Title: The Time Has Come
Author: KillTheBee
Spoilers - Emily/Christmas Carol
Date: 3-6-99
Rating: ??
Classification: MSR - sorta...
Feedback - any of it is GREATLY appreciated. Send to KillTheBee@aol.com
Archive - fine by me, I would just like to know! And I'd like a link to where it is! Thanks!
Disclaimer: None of these people belong to me, so 1013 and FOX, give it up. Stop being such Nazi's about EVERYTHING, knocking off people's websites and so forth, none of us make any profit off of what we do. It's to keep us fulfilled since you guys certainly don't do that. If you sued me, all you get is this here piece of crap computer that's about to bite the dust anyway, my desk light, and maybe my strawberry milk. Oops, to late, I drank it. You can have the little Dixie cup it was in.

Scully sat in her office, alone, at something that resembled a desk, briskly filling out paperwork. She subconsciously glanced at her watch, not noticing the time to be 10:20am. When the time registered in her mind, she immediately began to wonder where Mulder was. It wasn't like him to be late for work he was eager to do. She settled for the wait of 10 more minutes, then she would call him to find out why he was relaxing somewhere and she was stuck filling out hefty paperwork by herself.

Just then the light from the basement hall that emanated the cold office was blocked and outlined in a shadow of a lanky man. When he moved further into the office Scully immediately asked him, "Where the hell have you been?"

Mulder gave her a pleading look, "Uh, I drove down from the Vineyard."

Scully put her pen down on her file and removed her glasses, "Oh," she said in an unchanged tone, "Is everything OK?"

Mulder rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, yeah, I just wanted to pay my mom a visit."

Scully nodded.

"So what's this you're working on?" Mulder asked her as he motioned towards her files.

"Nothing, I'm just catching up on some paperwork," she told him. She could barely remember what half of these cases were about, they had been so open and shut that details fleeted. "Here," she cut the pile into an unfair half and tossed it on Mulder's desk. "Fill those out."

Mulder moved from the front of his desk to behind it where his chair was and sat down in it. He began to fill out the forms, flipping from page to page, going through each faster than eating a piece of popcorn. Scully on the other hand, struggled to get ink out of her pen and onto the paper. She yanked open a drawer and rummaged through it, her eyes darting from place to place looking for a pen she'd never locate. Then her eyes fell upon a turned over wallet sized picture. She picked it up slowly and eyed the little girl smiling from behind her birthday cake. Emily.

When Mulder noticed the clanking of her desk contents had stopped, he looked up from his file. What he saw was Scully staring pitifully at a picture. He couldn't make out who it was of, but when he noticed the size and the expression Scully wore, he immediately knew it was of Emily.

"Scully?" he asked as if he knew nothing of her despair. "Something wrong?"

Her transfixed gaze broke by his voice, she mentally struggled to turn her head and face Mulder, one eyebrow arched, "No," she said simply, and she left it at that.

Mulder began working on his forms once again but grew restless. "I'm going to get some coffee, want some?"

Without looking up from her work, she managed a 'yes'. Emily's picture lay on the top right hand corner of her desk, and as Mulder left, Scully extended her arm to pick it up. A small sense of motherly pride swept over her.

In the trance Scully had slipped into, she didn't notice Mulder standing in the doorway with their coffee, looking at her pained face eyeing the picture of her daughter. He wanted it to appear as if he hadn't noticed, so he walked in quickly and placed the coffee down in front of her.

"Care for a break?" he asked.

"Definitely," she responded relieved.

They took their break in silence, until Mulder broke the ice by saying to Scully, as off focused as she was, "Scully, are you sure you're alright?"

"What?" Scully asked, dazed, then immediately recovered with, "Oh, yeah. I'm fine." With that, she took another sip of her steaming coffee.

Mulder was tempted to settle with her answer, but he couldn't manage to hold it in much longer, "What aren't you telling me?"

Scully seemed rather genuinely shocked, "Excuse me?"

"Scully, you can't hide it all the time! Something's wrong and I don't understand why you won't tell me," he told her, his voice sounding hurt to her ears, making her wince.

"Mulder, I said I'm fine," she replied as if his statement was incredulous.

"No, Scully, you're not fine!" he motioned towards the picture that had obviously recently been laid down. "Does this have something to do with Emily?"

Scully seemed overly protective of her feelings at the moment, "Mulder, th--" the sound of a blaring phone ring cut her off. Mulder made no indication that he was going to answer it, but then he eyed her oddly and pulled the phone from the base.

"Mulder?" he called into the phone rather agitatedly.

"Agent Mulder," came the voice of AD Skinner, "I need to see you and Agent Scully in my office immediately." Nothing more was heard but the clicking of Skinner hanging up.

"Skinner wants to see us," Mulder announced, eyeing Scully rudely and proceeding out the door.

Scully got up and followed him, her thick heals sending out an echo through the long hallway. They opted for the stairs, the confined space of an elevator would have provided necessary but unwanted uneasiness. When they reached Skinner's office, the secretary sent them in immediately.

"Have a seat," Skinner said.

Before Mulder could ask what this was about, Skinner stopped him by saying, "We don't have much time so I am going to explain this once then I want your asses on the next plane, are we understood?"

The agents nodded.

"This isn't a case I'd send you normally, but a friend of mine at a Maine field office called for my help. He seems to think that there is something bizarre with some serial murders up there. He was anxious to get some agents up there," Skinner explained.

"What do you mean by bizarre?" Mulder quizzed.

"The killer seems to have disappeared, dropped off the face of the Earth. He kills, and he vanishes."

Mulder glanced at Scully and she did in return. "Why can't any of the local agents handle this?"

"He wants someone to get to the bottom of it, and as soon as possible," Skinner said, looking down at his desk. "This killer murdered his 8 year old daughter. That seems to be the target of this killer. All children under 10. He's already murdered 13 of them. This agent has had all he can handle. His daughter was the 13th, and she was killed in the most brutal manner of them all."

Scully looked down at her thumbs twiddling. Mulder looked down at Scully's thumbs twiddling. Skinner spoke again.

"I want to make sure he doesn't lose it completely. With you up there I'll be able to have reports on how he's taking this. He and his daughter were very close."

Scully and Mulder sat silently, no questions needed to be asked, so when Skinner said, "Now get on the next plane," they didn't hesitate to jump right up and walk out the door.

Mulder and Scully's plane touched down at 12:38am the next day. Both were reeked with jetlag and the hard mattress of a sleazy motel room called out to them, and both wanted to go for it. The thing that changed their minds was the picture of a little boy posted on a bulletin board in the lobby of their motel. He had nothing to do with their particular case, but the desperation in the eyes of the blonde boy, they found hope, and turned around, stuffed their suitcases back in the car, and sped off to the Maine FBI headquarters.

Rings encased their eyes as they marched into the building, expecting to find no one but telephone operator's, green agents, and old agents who never really tried to get anywhere in their career. But instead they saw a team of dedicated workers punching away at computer's, logging into databases, and running around proposing new leads. The man Skinner spoke about was Agent Lucas Carter, and his gold name plate sat on a desk in Mulder and Scully's view, directing them towards him.

"You must be Agent Carter?" Mulder asked, holding out his hand.

Carter looked up from his file and away from the crowd of agents near him, and asked frustrated, "And you are...?"

"Special Agent Fox Mulder, and Special Agent Dana Scully. We're with the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- " he began to pull out his ID when Carter stopped him.

"Walter Skinner sent you?" Carter questioned.

"Yeah, he did. He said you could use some help," Mulder informed him. Carter nodded. "We're tired and jetlagged and could both really go for a hot bath and a good night's sleep, but we can't count on that, can we?" Mulder asked as he saw the stack of files and the blinking red lights on the phone indicating a new lead or something of the sort.

"Don't hold your breath, Agent Mulder. Can I get you some coffee?" he asked, somewhat hurriedly.

"Ah, no, Scully, you want some coffee?" he asked his partner who had been left out of the conversation. She simply shook her head.

"Well then let's get to work," Carter handed Mulder and Scully a bushel of papers and leads they were to follow up on.

There were plenty of leads in that stack of work, some could be followed up on, and some may have prevailed, but Carter insisted they needed a better team. He handed them the only photos of the killer they could find and were warned to have a weapon when approaching him and they must have adequate back-up.

Carter, who had been up for at least 24 hours straight directed Mulder and Scully, and a few agents under him, to get some rest. He didn't want the best agents tiring on the fields when they got close. So Mulder and Scully went back to their motel but arrived back at headquarters no more than 7 hours later.

As they arrived, teams of FBI agents were storming out of the building, readying their guns and strapping their bullet proof vests.

"What's all this?" Scully asked Carter as she and Mulder drug along beside him.

"It's nothing," he responded. "We're just following up on the leads we've been holding out on."

"Well," Scully said somewhat exasperated. "Is there anything we can do?"

Knowing there weren't any really big leads as to this killers whereabouts, he decided to give the agents a small lead, somewhere he expected this murderer not to be, so they could save their strength for his capture. He pulled a file from the bottom of the stack in his arms and handed it to Scully. She immediately began flipping through it as they walked towards the exit.

"I doubt you'll find much of anything there," Carter started. "But every lead is worth checking."

As Mulder and Scully drove their Taurus through the rain, they spotted the alley they were searching for. "This is it," Scully told Mulder.

He pulled over and got out of the car and into the overcast, dreary rain. The rain wasn't heavy enough for umbrella's so they grabbed their flashlights and cautiously approached the back of the alley.

A sudden movement of a trash bag sparked their instincts, but when a grey cat emerged, they resumed their readied position. A tiny whimper floated through the air and stabbed their cold ears. Scully grew more attentive and Mulder's eyes peered through the endless layers of trash, dirt, and grime. The whimpering was more distinctive this time, more accented, and revealed pain and suffering. Scully loosened her grip on her gun and looked around it.

