Title: A Bizarre and Inexplicable Universe Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono Rating: PG Category: Vignette, Romance, Angst Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance Spoilers: Within Summary: A book found on Mulder's night table sets Scully thinking... This takes place during that night Scully spent in Mulder's apartment, sleeping in his bed. It probably will be one of many fics saying what could have happened that night. :-) Feedback: I would love it. RhiaRamsay@aol.com Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine. There are a lot of other things mentioned in here that aren't mine also. Archiving: Gossamer, Xemplary, Legacy, I'll send it to the Spookys, anyone else please e-mail me for permission. A Bizarre and Inexplicable Universe Elizabeth L. Iacono Though she tried as hard as she could, Dana Scully couldn't sleep well. Dreams of Mulder and the torture he could have been going through at that very moment kept disturbing her. Tears stung her eyes as she wished that he was with her. Her hands brought the shirt she was clutching closer to her face. It was a sad reminder of how quickly things could change. Scully buried her face in the shirt, trying to recapture him by his scent alone. She felt some of the tears break loose and slide down her face into the shirt. She blamed the tears on her pregnancy, the hormones causing her moods to go haywire. Deep down though she knew that she would be doing the same thing whether she was pregnant or not. Whenever Mulder went missing or ditched her she felt a profound sadness, but this time was different. All those other times they managed to find him quickly. Now though, a nagging little voice in her head was telling her that this time was going to be much longer than the others, and it frightened the hell out of her. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for a while, Scully reluctantly opened her eyes. Mulder's bedroom was dimly lit by the street lights outside, casting light and shadows over everything in there. It wasn't the first time she had lain awake at night in Mulder's bed, but it was the first time when he wasn't here. The room felt different when he wasn't there, even though nothing in there had changed. She smiled to herself, thinking of how just his presence could affect things. Her eyes glided over the room, taking everything in, looking at it without the presence of Mulder there. The entertainment center complete with TV was now silent, but his basketball was still rolled into a corner, with the wadded up t-shirt stuffed next to it. The suit he had changed out of the day he disappeared was still draped over the back of the closet door, Mulder didn't have the time to hang it up before his flight to Oregon. It was when her eyes reached his night table that she paused with puzzlement. 'When did he start keeping a bible?' she wondered, taking in the large book bound in black leather-like material, with gilded pages and a ribbon bookmarker sticking out from the pages. Scully pushed herself up a little so she could pull the book closer. Her puzzlement changed to a grin when she saw the writing on the cover of the book. Years in catholic schools had taught her that there were many different versions of the bible. This version however would have never be taught in schools. This was the bible according to Douglas Adams: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide. A great, big, book filled with the five stories of the Hitchhikers Trilogy. It was a very...very Mulderish thing to be there. Truth be told, she had never even heard of the Hitchhiker's books until she met Mulder. They wouldn't have fit in in the strict and logical Scully household she lived in when she was growing up, and there was really no time to read for pleasure after that. But Mulder, he seemed naturally inclined to them. When she had first spotted in on his bookshelf he told her that he had discovered the books while he was at Oxford, and when he moved back to the states they had come with him (leading to a great laugh on his part about the number that was on the door of his new apartment). Scully flipped open the cover carefully, letting her fingers glide over the rough pages. She remembered starting to read through the first book one night, another night just like tonight when she couldn't sleep. As she read, she wondered if the reason he liked the books so much was because, like Arthur Dent, he was suddenly thrown into a whole new world after the old one was obliterated. True, Mulder's world obliteration was on a more local level, with the abduction of Samantha turning the world that he once knew on its head. But, regardless of location, in both instances the worlds that they knew had gotten blown apart (literally, in one case) leaving them to manage in a totally new world they weren't prepared to handle. That, or they just appealed to his warped sense of humor. She smiled to herself as she imagined Mulder reading these to their child one day as their version of a bedtime story. There'd be no fairy tales, but the little one would get to hear 'Jose Chung's From Outer Space' and this (with the parts describing the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon Seven carefully edited out, of course). Impulsively she turned to the page where the bookmark was, wanting to see where Mulder had left off before he had gone. The bookmark was placed at the beginning of the second book. One the right hand page was the start of the story, but on the left hand one were two small blocks of print. She read those, and felt her stomach drop as her mind darted to connect the phrase to her own life. 'There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another which states that this has already happened.' Scully sucked in a deep breath, realized that those words translated to her own personal universe. Just when she allowed herself to feel happiness in her world by her and Mulder finally acting on those long denied feelings, Mulder was suddenly ripped away from her, sending her into a bizarre and inexplicable new world. It was not a good feeling at all. But it could be translated as a good thing also. Namely, the baby. It was this one gift which had arrived with the new universe that would keep her sane and help her focus on finding Mulder. She had even more of a purpose now than ever before. Suddenly Scully got an idea, even though she thought it was a rather silly one. It was always said that babies were be able to hear their mother's and other voices while in the womb. Maybe not at this early stage, but it couldn't hurt, she decided, and turned back to the beginning of the book. And as she started to read she imagined that Mulder was there with her, his head resting on her shoulder and a hand on her stomach, as if to send a message to the little one saying that you are loved. She kept reading until she drifted off to sleep, dreaming once more about Mulder. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This is what happens when you give into peer pressure and buy the big "The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide". I just couldn't resist it. :-) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'True love, it's the greatest thing in the world.' Miracle Max The Princess Bride XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'Men will fight bravely and be heroes, but for a last ditch defense against any odds, get a mother.' The Defender High Wizardry XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'This is the Fish Patrol in 201. Our flying fish has flown away. In fact, things are so rotten around here that even the pigs won't stay! But we'll fight to the bitter end! Beware The Fish!' Bruno Walton Beware The Fish XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX