TITLE: Thin Slices
AUTHOR: Myriss
EMAIL ADDRESS: myriss1013@yahoo.com
DISTRIBUTION: Please Archive only this revised edition.
Ignored other versions. Gossamer, Ephemeral Okay. 
Others okay, but please let me know. And keep my name and header.
RATINGS WARNING: PG-13 to maybe a very mild R (very mild). Some bad
words. Nothing really major.
CLASSIFICATION: SR
KEYWORDS: MSR (Mulder/ Scully Married, DAL, Kidfic, Other/Other) 3rd
POV If you are non-shipper, it probably be best for you to bail right now.
SPOILERS: Spoilers up to Season 8. Spoilers for unaired 8th season
eps, too.
THE DISCLAIMER: Any character you recognized from the t.v. series
belongs to 1013 and Fox. I am just borrowing them. Margaret Ann
Mulder, Todd Mulder, Justin Miller are mine.

Author Notes*
I hope to depict Mulder and Scully, not as they are on the X-files
series, but as they would be, if age has mellowed them and they had
actually got out out of the car and gotten a normal life. I hope they
don't seem to be too much out of character.

Also, I also took the liberty of making "Ann" Melissa Scully's name. I
researched, but found nothing about it. It fitted the story, so
that's why I used it.

Unfortunately, I do not have a Beta. Sorry. I wished I had one,
because I wouldn't be feeling so uneasy about submitting this. I used
to love to write but in high school, I ended up having a teacher who
disliked everything I wrote. Sadly, I lost my love for it and my
English skills became rusty. This is the first thing I written in a
long, long time.

After I posted the story, I noticed some mistakes. This is the
revised edition. If you come across more boo-boos let me know and I will
correct them.

SUMMARY: Thin slices from the life of a daughter who grows up and
begins to understand her history.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her name was Margaret Ann Mulder. She was short with small capable
hands and small feet. She had her father's dark hair and her mother's
blue eyes. She had his wide mouth and her mother's thin nose. Her
first name came from her maternal Grandma Maggie. She shared her
middle name Ann with her paternal and maternal aunts. Both of them
had died tragically young. Her parents wanted to honor them, but
didn't want to burden her with the heavy sorrow that their first names
invoked. They gave her the middle name that they shared. Everyone
called her 'Megs' except for her father. Her father called her
'Magpie.'

Her father taught psychology at the local state university. Her
mother was a doctor who worked in clinic for low income patients. Megs
loved to watch her mother get ready for work. Her mother's brisk
movements as she pulled her red hair in a smooth bun and slipped into
the cranberry scrubs that she wore for the clinic. Seeing those bright
looking scrubs always made Megs smiled a little.

When she had been a little girl, she had overheard her father
whispered to her mother that she "looked like a piece of fruit that he
was dying to lick."

Megs hadn't understand his meaning, of course, but she had watched in
interest as her no-nonsense mother blushed as red as her hair. Her
father had waggled his eyebrows, Her mother had giggled, protesting,
as he nuzzled his nose into her neck. Even then, Megs knew that her
parents had something special.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When she was twelve, her Uncle Bill had died. He was her mother's
older brother and had just retired as a Navy Captain. He had been
driving to the store to buy some bread and eggs when he had a massive
heart attack. His car had spun out of control and slammed into a
streetlight.

At his funeral, Grandma Maggie had sighed, the lines more pronounced
around her mouth. She said to Megs' mother, "It was his heart, Dana.
Just like your father. Oh, God! It was too soon!" and she had wept.

Later, Megs heard her father talking to her mother. "You know," he
said. "Your brother hated me--" Megs was surprised to hear this. She
hadn't realized that. "--for all that had happened. But yet, when
Magpie came along-- we put aside our differences. Because when it
came down to it, he loved you and Magpie. And I loved you and Magpie.
And that was all that mattered."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When she was fourteen, she fell in love for the first time. Her heart
broke when she realized that the boy of her dreams preferred the
allure of a girl who was tall, blonde, and shapely.

She had gone to her bedroom and laid there on her bed in the dark. She
had not cried. She was like her mother that way. But her chest hurt
and her eyes ached.

Later, her mother had slipped into her room and laid next to her on
the bed.

"What's wrong, Megs?" her mother asked quietly.

Megs didn't want to answer. She felt if she did she would crack and
all of her insides would spill out, so she just shrugged.

"Megs?" Gentle. Full of assurances .

Megs sniffed and said in a shaky voice, "I think I'm getting a cold--"
She cleared her throat and rubbed a hand over her face, then sighed.

They were silent for a moment, content to just lay there in each
other's company. Downstairs, Megs could hear her father grading his
students' papers at the kitchen table. The scraping of his chair
against the kitchen tiles. The rustling of the piles of papers.

"Mom?" it was barely a whisper.

"Yes?"

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

Her mother had sat up in surprise. "Of course I do."

"You're not just saying that because you're my Mom, are you?"

"No, I'm not," her mother replied softly. She stroke her daughter's
long dark hair. Then, after a moment, "Why are you suddenly worried
about how you look?"

Megs sighed again, a shuddering sigh which seem to shake her down to
her toes. "There's a boy in school--," she broke off.

"Mom, all of my friends already have boyfriends. But I haven't had
one yet. They don't seem to like me. Maybe, I'm too funny looking.
Or too short or something."

"There's this guy in a couple of my classes. His name is Justin.
Justin Miller. He's really nice. And cute. And popular, but he's not
a snob though. And smart, too. I really, really like him--" she
gulped. "A lot. But I don't think he even knows that I exist. He
spends most of his time staring at Kristina Mays. And she's tall and
blond--" her voice trailed off miserably.

There was a lapse into silence as her mother thought what to say.
Finally she said, "When I was your age, I was short and I had braces.
They were still made of metal back then. I thought it looked like I
had railroad tracks on my teeth. I hated to smile. I had freckles,
glasses, and red hair--"

"Dad loves your red hair! And you're beautiful!"

"I didn't feel very beautiful," her mother went on. "Just kinda
awkward. And there was my sister Missy. She was older. Her hair was
dark red--not carrot red like mine was then. She was tall and thin.
Boys called her day and night, asking her to go out with them. And
here I was, sitting in my room, with only a book as my companion. I
figured that I may not be that pretty but I was pretty damn smart and
that what really mattered." She paused. "It took me a long time to
accept how I looked--"

"Even after you meet Dad?"

Her mother laughed softly. "I'm going to tell you something, Megs.
When I meet your father--he liked them tall. He liked them leggy. He
liked them mostly brunettes. Or even blond. But redheads was not one
of his choices."

Megs stared at her mother in disbelief. "He didn't fall in love with
you on sight?"

Her mother shook her head. "It took a while. A long time. I grew on
him, Megs."

"And now he likes them short and redhead."

"Even redheads with gray in their hair," her mother quipped.

Megs laughed. Maybe that day was not so bad after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Megs was fifteen, her mother gave her the gold cross necklace
that her Grandma Maggie had given her at the same age.

"It's a family tradition," her mother said. "My mother gave me this.
Now I am passing it on to you. I hope you will give it to your
daughter when you have one." Then she helped Megs put it on and
kissed her.

Her father had reached out a finger and touched the cross with a
reverence that surprised her. She knew her father had never been a
religious man. Although he had gone to church with them on occasion,
Megs knew he had gone mostly to please her mother, rather than out of
any religious fervor.

"To me," he said, his voice husky. "this cross has always symbolized
the strength of your mother's beliefs. I hope you will have that,
too." He bent over and kissed his daughter gently on the forehead. "We
love you, Magpie."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When she was sixteen, Megs decided to become a doctor like her mother.
Her mother had been working late at the clinic the night she informed
her father about her decision.

He had smiled at her. "If that's what you want, Maggie Magpie. Your
mother and I are behind you all the way."

"What if I had decided to become a bum?" she teased.