A wisp of blonde hair appear from behind a black trash bag. "Mulder," she whispered almost silently as she cocked her head in the direction of the lock of hair she saw.

Not too sure what lay behind the trash bag, Mulder gently kicked it away, revealing a tiny human body. The child's face was buried in her knees, so her identity couldn't be matched with any of the other missing children's files they'd previewed.

Knowing the trauma weapons had on children, Scully immediately stored her gun, and as she quickly knelt down to the child, she motioned waved her arms around as a signal for Mulder to do the same.

Scully began to take the girl in her arms, when she gently jerked away. Scully again tried to get the child to come to her by running her hand along the child's hair. This time she didn't pull away, she looked up. The little girl's face was a face Mulder and Scully had seen before. As they saw it, a sense of worry, sorrow, pain and shock fell upon Mulder, not wanting the conspiracy of pain, darkness, and hatred to rehash, and a sense of scared disbelief swarmed Scully. The face was the child who was born to live the lie and then die when she couldn't anymore. She was created for none other than to perish in the ruins of the government's mistakes. She was created from Scully. She was Emily.

Scully stood, staring at the young girl in shock and awe, Mulder stood, waiting for Scully to do something, but it didn't seem that she was going to. So he put his hand on her elbow to wake her from her tranced state. She slowly turned her head to face him with her arched eyebrows and saddened eyes. She looked like she was about to breakdown, but she held back. Emily, or the girl that resembled her, didn't look at Scully or Mulder, but her own feet that were bare and shivering in the cold rain and frigid air.

Scully's maternal and doctoring instincts clicked in and she pulled the thin, worn jacket that was on the little girl and pulled it further over her. Dirt encased it, so was everything else Scully touched that was on or near that girl, she went deeper and deeper into sorrow. She pulled the little girl towards her, who was no longer afraid. "Come on, Sweetheart, let's get you someplace safe," she told the child in the best child-like tone she could that would hide her feelings of despair.

Scully picked up the little girl and she laid her head on Scully's shoulder as they all walked to the car. Mulder watched them intently as Scully got in the backseat with her. Mulder revved the engine as Scully lay the child's head in her lap, stroking the little girl's hair. They pulled up to their motel and Scully carried Emily's likeness into the room. She immediately drew a bath for her. "Mulder, she needs some clothes," Scully said.

Mulder got the drift and went to the lobby to find the nearest store. He didn't find anything special, he just grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a jacket, socks and shoes, things he knew would last her the day, at least. If Scully was going to need more clothes, she could come back and get them herself. He felt as if he was being a little selfish, that child had only the pair of clothes that were on her back, no shoes or socks, nothing. And she probably hadn't eaten in days. He paid for the clothes, which came up more expensive than he thought at first, but yanked out the money, shoved it to the clerk and darted out the door without getting the change. He remember he owed Scully everything, and she owed him nothing. He sped down the road hoping to find a fast-food restaurant with something halfway decent to give a child who hadn't eaten in the lord knows how long, but he had no luck. A grocery store was right next to the motel, so he pulled his car in and got what he could for a kid.

Scully pulled the child out of the bathtub and wrapped her towel around her, drying her off and keeping her warm. She felt immense loss for her daughter, Emily, and felt close to her look-alike, and not wanting to lose her, she picked her up and held her in her arms until she heard Mulder bust through the door. He handed her the shopping bag of clothes and Scully took them without and word and headed for the bathroom. Scully changed her, and thanked him silently for remember to get her shoes and socks. She was lucky that Mulder got all the sizes almost completely right.

Scully emerged from the bathroom, the girl's hand in hers, and sat down on the bed. There was only one bed, and Mulder hand already been sitting on it, so Scully sat in the middle and the girl sat somewhere in the space between them. Mulder handed Scully the little plastic dish of macaroni and cheese and the spoon that went with it. The little girl took the spoon when Scully handed it to her and began to eat the macaroni when she was told it was for her.

"Sweetie," Scully began as the child grew near the end of her meal. "We need you to tell us your name. Can you tell us your name?"

The girl looked up at her, and in very soft, childish words, she spoke, "Emily."

This nearly brought tears to Scully's eyes, but she restrained them. "Emily," Scully began. She regained composure as quickly as possible and said, "We're going to take you somewhere where we can find out what happened to you, ok?"

Emily nodded.

When she finished her meal, they took her down to the Maine FBI office and brought her to Carter's desk.

"You found one?" Carter asked, referring to what missing child was on the list. "Which one is she?" He seemed somewhat insensitive, referring to her more like a statistic than a hurt child.

"We need to talk," Mulder told the man. "NOW."

As he and Carter walked aimlessly through the office, Mulder said, "...I need her finger prints taken, her blood drawn, and run the prints against a girl named Emily Sim. The blood needs to be tested against..." Mulder stopped and Carter did the same. He felt that he was about to embarrass his partner, although he wasn't. "Against my partner. Dana Scully."

Carter seemed shocked, then asked incredulously, "Agent Mulder, what's this about?"

Mulder was silent, then he looked at the man with eyes of a stern being, "Agent Scully lost her daughter about a year ago. Her name was Emily, Emily SIM."

"You mean she went missing?" Carter asked, dumbfounded.

"No, she died. Of auto immune hemolytic anemia. This girl, whose name happens to be Emily, looks IDENTICAL to her daughter," Mulder didn't want to take the precious time they had to explain the whole story, then listen to Carter's crap about how it's impossible. "Now, just do as I say, sir, and do it fast. As in NOW."

Carter walked out the door and grabbed finger printing materials and called a doctor from the medical unit downstairs to come in and take the blood. Carter got Emily's prints and put them in the FBI computer and checked them with Emily Sim. Scully, on the other side of the desk was unable to see the results, and instead of peering around it to find out, she closed her eyes. Emily was in another room getting blood drawn, no idea what was going on, while Scully sat impatiently. Scully's eyes darted all over, from the window where she could see Emily getting her blood drawn to a tape dispenser.

Carter moved his head from behind his computer and looked at Scully for a brief moment. Then he said, "Her fingerprints match."

Scully closed her eyes slowly and thought back on Emily, and how she was sick, and the dreadful fact that she could do nothing to save her. Now she could only hope it wasn't the same with this child.

Scully got up and walked to the room where Emily was and got her blood drawn to be tested against Emily's. She saw a vile of blood labeled simply, 'Emily'. It was red, not green. The doctor pricked Scully with the needle and drew her blood as quickly as possible. The doctor sent Emily and Scully's samples down to the lab. Scully was going to talk to Mulder for a minute when she noticed him on the phone. She turned around and saw a coke machine.

"Are you thirsty?" Scully bent down to Emily's level and asked.

Emily nodded.

"Do you want some soda?" Scully offered.

Emily nodded again. Scully walked up to the vending machine and got her a drink and herself as well. About an hour went by, and Mulder was still on the phone with the same person as far as she could tell. When Mulder noticed her, he hung up and walked towards her. His look gave her the sense that Emily shouldn't hear what he was going to tell her, so she asked another agent to take her for a minute.

"What is it?" she asked, ears open to anything.

"I've been on the phone for the past friggin' hour and a half with Frohike. He's been hacking into their computers to find out what they haven't had the decency to tell you yet," he started.

"You mean, he knows the results?" Scully asked him.

"Yes," he told her. "He found some other things, too."

"Like what?" she asked him eagerly, hoping to God it wasn't some deadly virus or something that would threaten her last chance at motherhood.

Deciding the good news needed to be let out first, "Scully," he began. "Emily IS your daughter. There's nothing wrong with her, she has normal blood, she's got no disease. She is a perfectly healthy little girl."

Scully sensed he wasn't done, so she kept her straight look on her face.

"Frohike thinks that this Emily, the one here, is the real Emily. YOUR Emily. And that Emily Sim was a mistake. She was part of the hybrid program and that her tests didn't work as well. She was a clone to THIS Emily that's real, and alive, and very much a human and little girl. She's yours, Scully, and there's nothing the government can do to take her from you. She's got nothing they want. She's like the rest of us."

This made Scully overjoyed but the fact that the little girl had to have a family put a weight on her shoulders. "What about her family? She has to have a family."

"Frohike did some checking, and it turns out that she didn't. She turned up in an orphanage, not even a week old, about 4 years ago. And that's it," Mulder explained.

"Does she have a last name?" Scully asked.

"Yes, rather, she does now," He told her, and after a long, excruciating pause, he told her, "Scully."

Scully walked into the lounge where Emily was with another agent. The agent was talking with her, and playing with her, being nicer than she ever had an obligation to be. This Emily, unlike Emily Sim, was more talkative and playful, not as mysterious. She was much more open to conversation, and more willing to feel love than her former daughter.

Scully nodded towards the agent, motioning that she could leave. "Thank you," she told her in a low, almost whisper.

Mulder followed the other agent out of the room, but he stood to watch Scully through the glass window on the door. He couldn't hear what Scully was saying, but he knew she was going to explain the whole ordeal to Emily and finally bare the news that she was her mother.

"Emily," Scully called, hoping she would put down her crayons and look at her. And she did. She looked at her curtly with her big, innocent, blue eyes and smooth completion. "Can I talk to you?"

Emily nodded and looked at Scully's crucifix dangling and shining radiantly in the light. She touched it before Scully could speak. It looked almost magical against Scully's black jacket. "You like that?" Scully asked her.

Emily nodded again. Scully removed the necklace and put it around her daughter's tiny neck. "You can have it," Scully offered, Emily offering her a smile in return. Scully could help but bring out a sad smile, for she was suddenly hit with a deadly combination of emotions. The emotions flooded her mind ever since the second Scully had seen this little child's face.

