sweet little daddy's girl," said the woman behind them.

"That's just what I said," Scully said coldly, meeting Mulder's eyes. One 
dig. But it didn't make her feel any less pathetic. She looked ahead. The end 
of the line was in sight. Scully silently thanked the higher powers.

"That was a nightmare," said Scully as she pushed the cart out of the 
store a bit later. "Leia?" she asked.

"Phoebe?" retorted Mulder. "It will only get worse," he continued gently. 
"I think we should call the Family Services people -"

"No," said Scully firmly. "Do you know what happens to kids in there?"

"Yes," Mulder said and it stopped her for a moment while she stared at 
him. He didn't explain. "Do you actually think we can give this child proper 
care for two days and find her mother?"

"Sure," said Scully, trying not to show the doubt she felt. "We have to 
try. That baby was put there for a reason." Mulder settled the child into the 
carrier in the back seat and they headed for Scully's.

**

Scully's apartment
8:01 p.m.

"Don't wake her up," Scully whispered as they entered her dark apartment.

"You're telling me?" Mulder asked.

"It's not my fault she likes you."

"Well, I didn't ask her to hate you."

"She doesn't hate me!" Scully's voice rose and inevitably woke the baby, 
who started to cry. "What do we do?" asked Scully, thinking of the neighbors.

"Feed her," Mulder said practically, opening a jar of baby food and 
setting to work as Scully unloaded the rest of the groceries, tiptoeing around 
the kitchen as quietly as she could. When she returned to the pair, the baby 
was sleeping again and Mulder was licking the spoon.

"This stuff's not half-bad," he said, waving the spoon at her.

Scully snatched the half-full container away from him. "Don't eat that."

"You've got the bossy part down," Mulder muttered.

"What?" she turned on him.

"You sound just like a mom."

"I'll tell your mother you said that."

"Oooh, now I'm scared," Mulder joked. He followed her into the living 
room and watched as she threw herself down on the couch. He sat down next to 
her, stretching his sore arms over his head.

"Why did you tell those lies in the grocery store?" she asked. He didn't 
answer, so she dragged herself to a sitting position and looked at him. He was 
turned away from her, staring through the open door to the kitchen at the 
sleeping baby. She was amazed at the depth of feeling she saw on his face. "I 
mean," she continued, embarrassed, "You don't actually have some fantasy or 
something where we have three kids and one on the way...do you?"

"She should have brothers and sisters around her. And parents who love 
her," Mulder said softly and she knew he was thinking of his own sister, of 
those years he was alone, without his sister or parents who loved him openly. 
Scully suddenly wanted to throw her arms around his neck and tell him it was OK, 
but she couldn't.

"We'll find them," she said, although she had no idea how.

He turned to look at her. "That's not how things work, Scully."

"Moms don't just abandon their kids in the FBI basement!" she argued. 
"There has to be a reason, and we have to find out what it is." He set his jaw 
stubbornly and she knew he was thinking they should take the baby to the 
authorities. She couldn't reconcile that with the obvious affection he had for 
the child.

She yawned and a moment later he did, too. "We're both tired," she said, 
trying to avoid the argument. "Why don't you take the couch."

"We can share it," he said. "I won't sleep anyway, and the baby is your 
responsibility too." He stretched out on the blue striped couch next to her. 
It was a tight fit. Scully yawned again and shook her head, fighting to clear 
away the sleepiness. "It's OK, I'll take first watch," Mulder said exactly the 
way he did when they were on stakeout and pulled her head down against his 
shoulder. He never did that when they were on stakeout.

She felt her eyes drift closed even though she was still fighting. It was 
impossible for her to get them open again with him stroking her hair lightly, 
encouraging her to sleep. "Mulder," she murmured, meaning to protest.

"Yes, Scully?" he said and her insides turned warm at the sound of his 
voice.

She couldn't remember what she'd been about to say. "You'd be a great 
father," she said as she slipped into sleep.

He lay there for a long time with her in his arms, his eyes open, 
wondering what exactly she meant by that.

**

12:02 am

The baby was crying. It woke them both. "Your turn," Mulder said, 
nudging Scully, refusing to open his eyes. "Go feed her."

Scully climbed over him to get up, groggy but not complaining. "OK, kid," 
she said softly. "You eat and stop crying, got it?"

The cries were at least less noisy as she opened a fresh jar of baby food 
and once she spooned some of the goo into the girl's mouth, the tears stopped. 
Scully felt herself relax. She could do this. She took a deep breath. She 
could really do this.