Her father laughed. "Even that, too."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When she was eighteen, she came home from college one holiday. They
were eating dinner. It was a very strange meal. Very quiet. Not a
regular Mulder meal at all. Was there a tension between her parents?
Something obviously was going on, she knew, but she didn't know what
it was. She shifted uneasily. Was it possible that they were actually
uncomfortable with each other?

Her father said abruptly, "There's something we need to tell you,
Margaret."

Megs stared. It must be serious. Her father hardly ever used her
given name unless there was something serious going on. Fear flared up
inside of her.

"You're not getting a divorce, are you?" she blurted out.

Her father's eyes widen in shock. "What?" he exclaimed. "Why in the
hell would you think that! Of course not, Magpie!"

He called her "Magpie." She almost wept with relief. "Then--what is
it? Is something the matter?" she stammered. "Everyone's okay? No
one's sick, right?"

Her parents exchanged funny looks.

"Mom? Dad?"

Her father reached out and clasped her mother's hand. With his other
hand, he caught Megs' hand. Yes, her mother was definitely acting
kind of strange tonight. Silent. Looking down at the table.

"No one's sick, right?" Megs repeated.

"No one's sick," her father assured gently. "Or at least for long.
Magpie--"

Suddenly Megs recognized the expressions on her parents' faces. They
seemed to be a little embarrassed, but now, they seemed--well, sort of
glowing.

"Magpie, would you like a baby sister or brother?"

Megs stared at her parents. "Are you going to adopt a baby?" she
asked incredulously.

"No," it was her mother who answered. Her voice soft and sure. "Your
father and I are going to have a baby."

"WHAT????"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Mom--" she spoke hesitantly. Even hours after parents' amazing
announcement, she was still having problems wrapping her mind around
what was happening. Her parents were having a baby? They were still
having sex at their age?

"Mom," she tried again. "Is it safe? I mean, you're over fifty--"

"There's risks involved," her mother said calmly, "but we're being
very careful and my doctor is monitoring my pregnancy very carefully."

"But, Mom, didn't you-- weren't you on some type of birth control or
something?"

Yes, she thought, it is very embarrassing to think her parents were
still having sex at their age. Why she was so surprised, she didn't
really know.

How they acted in public should have been a clue. Sometimes they
couldn't keep their hands off each other. Nothing too blatant of
course. Just the small, little touches that spoke "I love you" and "I
am here". Her father's hand lingering on her mother's back. Or
pushing a lock of hair from her mother's face. Her mother standing on
her toes so she can lightly kiss the mole on her father's jaw. Or
reaching a small hand and caressing his face.

Of course, they were still having sex! This pregnancy just confirmed
it. Megs did not really need it to be confirmed at all.

"Your father and I never used any birth control," her mother said.

"What?"

Her mother sighed. "We never used birth control. Ever."

"But why not?"

"We never thought we could have kids. You were our miracle baby,
Megs. We thought I was barren. When I found out--" her mother
stumbled to a stop. There was pain in her eyes. She whispered, "It
was a very, very bad time...Your father was gone..."

"Gone?" Megs stared. Her parents never really talked much about
their past, but Megs could not believe that her father would have left
her mother alone and pregnant.

"He was gone--taken away...and he hadn't known. Before, we had tried
intro-vitro fertilization, but it didn't work. We thought it was our
last chance. We didn't know. Then your father was gone--"

Tears willed in her mother's eyes. She blinked them back. "It was a
horrible time. When he came back...I was huge...that's how he found
out. He couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it still. And I
had months to come to grips with the idea that I was actually
pregnant."

"After we had you, we made a conscious decision not to use birth
control. We were still unsure how I got pregnant in the first place.
Was it an one time deal? If there was a possibility to have a brother
or sister for you, we didn't want to take the chance to lose it. So
we never used birth control."

"Nothing ever happen, though. And after all this time, we thought it
was too late. I thought I was too old. I'm the doctor here, but I
thought I was going through menopause--" Her mouth quirked.

"It was your father who suspected that it was something else. He went
out and bought me an early pregnancy test because I wouldn't do it. I
thought he was crazy. But your father was right."

She shook her head wry. "Sometimes your father has these real crazy
theories, but you know what? A lot of times he's right on the money."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Megs went upstairs to get the baby stuff out of the attic. It was
her old baby stuff. Her high chair. Her cradle. Her old baby
clothes. The things that her mother and father had put away in hopes
that it would be used again. And now they were. But first they had
to be taken down, cleaned, and made ready for the new baby. There was
no one else but her to do it.

Her mother couldn't do it. Her mother's doctor had put her mother to
bed rest as a precaution, although the pregnancy had been progressing
fairly smoothly. Her father was too preoccupied with her mother's
condition and comfort. He had taken the semester off from work so he
could be with her. He was very anxious and could not bear to be away
from his wife's side.

He hovered over her. "Honey," he would say, "Do you need anything?
Something to drink? Read?"

"I'm fine, Mulder. I don't need anything. I'm fine."

But those words did not seem to assure her father. They just made him
frown and shake his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She had been digging through boxes looking for the ones which had her
old baby things when she found them. Copies of case files from the
Federal Bureau of Investigations. Why were there old FBI files in
her parents' attic? She opened them and flipped through them. Some
of them had photographs. Gruesome photographs of crime scenes which
made her grimaced. But it was when she saw the agents' names involved
with these casefiles that she had gasped out loud in surprise.

She wondered when her parents worked for the FBI and why they hadn't
bother to tell her. Carrying a box of old baby stuff and a couple of
the files, she went downstairs to ask.

Her father was in the kitchen, heating up soup and making sandwiches
for lunch. Megs dropped the box on top of the kitchen table and wiped
her sweaty face. Her father quirked an amused brow at her. It was the
same facial expression that her mother used countless of times.

"Gee, Dad," Megs said, amused. "You and Mom have been together way
too long! You're beginning to look alike."

He snorted. Then gestured at the box. "Magpie, what are you doing?"

"Getting baby things out of the attic."

Her father went very still. Then said merely, "Oh."

"Dad?"

Again, the strange stillness but so subtle that Megs wondered if she
just imagined it. "Yes, Magpie?"

"Dad, when did you and Mom work for the FBI?"

Her father turned and stirred the soup and cut the sandwiches in half.
Then, he had ladled the hot soup into three of her mother's favorite
Rose Garden patterned bowls before he answered, "It was a long time
ago." He sighed. A deep sigh, but filled with a sadness that she
could not understand.

"Why didn't you guys ever tell me?" she asked.

Her father shrugged helplessly. He started to say something, then
stopped. And then started again. "It ended very badly," he said.
There was pain in his voice. "Very badly. I don't want to talk about
it now. And I don't want you mentioning it to your mother. Not now.
She doesn't need anything to upset her. "

"Why would it upset her?"

"Margaret," her father said in that tone of voice that he seldom used,
but one that she knew it was best to take heed to.

"Okay," Megs said. If he wanted to drop it, she would. She didn't
understand why he didn't want to talk about it, though. But she
couldn't help asking, "Is that where you and Mom met?"

He seemed to relax at the question. "Yes." A ghost of a smile
touched his lips. "That's where we meet. She was my partner."

"You were FBI partners--like Kalle and Mayers on that tv show."

He nodded, amused. "Yeah. Like Kalle and Mayers on the Knight Hunter
show."

"So how long were you guys partners before you -- you know--" she
waggled her brows "Did the 'Wild Thang'?"

Her father laughed. "I don't think that's any of your business, young
lady!"

"C'mon, Dad!"

Her father shook his head, grinning. "Okay," he said. "Seven years."

She stared. "Seven years what?" she said, confused.

"We were partners for seven years before we got romantically
involved."

"Why did you wait so long?" She stared at him as if he suddenly had
grown two horns from his head.