Mulder peered through the window, seeing small smiles and looks of confusion, but when he saw Scully stand up, and Emily stand up with her and take her hand, he knew everything would eventually fall into place.

Mulder, Scully, and Emily walked over to Carter's desk and explained what was going on. He agreed to let them leave the case as long as Skinner would. Carter seemed especially wary that Emily may be a target just as his daughter had been if Scully were to stay on the case with them.

Mulder gave Skinner a call and explained the whole situation, and he seemed to understand perfectly, which was a pleasant surprise. He simply requested that they finish up the paperwork and come back to DC promptly afterwards.

There were mounds of paperwork involved, since they'd actually found a missing child. Scully herself had more paperwork than the whole Maine headquarters combined due to the fact that she was filing for an adoption. She wanted these custody issues over with as soon as possible so she could get things as close to normal as they ever got. Everyone involved could only hope that the adoption services weren't going to give her he** about being single and having an extensively time consuming job. Luckily things were going smoothly.

While still cramming away on paperwork, Mulder dialed up Frohike and asked if he could get a birth date for Emily. He found one, of course, on a simple form that had only her date of birth and her mother's name. Dana Scully, none other but hers placed itself beside 'Mother's Name'. Scully's new daughter's birthday was identical to the Emily before her.

As soon as Mulder was through with his account of things, and Scully finished hers, they left. By this time darkness had fallen and the stars glittered in the sky.

"I'm going to put her to bed, then I want to talk to you," Scully told Mulder straightly, as if he'd been hiding something, and for once he wasn't.

As Scully tucked Emily in her bed, Mulder sat on the little couch provided by the motel. He overheard little bits of what she told Emily as she put her to sleep. A "we're going home tomorrow," and "everything's going to be alright," and "it's OK, I'll be in bed in a little while". Scully sat with her for about 5 more minutes until the exhausted child dozed off into a deep sleep.

As Scully walked towards Mulder, he looked at her through the eyes of a man who felt he was slowly losing his best friend. "Mulder - " she began. "Thank you."

He was shocked. He couldn't believe what he'd heard. He expected something more along the lines of a scientific explanation or a long lecture, but it never came. His look told Scully that he didn't understand why she'd said thank you.

"Thank you, Mulder. Thank you for being so understanding," she told him.

"Does this mean you're leaving the bureau?" Mulder asked her.

She didn't answer right away, "Well," she started. "I don't see how I can take care of a little girl, yet put my life on the line everyday."

He nodded his head up and down in silent understanding. "There are supermoms, Mulder, but I can't do that. If something would happen to me, she's got nowhere to go. I'm all she has in this world."

Mulder realized it would be selfish of him to ask her stay with him on the X Files, leave her only daughter with people she didn't know if she could trust while she went out on cases chasing UFO's, never knowing when she'd be back; or IF she'd be back.

"What are you going to do then?" he asked.

"Well," she looked at him with her arms folded protectively over her chest. "I was thinking about going back to medicine, or teaching at the academy."

"Sounds like a good idea."

Mulder was agreeing with her on the outside, but she knew he was breaking on the inside. With her gone, why should or COULD the X Files continue? One believing agent without the grounded skeptic just wasn't enough. He would be right back where he started. At ground zero.

"I know that we're close to the truth, Mulder, I do. I didn't ask for her to show up. It's a blessing that she did, I believe that, but I didn't expect to find her now. Not when we're this close. But it just happened, and I can't turn her away. She is my DAUGHTER, Mulder."

The entire conversation was in a high whisper, in hopes that Emily wouldn't wake up to their words.

"I understand, Scully," Mulder told her. "I don't want you to give her up. I want you to be happy, and this is what makes you happy. I can't, I WON'T be the one to prevent that."

The small length of dialogue was enough to get her emotions stir whirling about.

"Mulder..." her voice trailed off as she unfolded her arms to go into his. Tears of happiness, sadness, and relief quietly stained his jacket as he held her. She stepped back and looked at him, thankfully, and peered deeply into his eyes.

She placed her hands on his cheeks and rubbed her thumb against his skin. She flashed an awkward smile as they leaned their lips closer together. In a small moment, their lips locked, the only thing coming between them were the warm, salty remains of Scully's tears.

Mulder found himself waking up in his cold motel room the next morning, alone, to the sound of Scully rapping at the door.

He groggily got up and pulled it open. He said nothing, just looked, tiredly, at Scully who had Emily wrapped around her hips. When he saw her look of amazement, he realized it was time to go and he wasn't ready. She didn't have to speak for him to realize he was running a little more than a tad late.

"Uh, just, uh, give me a minute and I'll be ready to go," he told her. He opened the door to let her and Emily in when she offered to pack for him. "Knock yourself out," was his response.

"Hurry up, our plane leaves in a half hour," Scully told him. "And the next plane out of here is tonight at 11:00."

He gave her an agitated sigh, grabbed a sweater and jeans and hurried into the bathroom to change.

He walked out of the bathroom up and ready to go, nothing else needed to be done. Scully was standing with Emily, Mulder's suitcase on his bed. He quickly shoved his toiletries in the front pocket, picked it up and headed out to the car with Scully.

"Emily," Scully started. "Have you ever been on an airplane?"

Emily looked at Scully who had turned from the front seat to look at her. "No," she responded.

"Well," Scully told her. "You get to go on one today, we're going home and that's how we have to get there."

"Where's home?" Emily asked innocently, knowing that she wasn't going to live wherever it was she lived anymore.

"Maryland. We live in Maryland," Scully told her gently. "Mulder lives in Virginia, but its not far away."

Emily nodded her head and went back to gazing out the window. She had never felt so comfortable in her life. She'd never remembered wearing nice, clean clothes, and having a bath so often. Everyday! She'd never had someone as gentle and caring as Scully to take care of her, or any man as sweet as Mulder be around her.

Mulder dropped Emily and Scully off at the airport and went to return the car at an airport rental lot. He took a shuttle to their terminal and raced to the gate, to find Scully standing with Emily, the last ones to get on. The three rushed onto the plane and took their seats, stowing their carry-on luggage.

Emily didn't cry or whine about her ears popping, or scream about how scared she was, instead she sat by the window, face plastered to it, starring out at the ground sweeping by quickly below them. They arrived at the DC airport at 1:30pm, grabbed their bags and called a cab.

"Georgetown," Scully told the driver.

"And Alexandria," Mulder added.

The ride back was filled with an eerie awkward silence. Mulder noticed Scully somewhat nervous. Not about the kiss they'd shared the previous night, but of her new job. Her new duties as a mother. Wondering if she'd fail or how long she could keep her child safe and happy. To relax her, he put a small hand on hers, to which she turned hers over so her palm could encompass his. Scully looked at their entwined hands then up at him, giving him a soft smile expressing that he'd eased her jitteriness.

Scully's apartment came first, so she got out, grabbed her bags, and closed the door, leaving Mulder to go home.

"Where's he going?" Emily asked.

"He's just a friend, he's going to his house," Scully told the child.

Emily nodded. As Scully opened up the door, Emily said, "WOW..." in the most adorable child's voice of amazement possible. This brought a smile to Scully's face.

"Well, Emily, this is home," she told her.

Emily was in awe. She'd never felt the warmth of a home, never seen so many pictures in nice frames all over, she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen a TV or refrigerator. She was absolutely amazed and a little overexcited. To Emily, this was like a scientist finding out he was immortal and could discover all the truths about the world. There was so much yet so little for Emily to explore and inquire about, she couldn't begin to imagine how long it would take her!

"This is where I am staying?" Emily asked childishly.

"This is where you're LIVING, sweetheart," Scully corrected her. Emily smiled in return. "You want to see your room? Come on."

Scully directed her to the spare, non-childlike bedroom she had. There was a double bed in the center under a window. Emily lit up brighter then an over lit Christmas tree! A BED!!

"This is for me?" Emily questioned, looking into Scully's eyes with curiosity.

Scully nodded with a smile. Emily seemed quite content with the calm look of the room, no loud colors to jump out at her like ferocious animals of the wild. Emily ran to the bed and threw herself face down on it as if she were hugging it. Scully found it safe to assume that she hadn't seen a bed in the lord knows how long. Scully walked over to it, picked Emily up and sat her down on her lap as she sat on the bed.

"This room will be perfect once we get some toys in here," she told Emily. "What do you think?"

Emily's mouth turned into a wider and larger grin. She thought of the time, 2:34pm. She was sitting in a guest bedroom which was now her DAUGHTER'S room, her very own daughter. This pride and joy was enough to enjoy parenthood, even if it was only the beginning. Then she thought of Mulder, their kiss, and of where he was at that very moment. There was no way to know what road he was on or how close to home he was, but she did know that he wasn't in this bright room in mid-afternoon enjoying the pleasure of being a mother. He was in a dank, wet, dirty cab with a guy missing his front teeth on his way to a dark, and empty apartment, where he'd sit down and do nothing but sit and think. Completely alone. *************

That evening, around 7:30pm, Scully's mother dropped by for a quick visit, having gotten her call from Mulder the night before in Maine. She wanted to see her granddaughter and bring her some clothes and toys. Mrs. Scully brought pajama's, which Emily would need, and some cute toddler clothes that suited Emily just fine. Scully never realized how much fun she'd have shopping for clothes, there were so many cute ones to choose from!

Mrs. Scully stayed only long enough to see her daughter and granddaughter. So around 8:30, she left, and Emily and Scully would spend their first night at home together. Scully picked up the pajama's her mother had given Emily and bent down to Emily who was sitting on the couch.

