Struggle No More... Go Softly Into Night

X FILES :
STRUGGLE NO MORE...GO SOFTLY INTO NIGHT

RATING: R – for language and violence

DISCLAIMER: X File characters, Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, William aka Jackson Van De Kamp, Samantha Mulder, Walter Skinner, Monica Reyes, Mr Y, Erica Price, CSM, Jeffrey Spender, Mr X, Deputy Director Kersh, and Jeremiah Smith belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions & FOX. Katherine is my own character.

CATEGORY: A post-'My Struggle IV' fic

PAIRING: Mulder/Scully

EPISODES: referrals to MY STRUGGLE IV, SIXTH EXTINCTION II – AMOR FATI, DEADALIVE, TALITHA CUMI, ONE BREATH, WITHIN, THE FIELD WHERE I DIED, THE TRUTH

SUMMARY: Scully has revealed to her partner Mulder that she is pregnant again and this time the child is his. A miracle of God...or something else? There is still a hidden secret yet to be revealed...but will she have the courage to say...or even get the chance?

'You ARE a father!'

Had she actually spoken those words? His thoughts were lost in some deep dark swirling fog of memories. Separate motel rooms, connecting door...only this time..? Had she REALLY said that?

'That's impossible!' he'd heard himself utter, and she had agreed with him, completely. Then he remembered wrapping his arms tightly around her shaking body. Holding her close. He had to protect her now. There was no one else left? He had to...?

Wet tears began to course down his cheeks and he trembled as his mind began to process what had just taken place. He'd somehow prevented a global conspiracy and stopped a deadly alien pathogen from wiping out every living creature on the planet. The man who had orchestrated the plan to eliminate humanity...was dead. Yes, he'd fired over and over again, he thought. 'After he shot...me?
His father had killed his own flesh and blood after protecting him for all these years. Only it hadn't been him at all...it had been..William. HIS son, his flesh and blood, who had clouded the Smoking Man's mind making him believe he was standing in front of Fox, his first born child.

The son Mulder had sought for how many years, 16, 17? Did any of it matter now? Scully had told him it wasn't his child anyway, but some experiment. How could she have said that? How could she have been so cold? He'd held on to the belief that the kid would be found, if he searched hard enough. Just like he had in vain for his precious sister. He'd been given a vision of Samantha and felt in his heart she was safe? But the painful truth was she was dead, taken from him.

Now overcome with grief that the boy had also been wrenched out of his life with one single gun shot to the head, biological son or not? Mulder began to convulse, as racking sobs overtook his willpower to remain strong for the woman he cherished, and who needed him right now.

'I'm sorry. Mulder, I'm so s-sorry!'

Dana Scully gently pulled from his grasp, and with trembling fingers began stroking away the tears that were streaming from her partner's eyes. Then a wave of nausea swept over her, as she once again recalled the information she had been given from their former boss in the FBI, Walter Skinner. The terrifying revelation that her son William was in fact the creation of the most nefarious person who ever existed in her life, the Cigarette Smoking Man. She had been a vessel, nothing more. A means to bring his alien/human abomination into the World. But through some incredible miracle she had now discovered she was pregnant again, only this time it had to be Mulder's? 'Please god, it has to be!' She begged deep down inside.

But why was she apologising to him? The man she kept refusing to herself that she relied on more than anyone? Was it because she'd practically told him to forget William, now they were going to have a child of their own? Or was it something else, lurking deep in her subconscious – screaming to be released?

Pulling him back into her arms, she clung to Mulder as she felt her own tears begin to fall. An icy chill bit into her, and she squeezed him even tighter as the visions came flooding into her mind. She tried to ignore them, didn't want this invasion – not now! 'He's dead, gone...it's over!' she thought, shaking her head. But she knew this wasn't true and that she had lied to herself and to Mulder. William, her son, was alive!

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'So tell him. Tell the man you love that his son has survived. Why are you holding back, Dana? What the hell is wrong with you?' The words came thick and fast no matter how hard she tried to shut them out. But it wasn't her voice she was hearing...of that she was certain.

She felt trapped, there was nowhere to escape from that voice. That incessant tone demanding to be heard. It was then a vision formed clear and precise, of two men lying on operating table's in the shape of a cross, having surgery performed on them. In that instant she felt disgusted, when she realised who they were. Mulder...and his father, the bastard who had used her to bear that...that fucking voice in her head! Why the hell was this gruesome scene being shown to her...now?

