Archive: Go ahead. So long as you let me know, I won't kill you.
Rated: PG
Category: SR
Spoilers: Memento Mori onwards
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance
Summary: Scully's best friend from school turns up.
Disclaimer: Grace is mine. So are Sarah and Miss Black. But nobody
else is. *sniff sniff*
Feedback: Love the stuff. Feed my cravings...
shipper_xtreme@hotmail.com
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 Scully stood in the doorway of the basement office.
   "Please, Mulder. Look, there's no way I can get there otherwise.
It's not my fault my car died on me. She was my best friend, OK. I
have to go see her."
   Mulder turned and picked up his jacket. "Well I never said no."
He grinned.
   She sighed. "Mulder, you don't have to come. It's not like you
knew her."
   "Yeah, but I'm not letting you loose on my car."
   With a sigh she followed him out to the car park.
   Scully stared out of the window in silence. It had been so long
since the last time she saw Grace. A long time. She didn't think
Grace even knew where she lived, or what she did for a living. Scully
certainly didn't know what Grace had been doing.
   Mulder stole a sidelong look at his partner. He knew that now was
definitely not a time to joke, even though he had never heard her
talk about this friend of hers.
   "She was my best friend when I was 2, and then pretty much all
the way to the end of high school. Then she went to England for a
while, and I lost contact with her. A couple of people told me she
was still around, but I never thought, you know, maybe I should go
see her. Now... now I wish I had." Scully spoke without turning her
head.
   Mulder drove on quietly. 5 years had taught him when she was
asking for a reply or when she was just talking.
   "We did everything together. We double-dated on our first dates.
One night, we decided we'd be really daring, and get totally drunk
on a school night. That got us into trouble." She laughed lightly.
"And then there was the time we went to a party and we were supposed
to stay the night at her house. We stayed at the party instead,
without telling her parents. They almost had the police out on us."
   Mulder smiled. He couldn't imagine staid proper Dana Scully doing
anything to displease any adults.
   "Oh God, then there was the time I nearly got caught behind the
school, and then Grace came along and distracted the gardener." She
giggled like a schoolgirl.
   "Caught doing what?" Mulder asked. She looked at him slightly
flustered. He raised an eyebrow and grinned.
   Scully reached over and slapped him softly on the head. "None of
your business." But he noticed she had gone a healthy shade of red.
   "Jesus, Mulder, I can't believe she's dying. What's the likelihood
of two best friends both getting terminal cancer?" To her horror,
Scully's eyes began to well up. She tried to surreptitiously brush
away the tears, but Mulder noticed, and handed her a packet of
tissues.
   "Thanks," she sniffed.

