Part 1 of 2

Special Agent Fox Mulder paused by the door and looked at his wife. This was too weird. It was so ordinary, so un-X-Filey, that it scared him. But, he reminded himself, as of yesterday he and Scully weren't on the X-Files anymore. And they weren't partners anymore. He'd been assigned to a violent crimes task force on serial killers, due to his recent work on a high-profile X-File that had led to the arrest of several serial killers involved in a satanic cult. Assigned, hell! He was heading up the damned thing!

Scully would be back out at Quantico, mostly teaching, sometimes doing lab work. She was on a light schedule due to her recently diagnosed pregnancy.

So just do it, he told himself. Kiss your wife goodbye and go to work. Millions of men do it everyday. For a man who's faced down serial killers, aliens, monsters and Cancer Man, not to mention dozens of pissed-off bureau superiors, it shouldn't be that hard.  But it was. Because, as much as he was looking forward to their new life - having a baby, publicly announcing their marriage to all and sundry, moving to a new house - he couldn't help feeling a bit of bittersweet longing for the part of their life that was over now. He'd never again sit across from Scully in their basement office or a low-rent motel room and bat around theories involving mutants, UFOs or the paranormal.

Scully was thrilled with her pregnancy, though. It was something she'd been told was impossible and he knew she'd be a great mother. He'd screwed up enough things in her life during the years they'd spent together. He wasn't going to mess this up for her when she was so happy.

"Bye, sweetheart," he said, leaning down to kiss her
lightly on the lips. "I'll give you a call sometime
later today, let you know how things are going."

"Okay. I'll probably be out at Quantico until
mid-afternoon, then I'll be back here."

"Don't wear yourself out."

"I won't. I love you. Bye."

***

Mulder stepped into the suite of offices where the
task force was meeting. He had his own office and even a secretary. He was pleased to see that the woman assigned to work for him was in her 50s and somewhat overweight.  The last thing he'd want would be a pretty young secretary like Skinner had; such a woman might make Scully feel uncomfortable. There was also a large meeting room and several desks in the outer office. He sat down at a table at the front of the meeting room. The original members of the task force had been selected by others in the bureau, but he would have the option of reassigning agents he
couldn't work with or requesting others to work on the task force if he felt they could make a contribution.

Members of the task force began drifting in; most were younger than he, no one he knew. Finally a familiar, if not particularly welcome, face came through the door. Tom Colton. They'd worked together years ago and didn't particularly care for each other.

"Hey, Spooky, you actually going to be running this
show?" Colton asked.

"That's what they tell me," Mulder replied.

"Where's Scully? Don't tell me she finally came to her senses and dumped you?"

"She's out at Quantico. And, far from coming to her
senses and dumping me, she's lost her mind completely
and married me. Which is why we're no longer working
together," Mulder said.

Colton gawked at him. "You're serious?" he asked. "You and Scully - Mr. and Mrs. Spooky for real?"

Mulder held up his left hand so that his wedding ring
caught the light. "For real," he confirmed.

When all eight of the agents who had been assigned to
the task force were in the room, Mulder called the
meeting to order.

"Okay, I think everybody knows why we're here. For
those of you who don't know me, I'm Special Agent Fox
Mulder. I've been with the bureau for almost fifteen
years and I've spent most of that time as a profiler.
In the past few years, there have been an increase in
the number of reports of murders attributed to serial
killers. This is despite a significant drop in the
nationwide total of overall violent crimes. We're here to ask some questions - and hopefully find some
answers - to help law enforcement agencies across the
country deal with these killings."

"I guess the first question is why have the number of
serial killings been on the increase," suggested
Colton.

"No, Colton, the first question is IF the number of
serial killings have increased in the past decade,"
Mulder replied.

"But, you just said. . ." stammered the only woman
agent present, a tall, thirtyish blonde.

"What I said was, the number of reports in which
murders are attributed to serial killers have
increased. Does this mean there are really more serial killers on the loose than 20 years ago? Or does it just mean that law enforcement agencies are getting more efficient, making connections that wouldn't have been possible in the days before computerized databases? Could it possibly even mean that law enforcement agenices are getting lazier, and prefer to lay the blame for virtually any murder in their area on a serial killer who selects his victims at random, rather than do the tedious legwork of investigating each murder victim's background inidvidually to find out who might have wanted him or her dead?"

"It's similar to the questions that were asked about
the increase in domestic abuse complaints in the
1980s, isn't it?" asked an Asian-American man. "Some
people looked at it as bad news, that more Americans
than ever were beating their wives or kids. Other
people thought it was good news; that it didn't mean
the violence was any worse than it ever had been, just that people were getting more open about filing
complaints."

Mulder gave the younger man a grin. "There you go."

***

Special Agent Dana Scully walked into Quantico and
headed for Agent Ann Palmer's office. The older woman
smiled when she saw her.

"Dana! I couldn't have been happier when they told me
you'd volunteered to take over half my classes so I
could spend more time with my husband during his
illness. It was very kind of you," she said.

"I'm happy to do it, Agent Palmer, but to tell the
truth I was looking for some lighter duty for reasons
of my own."

"I'd heard you were quite ill with cancer a couple of
years ago, my dear. Don't tell me you're sick again?"

"No, it's not that," Scully said with a smile.
"Although I guess my illness is at least partially
responsible. You see, I'm pregnant and because I was
so ill that time - not to mention the fact that I'm
over the age of 35 and this is my first baby - it's
considered a high-risk pregnancy."

"Why, Dana, that's lovely! I didn't even know you were married," Agent Palmer suddenly coughed then said, "Of course, a lot of women choose single motherhood these days."

"I'm married, Agent Palmer,"  Scully assured her. "Do
you know Agent Mulder?"

"That young agent who doess all the excellent
profiling work? Why, yes, I believe I've met him. You
worked with on the X-Files, if I'm remembering
correctly. Is he your husband?"

"Yes, he is," Scully answered with a smile.

***

Assistant Director Walter Skinner called Holly
Patterson into his office. "Have you heard the news
about Agents Mulder and Scully?"

"No sir, I haven't seen them this week," she replied.
"I went down to their office earlier this morning and
found it empty. What's happened to them? Did they
finally get busted for being married?"

"More or less," Skinner replied dryly. "Agent Mulder
is back on Violent Crimes and Agent Scully is back out at Quantico. What I need you to do, as soon as
possible, is get their personal information changed in the bureau database."

"What am I to change?"

"Their marital status, obviously, and also make sure
that both their home addresses are listed as the
apartment that's currently shown as Agent Scully's
home address. And one more thing," Skinner said.

"Yes?"

"When you first found out the X-Files agents were
married, the three of us asked you to keep it quiet.
Now, if possible, work it into casual conversation
that you've been aware of their marriage for quite
sometime."

Holly grinned. She liked Dana and her husband and was
glad to help them pull off whatever was going on here. "Yes sir," she replied.

***

Mulder glanced around the conference room. Everyone
else had left for lunch. He guessed he ought to go
grab himself a bite to eat, too, but he wasn't really
hungry. Maybe he could give Scully a call on her cell
phone, see how things were going out at Quantico.

"Mulder?" he looked up to see Skinner's
broad-shouldered frame filling the doorway.

"Yes sir?"

"You up for lunch?"

"Er, yeah, sure," Mulder replied.

When the two men were seated across from each other in a restaurant a few blocks away from headquarters,
Mulder asked, "Is there something you need to talk to
me about, Skinner?"

"No, not really," the older man answered, "It's just
that I remember my first day as an assistant director, as clearly as if it were yesterday, although it's almost ten years ago. I was kind of lonely and confused. Thought you might be feeling something similar, that's all. I mean, having to give up the X-Files and take over a task force, all in the same week that you've learned you're going to be a father. . .it's a lot to deal with."

Mulder was surprised, then gratified, to realize the
invitation to lunch had been proferred out of nothing
more - and nothing less - than honest friendship.
"It's not that I mind taking over the task force or
even losing the X-Files. It's the fact that Scully and I won't ever be able to work as partners again that's bumming me. I'm happy about the baby, I really am. I guess I just sort of want to have my cake and eat it, too. I keep thinking of crazy things - things most men would consider a real annoyance, like all the times she shot down my theories with her scientific knowledge and all the times she told me I was nuts - and how much I'm going to miss that being part of my daily routine."

'You know, even though the X-Files have been
deactivated, I'm still the A.D. in charge of that
division," Skinner said slowly. "There may be an
occasional case which, in my professional opinion, the bureau doesn't have a current investigative unit
capable of handling it."

"What are you saying?" Mulder asked.

"I'm saying that for the next year or two you and
Scully are going to have a lot to deal with, what with the baby and everything. But, after that. . .I won't ever be able to get away with assigning you both full-time to the X-Files again, even if they should happen to reopen that division. Not now that the whole bureau knows the two of you are married. It's not really the kind of job suited to parents of a young child, anyway. However, if once a year or so, I happen to make a couple of phone calls to Quantico and Violent Crimes to ask if I can borrow a couple of
their agents for a temporary investigation, I think my request will probably be granted."

"You mean Scully and I could work together again?"
Mulder asked.

"On occasion. If you think Scully's mother would be up to an overnight babysitting job now and again."

Mulder grinned and Skinner and nodded.

***

When Mulder got home, he found Scully in the bedroom
crying. Except for a brief phone call that afternoon
which began with her characteristic "Mulder, it's me"
greeting, they hadn't spoken all day. He knew she'd
been home since mid-afternoon, but didn't know what
was upsetting her so.

"Dana? What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," she replied.

"Damn it, Scully, don't *DO* this to me! I thought we
were past all that. Just tell me what's bothering
you!"

"But it really IS nothing. I mean, it's just a
pregnancy related hormone-surge or something. I'm
crying over something so stupid. . .A few days ago, we thought I might be seriously ill. Now that I know I'm not only healthy, I'm having a baby, I ought to be on top of the world. And, honestly, I'm absolutely
thrilled with the idea of us becoming parents! It's
just. . ."

"Tell me. Please? Even if you're just crying over a
broken nail or the cancellation of your favorite
television show, that's okay. I want to know."

"Okay," Scully said with a sigh. "But it makes me
sound like such a hypocrite."

"What?"

"Well, you remember how I always used to talk about
- oh, hell, let's be honest, how I always used to
WHINE about - how much I wanted a normal life? A
husband, a dog, a child, a house?"

"Er, yeah, I seem to remember you mentioning it a time or two," Mulder said with a smile.

"It's just that now that I've got it - a wonderful
husband, a baby on the way, even a dog - it's just hit me how much I'm going to miss the life we DID have! I'm going to miss dashing all over the country with you, investigating possible UFO sightings and mutant serial killings. I love being your wife, but I hate not being your partner anymore. It's just sort of making me sad to think we won't ever work together
again."

"Skinner and I had lunch today," Mulder said.

"Um, have we moved to a different topic of
conversation?" Scully asked, somewhat confused.

"No, it's still the same one. And it shows how much we think alike, even when we're apart. Because I was kind of grousing about the same thing. That, as much as I love the look on the faces of people like Colton when I tell them we're married, it was sort of upsetting to think we'd never work together again. Want to know what Skinner said?"

"Sure."

"He said he was still in charge of the X-Files
division, even if it's inactive and that he's fairly
sure, once the baby is old enough to be left with your Mom for a night or two, he would come across an
occasional case that only the two of us could handle."

"You mean we could work together again?" Scully asked
with a smile.

"Once in a while," Mulder agreed.

Scully threw herself into his arms. Mulder pulled her
into his lap and rocked her gently for a few moments.
Then he kissed her.

***

An hour or so later, Scully stirred in her husband's
arms and said, "I was wondering if you'd like to hear
my ideas for what to name the baby."

"Sure. What did you want to call her?"

Scully laughed. "We don't know it's going to be a
girl, Fox. Most men want a son, anyhow."

"Sweetheart, as I'm sure you've noticed by now, I am
not 'most men'. I want a daughter. A tiny, beautiful
redhead that I can spoil rotten."

"Why?" Dana asked, her voice soft.

"Because of Samantha, I guess," he said quietly. "And
Emily. Even Melissa, to a certain extent, although she was an adult when she died. It just seems that we
haven't had very good luck with our female relatives
and I suppose it seems like a daughter would be sort
of a. . .catharsis of those experiences."

"I understand your feelings; I want a son for almost
the same reasons, except in reverse. It seems like a
daughter would arrive with too much baggage; that
everytime we held her you'd think of Samantha and I'd
think of Emily. A baby boy would be more like a fresh
start, for both of us."

"I guess we'll just take whichever God sends us and
love our baby with all our hearts, huh?"

"You've got that exactly right, lover."

"Okay, so what did you want to name the baby?"

"Well, if it's a boy I assume you don't want to name
him Fox Junior, right?" Scully said, then laughed as
her husband made a face. She knew he hated his given
name. It had only been since their marriage that he'd
allowed her to use it and, even now, he requested that she only use it in private or at family gatherings; never in public. "So I thought William Samuel Mulder would be a good name. William because it was the name of both of fathers. Samuel partially because of Samantha and also because it was the name of my grandfather; my mother's father."

"Yeah, I like that. Just so long as we don't call him
Bill or Billy. But William or Will or Wim, those would be fine. What did you have in mind for a girl?"

"One of the reasons I kind of want a boy is because I
thought it would be easier for us to agree on a name.
The one I'd like for a girl is Melissa Samantha
Mulder. But I guess you'd rather it be Samantha
Melissa, huh?"

Mulder was quiet for a moment. "No, I think Melissa is better. If that's what you want, we'll go with it."

***

The next day, Mulder and his squad were analyzing
evidence from several unsolved murders in Gulf Coast
states. The local sheriff's and police departments
investigating the deaths had begun to wonder if there
might be a link, since all the victims were white
males between the ages of 15 and 40.

"Okay, I want everybody to pair off, look over these
reports, see if you can come across any other
parallels among the deaths. If you're an agent with
less than ten years of experience, hook up with
someone with more than 10 years of experience," Mulder said.

Mulder noticed with a small smile that Colton
immediately gravitated to the only woman on the team.
The oldest agent there, a black man in his 40s, took
on a very young agent who must have been just out of
the academy. Two other agents paired off, also, but
they must have been just under and over the ten year
limit he'd imposed, because they both seemed to be in
their 30s. That left Chan, the young Asian-American
agent, staring at Mulder in perplexity.

"Okay, Chan, you come with me," Mulder said.

"Where are we going?" Chan asked.

"Out to Quantico to have some of the physical evidence analyzed."

"Would happen to have anything to do with the fact
that Scully's out at Quantico, would it ?" asked
Colton.

"Hey, when I want analysis done, I go for the best,"
Mulder replied, "and she's the best." Not just at
scientific analysis, either, he thought, but didn't
get into that with Colton.

As they walked out to the car, Mulder flipeed on his
cell phone. "Hey, Scully, it's me."

"Hi, Mulder. What's up?"

"Got time to look over some evidence for me, give me
an opinion? Then maybe have lunch?"

"Sure, if you can get over here quick and we're back
from lunch early. I've got a class scheduled at one."

"We're on our way."

"We?"

"I'm bringing one of the younger agents from my team
with me."

"Okay. See you in a bit."

"Bye."

***

As they got into the car, Chan said, "No Charlie
jokes, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked as he manuvered the
car out of the parking garage.

"When you go into law enforcement and your last name
is Chan. . ."

"Oh. Yeah, I get it. Try growing up with a first name
like 'Fox' if you want to get teased about your name.
What IS your first name, anyway?"

"Andrew."

"Well, I'll call you Chan. You call me Mulder.
Everybody calls me Mulder."

"Even your wife?"

"She calls me Fox sometimes, but only when we're
alone. Never in public."

"I've heard a lot about you two," Chan said.

"Yeah, we've always attracted a lot of attention. I'm
not even going to bother trying to sort out fact from
fiction, unless there's something specific you want to ask about."

"No, I think I'll just wait until I meet her. You're
not at all the way the rumors paint you. Well, the
spooky ones, I mean. Most people at the bureau seem to vary between two extremes on you - you're either a
total nutcase or one of the brightest agents the
F.B.I's ever had."

"Depends on what day it is," Mulder deadpanned.

***

Scully was in the lab, checking her e-mail. Oops! Here was a high-priority summons to appear before a board of inquiry on allegations of misconduct. Tomorrow afternoon. Well, it wasn't like Skinner hadn't warned them.

Just then, Mulder walked in with another agent. "Hey,
how are my girls?" he asked, dropping a kiss on
Scully's cheek.

"I'm fine," she replied dryly. "The baby is fine, too, but not necessarily a girl. By the way, Daddy, did you check your e-mail this morning?"

"You mean that board of inquiry thing? Hardly like
it'll be the first time for us, Scully. Oh, hey, this
is Andrew Chan, one of the members of my task force.
Chan, this is my wife and former partner, Dr. Dana
Scully."

"Pleased to meet you, Dr. Scully," Chan said, reaching out to shake her hand.

"Just Scully is fine," she replied. Turning to Mulder
she said, "What did you want me to look at?"

"This," he answered, handing her an evidence bag.

"What is it?"

"Not going to tell you. I want a clean analysis, no
hint that you were biased beforehand by unfounded
suspicions."

"Okay."

***

After Scully had completed her analysis, she glanced
at her watch. Five minutes past noon. "If you still
wanted us to to do lunch, we're going to have to move
fast. I've got to be back here in less than an hour to teach a class."

"We can go to Owens," Mulder suggested. "It's just
around the corner."

"I can meet you back here at one," Chan offered.

"No, don't be silly, we want you to come with us,"
Scully replied.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Chan said.

"No, really, I want to find out what kind of boss
Mulder is," Scully said. "Besides, when we're alone he tends to act like Ricky Ricardo in the episodes where Lucy was pregnant."