"I think it's time we got ready for bed," Scully said with a smile. "Do you know how to put on your clothes or do you need help?" Scully was new at this, she didn't know what Emily was capable of doing.

Emily looked at her, "Will you help me?"

Scully sat silently with a smile, then with a choked whisper, "Yeah, of course."

She and Emily walked into her room and changed into her pajama's. "Do you want something to drink, or do you need to go to the bathroom?" Scully asked.

"No," Emily told her. The two walked out into the den to pick up the clothes they'd been viewing that her mother brought over. While Scully did that, Emily kept herself occupied by looking at pictures.

She pointed to a slender red haired woman, "Who's that?"

Scully spun around quickly and took a slight glance at the picture. "Oh, that's my sister Melissa. She died a few years ago." She walked over to the pictures, expecting more questions.

"Oh," Emily said about Scully's sister. "I don't have a sister." She paused for a few moments, then asked, "Who is that?"

Scully examined the photo of two young boys and two young girls, "Those are my brothers and my sister, and myself. We were little and we're all grown up now of course. But that was us." Scully suddenly thought of her nephews, "And that one," she pointed to Bill, Jr. "Is Bill. He's got a baby boy named Matthew. He's your cousin."

Emily smiled at the prospect of having a cousin. She'd never had any family to her recollection.

"So, are you ready for bed?" Scully asked when the row of pictures ended. Emily nodded. They walked into the bedroom, Scully picked Emily up gently and placed her under the sheets. She tucked her in gently and said, "I'm sure I have a nightlight, do you want one?"

Emily nodded. When Scully returned with one, Emily asked, "Do you have any stories?"

Scully thought of a little book her father read to her from, and asked Emily to wait a second. When she returned, an old, aged copy of Moby Dick rest in her hands. "This was one of my favorites. My father used to read to me from it when I was a little girl. Would you like me to read it to you?"

Emily nodded anxiously and got comfortable. Scully settled herself sitting up beside Emily and began to read: "Call me Ishmael...."

By the end of the first chapter, which was all Scully intended to read, she found Emily struggling to stay awake to listen to her voice mouth the words of the classic.

"We'll read some more tomorrow, now go to sleep," Scully told her. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion as she rubbed the hair away from Emily's forehead and gently kissed it. "Goodnight."

Scully stood, stretched her legs, and walked to the door. She stopped, turned around, flicked the light switch off, and took one last look at Emily before she left her for the night. She was already dozing off.

Scully walked into her room, and instead of immediately changing into a pair of pajama's, she sat on her bed and looked at the ceiling for a brief moment, then down to her book. Moby Dick. Her father read it to her, now she was reading it to her daughter. Irony swept over her in the sense of knowing that she had a family now. Life was changing for good, nothing would ever be as it was. She had a child now, a child to care for and nurture; to bring up so she could live her life joyfully. This was someone to look forward to seeing everyday, knowing she'd always be there when she opened the door. Then delight and happiness came over her and she pulled herself up to get ready for bed.

It was 1:01 in the morning and tiny whimpers and cries rang through Scully's ears. An instinct n her told her to sit upright. And her instincts proved right, because the words "Mommy" sounded in her ears.

She bolted out of bed and into Emily's room who was tossing in her sheets, still somewhat asleep, screaming, "Mommy!!! Mommy!! Mommy!" in a desperate cry for help.

"Emily, Emily," Scully shook her slightly. "Emily, wake up, honey, it's ok, wake up..."

Emily slowly came out of her sleep-like state with tears in her eyes, still saying, but quieter, "Mommy, mommy, mommy..."

Scully brought her into a hug, "Ssh....it's alright..." Emily still said "mommy" and an occasional, "mommy, please don't let them take me". That's when Scully realized, as she held the desperate pleading child that Emily was referring to her. Wanting to be protected from some evil force in her dream.

"Emily, sweetie, it's alright. Mommy's here..." she cradled her in her arms. When she got Emily calmed down and settled back into her bed safely, she got up and walked to the kitchen for some water. The phone starred at her and she starred back.

Before she let herself be tempted into calling Mulder, her cell phone rang. She darted around the living room, following the mellow chirps of the ring. She located her purse and yanked it open, retrieving her phone and clicking the "on" button.

"Scully," she spoke just above a whisper.

"Hey, Scully, it's me," Mulder said. "I know it's late, but - " before he could finish, Scully cut him off.

"It's OK," she told him.

"I didn't wake you?" he asked her.

"No."

"Why not?" he asked, suddenly concerned. This was her first night with Emily, could something have gone wrong?

"Emily had a nightmare," Scully spoke. "I just got her back to sleep."

"Oh," Mulder remarked.

"Why are you calling?" she asked him after a small silence.

He paused, not really realizing why he called, other than wanting to tell her he just wanted to hear her voice.

"I couldn't sleep," he informed her. "I was wondering how things were going."

The want to say that she was fine, to say that she was handling everything just fine, to say she wasn't emotionally confused and mixed up, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Not this time, so instead, she asked, "What are you doing right now?"

As Mulder drove down the desolate highway, he glanced at the clock. 1:36am. He had made the call to Scully, but he couldn't help but wonder what could drive her to ask him over at such an early morning hour. He also realized that for her to do such a thing, it'd have to be important enough for him to drive over there.

He knocked softly on the door, but she pulled it open before he could finish. She was in a pair of soft, cotton pajamas, and he was in old jeans and a sweater. "Hey, Scully," he said.

"Hey, Mulder," she responded, opening the door wider for him to come in.

"Is everything OK?" Mulder asked.

"Uh, yeah," she told him unconvincingly.

Mulder removed his coat and laid it on the side of her couch and sat down. "So what'd you pull me out of bed for?" he said somewhat humorously in hopes of removing that solemn look on Scully's face.

"I just wanted, to, uh, talk," she explained.

"Talk?" he asked like it was some giant leap. Which it was.

"Yeah, talk."

"About what?" Mulder asked her, not realizing the discomfort it was causing her.

"Well, about work, for one," Scully began. "I don't know when I'll be back. Or what I'll be doing."

"Seems fair to me. You can't chase UFO's and government conspiracies when you have a 4 year old girl at home," he told her.

"It's not that I don't want to, Mulder, because I do. It's just that I *can't*. I couldn't do it to her," she explained. "But I also don't want to lose you."

An awkward silence dimmed the room as she placed her hand over his. Scully didn't disbelieve what she'd said, she knew very well what it was. She was only fearing Mulder's reaction to it, and to the hand that rest upon his.

"I don't want to lose you, either," he said calmly.

Scully felt oddly different. Ever since Emily had been with her, she'd had feelings of emotion for everything, she was softer and warmer to the world and its people. She opened herself up to feeling, letting her emotions out and go free. Well, not all of them...

She felt her mouth start to quiver, as if she were going to cry. Mulder opened his arms and pulled her close to him. She laid her head on his chest, tears of love fell down her face. "Mulder, I - " Scully said before Mulder cut her off.

"Scully," he started slowly. "I love you."

Scully starred up at him tears coming faster than she ever thought the would, "I love you, too," was all she could say back, knowing that those words weren't enough to express how much she cared for him.

She returned her head to the position it was, resting on his chest. Unaware to her, they'd fallen asleep in that position. They were awakened by Emily who had padded out into the living room and climbed into her mother's arms.

"Morning, sweetheart, you sleep better?" Scully asked her, running her fingers through her child's soft blonde hair.

Emily nodded. Scully stayed in Mulder's arms, and Emily in hers.

"How do you like it here, Emily?" Mulder asked her.

"I love it! Tons of stuff to look at," her eyes trailing off to everything else she hadn't examined the night before. "And that bed is comfy, too."

Scully smiled, "I'm glad you like it."

There was a lack of anything to say, so Mulder spoke up, "Hey, Emily," he started. "How about you and me go shopping later for some toys?"

Emily shot her head in Mulder's direction, as did Scully, but no one said anything.

"Your mom can come, too," Mulder told the little girl. Scully smiled at Emily and tightened her grip on Mulder's hand. ** *

The next thing they knew, they were walking through a toy store somewhere. It was near lunch, but the rain and overcast colored sky that leaked through the skylights made it feel like at least dinner time.

Scully held a bag of clothes she'd picked out for Emily, ones that Emily helped her pick out, and a copy of Louis Carrol's stories and poems, in one hand, and in other was Emily's tiny little hand. In Emily's other hand was a teddy bear. It had a ribbon around it's neck with shimmering gold/creamish colored fur. Out of the thousands of things to chose from, that's the only thing Emily wanted. The teddy bear.

"It was really nice of you to do this," Scully told Mulder. All he did was shrug. They went home afterwards. Mulder pulled up in front of Scully's apartment and got out with her. Emily had already rushed to the door with her teddy bear, while Scully and Mulder still stood by the car. Emily didn't seem to pay any attention to them, but fidgeted with her toy. It was then that she looked up and Mulder had one arm on Scully's and leaned in to kiss her a short kiss goodbye. Scully waved to Mulder as he drove off while she walked up the paved path to her building. She arrived in front of her door where Emily was standing, appearing to have seen nothing. Scully unlocked it and let the child in first, then she followed.

Unexpectedly and out of the blue, Emily said, "Your friend is pretty friendly."

The rain pelted to the ground in sleets, and Emily starred intently at it. Scully sat in the den on the sofa in her usual suit attire, working on some papers concerning leave of absence. She wondered how long they'd let her take. Emily wandered around the living room, examining pictures she hadn't taken a look at the night before. A picture in a frame showed Scully and Mulder flipping through a file, huddled close together examining it. They seemed to be laughing about something, leaving Emily to wonder what it was out of the infinite possibilities.

"There's your friend again," Emily said.

