Who Are You?

*Chapter 1*

"Bad day?" Mulder turned around to see Agent Reyes walking towards him with a big warm smile on her face.

"No worse than any other this week."

"That good huh?"

"Oh yeah. Can I get you a drink?"

"Sure." Mulder ordered Reyes' drink and they moved to a table in the corner of the bar.

"So, what are you doing drinking alone on a Friday night? No date?"

"John is joining me as soon as he's finished with a case report."

"Oh I see, well I'll be sure to leave before that joyous event."

"Why do you give him such a hard time?"

"Because he gives me one. It's not that I don't like Agent Doggett, I just... I don't really like him..."

"Ah I see, well thanks for clearing that up. So, why were you sat alone in a bar that is known to be regularly frequented by FBI agents?"

"Nostalgia. Gives me a sense of what it used to be like to belong somewhere."

"You'd come back to the bureau?"

"God no. I'd go back to the x-files. They never really fell under what you'd call working for the FBI."

"They still don't. But I would have thought that you and Dana were glad to be back, that you could finally get on with your lives."

"You mean because there's no longer a government conspiracy full of men and women plotting to bring us both down and kill us no matter what the costs? Oh yeah, everything's coming up roses."

"Wow, you really are having a bad case of 'the world is against me'."

"Well technically it is. December 22nd 2012. It's only nine years and ten days away."

"A lot can change in nine years and ten days."

"Not this. For a year Scully and I tried to find a way to stop it, we risked our own lives to protect every innocent person on this sorry ass planet. And for what? To be contacted by you and told that 'hey, it's ok, you can come back, you're heads are no longer wanted on a platter'."

"Well in my book that's classed as good news."

"And what exactly did we have to come back to? We've been back almost six months, Scully's back at Quantico and desperately trying to get me a job somewhere within the bureau, but I just don't care."

"You're a kept man."

"Yeah. Only things would be different if..."

"If what?"

"If my son were here. I'd be the twenty-first century dad that stays at home to take care of the kid whilst the mom goes to work. I should be taking care of William."

"I'm sorry you never got to spend much time with him. He was a very sweet boy."

"It just feels so wrong to have a two year old son that I haven't seen since he was a couple of days old. I'd fight to get him back tomorrow if I could."

"Well have you tried?"

"Well, no. But I can't see that it's going to be a case of 'daddy's home and your parents aren't on the run anymore so we'll just hand you right back over'."

"Mulder you are far too cynical. If you really want your son back I refuse to believe that it is impossible. No child should be brought up without knowing who its birth parents are."

"You sound as if you know what you're talking about."

"I do."

"You were adopted?"

"Yes. I tried to use my personal experience to convince Dana to keep William; I couldn't stand the thought of him being brought up by strangers when there were so many people who adored him at home. I loved to take care of him and help Dana out, her mom did, John did, and it worked for a while. But I was there when she let him go. I've never seen somebody's heart so broken. You weren't here, so the decision was hers alone. It was the hardest thing to get through. I think that if you talked to her about it, maybe you could decide on the first steps to getting William back."

"I don't know."

"I know nothing about how adoption works, as odd as that may sound given my own situation, but I know that if you truly want your son back then you should let nothing stand in your way." As Reyes stopped speaking Agent Doggett appeared at the table, clearly he was assessing the situation, his girlfriend was sitting drinking with a man that never hid his dislike for him.

"Agent Doggett."

"Mulder."

"Well, I'll leave you two to it. Thank for the advice Agent Reyes."

"Any time." Mulder finished his drink and stood up. He walked around the table and Doggett quickly took his place and kissed Reyes softly on the lips. Reyes was impressed; he was marking his territory and had been jealous to see Mulder with her. It made her smile, and it reassured her that he loved her as much as she loved him. Mulder left and contemplated going home to talk to Scully about their son.

Doggett and Reyes didn't stay in the bar long. They went back to her place and snuggled up on the sofa in front of the TV. They had been dating for almost a year. A year ago on December 20th they had been Christmas shopping together and then to a Christmas party at the bureau. It sounded cliché, but they got caught underneath some mistletoe and ended up at Doggett's place by the end of the night. They spent Christmas together and on Boxing Day Doggett flew to New York to see his family and Reyes to Mexico. Both were supposed to stay with their families until the New Year, both flew back to DC to see the New Year in together.

Things were going great, and they were always together, for a relationship that they had agreed to take slowly, things were certainly moving fast.

Mulder didn't sleep at all that night. He watched Scully sleep and was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he was lying in bed with the woman he loved. He would move the world for this woman; he just hadn't been able to ensure the world would go on past 2012 for her. They had never discussed William once they had shared the grief of giving him up for adoption. It was a subject that was too painful for Scully to even think about, there were no signs anywhere that a child had ever lived in the apartment. But Mulder had seen the photograph of William that Scully kept in her workbag. It seemed foolish to him that they should both want him so badly but not be able to talk about it.

So he made a decision. He would look into how they could fight the adoption and only bring it up with Scully if he thought they had a good chance of getting him back. He wasn't going to risk breaking her heart again by talking about it and disappointing her. He would take the lead on this. He owed it to Scully.

*Chapter 2*

In the x-files office nothing had changed over the past couple of years, so when Mulder walked in and looked around he felt a thousand ghosts hit him. He walked around every last inch of carpet and even sat down at his old desk. Doggett had explained how he and Reyes had fought effortlessly to keep the x-files open when Mulder and Scully had left, the bureau came down heavy on Skinner and anyone associated with the x-files, it took seven months to get them up and running again, and to refurnish the office.

Mulder was grateful. He'd have been even more grateful if it were still him running things down here. But no one at the bureau would allow that to ever happen, and he had promised Scully that he would not have any business with the x-files now that they were off the conspirators wanted list. She had even said that she had hoped Doggett and Reyes would have left things closed for the x-files.

She couldn't hide her disappointment that they were still open. But to her relief the cases they dealt with were far from the extreme cry that she and Mulder had dealt with. And there were no UFO's or 'little green men' to report on, so she allowed her mind to rest at ease. However she hadn't stepped foot in the office during the six months she and Mulder had been back.

Mulder stood up from the desk and walked around it just as Doggett walked into the room.

"Mulder, surprised to see you down here."

"Surprised or disappointed?"

"Surprised. What can I do for you?"

"Actually I was looking for Agent Reyes. Is she around today?"

"Yeah, we just had a meetin' with Skinner, she'll be down in a sec."

"Do you mind if I wait?"

"Not at all. Make yourself at home."

"I am home."

"You miss it?"

"Would you?" Doggett looked at Mulder. He had a great respect for this man, but at the same time he couldn't help believing that he was a complete ass.

"So what is it you're lookin' for Monica for?"

"It's a private matter actually."

"It about you lookin' for William?" Mulder tried hopelessly to hide his surprise.

"She told you?"

"She tells me everything. That's what two people do when they're in love."

"Ah yes, I keep forgetting the two of you are 'together' now. Guess it just doesn't sit right in my mind."

"That right?" Mulder shrugged his shoulders and was saved from Doggett's retaliation as Reyes walked into the office.

"Mulder? What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you, about what you said last night."

"About getting William back?"

"No, I mean not directly anyway, I actually wondered if I could ask you about your own adoption."

"What in the hell does that have to do with your son?" Reyes put a protective hand on Doggett's arm as he voiced his concerns.

"With all due respect Agent Doggett, I'm trying to work out what is best for my son, if I can understand how Agent Reyes felt when she found out she was adopted then maybe I can better decide on whether I should get my son back or not."

"You need to hear another woman's pain to decide whether you want your son? All due respect Mulder, that sounds a little crazy, but then I guess we should expect that from you right? Either you want your son back or you don't." Reyes tightened her grip on Doggett and he knew to let it drop. Reyes turned to Mulder and smiled bravely.

"I don't mind talking to you about my own adoption, but like I said last night, I don't think that I'll be able to help you at all."

"I just need to know what William will feel if he finds out in eighteen years that his parents aren't actually his parents." Doggett understood this and he sat down behind his desk to show he wasn't going to interfere anymore. Mulder watched him and envied him for being paid to sit at the desk that was rightfully his. Reyes sat down at her own desk and Mulder sat down opposite her. He was ready to hear whatever she had to say.

"I was twenty-one when my parents sat me down and told me they had adopted me when I was four."

"And you don't remember your birth parents?"

"No. My parents had a daughter who died when she was four years old, two years before they adopted me, so they used the first four years of her life as mine. It was so easy for me to live as the daughter my parents had lost, if I had never been told I was adopted I would never have doubted the memories that had been planted in me by my family. My parents accepted me into their lives without question and took me home as their daughter Monica Reyes. When they told me I was adopted I was shocked and upset.

The anger I felt was to my birth parents for letting me go, not to the parents who had lied but raised me for seventeen years. They loved me as their own daughter and I am forever grateful to them. I hated my birth parents, yet I could never console myself with hating a person I had never even met. The adoption agency I had been placed in collected me from a hospital after local police had found me sleeping in a nearby field. The best thing my birth parents ever did was leave me in that field."

"And you've never tried to find them?"

"Once. About a year after I found out the truth, but I couldn't follow it through. I didn't want to see them. I have a family and parents who love me; I don't need to know the people that were prepared to let me go. It wasn't even the fact they let me go that upset me, it was the fact that they had chosen to take care of me for four years and then let me go without a care in the world, just by deciding we don't want a daughter after all. Those are things that no matter how old you get you can never understand an adult doing to their child, someone they're supposed to love."

Reyes was getting upset and Doggett got up and walked to stand protectively over her. He looked at Mulder and he knew that it was time to leave. Reyes stood up and excused herself. Mulder stood up and looked at Doggett.

"Agent Doggett."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." Mulder walked out and after a few minutes Reyes came back. Doggett walked over to her and she welcomed his strong arms around her as he held her close.

"Thank you, I needed this."

"You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You'd think after all this time I could talk about it without crying."

"It's ok to cry Mon."

"I know. But I've told this story a few times now. Do you think it'll ever get easier?"

"I hope so." Reyes stayed in Doggett's arms and was grateful for his honesty. He never told her beautiful lies, he told her the possibility of a beautiful truth.

Mulder tried contacting the woman that had dealt with William's adoption case, but she had moved jobs and left no forwarding address. He still felt that he was clutching at straws, and he felt incredibly guilty for bringing Reyes to tears about her personal life. It was wrong of him to push her, and if he was honest one of the reasons he had pushed it was to piss Doggett off, when in the end all he felt was guilt and admiration for how much Doggett loved Reyes. He still didn't want to talk to Scully about it; he needed odds on their chances before he brought her into it.

Mulder actually found himself wanting to help Reyes find her own birth parents. It wasn't his place and it had nothing to do with him, but he felt the need to help her face her demons. Maybe he could find them and surprise her with their location then she could make the decision of whether she wanted to meet them or not. Even as the idea was running through his head he knew how ridiculous it was. But if he was so hell bent on getting his son back, then surely he should be ready to help any child find their birth parents whether they thought they wanted to know them or not.

*Chapter 3*

"We stayin' at your place or mine tonight?" Doggett was bored and fed up of writing reports, he stood up as he spoke but Reyes didn't turn to him to answer his question.

"You shouldn't really leave Oliver alone again."

"He was fine when I got home this morning."

"Yeah, but there was no one there to take him for a walk last night, or to feed him when he woke up."

"Monica, he's just a dog for cryin' out loud."

"A dog that it took me three months to get you leave home alone for just one night."

"Well he was just a puppy then."

"He's four years old John, and you've had him for eight months."

"He's at a vulnerable age."

"You are too soft with him."

"He's obedient."

"He walks all over you, he knows that he can get away with anything." Doggett was standing behind Reyes as she was looking over a case file; he walked over to her and put his arms around her waist.

"What can I say, I just love those big brown eyes."

"I'm more a blue eye fan myself."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, definitely." Reyes laughed and turned around to kiss Doggett. They both smiled and pulled apart to finish their work for the day so they could go home, to Doggett's house, to take care of his dog, Oliver.

Scully had been walking through the past six months like she had been programmed to do it without showing any kind of emotion or unhappiness with her life. But she was miserable. She longed for her son, and she no longer felt close to Mulder, she loved him but she felt that they were drifting apart, and she couldn't cope with him being sat at home all day doing nothing, not even trying to get a job.

Her mother had kept Scully's apartment leased whilst they were on the run, she said it was because she refused to believe her daughter wouldn't come home. Scully was grateful, but all her apartment did was remind her of William. The places he had sat, the places she had played with him and changed him, the bathroom where she bathed him, the bedroom where he slept and she used to spend hours on end just watching him sleeping.

William's nursery had been kept locked since he was adopted. Scully wasn't even sure where the key to the door was, she just knew that if she went in there she would never leave, and she would never be able to continue her life knowing her son was out there somewhere without her.

Sometimes she pretended he had died. It made it easier to let him go. But then she felt like a bad mother for thinking of her son this way, she already felt like a terrible mother for giving her son away. At the time it felt right, but if she had the chance to go back in time she knew she wouldn't make the same decision. If she had known then the pain it would cause not having her son with her she would never have let him go. Being on the run made it easier to not think about him. But now she was back. She was home where her son had been home for so little a period of time.

As she sat looking at the mountain of paperwork in front of her she glanced at the clock.

She was going to be late home. Again. She called Mulder, but he wasn't in, she left a message and picked up the first file on her desk. She couldn't help but think something was wrong because Mulder wasn't home. She just had a gut feeling something was going on, and she had learnt that it was best to follow her instincts. She made a call that she had been avoiding since her return to DC. She called the x-files office.

"Hello Monica Reyes."

"Agent Reyes? It's, it's Dana Scully."

"My God Dana, how are you?"

"I'm ok, I'm actually looking for Mulder, I had a bad feeling that maybe he had been to see either you or Agent Doggett."

"He was here earlier today, but not for very long."

"I see. And you've no idea where he went?"

"None."

"Well thank you for your time..."

"Dana wait."

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you're ok? You've been in DC for six months and we haven't seen or heard from you since the day you got back."

"Well I've been busy."

"It'd be good to see you some time."

"Maybe, if I get time."

"Sure. Could you tell Mulder that I'm sorry I lost it a little this morning, and that I hope I was of some help to him. I really hope that this works out for the two of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Finding William, Mulder seems to have his heart set on getting him back, you must be so happy about the prospect of getting your whole family together at last. Dana?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Well I'll let you go, take care Dana."

"You too." Scully put down the phone and took a deep breath. She began to pack her things into her bag and as she did so she took out the small photograph of William she kept with her. She felt herself prepare to cry so quickly put the photo away. She refused to cry anymore over something that she could not un-do. And she intended to make sure that Mulder knew this too.

*Chapter 4*

When Mulder opened the door he tried to be quiet, it was late and he didn't want to wake Scully. But he needn't have worried, because she was sitting in the dark waiting for him.

"You're home late."

"Yeah, I was um, I was talking with Agent Reyes."

"About what?"

"Just how the x-files are going. I know I said I would let it go, but we were in that office a long time, I just wanted to see that everything was running ok without us."

"Agent Doggett ran that office just fine whilst you were gone. Both he and Agent Reyes are more than capable of keeping things in order."

"I know."

"So you didn't talk about anything else?"

"Like what?"

Scully hesitated and took a deep breath to control herself before continuing.

"Like William? Like finding him and getting him back, and prying into Monica's private life?"

"Oh."

"Yeah oh. You've been busted. I know what you're doing, and I know you went to the bureau this morning to see Agent Reyes. What are you trying to do to me Mulder?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You think that if it was that easy to get our son back I wouldn't have done it already? Why are you even trying to pursue this?"

"Because it's not impossible."

