Abandoned – Chapter 4

Abandoned
Chapter 4: Settling

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all headers and disclaimers in Ch. 1

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On the road once again, Scully felt freer than she had for a long time.

She’d left Georgine’s just as the sun was rising, hugging her goodbye with a fierceness that surprised them both.

“Be careful, Terry,” was all Georgine said.

“I will, Scully replied. “I know the danger may never go away. But I won’t be facing it alone, any more.”

She’d stopped briefly at the cafe to say goodbye to Brenda, and then it was back on the road to Des Moines.

She looked back in the rear view at William, still asleep in his car seat, a little string of drool spooling from his plump lower lip.

<I think you drooled on me, Scully.>

Scully smiled at the memory. At least she knew that Mulder wasn’t put off by a little drool.

She made plans as she drove along. The best thing, she thought, would be to go back to the apartment in broad daylight. She didn’t even know if she still had an apartment; at least she hoped the manager had kept her things. She’d pay whatever back rent or penalty she had to, to get what she needed.

It was still early when Scully reached Des Moines. It hadn’t taken as long to return; she’d taken a more direct route than the morning she’d fled in terror. Instead of going directly to the apartment, Scully went to the coffee place she used to frequent.

“Hello,” the girl with blue stars tattooed on her arms greeted her. “Haven’t seen you in here for a while.”

“I’ve been out of town,” Scully said. A month ago, being recognized by someone would have seriously freaked her out.

“You want your usual?” The girl asked. “And a biscotti for you-

know-who?” William the drool factory grinned at her. “Oh look, he’s got a new tooth.”

“A couple of them,” said Scully. “Yes to both, please, and no nuts in the biscotti.”

The girl smiled. “I remember.”

It was actually kind of nice, to be remembered.

Scully made herself stay there for almost an hour, steeling herself for the next step. She took her gun out of the lock box in her trunk and stuck it in the waistband of her jeans. Just in case, she told herself.

The apartment manager was in her office when Scully got there. “Oh, Ms. Randall! I’m glad to see you back. Does your brother know?”

“My *brother*?” Scully asked. “Which one?”

“Let’s see — older, I guess? Short, wears glasses … what was his name?” She muttered to herself. “Oh yes, Brian.”

“Brian.” Sounded like it might have been Frohike, from the sketchy description. It sure as hell wasn’t either Bill or Charlie.

“Yes. He came by a few weeks ago, said you’d been called out of town on a family emergency. He paid your rent, in case you couldn’t get back. He comes by and checks on your apartment once in a while.”

“I’ll call him right away,” Scully said in a daze. “When did he last come by?”

“A couple of days ago,” the manager said. “He said he’d be by with next month’s rent if necessary.”

“It won’t be,” Scully said. “In fact, I’m afraid I’ll have to give notice.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Still having some trouble?” the manager asked sympathetically.

“I’m afraid so,” Scully said. “I don’t see an end to it any time soon.”

She left William locked in the car and cautiously approached her apartment door. She pushed the door open and stepped back and to the side.

The door swung silently inward. The apartment was equally silent, and empty. Everything looked the same as she stepped inside. She breathed a sigh of relief and went to get William.

Scully continued her inspection once she had William inside. There was a film of dust on everything, though she could see some less dense areas where it looked like fingers had touched the top of her bureau and her nightstand. The bed was made up, rather messily. She was sure she hadn’t taken the time to even do that when she’d left.

The nightstand drawer was open a little. That was where she’d kept her journal, and her gun. She’d grabbed her gun that night, and left the journal behind.

It wasn’t there, which meant the telephone number she wanted wasn’t there, either. She hoped it was Frohike who’d taken it. She’d like to hurt him for taking it anyway, but better him than anyone else. Unless, of course, Mulder had it.

She’d just have to wait to find out. Presumably, he’d be getting in touch again before long. Then she thought of something.

First things first, however. She put William down for a nap, and took a shower. She checked to make sure that William was still asleep, and went back down to the manager’s office.