"There you go, sweetie," she said a few minutes later, putting the freshly 
diapered baby back into the carrier bed. On impulse, she dropped a kiss on the 
child's soft, chubby cheek. It was so wonderful she thought she might cry. She 
wanted to hug the baby and never let go.

She frowned then, a little worried, looking down at the child, thinking. 
Didn't babies do anything other than cry and sleep? Scully couldn't even 
estimate the age of the baby accurately, let alone figure out if her development 
was normal. So she turned to the one source of information she knew to be fast, 
easy and reliable.

The Internet.

Engrossed in an article by Dr. Spock, Scully jumped when she felt a heavy 
hand on her shoulder. "You didn't come back," Mulder said, his voice lowered 
with sleep, his eyes only half-open as he leaned over her shoulder.

"You noticed," she murmured, not even sure what she meant by it.

"Got cold without you," he joked awkwardly, looking at the screen. 
"Spock?" he asked.

"Doctor, not Mister," she pointed out.

"I do know the difference, Scully," Mulder retorted.

"Here's the page you need," she said, and with a click of the mouse, 
hundreds of girls' names appeared on the screen.

Mulder settled his chin into her shoulder and she winced, but didn't 
complain. It was kind of nice, she thought, feeling connected with him in the 
middle of the night. If she could have turned her head to look over at the 
baby, she would have. Family. She'd never given it much thought. She doubted 
Mulder had, either.

"OK," He said, "You don't like Leia, and I definitely don't like Phoebe." 
His hand covered hers on the mouse and began to scroll through the lists. 
"Anne, Catherine, Elizabeth..." he read softly to himself, his breath tickling 
her ear. "What do you think?"

"The queens of England," Scully said.

"Bad idea then." His hand tightened over hers as he moved through the 
lists again. "Laura, Kathleen, Michelle...hey, Scully?"

"What?"

"You're telling me you don't have names picked out for your kids?" Mulder 
asked. "I thought all women did things like that."

"I guess I did when I was younger," Scully admitted, then turned the 
question around. "What about you? It's not just women who have the babies, you 
know. Didn't you ever think about it?"

"No," Mulder admitted and tilted his head down for a second until he 
realized that put his nose right into the soft skin of Scully's neck. She 
smelled good, he thought, then forced himself to look back at the screen. 
"Caryn, Sandra, Veronica... So what did you think you'd name them?" he asked.

She sighed. "I don't remember, really. It changed a lot, you know, what 
I'd name my dolls. I think I liked Amy. And Geraldine."

"Geraldine?" cried Mulder.

She smiled. "At the time, anything seemed better than Dana."

"You don't like your name?"

"I didn't then," she admitted, shifting, and he was forced to raise his 
head.

"What about now?" he asked, his eyes fixed on her face as she stared at 
the list of names.

"It's who I am," she said simply. "Whether I like it or not." She turned 
and looked at him. "Just like you're Fox, whether you like it or not."

"So what will you name your daughter?" he asked, his eyes intense on hers.

"I guess it depends on what the father's name is," she evaded, quickly 
looking back to the screen. "Will be," she amended, reading the names 
carefully, trying to think of something other than names that went well with 
"Mulder".

After another moment of staring at her, he went back to reading over her 
shoulder. "Piper?" she asked suddenly, picking a name off the screen. "What 
kind of a name is that?"

Mulder shrugged. "I kind of like it, actually." He looked at her. "I 
suppose you'd name your kid something like..." he thought for only a second. 
"Bonnie Blue Butler."

If Scully got the reference, she gave no sign. She simply grinned at him. 
"Blue. I like it. It's different."

He shook her head. "You're nuts, Scully."

"And we both need to get some more sleep," she pointed out. He gently 
guided her hand to the Exit button and shutting down the computer. They padded 
back to the couch and lay back down together, their bodies easily finding their 
previous positions like a familiar jigsaw, many times assembled.

**

4:24 am

Mulder tried to slide out from under her without waking her, but it didn't 
work. Scully's eyes opened just as he was crossing the living room away from 
her to check on the baby. She wondered how long he'd been awake.

She remembered their earlier conversation, a warm feeling filling her up 
inside. They hadn't entirely been joking, she thought, and somehow, thinking 
back to holding that sweet baby in her arms, she didn't really mind.

It might be nice to have one of them, she thought, probably for the very 
first time. She remembered Mulder's grocery store lie as she stood there 
watching the child sleep. What would it be like...she forced herself to turn 
her thoughts away.

When he returned to the living room, she realized Mulder had been aware of 
her interested gaze the entire time. She smiled, a little embarrassed and not 
sure why.