Her father shrugged. "I don't know. We had issues. She had to work
through some stuff. I had to work through stuff. I mean...it's not
like we didn't know...something was going to happen. We knew it would
eventually, but the timing was not right. We danced around it for a
long, long time."

"And then?"

"And then what?"

"So what happened next?"

"We decided that we wanted to be more than friends. We were very,
very happy for several months--" he broke off. There was strange
expression on his face. It was the same look that her mother had that
night that Megs had broken her heart over Justin Miller.

"And what happened?"

His voice was ragged as he whispered, "And they took me away from your
mother. When I came back, she was six months pregnant with you. So
many things that I missed then." His voice was filled with regret.

"Who took you away? You know, Mom mentioned something about IVF--"

"Yeah, she asked me to be the donor."

"Wait a minute. You weren't together then?"

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"Dad, that is totally strange!"

He smiled. "Your mother and I have an unique relationship."

Megs rolled her eyes at her father. He chuckled.

"She said she couldn't have kids and the IVF didn't work, Dad."

"It didn't."

"So are you saying that you guys were only together for several
months before you left--"

"Taken away," he corrected. His voice was adamant. "I would never
leave you and your mother willingly."

"Taken away," she amended. She wanted to ask for specific details,
but her father seemed to read her mind and gave her a warning shake of
his head.

She cleared her throat. "So that means you were only together for
three months or so, how in the world did Mom get pregnant so quickly
then?"

Her father grinned goofily. "Luck?"

"Oh Dad!"

He chucked. "Oh, Magpie! You were our one in five billion baby!"

"Are you sure, Mom?" Megs asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, Megs," her mother said patiently. "You are doing a
remarkable imitation of your father hovering. I am not sick. Just
pregnant."

Just an over fifty year old pregnant woman, Megs thought darkly.

"I need to get out of the house. I had been stuck in bed there for
the last three weeks."

"But Dad--"

"He needs a break from me," her mother said in her "don't mess with
me, young lady" voice. "And my doctor says there shouldn't be a
problem."

"But you're so close--"

"Two weeks away, Megs," her mother snapped. Then more patiently.
"Megs, we're just going to the mall to walk around. Nothing major."

Then, at her daughter's worried face. "Megs, you're going to be a
doctor. Your father is driving me crazy. You hover, too, but not as
bad as your father. He won't let me do anything. He won't let me go
anywhere alone. He's afraid to let me drive. He doesn't trust anyone
else but you and your Grandma Maggie. And she is not not as spry as
she used to be. I guess I could call one of those three men that you
call your uncles. I am sure your Uncle Hickey--or Uncle Langly--or
Uncle Byers--would take me to the mall if I ask them to. But I won't.
Because I have a daughter who can take me. Come on, Megs, just take me
to the mall before I end up killing your father ."

How could she argue with that?

They walked around the mall in a leisurely pace. Had lunch in the
food court. Megs made sure that her mother didn't tired herself out.
In the end, she was rather pleased how everything went. They were
driving home when her mother turned to her and said calmly, "Megs, my
water just broke."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Megs never thought someone could be so tiny. The tiny feet that
curled up when she touched them. The tiny clenched hands. The little
face, still reddened from the birth process. The thin swirl of copper
red hair on his head. He was considered huge for a baby, especially
for a baby two weeks early -- a whooping nine pounds and twelve
ounces. But in her eyes, he looked amazingly tiny.

Looking down at her new brother, she remembered the one day she had
come home unexpectedly to find her parents making out on the couch
with Bad Company's "Feel Like Making Love" blaring from the stereo.

It had embarrassed her because she had not been alone. A couple of
her friends had been with her, as well as a friend's parent.

Her parents had stumbled to their feet, buttoning up, rearranging
their clothes. Her mother nervously smoothing back her hair. She
felt the same way then as she had felt when she found out about her
mother's pregnancy. Embarrassed.

But yet, underlying it, a sense of happiness and security in the
knowledge that her parents were still madly--deeply--in love with each
other after all these years.

The baby yawned, his face screwing up. Megs laughed, falling
instantly in love with her baby brother.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They named the baby "Todd William Sergei Mulder." His first name
"Todd" was actually a play on their father's name. Their mother had
said this with a sly glance as their father grunted his disapproval.
Fox William Mulder did not like his first name and preferred to be
called by his last name. The only person who called him "Fox" was
Grandma Maggie. Even his wife called him "Mulder." In turn, he
called his wife by her former maiden name Scully. It was one of those
oddities that Megs had learned to accept about their parents' early
on.

The name 'William" was a family name on both sides. Both their
paternal and maternal grandfathers were named William. And their late
uncle's name was William.

Megs wasn't sure where the name Sergei came from. It was a rather odd
name. When she asked her parents, they told her it was from a dear
family friend who had died a long time ago.

"Todd William Sergei Mulder," Megs whispered to her brother who opened
his eyes sleepily at her. The baby gurgled and smiled. It was
probably gas, but Megs was still delighted. "I think he has your
eyes, Dad," she told their father.

He smiled. He was sitting by their mother's hospital bed, one hand
tightly holding his wife's hand. He looked very tired, although the
labor and delivery went quite smoothly.

"And he has your nose," she added.

He chuckled. "Poor baby."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her father was not too happy with Megs' decision to relocate to
Washington DC for a job.

"It's so far away," he complained. "Why couldn't you find a job
closer? And it's not safe there! "

"Oh, Daddy!" she protested. "You and Mom lived there for years."

He scowled. He didn't want to get into his and his wife's past
history. "Well, that goes with saying I know what I am talking
about it."

"Oh, Dad, I will be fine," she assured him.

He gave a little shake of his head.

"I promise." Her voice was gentle. She knew how much he loved her.
How much he worried about her.

He sighed, shaking his head. Then he said, his voice breaking a
little, "You're my baby girl...."

"Oh Daddy!" She reached over and hugged him fiercely. "I will always
be your baby girl!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a slow day at the hospital when Megs heard a voice called out,
"Megs Mulder? Is that you?"

"Yes," Megs answered, turning around to look at the owner of the
unfamiliar voice. She blinked when she saw the owner's voice.

"Justin Miller," she said slowly.

He grinned broadly. "Yeah. From junior high and high school. I
didn't think you would remember me."

Remember you? she thought incredulously. For the longest time, you
were the only one I thought of. Even after the heart-to-heart talk
with her mother that night, Megs had still thought about him.

And damn! He was still as gorgeous as ever. Dressed in a dark suit
and a tie, he looked like he stepped off the cover of a men's fashion
magazine.

"Yes, I remember you." Trying to cover her fluster, her voice was
cooler than usual.

His smile faltered a bit. "Well, I--I just wanted to say "hi." Long
time no see as the saying goes," he said.

Startled, she realized he was actually nervous. "It's great to see
you again," she hurried to say.

His smile widened. "I saw you from the corner of my eye. I couldn't
believe it was you."

"Really?" Megs faltered. She hadn't much experience with men. In
junior high and high school years, her experience had been virtually
nonexistence. In college and medical school, although she dated a few
times and had a couple of boyfriends, it never amounted to anything
serious. And now, her work devoured a huge chunk of her time.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. There was an awkward pause. "So--do you
work here -- at the hospital?"

She smiled and nodded. "I'm a doctor here, but I usually work on the
third floor."

"Really? Any specialization?"

She shook her head. "No. Just general practice. I couldn't settle
on one. I thought about going into pedi but decided against it. So,
what are you doing here? Are you coming to see a doctor?"

He shook his head. "I'm here to question a suspect on a case."

"Really? Are you a cop?"

"Well, sort of. I'm a FBI agent."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Afterward their dinner and movie, they went to Megs' place where she
made them some coffee. Then they sat down on the couch to talk.

"You know, Megs," Justin confessed. "I had a major crush on you since
junior high school."

"Right," she scoffed.

"I did," he protested. "What don't you believe me?"

