when skinner told him that he wouldn't be partnered with scully, something like a flash of fear made him wonder just who the agent would be. as he walked into skinner's office, he was pleased to see the back of a head of shoulder length black hair. visibly, he relaxed and approached for the debrief. mulder could see skinner's apprehension in the wrinkles on his forehead ... likely at pairing two far more unreasonable agents together. at the mention of a supposed telepathic link between the victims before they died, mulder and reyes turned to look at each other with the beginnings of exhilaration pulling at their features.

Giving a smile at his excitement, Monica played along, gently pinching the top of his hand. “How about now?” She asked playfully. “ Do you remember any case that had a telepathic link between the victims? ” The X Files archive had tons of cases and Mulder was a walking knowledge of this area, if anyone could find a similar case, it was him.

"What you've Seen is a future," she corrected. "Time isn't fixed. Some things we're just meant to See, others we're meant to change. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're probably supposed to change the apocalypse one," she added drily.

"The two of you are connected," she told him in answer. "Possibly because of what you are, possibly because of how you were born, or maybe after someone has thought about you every day for eighteen years that creates an undeniable link." Sometimes the simplest explanation was the right one.

"So that's your plan?" Lilia challenged. "Hide yourself away from everyone in the hopes that that's what stops the end of the world?" She shook her head at him, a hint of a pitying laugh slipping through her lips. "Take it from someone who tried hiding for centuries; it isn't as effective as you think it is."

Lilia didn't doubt or question his visions. It was new, it was both exciting and calming at the same time. 

“ Isn't that what I did? I changed it, they didn't get me, the world didn't end. ” The boy protested, shifting in his seat. 

“ Not from everyone, I have Vivi. ” He corrected, his lips turning slightly up in smile at the thought of her, how they instantly grew intimately close, like two puzzles with a perfect fit. “ We'll be together and no one will find us. ”

He didn't want to think about his birth parents, it was all too much. William spent years thinking who they were, how they looked - ever since learning he was adopted, the thoughts of his biological parents coming back like a boomerang. And why they didn't want him.

But something, this time, woke her up.

Feeling the jolt of something in her stomach, Scully's hand immediately went to the steadily increasing bump.

"The baby." At first she feared something was wrong, but then she realised it was something else. She couldn't explain it, and she was afraid she didn't fully understand it, but the baby had woken her up for a reason.

"Mulder," she whispered urgently, shoving him gently. "Mulder, wake up. Something's wrong." Not waiting to see if he would wake, or if heavy sleep would win out, Scully slipped out of bed, reaching for her robe and wrapping it around her before the cold morning air could touch her, and winced at the icy touch of the floor.

The sensation also gave her a reality check. Was she being crazy? What did she even think she was looking for? Did she need her gun? Or did she need to just get back into bed?

Despite her inner questions, Scully found herself walking along to William's room to check on him. What she found was an empty bed. Rolling her eyes, she crossed over to Vivienne's, and found her son sleeping there instead as heavily as his father.

Smiling at the sight, it took a moment for Scully to realise there was something missing.

It took a few minutes of reassurance to calm down his racing heart. Even when he got up after her, his legs still felt wobbly, walking barefoot on the cold floor. Out of habit, Mulder grabbed the gun from the bedside table, just in case.

At the sight of their son in Vivi's bed, he sighed with reluctant acceptance. “ Doesn't look like we're winning this one, does it? ” Seemed like midnight bed checks weren't as effective as he assumed they would be. At least William still had his pajamas on, but the way his arm was laying openly across the bed gave away the space next to him was occupied not long ago.

Outside, Vivi heard Scully's voice calling her name, her head snapped back with instant worry. One last drag before putting the cigarette out, she made sure to blow out all the smoke before coming back in. “ Scully? I'm in here. ” She replied, trying to keep her voice down at this hour.

When Mulder followed Scully to the living room, she instantly spotted what he was holding by his side. “ Hey, hey! ” Now her voice raised in panic, as did her hands; a pack of cigs and lighter in one of them.

He quickly tried to hide the gun behind his back, fully aware by the look on her face that it was too late. “ Are you alright? You alone? ”

“ Yes! What are you two doing walking around with this thing?! ” Vivi must've been standing outside for a while, her skin turning paper like shade with only color being some pink on her nose.

She turned her head in disbelief, the scar on the left side wasn't as pink as it used to be just last week, in fact, it was completely gone as if it was never there. Back in the day it required Scully's medical attention and some stitches; running from the temple to the top of her ear. Vivi had been worried it'd never fade, but now hair was naturally growing in that area.

But if they got arrested on this trip or ended up getting stranded in some Mexican village without phones or a car, then she was going to kill him.

"Coffee," she said approvingly in greeting as she headed out of her apartment building, small travel bag in hand, as she walked over to his car. "Five star treatment, Mulder," she joked, taking the cup from him with her free hand as her other tossed the bag in his car before she walked around to the passenger side.

"Now do you wanna tell me more about this case on the way, or are you gonna wait until we're actually in Mexico?" she asked, smirking at him over the car roof.