"Okay," Chan agree with a laugh.

When they were seated and had ordered, Scully said,
"Do you mind if I ask you something kind of personal,
Chan?"

"No, go ahead."

"Is your ancestry Chinese or Korean or what?"

"A little of each, with some Irish thrown in."

"Irish?" Mulder asked skeptically.

"Yeah," Chan answered. "My father's parents are
Chinese immigrants. They came to America right after
World War II. My father was born in San Francisco; I
was born there, too."

"And your mother's side?" Scully asked.

"Mom is the result of an Irish-American father and the war bride he brought back from Korea. She was born in Kansas. For some reason, though, people always look at me like I'm insane when I wear my "Kiss me, I'm Irish" button on St. Patrick's Day."

"I can't imagine why," Mulder said dryly .

"So, how'd you end up in the bureau?"

"Well, my grandfather - the Irish-American one, not
the Chinese immigrant one - was a cop for 35 years
after he came back from Korea. He was still on active
duty when I was a kid and to me that was just the most exciting thing in the world. I wanted to grow up to be just like him. But my Dad, and his parents, wanted me to grow up to be a professional. You know, doctor, lawyer, something like that. So, I became a lawyer and joined the F.B.I. This way, everybody's happy. My father and his parents get to tell people I'm a lawyer who works for the Justice Department; which, technically speaking, is true. And I get to carry a badge and a gun and maybe, someday, even get to say things like "Freeze, I'm a Federal Agent!"

"Stick with Mulder if you want excitement," Scully
suggested. "You'll get more than you can handle."

***

As they reached Quantico, Mulder parked the car and
said, "You can wait here, Chan. I'm just going to walk Scully in; I'll be right back out."

"Sure thing."

"Mulder, I'm pregnant, not handicapped," she pointed
out as they walked through the main doors with his
hand on the small of her back. "I'm perfectly capable
of walking in by myself."

"I know," he replied with a smirk. "I just wanted a
chance to kiss you goodbye without Chan taking notes."

"Oh. Well, okay. This is the classroom I'm teaching
in."

"Hey, Scully, you know that inquiry board we've got
tomorrow?"

"Yeah?"

"You want to really give them something to talk
about?"

"I've only got a couple of minutes before I have to
start my class, Mulder."

"Long enough. Trust me?"

"With all my heart."

Mulder placed his hands on either side of her face,
effectively trapping her between the wall and his
body. Then he leaned down and kissed her. It was long, slow and deep. Scully stood on her tiptoes and reached her arms up to his neck, pulling him closer to her. They'd kissed even more passionately than this before, but certainly never in public! When he finally came up for air, he said, "See you tonight."

"Um, yeah, bye," Scully murmured with a smile on her
face.

***

The next afternoon, Mulder and Scully were both in a
corridor at headquarters. Skinner had told them to
wait there to be called into the board. "Why, Agent
Scully, fancy meeting you here!" Mulder said in
mock-surprise.

Scully gave him her famous "Scully-look" and he
grinned.

"Agent Mulder, they'd like you to come in first,
please," the secretary said.

Mulder scanned the faces of the inquiry board. Skinner was his only ally. Neither Kirsch nor Cassidy cared for him, and he didn't know any of the others.

"Let's begin," A.D. Joanna Cassidy said. "Agent
Mulder, just for the record, do you know an Agent Dana Scully?"

"Of course."

"Could you desribe your relationship with her for us,
please?" Cassidy asked coolly.

"She's my wife and former partner."

Mulder was pleased to see both Kirsch and Cassidy
start at that. Skinner didn't move, but one corner of
his mouth twitched slightly. The others just looked
confused.

"Could you repeat that, please?" Cassidy said.

"Agent Scully is my wife. She's also my former
partner," Mulder answered.

"I. . .see," Cassidy said slowly. "So you and Agent
Scully are married to each other?"

Mulder resisted the temptation to say "That's what
'she's my wife' generally means." After all, it wasn't only his career that was on the line here, it was Scully's too. With a baby on the way, they couldn't afford to get suspended. So he answered, politely, "Yes ma'am, that's correct."

"May I assume your marriage is a relatively recent
event?" Kirsch asked.

"Relatively, yes," Mulder replied. He didn't see where Kirsch was going with this.

"As in, you got married within the past few days?"
Kirsch asked dryly.

"No sir," Mulder answered. "We've been married for
several months."

"Didn't you and Agent Scully work together on the
X-Files until just last week?" Kirsch asked.