“Did my brother leave an emergency number? I can’t reach him.”

The manager rummaged around in her desk. “Here it is.”

Scully took the piece of paper. “Brian Cruikshank,” it read, with an 800 number.

Since she had no phone in the apartment, Scully would have to wait until William woke up before she could go find a pay phone and give the number a call. She tried to take a nap herself, but was too restless to sleep. She did a little quiet cleaning, dusting off the surfaces and putting to rights anything disturbed by Frohike’s search of the apartment. He’d evidently looked through everything for clues to her whereabouts.

The only drawer that was suspiciously neat was her underwear drawer. Everything was folded just so. Even Scully wasn’t that neat.

The thought of Frohike being so careful with her delicates both amused and embarrassed her. If she hadn’t been so glad that it was him searching and not their enemies, she’d have to kick his ass. Maybe she would, anyway.

x-x-x-x

“LS Holdings,” said an unfamiliar voice.

“Brian Cruikshank, please,” Scully tried not to let her voice shake.

“He’s not available. Can I take a message?”

Scully chewed on her lip. She hadn’t expected that. Finally, she decided that simple was best.

“This is Terry Randall. Could you just tell him I’m back from my trip, and waiting to hear from him?”

“Yes, ma’am, I’ll see he gets the message,” the voice said.

Now all she could do is wait. Again.

x-x-x-x

<-Scully, are you awake? -Mmmm, just barely. Time’s it? -It’s almost time to go, but I have to tell you something first…>

Someone was banging on her door. She glanced over at William, but he was still asleep. She got out her gun and went to the door. She looked out the peephole but couldn’t see anything at first. Then, a figure stepped back from the door and peered up at the peephole.

The glasses didn’t look the same, and he was clean-shaven. But the kind, intelligent eyes were ones she knew.

She fumbled with the chain and flung open the door. “Brian?” she squeaked out the unfamiliar name.

“Hi Sis. I got your call, welcome back.”

“Come in, come in. I’ll make some coffee. What time is it?”

“Kind of early, actually, but it made more sense to come back than to keep going, so I came back.”

That didn’t make any sense to Scully, but it didn’t matter.

As the coffee brewed, Scully went to get William. Frohike whistled when he saw him.

“He’s really grown, Sis,” he said.

William gave a squeal of recognition and began bouncing in Scully’s arms. She handed him over.

“You’re a fine looking boy, Kiddo,” Frohike said, carefully avoiding his name. “He definitely takes after his dad.”

“Thank you,” Scully replied. “How is — his dad?”

Frohike smiled. “He’s good, and very anxious to see you.”

She felt like singing, like laughing, like grabbing Frohike by the ears and kissing him senseless. They were going home, at last.

When she found out that Frohike had driven all night to get there, she insisted that he take a nap before they left.

It’s not that long a trip, Sis. Maybe four or five hours,” Frohike said.

“All the more reason to rest up now,” she said. “Once we’re on the road, I won’t want to stop.”

Frohike rolled his eyes, but he obeyed.

Scully spent the time packing the few things she wanted to take with her. She’d been traveling light, so it didn’t take long. She made sandwiches with the groceries she’d bought the day before, and took the rest down to the apartment manager. She was glad to expend a little nervous energy in this way.

After a couple of hours, she woke Frohike up. He helped her take her things down to the car, which was actually more like a small delivery van; it only took one trip for her things. William had more stuff than she had.

“No more bags?” Frohike asked.

Scully shook her head. “I’ve got everything I need for now.”

x-x-x-x

They headed east, stopping only for food and a little exercise. Frohike drove the whole way. “I’ve made this trip a couple of times lately,” he said.

“Where are we going?” Scully asked early on. She wasn’t worried as much as curious.

“Home,” was all Frohike said.

“Tell me what you guys have been up to,” Scully said. “Has there been any trouble? When did you find M-mulder?”

It was the first time she’d said his name aloud in months. It felt strange and a little scary, as if someone could still overhear her.

“We hooked up with Mulder only a few weeks ago. Not long after you disappeared, in fact.”