'Oh please, leave me alone. Go away!' she said, harshly

Startled and confused, Mulder pulled from her embrace, his tear stained eyes now boring deeply into hers. 'W-what?'

The voice continued to echo in her head.

'Don't you see? He took it from him. His father took the alien DNA and transferred it into his own sick- twisted mind!'

'Oh my god!' she breathed, the revelation now hitting her like a slap in the face.

Shaking his head, Mulder sighed in frustration. 'I don't understand?', he whimpered.

'It...it was the same DNA that created me, mother.'

Why hadn't she acknowledged those words before, when she'd told him her son had only been an

experiment? Maybe because she was trying desperately to concentrate on the new life inside of her? Which would finally let them escape from the hell they had been a part of ever since she had introduced herself back in the basement of the FBI building in Washington DC. Who was she kidding? They could and never would escape the darkness, no matter how hard they tried.

She had allowed herself to witness this vision, and realised that they had both been cruelly abused by the Devil emotionally and physically. She felt sick. How could she be so unfair, stay silent and let this stricken man suffer any more?

Taking him in her trembling arms, she stroked his hair tenderly, her voice a faint whisper.

'Mulder...it's you. He's..?' You are also his...'

But the words couldn't form any more, as a searing pain suddenly shot through her body like a knife piercing her soul. Terrified of what was happening her mind now focused on William, frozen and lost in that cold dark water where he'd fallen after being executed? Was he condemning her for refusing to accept him and lying to his other father that he was alive? His choice, but was he now blaming her? No! William had told her the truth and she had refused to believe it. But that was always her problem wasn't it! She would never believe, even if it was staring her in the damn face...or in this case the deep recesses of her mind. So, what was causing this incessant agony? Her baby yet to be born? 'No more!' she screamed within herself, as a shroud of dizziness enveloped her forcing her to lose her balance.

Desperately trying to make sense of what she was trying to say, Mulder felt her body shudder then collapse against him. His instant reflexes prevented her from falling onto the hard concrete, but the shock that he received forced him to concentrate on what had just occurred.

'Scully!' he called out. Carefully lowering her down onto the ground, he dropped to his knees beside her and gently took her hand in his. Softly rubbing her palm with his thumb, he began to panic as she didn't seem to be responding to his touch. So he squeezed her fingers, his breathing now becoming short ragged gasps.

'She's just fainted. She'll be okay?...Dear God she has to be!' he begged to the Deity he didn't believe in, and that never listened to him anyway.

He'd just seen the child he'd fought for, lose his life to the man he despised, who was now dead thanks to him. Scully had told him they were having a baby, but then had tried explaining something about William. Only he hadn't been able to fully process what had been said. Her words had just been lost in a complete blur of hopelessness right there and then. And now she was lying on the floor, unmoving, unresponsive. This just couldn't be happening!

'Scully?' he whispered, a sob catching in his throat. 'Please...?' With trepidation he brushed away a lock of auburn hair that had fallen across her face, then tenderly touched her neck checking for a pulse. At the same time his hand reached into his pocket to retrieve the mobile phone.

He needed to call an ambulance, to get her to a hospital nearby. He needed to get her and their unborn child to safety.

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He hadn't had time to make the call. Didn't even notice when the phone fell from his trembling hand, clattering onto the hard floor.

'No', he said, tears brimming up in his eyes.

Forcing himself to check again, Mulder sat back on his haunches weighing in the terrible situation he was now being made to face.

Scully had no pulse!

Gathering her into his arms, head shaking from side to side, he buried his face into her hair and began weeping wholeheartedly. Dear God! Why her? he sobbed aloud.

How on earth could fate be this cruel? He'd lost his sister, his father, his mother, his son...and now the woman who had been his rock, his touchstone! Hadn't he suffered enough? Obviously not.

Taking a deep irregular breath he let it out along with all the anguish and pain he'd kept buried inside himself for how long? He didn't know exactly.

'Not Scully! Not our baby! This isn't fucking fair!' he screamed into the night. 'I can't fucking take...any fucking...more of this!'