Scully looked up and saw her eyeing the picture. "Yep," she noticed the child was getting bored, so she put away her work for the time being. "Come here," Scully told her gently.

Emily crawled onto the sofa and rested next to Scully wondering what she'd called her over for.

"Will you tell me what your dream was about, honey?" Scully asked softly.

Emily looked straight ahead and not at Scully.

"Please? Maybe there's a way we can make those dreams go away," she offered.

"I don't remember," Emily told her. "Just some men trying to take me away."

"Were they bad men?" Scully envisioned men in white coats against a white background running tests endlessly.

"Yes," she responded.

"Would it make you feel better if you slept with me in my room tonight?" Scully offered.

With a forced smile, Emily nodded. ** *

Emily wore a pair of white pajamas with tiny little characters on them. Her little feet and hands were all that stuck out of her pajamas that it was almost funny. Emily climbed into her mothers arms who was on the bed. "You all set?"

She nodded. Scully placed her in the spot next to her and pulled the sheets over her tightly. She leaned over to turn out the light then told Emily goodnight.

The hours passed by quickly and it was soon 3:27am, which is when the words "Mommy" were repeated over and over as they had the night before. Scully reached over and woke Emily up, who immediately grasped onto her. That night took more motherly consoling than ever. Tears streamed down Emily's face as she cried "mommy, please don't let them take me...".

"I won't, I won't," Scully would whisper. "I promise. Nothing's going to happen to you. It's alright..."

A mother's words of protection always calm a whimpering baby down, and Emily was no different in this case. It was then that Scully realized motherhood isn't always easy, but well worth it. It was also when Scully realized she couldn't do it alone.

Scully informed Mulder about Emily and the violent dreams that she had. He wanted to suggest hypnotic regression, but he refused to even voice that opinion to Scully about a little girl, and her little girl of all people. Something they didn't want to know could be uncovered, and Scully would never forgive him, or so he feared.

Each and every night Scully tried new remedies, but the dreams got worse and worse and Emily would never elaborate on them as Scully wished. Other than the dreams, they were doing just fine. Emily loved it there with Scully, Scully took to being called "mommy" very well. Scully kept Mulder updated on Emily almost daily, but not to the point of excessiveness. He loved calling and hearing Emily say "Hello?" when she picked up, then hear, "Mommy!! It's for you!". He sometimes engaged her in conversation while he waited for Scully to come to the phone. He found it comforting to hear Scully saying things like, "watch out!" or "be careful!" in the middle of their conversation to Emily.

Through it all, Mulder and Scully grew, slowly but surely, closer together. There were so many things that needed to be said to one another, and drifting apart wouldn't make it easier for either to say them.

Emily was a bright, and for the most and larger part, a happy child. Everyday she picked up on Scully's little habits, learning how to hold silverware like her, eat like her, ask questions as Scully always did, which led to some pretty uninformative conversations.

Every night Scully sat by her bed, played soothing lullaby's or music, any number of remedies, and waited until Emily fell asleep. Yet she would still find herself jumping up at early hours to console her. There was nothing she could do to prevent it, and she couldn't put her on medicine, she was too young and small. Scully would think to herself at times when she would return to her room after getting Emily settled in the second time how did you ever create something so beautiful and perfect?

Then the time had come for Scully to return to work, which left Emily somewhat saddened, but she found a way to understand. Scully got a job a Quantico again, teaching as she had done before. The night before Scully returned to work, she tucked her daughter in.

"Goodnight, honey," Scully said softly, kissing Emily on the forehead. "Love you."

"I love you, too, Mommy," Emily came back.

"Just because I am going back to work doesn't mean that we won't be happy anymore, ok? Just means that I won't be here during the day, a babysitter will," Scully told her daughter who was trying to smile for her although she wanted her mom to stay home with her.

Emily shot up in a sitting position and threw a hug on Scully. "I'll miss you," she told Scully.

"I'll miss you, too," Scully told her, feeling guilty. She ran her hand through her child's silky hair. "I won't be gone long, I promise."

Scully tucked her back in and left the room, blowing Emily a goodnight kiss. She got into her own bed for only a few hours before she'd be awakened by tears and cries from a horrid nightmare of Emily's. Week by week they got worse, and month by month, they became more violent and less consolable.

The next morning, Emily was up and in overall's and a white t-shirt. A seemingly nice, woman nanny, about 24 or 25 stood next to her. Scully hadn't been able to come to the decision if she was really content with the woman she hired, but she had to understand she was desperate and had no choice but to go back to work.

Scully held her briefcase over her shoulder giving the woman instructions. One rule was that Emily was not to have a nap. She didn't explain that Emily would wake up with bad dreams, but she knew that the woman wouldn't know what to do, wouldn't be able to handle it, and that she probably couldn't calm Emily down like she could. And she was absolutely right. Scully bent down to Emily's height and held out her arms. Emily rushed to them and gripped onto Scully.

"Love you, Mommy," she spoke softly. "Bye-bye."

Scully squeezed her tighter, not wanting to let go, "I love you, too. More than anything. Be good for Carrie, ok?"

Emily nodded in agreement. Tears started to well in Emily's sad eyes as Scully stood to leave, making Scully feel even guiltier. "Aw..." Scully said pitifully. "It's alright, sweetheart. Be good and I'll be home before you know it." This didn't faze Emily. So in effort to convince her, she pulled off her watch and showed Emily where the hands would be to display 4:00. "That's when I'll be home," she'd stated. Scully slipped the watch on Emily's arm, further up so it didn't fall off. "It'll be fine. I'll miss you, too. Try not to think about it and I'll be home soon."

With that, Scully left the apartment, leaving Emily alone with Carrie. Carrie had sat her down and began to read from where she'd left off with one of Emily's favorite poems in her favorite book. She began, "The time has come the Walrus said, to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and ceiling wax, of cabbages and kings. Of why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings...."

The day passed quicker than Emily expected, many days did. Carrie was an OK babysitter, she was working out. She read Emily the poem she liked so much, "The Walrus and the Carpenter" over and over until Emily was sick of it, which never happened. It was one of Scully's favorites, and it was the poem Scully would read to her every night when she would retuck Emily in after having woken up with a horrendous nightmare.

The night came that Emily told Scully what was going on, partially, in her dream. "There are men, and they take me away to a dark place. And I stay there for a long long time. They take me when it's light outside, not at night or anything, just in the afternoon. The do bad things to me. Then it starts all over, and they start to take me again, but that's when I wake up," she explained to Scully when she begged her to tell her. "And you're not there." This struck Scully painfully for some reason.

"Don't worry, Emily, it's just a dream," Scully promised.

"I know," Emily would respond and get up.

The days went by and Scully always returned home promptly at 4:00 to ensure keeping Emily's faith in her.

Time flew quickly, and the next thing they knew it was Emily's birthday, then Christmas, then Valentine's Day, things went by quick and well, yet the nightmares remained every night.

The day of April 4th seemed to be a good one. It started off with Emily up and ready right on time, Scully getting to work without traffic, and Scully taking her lunch hour with Mulder.

"How's Emily doing?" Mulder asked.

"Good," Scully told him after finishing a bite of her deli sandwich. "She's doing good. She's growing up so fast."

"Yeah," he responded. "She is. But she's growing more beautiful every time I see her."

"She sure is," Scully said, glancing at a new picture of Emily she had given Mulder with a smile.

"How are the nightmares? Any better?" Mulder questioned concerned.

"No," Scully informed him. "Not any better. Actually, it's starting to give *me* nightmares. I sometimes don't like getting up every morning at such ungodly hours, but I think of how awful it has to be for her. It must be so scary to her, she's just a little girl."

Mulder agreed with her. They completed their lunch quicker than expected and headed back to their offices, leaving each other a kiss.

It was 4:02pm that evening, April 4th, and Scully had not yet left her office. She was running just a little late, knowing Emily would be wondering where she was. She couldn't get through, for some reason the line was busy, but Scully couldn't figure out why. She assumed things were fine, and did her best to get out of the office.

An image of her flashed through her mind. The little girl with long blonde hair, about 2 inches below her shoulder's who had stood outside that morning to wave goodbye in her little pastel green and purple sleeveless dress with little clear jell sandals with silver sparkles. She remembered Emily pulling the hair away from her mouth as she waved goodbye. She was becoming more and more beautiful everyday, her face thinned out and her hair was gorgeous, turning from the mix of brown and blonde strands to a more solid blonde. That little girl that was waiting for Scully at home, was what got Scully through the days. **

Emily pulled the watch off of her arm and looked at it for what must have been the thousandth time. It read 4:06pm, but to her it was only a few tick marks after the big one that her mom had showed her that she'd be home by everyday. This time she wasn't. Carrie sat in the kitchen filing her nails talking on the phone to her boyfriend. Emily looked at her with some frustration and a look that said "how stupid". But Carrie wouldn't have noticed, she wasn't paying any attention.

Carrie hung up when Emily brought her a copy of "The Walrus and the Carpenter." She figured that was the least she could do when she noticed the time.

Carrie began with Emily's favorite verse, " 'the time has come' the Walrus said, 'to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and ceiling wax, of cabbages and kings. Or why the sea is boiling--" Carrie was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing.

"Hello? Scully residence," she answered it.

It turned out to be her boyfriend so she walked away from Emily and her poem and back to the kitchen to finish her conversation.

Suddenly a bright flashing light that someone could easily mistake for head lights. Then the door busted down and the light shone brighter into the apartment. Something unidentifiable raged toward Emily. He yanked her off of the sofa and drug her kicking and screaming through the door. Carrie seemed frozen or paralyzed with fear. By this time it was 4:19pm.

"MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!!!" Emily called, in fear of the real this time. "Mommy, save me! Mommy, please! Don't let them take me!"

