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Title: Truth About 'Mom' Summary: We all take it for granted that Scully was a good little teenage girl but I don't think so here's my 'What if she wasn't so good?' interpretation. Hi!, I started a similar story last year but lost it when my Dad decided to play around with the hard drive (thank you ever so much Dad) So here is the same story rewritten. Usual disclaimers apply I don't own DS or FM or any other characters that you recognize here they belong to CC, DD, GA, Fox and 1013. I'm using them without permission from anyone connected with The X-Files. I do however own Maggie K. Scully (aka DLG aka Kitten not to be confused with DS's mom) and Sarah Peters please ask before you play with them. This is dedicated to S.P. who knows the truth, Happy 18th, luv KafX Monday Morning Basement J.Edgar Hoover Building Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully looked at the door in front of her, 'Fox Mulder, Special Agent' it read. Scully was not in the mood to face her partner today but she opened the door anyway. "Good Morning Scully," came Mulder's cheerful voice. Great the one day I don't need Mulder to be in a good mood. Scully thought to herself but simply replied, "If you say so Mulder." This reply made Mulder turn and face his partner so quickly he nearly fell out of his chair. Mulder gave his a partner a look and Scully shrugged, "It could be worse Mulder, I could be the one picking Maggie up today." "So I take it that it wasn't a good weekend?" Mulder asked. "You take right," Scully replied, she sighed before she told him what had happened, "Billy passed away on Saturday night." She then whispered through unshed tears, "Mom said that she'd pick Maggie up but I know that she'd rather that I did." Mulder nodded and looked at the photo of Scully with her niece, two red heads and two pairs of blue eyes, they looked more like sisters than aunt and niece. Scully looked at the photo as well she remembered when it had been taken Christmas only 6 months ago Maggie had finally gotten her braces off and was so excited about her new straight teeth, a month later Billy was diagnosed with a brain tumor and the beautiful teeth were forgotten. "She's arriving today at 2 o'clock this afternoon," Scully answered Mulder's unasked question. Mulder looked at his partner and gave a small smile. The phone rang. "Mulder," he said answering the phone, "Oh, hi Mrs Scully, Yeah she's right here. Scully it's your mother." Mulder handed the receiver to his partner and started on some overdue paper work half listening to Scully's side of the conversation. "Hi Mom. Yeah I know but I'd rather not. She does *not* need to know instantly, Mom. What if she doesn't want to? I don't know if I can do that. Sure, Fine, Whatever. I'll see you tonight." Scully sighed as she hung up the phone, "Mulder I'm going to have to take an hour and half off this afternoon so I can pick Maggie up from the airport." She told her partner who nodded and continued with his paperwork. Good, Scully thought as she started on with her own work, I don't need to tell him, yet. Later that day. Mulder was finishing the last report when Scully arrived back from the airport niece in tow. Mulder looked at his watch 3:27, 3 minutes early. In the doorway stood his partner who was gently pushing her niece into the room. "Hi Mulder am I late?" she asked settling into her seat. "Nah you're early," he replied and fished out a packet of sunflower seeds and offered them to Scully who took a few and then to Maggie who started to go green at the sight of them. "Where is the Bathroom, Aunt Dana?" the girl asked, running as soon as Scully gave her directions.
Mulder decided that he'd better not offer Maggie a chocolate bar from his hidden stash that Scully *didn't* know about - if she had it would of disappeared long ago when she was having a period. "The funeral's going to be held this Thursday and I was hoping that you'd come," Scully said, "Everyone in the family would like it if you could come," Scully paused and looked at her partner for the first time in this speech, "I would like it if you could come." Mulder looked at his partner and gave her a smile of thanks, glad that she had told him that. "I'll be there," Mulder told Scully as the door opened and Maggie came in. "Aunt Dana how long are you gonna take?" Maggie asked sitting on the edge of Dana's tidy desk. "Not long, I just have to finish this report and get it on to Skinner's desk," Scully said and started to work. Maggie watched as her aunt worked getting bored quickly, sensing Maggie's boredom Mulder suggested a tour of the building and the two