Too much irony, Scully thought. Wouldn’t you know it would happen that way.

“We wouldn’t have been able to bring you in yet, anyway, we weren’t ready,” Frohike said. “Yves agreed to keep any eye on you and she was the one who told us that you’d disappeared.”

“Yves?” Scully was puzzled. The name was vaguely familiar, but she wasn’t sure from where.

“Yeah, I forgot, you never met her. She’s sort of a friend of ours. Well, she helps us out sometimes. If it suits her. She’s a master of disguise.”

“But she didn’t follow me to — where I went?” She’d have to have had an invisibility cloak to do that, Scully thought.

“She, uh, didn’t exactly see you leave. She noticed the next day when you didn’t come out of the apartment at your usual time.”

“Jeez, Scully, you gave us a good scare, though,” Frohike said. “Where did you go?”

But Scully wasn’t ready to share this information just yet. Maybe never. “Let’s talk about it later, okay?”

x-x-x-x

They made one stop mid-day, so Scully could feed and change William. The poor baby hadn’t had much of a regular routine. What Scully hoped for most of all was some stability for William. No more being awakened in the middle of the night, no more running … and two parents to love him, and watch out for him.

“I have a lot to make up to you, Sweetie,” she whispered to him. She kissed him as she strapped him back into his seat. “Time for you to wake me up in the middle of the night. That’s the way it’s supposed to work.”

William smiled and reached for her hair. She let him pull it gently, nuzzling against his cheek for a long moment before returning to the front seat.

x-x-x-x

Scully started seeing the signs for Minneapolis/St. Paul. “Is that where we’re going?” she asked.

“Ever been to St. Paul, Scully?”

“I’ve been to Minneapolis. Mulder and I had a case there, a long time ago.” Donnie Pfaster, to be exact, but she didn’t say that to Frohike.

Instead, she said, “We almost went to a Vikings game there.” <and I actually let my guard down in front of Mulder for the first time,> she added to herself. It was better to remember the comfort of his touch, than what led up to it.

Besides, since then, she’d experienced much worse than Pfaster. He didn’t have the power over her he once did.

“We’re on the St. Paul side, and sort of away from the city,” Frohike was saying. “You’ll see.”

Traffic got heavier as they approached the metropolitan area. Soon they had taken a secondary road, past the industrial areas, past the rail yards, docks, and warehouses. Then they were traveling through a greenbelt. Large, modern buildings dotted the landscape, surrounded by parks with mature trees and protected by tall fences topped with razor wire.

“Where’s home?” It looked like they were far away from any residential areas to her. She wondered if the Gunmen had holed up in another seedy warehouse. It might be safest, but the thought depressed her.

“You’ll see,” was all Frohike would say.

Finally they turned down a narrow paved road which ended at an electronic gate. A small metal sign on the gate announced, “Lodestone, Inc. No admittance without prior permission.” Next to it was a post with a camera and a speaker. Frohike pushed a button and said something into the speaker. She heard an equally indistinct reply and after a moment the gate slid open.

Frohike turned and grinned at her again. “Failed dot-com,” he said. “Picked it up for a song.”

“Very high-tech,” said Scully, since he seemed to expect a comment from her.

They topped a small rise and rounded a bend, and a large, low building, much like those they’d passed, came into view. It was windowless, except for a pyramid-shaped glass entryway in the middle. There were no cars parked in front, but the road wound beyond the entrance.

Frohike pulled right up to the entrance and came around to open the door, helping Scully out and handing William to her. “I’ll take your things around back,” he said. “They’ll be waiting for you in your quarters.” He grinned again, gunned the engine, and drove out of sight.

Scully stood at the front door and watched them slide silently open, feeling like Dorothy at the gates of Oz.

x-x-x-x

Byers stood waiting just inside the door. He looked as dapper as ever in his three-piece suit and neatly trimmed beard. “Welcome, Agent Scully,” he said.

“John, it’s just Dana now.” Scully said, unable to keep a few tears from welling in her eyes. William squirmed a little in her arms.