"It damn near is! I cannot believe you would do this to me! If you're so desperate to be closer to William, you can sleep in his nursery tonight."

"I thought we didn't know where the key was?"

"I spent the entire evening looking for it, especially for you. It's unlocked. Go and get close to your son. You're not getting close to me."

Scully stood up and went into her bedroom, she slammed the door shut and Mulder sat on the sofa. Suddenly the idea of going into William's nursery didn't seem so appealing.

The next morning Scully couldn't even bring herself to look at Mulder. She realized he hadn't gone into the nursery, and felt guilty for coming down on him so hard, she hadn't been able to go inside the room herself. But he clearly didn't understand what talking about William did to her. How could he? They'd never discussed it in any detail. They both understood that at the time letting William go was considered the best and safest option for him. But aside from that fact, he was never mentioned.

Mulder knew better than anyone how much Scully had wanted a child, maybe that's why he felt so compelled to get William back, so that he could give Scully the family she had always dreamed of. But if they weren't careful, and if they weren't open with each other then they were going to lose each other as well as their son.

Mulder was treading carefully; he didn't want to push anymore. He didn't want to risk it.

Scully picked up her bag and headed towards the door to leave for work. As she opened it she turned back to Mulder and hesitated for a second.

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted last night. I shouldn't have lost it like that."

"It was my fault. I should never have gone behind your back. I should have been open from the start."

"I want William to be with us more than anything in the world Mulder, but I just don't think I could put myself through the fight with the possibility of losing."

Mulder stood up from the table and walked over to Scully. He took her into his arms and she felt so much better at just having him near her.

"I just want you to be happy Scully. That's all I've ever wanted. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

Scully pulled free and kissed Mulder softly, as she pulled away he pulled her closer still and kissed her more passionately. He pulled her further into the apartment and closed the door. Scully fought nothing. She let Mulder lead her to their bedroom, she let herself feel loved and wanted. She let herself love Mulder and crave him beside her. And she knew that as long as he never left her, she could survive anything.

Scully called in sick at work and spent the day with Mulder in bed. She didn't care whether she got into trouble for it or not, she didn't care about anything but Mulder lying beside her.

They held each other close and talked about William. The fact that they were holding onto each other enabled them to let go of their individual pain and come together to discuss their son without getting too upset. They had strength for each other, and whereas Scully knew that Mulder wanted William back for her sake, she wished more than anything that Mulder could be with his son and take care of him. She knew that it would be good for both of them if this worked out, but she refused to get involved in anything if they were just going to lose everything and drag themselves through so much heartache.

It would be like losing him all over again and she couldn't do that to herself. They made an agreement to contact a lawyer and find out what legal rights, if any, that they had over William. Mulder agreed to look around for someone good whilst Scully was at work the next day, because for now they were both happy just where they were.

Doggett and Reyes had taken Oliver for a walk and went through the park as the dog ran

ahead into the trees. It was a cold early evening and they were both wrapped up warm in coats, gloves, and scarves. It was times like these that made them both so glad to be together. And it allowed them to be like any other couple in love taking their dog for a walk. Doggett and Reyes had never really discussed it but they were both always aware of the fact that whilst they worked on the x-files, no matter what ghosts had been laid to rest, there was always the chance that something could come up that would bring trouble for them both.

They worked hard and kept their head down, and there was a new policy that all files that came through their office for investigation had to be cleared by Skinner first, and he had been given guidelines by the deputy director as to what kind of cases they were allowed to work on. They both knew that there must be at least a dozen cases that the FBI had deemed unsuitable for them to deal with, but they never tried to fight any decision that was made because they both valued their lives. Even doing as they were told every day for the rest of their careers was no guarantee that they would be safe.

When Skinner had called them into his office six months ago and told them that it was safe for Mulder and Scully to come home, he had been very careful about what he told them and what he kept secret. Skinner was their allay, they knew that, but he was holding something back and they had been reluctant to track Mulder and Scully down until they conducted their own investigation into whether it was a trick or not. After all their hard work they could see no reason for them not to return, the super soldiers had disappeared, they had been keeping tabs on every place in DC that Mulder or Scully may have visited or taken refuge to, but they had all disappeared. They tried contacting the men that were behind the super soldiers but couldn't locate them, they even tried calling Marrita Coverubias, but she wouldn't return their calls.

One final attempt at clarifying a safe environment involved Doggett and Reyes sneaking Gibson Praise into the FBI late one evening to see if he sensed anything, they knew that there had been upwards of fifteen super soldiers posing as FBI agents, according to Gibson they had all gone. And the next morning a notice was posted about job vacancies. It was then that Doggett and Reyes believed that Mulder and Scully could really come home.

*Chapter 5*

"I think that you should call your mother back and tell her that they should spend New Year here." Doggett's face adopted a look of shock.

"Are you crazy! My ma' would drive you insane with questions about me, and our relationship."

Reyes laughed and got up to go into the kitchen, they were in her apartment and were both going to be incredibly late to work.

"I think you're just scared she'll bring some hideous old family photo album with her."

"What are you talking about hideous? I was a cute kid!"

"I have no doubt about it. But we do have a problem."

"I know. We're late for work, it's almost eight thirty."

Doggett stood up to get dressed but Reyes held him back and turned him to face her. To further distract her from talking about their families he began to kiss her and she found it incredibly hard to resist his charms but finally pulled away and smiled at him.

"You're parents want to see you for either Christmas or New Year, as do mine, so if we spend Christmas together, and then have our parents here for New Year, yours can stay at your place and mine can stay here."

"You mean we'd have to spend New Years sleeping apart?"

"It's only one night."

"Hell it is, I'm not letting that happen."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Well, we can have them booked into a hotel."

"John!"

"Oh come on, I can't not be with you to go to sleep on the first day of the New Year."

"Well, we've got a few more days to think about it. We'll think of something. But we really should get to work."

Doggett started kissing her again and she laughed as a device to try and stop enjoying his touch on her.

"John..."

"So we're late..."

"Again?"

"Again..."

Doggett walked into the bedroom pulling Reyes with him as they carried on kissing. They were definitely going to be late to work again.

As soon as Scully had left the apartment after reluctantly leaving Mulder at the door as he kissed her goodbye, he took out the telephone book and looked for law firms. Somebody somewhere had to have the answers for them. If he could give Scully one gift this Christmas it would be that they never had to spend another without William. After hours of calls he found someone that was prepared to see him and talk about their case.

He made an appointment for the next day at ten thirty and called Scully to tell her straight away. He could hear the overwhelming sense of hope overcome her as she tried to talk to him through her tears of joy. If someone was willing to talk to them, then they must have a chance, even if it was just a small one.

Mulder didn't know what to do with himself after he had made the appointment. It had been his job for the day and it was only just after lunch. He made himself something to eat and glanced at the door of William's nursery. He stood up and walked over to it. After at least ten minutes of just standing there considering what effect going inside may have on him, he opened the door and stepped in. He looked around and couldn't stop himself from crying.

The tiny crib, the bright warmth emitted through the entire room, the toys, the books on the shelves, he opened a drawer and took out some of William's clothes. They were tiny, and he couldn't grasp the notion that his son wasn't that small anymore. He would be wearing clothes with 'age 2' printed in the label, not '0-6 months'. He put the clothes back and walked over to the crib. He took out the teddy bear sitting at the bottom and held it close to him. It smelled just like him. He knew it was just a baby smell that all babies had when they were small, but he was sure that it was William scent he was holding close to him, not just any old baby's scent. Still holding the teddy bear he walked over to a cupboard and opened it to a box of photographs falling out and spilling all over the floor.

He sat down with them and William was on every single photo. Smiling, laughing, crying. There were some with Scully on too, he could see in her eyes the hunger to be a good mother to this boy, and thanks to him she had had to let him go. As he scooped the photographs together to put them in the box he came across one with Reyes on it holding William. He looked as if he was about six months or so, and he was so content sitting in Reyes arms. As he looked at the picture Mulder began to think about Reyes and her own adoption again, he wanted to find her parents for her, he couldn't explain the compulsion to do so, but as he looked at this woman with his son he knew that he had to help her, and he was sure that it was the right thing to do.

Mulder spent the entire afternoon on the phone, but he stayed in William's nursery. He called every agency he could think of that might be able to help him locate Reyes parents. He was having difficulties getting a hold of any information because of the fact she was raised in New Mexico. There were not many officials willing to help him out at all.

All he managed to find out was a name of somebody who worked at the adoption agency in New Mexico where Reyes was taken. He spent all afternoon trying to call her and then he finally got through to her house in California.

"Mrs. Roseanne Gregson?"

"Yeah, who is this?"

"Mrs. Gregson, my name is Fox Mulder... I work for the FBI and I was wondering if you could help me out with some information."

"What kind of information?"

"Do you remember working at an adoption agency in New Mexico about thirty-one years ago?"

"Yes I do, I worked there for forty-five years before they finally made me retire three years ago and I moved out here to California. Beautiful place, have you ever been?"

"Yes I have..."

"Well where are you living at the moment?"

"Washington."

"Oh, Washington DC, so you work in the J. Edgar Hoover building?"

"Yes ma'am, look, I'm trying to track down some information on a four year old that you would have seen thirty-one years ago."

"Thirty-one years ago? That's going back a little, I'm seventy-three years old, and I don't know that I'll be able to help you much."

"This girl was adopted and raised as Monica Reyes, she was found in a field and you met her from the hospital after she was treated for her injuries..."

"Oh sure, I remember her, real shaken up she was, but I didn't really see that much of her, she was snapped up real quick by the Reyes family. Seemed happy with them too. It was December '73 if I remember correctly."

"Do you know what date exactly?"

"No sorry, but if you call the agency and give them your badge number I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you out, or get the Reyes girl, well woman now I assume, to call them. They'll give her any information you want to get."

"Ok. Well thank you for your time Mrs. Gregson."

"Anytime Agent Mulder."

Mulder hung up the phone and called the hospital that Reyes had been taken to at four years old and was lucky enough to speak to someone who didn't ask for a badge number as he gave Mulder the exact date that she was admitted, and he was faxed a copy of her medical examination. As he took the piece of paper from the machine he sat back down in William's nursery to look at everything he had found so far:

Reyes was admitted to the hospital on December 10th 1973.

She was four years old and taken home with her adoptive parents five days later.

Roseanne Gregson dealt with her case at the adoption agency.

A Dr. Ross treated her at the hospital but had left six years ago.

As he looked at the dates and names in front of him something that he hadn't noticed before jumped out to his attention. There were striking resemblances here to his own sister's disappearance. He read and re-read all the information he had and he picked up the copy of Reyes medical exam to look closer at what was written. He felt a lump appear in his throat and his heart began to race as he read what he knew so well to be tell tale signs of abductions.

Reyes had been abducted. Two weeks before she turned up in New Mexico his sister had been taken, and never found, Reyes was adopted so fast that there was no chance anybody looking for her in Massachusetts, where his sister had been taken, was going to find her. He couldn't believe it. He was so shocked by it that he couldn't move or even begin to think about what this all meant. It didn't matter to him that Monica had been only four and his sister eight, Monica was abandoned, it was entirely plausible that they had been mistaken in how old Monica really was, she could have been a young looking eight year old.

But it made sense to him, and he could now answer the question that had been driving him crazy for six months, why he and Scully had been safe to come back. And now he knew the answer. He and Scully were safe now because there was another member of the Mulder family working on the x-files.

*Chapter 6*

Scully made more of an effort when she got dressed than she had done in a long time. Nothing had made her want to care about her appearance or worry what people thought about how she looked until she faced the prospect of coming face to face with the man that may help her win her son back. Mulder had been dressed for an hour, he was wearing a suit and tie and he looked incredibly handsome. The night before he had been very quiet and withdrawn, and Scully had put it down to nerves about the meeting with the lawyer. She was nervous too, but she couldn't help letting herself feel a little excited too.

She knew it was foolish to get her hopes up but Mulder had been so positive and sure about this whole thing that she couldn't help but begin to have some of his faith. As they drove to the address Mulder had written down they didn't say anything, but Mulder held Scully's hand as soon as they arrived and he didn't let go once. He maintained a constant touch on her, as if he wanted to make sure she was really there and he wasn't hallucinating. As they were called into a Mr. Collin Winter's office they both took a deep breath and walked inside.

They sat down as Mr. Winter's offered them a seat and he smiled at them both clearly knowing that it was a terrifying thing to sit looking at a lawyer and know that your fate lies in their hands.

"So, I briefly spoke with you Mr. Mulder yesterday, and you must be Mrs. Mulder?"

Scully blushed and Mulder smiled.

"We're not actually married."

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume. But you are both the biological parents of William Van De Kamp aged two years and four months?"

Scully could only nod through the struggle of keeping her tears back. Mr. Winters saw her upset and handed her a tissue. Mulder took the lead, he realized that it was his job to, he was the man, he was the one who was supposed to be strong and help Scully through this.

"I'm sorry to have to go through these details with you when I can see how painful it is, but I do need to get into the personal lives of you both, this will only get harder."

"We know. We just want our son back."

Mr. Winters nodded smiling at Mulder's reply to him. It was as if that were his test to see how committed to this Mulder and Scully were, they had obviously passed, as he was happy to continue.

"Ok so, how long have the two of you been together?"

"We've known each other for ten years. We worked together for seven years."

"And how long have you been romantically involved?" Scully blushed again but she was prepared to input here, she had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Almost four years."

Mulder smiled and looked at Scully. He could see exactly why Collin Winters had thought they were married. They had been in love for a lot longer, but it was almost four years ago that they took the next step in their relationship, and they had William as a sign of that.

"Ok, and what was the reason that you decided to give your son up for adoption?"

Only Scully could answer this one, but how? She couldn't exactly say that she was struggling being a single mother and protecting her son from alien super soldiers whilst her partner was on the run from this same group of men.

"It was my decision. I was alone whilst Fox was trying to settle some personal matters, and we had no idea if we would ever see each other again. There were threats made on William's life, he was kidnapped once and I couldn't risk losing him again, so I let him go for his own safety."

"And did you contact Fox to talk with him about this?"

"No. I did it without telling him, I didn't know where he was, I didn't even know if he was alive."

"So there were no guarantees that you would all come together to be a family again?"

"No."

"And Mr. Mulder, you had no idea that your son was being adopted until how long after the adoption had gone through?"

Mulder paused for a second as he remembered the talk Skinner had sat him down for to tell him that strangers were bringing up his son and that it had almost killed Scully to let him go.

"About a month."

"But you didn't fight the adoption right away, why was that?"

Scully squirmed in her seat and Mulder could see how uncomfortable all of these questions were making her. It also didn't give them much credibility to be sitting here with no valid reason as to why they haven't tried to get their son back until over a year since his adoption.

"We had been on the run."

Scully looked at Mulder as he spoke. She was hoping he would come up with an answer, but not that answer.

"We were working on a case for the FBI, and I had been caught in the cross fire which is why I had to leave Dana and my son, I was then charged for the murder of a man that was later proven to still be alive, but as Dana had helped me fight the case with some of our colleagues from the bureau we had to lay low until it was safe to come home."

"I see."

Scully was furious. This man was going to laugh them out of his office; he was never going to help them get their son back after hearing the kind of life they had been living.

"Well, that's certainly some adventure you've been on. Now, are you both still at the FBI?"

"I work at Quantico teaching."

"And I am currently unemployed, I'm hoping to become a stay at home dad."

Scully looked at Mulder again and where as she was completely taken a back by this it gave her a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest, and Mr. Winters was clearly happier about this than the two of them on the run.