"I can't imagine what it would be like," he said, voicing her thoughts. 
"It must be so hard, but so rewarding."

Scully settled back on the couch next to him. "You never liked your 
parents much," she stated, trying to open the discussion.

"No," he said, "I idolized them. They didn't like me much."

It made her cold to think of such a thing. "Mulder...they love you."

"They never forgave me," he said and his voice was as hard as his tense 
shoulders. She mentally kicked herself for reminding him.

"It's OK," she said awkwardly, patting his arm. This felt weird. Four 
a.m. feedings - them? It was crazy.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to try to relax. "You said some 
harsh things about me," he said.

"Me?"

"I could never father a child and walk away," he said passionately.

"I never really thought you would," Scully said softly, realizing how 
deeply her words had gone. She hadn't meant to hurt him at all. She forgot 
sometimes that Mulder wasn't as invulnerable as he pretended to be.

"I'm careful, Scully, you know that," he said, still lost in thought.

"I don't know it," she said, hoping to lighten things up, a small smile 
tugging at her lips.

"Would you like to?" His heart was too sad to leer at her properly. She 
knew it and smiled back. He looked away. "We have to take the baby to the 
authorities tomorrow, Scully. It's the best thing for all of us."

"I don't want to," Scully said, stubborn. "I want her to be safe."

"Maybe she'll be safer there than where she was," he said and his voice 
was haunted. He wasn't just talking about the baby any more.

She remembered something he'd said earlier and she'd let slide. "You said 
you knew what those places are like."

He hesitated. "Did your dad ever hit your brothers...or you?" he asked 
finally. She looked at him sharply, but he refused to meet her eyes.

"No."

"There was one time, my dad...hit me. Because of..." Mulder couldn't 
make himself say it, say her name. "I ran away and they caught me and kept me 
in juvy jail for two days before they let him come get me. And it was a relief 
to not have to see his disappointed face."

"Oh Mulder," Scully didn't know what else to say. She touched his arm 
lightly and he closed his eyes against tears. Her fingers touched his face and 
she pulled his head down against her chest, comforting. "It's OK," she said. 
His breathing was rough, but he reached out and squeezed her hand hard.

He let her hold him there, listening to her steady heartbeat for a long 
time, until he felt her sink back against the couch, and she slept. Mulder 
didn't.

**

9:17 am

"Scully." His hand was on her shoulder, shaking her awake. Her eyes 
opened and she looked at him. "The lady'll be here in a few minutes."

"What lady?" She was kind of confused, and had a crick in her neck. Not 
to mention she needed a drink of water and to brush her teeth.

"The welfare lady."

She sat up, remembering. The baby. "Mulder -"

"I had to call her. We can't look after this kid. It's the best thing."

"I know," Scully said quietly, but it hurt. That he wouldn't even consult 
her, just act. She got up, needing to be away from him, and went into the 
kitchen. She sat down at the table next to the baby. Mulder didn't follow her.

The baby was awake, looking at her with incredibly aware blue eyes, and 
she let Scully pick her up and rock her against her body. Scully held her 
close, revelling in her baby scent and the feel of the small being against her, 
so different than Mulder had felt against her on the couch all night.

"Do you think that's wise?" Mulder asked, appearing in the doorway.

"It might be a long time before somebody hugs her," Scully said, averting 
her eyes so he wouldn't see her tears.

There was a knock at the door and they both jumped. "That's her," Mulder 
said, not moving. Scully nodded and put the baby back into the carrier.

"Goodbye, baby," Scully whispered as Mulder pulled the carrier out of her 
hands. She stayed in the kitchen and listened to the short exchange between 
Mulder and the Family Services woman. Finally the door closed. Mulder appeared 
again in the kitchen.

The baby was gone.

Scully went to him, feeling strange and wobbly. Mulder was looking pretty 
pale and unsteady himself. "Why does it hurt so much?" she asked and she had to 
put her arms around him.

"Because they're young and don't deserve to be treated this way." His 
voice was low. Pain filled.

She looked up at him. "It'd be nice if the world was perfect."

She expected a smart remark. She didn't get one. He just held her closer 
and agreed. "It would."

She swallowed hard. "I never knew I could fall in love so fast."

His response was so soft she barely heard it. "Me either," he said, and 
clasped her so close she could barely breathe. She hugged back just as hard, 
and they stayed there for a long, long time.

The end.

Please send me comments and tell me what you think!!!! 
Megan, zzcf89a@prodigy.com