Byers smiled and nodded. “We’re so glad you’re here. You had us worried for a bit.”

Scully smiled, when all the while all she wanted to do is say, cut the small talk crap. Where is Mulder? Take me to Mulder.

Byers walked across the lobby to the reception desk, unoccupied on a Saturday. It was surrounded by banks of monitors. Scully shuddered at the sight. Byers leaned over and picked up a phone.

“I’m just letting Mulder know you’re here,” Byers said. “Let me take you through the building. I’m sure he’ll meet us on the way.”

Byers led the way to a small door, almost invisible until he palmed a spot where the doorknob should be. It slid open quietly. They went down a short hallway and turned a corner, walking into a vast work area, filled with cubicles of varying sizes and configurations. There were a few people working intently, ears covered with headphones, eyes on monitors. No one looked up. “This is the business,” Byers said. “The main labs are upstairs. I think you’ll like the set-up. We consulted the best.”

“What do you do here?” Scully asked. She held William a little tighter. He’d been very quiet since they’d entered the building, looking all around with wide eyes, sucking on his fist.

“It’s a software company. We do security, infiltration detection, firewall protection, virus detection, among other things. It’s doing quite well, for having been in business less than a year, and in a recession at that. But the important work is what’s being done upstairs, and in our other facility.”

As they moved out of the work area, Frohike approached them, Langly in tow. “Glad you made it,” Langly said laconically. “We thought you were gone for good.”

“You want me to hold the kid for you?” Frohike offered, but William was clutching her shoulder tightly and Scully shook her head.

<Where’s Mulder? Take me to Mulder. Please.> Scully wouldn’t say it out loud, but it was all she could think.

They moved past the main work area and went into a windowless conference room. It was empty.

“I thought he’d be here by now,” Byers commented as they entered.  He turned to Scully again. “We’re sorry you had to go through this,” he said, “but we had to be sure that we had the facilities ready, and that they were secure, before we could risk bringing you here.”

“It’s good that you disappeared,” Frohike chimed in. “It was the best test so far. We really *couldn’t* locate you.”

“Of course, it made Mulder nuts,” Langly added. “He practically went apeshit when we told him you were missing.”

“We all did, in our own ways,” Byers said. “We put out the call to all the MUFON cells — quietly, of course — to look out for you, but not to contact you if they located you. If you hadn’t come back, there’s no telling how long it would have been before we found you. You’re pretty good at this.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Scully said. It was somewhat comforting that she escaped their notice for so long, but it didn’t prove anything. It was something she — *they* — would have to live with.

“By the way, you should be able to take that patch off now,” Langly said. “We’ve got this place rigged. Sort of like the dead spots in cell phone service.”

“It helps that it’s built practically on top of a very large seam of iron ore,” Byers said.

“Hence the name Lodestone,” Frohike said.

“We’ve made such headway, Scully,” Byers went on. “There are so many people interested in our cause.”

“And we’re not talking nutcases, either,” Frohike said. We’ve got folks who graduated MIT, Cal Tech, some who worked for certain government agencies…” he waggled his eyebrows.

“Hey, just `cause you’re nuts doesn’t mean you’re not smart,” Langly said. “Look at John Nash.”

Scully raised her eyebrow. “Oh, is he here, too?”

“Don’t be silly, Scully.” Mulder came up behind her. “He’s too high-profile now. We had to turn him down.”

She turned to see him smiling at her. She’d never forgotten how good he looked, but he looked even better standing before her. She drank him in, eyes wide. He looked well, except for his eyes. Scully could tell by the redness of his eyes he hadn’t been sleeping much. His hair was rumpled from running his hands through it. He had a day’s growth of beard. He wore jeans, and a black tee shirt under a flannel shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbows. He looked wonderful.

She wished she looked better for his first sight of her. She knew she was rumpled, and travel-stained, as was William.

But Mulder was looking at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world, devouring her with his eyes. Neither of them spoke.

William chose that moment to stop sucking on his fist and break the silence with a very loud, “DA!”