"Because I know for a fact that you were too busy gazing at Kristina
Mays or Sandy Jacobs or Lisa Turner to even see me."

"Gazing at who?" He sounded puzzled. "I have you to know that I spent
so much time gazing at you in class that I got a crick in my neck,
Margaret Ann Mulder."

"Oh, c'mon!"

"It's true. I was afraid you would catch me staring at you. So every
time you turned around, I had to look the other way."

She stared at him. "If you liked me so much, why didn't you ever
talked to me?" she asked.

"Because you were so popular and I was a nerd."

She hadn't expected that from him. "I wasn't popular at all. You
were the one who was popular!"

"I wasn't," Justin said. "My best friend was the popular one. I was
just his nerdy friend. You're the one who was constantly surround by a
pack of girlfriends. You had to have a Texas-sized ego to even try to
get near you, Megs. Not to mention, when you did look at me, you
looked like you were seeing a creature from the black lagoon. Not
very good for my already damaged ego, you know."

Megs began to laugh. If what he was saying was true, they both had
major wires crossed.

Feeling unusually confident, she slid over, reached up and put her
arms around his neck, and said huskily, "Well, Special Agent Miller,
I have a confession to make."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After their first few dates, they found out they preferred to do most
of their "dating" at home. Both worked long hours and both wanted to
come home and relax. They went to each other's apartment, cooked each
other dinner, and watched a movie or talked.

They usually went to Justin's place because it was bigger. Justin
usually did the cooking. His father was a chef and he had inherited
his father's culinary talents. Justin was capable of slicing, dicing,
and whipping delicious meals in matters of minutes.

His rich moist chocolate cake, layered with creamy chocolate, drizzled
with rich chocolate sauce, topped with hand whipped cream (with
chocolate carefully folded into it) and thin curling shavings of
gourmet chocolate and almonds made tears of pleasure spring into her
eyes and a moan to her lips.

"It's my Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake," he joked.

"Chocolate is the way into a woman's heart," Megs said very seriously.
"A woman would stay for this desert alone. And if you are anywhere as
good in bed as this chocolate cake tastes we might be talking true
love."

Justin blushed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Although Justin loved cooking, he later told her he had rarely cooked
before they started dating. "It's no fun cooking for just one," he
remarked.

"You sound exactly like my Dad," Megs commented.

"Really? Why do you say that?" he asked, curious.

"Well, my Mom said it was years before she found out that my Dad knew
how to do more than boil water. She thought he was kitchen
illiterate, but he's really a great cook! He just didn't like to go
through all the trouble cooking for himself. He does most of the
cooking at home now. Mom's too tired to cook when she comes home from
the clinic."

"If I meet your parents, I think I would like them, " he said. There
was an unspoken question in his voice.

She smiled. "You'll meet them soon."

"Great! Can't wait to meet them!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She was waiting for him in the guest lobby of the Hoover building. He
had asked her to meet him there so they could go to lunch that day,
but he was ten minutes late. Finally, she saw him rushing toward her.
A gray-haired man in a suit followed him.

He swooped down and kissed her firmly on the lips. "Sorry I'm late,
Meggie. I was in a meeting and it ran long. And oh--" he gestured to
the man behind him. "I wanted you to meet my partner, Richard
Jenkins. Rich, this my girlfriend Margaret Mulder."

Megs reached out a hand to his partner and they shook hands. "Glad to
meet you, Rich."

"I'm glad to meet you, Margaret," Justin's partner said, smiling.
"Justin talks about you all the time."

"You can call me "Megs," she said. She turned to Justin who was still
looking very contrite. She smiled at him. "It's okay," she assured
him. "I was just looking around. Curious, you know."

"Why is that?" Rich asked.

"Because my parents worked here, too. They were FBI agents also."

"Wait a minute," Justin's partner said. "Your last name is Mulder?"

Megs nodded.

Rich's went wide with shock. "Your father wouldn't happen to be Fox
Mulder, would he?"

Megs nodded, surprised to find out that he knew her father. Of
course, he was older. He might have even worked with him.

"Is your mother Dana Scully?" Rich asked.

Again she nodded. The older agent whistled under his breath. "I be
damned!" he said. "Mulder and Scully!" He slapped Justin on the
back. "Well, I be damned!" he exclaimed again "Mulder and Scully!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Rich had left, muttering something under his breath, Justin had
turned to her, looking a bit dazed.

"I guess I never made the connection with your last name to Fox Mulder
and Dana Scully," Justin said.

Confused, she said, "I don't see the big deal, Justin."

"Your parents are FBI legends," Justin explained. "Your father is
still considered one of the best profilers that the Bureau ever had.
He trained under Patterson. Bill Patterson! His profiles are still
used for training at Quantico. I remember thinking to myself, 'how in
the hell was he able connect the things the way he did?' Your parents
were considered an unbeatable team. Mr. and Mrs. Spooky Mulder!"

One slim eyebrow arched up. "Mr. and Mrs. Spooky?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was the sun peeking through the cracks in her blinds that woke her
up. She woke up slowly, stretching. Her body slightly aching, but it
was a pleasant ache. She rolled over and bumped into the unfamiliar
feeling of long, hard, warm body of a man lying next to her.

Justin laid there sleeping. He was lying on his stomach, one hand
cradled under his cheek and the other buried beneath a pillow. His
hair was mussed. And there the faint shadow of stubble across his
face.

Feeling almost surreal, Megs reached a hand and lightly stroke his
cheek. In his sleep, he smiled. She shook her head a little. Justin
Miller, she thought. Who would thought that?

She made a move to get out of bed, but she felt a hand on her hip, and
a sleepy voice protested, "Don't go anywhere."

She looked at him. He was looking at her, blinking from the sun. He
gave her a lazy smile that made her insides melt. "Come back to bed,"
he said, giving her a little tug. "I'll make you feel nice."

"I bet you would," she said breathlessly. "But I have to to go to the
bathroom first."

"Okay," he said huskily, "But hurry back. I'll keep your side of bed
warm for you."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When she came out, she could hear him talking on the telephone. He
looked up, covered telephone, and said sheepishly, "I think it's your
father." Then uncovering the telephone, he said, "Uhm, yes, sir--uh,
here she is." He jammed the telephone in her hands and flopped back
on the bed with a hand covering his face, muttering under his breath,
"Shit, shit, shit!"

She grinned, shaking her head at him; and said cheerfully in the
telephone, "Hi, Dad!"

There was a pause. Then her father said, "Well, a very early good
morning to you, sunshine! It sounds like you're having a great day
already."

"Yes, I am!"

"So are we going to get to meet this young man?"

She paused. "Maybe--"

Her father made a noncommittal sound. "What's his name, Magpie?"

"Uhm--Justin. Justin Miller."

"Justin? Not the same Justin that broke your heart in high school and
stomped on the pieces."

"Oh, Dad," she said, embarrassed. "It wasn't like that--"

"It better not be." Although her father's tone was joking, she knew
he was serious. Then softly, "Just be careful, Magpie."

"I will," she promised.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He stopped the car in front of her parents' house. He turned to her
and asked, nervous, "So what if they don't like me?" he asked.

Megs smiled at him. "They will like you."

"How can be sure?"

"Because I like you."

He made a face at her. "You just *like* me, huh?"

Her grin widened. "Maybe it's a little more than *like*."

"It better be," he grunted, reaching out and gathering her into his
arms. She almost forgot they were parked in front of her parents'
house when she heard the front door burst open and her brother's voice
called out eagerly, "Magpie! Magpie! You're home!"

They locked up and saw her brother Todd racing down the driveway
toward their car. Her parents stood in the doorway. Her father had a
thoughtful look on his face. Her mother was smiling.

"Oh, great!" Megs heard Justin muttering to himself, "First, that
damn telephone call. Now, being caught making out in the car in front
of her parent's house! What a way to make a first impression!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her father stared at Justin for a long time that Justin shifted,
looking a bit discomforted. "So you're a FBI agent?" her father
asked.