Now he was angry, choking on his sobs, cursing at everything around him. Except there didn't seem to be anyone in sight. He was alone, lost in the dark. What the fuck was the point of anything any more? He'd told her in the past it had to end sometime? Just recently he'd said he was wondering how it would? Well now he knew, and this time it would be the grand finale, the final fucking curtain!

Tenderly he laid her down, still shaking inside and lowered himself so he could deliver the softest kiss on her now cold and lifeless lips.

'I'm...I'm sorry, Scully', he uttered under his breath. 'Sorry you were ever assigned to me in the first place. I did this to you. I caused all this shit, because of my fucking need to find the goddam truth.' Gently he stroked her pale face with his fingertips, 'Why didn't you walk away when you had the chance?' he asked, closing his eyes, allowing the tears to fall once more.

Knowing he wouldn't receive an answer, although desperate for one. He caught himself gazing at her red auburn hair framing her face, her eyes closed as if in prayer. It was then he realised just how peaceful she actually looked, and all of a sudden it dawned on him. The woman who had lived through this seemingly never-ending nightmare, suffering as much as he did, was finally content.

Leaning down, he whispered softly, reverently into her ear. 'You're free, Scully' Reaching into his jacket pocket he added, 'And soon I will be as well.'

He felt the cold metal in his hand as he retrieved the item which had ended his father's life. Almost immediately a memory surfaced when the informant 'Mr X' had been standing in the FBI building's underground parking garage telling him, 'Listen, you're a damn schoolboy. Mulder'. This was after he'd executed a man in cold blood. He'd explained how he used to be in his place, and how Mulder would have to resort to these measures if he was to continue his pursuit of the truth. At the time he had sworn to himself he could never sink that low? How wrong had he been! He'd finally become a

team player, just like his son-of-a-bitch smoking bastard father had said he was, when he'd pointed a gun at him in the past. Only he hadn't been able to go through with it then, as he'd still needed answers.

He snorted derisively to himself, holding the hand gun up to his face. Why, he had done just that, ended several men's lives with this weapon, not to mention a few throats he had slit open along the way. Only hours ago he had confronted Mr Y in a hanger in that airport in Maryland and shot him, an unarmed man. Yes, the business man had reached for a pistol under the table. But he could have disarmed the guy by shooting him in the arm. Instead he shot him point blank through the face!
'Just what the hell have you become Mulder?' Flipping open the cylinder with a resounding click, he realised there was one bullet left. How fitting!

Looking down at his partner, he now knew what he must do. There was no other way, and frankly he didn't care if there was any more. 'Anyway it will be okay', he thought, his breathing calming to a slow determined level. They were soul mates destined to be a part of each other for eternity. He knew that much after he'd been hypnotised which had allowed him to discover past lives. All of which had included Scully in one way or another. So, he would be with her whatever lay ahead in the unknown journey he was about to take.

'That's ALL that matters', he said, quietly.

Closing his eyes, his lips parted and he felt the cold steel of the barrel of the pistol on his tongue as he pushed it into his mouth. The words 'I love you, Scully' formed in his mind, as he felt his index finger on the trigger.

This was what he wanted, now he was certain. Soon, he'd be with her again...very soon.

Mulder was half expecting to hear the click followed by blissful oblivion, yet nothing was happening. 'What the hell?' he thought, almost in annoyance. But try as he might he just couldn't seem to pull the trigger.

Frustrated, he pulled the weapon from his mouth, cursing himself angrily. 'You fucking coward! he screamed. 'Please, let me fucking die!' Desperately he tried once more to achieve that wish. Nothing!

It was then he realised it wasn't himself preventing this from happening. Some powerful force was keeping his hand in stasis, not allowing him to make that fatal choice. Opening his eyes, he then saw the one person who could control others around him, enough to make people's bodies explode from the inside out with a single thought.

He felt the gun being lowered (again, not his choice) and stared in sheer disbelief at the kid he'd seen shot in the head, only in his own image.

'William?' he gasped in amazement.

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The boy knelt down and taking the gun from Mulder's hand, he said calmly, 'I can't let you do this...father.'

Mulder stared into the young man's eyes, the colour of jade, like his own, same dark intensity he often wore. 'B..but,' he stammered. 'You..You're not my son?'