"Well the fact that the two of you are out of the bureau, will definitely work in your favor due to the unstable and unpredictable lives you led whilst being Federal Agents. Also, Mr. Mulder, you never legally gave up your paternal rights as you knew nothing about the adoption until it was too late, which means that you have a claim over your son by law. I'll take your case, but it isn't going to be easy. A letter will be posted out to the Van De Kamp's this afternoon informing them that we wish to fight the adoption."

Reyes was just about to follow Doggett to yet another meeting with Skinner when the phone in their office rang. She answered it and Doggett turned to wait for her.

"Agent Reyes there's a woman named Roseanne Gregson who would like to talk to you, can I put her through?"

"Who is she?"

"I don't know, she was asking for an Agent Mulder saying that he called her yesterday, and then asked if there was perhaps an Agent Reyes she could talk to."

"Oh. Well, put her through."

Doggett sat down on the edge of his desk as Reyes took the call and he kept looking at his watch knowing how pissed Skinner would be if they were late to his office.

"Agent Reyes?"

"Yes speaking, who am I talking to?"

"Oh I'm so glad you work there, I'd have been distraught if I couldn't find you. My name is Roseanne Gregson, you won't remember me but I dealt with your adoption thirty-one years ago."

"Why are you calling me?"

"I was looking for Agent Mulder, but that young man has just informed me that there is no Agent Mulder at the FBI."

"There used to be, he left several years ago, why did you want to talk to him?"

"He called me yesterday to talk to me about you and your adoption, and whether I knew what exact date you turned up, I wasn't much help but I was calling him back to tell him something I remembered last night."

"What did you remember, Mrs. Gregson?"

"I remembered that I hadn't told him about the terrible scarring that you had, I didn't know if it was relevant, but he said he was trying to track down your birth parents and I thought that maybe if they were abusive towards you it would narrow his search a little."

"I see."

"I do hope I didn't say too much, but he shouldn't have tricked me into thinking he worked for the FBI, I believed him, why shouldn't I have? In my day people were honest about their professions, it's the government that people are ashamed of working for. No offence."

"None taken. Look I have to go, thank you for your call, Mrs. Gregson, and if an Agent Mulder calls you again could you please not talk with him but call me at this number?"

"Sure, anything I can do to help the FBI. So good to know you're doing well Monica, take care."

Mrs. Gregson hung up the phone and Reyes turned to look at Doggett who had patiently sat and waited for her. He looked concerned as he saw her tearful eyes and he walked over to her panicked.

"Monica? What is it?"

"The son of a bitch..."

*Chapter 7*

Reyes was pacing the floor in Doggett's apartment and couldn't decide if she was more upset or angry. She had trusted Mulder with personal information that she had only ever shared with a small group of people and he had abused that knowledge to get at her past. Why? What did he think he was doing? If he thought he was doing her a favor he had another thing coming. She had wanted so badly for Mulder and Scully to get William back so that he could grow up knowing that his parents loved him and hadn't abandoned him at the first sign of trouble. She had not thought about her birth parents in years, there was no reason for her to, she did not care where they were or who they were, it was of no concern to her, and it certainly didn't concern Fox Mulder.

She had explained to Doggett what the woman on the phone had told her and he sent her to his place saying he'd tell Skinner she wasn't well and he'd come straight home after the meeting. He was trying to be supportive and stay calm in front of her, but inside he was a ticking bomb. This time Mulder had gone too far and if he saw him whilst he was this angry he wouldn't make it in one piece any further through his life. He had no right to screw with people's lives like this.

When he got home Doggett went inside and found Reyes in the kitchen cooking with Oliver asleep around her legs. He smiled when he saw her and she tried to smile back.

"Did you call him?"

"Yeah. There was nobody home. I've been calling all afternoon and there's no reply, the longer I leave it the less pissed off I'm gonna be."

"Well there's no danger of him not knowing how pissed I am with him."

Reyes smiled and walked over to Doggett with the dog following her as she'd woken him up. She inserted herself into the curves of his body and held him close and he pulled her against him hoping it was helping her a little.

"I love you so much John."

"I know, and I love you too, are you ok?"

"I don't know."

Doggett kissed the top of her head and they just stood for a while holing onto something that made them happy. Oliver fell asleep around the two of them and was quickly developing a habit of lying down in the most inconvenient of places.

After they had eaten Doggett and Reyes sat down on his couch with a glass of wine each and cuddled up in front of the fire as the rain hit the windows hard. Reyes had calmed down and as much as she had hoped to talk to Mulder whilst she was at her full rage mode, she knew that nothing would come of a yelling match, so it was better that she was calm enough to talk and not shout. She wasn't sure if Doggett felt the same though. He already had a hard enough time making himself like Mulder, but when Mulder gave no reason for anybody to want to be friends with him how could he be surprised when people gave him the cold shoulder?

Reyes half wanted to just ignore him altogether and cut off all ties to Mulder, it wasn't as if Scully was making any effort to be friends with she or Doggett anymore, so they wouldn't lose anything. Mulder was still well known throughout the FBI as the man that almost tore the whole government organization down, and nobody thought he was clever or brave for doing it, they all thought he was an idiot to have risked his and Scully's lives for what they could all only see as a waste of time. Over the last ten years things had changed and it wasn't that people didn't believe everything that Fox 'Spooky' Mulder had been saying, it was that they didn't see a point in trying to punish the government for doing their job.

Doggett got up to do the dishes and left Reyes sitting and thinking in his living room.

He wanted so badly to go and see Mulder right now and tell him to stay the hell away from her, but he knew that he ran the risk of pissing off Reyes if he did this so he left it all in his imagination to think about how satisfactory it would be to punch his lights out. When Doggett went back into the living room Reyes had fallen asleep with the dog sitting next to her where Doggett had been sitting before. He put a blanket over her and left her to sleep whilst he took the dog for a walk.

For the first time in six months Scully was enjoying her job, and she had even called her mother to go for lunch so she could tell her what had happened with the lawyer. She had told her they had an appointment, but it had taken her almost ten minutes to stop crying after initially hearing that Mulder and Scully were going to try and get her grandson back. At lunch Mrs. Scully was pleased to see her daughter smiling for a change, but she did worry that she was getting her hopes up a little.

"Dana, please be careful."

"Mom..."

"I know, I know, I'm just overreacting and worrying about nothing. But I can't see you get hurt again."

"I know mom, and I wont. I know this isn't going to be easy, but I would rather try and lose than not try at all."

"Are you sure?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm sure. He's my son."

"I know. What does Fox think about all of this?"

"I told you, it was his idea, he was the one who took the first step."

"And have you talked about getting married?"

"Mom!"

"Well..."

"No we haven't."

"It couldn't hurt your case to show that you're committed to each other."

"We are committed to each other, we don't need to get married to show people that."

"You do to show the courts."

"Mom Mulder and I have known each other for over ten years. And we have never in those ten years betrayed or not trusted each other. I don't need to get married to know that I'll be with him until I die."

"Well that's all very romantic, but if you got married, in court they could see that you really are in this for good."

"Can we please change the subject?"

Mrs. Scully smiled and nodded her head, and proceeded to ask her daughter how work was. As they spent the rest of their lunch date talking about the mundane things in life, it was obvious to both that all the other could think about was the possibility of getting William back.

*Chapter 8*

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I have to do something or God knows what he'll start doing poking around in my personal life."

"Ok. Well I'll follow up the lead on that case we were lookin' at, and I'll leave you to talk to him."

"You're not staying?"

"In all honesty if I did I don't think I could keep my hands to myself, and I don't mean that in the way that I usually can't keep my hands to myself when we're at work."

Reyes laughed and kissed Doggett before they opened their office door and walked inside. They were both surprised to see Mulder standing waiting for them both. He smiled when he saw them and Doggett felt his blood boil. He handed Reyes his cup of coffee and tried to make excuses to leave.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you both."

"About what?"

"Well Scully and me have got a lawyer and we're fighting the adoption of William."

The last thing Doggett and Reyes wanted was to spoil hearing great news like that, but Mulder still needed bringing down a peg or two.

"And I was hoping that when we eventually get to court the two of you would be character witnesses? We're gonna need all the help we can get, and you both helped with William so much before, I know it'd do our case the world of good if you'd be there."

"I don't believe this."

Doggett turned and walked out without saying another word and Reyes looked over at Mulder who looked confused as to why Doggett was being more unreceptive towards

him than usual. Reyes sat down behind her desk and also didn't talk to Mulder. He started to feel paranoid, which was a feeling he knew all to well from being in this office.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"I don't think so."

"So why do I get the feeling that something isn't quite right here?"

"Maybe because you're intuitive."

"So there is a problem?"

Reyes looked up from the office mail she was opening and looked at Mulder.

"Yeah, there's a problem. Does the name Roseanne Gregson mean anything to you?"

Mulder knew the name right away, what he was afraid of finding out was how Reyes knew he'd know who she was.

"Yeah I know the name..."

"And why is that exactly?"

"I called her, she was helping me out with something."

"The something where you think you have the right to interfere in my life?"

"I wasn't interfering, I was trying to help."

"How exactly? You had no right to poke around in my private life, I told you about my adoption in the hope that it would convince you to fight for William, and I am so glad that it has done that, but why did you have to sneak around and look into my personal history like that? It's none of your God damn business."

"I know, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Do you know how uncomfortable I get about this? Do you have any idea? No, you don't. Because little Fox Mulder was brought up by his mom and dad and had the upbringing that any kid would jump at the chance of. Don't suddenly assume that you're an expert on adoption and adopted kids just because your own son was adopted. He's two years old, he wont even recognize you when he sees you and maybe not even Scully, why don't you try focusing your time on that rather than thinking you can do me some great favor."

"I just don't understand how you can live not knowing who you are or where you come from."

"I'm Monica Reyes, and I grew up New Mexico with two loving parents who are still married and still live in my home town in the house I grew up in, I know who I am and I know exactly where I come from. Now get the hell out of my office and don't show your face down here again or I'll have security throw your ass out so fast you wont know you've hit the ground."

Reyes stared at Mulder with a glare that was so fierce he could feel the daggers hitting him and he slowly turned to leave. Before he did he put an envelope down on her desk and looked at her.

"Just look at them."

Mulder walked out and as he opened the door Doggett was stood on the other side. He tried to act as if he had just arrived and hadn't been listening but he didn't even convince himself let alone anybody else. Mulder left and Doggett walked inside and straight over to Reyes as she cried again and held onto Doggett who had become her security blanket. She looked at the envelope Mulder had left and she threw it in the bin.

Scully opened the front door and called out for Mulder but there was no reply. She un-packed the shopping she had done into the cupboards in the kitchen and decided to run herself a bath. It was the first time in months that she had been home from work before seven and she was hoping that Mulder would have been in so they could spend the evening together. She also wanted to try and think of a way to contact Reyes and Doggett.

She had stayed away from them because they reminded her of all the bad things that she had to get through over the past few years, but now that things were looking up she owed them both an apology for letting herself get so wrapped up in the past that she forgot she could make herself the future she chose to have. She knew that Doggett and Reyes had been dating for a while and she hadn't even congratulated them on that or told them how happy she was for them. Doggett was a sweetheart, and always a gentleman, and Reyes was perfect for him.

She suddenly wished that Mulder were home so that they could maybe call and ask Doggett and Reyes to come round. Maybe they could arrange for them to come over at the weekend for dinner.

What alarmed Scully the most about herself was that even if she didn't win custody of William with Mulder, she did have other reasons to live, and she couldn't continuously dwell on everything that had happened to her that made her feel as if she had nothing to live for. If they lost William for good she would have to face the reality that she would possibly never see her son ever again, but she had been away from him for over a year already, and it had got a little easier. She just had to be strong; she always had to be strong.

Mulder walked into the apartment and wanted so badly to talk to Scully about what he'd found out about Reyes' past. But he didn't know how she'd react to it. He knew she understood what his sister meant to him, but over three years ago he had told her that he believed Samantha was dead and he was prepared to believe that this was true, he had finally been free of the constant questions and the wondering. Not knowing had always been harder than finding her dead or alive, but now there were more questions.

He had left some pictures with Reyes of the house he and Samantha had been in the night she was taken, he had hoped that she would look at them and that they might make her remember something or that they might look familiar to her, but he had heard nothing from her since she threw him out of the office that morning. He wasn't holding much hope of anything coming from this. Maybe he would just have to let it go; maybe he was completely out of line and just clutching at straws. It could quite easily be made to look like he was afraid of not getting William back so he was looking for the other person he loved and lost. Whatever the reasons were for what he had found and what he now believed he had to either let it go or find concrete evidence to prove what he was saying.

Mulder didn't talk to Scully about what he had found. They talked about William again and Scully told him about her lunch with her mother. He felt bad because he was only half listening but he hadn't seen Scully this animated about her life in years, it was a glorious sight to see, he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize that.

*Chapter 9*

Mulder lay low for the next couple of days. He didn't want to risk the chance of bumping into Reyes or Doggett, and he was happy to stay at home and play house for Scully. He had put up the Christmas tree one day whilst she was at work and he decorated the apartment so much it looked like Santa's Grotto. Scully loved it and was relieved that she hadn't had to struggle to put the star on the top of the tree. She made more of an effort to get home from work earlier so that she could be with Mulder and they could be like any other couple that are in love.

She was happy, and she was sure that Mulder was happy too. But she didn't know what he was hiding from her, and she didn't know that he had a flight to Massachusetts booked for the next day. He had decided to pursue his suspicions on Reyes true identity and until someone could prove to him that she wasn't his sister he was not going to dismiss the idea.

Reyes and Doggett had finally agreed that their parents would come and stay at Doggett's place for New Years. His house was a lot bigger than Reyes' apartment and they could easily find places for everyone to sleep. Doggett's parents could have his bed, and Reyes' could have the bed in the spare room, and Doggett and Reyes would share the sofa. Reyes wasn't convinced that it would go down well with her parents if she was shacked up on the sofa with a man, but there were few alternatives as the one thing both she and Doggett could agree on was that they wanted to be together for the New Year.

It was the day of their first anniversary, dating, and Doggett had made a reservation in the most expensive restaurant in the city. He hadn't told Reyes where they were going, he just told her to dress up and that he would pick her up in a taxi at seven. She was so excited that the day couldn't have gone fast enough and she spent almost two hours getting ready which was not like her at all. She never had much occasion to dress up glamorously but she decided that just this once she would allow herself to push the boat out and make an effort.

She was wearing a long black dress that reached her ankles, it had thin straps that fell perfectly on her shoulders and she had a white wrap around her shoulders to protect her a little from the cold night. She spent almost an hour working on her hair alone, but she thought it had been worth it when she caught her reflection in the mirror before answering the door to Doggett.

"Wow, I'm sorry, I was supposed to be picking up Monica Reyes, is she home?"

Reyes smiled embarrassed and Doggett stepped inside to kiss her. "You look amazing Monica."

"You don't look too bad yourself."

Doggett's blue eyes were glowing at the sight of her and Reyes could feel her heart racing. She loved this man more than anything in the world; it felt like magic to know that he felt exactly the same way.

Doggett could barely keep his eyes off of Reyes during the drive to the restaurant, but it was totally worth it as he saw the look on her face when she realized where they were going. They got out of the car and Reyes' face lit up as she and Doggett walked inside. She had never seen anything like it. Everybody turned to look at them walk in, and it was blatantly obvious when all the men stared at Reyes and all the women stared at Doggett. Reyes giggled to herself and Doggett took her hand and kissed her.

"Happy anniversary Monica."