Surprised, she stared at her father. She hadn't mentioned that Justin
was a FBI agent.

Justin nodded. "Yes, I am, sir."

Her father shook his head and said brusquely, "You can just call me
'Mulder.'" He glanced at Megs who then grinned happily at him.

Megs had years of experience reading her father. She could tell that
he approved of what he saw. Of course her father wasn't going to say
it outright. He was devious that way. Justin was going to have to
work for it.

She said sweetly, "Or you can just call him 'Fox'."

Her father shot her a dirty look.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her parents were working out in the garden. Justin had volunteered to
help them out with the heavy work. Afterwards, they were going to eat
lunch and lounge around the backyard pool for the rest of the day.

Megs and her little brother Todd were in the kitchen, making
sandwiches for lunch.

"How's school?" she asked him.

"Fine," he replied. "My school principal thinks I should take some
classes for gifted students, but Mom and Dad told him no."

"They said 'no' about me, too." And she was glad. It was hard enough
to fit in without being set apart that way. But of course, she wasn't
Todd. And Todd seemed to get along very well with others.

"Do you mind?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "Naw. Mom and Dad do stuff with me at home. I
rather do stuff with them anyway." He scrunched up his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing much." He poked at a piece of bread with a finger. "It's
just--one day, me and Benny came home and we found them on the couch.
Mom was sitting on Dad's lap and they were--" He made another face.
"kissing and stuff."

Megs hid a smile. "Well, get used to it," she advised him.

"Aren't they too old to be messing around that?" he demanded.

"I guess not," she replied.

"It was embarrassing," Todd said, his face flushed. "Benny didn't let
up on it all day. He said if they didn't watch it, I'll have a baby
brother or sister or something! I told him that was impossible because
Mom already went through menopause. "

This time she laughed. "Do you even know what menopause is, Todd?"

"Of course I do. I've read Mom's medical books!" he said indignantly.
Megs was sure he had. He probably could recite them cover to cover if
he wanted to. He had inherited Fox Mulder's amazing memory. "And I
asked her, of course. She told me herself."

"Well, Todd," she couldn't resist saying, "the last time Mom thought
she was in menopause, she was pregnant with you."

Todd snorted, sounding exactly like their Dad when he was disgruntled.
He turned back to making sandwiches.

Megs shook her head wryly. She was no longer embarrassed by her
parents' demonstrations of affection, but she had years to get used to
it. She also had realized how rare and strong the bond her parents
share. They were truly soulmates. If the bond between Justin and her
was just a fraction of what her parents' was, she would be happy.

"So I heard you had a Track meet at school last weekend," Megs asked,
changing the subject. .

Todd nodded, his hair bouncing. "Yeah, I won first place in relay
races. First place for the one mile. Second place in the long jump."
He spread mayonnaise on a piece of bread.

"Did Mom and Dad come?"

"Yeah. Mom was a little late from the clinic, though. They were
really busy at the clinic. I could hear Dad screaming from the
stands."

Megs grinned. Their Dad had always been a rather vocal supporter for
whatever school functions he attended.

"So did Mom and Dad come to your stuff, too?" Todd asked.

"Well, I wasn't much into sports," Megs said wryly. "But they did
come to my Quiz Bowls and science tournaments-kind-of-stuff."

"You know," her brother said abruptly. "I don't really mind my
friends make fun about Mom and Dad making out and stuff, but I don't
like it when they make fun about something else."

"What else?"

"They say Mom and Dad are old enough to be my grandparents."

"Well," Megs said. "They were older than the average parents when
they had you. Both of them were past fifty years old."

"So--what--what's going to happen to me--if they pick up and croak?"

She stared at her brother, aghast. "What in the world do you think
that, Todd?"

He shrugged helplessly. "That's another thing people say." Her
brother was really worried. "I don't want Mom and Dad to die, but
they're really old. Did you know that Grandpa Scully, Uncle Bill, and
Uncle Charlie all died of heart attacks? You know that kind of stuff
runs in the family. What if Mom--?"

"Mom has part of Grandma Maggie in her. And Grandma Maggie is still
doing okay."

He brighten at that. "Yeah, she is." He joined the two halves of a
sandwich together and cut it neatly into two. "So what's going to
happen, though? To me?"

She said calmly, "If something happen to Mom and Dad, you will come to
live with me, Todd."

His face lighten as if a load was off his mind. He reached over and
hugged his sister fiercely. "I'm glad you're my sister," he said, his
voice muffled. "And don't get this wrong or anything, Megs, but I
hope I don't have to come live with you at all."

She kissed his hair. "Well, you can always come to visit then."

He smiled up at her, looking very much like a miniature version of
their father, except for his red hair that he inherited from their
mother. Then he let her go and took a bite out of his sandwich.

"So Justin is your boyfriend, huh?"

"Yeah, you can say that."

"Mom and Dad really like him."

"Do they? I'm glad to hear that."

"I like him a lot, too, Megs."

"Well, I kind of like him a lot, too."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Todd went outside to call their parents and Justin in to eat lunch.

Justin came in, laughing at something that her father had just said.
Megs reached out a hand and took his hand. "Are you tired?" she asked
him.

He shook his head, smiling. "Naw."

Across the room, they watched her father tenderly picked twigs and
other debris from her mother's hair. Justin had a funny expression on
his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," he said quickly.

"So--?"

He looked at her, silent for a moment. Then he leaned over and
whispered, "Look at your father's neck, Megs."

She looked and silently shrieked with laughter.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So why do you have a hickey on your neck, Dad?" she asked, grinning.

The two of them were alone in the kitchen. He was getting dinner
ready.

He smirked. "You need to ask your mother about that."

"Aren't you two bit old to messing around like that?" she teased.

"I don't know," her father replied. "Why don't you tell me forty
years from now, Magpie."

Megs laughed. They worked in a comfortable silence, falling into old
routine.

Her father said suddenly, "Justin is a nice young man."

"He is. How did you know he was a FBI agent?"

Her father paused and then muttered something under his breath.

"What? I can't hear you, Dad."

"I said," his voice a little louder but not much clearer, "that I sort
of asked your favorite uncles to check up on him."

She stared at him, astonished.

"You got the Lone Gunmen to check up on him? What did you do that
for?"

"To make sure he was really for real."

"Dad, I've known him since I was in junior high school. Not to
mention he is a FBI agent. That should assure you that he's in
clear."

"Just because he's a FBI agent doesn't mean he's clean," her father
said darkly, slicing mushrooms.

"Daddy?"

"I just wanted to make sure, Magpie. Your mother and I had made a lot
of enemies and I had to make sure."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her mother said, amused, "Since your father took that cooking class he
has become obsessed."

They watched the taller figures of her father and Justin and the
smaller figure of Todd disappeared into the "Kiss the Cook" store at
the mall.

"His favorite channel now is the Food Channel. Can you believe that?"
Her mother put her hands on her hips. "And I must gained ten pounds
since then. He cooks so much."

"He said that you finally let him put butter into his dishes."

"Let him?" Her mother laughed. "Like I could ever stop Fox Mulder
from doing something he wanted to do." She shook her head. "Can you
believe that your father told me that butter substitution is a crime
against humanity."

Megs smirked. "Sounds just like Dad!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"There are a lot of stories about them," Justin admitted reluctantly.

"Tell me."

"I don't know, Megs," he said, uncertain. "I sort of feel that if they
wanted you to know, they would have told you."

"They're my parents. I have the right to know," she insisted. "Tell
me."

He shook his head, unhappy.

"Tell me, Justin. No holding back. No secrets. Now or ever."

So he did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her father did not seem surprised to see her so soon after her last
visit.

She looked around. "Where's Mom?" she asked.

"She and Todd went to visit Grandma Maggie for the weekend," her
father replied.