It came out as a question though he'd meant it to be direct. He had felt the cold touch of his hand, and noticed his tousled dark brown hair sticking to his face, his clothes crumpled and damp. 'He...My father shot you, and you fell off the dock,' he stated firmly. 'He thought you were me,' he added, quietly.

The boy squeezed Mulder's hand, his eyes showing such compassion for the man who had, like himself, paid the ultimate price of being born into the World. Courtesy of the sick old guy, who saw himself higher than the Almighty God himself, and who had created them both. 'He stole the alien DNA from you.' Forcing a chuckle he added, 'And that was what he used along with his own, to make me the super kid I am now. Fox, you are my father.'

This was all too much, so he just sat there stunned into silence. Memories formed and dispersed, frightening nightmares of being torn apart on a space craft, then buried in the cold dark earth. Men in white laboratory coats, excruciating pain as they drilled into his head, and the voices he couldn't stop from permeating his mind! All became a mixed up jumble of thoughts as he tried to make sense of the kid's words. But then it was all overshadowed with her, his life line, his one companion who had stood beside him, even through the most terrifying moments. Turning to look down upon her sweet, almost angelic face, he let the emotion overpower him.

'Scully's...dead', he said, his heart wrenching. 'You're mother...she just collapsed. There was nothing I could do,' he added, helplessly.

Wordlessly, William pulled his father into a strong embrace. He held him close for a good while, as the grief stricken man broke down once more, sobbing into his chest. Then he finally spoke. 'I'm sorry', he uttered gently.

'She told me she was pregnant. She was going to have another child...our child,' Mulder blurted out. 'But now she's dead...and I wanted to be with them and..' He pushed the boy away, fiercely. 'Why the fuck didn't you just let me pull the trigger?'

'We can't die', he replied, silently.

'What?' The words struck hard almost knocking the air out of him. Mulder got up onto his feet and started to walk away. But where was he going to go? He turned around, and faced his 'son'. 'What the hell do you mean we can't die?'

Gingerly, William got up and walked towards him, trying to give him a kind of explanation that he'd understand. 'You were murdered by those alien experiments, buried under ground, yet returned to life.' He could see his father's face trying to remember, but it was clearly very painful to recollect. He continued slowly. 'I was shot by your father and I too welcomed it. It was the only way I could also think of to be free. But I was given life again, and that's when I realised the alien DNA prevents us from dying.'

Mulder swallowed hard, on hearing this. 'But I don't...I don't have the alien DNA though do I?' Now he was in full rant mode. 'My bastard father took it from me...and made YOU! So, in fact this is all bullshit!' Stooping down, he grabbed the gun and aimed it at himself. 'So I can die, and I'll fucking prove it!' he yelled.

'NO!' William screamed.

Suddenly, Mulder felt the gun being wrenched from his hand with such force, it almost broke his wrist in the process. It went flying across the dock and into the water below. 'Ah, Jesus Christ', he hollered. Turning to face the boy, he then noticed how his eyes had grown dark, almost black. It was then he remembered what had happened in William's motel room here in Norfolk. That woman, Erika Price, who along with other former syndicate members had come out of the woodwork to form a brand new mysterious organisation who also had secret access to alien technology. They had wanted him to stop the Smoking Man's agenda in order to carry out their own insidious plans for human kind. In absolute horror he had watched each person explode into a mass of bloody sinews, organs and tissue, bones reduced to powder. He had witnessed this powerful and manipulative representative of this space race group, literally loose her head! Brain matter and skull fragments splattered all over the wall and door where she had just entered. And it was his son, who had been able to use his mental abilities in order to perform this sickening act of vengeance.

Mulder took a deep breath, now becoming scared of the boy standing before him. 'I...I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking.'

He saw the look in his father's eyes, and his own began to soften. 'I would never hurt you,' he said, knowing it was the same fear he'd seen after Mulder had witnessed the carnage in the motel room. Then had glanced up at him in sheer disbelief, from his position on the floor where William had told him to stay put. 'They were going to lock me away and use me as a lab rat. Still reading Mulder's mind he added, 'Your father...our father would have used me to finish his task, to complete the pathogen and let loose the virus that would have shut down everyone's immune system.'

' I know.' Mulder calmed a little, as he could see he spoke the truth. 'It's just...', he began, his voice trembling. 'I can't go on anyway...not without her.' He briefly glanced at the beautiful redhead still lying on the ground, who would now never know that her son was alive. 'I have lost everything that ever mattered to me', he added, bitterly.