They were shown to their table and seated by their waiter. They were offered the wine list and Doggett ordered a bottle of champagne, not the most expensive one on the menu, but it wasn't the cheapest either. They tried to make conversation but they barely spoke to each other once they had ordered their starters and main meals. They just held each other's hand and stared into one another's eyes. They didn't care who saw them, or what everyone around must have thought as two fully-grown adults were making puppy-dog eyes at each other, because they were in love, and nothing mattered apart from that simple fact.

The meals were delicious, and they each tried some of the others food and agreed that their own choice was the best. They talked a little whilst they ate, a little about work, a little about Scully and William and the news that they were trying to get William back. They also talked about their families and how each family had taken the news of where they were spending New Years. Doggett's family were fine with it, they had met Reyes before, and Doggett's mother was delighted that her eldest son was finally settling down with someone and wasn't going to be alone.

Reyes' mother had taken on a slightly different attitude and was a little concerned about her daughter having to sleep on the sofa with 'this John Doggett', who hadn't bothered to meet her parents in the year they had dated. The main reason for this was that Reyes had prevented any kind of meeting at all costs. Her father would more than likely think that Doggett was great, but her mother was fussy and would only want the very best for Reyes, all Reyes had to do was convince her mother that she had met the very best.

After they had eaten they both looked at the desert menu but decided that they would prefer to go home for desert. Doggett paid for everything and Reyes called for a taxi to take them back to Doggett's place. It had been a wonderful evening and Reyes was sure that this restaurant must have been on wheels because it was so beautiful that she couldn't imagine it always being here and be in all of the fairy tale stories she knew she had seen the building in.

As she and Doggett made their way up to his bedroom, the dog sat patiently at the door expecting one of them to come back down and take him for a walk. But after twenty minutes, Oliver went to his basket in the kitchen and gave up on the hope of an evening walk. Reyes and Doggett had no intention of getting up, or going back down the stairs for anything. They were in bed holding each other and caressing each other and after making love they both knew that this was what they were living for. This was why they had been born into this world, for that exact moment lying together in bed. This was exactly how it was all supposed to be.

*Chapter 10*

Doggett kissed Reyes as she lay sleeping beside him; he wanted her to wake up. When she finally opened her eyes it was with a great smile and a kiss to return the few dozen Doggett had given her to wake her up. It was snowing. Doggett had wanted her to see the snow falling against the window. It was beautiful.

"This is so perfect. I wish every morning was like this."

Doggett looked down at Reyes, as she lay snuggled in his arms under the covers watching the snow hit his bedroom window.

"So let's make every morning like this."

"What do you mean?"

"Move in with me."

Reyes turned over and looked into Doggett's eyes. She had half expected him to be smiling, or even holding back laughter, but he was completely straight faced.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, why the hell not? I love you, I don't want to keep picking you up from your place and driving to work."

"Well then I'll pick you up for a change."

"Monica..."

"No I know, but John, are you really sure that this is what you want?"

"Yes. More than anything. What do you want?"

Reyes looked back to the window and the snow had stopped falling. It was almost as if the snow was holding it's breath for her answer. The snow was waiting for her to move in with her boyfriend. She looked back over at him and turned completely round so that she was facing him. She kissed him and pulled him closer to her, they

held each other under the covers and Reyes whispered into Doggett's ear.

"I want to live with you."

He briefly lifted up his head to smile at her and then he kissed her repeatedly until they were both sure that they would be in bed celebrating their news for quite some time...

Mulder looked at the ring in its tiny black box and smiled. This was going to be perfect. He and Scully were going out for dinner on Christmas Eve, and he was going to ask her to marry him. He knew that it was going to work out, and he knew that it would be that last token to Scully to prove to her how much she meant to him. And he was so sure that they would get William back that he couldn't help but see himself in a years time as a married man looking forward to celebrating Christmas with his wife and son.

He had bought the ring on the way to the airport and throughout his flight he just kept whipping it out and looking at it, he tried to picture Scully's face when she saw it, he hoped she liked it, but he had checked that he could change it if she didn't like it, it had to be perfect.

His flight landed at midday, he was due to get on a flight back at six the same day. He was sure that it would be enough time. He had called social services in his home town to see if there were any reports that fit the description of Reyes or his sister, and he had been told that three days before Reyes turned up in New Mexico someone fitting her description had been found wandering around in the streets wearing her nightgown. The girl had been taken into care and then disappeared late one evening from her room before anyone got to her to see if she fit any of the missing persons descriptions.

She had never been seen again, so Mulder contacted the local police to check how far they searched for someone when they went missing. The man he spoke to said they get neighboring states to keep their eyes open and send descriptions to most states further a field, but that back in the seventies it was all anybody could do to have enough resources to find someone missing in the state they lived in.

As much as this angered Mulder, it didn't disprove his theory. If nobody had looked for his sister anywhere but Massachusetts, and possibly New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York then there was more than a small chance that Samantha could have been dropped in New Mexico after her abduction. It wasn't written in any abduction law that when a person is abducted they are always returned to the place they were taken from, there were many cases that he had investigated himself where the abductee had been dropped in a completely different state and had no recollection of how they got there or how long they had been gone for.

Mulder truly believed that he had enough proof now to go back to Reyes and get her to listen to him. He would also have to tell Scully what he had found. But the only way he could find out now for sure was if Reyes agreed to a DNA test to prove whether she was biologically related to Mulder or his parents. He didn't know what he would want the results to be because whenever he had dreamt of finding his sister he had always expected her to be able to remember him and their parents, if Reyes was Samantha, she had no idea of that fact and it was going to prove incredibly difficult for Mulder to get her to believe what he could show her.

*Chapter 11*

Mulder got home just before ten, Scully wasn't home, he knew she was going to be out for the night because she had gone to visit her brother, Bill Jr, who absolutely hated Mulder with every fiber of his being. He had decided to tell Scully tonight, to tell her that he was almost certain Monica Reyes was in fact Samantha Mulder.

When Scully got home it was late and she was tired, so when Mulder asked her to sit down because there was something he needed to talk to her about she wasn't in the mood for a lengthy conversation but he assured her all she had to do was listen.

"Mulder, I'm tired, I have to get up and finish buying Christmas gifts in the morning, why can't this wait?"

"Just sit down and listen, please."

Scully sat down and yawned as Mulder began his big speech.

"Ok, you know that Monica Reyes was adopted when she was four years old?"

"I knew she was adopted, I'd never asked at what age."

"Well, she was supposedly four, and she turned up in a hospital in New Mexico with no I.D. or knowledge of who she was or where she had come from on December 10th 1973, when she was given a medical exam small scars were found on her wrists and knees, but it was put down to abuse, and she was adopted before anybody could make any kind of guess as to where she had come from or what had happened to her."

"Mulder, aside from making me feel as if you've been prying into Agent Reyes' personal life, is there some other point to what you're saying?"

"You don't see it do you? Reyes turned up in hospital exactly two weeks after my sister had been taken from our house, three days before Reyes was in New Mexico a girl of her description turned up walking down the street in her nightgown in my home town, but she disappeared before anybody could try and find out who she was. Don't you see? Monica is Samantha. She's my sister."

Scully sat back in her chair and rubbed her head as if the last two minutes had thrown a migraine on her and she was struggling to take in everything that Mulder had said. "Mulder, tell me this is a joke, that you haven't been doing research on Monica's private life?"

"I had to! I asked her about adoption to get things in motion to get William back and from what she told me I was able to piece things together and I made some calls, and don't you see, it all fits!"

"Mulder all I see is a man that told me he believed that his sister was dead, you haven't pieced together anything factual, you've made a pretty picture with things that that you wish would fit together. Monica Reyes was born in New Mexico, I know that much for sure!"

"How?"

"Because I did a background check on her when she and I first met, and then a did even more checking up on her when she was assigned to the x-files. Plus, she was four years old Mulder, Samantha was eight."

"I know, but there was no I.D., they could have been wrong, they could have guessed that she was four."

"Mulder! Will you listen to what it is your saying! There is no way that Monica Reyes is your sister! Nobody would confuse an eight year old as a four year old!"

"But she had been abducted, they could have done anything to change her appearance."

"Oh I see, so now the aliens have found a way to make us look younger than we really are? Well when I hit my fifties, remind to put a call out so they can fix me up!"

"You're not taking me seriously at all are you?"

"No! And I can't believe you're expecting me to! Jesus Mulder, why are you even doing this? Isn't fighting for William a big enough battle without this BS."

"It's not BS."

"Well I'm sorry but I disagree. And if you even think about talking to Monica about this you can forget all about William and I."

"You'd never win him back without me."

"Don't try me Mulder. Let this go, or let William go. I mean it."

"How can you even make me choose?"

"I just did."

Scully stood up and went into the bedroom. She didn't close the door, which Mulder knew meant that he was welcome to join her, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to. He

wanted Scully to support him not make him choose between either getting his sister or his son back. He'd just have to prove it to them all, it was his only option, but he was in this alone.

As Scully walked through the busy department stores she was angry that she couldn't concentrate on what she needed to buy. It was December 22nd and there was so much she had to do in preparation for Christmas that Mulder's news couldn't have come at a worse time. She couldn't believe he would be so stupid, this was a little far fetched even for him, the master of paranoia and extreme possibilities, well this was too extreme. Monica barely looked her age as it was, if Mulder was right she'd be almost forty, it wasn't possible. Scully wanted to call Reyes and check that Mulder hadn't been in contact about this whole situation, she had been hoping to make things up with Doggett and Reyes not push them further away with revelations from Mulder.

Scully was in such a world of her own that she didn't even notice that Doggett was

standing beside her, but he was so preoccupied by the two necklaces in his hands that he didn't see her either. It was only when they turned to each other to walk in the opposite directions that they saw each other.

"Dana, hi!"

"John, how are you?"

Doggett gave Scully a hug, which she hadn't been expecting, but it made her smile.

"I'm great, although the quicker I get out of this store the better."

"I know the feeling, you're not working today?"

"Monica's covering for me, I told her I had to by my ma' a gift, but really I wanted to come and get Mon a necklace I saw her looking at last week, but I can't remember which one it was, what do you think?"

Scully smiled at Doggett's enthusiasm, she had known him to be so serious and professional all the time, it was a refreshing change to see him so loose and happy with himself.

"I was really pleased to hear that you and Monica were seeing each other."

Doggett looked at Scully and smiled. Once upon a time he had harbored a crush on Scully, but it was ancient history, Reyes had made that clear to him.

"Thanks, I can't believe it took me so long to take my head out of my ass and see that she was the one for me."

"It's great news, it really is."

"It isn't great news that we've got both our sets of parents coming to stay at my place for New Years."

"Full house."

"Yeah. How about you, how's things?"

"Oh you know."

"Mulder mentioned you were fighting for William, I think its terrific Dana, Monica and I were so pleased."

"Thanks."

Doggett could see in Scully's eyes that she knew about Mulder prying into Monica's personal life, but he didn't know whether to mention it or not. He didn't have to, he was happy to pretend that it hadn't happened, he valued Scully's friendship; it was just bad luck that he didn't value the man she was living with.

"Well, I should hurry and choose one of these things or Monica'll kill me for bein' late."

"Sure, it was good to see you."

"Yeah, you too."

Scully turned to walk away but couldn't fight the urge she had to tell Doggett about Mulder's wild theories. Maybe if he knew he could make sure that Mulder stayed away from Reyes.

"John, there's something I should talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"It's Mulder, he's been looking into Monica's adoption..."

"Yeah, we know. He has some crazy notion that he can reunite her with her birth parents, but all due respect Dana, it's none of his God damn business."

"I know, and it's more than that. He thinks... Well, he's getting ideas that... That Monica might be his sister."

"Excuse me?"

"He thinks that the circumstances around Monica's adoption are similar to his sister's disappearance, he isn't going to let this go John, just make sure that he doesn't upset Monica ok?"

"What the hell does he think he's doing?"

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I thought you should know."

"I can't believe the son of a bitch is still looking into this!"

"I'm trying to get him to stop, but I don't know if it'll work."

"Yeah, well I'm sure I can think of one or two things that'll make him drop it!"

Scully didn't like the sound of any violence, but she knew that Mulder was out of line and found it hard to not sympathize with Doggett and Reyes. Just when things had been looking up for Mulder and Scully, he had to go and do something to make life difficult for them again. She was almost convinced he thrived on the trauma of problems and threats.

"I should go, take care John."

Scully turned away again, but Doggett grabbed her arm.

"Dana, you sure you're ok?"

"Me? I'm fine, I always am." Doggett smiled and let her arm go and she smiled back.

"Take care Dana."

"You too, say hi to Monica for me. Oh and John, I'd go with that necklace."

Doggett laughed and Scully did the same. As she walked away she felt herself getting angry with Mulder again. Had he not got these ridiculous ideas in his head then her accidental meeting with Doggett could have been light-hearted and friendly, not hostile and angry as they discussed Mulder's incompetence at minding his own business.

*Chapter 12*

Reyes had picked up the phone and put it down half a dozen times before finally calling her mother to tell her that she was going to be moving in with Doggett. She had no idea how her mother would react, and a part of her thought she should wait until her parents came to stay at the New Year, she and Doggett had agreed to leave the move until Christmas and New Year were out of the way, but she couldn't wait that long to tell her mother she was going to be living with someone. She dialed the number and her father answered the phone.

She was glad because she knew her father wouldn't show much emotion over the phone, he would just hug Doggett and kiss him when he met him, she would forget to mention that to Doggett... Her mother was out, so she told her father her news and asked him to tell her mother. She felt a little as if she was copping out, but her father would know better how to hide from her mother if she was angry rather than Reyes have her shouting down the phone to her. Her father handled the news fine, he was happy for her, and he was looking forward to meeting John Doggett at New Years.

When she hung up the phone she sighed with relief and sat back into her chair. She looked at the clock and realized that Doggett should have been back an hour ago. She stood up and glanced down at the bin. The envelope that Mulder had left for her to look in was still in the bin. She hesitated for a long while before finally bending down and picking the envelope up. She took out the photographs and looked at them all several times. She didn't know what relevance they had or what reason Mulder had had for leaving them, but they meant nothing to her and she was sure that they must mean something to him. She was about to call him when Doggett walked in.

"Hey, you're late."

"I know, sorry, I bumped into Dana."

"Oh, how is she?"

"She's good. Having a few problems with Mulder, but then so would anybody that was dating that guy."

"Why what did she say?"

"It's nothing."

"Come on, what's going on?"

"Its just Mulder being a complete ass hole as usual. With this adoption crap."

"My adoption?"

"Yeah."

"Well what's he saying now?"

Doggett looked at Reyes and he had the solemn look in his eyes that Reyes hated because it was the look he gave her when he thought something he was about to say might upset or anger her.

"He's got some crazy theory that..."

"What?"

"That... you're his sister."

Doggett was sat studying the calendar on his desk. Christmas Day was on a Thursday, and he wasn't working, he also had the next day off, and New Years Eve and Day. But he had to work the weekend in order to get those holidays because he had been late booking them. When it had been holiday booking time he and Reyes had only been dating a few months and he didn't want to make any assumptions about what the two of them would be doing.

Reyes however had managed to get Christmas Day through New Years Day off work and would be breaking up on Christmas Eve until January 2nd 2004. He had thought about asking her to start packing her things whilst he was at work and she wasn't, but now that things had changed that wasn't going to happen.

After he had told Reyes what Scully had told him Reyes had left the office to see when she could on a flight to New Mexico. She was going to see her parents and ask them some questions that she had never wanted to ask them. But if Mulder was going to be this crazy about her origins, then she needed to know before he did. Doggett was fuming. Chances were that he and Reyes wouldn't be together for Christmas and he was finding it difficult to not beg Reyes to wait until her parents were in DC to ask them any questions that she had.