of them left Scully to her work. "And these are the computer labs," Mulder told Maggie as they entered a room filled with the latest high tech gear. "Hi Mulder. What are you doing?" Came the voice of Dr Sarah Peters from behind a computer screen. "Giving Scully's niece a tour of the building while she finishes a report for Skinner," Mulder replied. "Why's Scully's niece writing a report for Skinner?" Sarah asked coming out from behind the computer. Mulder smiled and just replied, "Let me introduce you to Maggie. Maggie this is Agent Sarah Peters MD, Sarah, Margaret Scully or Maggie for short." Mulder introduced the two women. "Nice to meet you Margaret," Sarah said staring at the young version of Scully. "Same to you Agent Peters but please call me Maggie," Maggie replied, politely shaking the out stretched hand taking in this new face, dark hair cut short, dark eyes, nice skin and rather tall, not a giant but a good deal taller than her aunt. The kind of woman that she'd expect Mulder to go for, she obviously went for him. "O.K. Maggie can I show you around here?" Sarah asked. Maggie shrugged and followed the agent around the room half listening to what was being said. After they had completed a lap of the room Mulder looked at his watch. "I'd better get Maggie back to Scully," Mulder said leading the teenager out of the room, "See you later Sarah." he called over his shoulder and they continued down the hall heading back down to the basement. Mrs Scully's house Maggie wrapped the doona around herself and sat in front of the chest. It was wooden with carvings all over it and stained a dark brown. The carvings looked like chinese paintings made into 3D pictures and were very detailed. The chest was about 5 foot long, 2 foot wide and 3 foot deep and seemed to be full, though Maggie didn't know what of. The night before Papa Billy had died he had told her that it was important. They were in front of the fire enjoying it's warmth. He had stared at her for a while before asking Maggie to sit next to him on the sofa bed. Sitting next to him Maggie could see how pale Papa Billy was. Holding her hand he had called her 'DLG', her nickname that her Grandpa had given her (she still didn't know what it stood for), and had told her to keep the chest safe, opening it when the time was right for her to know the truth about her mother. It had scared her to think that she had a mother since she never remembered her mom. Her earliest memory was of Christmas at her Gran and Grandpa's place. So she sat looking at this chest which held the truth about her mom but Maggie couldn't open it, she didn't want to know, not yet anyway. Maggie climbed into the bed in her aunt's old room after such a long day she hoped that she would be able to fall asleep quickly. "Ready or Not here I come!" Maggie yelled like a 3 year old. She ran from room to room of Gran's house trying to find someone but she couldn't "Mommy where are you?" It was never this hard to find her. Maggie ran into the kitchen and found her Grandpa. "Come on DLG time to go now." "But I can't find Mommy, Grandpa," she whined as she was picked up in her grandpa's big strong arms, "I want Mommy to come with me!" Maggie started to cry as she was put into a car seat and buckled in. "Don't let me go Mommy!" Maggie cried "Don't let them take me away!" the tears ran down her face and her nose ran mixing with the salty tears as she continued to cry, the car was started and out the car window she could see Gran, Grandpa, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Missy waving good-bye but she couldn't see her Mommy anywhere. As the car approached the end of the driveway she spotted a familiar figure sitting in the old oak "Mommy!" Maggie screamed but the figure turned her head away unable to watch as her baby leave. "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!"... Maggie sat up in bed hoping that it had all been a dream, she sighed realizing that it had been. Lying back down she looked at the photo of herself with her aunt on the bedside table taken on her third birthday, she couldn't remember that day at all, as she fell asleep her last thoughts were of Papa Bill, the only parent she remembered, she wondered who would look after now? Would her mother want her back after so many years? Scully's apartment Dana Scully stared at the television screen as images from the last Christmas played on the video player. Mulder had finally agreed to spend that special day with her and her family instead of in his silent apartment alone. He had enjoyed meeting her brothers and their wives and children and her brothers had enjoyed teasing her and watching her face turn