   "Grace?"
   "Oh, Dana, I'm so glad you're here," smiled the brunette lying
in the bed. Around her were arranged a variety of machines keeping
track of her rapidly deteriorating health.
   Scully rushed over and enveloped her in a hug. "Oh Grace, I've
missed you. I wish I'd looked you up sooner."
   Grace sniffed. "It's OK, you didn't know when I came back from
England. I should have called your mom and asked her where you were."
   Scully smiled a tired smile. "What's done is done, OK? I'm just
glad I could see you before..." She fell silent.
   "You can say it, you know. Before I die. I think I've accepted it
now: I feel like I can go. Almost everything's in order, and I know
I have to go. There's no two ways about it."
   The two childhood friends sat with tears streaming from their
eyes. Mulder pulled out the tissues again, and handed them to Scully.
Leaning close to her, he whispered, "I'll wait in the hallway, OK?"
and hugged her head. She smiled appreciatively at him, and he slipped
out.
   Grace leaned towards Scully. "Who was that guy?" She grinned slyly
through her tears.
   Scully groaned. "He's my partner. I work with him." Grace raised
an eyebrow.
   "That's what you think."
   "What?! What do you mean, that's what I think. That is exactly
how it is."
   "He really cares about you, you know. It's so obvious. And you
guys would be great together." Grace stopped for a moment, watching
Scully. "And you like him too!" she crowed.
   Scully decided that the conversation was going the wrong way. "So
what isn't done? You said almost everything was in order. Do you need
me to do anything?"
   Grace sagged a little. "I... I have a daughter."
   "A daughter?" squealed Scully. Immediately, she regulated her
voice. "Wow. You're so lucky. The doctors say I'll never have kids."
   Grace knew that if Scully wanted her to know why, she would tell
her, and so she didn't ask. "And I don't know where she'll go when
I die. I've been told my mom's too old to take care of her, and I
don't have anyone else."
   Scully stroked down her friend's hair. "How old is she? What's
her name?"
   "She's 3. Her name's Sarah, after my aunt. Do you remember her?"
   Scully nodded. "Listen, I can help you, if you'll let me. I can
look after Sarah for you. It'll be hard, but I can do it. I'd find
her a good foster home, and visit her all the time. It's the least I
can do."
   Grace smiled. "Sarah should be here any minute. She's living with
her teacher, Miss Black, at the moment, and they come in every
afternoon."
   Scully bit her lip. "Are you sure you want to leave me to look
after her? I mean, I don't know if I can be as a good a mother as
you."
   Grace laughed. "I wouldn't entrust you with her if I didn't think
you could. Dana, you were my best friend - still are. I think I know
you well enough. So what are you doing these days?"
   "You'll never guess."
   "What? Tell me!"
   "Nuh-uh, you have to guess."
   "Stop being childish. Just tell me."
   "Excuse me, you're being childish too."
   "Yeah, but you won't tell me."
   "Fine."
   "So..."
   "I'm an FBI agent."
   Grace snorted. "Yeah right. And I'm the Queen of Sheba."
   Scully wordlessly pulled out her badge.
   "Hey... cool. You really are. Well, I guess I'm not the Queen of
Sheba."
   "Knock knock, look who's here!" A young woman peered round the
door. A little girl in a yellow cotton dress with her brown hair tied
in plaits ran to the bed.
   "Hi mommy!" Grace hugged the little girl.
   "Hi sweetheart. Thanks a lot Casey, you don't need to wait. My
friend here will bring her back."
   "Thank you Miss Black," chanted the girl politely.
   Scully smiled vaguely at the teacher, preoccupied with the sight
of this little girl who looked so much like the Grace she remembered
from their younger years.
   "She looks so like you!" she breathed.
   The little girl turned to her mother. "Who's that?" she asked.
   Grace smiled. "That's my friend Dana. Say hello Sarah."
   Sarah turned to Scully. "Hello," she said solemnly.
   "Remember I told you that mommy's going away?" Sarah nodded. Scully
felt tears starting to prick her eyes again. "Well, when mommy's gone,
Aunt Dana will look after you, OK?" Sarah nodded again.
   A loudly cheerful nurse came bustling in. "All right everyone, time
to let mommy rest now, right Sarah?"
   Grace hugged Sarah, and then Scully. "Come back tomorrow, OK? I'll
talk to you more then. Oh, and could you take Sarah back to Casey's
for me? 306 Castle Road. Thank you so much, Dana, you're the most
wonderful friend anyone could ever have." She pushed the FBI badge
back into Scully's hand.
   Scully bit her lip. The nurse hustled her out, saying "Come now,
Gracie needs her rest."
   Mulder was sitting in the corridor, staring into space.
   "Mulder."
   He looked up at Scully, then down at Sarah. "Who's this?"
   Scully smiled. "She's Grace's daughter. Sarah, this is Uncle
Mulder. He's going to drive us back to your teacher's house, OK?"
   Sarah nodded again, and silently took Scully's hand. Mulder raised
an eyebrow.
   "I am, am I?"
   "Yes, you are."
   "Oh. OK."

   "302, 304, 306. Here."
   Scully glanced back at Sarah again. She hadn't spoken in the whole
journey, just stared out the window. Scully was beginning to wonder
whether she really ever spoke.
   "Here we are, Sarah!" said Scully brightly. She got out and let
Sarah out of the car, and felt the small hand slip into hers again.
Together they walked up the path as Mulder watched, smiling at the
image it presented. Scully really makes a good mother, he realised.
   Scully rang the doorbell, and then knelt down to Sarah's level.
"I'm going to come and see you tomorrow, OK? And I'll come and see
you everyday, and when your mommy goes away, I'm going to look after
you."
   Sarah nodded. "OK Aunt Dana." The door opened, and Casey came out.
   "Say bye now, Sarah," coaxed the teacher.
   "Aunt Dana," said the little girl, "Mommy said that you will be my
new mommy. Will Uncle Mulder be my daddy?"
   Scully fought back a grin. "I'll ask him."
   "Are you married?" asked Sarah innocently.
   "No, Sarah, we're not married. Now do what Miss Black says, and
I'll see you tomorrow."
   Scully waved as she walked back to the car, and Sarah waved shyly
back.
   Scully settled back in the seat with a sigh. After a while, she
began to laugh. Mulder grinned at her, "What's so funny?"
   Scully looked at Mulder. "She wants you to be her new daddy. She
asked if we were married."
   Mulder stared straight ahead at the road. "I will if you want me
to."
   "What, marry me?!"
   Mulder grinned. "No, be her dad. This is going to be hard for you,
and I'll help you in whatever way I can. You'll be a good mom though,
that's obvious."
   Scully smiled. "Thank you. I don't think Sarah ever knew her dad,
you know. Grace certainly didn't talk about him. I think she'd be
happy to know that Sarah's getting a dad. And I'm sure Sarah would
love to have one."

   Scully dropped her case on the floor. Normally she was neat and
tidy, but tonight, she had too much to think about.
   She was going to be a mother.
   What had she been thinking? She couldn't do it.
   But Grace has faith in you, she told herself. Grace knows you so
well, she must be right. And Mulder? He thinks I can do it.
   Mulder and I as parents? Now this is getting weird.
   She dropped onto her bed.
   But why not? He's so gentle and caring when he wants to be. He
looks after me well enough, why shouldn't he be good at looking after
Sarah?
   Mulder and me. I can't believe there were two people today who
thought we were...
   Who thought we were what I wish we were.
   Face it Scully, she's right. You love him. You really like this
idea of the two of you being parents to Sarah. You wish you were
married like she thought you were.
   Scully got up again. You can't think about that, she scolded
herself. That was why she had never really realised it before. Because
she knew that realising it could hurt them both.
   She headed towards the bathroom. Time to run a bath and calm down.

   Mulder sat alone in his apartment. Various pieces of paper lay
strewn on the desk in front of him, but he paid them no attention.
Instead, he was thinking.
   Scully had as good as invited him to be her new daughter's father.
He didn't know what to think. Did she just find the whole situation
amusing? Was she as amazed as he was at the sudden pronouncement of
their parenthood?
   He shoved back his chair. No use thinking about it tonight. There
would be plenty of time tomorrow.

   The loud ring of the phone jolted Scully back into the land of the
living. It was still dark out, and she looked over at her luminous
clock. 3:54 am. What was anyone doing calling at this time of night?
She reached for the phone.
   "Scully."
   "Miss Dana Scully?"
   "Yes."
   "I'm very sorry, but your friend Grace just passed away."

   The little girl in the backseat was strangely quiet again. It had
now been a few days since Grace's death, and now Scully was taking
Sarah home. The guestroom had been transformed into a makeshift home
for Sarah, at least, until Scully found a good foster family for her.
   Scully turned around again. Sarah was inspecting her feet, as
though they held some secret that she could hear.
   "Where's Uncle Mulder?"
   "He's at his home right now. He'll come and see us later, OK?"
   The girl nodded and resumed her foot inspection.

   "Yes sir, I had no choice."
   Skinner rubbed his eyes.
   "And what about you, Agent Mulder? Are you involved in this as
well? Of course you are, you wouldn't be here otherwise."
   Scully and Mulder looked at each other. Mulder shrugged, and Scully
sighed. "Agent Mulder has agreed to be a surrogate father for Sarah."
   Skinner was incredulous. "You agreed. I take it that means that you
had a choice."
   Mulder coughed. "Um, yes sir, but sir, the poor girl's never had
a father - "
   Skinner held up his hand. "Yes, yes, I know. And I respect that.
And I respect the wishes of the dead, I just can't understand why she
chose you. All right, you can go."
   The two agents stood and turned to leave. Skinner called after
them, "And remember, you'll need someone to look after her when you're
on field jobs."

   Mulder closed the door behind him and grinned. "That wasn't so
hard, was it?"
   Scully sighed. "He's right Mulder, we can't do this. We're always
so busy, once we've found her a foster home, we'll probably see her
once in a blue moon. That's not what Grace intended."
   She leaned up against the wall and bit her lip. "I mean, I can't do
this. I can't even keep a pet, I'm so busy. How can I be a mother?"
She talked on, almost to herself.
   Mulder listened wordlessly. After a while, she stopped, having run
out of arguments. Lifting her head, she looked into Mulder's eyes. He
saw the despair in her eyes, and put his arms around her. Scully
sagged against him, gripping him tightly. Working loose an arm, Mulder
swept her hair out of her face. She pulled loose and gazed at him
again. Both knew that this was it. That this was the moment they had
been waiting for, and they knew the other felt the same way. It was
the strange telepathy that had come from so many years of close work.
   With a jolt, Scully came back to reality. "Anywhere but here,
Mulder."
   "Mmm?" Mulder was still lost in a reverie.
   Scully laughed. "Skinner was shocked enough at our becoming
parents: I don't think he wants to see us being intimate outside his
office."
   Mulder grinned lopsidedly, making Scully want to just kiss him
then and there. "Oh, I don't know. Don't you think we need some
excitement in our lives?"
   Scully snorted, pulling him down the corridor. "Mulder, you really
are weird. I don't think anyone else would consider chasing aliens,
nearly getting killed everyday and becoming parents in the space of 1
minute not exciting enough."
   The lift arrived with a ping, and Mulder pushed Scully through
playfully. She turned and hit him lightly on the arm. He grabbed her
hand and pulled her close, and they shared the kiss that had been so
close to happening a minute ago.
   Mulder looked at Scully and grinned. "I think Uncle Mulder is going
to be spending a lot more time with Sarah now."
   Scully pushed him out of the lift and propelled him towards the
doors. "Well, you take your car, I'll take mine. I have to pick her
up, so you can go to the supermarket and buy some snacks for your
daughter. Meet you at home."