He knew that it was selfish of him to think like that, but he couldn't help it. Just that morning everything had been great. Reyes was moving in with him, they were spending Christmas and New Year together, he had bought her another nice gift to go with the ones he had already bought. He had never spent so much money on one person at Christmas. Not even when he had been married. But now his perfect Holiday was going to be ruined by Fox Mulder. The man that he hated, and now believed that he would always hate.

Doggett was yelling at somebody down the phone when Reyes walked into the office. He had his back to the door and didn't even notice anybody had walked in. After he had hung up the phone and cursed a few times Reyes walked right up to him and put her hands over his eyes from behind.

"Wow, is this an early Christmas present."

"No."

"Well, you wont be here Christmas Day, so are we doing gifts before or after?"

"I'm not going." Doggett took Reyes' hands down from his face and turned to face her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going, every flight to New Mexico is booked for Christmas and New Year, I never thought that so many people flew to New Mexico for the Holidays."

"You're really not going?"

"Really not going. I figured I'm not going to let Fox Mulder ruin my plans, I'll talk to my parents when they get here. Besides, there's someone that I should really stay in DC for."

"Oh yeah? Who's that?"

"Oliver. It's his first Christmas with us."

Reyes smiled and Doggett tried to look hurt but kissed her in stead. He didn't care why she was staying, the fact was she was staying.

*Chapter 13*

Mulder wanted to make things up to Scully. He had spent all afternoon cooking, something he wasn't known to be all that good at, she had been shopping and he knew she'd be tired, and that she'd have done all of the hard work for both of them to look like generous gift givers, he wanted to apologize for seeming crazy the night before about Reyes. He understood how it might look to someone on the outside, he just wanted her to support him until he knew for sure.

All he had to do was get Reyes to agree to a DNA test, it was no big deal. If they could just get that out of the way then they could either drop it, or deicide how it might change things. Scully had been right though. He was making life difficult. They had a big enough fight on their hands to get William back, why was he pursuing this now? He couldn't answer that question. He just knew that he had to know, one way or the other.

Scully hesitated before opening the door. She didn't want to fight with Mulder but if he even so much as mentioned Monica Reyes or his sister, she would not be able to contain her anger with him. She went into the apartment and was greeted by the smell of something good cooking in the kitchen. She went into the kitchen and admired Mulder in her 'something smells gooood' apron. She laughed to herself before making her presence noticed.

"Hey, how long have you been there?"

"Only a few seconds. Nice apron."

"Thanks. I thought it brought out the color of my eyes."

Scully laughed again. This was how it was always supposed to be, they should always be able to be this happy and at ease around each other. She put down her shopping bags and Mulder walked over to be nosey. Scully playfully slapped his hands.

"There's nothing in there for you."

"I hate it when people say that, there's obviously something in there for me or you wouldn't have told me that there wasn't, you'd have let me look for myself and see that there was nothing in the bags for me."

"My God Mulder, you have way too much time on your hands."

"I know. But I cooked."

"I see that. I'm impressed. I'm gonna take a shower."

"Ok, dinner will be about half an hour."

Scully walked into the bathroom and Mulder waited a few seconds before rustling around in the bags. Scully heard him and came back out to take the bags into the bedroom. She kissed Mulder as she took the bags away and he was happy with that if he wasn't going to get his presents yet.

Scully was impressed with Mulder's culinary skills. She never knew he could cook, but she knew now to remember that he could cook for future reference. She had made a firm decision not to bring up bumping into Doggett, it was not relevant to their evening and as it was it was turning into a pretty good evening. Mulder had clearly made an effort after their small fall out the night before, and she was glad that he had seen he was being unreasonable and that he needed to let his ridiculous theories drop. This was a good sign that he was prepared to do that.

"So, how was shopping?"

"Busy. But that's it, I have every gift I intended to buy, no more Christmas shopping for me this year."

"I didn't have any to do. I already had your gift, and that's it."

"Well count your blessings, shopping for your two brothers, their wives, your mother and two nephews is not easy."

"I'd rather that than shop for nobody."

Scully smiled. It was hard for Mulder being the only one in his family left. By rights he should have been able to buy gifts for his son and spoil him, but that wasn't going to happen, at least not this year. Mulder stood up to clear the table and Scully stood up and finished her drink as Mulder decided to talk about what she had convinced herself he wouldn't bring up again.

"So I was thinking, maybe I should go and see Agent Reyes tomorrow, if we can call a favor in somewhere, we could get the DNA test done before Christmas and find out by the New Year if I'm right."

"Mulder..."

"It's ok, I know you think that I'm crazy, I understand, but I can't let this go."

"Yes you can, if you really wanted to."

"Well then maybe I don't want to."

Scully shook her head in disbelief and Mulder stopped clearing up the plates.

"I cannot believe this. After everything we said last night. Is that what the meal was for? The great big fuss you're making of me, is it to soften me up and get me to support you in this?"

"I wanted to apologize for last night, and to help out by you not having to cook, and yes I wanted you to be a little more supportive."

"Jesus Mulder. I knew it, I knew that something wasn't right."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well Fox Mulder would never do something kind for anybody unless there was something in it for him too. Do you think that I'm that much of a push over? My thoughts on this stand as they were Mulder, you either let this go or you forget about William. I can't let you do this, Monica and John are my friends, I will not let you ruin their lives like you're ruining ours!"

"Oh I see. So I'm ruining our lives? Well correct me if I'm wrong, but you gave our son away! You took him away from me and now you're trying to take the chance my sister is alive away from me too! It's all about you isn't it Scully? Well not anymore! And with or without you I will get to the truth..."

"Because that's all you care about isn't it. You're not happy unless you're trying to uncover something, some God-awful truth. You were happier when we were in hiding than you are now that we're home!"

"And why do you think that is? My life had meaning when we were on the run! Now what does my life amount to? Nothing! And why do you think we were allowed to come back? Because there's another member of the Mulder family on the x-files that's why!"

"Mulder you're crazy!"

"No I'm not! I can't believe you wont support me in this. What happened to the Dana Scully that opened her mind and her eyes to the possibility of an extreme truth?"

"She got pissed off with her boyfriend's absurd theories."

"Oh ok, when all else fails turn back to science. That's a good little girl. Just like daddy would want you to."

"Get the hell out."

"What?"

"I said get out! Get out of my house and don't bother coming back!"

"Fine!"

Mulder threw a plate onto the floor and grabbed his jacket before storming out of the apartment and slamming the door closed behind him.

*Chapter 14*

Reyes had rushed round to Scully's apartment so fast that she could only just recall the journey. Scully had called her in such a state that she had jumped straight into her car and gone round to see her. She had to admit she was a little surprised to get Scully's call, they hadn't seen each other in such a long time that she was the last person she expected Scully to turn to in a crisis. But then there wasn't really anybody else that she could turn to.

Reyes parked up and went inside. She knocked on Scully's door and when no one answered she walked inside and called out for Scully. No one replied to her but as she went through the living room into the kitchen and saw the smashed plate, she heard muffled cries coming from a room she hadn't been in for a very long time.

"Dana, are you in here?"

Reyes walked in and saw Scully sitting in the dark by the window. She walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. Scully turned and looked up at her, and when Reyes saw how upset she was she crouched down level with her and held her as she cried. She had no idea what had happened but she could tell that it was big, and she didn't need to know why Mulder wasn't there. He had walked out. When Scully stopped crying she wiped away her tears and tried to smile at Reyes.

"I'm sorry Monica, I'm so sorry, I didn't know who else to call."

"Hey, it's ok. I'm glad you called me."

Scully tried to smile again, but it was a struggle for her, everything was going so wrong.

"We had a fight. A big fight."

"And he left?"

"I threw him out."

"Oh."

Scully turned back to the window and it was then that Reyes saw she was holding the teddy bear she remembered seeing in William's crib. She wanted to take her out of this room, if she was upset this was the last place she should be, but she couldn't just come out and say that.

"What did you argue about?"

"You mostly, his stupid notion that you're his sister."

Reyes didn't want to hear this, she wasn't the kind of person that liked to be in the middle of a families arguments. But she hadn't put those ideas in Mulder's head, he came up with it all by himself.

"We fought about William too, he said this was all my fault."

Scully began to cry again and Reyes stood her up and took her out of the nursery. They went into the living room and Reyes made some coffee. She sat down beside Scully who had calmed down upon leaving William's room and entering a room that was actually lit.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Am I supposed to support him in this?"

"You really think I'm the best person to be asking?"

"Good point. I'm so sorry to drag you into this, I haven't seen you in such a long time and now I call you because I'm a stupid mess."

"Hey it's ok, you needed time to adjust to being back, I understand that, John and I never expected anything from you, we were just so glad you could come home."

Scully managed a smile at this point and took a sip of her coffee. Somehow it magically calmed her down and she was able to process everything that she and Mulder had said without it making her want to cry. She briefly told Reyes everything they had said to each other, and Reyes was shocked that the pretty outside of Scully and Mulder's relationship didn't run all the way through. She thought they could survive anything, but clearly she was wrong.

Scully tried to make a point of saying that they had had much worse arguments over the years, and that the only reason this upset her more was because this was the first time they had really fought as a couple. And it was big. Reyes tried to help but wasn't much use because the way she was feeling she would have easily told Scully to forget him and move on. But she knew that they loved each other, and that they desperately wanted William back, she couldn't let them throw that away.

"It'll all work out."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's just a feeling I have. Like when John and I kissed for the first time, I knew that that was it, I was finally going to win him over. And a year later we're about to move in with each other."

"Wow, congratulations."

"Thanks. But we argue, all couples argue, it's just that not many couples have been through what you and Mulder have been through. So things are a little more intense for the two of you."

"I hope you're right. I really do."

Mulder hated sitting in the dark. He thought his sitting in the dark days were over. But no such luck. He tried to see what time it was but he couldn't get his wrist at an angle where he could read the time it was showing. He knew it must have been getting late. But he was still here, his office light was still on. When the door finally opened Mulder almost gave him a heart attack to see him sitting at his assistant's desk.

"Mulder what the hell are you doing in here?"

"Well Walter, I've been kicked out of my home."

"What? How did you even get in here?"

"You'd be amazed at the security employees you have in this building that will take a bribe to let you use the bathroom and then sneak up to your old bosses office. Still only an AD Skinner?"

"Mulder, get the hell out of here before you get kicked out."

"I got nowhere to go."

"What are you talking about? The last I heard you and Scully were living in her old apartment?"

"Yeah. That is correct. However, when you go and piss the woman off that you're living with, she tends to like to throw you out."

"She's got you well trained then."

"Very funny."

"Mulder, I still don't see why you're here?"

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"I think I have enough evidence to prove that Agent Reyes is my sister, Samantha. I just need a DNA test which she'll never agree to because she and Doggett hate me right now, so I was thinking that maybe you could help me get a little unauthorized DNA testing done."

"What evidence are you talking about?"

Mulder looked at Skinner and saw that he had the same look he had had for days. Skinner believed him. But why?

"What's going on? Why aren't you telling me I'm crazy like everyone else is?"

"Because I'm not stupid, but I may be paranoid, which I hold you completely accountable for. I've been trying to find out about Monica Reyes ever since you and Scully came back. If she's your sister then I think that's why you were allowed back."

"Because there's a Mulder on the x-files?"

"Yes. But they must have only just discovered it, so I want to know what they know."

"Oh I think we'd all like to know the truth with this one Walter."

*Chapter 15*

Doggett had been disappointed when Reyes said she couldn't make it round because Scully needed to see her. At first he had offered to go along, but Reyes had told him she could sense it was a woman's company that Scully needed, without offending him. He had spent the entire evening watching action movies on cable with Oliver. He had managed to stay awake until around 2am, but finally fell asleep on the sofa and stayed there until he woke up at around seven. He looked around him and took a few minutes to adjust his eyes before he smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

"I missed you. And after seeing a woman with major man troubles, I wanted to make sure that mine was ok."

"Your what?"

"My man."

Reyes smiled and sat down on the sofa beside Doggett who put his arm around her and pulled his blanket over them both.

"How was she?"

"Not good. But I think I know how I can help."

"How?"

"I'm going to have a DNA test to prove Mulder wrong so he can try and win Scully back."

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

"The way I see it is that Mulder is ruining his life by clinging to his past, Scully told me that he believed his sister was dead for three years until he got these crazy thoughts about me, so I know that I can put a stop to this."

"I just don't want this to become a big deal."

"It is a big deal. Scully threw Mulder out last night."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, if they stand a chance of getting William back it's only as a couple."

"Wait a minute, that's why you're doing this isn't it? So that they'll make up and get William back?"

"Would it be so terrible if that was my motive?"

"I guess not, but why?"

"Because when I think of all the crap that I'm getting from Mulder I think about that boy and what he might have to go through if he decides he wants to find his real parents one day. If I can help to get him home now and prevent any of this from happening to him then I'll do whatever it takes."

Doggett stroked a piece of hair behind Reyes ear and kissed her.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I lucked out."

Reyes smiled and closed her eyes feeling as if she could sleep until Christmas.

Scully went to work as normal. She wasn't going to let this get any more out of hand than it already had. She had persisted in double and triple checking with Reyes that she was ok with having a DNA test, it had been Reyes idea if that was all it was going to take to make Mulder forget about this sister thing then she would do it, Scully could have kissed her when she offered to do it.

They were going to wait until after the New Year because Reyes had more important things to do in the lead up to Christmas but if Mulder would just let this go they could concentrate on more important things. Like William. Scully felt so bad for having kicked him out, she had no idea where he could have spent the night and had half expected him to come home, or at least call her, but she heard nothing and was a little worried that something might have happened to him. But Mulder was a big boy now and he could take care of himself, she wasn't going to baby sit him anymore.

She called home at every chance she got to try and catch Mulder in the apartment, she left messages for him saying that she thought they needed to talk, but there was nothing from him all day. When her mother called her to check that she and Mulder were still going round for Christmas Day she said yes not even contemplating that she and Mulder would still not be talking by Christmas Day. If she hadn't heard from him by the time she got home she would have to go and look for him. It was cruel of him to avoid her if that's what he was doing, she deserved to know where he was, after all he had upset her in their argument just as much as she might have upset him.

Just as Scully was about to finish for the day she picked up her things and her phone

rang. She picked it up praying that it was Mulder but it wasn't.

"Ms Scully? Hi, it's Collin Winters here."

"Oh, hi, is there something wrong?"

"Not at all. I just thought that I'd call you and let you know that the Van De Kamps are going to fight you for custody, their lawyer contacted me today, and as the Christmas post is completely unreliable I thought I'd call you rather than risk sending it to you in writing."

"Thank you very much, umm, so what happens now?"

"Well, there'll be a preliminary court hearing, probably in mid to late January now, and from there a judge will decide whether the case goes forward and whether you and your partner have any claim over your son, as odd as that might sound."

"So for now we just sit and wait?"

"Afraid so. But don't worry, it's only just starting, so you've got a long road ahead of you."

"I understand. Thank you so much for calling."

"You're welcome. Merry Christmas, Ms. Scully."

Scully hung up the phone and sat back down in her chair. The Van De Kamps were fighting her to keep her son for themselves. It sounded so wrong in her head that she couldn't understand how it could possibly be legal. But right now, if she had no Mulder, then she had no son.

*Chapter 16*

Skinner flinched every time there was a knock on his door. He had let Mulder stay with him in his house the night before, and had snuck him into the FBI to show him what he had managed to find out about Reyes. It felt like old times, working behind the powers that be backs. Skinner hated it. But he had his own suspicions about Reyes and why it had been safe for Mulder and Scully to come home long before Mulder voiced his concerns.