into a beetroot. "Geez they are so annoying," she said to the empty apartment. The house had been filled with laughter and happiness once again that day and for a brief moment they could all forget the truth. An image of Maggie and Mulder came up on the screen, she was trying to find his ticklish spot, when she did Maggie ran off with Mulder in pursuit. Maggie had then taken Dana 'hostage' grabbing her around the waist threatening tickle death if Mulder tried any funny business. It had been good to see the girl smile after all she had been going through and all that she would have to face yet. Scully looked at the clock on the wall, 1:04, time to try and get some sleep. With that Scully removed herself from the lounge and went to bed, trying to get some sleep. Dana Scully walked up and down the hallway, the poor baby had a bad case of colic and couldn't or wouldn't settle. Rubbing the tiny back of the baby Dana patiently continued her walk. "Come on baby girl," she crooned. Why wouldn't she settle? Dana was getting tired of this endless walking. There was a tap on her shoulder Dana turned to face her mother. "Don't exhaust yourself, honey," Margaret Scully told her daughter, "You've got an exam tomorrow so let me take over." "But Mom," Dana said. "Don't 'but Mom' me, go to bed. I'll deal with DLG for a while." Dana handed the crying baby over and headed down the hall to her bedroom. She turned to see a three-year-old in the kitchen counting in her own childish way. Quickly Dana left the house running from the house trying to get away from the beautiful baby girl she was losing. Sitting in the old oak tree she saw the car move up the driveway and heard the screams of the three-year-old child inside. "Mommy!" Dana turned trying to block out the pitiful screams, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!" They faded away with the car, the fine dust settled and Dana turned to stare off in the direction that her baby girl was taken. She cried. Dana Scully wiped away, the tears that had formed in her eyes due to the all so real dream. Her baby girl could be back in her life to stay, if only Maggie would let her come in. Mrs Scully's house Maggie brushed her hair one last time, the soft red hair came to her waist and showed up well against the forest green dress that she was wearing. Today she would say good-bye to the one if not parent, at least guardian she knew, Papa Billy, but he had told her not to wear black to his funeral and she could not refuse him his last wish. The dress was something that her Aunt Dana had helped her pick out for the funeral, it came to just above her knees and had long sleeves, it was fitted with an A-line skirt and it had a heart shaped neckline. Around her neck she wore a leather choker that Papa Billy had given her for her fifteenth birthday there was a small cross coming off the leather thong which was dotted with emeralds. She was wearing a pair of Doc Martins and looking in the mirror all she could wonder was who was that figure in the old oak tree? She recognized it from somewhere but... "Come on DLG time to go." She was broken out of her thoughts by her Gran. "Coming Gran," she replied giving one last look to herself in the mirror and then at the chest at the end of the bed, maybe she'd be able to open it tonight, maybe not. Thursday Midday Dana sat in the kitchen looking out the window watching her younger nieces and nephews playing hide and seek, she hated that game, it had been fun to play when she had been younger now she shuddered at the mention of it. Mulder came into the kitchen. His partner sat quietly in front of the window. "When Maggie was young I used to play hide and seek with her all the time, we'd take turns in hiding I would always hide in obvious spots so that I was easy to find." Scully turned to face her partner, "It used to be so fun, now," she paused, "now I can't stand the game." Mulder nodded not knowing what she had meant by that but sure that he'd find out sometime. Maggie ran into the kitchen refreshed from a nap around the table sat her Gran, Grandpa, Uncle Billy and... "Mommy!" she threw herself into her mother's arms. "Hey ya Kitten did you have a nice nap?" Maggie nodded holding on tight so as never to lose her mother. "Kitten there's something that Mommy has to tell you, something important." "What is it, Mommy?" Maggie asked in her three-year-old voice. "You're going to go away for a while," her mother said "you're going to go away with Uncle Billy on a vacation." "Are you coming too?" Maggie asked. "No Kitten, Mommy can't come with you, just you and Uncle Billy are going," Maggie could feel the tears on her back as her mother started to cry. "Don't cry Mommy I won't be going forever. Will I?" her mother didn't reply but held onto Maggie tighter "Mommy I don't wanna go forever," Maggie said before she started to cry as well. "I know Kitten but don't worry. Uncle Billy will look after you." Maggie continued to cry, "Come on Kitten look at Mommy and give her a smile," Maggie let go and looked down at her hands. "Kitten can you please look at Mommy?" Maggie slowly looked up and was staring straight into her Aunt Dana's face. Maggie woke up, she had been asleep on the sofa, she looked at her watch nearly a quarter past five, 5:14 to be exact. Maggie got up from the sofa and headed towards her bedroom, she was ready to know the truth. "Have you seen Kitten anywhere?" Dana Scully asked her younger brother Charlie. "She was asleep on the sofa last I saw," he told his sister. "She's not there any more." "Don't worry Cat, she probably just woke up and decided to go to bed," Charlie said as Dana went up to check. Maggie starred at the photos of her as a baby with her mother. Dana Scully's face smiled at the camera as she changed Maggie's nappy, gave her a bath, there was even one of Dana breast feeding the baby Maggie. The door opened and Dana looked down at the open photo albums spread on the floor in front of her daughter. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" Maggie asked. She wasn't angry at her mother just annoyed and not quite ready to admit how glad she really was at finding her mother after so many years of wondering, "Why didn't you... I would of understood." Maggie looked straight at Dana. "Because you were too little to understand when Billy got his job in South Dakota that I was having trouble looking after you and concentrating on my studies and by the time you were old enough, you'd settled down into a comfortable life and I didn't want to disturb you with the truth." Dana told Maggie truthfully. "So you chose your studies over me?" Dana looked at Maggie wondering if she really believed that. "No," Dana said, "Gran and Grandpa decided for me, it was sort of my punishment for disobeying them." "What, have the baby but you're not allowed to keep it?" "Worse than that," Dana said, "I probably would of found it easier to give you up for adoption, no the punishment was that I was allowed to have the baby, look after it and grow to love it but as soon as Billy or Mel got a suitable job they took over all the parenting. "When Billy told us he'd gotten a job it hurt so bad cause I knew I'd have to say good bye to my baby girl, I hated both my parents and Billy for taking you away from me but I knew that it was in your best interest that they did it." Dana looked at Maggie, she loved this child so much it hurt, "I don't expect you to want to speak to me for a while but please remember that anything that was done was done for you." Dana turned to leave but before she could go far Maggie's voice asked, "What does DLG stand for?" Dana turned back to her daughter. "I think you know the answer to that one," Dana replied. Maggie nodded. "I just wanted to make sure I was right. Why did you never call me DLG?" "Because you were *my* little girl, to me you were my baby and since I was the Cat that made you my Kitten," Dana said, looking down at her daughter's faraway look she continued "I'll leave you to yourself for a while." With that Dana left Maggie to think. Mulder stood in front of the door stunned. Dana Scully was a mother?! The door opened and Scully came out of the room. She crashed into her partner and starred at him, he knew, she could tell. She went back to the den with Mulder following behind, there was no one else there, Scully would have to talk to him. "I was sixteen when I became pregnant to my first real boyfriend called Frank Larkin," she started, "Both Mom and Dad were furious so I told them I'd get an abortion, that was even worse than having a child out of wedlock and so I was allowed to have the baby. Frank did offer to marry me but my parents wanted me to have a career and it wouldn't have worked out anyway. We discussed the best options both for the baby and myself. "My Mom finally stated that a baby was better off being breast fed than put on the bottle and so my parents set down the law. I had the baby and fell in love instantly. The worst day of my life was the day I had to let my baby girl be taken away, I cried myself to sleep for over a year and sometimes, when I heard from my brother what she'd done recently, I would still cry myself to sleep on the odd occasion. I still love her and would do anything in my power to have her call me 'Mom' again." Mulder listened and watched as Scully told