From drjudd@rainbow.net.au Fri Aug 30 08:52:34 1996
OFFSPRING
DESLEA R. JUDD
drjudd@rainbow.net.au
Copyright 1996
DISCLAIMER
This book is based on The X Files, a creation of Chris Carter owned by
him, Twentieth Century Fox, and Ten-Thirteen Productions. Fox Mulder,
Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, and a number of lesser characters including
Bill Mulder, Mrs Mulder, Samantha Mulder and her clones, Maggie Scully,
Melissa Scully, Captain Scully, Sharon Skinner, Kimberly Cooke, the
Cigarette Smoking (Cancer) Man, the Well Manicured Man and his offsider,
Frohike, Quiqueg, Gautier, Jean Gautier, Ellen, and Alex Krycek remain the
intellectual property of those parties. A number of other characters are
the author's creation and are copyright, and may not be used without her
written permission. These include but are not limited to Dr Karen
Koettig, Agent Grbevski, Melissa Samantha Scully, Grace Skinner, Clone 1
(Cynthia), Clone 3 (Carolyn), Clone 4 (Catherine), Dr Sam Fieldman, Dr
Paul Sturrock, Dr Marion Pieterse, Wendy Tomiris, Serena Ingleburn,
Amarette, Dr Jillian Maitz, Hallie, and Emily Trent. Any queries
concerning ownership of minor characters not mentioned here should be
directed to the author.
(See Pt 1 for complete spoiler, content, and comments info).
A few spoilers from Pilot, Duane Barry, Ascension, One Breath, Colony,
Endgame, Anasazi, Blessing Way, Paper Clip, Nisei, 7.31, Piper Maru,
Apocrypha, and Avatar.
I've rated this book R just to be on the safe side, but I think it's more
PG-13, in truth. There's some low-level sex (three scenes, more
emotional than anatomical), low-level bad language, low-level violence,
and that's about all.
Comments, good and bad, are welcome; but make sure they're constructive,
please! My e-mail is drjudd@rainbow.net.au, but don't worry if you see
something else in your "reply" header like magna.com, because Rainbow.Net
shares a server with another ISP called MagnaData. And if you think my
work's worth stealing, I'm flattered; but don't even think about it.
Archivists, feel free to add this to your collections; but be sure to let
me know.
OFFSPRING BY DESLEA R. JUDD (13/18)
SIX CONTINUED
3170 West 53 Rd, #35
Annapolis, Maryland
March 12, 1997
There was a knock at the door. Scully shook her head at Karen.
"Scully? I know you're in there. Your car's still there. Scully?"
Mulder rapped on the door again, this time more insistently. "Damn
it, Scully, what the hell's going on? You never work at home." There was
a rattling of keys. "I know you, Scully, and I know when something's-"
the door burst open "-wrong."
He stopped short and looked through the open doorway to Scully's
bedroom. He took in the towels, the IV equipment, the humidicrib, and the
brunette stranger. He stared in comprehension at Scully, who was pacing
the floor in a thin, old nightgown, which had damp patches of perspiration
here and there. "My God."
"I have days when I regret giving you keys to my apartment, Mulder,"
Scully said wearily. She went on, her voice crisp and calm (far calmer
than she felt), "I have toxemia. We have to deliver today or neither of
us will survive. This is Karen Koettig. She's an old friend from med
school. She works at St John's, Baltimore. I guess you could say she's
paying the price for past transgressions."
"Pinching clothes, essays, and the odd boyfriend, to be precise. The
punishment hardly fits the crime," Karen rejoined, but her tone was absent
as she administered something into the IV.
"Fox Mulder, good to meet you," he said, just as absently. He turned
to Scully, who was still pacing with a monotony which for some reason
annoyed him. "How much does she know?"
"Enough to know to keep quiet; not enough to hurt her." She stopped
still and grimaced for agonising minutes; but she did not cry out. Mulder
watched her, helplessly; but when it was over, he went to her side and
helped her to the bed. Scully didn't protest, or say she was fine; and
this more than anything frightened him.
Karen glanced at her watch. "Long and close together," she said of
Scully's contractions. "It won't be long. Mulder, did you say your name
was?" He nodded. "Make yourself useful and get her some ice in a glass
to suck on."
"I'm hungry," Scully said suddenly, impulsively, though she knew better.
Karen's tone was scornful. "With that much medication in your
system? Not on your life. You'd throw up immediately. Besides, I want
an empty stomach in case we have to do a caesarean."
Mulder groaned. It was real, then. He knew better than to consult
Scully on this one. Instead, he went to the living room and called
Skinner.
Skinner arrived at eleven thirty. Mulder was sitting behind her,
massaging her back. When he arrived, he gave Scully a reproachful look.
"Dana, why didn't you let me know?"
She looked up at him, her face hot with shame, but she didn't offer
an answer. She didn't need to. She'd never spoken of it, but he knew she
was terribly frightened of what this child might be. He relented and went
to her side. Mulder discreetly rose, saying he'd get some more ice, and
left.
Their eyes locked for a long moment, then finally, Scully leaned
forward against him. He held her tightly. "Are you okay?" he demanded
gently, knowing even as he spoke that it was a stupid question.
She shook her head. "I'm terrified," she admitted quietly.
"Of the birth, or of what you might find out?" he asked. He knew the
answer, but he needed to hear her say it. Mostly, selfishly, because he
was terrified himself.
"Walter, what if Mulder's right? What if she isn't human? I'm as
sceptical as you can be on the alien question, but that DNA - whatever it
was, it wasn't human. What if she's so <> that we can't hide
her, or protect her? At least while she's inside me, I know she's safe.
What if she isn't capable of relating to me as her mother? How could we
raise her? What would happen to her?" Scully's voice was shaking. "Dear
God, Walter, what are we going to do?"
Skinner's voice broke. "I don't know, Dana."
"I just don't know."
Scully gave birth an hour and a half later.
It was a much more social event than she had planned, in the
circumstances. For a while, Skinner sat behind her, his body supporting
hers; but then Mulder got squeamish at the blood and had taken his place,
massaging her back. Scully bit back a smile at that.
Skinner, in the end, delivered their child under Karen's
supervision. Karen herself had respectfully averted her gaze as the
infant was born, talking Skinner through the process.
Skinner lifted the baby onto Scully's stomach. She took one look at
her daughter and broke into tears, suddenly realising how resigned she had
been to every possibility. Mulder held her tightly.
Her daughter looked completely human.
Dana held out her arms, and Karen quickly cleared the baby's nose and
mouth and delivered her to them. She took the baby and held her against
her breast, still crying.
She looked at her closely. With a head of blonde hair and a fine
covering of down not uncommon in premature babies, she had a delicately
rounded mouth and big, round, dark eyes. Too round, too dark, she
suddenly thought; but she pushed the thought aside. <> She ran
her palm over the tiny smooth head and took one of the baby's tiny hands
in hers. "Hello, Baby," she whispered in awe.
Reluctantly, but knowing their time was short, Dana relinquished the
baby to Walter. He held her, his face impassive as though he didn't quite
understand who she was, but then his expression grew tender, and somehow
amazed. For long, long moments, he stared at this child of his, stunned
by emotions which were outside of his experience.
He suddenly came to himself and gave her to Mulder, who swallowed
hard. Dana wondered how much of his sister and his father he saw in this
child. Mulder had just broken into a strange, almost sorrowful smile when
Karen gently asked for her. She took her and placed her in the
humidicrib.
They sat in a sort of shocked silence for a time, while Karen tended
to the child. Dana reflected with sudden, stupid hilarity that they were
about a minute away from breaking into floods of tears, all three of them
- either that, or an encounter group session. How strange, she thought,
that such an ordinary, everday, <> experience - however intimate
- should leave them all gasping for breath like a fish suddenly dumped out
of its comfortable watery grave.
Eventually, they dispersed, and Karen tended to Scully's care.
Skinner gave a shaky sigh and went to the kitchen, supposedly to get some
tea. But Scully saw him lean heavily against the bench before she looked
away. When Karen had finished, Mulder returned and went to the humidicrib
and stared at the tiny creature inside. She watched him with the baby,
and a shadow flitted across her face. Mulder saw it. "What's wrong?"
She gave a weak smile. "It's nothing. It's just-" she stopped,
drawing the sheets closer around her with a sudden shiver. At his
querying look, however, she went on, "I knew she wouldn't, but somehow I
just sort of expected her to have red hair. Like me and my sister. She
doesn't. She's blonde." She added with difficulty, "Like Samantha."
He looked at her compassionately. "Scully, don't. She's your child,
not Samantha's. God help me for saying this, but if she's co-operating
with these people, she doesn't deserve her. And even if she isn't helping
them voluntarily, you're her mother. My sister...my sister isn't."
She favoured him with a smile, rose awkwardly, and left them alone.
She touched his arm. "Walter."
He turned to face her, then pulled her close. "Dana," he breathed,
holding her tightly.
They stayed that way for a long moment, and then broke apart. "How
are you?" he asked, smoothing back her hair.
"Tired, I guess. I'm sort of on a high, though, too."
"I know what you mean." He paused. "I love you, Dana." It seemed
important to tell her.
She nodded in acknowledgement of this. "I love you too, Walter."
She suddenly knew that that was true. "I should have told you that much
sooner."
Walter smiled at her with great tenderness. "I knew. I've always
known." That wasn't strictly true, of course; in those first few months
he had been terribly jealous of her bond with Mulder, insecure in her
feelings for him. But in later months, that had subsided. He had never
articulated it, even to himself; but somewhere along the line he had
realised she loved him too, and always would. And the fact that in her
own way, she loved Mulder every bit as much, had ceased to matter. The
two could co-exist.
He touched her cheek. "So what now?"
Scully shook her head firmly. "I'm not ready to make any decisions
about the future right now, if that's what you're asking. I need time.
Let's just go with the flow, okay?"
He let it go. He felt as though the enormity of what had happened
that day had erased all the frustrated impatience he'd held inside these
last few months. There was a sort of humility in it. "All right."
Skinner paused. "Have you thought of a name?" he asked, already knowing
the answer.
Scully broke into a smile. "I was thinking - maybe Melissa." They
had never dicussed names before. If the truth were told, they had both
been so frightened that she wouldn't live that they hadn't dared. "Any
thoughts on a middle name?"
Skinner nodded slowly. He'd thought of suggesting Grace at one
stage, but- "I don't know how you'll feel about this, Dana, but did you
see the look on Mulder's face when he held her for the first time?"
She caught his implication at once. "You're thinking Samantha?"
Warily, not sure if he was overstepping the mark, he nodded. "In a
way, this baby belongs to all three of us."
But Scully's smile grew extraordinarily tender. And she recognised
his unspoken acceptance of the place Mulder had for her, would always have
for her, and she loved him for it. "He'd like that. He's lost so much-"
she broke off. "All right."
"Melissa Samantha it is."
Karen Koettig looked from Skinner to Mulder, and demanded, "So what now?"
Scully was showering, and then, God willing, she would sleep. She
looked terribly frail...drained. Mulder glanced warningly at Skinner.
Skinner said slowly, "Well, there are pragmatic issues. We need to find a
cover story for the baby. Dana can't just show up one day with a baby
from nowhere. And she does have to be registered, if only from a point of
view of social security. But she can't be registered as a Scully.
Unfortunately, it's the government we're dealing with, not just some small
community or circle of friends. If it were only that, we could just say
she was the child of a distant relative who had died or something like
that. But of course, that won't do. That's easy enough to check." He
paused. "But there's time to worry about that later. Karen, Dana and the
baby - how are they, really?"
Karen flicked a chestnut lock over her shoulder, impatiently. "The
baby should be fine. She had an Apgar score of eight of out ten, which is
fairly average for a term baby. For a premmie, it's excellent. The
humidicrib is more of a precaution." She paused. "People think of it as
something which indicates something is wrong. Often it doesn't. It
merely regulates the environment in which the baby lives - the
temperature, which she just can't do for herself at this stage, and oxygen
if necessary, which in her case isn't indicated." She regarded them a
moment, then went on, "Frankly, this child astounds me. She has some of
the characteristics if a premmie baby, such as down on her body, and her
size; but her lung function and the like seem to be those of a term baby.
Just the same, we can't know for certain the extent of her survival
capabilities in view of her prematurity - however promising the
indications." She paused. "I'd really like to see her hospitalised; I'll
tell you that frankly. At the moment, she's fine; but if anything were to
go wrong, which is not impossible, she might not survive without help. I
can get her into St John's under a false name if Dana will agree, but the
two of you might need to work on her. There would be no problem with one
of you guarding her - I could say she was the child of a VIP, maybe a
diplomat, and if anything that would eliminate the need for explanations.
Being a Catholic hospital, we don't have quite the same accountability
concerns that go with being funded - at least not at that admin level."
Both men nodded. Mulder asked, "And Scully?"
"Dana's blood pressure is falling, as is the norm after birth in
pregnancy-related hypertension - which is all toxemia is. The crisis is
over on that level. She is going to have to think about how she's going
to handle the next few days. She's going to be exhausted. She could,
theoretically, go in briefly to work tomorrow, as long as she took it
easy, just so she could be seen to make an appearance; but I'd like to see
her rest for a few days. She was dangerously close to eclampsia, which
could easily have killed her. She's going to be pretty drained for a
while yet. I'll stay with her until tonight, maybe tomorrow; but a few
days and then three and six weeks after that I want to see her for a
checkup. There are some things which you really can't do properly
yourself, no matter how skilled a doctor you are. And Dana doesn't have
the obstetric experience I have."
Just then, Scully emerged from her bedroom. All three looked up, and
were stunned to see that she was dressed in a navy suit and the inevitable
trenchcoat. Seemingly oblivious to their scrutiny, she went to the lamp
table, opened the slim drawer, and drew her handgun.
Mulder rose, groaning mentally. The others might not know what she
was planning, but he knew her too well. "Scully, no."
Her tone was warning, defiant. "Frohike's waiting."
Skinner, taken aback, exclaimed, "Dana, please! It's too soon-"
Scully looked at him, implacable. "Frohike's waiting," she
repeated. "And I need to know." She glanced over at the baby. "I need
to know - for her."
"What about the baby?"
Scully's response was crisp. "The baby must be admitted to
hospital. There is nothing about her appearance to arouse suspicion, and
to keep her here in that case is too risky. I don't want to chance her
having problems without intensive care facilities, not now that it's
unnecessary for her to do so."
Karen spoke for the first time. "I can arrange that. I'd already
raised the possibility."
"Of course you had. Any doctor would." Scully went to Skinner
then. "Walter, would you go with the baby to St John's? I don't want her
to be alone, and I just can't stay." Her voice was tender - regretful.
Skinner started to protest, but Karen touched his arm. "Don't
bother," she said gently. "It's useless."
He looked at Scully. "All right," he said quietly.
"Surely you don't approve of this?" Mulder demanded of Karen and
Skinner, mutinously.
Karen snapped, "Of course I don't. But Dana knows the risks. You
can't stand in the way of a mother who has to do what's right for her
child. Believe me, I have to try and do it almost every day. Fortunately
the stakes are not usually so high."
Scully looked on, suddenly amused. "Are any of you going to talk
about me as though I were in the room?"
Karen turned back to her and took her hands. "Dana, if you start to
hemmorrage, or you develop a fever, or anything untoward at all I want
you to drop everything and come home. All right?"
Scully nodded. "I promise."
"And you'll come for a checkup as soon as you get back?"
"Absolutely."
"And you do know you're utterly insane?"
"Utterly."
"All right." She leaned forward and embraced her. Scully smiled at
her, then turned to Mulder.
"Well, are you going to drive, or do I have to do that, too?"
Mulder looked at the others with an expression of surrender, then
followed her out the door.
Coming In Part 14: A "Mother" For Melissa/S-A-M Revealed
--
_______________________________________
| |
|Deslea R. Judd (drjudd@rainbow.net.au) |
|"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" |
| - The Log Lady, Twin Peaks) |
|_______________________________________|
(
geocities.com/hollywood)