He could see the man before him was still holding back so much torment, even though not so long ago it had flooded out like a raging river bursting its banks. He had felt that same anguish within, which had made him fully aware he'd have to go back to his father and reveal what he knew to be true.

'She knew,' he said gently. 'She knew I was alive.' He saw the man's eyes widen in shock. 'She was going to tell you,' he added, softly.

'But she never got that chance'. Mulder felt his whole World caving in once more and faced his son. 'William, why? Why did she have to die?' he asked, hoping he could at least give a reason for all of this.

The boy shook his head. 'I really don't know,' he said in a melancholy tone. An idea surfaced, only he hoped it wasn't the answer. 'Maybe it was the visions?'

Mulder stared at him. What the hell had he just said? 'But you...you gave them to her,' he began, words stammering slightly. He felt the anger brewing up once more. 'She said you made her see the future, of how it would all end! You're saying YOU did this?'

William felt the tension rise within himself, as he sensed his father's anguish. 'Mother sent them to me as well', he stated shaking his head. Surely he wasn't the one responsible for her lying there?

Mulder started towards him, then held back. 'So, it was an accident...but your communication with her in fact killed her?' He didn't wait for a reply. 'Then, do it, William,' he commanded harshly. 'Just finish what you started in the motel room.'

'I won't', he retorted back, at the same time trying to keep the power at bay. The power that could end a life, and all he had to do was wish it to happen.

'Just fucking do it!' Mulder was almost pleading with his son now.

I fucking can't, father!' he spoke harshly, trying to control his breathing. 'And it wasn't me that killed her. I swear to you I had nothing to do with this!'

Mulder stopped short, thoughts manifesting in his mind. 'Then it was him, the Smoking Man. He did this to Scully?'

Maybe he'd made sure there was a fail safe so if he should shuffle off his mortal coil, then his experiment would end, and all traces would cease to be, including his beloved Scully? But then why wasn't William dying? Oh yes, that's right, he can't die. But then his son had told him neither could he? So was he going to have to carry on existing in this hell whether he wanted to or not? Just like he'd had to after the torture the aliens had put him through, leaving him dead/alive. Until his ex-boss now Deputy Director Skinner had entered his room in intensive care and pulled out the life support connections, which had in fact helped to weaken the alien virus incubating in his system by causing his temperature to drop considerably, without affecting his vital signs. It was Scully who had saved him then, with a course of anti-viral drugs after she'd got his temperature regulated once more. His eidetic mind flashed back to a man who had tried to help him before. No, he had been an alien visitor who was against their plans for colonisation of the planet – Jeremiah Smith. He had also had the power to heal. Witnesses in a fast food diner in Arlington had seen him reach down and touch the chest of a man who had gone crazy shooting folk, then had been gunned down by police snipers. He had in fact cured every person who had been fatally injured, with only the palm of his hand.

'You think I can save her?' William asked, reading his thoughts.

Mulder nodded, but remained unsure. He bowed his head then looked up at his son. 'Can you at least try?' The question had come out without him really registering what he had asked. It all sounded completely hopeless, but seriously what the hell had he got to lose? Everything if it didn't work? Well he'd pretty much accomplished that goal already. 'Please...try.'

Carefully, William knelt down beside the woman who he now understood to be his birth mother. He knew she had loved him, no matter the cost to her own sanity or future. Gently he placed his hand upon her stomach. Suddenly he was filled with images of a hospital room, bright iridescent lights, and screaming newborns in cots. One of these had to be her child, the other one brought into being by some divine hand, a true miracle...or was it something more? That was when he saw her eyes, crystal blue orbs gazing at him, and she was smiling. What? Smiling at him? Could she also possess the same telepathic ability?

He felt his father's hand on his shoulder and realised it was trembling slightly. 'What can you see?' Mulder asked, unsure if he wanted an answer. Crouching down he took hold of Scully's limp hand, hoping his warmth alone could bring her back to him.

William wasn't even sure if he should speak about the visions that had just been shown to him. Just who had revealed them anyway, his mother...or the child within her womb? At that precise moment

he felt movement beneath him, hardly noticeable. He couldn't even be certain what had just occurred. Was she trying to tell him she was going to be okay? If so, just who was the one reaching out?