"I want some answers, Dad," she said, her voice direct and to the
point.

"I've been expecting this," her father replied. "I guess it's time
for you to know."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"There are some stories about you, Dad. About you and Mom. But
mostly about you."

Her Dad leaned against the doorway, staring out into the night. "I'm
sure there are. Did Justin tell you these things?"

"He told me only because I asked him to," she said firmly.

Her father nodded, seeming to understand.

Her voice trembled. "They talked about you still. In the Bureau.
About how wild you were---"

Her father came and sat beside her. "I admit that when I was
younger, I did a lot of stupid things. Things I do regret. I drank too
much. I smoked. I fell in and out of bed with women that I shouldn't
have--"

He was silent for a moment, then he went on, "I knew I was spiraling
out of control. I knew I had to stop, but I didn't seem to know how
to stop. About that time, I meet a woman--a fellow FBI agent--"

"Mom?"

He shook his head. "No. This was before I even meet your mother. Her
name--" He took a deep breath. "Her name was Diana Fowley. We worked
together on several cases. And she helped me...get through this crazy
time... she helped me stop drinking, the womanizing, and eventually,
the smoking. She was the one who encouraged me to go to hypnotic
regression therapy and remember what happen the night when Samantha
was abducted. She was the one who brought the X-files to my
attention and she was the one who helped me get it started up again.
We--we got married--"

"You were married before Mom?" Sharp. Incredulous. Disbelief. Even
the illogical anger that her father had been married to a woman who
was not her mother. "Why haven't you ever told--"

"Please listen, Margaret," her father said. His voice gentle, but
firm. "Let me finish."

"I got married. But as I dug deeper into the X-files, trying to
discover what happened to Samantha, I became consumed with my quest. A
lot of things fell to the wayside. Including my marriage to Diana.
She left for a job promotion in Europe and I-- I let her go. Because
the X-files had become my life. And I guess, I didn't love her enough
to give them up."

He rubbed his hair, leaving spikes. "I always felt that I had gave
her up too easily. That I should had tried harder to make my marriage
work. I felt I *owed* her something. She helped me through some very
tough times in my life, Magpie. I know if she hadn't come along when
she did I would have eventually ate my gun. So when she came back
from Europe, my guilt overrode my common sense. And I hurt your
mother badly."

"You cheated on Mom?" Her heart gave a painful lurch.

"We weren't together that way yet. By then, I already KNEW that I was
in love with your mother but your mother wasn't ready to admit that
she was in love with me--- even to herself. And I didn't restart
anything with Diana, if that's what you're asking. But I suppose, in
the end, it amounted to the same thing. I had always told your mother
she was the only who I trusted, but yet, I trusted someone else's word
over hers--" his voice trailed off. "I--I almost lost your mother
over this."

He went on, "She didn't understand what was going on. How could I
explain her when I hadn't even told her that I had been married
before. Or even mentioned Diana. Your mother and I were close then--so
close--but we never talked about personal things--especially about
feelings. Feelings were something we danced around. We were too
afraid what they would reveal and how they would affect our
partnership."

He rested his chin on his clasped hands. "In the end, your mother
were right. I was wrong. I learned a lesson in the hard way. It
took a while for me and your mother to get back on track. And
Diana--" he sighed. "She paid an ultimate price for the decisions she
made."

"Was--was she one of those issues that you had to work through before
you and Mom got together?" Megs asked.

Her father smiled. "Yeah. One of them."

He opened his arms, inviting her in. She slid into his arms and
pressed her forehead against his chest. When she had been a little
girl, Megs used to curl up in her father's lap for comfort, safe in
the warmth of his love. Suddenly everything seemed to overwhelmed
her. She began to sob quietly.

Her father patted her on the back. "Sshhh, it's okay, Magpie. It's
okay," her father said, soothingly.

"I don't understand what's going on," she wept. "They say that there
were people who tried to kill or kidnap me and Mom even before I was
born. Why would anyone want to do those things? Am I even safe now?
And who was Walter Skinner?"

Her father sighed heavily. The porch light was very bright yellow and
it cast a very heavy shadow across his face. He suddenly looked very
old and gray.

He answered quietly, "Walter Skinner was the Assistant Director over
the X-files. He was our boss."

"Todd's named after him?"

"Yes." He wore his "blank face." The one that she knew he used to
hide when he was feeling deeply. He sighed and tugged on a lock of
her hair. "You asked what happened, Magpie. I will tell you what
happened."

"What I am about to tell you sound pretty unbelievable, but it is the
truth. You know that your mother and I both worked in the a section
called the X-files that investigated the paranormal and exterresterial
phenonomen."

"In our search, your mother and I uncovered evidence of a vast
global conspiracy of an alien takeover. Men in a secret government
group---knew of their existence and were actively helping these aliens
with their agendas. In exchange they and their families would be
saved after the invasion and have a place of power in the new
government."

"There seemed to be several groups of aliens. One group was the
colonists. They were the ones who wanted to take over the world. The
men who were dealing with these aliens were led to believe that
surviving humans would become a slave race, controlled by an alien
virus which would be spread by what was called the 'black oil.' They
did not realized that the aliens needed humans not to be slaves but to
be living incubators--hosts to carry their young. "

He had a hard time saying what came next. "The colonists demanded
collateral. Royal hostages, you can call it, to prove the men's
loyalty to the project. By doing so, some of the men believed that it
would convinced the colonists of their sincerity and buy time for them
to find a vaccine for the alien virus. Your---your Grandfather Mulder
was one of the men who were involved. He was given a choice. His
family or humanity. Four people versus several billion. Not an easy
choice. So he decided on what he thought was the lesser evil, he gave
up my sister--your Aunt Samantha. It---It was suppose to me, Magpie,
but for some reason we were switched."

He rubbed his face wearily. "The second group was the Rebels. They
were against colonization, but they were as ruthless as the colonists.
Occasionally both sides would send in an Alien Bounty Hunter. The
Alien Bounty Hunters were mercenaries. They had no loyalty to either
side."

"And there was a third group...very small. I guess I would call them
'peace workers' or 'advocates for non-violence.' They were against the
colonization and the rebels." Her father gave a bitter laugh. "PETA
for humanity, you could say."

"Some of them had the gift of healing. Your mother and I have meet a
few of them in fact. We call them "Jermiah Smiths."

"You know I was taken away from your mother when I went to Bellefleur,
Oregon, on a case to investigate alien abductees. While there, we
found out they were taking people who had a history of being abducted
before. Your mother--" He bit his lower lip. "---is one of them,
Magpie. They took her away years before and I was afraid they would
try to take her again."

"She was also sick then. Passing out. Feeling dizzy. We didn't know
it then....but she was pregnant with you."

His breath hitched. "I wanted her to go back home to Washington DC.
We were worried that her cancer came back--" Her father pressed his
forehead against Megs' head. She could feel him trembling with
emotion.

"---I was also afraid by staying in Bellefleur, it was increasing her
chances of being taken away. There was nothing more we could do there
so we came home."

"Once we were back in Washington DC, a source came to us with more
information about what was happening in Oregon. I decided to go back
to investigate. I wouldn't let your mother return with me. I didn't
want to take the risk. So she stayed back in Washington DC but she
sent Walter Skinner in her place. She didn't want me to go alone."

He stared down at his feet. "I was taken away and came back two
months later---" he cleared his throat. "When they found me, they
thought I was dead. Your mother felt so guilty, blaming herself. She
thought she didn't do enough. That she made the wrong decisions. That
it was her fault. It wasn't her fault, Magpie. There wasn't anything
she really could have done, you know."

"I have no memories of this time, but your mother does. It was an
extremely hard time for her. She was pregnant and she--she had just
buried the father of her child."

"Buried you?" Megs breathed incredulously.

Her father nodded. "She wanted to do the autopsy but Skinner
persuaded she wasn't up to it. She didn't trust anyone else to do it,
though, and in the end, she decided she couldn't bear the thought of
me being cut into. She didn't even have me embalmed. So they buried
me for three months."