Between them they had the same information, they just really needed Reyes to take a DNA test, and they were both concerned that she should move out of the x-files. If she was the reason the Super Soldiers had left, that wasn't necessarily a good thing. They could have been using her, or they could be watching her and waiting to pounce. Either way they needed to get some answers.

Mulder was tired of reading reports and files, and he hated the fact that Skinner had violated every confidentiality code he could whilst digging up everything he could on Reyes' life. It really made him feel like some kind of criminal, and he knew that he wanted answers, but at what costs? He had really blown it now with Scully, Reyes hated him, and Doggett hated him even more than usual. They had information on Reyes that she probably never even had a record of herself. Mulder was ready to call it a day when another knock hammered through Skinner's door, but unlike everyone else this person didn't wait to be invited in, Doggett didn't even notice that Mulder was there.

"Agent Doggett you can't just walk in here like this."

"I know sir, and I'm sorry, but I've just reviewed security camera tapes that show Fox Mulder entering the FBI last night, now he left with you and I wanna know what he was doin' here and how we can make sure he wont come back."

Skinner couldn't move or speak. He looked at Mulder and only then did Doggett turn and see him standing at the other end of the room.

"I don't believe this..."

"Agent Doggett..."

"I don't wanna know! You hear me! What is all this?"

Doggett picked up a file and saw that it was open on a page with Reyes' last doctor's appointment recorded. He grabbed up everything on the floor and from the table and stormed out, Skinner and Mulder followed him. He couldn't take those things, Skinner would be in big trouble, and Mulder didn't want that.

"Agent Doggett! You cannot take those files from this building!"

"Is that the same thing, like you shouldn't even be reading these? You're a son of a bitch Mulder! And you! We trusted you, and now you're helping him?"

Doggett got into the elevator and was gone before Mulder or Skinner could do or say anything.

"Skinner..."

"Just go Mulder..."

"But I..."

"Don't you think we've done enough? I'll deal with it, now I said go."

Skinner went back into his office and Mulder looked at the people walking around him. He didn't belong here anymore and he hated it. He had risked and lost everything for the FBI, and all they wanted to do was kick him out on his ass.

Doggett was furious and completely incapable of doing any work for the rest of the day. He couldn't believe that Skinner would do this behind his back, and to do this to Reyes was a complete violation of her life. They had no right to do this to her. She was having a tough enough time with this Mulder thing as it was. What did they think it would do to get her private history from the age of four?

When Doggett went home he got out of his car and couldn't believe who was waiting to see him.

"You got a lot of nerve showing up here."

"Agent Doggett hear me out..."

"No! Get the hell off my front porch and go home!"

"I need those files back you took today Doggett."

"Are you trying to be funny?"

Doggett looked at Mulder with complete loathing in his eyes. He couldn't stress enough how much he hated this man.

"I'm sorry you had to find them like that."

"You're just sorry I found them at all! And before you try and tell me to do it for Skinner's sake, 'cause I know he played as big a part in this as you did, I don't care. He can rot in the gutter with you for all I care."

Doggett turned to open his front door and Mulder reached out and turned him back round to look at him. Doggett flinched at his touch and dropped his files to the floor. As Mulder reached down to pick them up Doggett pushed him and Mulder was unprepared for it.

"Is this what you want Agent Doggett? You want to fight with me?"

"I'm so sick of you thinking you still run the show around here! The X-Files are mine, Monica is mine, the FBI is my place of work, get the hell out of my life!"

"You know you can be a real ass hole Doggett. I don't know what Monica sees in you, I really don't."

Doggett looked at Mulder and it was all he had needed to hear. It was all the ammunition he needed to punch him square in the face. After stumbling a little Mulder hit back and the two men began wrestling around Doggett's front lawn. As they fought a car pulled up and Reyes and Scully ran over to the two men and quickly pulled them apart.

"What the hell is going on?"

"That jerk started it!"

"You son of a bitch you know what started this!"

"Enough ok!"

Everybody looked at Reyes. Doggett and Mulder were both bleeding from several places around their faces, and Scully was standing close by almost embarrassed to look at anyone.

"I took the damn test. Dana and I have just come from the hospital. You'll get your answers within the week, now I suggest you leave."

"Monica..."

"I said go."

Reyes looked at Mulder as he tried to talk to her and he could see that he was pushing his luck. He walked to the car with Scully and they drove home. Reyes took Doggett inside and sat him down whilst she fetched his first aid kit from the cupboard. He tried to think of the right words to apologize, but there weren't any. He shouldn't have punched Mulder, despite having wanted to do it pretty much since the day they met. He watched Reyes wipe his blood away and examine his cuts, he reached out to her and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"I love you Monica." She smiled slightly, but he could see she was still pissed.

"Well didn't you ever learn that fighting doesn't do anything for me? I'd much prefer you scar free."

"I'm sorry." She looked at him for the first time since coming inside.

"I know."

*Chapter 17*

Doggett sat down after carrying the empty dinner plates into the kitchen, he took Reyes into his arms and she lay back onto him on the sofa. They hadn't talked about the fight, or the blood test. In fact they hadn't talked much at all apart from discussing plans for dinner.

Doggett felt incredibly guilty, but he didn't know what else he could do but continue to tell her he was sorry. Reyes was thinking about what she had done and what it could do to her life. She knew that it was ridiculous that she was really Samantha Mulder, she was four years younger for starters. But why did she have a niggling feeling that something wasn't right.

"Mon, you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"Your split lip. I don't know how I'm going to explain that to my mom."

"We could tell her that I walked into the door."

"Then she'd think I was abusive."

Doggett laughed slightly at the thought of Reyes mother thinking her daughter was hitting him. Reyes felt his laugh and turned around to accuse him of thinking she wasn't strong enough to take him on.

"I know damn well how strong you are, I sure as hell wouldn't want to go up against you."

"Damn right."

Reyes smiled and kissed Doggett softly so as not to hurt his ever-swelling lip. Her smile faded though and he could see there was something wrong.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. This whole blood test thing. I'm not sure I've done the right thing."

"At least we'll get Mulder off your back."

"I know, and I know it's crazy, but what if there's something in what he's saying?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. And I know it can't be true, I wasn't born yesterday, but I never realized how contagious Fox Mulder's paranoia and suspicions could be. I'm afraid of what this test might show."

Doggett sat up straight and Reyes turned to face him.

"Listen to me, this blood test will end this ridiculous notion once and for all. The sooner we get Mulder to realize how completely wrong he is the better."

"What if he isn't wrong?"

"He is. You wanna know how I know?"

Reyes nodded her head and Doggett took her hands into his own and kissed them.

"I know that you are in no way related to Fox Mulder because I hate the guy, and I absolutely adore you. There's no way I could have such strong and yet opposite feelings for two people that were related."

Reyes smiled and felt a little reassurance sweep through her. She kissed Doggett and lay back down on him, it was Christmas Eve, why let this ruin their Christmas together?

Mulder watched as Scully packed her bag. It was over. She threw all of her essentials into an overnight bag that was big enough to spend a week away from home, and she didn't look at him once. He'd really done it this time. He'd told her about the files on Reyes and going to see Skinner. He couldn't wish any harder to be able to take it back. And now he was going to be alone for Christmas. Scully walked to the front door and didn't even hesitate as she opened it and headed to her mom's.

Mulder looked at the clock. It was 5.00am. Christmas had snuck up on him in the last five hours and caught him off guard. He had hoped that this was going to be his last Christmas without his son, as it turned out it was probably going to be his first Christmas without Scully. He got up and got dressed, he couldn't be bothered to try and sleep any longer.

As he sat in the front room flicking through the TV channels full of the usual rubbish that's broadcast on Christmas Day he felt around in his pocket for whatever it was that was making him very uncomfortable. The engagement ring.

His original plan had been to ask Scully to marry him the night before. For them to spend Christmas Day together as a betrothed couple. He laughed to himself for thinking of he and Scully as betrothed. But that was what he wanted. He wanted a wedding ring and a certificate to say that they belonged together, he wanted the whole world to be able to see they were in love, and he wanted them to celebrate their love with their friends and family. There was only one way that he could fix this.

At 1.30pm Mulder knocked on Mrs. Scully's front door and prayed that Bill Jr. didn't answer it. No such luck.

"She doesn't want to see you."

"Well it's important."

"I don't care, this is a family day and we're about to have dinner."

"Well then I wont take up much of your time, and for the record, your sister is my family."

Mulder pushed his way past Bill and tried to pretend he didn't hear what Bill called him as he walked behind him into the dining room. Scully looked up and couldn't believe that Mulder was really there. The room was full of Scully family members and Mulder suddenly felt very awkward. Scully's nephew Matthew sat glaring up at Mulder with his mouth wide open as if he was waiting for Mulder to do something funny. Mulder looked from one face to another before settling his eyes on Scully and preparing himself for what he had planned to say to her.

"Dana, could I talk to you for a second?"

Scully nodded her head and wasn't going to make things that easy for him. He saw in her eyes what she wanted him to do, and it terrified him.

"Ok... Here it is then..."

He walked around the table and stood a little closer to Scully so he could try to block out some of the people around the table, especially all the faces that he knew.

"Scully, I know that I screwed up, yet again. And I know that there is absolutely nothing that I could say or do to make this all go away, but I like a challenge and I'm going to try anyway because you mean the world to me, you're all I have, and I can't live another day if I have to do it without you. I'm so sorry for what I've said and what I've done over the past week or so, I can't tell you how much of an ass I feel. And I just need you to know that I love you, I love you more than anything else in this whole world, and I don't care about Monica or this God damn DNA test, I wont even ask about the results, it was stupid of me, and I know it was. I'll drop it, I swear I'll drop it, but please, come home. I need you. You and William are all that I want from this world, my family."

Scully looked at Mulder and had actually managed to forget that anybody else was sitting around the table. Mulder walked right over to her and got down onto his knees as he took her face in his hands. She smiled at him through her tearful eyes and she kissed him. She held him close and didn't realize how much she had hated walking away from him until he had come after her. As he looked into her eyes and smiled he reached into his pocket and took out the small black box that had been concealing the ring he had so carefully picked out. He opened it up and lifted one knee up so that he could do this properly.

"Dana Katherine Scully, will you marry me?"

Scully looked at him and could barely keep back her tears of joy to say her answer quick enough.

"Yes."

She came down from her chair and kneeled next to him as he slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her. Now this was the kind of Christmas that he had been hoping for.

*Chapter 18*

Reyes and Doggett had a great Christmas, and they spent most of the day in bed together opening gifts and watching the world go by out of the bedroom window. It was perfect. Boxing Day they actually got up and took Oliver out for the day walking, it was incredibly romantic and Reyes managed to forget about everything else that had been plaguing her mind lately. She would deal with all of that when the time came. Right now she was enjoying the holidays with the man that she loved.

They had showered each other with gifts and had loved doing nothing but lying with each other all day, they felt incredibly lucky to be able to do this, they knew that by moving in together they would have to be extra careful about keeping their relationship out of the bureau's viewpoint, but they had done it for over a year now already, how hard could it be to continue to do so now? They always arrived together in the morning, and they always left together at night. No one would have to know any differently.

After spending two full days with each other and having to think about nothing but how happy they were, it was a big task to get Doggett out of bed and ready for work on the 27th. He hated working between Christmas and New Year. It was like never really having a holiday. But at least when he got home he could look forward to spending another night with Reyes.

After he had left for work Reyes got up and got dressed herself. She wanted to pop to her own apartment to check her messages and her mail. She pulled up outside her building and let Oliver out of the back of the car, he walked beside her up the steps and was happy to follow her wherever she went. As she reached out to open her front door someone called from behind and she turned to see who it was.

"Ma'am, are you Agent Reyes of the Federal Bureau of Investigation?"

"Yes."

"I need you to sign for this."

Reyes took the deliveryman's pen and signed her name before even thinking about what this was or what she was signing. When the man left she walked inside and sat down as she read the front of the big envelope. It was from the DNA lab at the bureau,

Scully had put a rush on the test and these were the results.

Reyes sat for a long time just holding the envelope in her hands. She knew it was ridiculous to be worrying like this. She held the end to all of the crap that she had been dealing with from Mulder in her hands. Oliver was sat beside her and had given up on the hope of leaving the apartment, he had settled down on the sofa and was waiting patiently for Reyes to do something.

Finally she ripped open the envelope and took out the sheets of paper that had been fastened together so as not to fly out and land on the floor. She read and re-read the letter and couldn't believe what it was telling her. She finally jumped up, scaring the dog half to death and grabbed her coat. She wanted some answers and there was only one person who could give them to her.

"Did you see the look on Bill's face when I asked you?"

"No, but I got the speech from him telling me that he hoped I knew what I was doing."

"At least Charles seemed to have a better opinion of me."

"He's a little more romantic, he was impressed by you coming after me like that."

"So was I, I was terrified." Scully laughed and Mulder kissed her softly and smiled.

"I'm glad I came though."

"I'm glad you came too. My mom thinks you're wonderful. She holds you responsible for my being alive still after all these years, and then she, like Charles, thinks it's romantic that we fell in love whilst on a quest for the truth."

"You're family are a little sappy Scully, it's gotta be said."

Scully playfully hit Mulder and was about to object to his teasing when a loud banging on the door startled them both. Scully got up to answer it and opened the door to a very confused Reyes.

"Monica, what's wrong?"

Reyes walked over to Mulder and didn't even acknowledge Scully.

"Read it."

She thrust the DNA results into Mulder's hands and stood and waited until he had read it all. Like her he had needed to re-read parts of it and when he was finished he stood up and looked at Reyes.

"I don't understand."

"That's a real shame because I was hoping you could explain it to me."

Scully stood closer and Mulder looked at her.

"What does it say?"

"They ran a complete DNA test through the whole Mulder family that they had on record from my dad working at the bureau, the test shows that whilst Monica is conclusively not Samantha, she shares DNA with me, and our father..."

"How is that possible?"

Mulder shook his head in confusion before really trying to understand it.

"I think it means that, Samantha had a different father..."

"But smoking man was your father?"

"No. The test shows that Bill Mulder was my biological father... but not Samantha's. And Monica has a different mother, but the same father as me."

Scully tried to get her head around what she was hearing. Why would somebody have planned to make Mulder believe that the man he hated most in the world was his father when in fact he wasn't? After all these years it was finally proven that Bill Mulder was Fox Mulder's father, after all of the guessing and the stories.

Scully looked at Reyes. She looked like she was carrying so many thoughts and feelings that she was about to explode.

Reyes took the letter from Mulder and shoved it back into the envelope. He looked at her and tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't get any words to form a sentence in his head. She was so confused and he wanted to help her but he didn't know how.

"Monica... I don't know what to say... My dad worked away a lot, I guess he must have met someone... He must have..."

"Yeah I get it. But in New Mexico?"

"It's possible He traveled all over."

Reyes turned around to leave and she didn't turn around as Mulder called her back, but instead she fought against her desire to cry. There was nothing here to cry about. She just needed more answers than she had been given.

*Chapter 19*

Mulder was having a hard time accepting what all of this meant. He had grown used to the fact that smoking man was his biological father, but he had never thought that this information too was a lie.

"Mulder? Will you talk to me?"

"I'm sorry... I just, I don't understand... I had blood tests... I had so many tests when I was sick before my abduction... They all showed that Bill Mulder was not my father."

"Those tests were administered by people that we now know could have wanted you to believe that what they were telling you was true."

"For what purpose?"

"I don't know. Maybe they thought that you'd decide to follow in your father's footsteps, take over from smoking man and his project, as Bill Mulder's son you were a threat to them."

"But then is that why they took Samantha? Because she wasn't really his daughter? Did she suffer because my mom was unfaithful to my dad?" Scully didn't know what to say, she ran her hand down the side of Mulder's face and he smiled as he took her hand into his own.