It was then that Mulder felt a twitch in one of Scully's fingers, or had he imagined it? As he gazed upon her, he noticed her lips part ever so slightly. Leaning down, it was then he saw a faint trace of her breath forming in the cold night air.

Turning to face his son, who was smiling at him, Mulder gasped. Hardly daring to believe with his own eyes which were now glistening with tears of relief.

'Oh my God, William. She...she's alive!'

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He watched while Mulder made the 911 call (thankfully the phone was still intact ) all the while concentrating on his mother's face. Still ashen, but she was definitely breathing. He heaved a sigh, knowing he had kept some truths from his father. William had seen that alternative future through Dana's eyes, on the 14th street bridge, with mass panic spreading like wildfire as people were catching a flu-like virus. A deadly contagion concocted of alien and human diseases, which would decimate their immune system and lead to a horrible, painful death. William had also seen a man suffering the same fate, sitting in a car staring up helplessly at the woman who had given him life. Only he hadn't known that had also been his father at the time. Then a ship had arrived, a silent shadow of destruction looming over these pathetic defenceless human beings, or so his creator would have thought. If this had been the outcome then the doorway would have been open allowing the Greys to take re-possession of the Earth. Only together, Fox Mulder and himself had prevented this...for the time being at least. But yes, Fox would have died along with the others because he knew his father was no longer immune. If he had pulled that trigger, he would have succeed in killing himself. And it was something William was not prepared to let happen, as he needed him by his side. Maybe it was for purely selfish reasons he hadn't let Mulder end his life, because he needed a family – he was tired of being so alone. Or perhaps there was another reason? At that moment, he became aware of a sound, faint and weak, and realised it was a voice trying to push through, so it could communicate with him. Concentrating hard, he allowed his mind to focus.

'Katherine'

He stared down at the woman who had given him the name. Dana Scully, his birth mother, who he knew had also been privy to the same nightmarish apocalyptic visions. Now she was with child and her barren womb would once again bring forth a new life. An unbelievable impossibility, as he himself had once been. He also knew this child, his sister, would be important. He wasn't sure how exactly, but after receiving the images she had sent him when he had touched his mother's stomach, he could foresee that she would have the same abilities as himself.

Mulder had given the details of their whereabouts to an emergency service in Norfolk, as well as his FBI credentials, and now was praying help would come sooner rather than later. He had been giving all his attention to the task at hand, and had not acknowledged his son in those moments. Until now that is. He could see the boy staring down at his mother, only the look he was giving her seemed so intense. Alarmed by this, he knelt down beside them, and was extremely relieved to see that Dana was still breathing even though she remained unconscious.

He faced his son, with a look of concern. 'She is going to be okay isn't she?'

Battling with his feelings, William wasn't sure if he could give his father an answer or not. How could he reveal to the man the words that had formed in his mind after Scully had given his sister's name to him. Wouldn't it be better to let him have this precious moment here and now with the woman he loved, who he thought he had lost? Rather than try and explain to Mulder what was going to happen in a future that hadn't even occurred yet? Taking his father's hand, he just nodded and gave a slight smile.

Had he caught a glimmer of hope or was it uncertainty in his son's eyes? Mulder couldn't be completely sure, but right this moment wouldn't let himself dwell on this. Scully, the woman he cherished above all else was alive and an ambulance was on it's way, and that's all he needed to think about right now. Leaning down he tenderly began stroking her auburn hair, eyes filling with tears over the thought that he'd almost lost her.

'I love you '. Then his fingers brushed against her stomach. 'You too little one',
he whispered softly.

William had heard his father's words spoken with complete and utter conviction, and without warning a tear started to make it's way down his cheek. Quickly brushing it away, he was pleased that Mulder hadn't noticed. The sentence he'd heard his mother say was echoing once more in his mind.

'When she's born, they will need you William. Please take care of them both for me.'

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He stirred restlessly then opening his eyes became aware of familiar surroundings. He was lying in the double bed in what he and Scully had once lovingly called the unremarkable house. Sighing heavily Mulder recalled the night on the dock in Virginia yet again, where she had died (for reasons no one was able to fathom. (No sane person who didn't believe in aliens or supernatural forces, that is.) But then William, his son..? Or was it his brother? He snorted, knowing how complicated things could get when alien DNA became part of creating life. Well whatever...he had resurrected his beautiful red headed partner with a touch. At the same time he had rescued their unborn child, and it was a blessing he would always be grateful for. Even now...when things had altered so drastically for him.