"But Dad, it's scientific impossible for a person to be buried for
three months and still be alive," Megs whispered.

"You're so much your mother's daughter," he said lightly. "So
scientific." He smoothed her dark hair, so much like his.

"I was going through the process of change---a metamorphism that all
the Bellefleur abductees were going through---where they were changing
from human into something alien. The aliens had implanted an alien
embryo inside each abductee. Slowly, the alien embryo was gestating,
absorbing the human body as food, and regenerating, duplicating the
form of its human host."

"Some of the abductees were found in time by one of the Jermiah
Smiths. He stopped the change from completing, but he was considered
a suspect in the abduction and murdering the alien abductees himself.
The FBI went after him. By then, I had been returned back. Jermiah
Smith had found me and he had started to heal me, but he was
interrupted before he was finished. I am not quite sure what
happened but I think he had enough time to weakened the alien embryo
inside of me but not enough time to kill it."

"Three months after they buried me, they found another alien abductee
named Billy Miles in the ocean. He was badly composed. When the M.E.
went to autopsied the victim, he realized that he was still alive. It
occurred to them that maybe I was, too."

"They exhumed me from my grave to find that I was still alive after
all. The doctors didn't know what to do with me. By medical
reasoning, I should have been dead. All of my body system had
collapsed. I was decomposing." he added dryly. "It seemed I had
become a modern day medical miracle."

"It was then they noticed I had a double heartbeat. One was mine. The
other was the alien embryo. Like I told you, Magpie, I believed that
Jermiah Smith had weakened it. Someone approached Skinner and told
him what was happening to me. He told him that he had a vaccine that
would cure me. To get it, all he had to do was make sure you weren't
born---"

Megs gasped. "But I thought Skinner was your friend--"

Her father made a gesture. "He was. This person knew where Skinner's
loyalty lied. He was just manipulating Skinner's actions. He knew
Skinner wouldn't do it. He also realized Skinner wouldn't trust a
word he said. Skinner did what he was told not to do. In the end,
Skinner's action saved me. The alien embryo died, but I retained some
of its regeneration qualities for a short time after its death."

"Before I was taken, Megs, I was sick....very sick...dying in fact---"
He quirked up his lips. "I didn't tell your mother about it---" he
confessed.

Megs pulled back. "You didn't tell Mom?" She stared at him if he had
lost his head.

"There was nothing they could do. No cure for what I had. They
thought I had only a short time left. If I told your mother---instead
of enjoying what time we had left---she would be desperately searching
for a cure for me. She would have felt guilty for not finding it---a
cure for a disease that others had researched for years and still not
have found anything. She would have felt that she had failed me. I
didn't want her to feel that way. I wanted her memories of me to be
happy---of the times we had been together ---not of me dying. So I
didn't tell her...."

"So when the alien embryo died, its regeneration quality healed me.
The damage to my systems. My scars disappeared. The gun shot scar
where your mother shot me--"

"What do you mean Mom shot you!" Megs shouted.

He ignored her and went on, "The brain disease--everything
disappeared. I was probably healthier than I ever been."

"Dad! When did Mom shot you!"

"It was a long time ago," he said impatiently. "Your mom shot me. I
said thank you. That was it."

His daughter looked at him, horrified.

"She shot me because she loved me, Megs. I will tell you about it
later. Let me finished telling you what happened."

Megs took a shuddering breath. Her mind and stomach swirling.

"Billy Miles---the one who was fished out the ocean. He was one who
changed all the way. Became an alien. He came after your mother and
you. We tried to run, but we couldn't stay on the run forever. You
were due at any time and the stress of the whole thing was making your
mother sick. There was only way to stop him from coming after you
two."

Megs closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against her knees. She
didn't like this where it was going. She couldn't imagine. Her
father---so gentle that he would rather catch a spider and let it out
of the house than kill it. "You--you mean kill him?" Megs whispered.

"There is only one way to kill them," he said grimly.

Her father pointed to the back of his neck. "You have to strike them
there. There's a weapon designed to do this, but you could also shoot
them. It's safer because their bodily fluids are toxic to humans."

"We turned your mother over to the Bureau for protective custody.
Skinner and I went after him. But Bureau wanted him, too. Miles had
killed four agents. When they found him, Miles did not resist arrest
but came calmly into custody."

"Since the suspect was apprehended---," there was a note of anger in
her father's voice, "---a certain Deputy Director named Kersh decided
that your mother no longer needed the Bureau's protection. He didn't
bother to inform me or Skinner what he did next. We warned him that
Miles was dangerous--very dangerous--and that the change that he went
through made him stronger and faster than a normal human. He needed
more than one or two agents watching him. Kersh did not believe us
and he pulled the teams guarding him off. Miles killed the agents
that were assigned to watch him and came after you and your mother
again."

"We ended up in an old warehouse. It was our last stand. We had run
out of bullets. He came after us. I tried to protect your mother. He
threw me across the warehouse, into the wall. I lost consciousness.
When I came through, I couldn't find your mother anywhere. I thought
you two were dead---" his voice shook.

"Then I heard your mother calling me, Magpie. You don't know how glad
I was to hear her. I ran and found her. She was kneeling next to
Skinner, trying to help him. He had dragged her across the warehouse
and had hid her in a small room. Then he had went after Miles." Her
father cleared his throat. "He thrown himself on him and used his
pocket knife to pierced Miles in the back of the neck. Miles bleed
acid all over him. There was a hole in the concrete floor where Miles
body had decomposed. Skinner was unconscious. He was burned
badly---burned to the bone in some places." Her father swallowed.
"But he was--he was still alive."

"I called for help. It was then your mother told me that you were
coming right now. She had been in labor all this time but hadn't told
us. I caught you when you came out, Magpie. You were born on the
floor of an abandoned warehouse---"

"You were so beautiful, Magpie. Something good in the midst of all
this evil," her father whispered.

"We knew Skinner didn't have much long. The alien blood has something
in it which causes the human blood to thickened. Cold slows down the
condition. They tried it with Skinner but it wasn't working. He had
been hurt too badly in the fight. He woke long enough to give a
statement to the Bureau and to tell me something."

Her father began to cry. "He told me that for some crazy reason, your
mother was stuck on me. That she had died when she thought I was
dead. If I really loved her, I would get out of the damn car and make
her happy. He said Kersh will be trying to cover his ass about what
happened and probably start a smear campaign against me, your mother,
and him. Skinner told me he didn't care about what happened to his
reputation. He said, 'Let it happen. Just get you and Scully and the
baby out of it.' He told me as your Godfather he was giving you a
Gift. A Gift for a normal life---that I damn well better do what he
says or he was going to come back and kick my ass good. He made me
promise, Magpie. Then he died."

He rubbed his eyes. "Your mother was very upset. They wouldn't let
her leave her bed and she hadn't had a chance to speak to him. She
didn't get to say 'thank you' or 'good-bye'."

He sighed. "In the end, six agents down. Several bodies that
authorities could not identified. No matching fingerprints. No
missing person reports. Nothing. Your mother and I believed they
were employed by the Project to come after your mother and had run
into Billy Miles. It was a horrible mess."

"Skinner was right. Soon after he died, Kersh began a smear campaign
against Skinner, questioning his activities, his loyalty to the
Bureau. The only thing that stopped me for diving right back in was my
promise to him."

"They even tried to pin Skinner's death on me. The only thing that
stopped them was his statement on record. They wanted to say I killed
Skinner out of jealousy of the relationship between your Mom and him."

"They say that he was in love with Mom," she said hesitantly.

Her father was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful. He didn't
look surprised or upset. Then he said slowly, "He was a very good
friend to me and your mother. He supported her during the a very dark
time, Magpie. He died, protecting you and your mother."

