Title: Threat to happiness.
Author: Chrissie
E-mail: chrissie_ireland@hotmail.com
Rating: PG
Category: MSR, A
Spoilers: The End, Biogenesis, The Sixth Extinction,
The Sixth Extinction II Amor Fati.
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance, Mulder/Fowley romance.
Summery: Mulder and Scully's daughter is almost two years old,
when Scully realize they're not the only girls in Mulder's life.

Disclaimer: None of the characters (except Clare) or quotations in
this story belong to me. They belong to Chris Carter and 1013.

Timeline: just ignore everything you know will happen in season 8.

Archive: let me know where it goes ;)

Feedback: I'd love it. Please let me know if I should ever think
of doing another story, or just burry myself in a deep hole.

Authors Note: This is my very first fanfic, and I've never
written anything outside school, so please be gentle with me.

Well, here we go...

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

Dana Scully was awakened by a soft sound from the nursery.
She looked at the alarm clock. 1:30 in the morning.
She looked beside her, Mulder wasn't there. This had
been going on for a while now, and Scully was starting
to worry. She was drawn from her thoughts by an
unsatisfied cry. "All right Clare, I'm coming."

She went into the nursery and saw her little girl
standing smiling in the bed. Clare jumped up and
down, when she saw her mother. Scully took the girl
in her arms and carried her to her own bed.

"So now your own bed isn't good enough for you,"
Scully said to her daughter, as she tucked her
under the covers. "Well then, you can sleep with
me. There's room enough, since your Dad is
obviously spending the night elsewhere."

Scully looked at her daughter, who was soon sleeping
again. The little girl was a miracle, and Scully would
never forget the night she was created.

.........................................................

It was the night Skinner had called them, telling them
to come to the office as soon as possible.
They was standing in the basement, in the room
that had once been their office, but was now
destroyed by a horrible fire.

Scully had turned to Mulder and put her head on his chest,
trying to comfort him, but he hadn't responded at all,
just kept staring at the sooted walls. After a while
she took his hand in hers, and let him out of the office.
They had gone to her apartment and was sitting in silence
on her couch. She was totally surprised, when he suddenly
wrapped his arms around her and started crying. She had
cried with him, cried for the loss of The X-Files, for
the failed attempt the protect Gibson, and she had
cried of fear for the answer to her biggest question -
what was Diana to him?

That was when she had felt his lips on her neck.
She lifted his head, and put her lips on his. When they
broke apart, he took her in his arms and carried her to
the bedroom......
...........................................................

Scully looked again at Clare. Everything had been so perfect
for the last three years. If she had just known then, what
Diana was to Mulder, she would have made sure she hadn't
survived that gunshot, but she had, and Scully knew she was
the reason for the overwhelming fear she had felt in her heart
the past few weeks.

Both Scully and Clare were sleeping, when Mulder locked
himself into the apartment. He went to the bedroom
and saw Clare sprawled out on his side of the bed.
He bent down and kissed her cheek and stroke
Scully's hair. Then he went back to the living room.
He had just gotten comfortable on the couch, when he
heard Scully come into the room.

"Where have you been?" She asked.

"I was at the office."

Scully sat down beside him on the couch.

"Til 3 o'clock in the morning? What was so
important, that it couldn't wait 'till tomorrow?"

"I was ready to go home at 11, but Diana came by.
She had trouble with a case and needed my help.
We started talking, and before I knew it, it
was 2:30."

"Is that what you've been doing almost every night for the
past months? Helping Diana? If she needs so much
help, maybe she should ask for reassignment."

"What are you insinuating?" Mulder asked.

"Nothing, it's just that you haven't really been much
around lately. We miss you."

"I'm sorry Scully, but I can't be around 24 hours a day."

"I'm not asking you to, but you see Clare one hour before
work, and you come home when she's sleeping. Think about
it Mulder, she's almost two years old, and is seeing her
Dad one hour a day. Before you know it, she'll be a teenager
and you'll see her one hour a week."

"Look, I've been busy the past weeks, I'll make it up
to her when things slow down a bit."

"The only thing you've been busy with is being with Diana.
Mulder, I have to ask you - is there something I should know?"

Mulder raised his voice. "Do you think I'm having an affair?"

"No Mulder, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying you've been
very absent in the last few months. In principle I could
decide not to care, but you have a daughter, and I'm her
mother. I don't care if you leave me for someone else, but
you have responsibilities towards your child."

"Scully, I won't listen to this, I'm going to my
own apartment."

"Fine. Do whatever you want, just never hurt Clare."

He went out and slammed the door. Scully went to bed
again and cried herself to sleep.

"Shit," Mulder thought when he got back to his apartment.
He hadn't meant to hurt her. He was just embarrassed. She
was going to figure it out soon. He had been seeing Diana
secretly for over a month now. He actually didn't know why. 
He loved Scully, and he loved Clare. 

It was just so much easier with Diana. There was no commitments 
with her. She only wanted him to be with her. Not to clean up or 
shop for dinner. 

And Clare. She took so much time. It wasn't that
he didn't like taking care of her, he loved it, but things
had been so hard since she was born. He hadn't had time to
investigate all the cases he wanted to, and he was probably
jealous at Diana because she had been on The X-Files until
Agent Spender was killed.

It had all started one day when Scully had been home with 
Clare. Mulder was sitting eating his lunch, when Diana sat 
down opposite him.

She had started telling him about the cases she had
investigated with Spender. He wasn't very interested at
first, but his life was becoming a little banal, and
he had asked her to tell about the cases again. She had.

From talking, they started having lunch together, then
dinner, and one night he had spend the night with her.
He was in trouble now, he knew that. He wouldn't risk
loosing Scully or Clare. He had to talk to Diana - soon.

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

3 WEEKS LATER.

Mulder and Scully were seated at A.D Skinner's office.
He handed them a case file.

"Dr. Solomon Merkmallen was killed last night, after he
apparently had a meeting with Dr. Sandoz about an artifact he
had found on the Ivory Coast. Now when he's dead, both Dr. Sandoz
and the artifact is missing. I want you to find out why", with
that speech Skinner dismissed them.

They had been investigating the case for a few days.
Scully was standing in Albert Holstein's hospital room with
Dr. Sandoz. She had tried to call Mulder's cell phone and
the phone in hers - their - apartment, but no one answered.
Finally she tried the phone in his apartment.

"Hello."

"Hello," Scully immediately recognized Diana Fowley's voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to reach Fox Mulder."

"Hold on, please..."

After they hung up, Diana made a phone call. Then she took
of her shirt off and went back into his bedroom.....

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

GALLUP, NEW MEXICO.

Scully was standing outside a small Navajo tent, where
Albert Holstein had just been carried into, when her phone rang.

"Scully."

"Skinner. Where are you?"

"I'm with Dr. Sandoz."

"Where?"

"In Gallup, New Mexico, where are you?"

"The hospital in Georgetown, I'm calling with some bad news,
Mulder is in serious condition here"

"What happened?"

"We don't know, you have to be here as soon as possible."

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

The first person Scully saw, when she walked into the room
to look at the monitors, was Diana Fowley. She stopped for a
second, but then went to look at the man on the screen.
Mulder was walking around, and Scully was close to tears as
she saw him.

She was angry, no one was able to tell her what was
wrong with him.

She stepped out in that hallway with Diana and Skinner,
but they couldn't tell her more that the doctor.

After having argued with them, she went to her mother's house
and picked up Clare. When she had put the girl to bed, she sat down,
looking at her. She knew she had to figure out, what had happened to
Mulder.

Maggie Scully was holding little Clare in her arms as they waved at
Scully's plane heading to Africa.

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

When Scully got back to D.C. Skinner told her what had been
going on, and that he had gotten Kritschgau involved.

After convincing the doctors at the hospital, that she was Mulder's
doctor, she was allowed to go see him.

She told him about what she had found in Africa.

She took his hand.

"Mulder...please. Hold on."

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

The cigarette smoking man took Mulder to an operating room.
Diana was there, looking very worried as Mulder was placed on the
table.

"Don't worry Diana", CMS said. "He won't feel anything, he'll have
pleasant dreams during the entire operation."

When they almost lost him, Diana knew what to do. She loved
Mulder, but she knew he belonged with his family.

Scully was so relieved when she found him. He was weak, but alive.
As she helped him up, she knew she hadn't found him by a coincidence,
but because the woman she hated with all her heart had helped her.

Scully went to Mulder's apartment, to tell him, Diana Fowley had
been murdered.

When he saw the tears in her eyes, he took her in his arms and told
her, what had happened when he was missing, and no matter what, she
was his constant and touchstone. She kissed his forehead
and turned to leave. Mulder watched her walking down the hallway.
Near the elevator she turned around.

"Why don't you come over and see your daughter tonight. I think
we need to talk."

"Only if you want me to."

"I do."

"I'll be there."

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

Mulder was sitting on the couch with Clare sleeping in his lap.
He and Scully had talked about what had been going on between
him and Diana. He had apologized and comforted her when she cried.
It was late when Scully took Clare and put her to bed. Mulder was
getting ready to leave, when she returned to the living room.

"Would you like to stay, Mulder?"

"If it's OK, I'd love to."

"It's OK, but you'll have to stay on the couch."

Mulder knew he had hurt her, and of course she wouldn't
let him stay in the bed, so he accepted the couch.

He was lying there, as he had that night, months ago, when he had
come home after sleeping with Diana for the last time ever.
Scully came in and sat on the couch.

"Good night Mulder."

He sat up and put his arms around her, trying to hold
back his tears. He didn't succeed.

"I love you Dana," he cried. "I love you so much, and I love Clare
too."

"I don't know why I did this, but I'm so so sorry, can you
ever forgive me?"

"I think I can forgive you in time Mulder, but you betrayed my trust,
and you'll have to earn that again. I love you, I always have, but this
will take time."

"I know Scully, I don't deserve you, but I promise I'll make myself
worthy of your trust."

"I know you will. Let's take the day off tomorrow and spend some time
with Clare, I think we need that."

He kissed her cheek, and she went to bed.

They had been fighting aliens, psychos, demons and government
conspiracies. But Mulder felt more relieved after fighting this
threat.

'Cause no matter how dangerous situations they had been in, Diana had
been the biggest threat to their happiness, and now she was gone.

THE END