The look his son had given him, when he asked if Scully was going to be all right, had been one of apprehension, not anticipation. No, hope had been a flame in his psyche that had burned out long ago. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as his eidetic mind played out the scenario from over a year ago.

He and Scully had once again had The X Files pulled out from under them by Deputy Director Kersh, who had shut them down after a conspiracy theorist with his own internet show had announced there was going to be wholesale slaughter of the human race, mass genocide thanks to an alien virus. Apparently he had leaked this information, even though later Mulder discovered it had in fact been the sceptical love of his life. A faint smile played on his lips, as he remembered her apologising for 'landing him in it' as it were because she didn't wish people to even consider she could believe in aliens. That, and she didn't think they'd listen anyway. Now Spooky Mulder on the other hand..? Yep, there were plenty of nut-jobs out there who'd follow him with a story as wild as that. There was a fraction of a snigger, then his face frowned. But it had all of course been a possibility that would have come to fruition if it hadn't been for himself...and William.

So Scully had gone back to work as a medical doctor, and he had found himself once again in the Violent Crime Section, profiling cases (which had been his profession long before he had requested The X Files to be made a legitimate division within the FBI.) He was still amazed that they hadn't just sacked him and sent him packing. Only to be fair, Kersh knew about the aliens plans from way back when he'd helped Mulder escape from a military prison and had in fact contributed in saving him from a lethal injection. 'Guess he preferred to remain an unwilling sceptic as well', Mulder thought, as memories of his partner surfaced once more. She'd had to take maternity leave, so had chosen to stay with him, here. Those months had been some of the most precious moments in his entire life. Images of happier times flashed by, and a tear started to fall. He remembered driving her to the hospital in rush hour traffic, and how she'd threatened that he was probably going to have to deliver their child in the back of his car the rate they were going! He sniffed, as another tear began to make it's way down his cheek. Yes, they'd reached their destination in time, and he'd been right beside her, letting his hand lose all blood circulation whilst she'd gripped him tightly. He recalled the tiny infant's cry, after she had been brought into the World, and how his heart had done back flips – he had been so proud of the woman who had born them a beautiful baby daughter. But then he had seen the blood, and before he could even acknowledge what was happening, had been whisked out of the maternity ward and into a nearby waiting room. He and William had sat together, just praying for one whole hour before the mid-wife and doctor had come to explain the terrible news. How complications had set in, and they had tried everything they could, but they were so sorry. Blah, blah, blah. It had all just been a blur, something he couldn't take in at the time. But he did remember breaking down in his son's arms when the news finally sank in deep, drowning him in
a wake of devastation.

Scully was gone.

Not by an alien virus, but by a human complication that sadly could happen to any woman giving birth. It was rare that haemorrhaging proved fatal, but not an impossibility. It had been no less easier to deal with however, even if it had been extra terrestrial involvement. He knew if he'd been on his own he would have never have made it through his grief. In fact for a few days he hardly ate or slept, until his one-time boss had demanded he take more care of himself since he had his daughter to think about now.

Walter Skinner. The man who they had thought had a secret agenda yet all along had only wanted to protect Scully & himself, and had almost died in the process. That night in the abandoned Sugar Factory in Norfolk, he had been ploughed down by the Smoking Man, who had tried crushing him to death between his car and another. This had been according to Monica Reyes, who had warned both Mulder and Scully that whoever controlled their son controlled the future. Apparently she had been in the car and had witnessed Walter firing his gun at them as CGB Spender forced her to slam on the accelerator and drive full speed at him. She had remembered a shattering explosion, intense pain, then everything had been a blur after that. Had woken with her head pounding, crawled out of the vehicle and that's when she'd noticed the Deputy Director trapped under the other car. At first she'd thought he was dead, but then had noticed his leg twitching. So she'd found her phone and called for an ambulance, and luckily aside from a broken ankle and fractured bones, Skinner had managed to make it out alive by ramming most of his body under this car's framework. Mulder also remembered her telling him how she kept on having dreams of the man shooting her through the windscreen and hitting her in the forehead! He shuddered, when he recalled how he had witnessed the same thing happening to his son William, who had resembled himself at the time. It had been frightening to watch his own father gun him down, but then he'd realised it was his son, so had returned the favour, without any remorse whatsoever. Mulder pondered on the recurring nightmares Monica had told him about – one bullet to the head. Exactly how William had been executed...only

he hadn't died, because his super alien powers had regenerated him. But why the hell couldn't this have happened to Scully? She was supposed to have been immune from that alien pathogen that was going to kill everyone on Earth?