"I'm so glad that you're here."

"Me too."

When Doggett opened his front door and saw Reyes sitting down with a suitcase in front of her, his first thought was that she had packed some things to move in with him. He put down the take away meal he had picked up on his way home and walked over to Reyes. He could see she had been crying, and when he reached her she handed him the letter that she had spent her entire day trying to understand. Doggett read the letter and wasn't sure what it meant or what his reaction was supposed to be. He looked at Reyes and she could see that he didn't understand.

"What's goin' on Monica? What the hell does this mean?"

"It means, that I am in deed Fox Mulder's half sister, we share the same father, but not mother. I am not Samantha Mulder, nor are she and I related at all by blood."

"How is that possible?"

"Right now I don't know. But I'm on stand by for a flight to New Mexico."

"What?"

"I'm sorry John, I know you wanted us to spend New Years together, I did too, but I called my parents and told them to cancel their flights."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to them instead. I have to do this John, I'm sorry." Doggett was about to say more when the phone rang and Reyes picked it up before the first ring was even complete. She only said a handful of words to whoever was on the other end before hanging up and standing up.

"That was the airport. If I can get there in an hour I'm on the next flight out." She picked up her suitcase and went outside to her car. She turned to the house as Doggett came outside.

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know. I'll call you, I'm so sorry John, I love you." She kissed him goodbye before getting into her car and driving away. Doggett was dumbstruck as he tried to figure out what the hell had happened in the last five minutes. What did it matter. She was really gone.

As Doggett sat with his eighth beer in his mother's living room he couldn't have felt more miserable. The clock had just hit twelve, it was officially the New Year and his entire family were singing around him and having fun. His parents had been disappointed when he turned up on their doorstep the day before as they had been looking forward to spending the New Year in DC with he and Reyes. He had hoped for the same but had flown to New York to escape the empty house he had been left with. The dog was with his neighbor's son who was eleven, Doggett had paid him thirty dollars to take care of him for a few days.

He had had a mixture of feelings about what Reyes had done. He was pleased that she had been able to face her past at last, he was upset that he wasn't with her, and he was angry with her for doing all of this without talking to him about it first. He could have helped, he could have gone with her. But she had taken an independent stand and gone it alone. He could appreciate that too, her love to be spontaneous and to follow her gut instinct was something he admired in her deeply, but did she have to completely cut him out like this?

She had called him when she landed in New Mexico and said she would call again at New Years, but he hadn't called her to tell her that he was in New York so her call would reach his answer machine. It was childish of him, he knew that. But if she wanted to do this alone then he wasn't going to stand in her way. If he couldn't see her then he didn't want to talk to her either. It killed him to not be able to wish her a happy New Year, but his pride wouldn't allow him to pick up the phone. She had upset him and now he was evening the scores.

He finished his beer and got up to collect another one from the kitchen but instead his sister grabbed a hold of him and began dancing around the room with him. He tried to continue to be the grump that he had been for days now, but his sister managed to make him smile. His mother was smiling and clapping her hands, supposedly in time with the music, but the bottles of wine that she had consumed producing the empty bottles now lying around did not help her time keeping skills, and his father was trying sing along with the people on the TV but he just sounded like a drunk from the streets of New York. Doggett was glad to be home. But he would have swapped it all in an instant to be with Reyes.

When he got back to DC Doggett threw himself into his work. He left his house before dawn and stayed at work until after dusk. He never saw the sunlight and spent all of his time in his office. He didn't like it, but it was better than the alternative. The more work he did the less time he had to think about Reyes and wonder why she hadn't called or let him know how she was. He missed her, but he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. He'd just wait for her to call, or to come back.

*Chapter 20*

When Scully read the letter telling her and Mulder that they would be in court on the 18th January she got butterflies in her stomach and felt incredibly nervous. They had an appointment with their lawyer on the 15th to go over everything that they might be asked and what might come up in the courtroom. It was all rather exciting for Scully and the thought of the day of William's return home drawing nearer made her feel so alive.

Mulder had managed to put his family news to the back of his mind for the time being.

There was nobody he could turn to for answers, or to ask for help from because his parents were dead. He wanted to call Reyes, he wanted to know how she was. She was after all his sister. This was the most shocking news of all. How had he known? What had made him persist with his poking into finding out who she really was?

Well now he wished he hadn't bothered. He wished that he had never found out who his father really was or that he had another sister. And knowing that Samantha wasn't his father's daughter was unbelievable to him. So much of this was unreal. But he had to stay focused. His priorities lay with Scully and their son.

After their meeting with Collin Winters they had been advised to find at least two people that could vouch for Mulder and Scully, to speak up on their behalf and to help them in getting the judge to believe that William was better off with his biological parents. They had agreed to go and see Doggett and Reyes and ask for their help, it was their best chance at getting someone who knew them well enough and who knew how badly they wanted William back.

When they got to the FBI they somehow managed to get Mulder passed security, again. Scully couldn't believe how easy it was, but on the other hand there wasn't a person at the bureau who didn't know who Mulder was or who wanted to go up against him in any shape way or form. When they got down the X-Files office they both saw Doggett's disappointment at who was walking into the room.

"Agent Scully, Mulder. What can I do for you?"

"How are you John?"

"I'm fine. What's the problem?" Scully was trying to approach this as a friend, but something was clearly preventing Doggett from accepting this.

"We need to talk to you and Monica, it's about appearing in court as character witnesses, to help our case to get William back." Mulder was being very sensible and stayed very quiet. He let Scully do all of the talking because he knew that Doggett didn't hate her.

"Well I'd love to help you Dana, but unfortunately Monica isn't here right now. She hasn't been in DC since the 27th of December, I don't know when she'll be coming back, but I'll be sure to pass along your message if she ever calls me."

"Were is she?" Doggett looked at Mulder as if he couldn't believe he would dare speak to him.

"New Mexico. Looking for answers. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do."

"Agent Doggett..."

"Look Mulder, don't push me ok, this is all your damn fault, I hope you're happy because thanks to you she may never even come back, I don't know what she's found out there or what her parents have been saying to her. You screwed up my whole life, now I know what it's like to be you." Mulder took Scully's hand as she moved to speak again and she didn't object as he led them both out of the building.

When Mulder called the airport for flight details to New Mexico Scully didn't object. She understood that Mulder was worried about Monica and that he wanted to bring her back. She couldn't hide her disappointment though that Doggett had been so unfriendly towards her.

"I'm sorry Scully, I have to go. I have to bring her back before she finds out what kind of man my father really was."

"I know. I understand. I just wish you didn't have to go. I feel that whenever things are going just right for us something else comes up to bring everything crashing down."

"I'm sorry. I will be back as soon as I can." Mulder kissed Scully and looked into her eyes as she tried to understand. It was then that he knew what he really had to do.

Mulder threw the plane ticket down on Doggett's desk and was about to walk straight back out when Doggett called him back.

"What the hell is this?"

"A ticket to New Mexico. You have to bring her back."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you love her you have to bring her back. I can't do it, she wont listen to me, I'm the one who's turned her life upside down. Go after her. Believe me, if you do it right it'll be worth it." Mulder turned to leave again.

"Wait a minute. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I've spent my whole life feeling lost and confused, questioning truths and desperate to have my family back together. Well now I have my own family to think about. I don't want Monica to go through this alone like I did. You're the one she needs. So bring her home."

Mulder walked out of the office and Doggett stared after him before looking at the ticket and trying to figure out exactly what he was going to do.

When Scully first set eyes on the Van de Kamps she knew right away who they were. It made her sick to the stomach that these strangers had her son and were keeping him from her. Mulder took her hand as a security link between them, to show that they were going to beat this and they were going to get their boy back.

When the judge sat and listened to all of the arguments put forward Mulder was so relieved that nothing had been brought up about his whereabouts when William was just a baby living with Scully. He was even more relieved that nobody had dug into his past at the FBI and found out all about the parts of him that would not make him seem like a suitable father figure, which was ridiculous because he was William's father.

The judge appointed a date for Mulder and Scully to have their home inspected and to be interviewed by a welfare officer who specializes in allocating children to their homes. Court was adjourned until February 7th when he wanted to see the welfare officer's report showing that Mulder and Scully could offer a stable and loving environment for the child and evidence from independent witnesses that could speak on Mulder and Scully's behalf.

As Mulder and Scully walked out of the courtroom neither could hide their joy at the thought of another hurdle being knocked down keeping them away from their son. As they left the building Scully caught sight of Mrs. Van de Kamp and couldn't help feeling sorry for her. She then hated herself for feeling guilty for what she was doing, William was her son, and she was not going to let that woman keep him from her.

*Chapter 21*

Reyes had had the worst three weeks of her entire life. She hadn't been sleeping and she hadn't been honest with her parents about why she had suddenly appeared home and not made any plans as of yet to go back to DC.

Due to how badly things were going Reyes thought she was dreaming when she walked into her family home early one evening and found Doggett sitting drinking tea with her parents. She laughed before running into his arms and feeling so glad to be close to him again.

They went for a walk and walked around holding hands. Doggett was so glad that he had come, as was Reyes.

"I can't believe you're here. I thought I was seeing things."

"It's a long story."

"I can't tell you what it means to have someone to talk to. I haven't told my parents a thing about Mulder or why I'm here. I've been bottling so much inside, it's awful." Doggett stopped walking and Reyes stood still beside him. He leant in slowly and kissed her properly after their polite kiss for her parents benefit.

"I'm so sorry I didn't call you after the New Year."

"It's ok. I knew you were pissed that I'd just taken off like that. I just felt so confused, and everything always made so much sense here."

"And does it still?"

"No." They sat down in a small restaurant and ordered a drink before Reyes made any attempt to explain what she had been through over the past few weeks.

"When I first got here I spent a week doing nothing. I was hoping that if I ignored it all then it might go away. But then my parents started asking questions when I sat in all day every day, so I started going out, and I began to try and find my birth mother. I was able to track down her sister, Sophia Courtez, who told me that my mother's name was Maria, and she died two years ago. Maria only told her family about me when I disappeared because she wanted them to help her find me. She used to tell Sophia about a man she was seeing named Mulder, who was in town for business reasons.

About a week after telling her family that she was pregnant she then told them she had had a miscarriage and she disappeared for over four years. When Maria came back she told Sophia that my father broke her heart, when he found out she was pregnant he didn't want a part of it and that's why she ran away. Their two brothers died last year and Sophia thinks that she'll not be far behind them. She was so kind to me John. And I didn't know what to say or to do."

Reyes began to cry and Doggett moved around the table so that he was close enough to hold her. Reyes hadn't realized how much of a toll this had all taken on her until she had shared it with someone. As she had to re-think everything and re-play her several meetings with Sophia Courtez to get everything right.

Reyes and Doggett went for a walk along a small strip of beach that was near by and they enjoyed the cool night air that blew against them. Doggett didn't ask Reyes any questions or push for any more information from her. He was fine with letting her do this on her own time, but he could see how hard this was for her.

They sat down for a rest and Reyes took out a photograph from her pocket.

"That's her. Maria Courtez."

"Wow, you look just like her." Doggett cursed himself for being so blunt about the woman in photograph. His face said sorry and Reyes managed to smile bravely.

"The two men next to her are her brothers, Michael, and Marcus, and that's Sophia, that little girl is Sophia's daughter, she lives in L.A. with her husband and new baby, the two boys are Michael's children, they live in New York, both single, and those two are Marcus's children, they live with their mother in Texas. Maria never married or had any more children. Sophia says she never got over losing me."

"What did she call you?"

"Juliana, Juliana Courtez, Ana for short. I just... I can't get a handle on the fact that I've spent over ten years thinking my birth parents gave me away because they didn't want me, and now it turns out that my mom loved me and lost me and could never get me back no matter how badly she wanted to, and I can't hate her anymore."

Reyes began to cry and Doggett took her into his arms again and they just sat like that on the beach until Reyes was ready to go home.

When Reyes woke up the next morning to coffee and toast in bed she was tempted to tell Doggett she could get used to it but in stead she snuck him into her bed as if she were a schoolgirl again, trying to not wake her parents. They ate their breakfast together and it felt so good to be close again. They got up and got dressed and when they got down the stairs Reyes' parents were already in the kitchen.

"Mr. and Mrs. Reyes, good morning."

"Morning John, I do hope you slept well on the couch?"

"Like a baby. Thank you so much for putting me up."

"It was a pleasure."

Reyes couldn't quite believe how much her mother had taken a liking to Doggett, she had been expecting to have to argue his qualities to her and force her to accept him in her life, but as it turned out, her parents thought he was good for her and were more than happy at the thought of their daughter finally settling down.

Reyes took Doggett out to show him some of her childhood haunts and places she loved to go.

"I cannot believe you with my parents."

"What?"

"You were totally sucking up to them 'oh let me do that for you Mrs. Reyes', 'can I get you anything else Mr. Reyes', 'oh I just love what you've done with the garden'." Reyes laughed to herself and Doggett playfully tickled her as she teased him.

"Well I could have been myself and made them hate me."

"Not possible. Completely impossible actually." Reyes kissed him, and Doggett figured that now was as good a time as any to tell her where he really wanted to go.

"Hey Mon, do you think I could meet her?"

"Who?"

"Sophia."

Reyes looked at Doggett and he laid fifty, fifty odds on whether he thought she was going to cry and yell at him or calmly say yes. She did neither. She kissed him again and took his hand. She began to lead him away from the main hustle and bustle of town and took him to a quiet tiny collection of houses that he had noticed on his way into New Mexico.

They walked up a path towards a front door and Doggett suddenly wished he hadn't opened his mouth. Reyes knocked on the door and turned to Doggett.

"She doesn't know my family name because I don't want her to bump into my parents and figure out who they are, I had no idea that I would find someone living this close by."

"Close by? Mon, we must have walked about five miles." She smiled at him and turned back to the door as it opened. A woman of about sixty smiled at Reyes and then looked at Doggett.

"Sophia, this is my boyfriend, John. He came to take me home but wanted to meet you before we left."

"It's a pleasure to meet you John. I'm so glad you came back Monica. There's something I want you to have."

They all went inside the house and Reyes sat down with Doggett holding his hand firmly in her own. She was clearly still nervous about being in this house and being around this new group of memories. Sophia produced a small box from her cupboard and gave to Reyes.

"It's beautiful."

"It's engraved too. I found it when your mother died and I cleared out her room, she lived with me her whole life. It's from your father, read the back." Reyes turned the jewelry box over in her hands and read the inscription on the back: 'To my darling Maria, for the time we never got to share, and for the short time we did, I'll never forget you, B. M.'

Reyes knew what those initials stood for. Bill Mulder. She wiped a tear away from her cheek and smiled at Sophia.

"Thank you."

"No dear thank you. You remind me so much of Maria and you were the only thing in her life that she ever valued. I'm so glad I finally got to meet you." Reyes smiled again and replaced her hand in Doggett's. It was time to go home.

*Chapter 22*

Reyes and Doggett flew back to DC the next day and Doggett went straight back to work. He had promised her parents that he would have them come and stay with he and Reyes, and that he would gladly visit them again. Reyes was pleased that her parents liked Doggett. It made her even more certain of her own love for him. She couldn't have got through this if it weren't for him, she had been about ready to give up on everything before he turned up at her parents house, because she couldn't make sense of any of it. She wanted to see things clearer than they had been painted. She had to accept the facts and move on.

Sophia had asked Reyes to keep in touch and she promised that she would. How could she not. She was family now. Reyes took a few more days off work to move into Doggett's house. It was time to move forward with her life instead of looking into the past. It was over now. The one thing she didn't want was to have to explain herself to Mulder. She hadn't been able to work him into her head as anything more than a friend at the minute, the fact that they were brother and sister still blew her mind and she wanted to take this a day at a time.