him all this, there was more to Scully's past than he had previously thought. There was a sound at the door Margaret Scully found her daughter looking more scared than she had ever seen her, she knew that her oldest grandchild had found out the truth. Margaret opened her arms and Dana fell into them and started to cry. "It's O.K. everything will be fine," Margaret comforted her own little girl. "But what if it isn't, Mom?" Dana asked, "What if she doesn't forgive me for what I did?" Dana looked at her mother teary eyed. "Honey I don't think that she is angry at you," Dana gave her mother a look of total disbelief, "She's just lost what she thought was her only parent to find out that he had never been her father and that her aunt was really her mother, I think that's enough to scare anyone so don't be to hard on yourself." Mulder came up behind Scully and started to rub her back. "Your mother's right Scully," he told his partner, "if she was angry with you for what happened you would of known and so would of everyone else, if she's anything like you." Scully smiled at her partner's last comment. There had been so many late night phone calls from Billy, especially earlier on, when he'd complain that it was just like living with a young Dana all over again and even though she was so far away Dana knew exactly what her brother should do to calm down the angry Maggie. It had hurt so much when Billy had written telling her that Maggie had called him Papa Billy, that Maggie had finally accepted that she would never see her 'Mommy' again. She had cried all over the letter smudging the writing and in the end she had had to throw the letter out. "Dana honey," Scully's mother interrupted her thoughts. "Yeah Mom?" "Is the spare bedroom in your apartment clean?" Scully looked up at her mother. "Of course Mom, it's been clean and ready for Maggie ever since I moved in to my apartment," Dana told her mother. "Good," Scully was starting to get confused, "Because I think your daughter wants to come home," Mrs Scully then whispered into Dana's ear. At that Dana turned around to see Maggie standing in the doorway of the den. "I'm tired can we go home now?" Maggie asked like a three year old child. Dana smiled, maybe she would have her daughter back after all these years. "But I'm still talking to Gran," Dana said, "Besides I came with Mulder so you'll have to ask him if he's ready to go."
Mulder smiled he really liked Maggie at least he know knew why she and Scully were so similar. "Come on Kiddo," Mulder said to Maggie, "I'll help get your bags ready while Scully talks to her Mom." with that they left the den and headed back to the bedroom that Maggie had stayed in that week. "You seem to be taking all this pretty well," he said as they packed her gear. "How?" "Well," Maggie said, "I've had time to get used to Papa Billy dying, I guess I cried all the tears that I had when he was alive." She looked at Mulder, "I spent most of my younger years wanting my mother even though I had no idea who she was. Three years ago on my thirteenth birthday I decided that if Papa Billy was going to tell me the truth then I'd listen but I wasn't going to worry about it any more. It sort of worked, I no longer hassled Papa Billy but I still wondered who my real mother was. I'm actually rather glad that I found out." Maggie admitted, she'd finished packing everything except the trunk, photo albums were stacked neatly in piles along with items from the first three years of Maggie's life. Maggie picked up the first photo album, she opened it to the first page. Mulder looked over Maggie's shoulder, in a plastic sleeve, on the left, was Maggie's Birth Certificate, on the right was a large photo of Dana holding baby Maggie who was only a few minutes old. Dana Scully was smiling down at her child and Mulder was surprised by the look on her face. "She looks so happy," Maggie said. "Yeah," Mulder said, "As if she could never be any happier than she was at that moment." Maggie nodded and closed the album she'd look at the rest later. With great care Maggie put everything that belonged in the trunk back where it belonged, she was just closing the lid when there was a knock and the door opened, Scully walked in. "Ready to go?" Scully asked. Maggie stood up and looked at her mother. "Yeah," Maggie said then smiling she added, "I'm ready to go Mom." Scully smiled and hugged her daughter as Mulder left the room taking the trunk down to the car. "It's good to have you back Kitten." "It's good to be back," Maggie smiled before adding "Mom." The End Hope you enjoyed it SP!! Finished: 25th April 1997
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