In a flash Emily was gone to God knows where, kicking and pleading the whole way.

At 4:26pm, Scully eagerly walked through her intact door. She turned the door to close it, "Emily!" she called. "Hey, sweetheart, I'm home!" she hadn't yet noticed that Emily wasn't there. Scully hung her coat on the rack next to the door, "I'm really sorry I'm late, it's just that --" she stopped herself when she saw Carrie in a daze at the kitchen table, the phone laying on the floor.

"Carrie?" Scully asked. "Where's Emily?"

Carrie shook her head *very* slowly, "She just went away."

Scully became suddenly very defensive. "What do you *mean* she just went away?!"

Carrie shrugged.

"Carrie, where is she??" Scully was near a yell. When the babysitter didn't answer, Scully yanked up the phone and dialed the FBI to immediately come down to her house and investigate. She didn't take much time explaining, she simply told them her daughter was missing.

In minutes, flashing lights and blaring sirens sped up to Scully's home. Mulder followed behind them when he heard on the radio, "Former female FBI agent Dana Scully's daughter mysteriously disappeared this afternoon..." that was all Mulder needed to hear. When he arrived at her house, the police looked as if they'd just arrived.

He flashed his badge to the uniformed men and ducked under the crime scene tape. Mulder stormed in to see Carrie being questioned by police and Scully standing in the kitchen, her hands folded across her chest, starring absent mindedly off into space. He walked over to her immediately. "Scully..." he said.

Scully didn't seem to notice him. Mulder waved the officer away and stood next to her yet maintaining his distance. He spoke her name, and when she didn't respond he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jolted and spoke a fast and abrupt, "Huh?"

Mulder looked at her, looking into her eyes which tears were clearly forming. She seemed as if she were in terrible shock and lost in a world of deep turmoil.

"She's gone," Scully told him. This he knew, but he could say nothing. "She's gone, Mulder. Emily's gone."

He noticed something in her hand. He unfolded her clenched fist and found her watch and cross.

"I gave Emily my watch to keep everyday so she'd know what time I got home," Scully spoke, her voice shaking. "I was too late. I didn't get out on time today, and when I got home she was gone."

Mulder noted the time on the watch had stopped at 4:19pm. Scully got home at 4:00. It was then when he realized that Scully must be racked with guilt.

"If I had been home when I told her I would be, I could have stopped this. She'd still be here," Scully's voice quivered. "I could have protected her. But I wasn't. I let my work take over what was most important."

"Scully..." Mulder began. "There was no way you could have stopped what happened here."

Scully shook her head in disagreement, "No. She had dreams about this. This was her nightmare, and I could have stopped it."

"You couldn't have done anything, Scully. Don't blame yourself, it'll only make things worse for you," Mulder told her. "You couldn't have done anything that Carrie couldn't have."

Scully yelled in a whisper, "She was ON THE PHONE when my daughter was taken! She wasn't paying any attention!" Scully pointed violently. Then Mulder realized that something may have been done if someone had tried to protect Emily. "Now she's gone! SHE IS GONE, Mulder!"

It only took seconds for Scully to succumb to her feelings and drop her arm that was pointing accusatively at the babysitter. She shed tears uncontrollably, her body melting like butter to the cold tile of the floor. Her warm, low sobs suddenly burst out in a fit of sorrow and pain the couldn't be repaired. At that moment, the pain of losing a child, the only child, became real for everyone. All of the officers and agents stopped to look at Scully who had been so quiet and subdued. She was now on the floor balling her eyes out. Pity and helplessness fell upon the households occupants and all was quiet with the exception of the bursts of tormented sadness. To Scully, it felt like a thousand knives were stabbing her repeatedly, tearing her to shreds.

Mulder cradled her in her arms, and her hands locked tightly on his arms, her fingernails clawing deeply into his skin. There wasn't a thing a soul on the Earth could ever do to calm her down now.

Days Later

Days had passed and no sign of Emily. No one had a single solitary lead whatsoever. Scully had not regained her composure in the least bit, she was crumbling like a piece of bread more than she was healing. Mulder was staying at her house to make sure she ate and slept or prevent her from doing anything drastic, not that he thought she would.

Scully had always been the quiet type when she had problems, she wanted to be alone and didn't care to speak to a soul. God would even chose to leave the room. But now, she was reacting to her pain in a very un-Scully manner. She was silent almost the whole time Emily had been gone. If Mulder asked her a question that could be answered with one word, that's how she answered, no elaboration whatsoever. If he asked a question that required a sentence even, she only shrugged.

When Mulder chose to take a brief walk to give Scully a little space, he ran in to Carrie on the street. His mind immediately flashed to the scene of the crime that he had physically seen, where the babysitter professed her ignorance toward what happened. Then toward her account of it, which was: she heard the phone ring so she answered it and it was her boyfriend. She talked, then the door burst down and lights flooded the apartment and Emily was gone. Scully refused to believe a word of it. How could he believe that story when Scully's door was in place?

"Agent Mulder, is that it?" Carrie asked him curelessly, as if everything was fine if she acted like it never happened.

"Yes," he responded flatly.

"I was heading to Ms. Scully's house to apologize to her. I wish I could have done more," Carrie sounded completely unemotional. As if the loss of Emily was just something you hear about and she meant nothing to anyone when she meant the world to Scully.

"I don't think she's going to want to see you right now," Mulder had stopped walking and stood with his arms over his chest with an expressionless yet agitation slightly readable.

Carrie seemed genuinely taken aback.

"She's very upset right now. She's spoken nothing more than one word sentences ever since Emily went missing," Mulder explained deadpan.

Guilt swept over Carrie, but not enough to have an effect. "It's a shame I couldn't have done anything."

Mulder was near fury, "There was plenty you could have done, you just chose to talk to your boyfriend instead. Like he meant more than the care of someone else's child."

Before Carrie could butt in, Mulder continued.

"Children don't just get taken!! People let them be taken! You are one of the heartless people who don't pay attention to what they are paid to do and innocent people pay the price for your *ignorance*!" Mulder yelled at her. When Carrie said nothing. "I highly advise you not to step anywhere near Scully. Leave her alone."

Mulder turned away before Carrie could respond. He walked back to Scully's where he found her lying on her bed, just as he'd left her. She truly looked like something the cat brought in. She looked horrible, lines on her face were accented, she was as pale as a ghost, she was getting thinner and thinner by the minute, in essence, wasting away. She refused to eat, her clothes hadn't been changed since she lost Emily, she had fits of emotion, and silent moments where you'd suspect her to be dead. Emotions rushed through him each time he took one look at her. He sat down on the bed next to her, expecting to be pushed away, but instead as he sat there she held his hand tightly. She didn't turn her head to face him, but Mulder could feel her crying.

"Scully...." he didn't know what he could say.

She turned over at that and stared at him. "Mulder, I loved her so much!" Scully said through her tears, her voice cracking through them.

"I know you did," Mulder began. He slid down to lie next to her and hold her.

"She was so beautiful, so sweet. She didn't have a wrong thing to say about anyone, she never did anything wrong to anyone," Scully cried fitfully.

"Where do you think she got that from?" Mulder suggested. When Scully thought about it, it made her cry more. She could create this life in her own image no further. She couldn't educate her, she couldn't feed and clothe her no matter how desperately she wanted to. No matter how much she could feel Emily's touch or hear her voice, it wasn't there. No matter how much she hoped, Emily was gone.

"How can a little girl live her hopes if they are only of death?" Scully asked. "That's all she dreamt about, was being taken away, and I wasn't there when it happened. She TOLD me that."

Mulder stayed silent.

"How can a child afford to have dreams and expect a future when her destiny is to die?" Scully questioned him, not expecting an answer, but he always came up with something to try to help her.

"I think she was taken for us to learn not to take our fortunes for granted, she was taken so that we would never take advantage of our possessions again. She was taken to teach us to love who we have, and tell the people in our lives how we feel until they are out of the picture for good and nothing can be reversed," Mulder told her. Scully's mournful tears had calmed.

Scully looked up at him sorrowfully and blinked a few times.

"I believe," he started again. "That once we've learned to do this, she'll come back. Even if it's only in our hearts."

"That's only hope. We could change our lives around by tomorrow, that doesn't mean she'll turn up the second we do," Scully informed him.

"No, but it's these things that give us hope and reason to go on. And help us accept our loss. Without these things, why would we live until the next day?"

"What if she's..." Scully didn't want to say it, although she'd admitted it inside, it seemed more complex and difficult to vocalize it. "What if she's dead?"

"If she's dead, don't you think that she'd want you to move on?" Mulder asked her back.

"Missing is just as horrible as dead. The things she could be going through are unimaginable. I feel her call my name, but there's nothing I can do. I feel like I am just sitting here, like a spectator, and watching it happen and do nothing to help her," Scully told Mulder honestly.

"That's what you have to accept. You either accept the pain of the missing and search for it, or you accept death and allow yourself to move on," this came harshly, but it was helping Scully understand what would have to take place. Either get out of bed, get dressed, brush your teeth, eat, go to work as everyday would be, or lay around a waste away into the abyss.

While thinking about how she would go about her life now, if there was any sort of life after this. She had no way to be certain, but there were some thing's she was sure of. Like angels in Heaven, taking care of Emily if that's where she was, and God up above to look out over her and be by her side if she wasn't among the dead. That was when she decided. It took a few long, hard days, weeks, actually, but Scully got out of bed.