Everyone stared at William for a moment.

“Did he say what I thought he said?” Langly asked.

William was bouncing in her arms now, his fingers flexing as he tried to reach for Mulder.

Then both Scully and William were engulfed in Mulder’s arms. She was surrounded by his warmth, his scent, the beat of his heart in time with her own.

“Oh God, Scully,” Mulder whispered against her cheek. “Oh God. You’re here. You’re really here.”

She nodded against his chest, unable to speak.

She was vaguely aware of the door clicking shut behind them.

They stayed where they were, in each other’s arms, William snug between them. Scully never wanted to move.

It was William who once again precipitated what happened next. He began to wriggle, perhaps in protest at being held so tightly.

Mulder pulled away a little and took William in his arms. “I love you, Buddy,” he said, kissing William’s cheek. “I really do. I promise I’ll spend a lot of time with you later. But do you mind waiting your turn? I knew your mom first.”

William looked agreeable, but there really was no place to safely put him. Mulder handed him back to Scully and looked around the room. Just a table, and some very comfortable looking chairs, but nothing for a baby. Finally, he yanked open the door.

All three of the Gunmen were still standing there.

“Guys,” Mulder said, “I’m gonna take Scully over to my place. William needs a nap, and Scully and I have things to, uh, discuss.” He looked over at Scully. “That okay with you?”

Scully nodded. She had no idea where they were going, but as long as it was with Mulder and William, she was okay with it.

But before Mulder led her away, she gave Byers, Frohike, and Langly each a kiss. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for  everything.”

That certainly shut them up. She’d never seen them look so dumbfounded.

Mulder took William from her again, and grabbed her hand. “C’mon, Scully.”

He kept up a rapid pace, leading her out of that building and into another. She barely had time to look around with Mulder tugging on her hand.

“I’ll give you the grand tour later,” he said. He got to the door he wanted and used a key card to let them in.

“Welcome home, Dana and William,” Mulder said softly, and pushed the door open.

“Home?” Scully asked. She looked around. This was obviously Mulder’s living quarters, very comfortably furnished. She saw a fish tank in one corner, and a computer desk nearby.

“If you want,” Mulder said diffidently. “There’s plenty of room for you both.” He showed Scully into another room where a crib was already set up. William’s things were there, too.

Cooperative as always, William let out a huge yawn at the sight of his crib. Scully smiled. If he weren’t just a baby, she’d suspect him of collusion with his father. She got him ready for his nap, with Mulder hovering over them both, tracing a finger down William’s face, or touching Scully’s hand as she worked. Once he was settled, they stood for a while, looking down on him.

Mulder’s arm tightened around Scully’s waist. “I can hardly believe it,” he whispered. “Even after all this time. Even after seeing the pictures. It seemed like a dream until now.”

He tugged her hand to lead her back out of the room. She went willingly, but she couldn’t help looking back at William.

Mulder shut the door part of the way. “Is that okay?” he asked.

Scully nodded. “I’m just not used to feeling safe,” she said.

“It’s probably good never to feel too safe or complacent,” Mulder said, “but I think you can relax a little. You’re not alone any more.”

He stood in the middle of the room, waiting. Scully went to him and he put his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down to kiss her forehead, softly, tentatively, waiting for her to come to him all the way.

“You did this for me,” he whispered. “You left behind your whole life, everything you had, for me.”

“I didn’t leave everything behind,” she said. “You were ahead of me. You were waiting for me.”

“You’ve made so many sacrifices for me, Scully,” Mulder said. “I wouldn’t have asked you to make this one.”

“That’s why I had to do it,” she told him. “Because you wouldn’t ask me.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and he pulled her close.

“There aren’t any cameras in here, are there, Mulder?” she asked.

Mulder shook his head and smiled down into her eyes. “Nope. I don’t believe in `em.”

Scully smiled and raised her face to his. And finally, at last, she once again felt his lips against her own and knew at last that she was truly home.

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end of Part Four; concluded in Epilogue.