'Yet she died in child birth instead', he muttered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

A distressed crying sound refrained him from thinking any more about the past, and he realised it was coming from the baby monitor on the bedside table. Swinging his legs out from under the covers, he got up, stretched and strode over to the door. No matter how upset he got, he at least had a purpose to keep going.

'Coming Kathy!', he said

Opening the door of the nursery that her brother William had helped decorate, he walked over to her cot, and gently lifted his now five month old baby girl, cradling her to his chest. ' Hush now. It's okay honey,' he said reassuringly, rocking her in his arms. 'Daddy's here.' It had been so difficult at first to watch her blossom over the months since her birth. Looking down at her, he could see she was the spitting image of her mother. She possessed the same colour hair, only in short tight curls, but those indistinguishable crystal blue eyes were now blinking up at him. Still, she did also have her father's nose. 'You poor kid', he said with a smile, as he carefully laid her down in the cot. She let out a little gurgle, almost as if she'd understood every word.

'Sweet dreams little one,' Mulder whispered softly.

No sooner had he left the room when the baby's eyes began to widen, her gurgling becoming soft whimpers. Just above her head a mobile made of little wooden moons and stars started to turn, seemingly on it's own accord. Almost by an invisible hand.

'I'm here Kathy,' a voice said, soothing her. 'I'll never leave you.'

-------------------------------------------------------------

A plume of smoke arose, as the man took one long drag from his cigarette. Man? That was a laugh in itself. He chuckled to himself as he remembered a missile heading straight towards him as he'd sat in the pueblo in amongst the Anasasi ruins in the Arizona desert. He had thought for certain this was the end, as it tore into him, transforming his flesh into a raging inferno. All he had worked for literally going up in smoke. How wrong he had been, when over time the cells had begun to regenerate and essentially he was reborn anew.

He thought of his son, who he had nurtured over the years, hoping to one day pass on the torch as his sole heir. He remembered telling his second born child Jeffrey how he paled in comparison to Fox Mulder. He had been an embarrassment to his cause, so had ended up a test subject like most of the people he despised, after he'd also shot him in the X files office. CGB Spender took another drag on his cigarette, and let it out slowly. Who would have known that Mulder would have also received the same calling card from his own hand? Only it hadn't been his first born son who he had fired at, at point blank range, but his creation, William. The boy brought forth by a mixture of human and alien DNA (his own DNA) in a laboratory, then implanted into the womb of Dana Scully. A cloud of anger formed over the wizened face. It was their meddling into matters that had prevented him from using William as a means to an end. The end of human civilisation to be precise, barring the chosen few who would have been left to recreate the planet in their own special

way. Only he had now discovered from certain sources he had planted within the FBI, that William was in fact very much alive. So his alien DNA had to have played a hand in that, and must have also given him the ability to regenerate cells in the body. He also knew that the boy visited his so-called father regularly, and in fact was helping them raise a baby.

'So Dana gave Fox a daughter, before she died? How sweet', he chuckled, menacingly. 'Well, I will certainly have to pay my respects.' It was clear to him that just like William, this child had to be special, and therefore would be required for the next part of his game plan. Taking a photo from out of a side drawer, he placed it on a desk in front of him. It had become yellowed and frayed over the years, but he could still see it showed an eleven year old Fox Mulder standing behind his sister Samantha.

Recalling how the son he once admired, had shot him repeatedly, before pushing him off the dock into the icy depths below, he grinned. 'Oh my Fox. You certainly proved you could exact retribution for our son's death.'

Stubbing the cigarette out harshly on the boy's smiling face in the photo, he added. 'I of course plan to return the favour...for mine!'

THE END?

NB: As an homage to Chris Carter I've left it on a cliff hanger ;)

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Struggle No More... Go Softly Into Night

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