So it didn't help when Mulder and Scully turned up on Doggett's doorstep one evening wanting to talk to him and Reyes. Doggett let them in but was ready to show them out at the first sign of Reyes being uncomfortable with them being there.

"Good to have you back in DC Monica." Reyes smiled at Scully, she was glad to be back and she was glad to see her friends. The truth was she wasn't as of yet looking at Mulder any differently than she had before. Unfortunately he wasn't of the same viewpoint.

"How was Mexico?"

"It was great, it was nice to see my parents."

"Did they help you with what you wanted to know?" Everybody looked at Mulder as he spoke, and Reyes was determined to not make a scene or turn this into a big deal.

"I went to Mexico to spend time with my parents Mulder, I didn't ask them anything, nor did I want to. Was there anything else that you came for?" Scully took the lead again, she was with Reyes on this one, the last thing she wanted was another fight.

"I don't know if John's told you how our case to get William back is going... But umm, we need two people to stand up in court and answer a few questions, make a statement to the judge about the two of us..."

"Yeah, John told me. We'd be happy to help." Scully smiled as if she had been expecting Reyes to say no to their request. But obviously Reyes was handling the whole DNA thing a lot better than Mulder was.

"Thank you so much."

"Anything we can do to help William be bought up by his real parents." Mulder felt the remark was personal and he looked at Reyes who was already looking at him.

"You can't hide from me forever Monica. You'll have to tell me what you found at some point."

Mulder and Scully turned to leave and Doggett showed them out. As he opened the door he put his hand on Mulder's shoulder to stop him and Mulder turned back surprised.

"Thanks." Doggett was holding his hand out to Mulder and Mulder cautiously took it.

"You're welcome." He walked out and Doggett closed the door.

The days seemed to bleed into one for a week or so after that. Scully received a phone call from her lawyer a couple of days after the welfare officer had been to see she and Mulder and told her that it had gone really well and would definitely be one of their strongest assets in court in front of the judge when he made his decision. For the first time Scully really let herself imagine William at home with her. She had missed a year and a half of his life already, to miss anymore would be a crime in her eyes. She was thrilled.

The one thing that put a dampener on everything was Mulder's thoughts about Reyes. He was desperate to know what she had found out when she went home, he didn't believe for a second that she had spent three weeks there to just catch up with her parents. But he didn't want to push her for any information she didn't want to give, despite his longing for a living family member he wasn't going to risk pushing her away. The truth was he'd have been delighted if she wanted the two of them to spend more time getting to know each other, as a family, but he could see why she wouldn't. He wouldn't expect anybody to be happy about being a part of the Mulder family.

Scully decided to take matters into her own hands and knew that all she needed to bring Mulder out of his self containment was to get Reyes to tell him the truth. Well if Reyes wasn't going to deliver the news in person then Scully would do it for her. She would go and see Reyes and she would find out whatever it was that she wasn't telling Mulder and she would allow him to let go and to look forward.

Doggett was concerned. Reyes had locked herself in the bathroom for over an hour and showed no signs of coming out. He kept going to check on her but she just yelled for him to go away and that she was fine. He never wandered far, and he guessed she must have heard him walking around because she finally opened the door to him and he found her crying on the bathroom floor.

"Hey, hey what's wrong?" Doggett sat down and saw the empty box that was lying next to Reyes. A pregnancy test. His first reaction was 'oh crap'. But he looked at Reyes before he said anything.

"It's negative." He couldn't hide his relief so he looked away from her face as he sat beside her and tried to be supportive.

"Did you want it to be negative?" At his words she burst into tears and he couldn't figure out what he had said wrong.

"Monica talk to me, what is it?" She looked at him and took a deep breath.

"I'm six days late, and I was terrified that I was pregnant, and then when the test was negative I was so relieved and I'm so scared that that means I'll be a terrible mother. I didn't want it John, I didn't want our baby." Doggett took Reyes into his arms as she continued to cry and he wanted to laugh at the scared and fragile woman he was holding.

"Listen to me Mon, you didn't want something that wasn't even there, that's not a big deal, and it sure as hell doesn't mean you'll be a bad mother. I think that you'll make a fantastic mom. When you want children you'll know, and it'll be right for us." Reyes sat up and smiled and Doggett again didn't know what he had said to get such a powerful reaction.

"You said 'us'."

"Is that bad?"

"You'd have a baby with me?" Doggett smiled.

"I'd carry it for nine months for you if I could." Reyes smiled and wiped away her tears before kissing Doggett. And they may not have been ready to be parents just yet, but there was plenty of opportunity for practicing...

*Chapter 23*

When Reyes finally went back to work it felt great. She'd been off for over six weeks and although Skinner had cleared the leave of absence for her (wanting to cover his ass after going through her private life), she felt guilty for neglecting her career. Life on the X-Files may have been hard work and subject to ridicule, but she loved it, it was good to be back.

As she sat at her desk going through some of the work she had missed during her absence she was surprised to look up and see Scully standing in the doorway of the office.

"Dana, I'm surprised to see you down here."

"I needed to talk to you."

"Ah, I see." Scully walked in and sat down opposite Reyes. Reyes was impressed, she had never had a confrontation with Scully before and she was intrigued to find out how she would react if Reyes refused to tell her anything. But then on the other hand, she had a lot of respect for Scully, and she was a good friend.

"I need you to tell me, or to tell Mulder what happened in Mexico."

"I know. I knew that was why you were here. But I just don't think that I'm ready."

"He has a right to know Monica, it was his father too."

"Yeah, which apparently he only discovered from the DNA test. Before then he didn't even think Bill Mulder was his father."

"Through no fault of his own, and you have no right to withhold information about him."

"But what Mulder's father got up to in New Mexico is of no concern to him. There's no need for him to be involved."

"He became involved the minute his father and your mother conceived you. Like it or not Monica you and he are half brother and sister. He has a right to know." Reyes looked at Scully and didn't want to push this any harder. If she told Scully then she wouldn't have to talk to Mulder about it herself. She could let Scully tell him and that would be the end of it.

When Scully got home Mulder looked at her with such expectation in his eyes that it broke Scully's heart to have to tell him his father ruined a woman's life and didn't care about his unborn child.

Scully told him everything that Reyes had told him, and when she finished talking he stood up and starting wandering around the room. He was thinking, she could see that. But she didn't know what he was thinking.

"I need to see her."

"No Mulder."

"But this is all my fault."

"No it isn't, your father loved you and was a good man in your eyes." Mulder laughed sarcastically at Scully describing his father as 'a good man'.

"You had the man in your life until the day he died Mulder. He was a father to you. She never knew him, and only knows him as the man who didn't want to have anything to do with her. Leave her to come to terms with this before you try and build any bridges with her yourself." Mulder smiled and sat down to kiss Scully. They had other things to worry about. Like William.

Reyes and Doggett spent an hour with Collin Winters before appearing in court. He prepared them for any questions they might be asked, and informed them of the kind of things that judges like to hear about a family. Reyes was happy to be a part of this, she adored William, but she avoided Mulder's eye at all costs. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

The judge looked fierce as he listened to Reyes and Doggett answer questions and make their statements. But he looked satisfied with what he heard, and he even managed to smile at Reyes as she finished talking. She did a great job in making Mulder and Scully seem like the only people in the world that William should be being taken care by. It was an easy thing for her to do because she believed that it was true. William hadn't been brought to court because it was no place for a two year old to have to spend hours on end. But the judge was here to make his ruling, and he took a short break to make his decision.

Reyes took the opportunity to step outside for some fresh air. It was a cool day and there was a wind that made her eyes water, but it was worth it just to try and gather her thoughts. She had half expected somebody to come looking for her, so when she felt someone beside her she wasn't surprised, and she knew exactly who it was without turning to look at him.

"What can I do for you, Mulder?"

"I'm sorry. It's all I came to say to you because it's all I can say. I'm sorry." Reyes turned to look at him and she could see in his eyes that he deeply regretted everything that had happened over the past few months. But it didn't change anything.

"You had no right to do what you did, Mulder."

"I know. It was wrong of me to push you, it was wrong of me to go behind your back, and most of all it was wrong of me to force you in to having to face your past and find your birth mother when you weren't ready to. If I could take it all back I would, in a heartbeat. But you came here today, you want to help Scully and I and I can't tell you what that means to me."

Reyes looked away from him again as she spoke, almost as if she wanted to try and pretend that she was still just thinking out loud to herself.

"You know what the real pisser is? I'm more angry that you were right to push me into finding what I did than I am for you going behind my back and snooping around."

"You are?"

"Yeah. Thanks to you I can't hate the mother that gave me up because she didn't. And as for the man who laughingly called himself a father..."

"Bill Mulder wasn't perfect. But who is?" Reyes looked at Mulder again and wanted to ask him so many questions, but now wasn't the time or the place. There was one thing that she really needed to know though.

"How did you even know? How did you know that something like this would happen, that you'd get this kind of result?"

"I didn't. I had no idea. I don't know what I was thinking. It was crazy of me to think you were Samantha, I was just so confused about William and the thought of getting him back or losing him forever, I needed something else to lay a claim to."

"But why me?"

"I don't know. I can't tell you what it was that made me search for the information on you that I did. It wasn't as if I saw some deep family resemblance, I imagine you must look a lot like your mother." Reyes smiled slightly and turned back to the busy road.

"I just can't seem to get everything straight in my head. I have a whole other family living in four states around the country. And I have a half brother that I've known for three years already who's a pain in my ass, I guess that's what brothers are for."

"I am sorry. This is all very surreal for me too. I never imagined that you and I would end up related. Not in a million years."

"Well some part of you must have to have gone to the extreme measures that you did."

Mulder nodded his head a little and was suddenly taking in the fact that he was standing having a conversation with a sister that he had never even known existed. He wanted to get to know her and to be able to have her as a part of his life. But he was afraid too, of what this meant about the X-Files.

"Monica, I swear I'm not going to push anymore, or ask you anything or do anything else until you're ready, but just be careful." Reyes looked at him and he was glad he had gotten her attention.

"There is a reason that Scully and I were allowed home, I still don't know what that is, and I still believe that you were abducted when you were four..."

"Mulder..."

"I know, I know, but hear me out. Somebody somewhere knew that you were Bill Mulder's daughter, I really think that because you're on the X-Files something is waiting to happen." Reyes was about to say something back when Scully appeared behind Mulder at the entrance to the building.

She looked nervous as she approached them and took Mulder's hand.

"The judge is back."

*Chapter 24*

Three months later. May 18th. William Mulder's 3rd birthday. On February 16th Mr. and Mrs. Van de Kamp had been instructed to bring William to a neutral location and allow his parents to take him home. They had done so with a heavy heart and gone home devastated, as the small boy didn't even notice they had left.

Scully watched as her son walked around the room laughing as his father chased after him. She had never dared believe completely that this day would ever arrive. Mulder was the full time stay at home dad that he had been dreaming of becoming, and Scully found herself getting home from work earlier every day just so that she could be with her family.

Dana Scully and Fox Mulder's son had been living with them for three and a half months and he had fit back into life with his parents as if he had never been away. He instantly took a liking to Mulder, who he hadn't seen since being just two days old, and he knew within days that these people were his parents. He didn't try and call them anything but 'mommy' and 'daddy'.

For his birthday this year he was being truly spoilt. There were unopened gifts lying around everywhere because it was impossible to get a three year old to show interest in more than one toy at any one given time, Mulder was having more fun looking at all the different toys than his son was. Scully had been working hard in the kitchen with help from her mom to prepare a small spread for the family, and Doggett and Reyes were due to join them any time.

She felt silly to think it but it was all Scully had ever wanted. A family, and a secure job. She was finally able to relax and enjoy her life for the first time in a long while. When

Mulder joined her in the kitchen with a sticky faced William in his arms she playfully wiped his face clean and Grandma Scully took him back to his toys as Mulder took advantage of getting Scully alone.

"Mulder, my mom's in the next room..."

"She had four children Scully, she knows how this works..."

"We can't..." Mulder was kissing Scully and she was only half fighting his hands away as they pawed at her clothes trying to unbutton her shirt. She laughed as they lay on their bed and then they just looked at each other.

"God, I can't believe that this day is finally here."

"What?"

"Our first birthday with our son." Mulder smiled, as he knew exactly what Scully was feeling.

"I only wish that it wasn't his 3rd. I'm so sorry that you lost those first birthdays

Scully..."

"We lost them Mulder. Not me." He smiled at her again and she kissed him and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to my mom before she suspects anything."

"Scully we have a child, I think she knows that you like to have your wicked way with me."

Scully laughed sarcastically.

"The only wicked person in the bedroom is you Mr. Mulder." Mulder stood up and took her into her arms just for a simple hug. They had used this to show affection for each other so much that it was just as intimate as anything else they could have done.

"I love you Scully."

"I know. I love you too." They walked out into the kitchen together and were joined by a very sugar high William. Scully picked him up and kissed him as he hugged his mom tightly. William was a little afraid that he might lose this familiar redhead again. He wanted to make sure that he never let her go.

Mulder picked up an envelope off the table and looked at it suspiciously. It was from the Van de Kamps. A birthday card for William. He didn't even open it; he threw it into the bin and went into the living room to Scully's mother. He didn't think Scully had been watching him but she had. And she had been debating what to do with the small envelope all morning. She was glad that Mulder had had the courage to do what she had wanted to do as soon as she had seen it. William was her son, and he would get cards and presents from her family and friends. It was finally over.

"Monica will you hurry up! It's a three year old's birthday for cryin' out loud, it doesn't matter what you wear!"

"Don't be so impatient! And don't ever say it doesn't matter what I wear! You're the one that gets to take it all off afterwards..." Doggett smiled to himself and decided to wait quietly in the living room.

Reyes had spent a lot of time with Scully and William since his homecoming and she adored him, she was certain that he could remember her. She had been getting along with Mulder rather well too, which she found a huge blessing she was almost enjoying that fact that it was a small ready-made family that she was a part of. And of course she and Doggett were having a great time living together. Everything had worked out for the best. And as she took a final look at herself in the mirror she knew she was good to go.

"Finally, can we go now?"

"I know you're only in a hurry because you want to play with William's gift."

"Oh come on. The box says for ages 3 and up."

"I saw you in the store, you wanted your own."

"Whatever you say sweetheart, whatever you say." Reyes loved it when he called her 'sweetheart', she kissed him as she picked up her jacket and they went for the door. As Doggett opened it and Oliver ran outside to the car the phone rang. He was willing to leave it but Reyes wanted to pick it up.

"It's probably Dana asking where the hell we are!"

"Well then I'll answer it and I'll tell her we're on our way." Reyes picked up the phone and answered it whilst smiling innocently to Doggett who just laughed at her playful nature and was tempted to just stay in with her for the afternoon. But when the smile on Reyes' face dropped he walked inside to her and stood beside her shaking body.

Gibson praise had only two words for Reyes.

"They're back." She knew exactly whom he meant by 'they'.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. You have to protect William. They don't care about Mulder anymore, there's somebody else they have an interest in. You're in danger Monica. Protect the boy."

Gibson hung up the phone and Reyes turned to look at Doggett with a look of complete fear in her eyes.

"Monica what is it? Who was that?"

"It was Gibson. We should go..."

"What?"

"We have to get to Scully. I'll explain in the car." Doggett followed Reyes out of the house and got into the car quickly. He had no idea what she was going to tell him, but he knew that it wasn't good news and he knew that just when he thought everybody's lives were working out for the best, things were about to change. And soon.

END OF PART ONE
story continues in Who You Are