Five Years Later

Scully's appearance had hardly changed. Her hairstyle was the same, her makeup was the same, she showed no signs of aging, she looked just as good as she always had. She'd moved on. She loved Emily more than anything, but she learned to accept it in a different way. She would believe she was still alive, but somewhere safe, with someone else, happy as she'd always been. But she didn't think about it often. When she did she thought of how pretty she was getting, how happy she was, and how some other family was getting happiness out of her sorrow. It didn't seem fair, so Scully kept it out of her mind when needed. She'd also ordered a tombstone and had it placed in a graveyard, so that if she ever did turn up dead, she could already have a place to go. And at that time of sorrow she wouldn't have to deal with the stress and pain. The grave was also a place she could go and feel as if she were talking to Emily.

Scully returned to the FBI soon after taking another leave of absence to take care of her mixed emotions and be with family. Scully mother hugged her repeatedly and sat her down to talk to her about losing a child, Bill explained that anytime she wanted to talk, he was there. Tara said she'd help with any arrangements that were needed. Charles even called and told her that he was sorry and if she wanted him to come, he would be there on the next flight. Scully told them all she wanted to move on, and to stop talking about it was how she would have to go about it.

Scully hadn't changed a thing in Emily's room in the 5 years she'd been gone. Not a single thing. The clothes in her closet were placed in just as they had when Emily went missing. The toys scattered dangerously on the floor remained, the expensive CD player with Scully's favorite sleeping tape in it stayed in place. Scully never got the CD out, she never bought another or listened to the soft relaxing music that was on it that she'd copied to a tape. There was one thing she took out. She took the Teddy Bear Mulder had bought her the first day she came to live with her.

Scully kept the teddy bear with her at all times, she kept it in her bed with her at night, she would sniff it when she needed to smell Emily, she would hug it to be closer to her. This was Emily's favorite out of all she owned.

As Scully walked into her empty apartment on the night of June 4, she looked out into the stars. She thought of how Emily always was interested in what was on the outside as long as it was different from any other normal day. Tonight was different. The stars seemed like they were tossed out into the sky carelessly as they were grouped in clusters. Shimmering and shining in all their glory, their light emanating the Earth, giving the residents something to gaze at.

It was a cool night, the breeze flowed gently through the windows circulating around the apartment. The moon was shining brightly, nearly lighting the candlelit bedroom Scully was laying in.

The phone rang and interrupted the tranquility. "Scully?" she answered professionally.

"Hey, Scully, it's me," Mulder spoke on the other end.

"Hey, Mulder, what's up? Is this important because I'm enjoying a little peace of mind right now," Scully said somewhat sarcastically.

"No, it's not really," Mulder told her in the same tone.

"So what'd you want?" she asked, ending the joke then.

"Nothing, really," he told her. "Just thought I'd give you a call, check in, see how you were doing..." "I'm fine. I'm enjoying a little relaxation time," she said.

"What are you planning on doing this weekend?" Mulder wanted to make conversation, he was doing his best, but he couldn't manage to get much out of Scully.

"Probably do some paperwork and hang out here, why?" Scully responded. "Did you have something in mind?"

"No, I was just wondering. Want me to come over and help you with that paperwork? I could pick up a movie on the way over, you can still enjoy your relaxation," Mulder offered.

She had made up her mind to say 'Sounds nice, but--' but she chose a different route. She needed something to do. "Sounds good to me," she told him. They left it at that.

When Mulder arrived that night with a movie, he brought his stack of paperwork which was twice as large as Scully's. He knocked on the door, and when Scully glanced out at him, it made her smile to see the large stack of paper work, then on top of that a movie, then a pack of opened sunflower seeds that were about to fly all over the place.

Scully pulled the door open and grabbed the sunflower seeds. "Thanks," Mulder mumbled. He made his way into her apartment. She'd lived there ever since he'd met her, and nothing ever changed. It looked as nice as it always did. The only times he could remember that it didn't look like Martha Stewart had been through were the ones Scully spent crying and mourning Emily.

Mulder set his work down on the coffee table in the living room where she had the TV. Mulder sat down on her couch. He was dressed in a thin t-shirt and a pair of dockers shorts. Scully wore a fitted white shirt and a pair of jean shorts. She thought about changing, but didn't see that it mattered if Mulder saw her in shorts.

The popped in the movie and began their paperwork, barely paying attention to the dull movie which stirred no thrill whatsoever. The finished their paperwork around the same time, despite the fact that Mulder had considerably more than she.

It was get extremely late, nearly 1:00 in the morning, and neither had made a move for Mulder to leave. Scully laid on the couch in Mulder's arms, thinking rather than channel surfing. Mulder noticed this when she went by the same channel at the same rate repeatedly. "Scully?" he asked. Nothing.

"Scully?" he asked once again.

"Yeah?" she asked, directing her gaze toward Mulder.

"Something wrong?" Mulder looked into her eyes as she starred at him with disbelief.

It took a moment, but she responded, "Uh, no, nothing's wrong," in a somewhat depressed tone.

It was then that he glanced at a picture on top of the TV. THAT was what Scully was looking at instead of the TV. It was a framed picture of Emily and herself. It wasn't a professional picture, by the looks of it, Mulder guessed one of the family took it for her. It was one of the most recent before she went missing. A small church rest behind blooming trees in the background, white lilies sprinkled around and daffodil's sparkled. It was a tiny meadow on the side of the church, where Scully and Emily were playing. Scully was wearing a cream trench coat, but underneath she had a cream dress. Emily was in a pastel purple dress and the same sparkle filled jell sandals she'd been wearing when she went missing. Emily's hair flew around her as Scully playfully held onto her. Both faces were toward the camera, but Scully's eyes were on Emily and Emily's were looking her direction, but not quite making it. Scully appeared to have been tickling her, and the brilliant being behind the camera captured those thousand words of love in a single picture.

The irony of it all. Everyone was so helpless then. Nothing could be done to bring Emily back from wherever she was, and nothing could console Scully. Nothing could be done to relieve the pain, no matter what she accepted Emily's disappearance as. It was all a horrible tragedy that didn't end with happiness and hope, it ended in despair and grief. Scully and Mulder didn't all the sudden hook up and go on about their lives happily ever after, only slowly delving further. Losing Emily gave Scully a reason to attach to Mulder emotionally.

Scully was moving on but never letting go now. She went about her work as she always did, she did the things she never failed to do before Emily had even entered her life. But the things she NEVER forgot to do were the things she and Emily did together. Each and everyday she would read "The Walrus and the Carpenter", and only the one verse that was Emily's favorite. She never put off reading it, she never read through it quickly and heartlessly, each time, she read it silently full of heart and emotion as if she'd never read it before.

Lost in thought, Scully began to drift into the deep world of the sleeping, Mulder soon followed suit. He hadn't recognized it, he would surely have left and given her that respect of space and worth if he hadn't fallen asleep himself.

The next morning they woke, Scully slipped away from Mulder and into the kitchen to make something to eat, in hopes of waking him with the smell. It seemed to work, but only because bagels were easy to burn.

"What are you doing?" Mulder asked when he realized his surroundings.

"Burning bagels," she told him, dropping a rock hard black bagel into the trashcan, which made a large thud.

Mulder displayed a confused and curious look, then pulled the tiny little couch blanket Scully had laid on him away. He glanced at the clock. 11:31am. Whoa! he thought to himself. How'd we manage to sleep this late?

"Hey, Scully," Mulder began. "You don't have to cook anything. I should be going anyway."

She looked up from her other, slightly burnt bagels that probably wouldn't be too appetizing, and looked at Mulder for a slight moment, then let the two bagels thud into the garbage can.

"Sorry I fell asleep, I didn't mean to," Mulder told her. "I guess all that paperwork caught up with me."

Scully stood with her hands on her hips, not in an upset way, and nodded her head.

"Thanks for the night," Mulder said. He ran his fingers through his hair then got the video from the VCR. He walked out the door on that humid day of June 5 and into the moist humidity of an early summer in DC. Mulder almost gave her the usual goodbye kiss they always exchanged, then he looked into her eyes and realized that her lips locked a secret, the secret of what is and what's to be, yet neither knew it. So instead of the usual, an impulse of magnetic forces pushed his lips to hers, creating a magical spark that hadn't always been there, then a: "Bye."

She waved goodbye to him, her hands folded over her chest as if to protect, not from the cold of the breeze, but the cold of the world. Things like this arose occasionally. The days lately had seemed so bright and filled with pain, living the next day, and expecting to live the one after was a sign of strength to her.

In the midst of Scully preparing scrambled eggs, a knock rang at the door. Judging by the time, she assumed Mulder had forgotten something, which indeed he had. His paperwork laid on her coffee table in its heap of annoyance. She pulled open the door and who was at the door was NOT Mulder. Someone of considerably less age. A ten year old little girl. Her blonde hair reached 2 inches past her shoulder, her big blue eyes looked up at Scully recognizably. She was a tiny girl wearing a pair of white shorts and a spaghetti strap striped tank top and clear jell sandals with sparkles in them. This little girl was so tiny she looked about 7 1/2 to 8 years old at the most.

Scully felt like she knew the girl, like she recognized her, she knew the hair and eyes...."Do I know you?" Scully asked rather abruptly.

Before she could answer Mulder was jogging up the stairs, going unnoticed by either of the girls, to get his paperwork he'd left. She stopped immediately when he saw Scully look up from the child ever so slowly to face him. The calm and collected look he sported changed into a look of worry and concern. He looked from Scully to the girl, then from Scully to the girl again.

"I'm Emily," she spoke with an angelic, yet child-like voice. "I remember this..."

Mulder stood there in shock, looking at Emily, as did Scully. Scully seemed in more shock than she could handle. Just as she was getting her life on track again, 5 years later, Emily pops back up again.

"Emily?" Mulder asked in more of a question not asking her to turn around. "Emily, what's your last name?"

She looked at him and said with confidence, "Scully."

Scully cocked her head for a moment, then said, "Do you remember me, Emily?"