"So, yes, he probably was very much in love with your mother. I
couldn't imagine anyone knowing your mother and not loving her. I
always had a feeling his feelings went deeper for your mother than he
had ever acknowledged, but I am also sure your mother never fully
realized the extent of his feelings for her." A tiny grin and shrug.
"After all, it took her seven years to figure out I was in love with
her."

"Oh Dad!" He could always make her laugh even when she was crying.
"But after all of this, I still don't understand why they wanted to
kill me."

"Both your mother and I had been exposed to the alien virus. We both
received a weak vaccine. We also did something impossible---something
that the Project scientists couldn't do despite all their science and
technology---" his voice became gentle. "We had you---a perfect human
baby who was immune to the alien virus."

Megs' mouth dropped.

"You were the key, Magpie, to stop the alien invasion. Afterwards,
they came to me. I found myself in the same position that my
father--your grandfather--had been. I was given the same choice. My
family or humanity?"

She trembled. "And what did you decide, Dad? We're still here. As
well as all humanity."

He straightened and looked directly into her eyes. "I chose not to
take the choices that were given to me, but to make my own."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you miss it, Daddy?"

"The FBI?"

Megs nodded.

He shook his head. "Surprising no. You know--for something that
consumed my life like the way the X-files did, you would think it
would have been hard to let it go. But it was easy...very easy. I
guess...Skinner knew me better than I did. I was ready to get out of
the damn car. I spent so many years trying to put my family back
together--the way it was before my sister disappeared. I realized
that I already had a family that I wanted. I wasn't going to let
anything screw it up."

"But I don't understand why you didn't tell me, Dad. About it all.
About Skinner, too."

He sat, silent. Then he said, patting her hand, "At first, we wanted
to protect you, Magpie. From the past."

One hand reached up and pushed back her hair from her face. "You
remind me so much like your mother. You're a splitting image of her,
you know, except for your coloring." He sighed.

"When I see you, I see her the first time we meet. " He smiled sadly.
"She used to smile a lot. We danced and laughed in the rain on our
first case. But it didn't last long---"

His voice broke. "I took her smiles away, Margaret Ann. I didn't want
to tell you because I couldn't endure watching the same thing happen
to you--"

"Oh, Daddy!" she whispered.

He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I want you to
know, " he said, his voice wobbling a bit. "I have never regret it.
When it comes down to it---you--your mother and your brother--you guys
win. Hands down. There is nothing in this universe--nothing that
means more to me than you three."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Megs told Justin what her father told her.

"I'm thinking of joining the FBI," she said to him.

"If that's what you really want," he replied. "But why now?"

"Because I feel obligated. I feel obligated to find out what
happened. To clear Skinner's name. I feel obligated to try."

Justin shook his head. "From the sound of it, Megs. The only
obligation you have is to accept Walter Skinner's Gift." He reached
over, slid his arms around her, and kissed her. "But whatever you
chose, Megs, I'm with you all the way."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been a rough time at work that week. Several of the doctors
and nurses were out with flu. Megs was tired. She wanted nothing
more than sit back with her feet up.

And she hadn't seen Justin very much either. He had been working
non-stop on a case for the last several weeks. The few times that
they managed to get together, she could see the case taking its toll
on him. He had shadows of exhaustion painted under his eyes. His
face looked stark and he looked like he had lost weight.

He had hugged her tightly to him. She could feel him trembling.

"I've missed you," he had whispered.

"I've missed you, too." Oh, God, she had missed him so much that she
had physically ached. She pulled back and caressed his lower lip
lovingly. "You looked tired. Has it been that bad?"

"It's been---" a small, mirthless laugh escaped from his lips.
"---it's been hell, Megs." He buried his face into her neck and
whispered, "I--I don't know if I can do this anymore. Stay with the
FBI."

She had comforted him as best as she could.

Now the case was closed. He had been given time off to compensate for
the overtime he had put in. He was now at her apartment, waiting for
her to come home.

When she opened the door, the smell of something delicious wafted from
the kitchen. Justin came out from the kitchen. A smile of delight lit
up his face. "Hi, Megs! Dinner's almost on the table!"

He sat her down, kissed her gently, and fed her. For appetizer, he had
made shrimp stuffed mushroom with creamy butter sauce. For the main
course he made pasta carbonara with garlic and chopped red onions and
tomatoes, all sauteed in olive oil, topped with bacon pieces, freshly
grounded black pepper, and freshly shaved parmesan cheese. Everything
was delicious of course.

When he set down a piece of his Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake in
front of her, Megs smiled lovingly at him.

He smiled back at her. "Go ahead and eat it," he encouraged.

There is--, she thought dreamily as she closed her eyes and let the
chocolate take over her senses---something about chocolate. Nothing
that chocolate couldn't cure. It was almost--zen-ful....

She bit into something hard. Startled, her eyes flew open. She
looked down at her desert plate. It was a ring. A diamond ring.

Her eyes flew up to Justin. He looked back at her, unsmiling, with a
question in his eyes. She flung herself into his open arms and kissed
him. She didn't have to say yes. He knew.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I was going to join the FBI,' she told her parents.

They stiffened but did not say anything.

She went on, "But I decide against it."

"Why?" her father asked, his voice cracked.

Megs spoke slowly, carefully choosing her words, "I realized that a
normal life wasn't only Skinner's Gift---it was also your gift, too.
Skinner may have given me the chance for normal life, but it was you
and Mom who gave actually gave a *nomal life* to me. A gift that you
and Mom bought with pain and sacrifice. You gave me a gift---a gift
of a happy childhood. A gift of freedom from this intrigue that our
families seemed somehow to enmeshed in."

"To join the FBI would be throwing your gift in the face." She
paused, "And I realized by talking to you, Daddy, that the main reason
you joined the FBI and the X-files was to find Aunt Samantha--to find
your lost happiness."

He nodded, a bare move of his head.

"And then I realized I AM HAPPY. Why would I want throw happiness
away when I already have it?" She smiled brilliantly at them.

"Mom, Dad, Justin and I are going to get married. We--we would like
to move back here. Justin wants to get out of the Bureau. He says he
getting burnt out. His father owns a restaurant here and he has asked
Justin to join him. And Mom, you mentioned that you need more help at
the clinic and I was wondering if I could help out there."


"Of course, Megs," her mother answered, weeping. "Of course."

Megs hugged her parents. "I love you both," she said fiercely. "You
don't know how much I love you both!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Epilogue:


Megs sat in the hospital bed with her husband sitting next to her,
their hands entwined. Both looked exhausted, but radiant.

Megs' mother sat in a chair at the foot of the bed, holding the baby.
Her father and brother stood behind her, gazing rapturously down at
the tiny bundle.

"Oh, look, Scully," Megs' father said, gently caressing the baby's
face with a finger. "She has the Scully nose."

They both looked at each other and smiled.

"Hi, Grandma," Megs' father said softly.

"Hi, Grandpa," Megs' mother whispered back.

Then Fox Mulder leaned over and tenderly kissed his wife's tears away.


               The End


Author's End Notes:

My original plan was for Megs to join the FBI and follow her parents'
footsteps. Then I realized that her decision would make her parents
very unhappy, and DARN IT! I wanted Mulder and Scully TO BE HAPPY---
especially with season nine looming and probably no Mulder in sight.
It seems there won't be a happy ending for Mulder and Scully this
season.

Also having Megs join the FBI would bring the Mythology Arc more into
play and I didn't want to go there. To me, mythology always darken a
story and I wanted to keep the story pretty light. I didn't want to
get too angsty.

Some people may think Megs' and Justin's relationship went too
smoothly and was unrealistic. And they're probably right, but I also
felt the story was mostly about Megs and her parents. Especially the
relationship between Megs and Mulder. I didn't set out to write it
that way, but that's how it ended to be.

I enjoyed writing this. I hope you enjoyed reading it.


---Myriss (03.31.01)