Once she was in the passenger seat next to him, Mulder reached to the back for the folder and handed it to her. It was one of the thinnest files they'd ever worked with. The first thing on top was a loose page with… a creature drawing on it. Mulder smiled, not trying to hide his enthusiasm, his eyes looked to hers, already imagining her doubtful reaction.

“ This is a memory sketch of the attacker that the witness provided. Apparently this thing killed our victim. ” Mulder leaned closer, tapping at the drawing. “ Look at those ears, Scully. And the teeth. This thing isn't human. ”

But, as true as she wanted that to be, and as partially right that this pregnancy was having an effect on all of their dynamics, Scully knew, deep down, that it was something else. But, surely, after everything that had happened now, that plan, the thing she'd half-confessed to outside Lilia's shop, was gone, that things had changed too much?

Right?

"Stick close to me, maybe immortality is catching," she teased back, smirking in loving amusement.

"I think we've gotten to know Vivi pretty well in the time we've been together. I think we'd know if she was about to try and leave or do something stupid. But if we have to go back to ask 'Madame Calderu'--" Scully made the quote marks audible. "Then I wanna talk somewhere that isn't inside her shop. Incense might be what people expect in a place like that, but I know what a pregnant woman's olfactory system will do when she smells it." And god she really hoped the woman wasn't also some kind of midwife, or had one as a friend. Scully wanted doctors, medical professionals, not witches with herbs and breathing techniques.

"If Vivi says she's leaving, then we follow her, we'll find her like we found our son. Like I found you. Like you found me. That's what we do in this family, Mulder," she told him, looking lovingly into his eyes as they sat together. "We find each other."

Seeing yet another attempt of Scully refusing to call Lilia for what she really was, he couldn't help a small side smile. “ I'd love to see Vivi's witch friend again, there are so many things I wanted to ask her. Hopefully if we go there without Vivi, she'd share more. ”

At her words he couldn't agree more. Mulder turned his head and kissed her forehead softly. “ I'll always find you. At the end of this world and every other. ” He whispered relaxed with his eyes half opened. This was where he was the most comfortable, in their space, only with her.

“ Let's see if we can rub off some of that immortality. ” 

While Mulder wasn't an intense snorer, he had his moments resulting in sleep apnea, which sometimes made him sound like a tractor with broken engine. At home he slept deeply, not many things able to wake him. Except his occasional snore, the house was quiet.

December 1st had just begun. And Vivi was so damn cold.

And teenagers didn't want to share with people who were old, especially if those people were their parents. The whole culture around teens and young adults was finding support and companionship in their peers. Both Vivienne and William might be different from the average teen, but in that particular respect they were no different.

"Of course that's what you were doing at 17," Scully replied, rolling her eyes as a small laugh escaped her. How could she have expected anything else?

"Well, if something happens, we'll be there," she reasoned a she settled into the crook of Mulder's arm, resting her head on his shoulder. "We've been through so many things before and it hasn't beaten any of us yet." And Scully had to believe that that record would not be broken; that if anything did happen, they'd be able to fix it.

Maybe he was over analyzing, perhaps bordering paranoid, or simply looking at the world for too long through his Mulder skewed glasses. He wanted to build bond with William, lost years couldn't be recovered; still there was future to have together, with no Syndicate to fight.

When she settled by his side, his arm wrapped across her tiny frame, hand resting loosely in her waist. “ We'll always be there. ” He agreed quietly, barely moving his lips. “ Testing our luck again.. some of us aren't immortal, you know? ” He added playfully, resting his head back against the pillow.

"Are midnight bed checks going to become a habit, Mulder?" She asked, her voice muffled by her pillow, still not committing to sitting up, and only just peeking to open her eyes.

"Well, they're both of a certain age," Scully reasoned, finally relenting and shifting a little so she was sat up in bed, the sheets still bundled around her, and shaking her head at the offer of water. "I mean, no parent likes the thought of their children engaging in sexual pursuits, but it's not like they're not the age we all were when we started getting involved with that kind of thing." And at least neither of them were jumping onto the back of motorcycles with older boyfriends and girlfriends, leading them god knows where. "I mean, what were you doing at that age?" she asked.

Joining him in sitting propped against the headboard, Scully looked at Mulder, watching the concern and worry etched on his features.

Hearing her mocking question, Mulder raised his brows. It seemed like he was the only one treating the worries seriously – or the one who had sex on his mind. “ You laugh, Scully, I'm trying not to become a grandpa in our still too young age. ” He replied before taking a sip - if he brought it, he could as well just drink it - and putting the glass on the nightstand. Being a dad will just have to do.

“ When I was 17? I was reading about Apollo 17, about the Watergate scandal and the end of Vietnam War. ” His eyes softened at the memories, face relaxed when he looked at her. “ The Rosewell rumors were just starting to surface. ” At that, the corner of his lips turned up. Mulder still remembered the first time he's heard the interview with the US Air Force officer who claimed that the wreckage parts found at the site were of extraterrestrial origin, the spark that started this fire that was still burning hot, defining not only his professional career, but shaped his whole life.

Turning his head to meet her halfway, their gaze locked. “ Something's going to happen, I can feel it in my bones, Scully, and it's not rheumatism. ” He added, mocking himself for a change. Holding out his arm, the invitation to share his body heat was open again, her personal radiator. Scully was the only one he wanted to share it with.