Scully knew she hadn't changed much, but a child of 5 years old can't be expected to remember what life she lost after 5 years. Emily glanced at the cross on Scully's neck, then at her watch. She looked back at the cross and continued to stare at it. Scully took it off and put it around her neck. Suddenly Emily felt like she'd done this before, which she had. She looked at the watch next, which she did remember.

It was then that the flash of a woman putting the watch on a tiny hand, and sliding it further up the arm to secure it. Then the silent flash of the same woman bending down to show her numbers on it and little tick marks, pointing and saying that's when she'd be back. Then she flashed back to giving the same woman a hug outside in the spring air. A pretty pastel dress, hair whipping around her face, jell sandals, much like the ones she was wearing now, whipping the hair away from her mouth and waving good bye to the woman. The familiar sound of her favorite poem rang with Scully's voice, " 'The time has come,' the walrus said. 'To talk of many things...". The picture of a watch past the usual mark, the sound of a phone then a flash of white light. Screams of terror calling the word, "MOMMY!" as the watch fell to the ground and the necklace unclasped.

That was when Emily said, "Mommy?"

Tears came to Scully's eyes. They led Emily to the sofa to sit down. "Emily?" Scully said finally when she sat next to her, looking into her eyes.

She nodded coyly.

Scully eyes shot tears out faster than Niagara Falls did in a year, she lunged toward Emily and gripped her in a hug. "I've missed you so much..."

"I've missed you, too," Emily said with less emotion.

They caught up and Emily explained where she'd been all these years. "In an orphanage about an hours walk from here," she informed.

Thoughts spun in all directions as Scully thought of this. For *5* years she'd been only an hours walk away, and how long by car? Couldn't be far. Her daughter was being raised in an orphanage only a short distance away while she sat at home and grieved.

"I've been there for a while now, almost 5 years," Emily told her.

"How'd you get back here?" Scully asked.

"I remembered that watch," Emily said solemnly. "You used to give it to me everyday and show me the time you'd be home."

Scully looked down, wondering if she remembered that Scully was late the day that she disappeared.

"The day I got taken, you weren't there on time," Emily told her. "But I wasn't mad. Just bored."

This got a small chuckle out of Scully.

"I never really liked that babysitter," said Emily. "Neither did I," Scully said, with a small grin. "Emily," she said after a silent pause. "How much do you remember when you were with me?"

Emily didn't say anything, she let her eyes wander the room, then she spoke, "Not much."

Scully's small unnoticeable grin was noticeable when he left. Scully managed to choke out, "Do you remember me?"

The child knew that it would be painful, her surroundings forced her to grow up mentally a little too soon, so she softly said, "A little." She couldn't lie, or she'd never get to know her again. "I remember that I loved it here, and I remember loving you more than anything, but that's almost it. There are some other little things...like a poem, I just can't remember-"

Scully cut her off, "The Walrus and the Carpenter."

Emily looked up. "The Walrus and the Carpenter..." she mumbled quietly. "That's it."

After a long silence, Scully said, "Would you like to see your room?"

A smile spread across Emily's face, "Please," she asked.

Scully directed her to it then opened the door, somewhere she hadn't stepped foot in since she'd taken the bear out. Memories flashed all at once through Emily's mind as she stepped into her room.

"It's just like I left it," Emily muttered. "Nothing's different except..." she paused. "I had a teddy bear."

Scully left Mulder with Emily and got the bear from her room. She handed it to Emily, "I've been holding on to that. You really loved that bear."

The time had come when Scully would have to ask Emily where the orphanage was so she could ask them questions to get her back. And the time came when she had to be sure Emily *wanted* to come back. They agreed to keep her for a day or two to be sure Emily would adjust to things and want to stay.

That night Scully tucked Emily back in her old bed, Emily wearing one of Scully's t-shirts for sleepwear. Scully gave Emily her bear and her "The Walrus and the Carpenter" and said, "I love you." With that she got up to leave.

"I love you, too," Emily responded. Scully turned around in the doorway and leaned against the frame.

"I'm so glad to have you back," Scully told her.

To that, Emily said, "I'm glad to be back."

Scully walked into her bedroom with a smile that faded quickly. Emily meant well, and she was bringing Scully happiness, but she didn't really remember much. Which was the sad thing.

"What's wrong?" Mulder asked as she walked into her bedroom. Mulder was sitting on her bed reading a magazine waiting for her to come back from tucking Emily in. "I thought you were happy."

"I am. I'm very happy to have her back," Scully said, but her tone said that that wasn't all she needed to say. Mulder getting up to move closer to her so she wouldn't speak loud enough for Emily to hear. "She doesn't remember me, Mulder," Scully said.

He felt sorry for her, all she wanted for the past five years was to have Emily back, but it didn't occur to her that she may not remember. She was only a little girl. "She remembers a little."

"But it's so little," Scully moaned. "She doesn't remember all the fun things we did, any of that. She may not remember my mom or her family..." her voice trailed off.

"But what she remembers is enough to start over and build new memories," Mulder told her. He put a hand on her back and rubbed it gently. She was unfazed by it.

"She was so little then!" Scully said in a whisper. "She was so cute and happy, we had so many happy memories, how can we just forget about them?"

Mulder noticed the tears that were coming, "You don't need to forget about them," he took her in his arms. "Just because she *can't* remember them doesn't mean they didn't hap pen. And when you two and new memories, you can tell her of the ones she can't remember."

She stayed silent and cried on his shoulder. "I can only hope one day she'll remember."

Mulder embraced Scully, running his hand through her hair, kissing the top of her head, and running his hand along her back. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

He started towards the bed so she could lay down. When she didn't let go, he realized she was crying softly.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked her. Her face lifted from his chest and looked into his dry puppy dog eyes and nodded.

She got into bed and he crawled in next to her. She cuddled next to him, resting her body against his to fall into a deep slumber through the night.

A day went by then another, and Emily, unbeknownst to Mulder and Scully, tried her best to remember all that she could for her mother's sake, but she wasn't succeeding.

Mulder and Scully tried their best to make Emily feel wanted, which she was, and loved, which she was, and make her happy. They wanted nothing more then for her to be happy and want to come back home again.

Another bedroom discussion occurred on the 3rd night. "I can't make her stay here if she doesn't want to be," Scully told a hopeful Mulder.

"Where did you get that idea?" Mulder asked somewhat shocked.

"She doesn't look like she wants to be here."

"I think she does. I think she's just trying to remember what you do, what she couldn't help but forget," explained Mulder.

"But she can't. If I make her come back with me, she'll leave all that she knows, all that she's known for the past 5 years. Just because I want her with me," Scully cried.

"That's only right. She's your daughter. Why would you want her to stay somewhere like she was just because she's got a few friends there?" Mulder pushed.

It was pretty late to wake Emily from her peaceful slumber, knowing that the nightmares had subsided, but she needed to clear something up with her. She knocked lightly on Emily's closed door, and when there was no response, she walked in slowly and quietly. A beautiful child with her blonde locks sprawled on a pillow laid in the bed, her chest rising up and down lightly. She had such long dark eyelashes, and such soft hair. Her eyes fluttered slightly, then began to open slowly. "Mommy??" called the 4 year old side of her.

"I'm here, sweetie," Scully responded as she moved closer to the bed after closing the door. Scully sat down on the bed next to Emily who was still laying down. Emily groggily sat up and laid in her mother's arms. "Can we talk?"

Emily nodded, but said nothing as she was rocked back and forth by Scully.

"Do you like it here?" Scully asked her.

Emily choked out with a voice heavy with sleep, "Yeah."

"I want you to know that during the time you were gone, not a single minute passed without you in it. I kept thinking about your little voice, and how soft you were and how tiny and sweet. I used to try and let go, I knew it was for the best. I just couldn't let you go," Scully didn't believe she was confessing this much to a 10 year old child, but she had to get it out. "But if you can't be happy here, if all you can do is try to recall things that won't come back to you, I don't want you to feel like you have to stay."

Emily didn't respond, getting the feeling that Scully wasn't through talking.

"I want you to stay with me, sweetheart, I do, but if you don't want to, I can't make you. All I want is for you to be happy, and if here you're not, I don't want to be the cause of it."

"I don't want to go, Mommy. I want to stay with you," Emily managed to say before falling asleep in Scully's arms. Scully didn't want to disturb her, so she laid down with Emily and feel asleep as well.

When Scully hadn't returned from Emily's room in a while, Mulder slowly pushed the door open. He saw them sleeping, so he left, securing the house tightly.

Emily and Scully spent the next day together, catching up and finding out what each other liked, but the next day Scully would have to work.

"I'm going to let you stay with my mom while I'm at work for the summer," she told Emily. "I'll take some time off soon and we can go somewhere. But for now..." her voice trailed as she removed her watch and placed it on Emily's hand. "I'll be back when that hits that." she pointed to the hands that formed the 4:00. Emily smiled.

"OK," she said excitedly. They got out of the car and walked up to Mrs. Scully's house. She hadn't seen her granddaughter since she'd been returned, so she anxiously awaited her arrival. When she walked out, she awed in her beauty.

Before Scully left for work, Mrs. Scully said, "She's a beautiful child, Dana. Hold on to her."

This made Scully smile, and she waved goodbye to Emily who was in an adorable white skirt with matching shirt, made for sport loving girls. She wore no shoes as she waved goodbye to her mother, and said, "Love you!"

"Love you too!" Scully had called back. "See you this afternoon!"

Scully got in her car and as she drove away, Mrs. Scully sat on the porch next to her granddaughter and listened to Emily read to her, "'The time has come,' the Walrus said. 'To talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and ceiling wax, of cabbages and Kings. Of why the sea is boiling hot, or whether pigs have wings.'"

The End

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