#starbuck09256

@o6666666's (Ao3) An Irresistible post-ep So, one might say, he’s tricked her. 

“There was an exorcism here,” he says, pointing with his middle finger to the house across the street from where they have parallel parked. “On this night, in 1949.”

Post-Irresistible Mulder tricks Scully into getting more sleep.

@cecilysass/cecily_sass/Cecily Sasserbaum's Beacon (Ao3) She forces herself to take three breaths. Then, she decides, she’s going to ask. Because she needs to know. It has to be better than just wondering.

“Mulder,” she starts, “you’re worried about the ghost targeting you because … because there’s someone significant in your life, isn’t there?”

Mulder doesn’t shift his gaze from the ceiling, but a muscle in his jaw pulses.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me who she is,” she adds quickly. “I understand. We don’t always talk about things like that. I just … I just wanted you to know I’m your friend, and you could share that. If you wanted.”

S3 Mulder and Scully investigate a hotel haunted by an avenging ghost (and mistake each other's feelings.)

@numinousmysteries/numinous_mysteries's The Baying of the Six-Pound Hound (Ao3) He'd been in an uncharacteristically deep sleep when the yapping woke him up, which made it all the more annoying. It was rare for him to be so fully disconnected from the waking world. Typically, he'd float just below the surface of consciousness, the smallest noise enough to rouse him. But on this night, in a narrow, single-story motor lodge wedged up in the Colorado mountains, Fox Mulder had been completely, deeply, aslumber.

He'd been dreaming, too. 

Post-Quagmire Mulder believes he's being haunted by a furry little ghost.

@mldrgrl's (Ao3) Drabbles! 9 and 95 “What did you expect?” Mulder asked as they crossed back to the other side of the island and back to the boat.  “Ghosts don’t usually come out and introduce themselves.”

“There is no such thing as ghosts, Mulder.  I expected…I don’t know what I expected.”  She sighed in exasperation.

Post-Quagmire Mulder and Scully are stranded on a haunted island.

prufrockslove’s (Ao3, Geocities) Finding Rokovoko (Ao3)  Mulder got them lost in the Everglades and trapped in a collapsing, haunted old mental hospital. She’d lost her sister. Scully’s career was the same joke as his. If removing the microchip implanted during Scully’s abduction had caused her cancer – her work with Mulder had caused her abduction. She’d folded her arm beneath her head as a pillow, drank a quarter of the canteen of water, and swallowed six tiny bites of the candy bar of the future. That took ten minutes and resulted in a nap.

As Mulder waited, he used his fading flashlight and saved the battery on hers.

Post-Never Again Mulder and Scully are stranded in a world-between-worlds of black-eyed children and buried experiments, with disastrous effects on Scully's health.

emmbright/Emma Brightman's (LJ) What is Essential "I don't know, Scully. Maybe we just needed some time together, after...well, after everything," he says lamely.

"What, like a Halloween miracle?" She shakes her head in disbelief. "You must be kidding. There has to be a better explanation than that."

Post-Detour Mulder and Scully discover-- of all things-- a haunted gas station.

Jill Selby's Poised for a Fall "Hang on, Scully! Just hang on."

As if I need a reminder. But I bite down on the urge to fling a sarcastic response as I squint up into his flashlight's beam and nod. As frantic as he is, it's hardly the appropriate moment.

And if things don't work out, I don't want to risk leaving him with that final memory of me.

Mulder and Scully explore (nearly fatally) a haunted tower.

@purrykat/mylifeinshadow's 32 from the prompt list. “Two words, Scully,” he says by way of greeting. Just like that, you’re immediately exhausted. At your raised eyebrow, he continues. “Lizzie Borden.”

“Took an axe,” you recite, dryly. “Gave her mother forty wacks.”

Mulder, Scully, and a Lizzie Borden stakeout.

@libbytxf/LibbyT's My Funny Valentine (Ao3) “Scully, do you know the Hotel El Dorado, in San Diego?”

Scully looks up from the file on her desk, and sees Mulder beginning to pace excitedly around the office.

Mulder and Scully exchange moments, memories and-- yes-- haunted hotel ghost stories through the years.

@xxsksxxx/xxSKSxx's Shadows and Lights (Ao3) The sun hangs low in the late afternoon sky, casting long shadows through the dense canopy of trees. A gentle breeze rustles the leaves, sending a shiver down Mulder's spine. He tightens the collar of his coat, glancing at Scully, who stands beside him, her expression focused and determined.

The abandoned cabin looms before them, its weathered walls and broken windows giving it an ominous appearance.

S5 Mulder and Scully unsuccessfully investigate a ghost case... or do they?

@writingwell/RocketMan's Ancient Corridors "Mulder?"

"I can't believe I never even thought about it. . ."

"Mulder-"

"Lizzie Borden." He could just see her frown wrinkling her forehead, her mind whirling to take the jumps that he was.

"No. Mulder, that was over a hundred years ago."

Post-All Souls Scully becomes entangled in a ghost case while memories of her late father rise from her past.

the_eternal_optimist/@oohnotvery's Unheard Of Someone had lived here recently and it was not a group of witches. 

Post-FTF Scully and her injured partner are trapped in a house in the woods, surrounded by vengeful townspeople.

@virtie333/Virtie333's Home By the Sea "Come on, Scully," he was telling her, his head close to hers over the top of the small table. "It'll be fun. Have you even been to a haunted house? I mean, a real haunted house."

Mulder, Scully, Diana Fowley, and Detective Kresge investigate a haunted house.

@agentwhalesong's (Ao3) Tell Him “She, not it. The spirit in this house is a woman, from what has been reported. Her name was Francis and she was walled alive by her own father, who couldn’t accept the fact that she was pregnant out of wedlock.”

“And no one saw it happening?”

“Apparently, the next-door neighbor heard muffled cries for help, but ignored them because he couldn’t make out where the noise was coming from. They only found her bones years later, reminding the neighbor of that very specific episode and making him wonder if he could have saved her.”

Scully shivered, but there was no wind this time.

Post-HTGSC Mulder and Scully visit another haunted house.

TessMooreXF's Stay Thrifty "Scully, c'mon." He gently turned her over, cradling her head in his lap. He could see the obscene swelling around her arm and wrist. She'd no doubt broken it this time. She moaned and sighed in his arms. "We've got to get out of here, Partner."

"Mmmm... Mulder. He attacked me." 

Scully, injured from a Kersh assignment, stumbles upon a haunted motel.

@leiascully's (Ao3)

Fic: Endeavors Too Small Of Desires  "There's a haunted wood in West Virginia that's very scenic this time of year," he says.

"Haunted?"

"The hotel has a hot tub," he says. "And the hike up to the site is gorgeous."

There is a long moment of silence. He hums The Eagles under his breath.

"Pick me up in half an hour," she says and hangs up.

One Son-The Unnatural Mulder and Scully "investigate" a (supposedly) haunted wood while drawing back together.

Would you write a mini fic that has only dialogue? “Oh, so the cabin is haunted now?”

“The man who rented it to me may have implied it was haunted, but it’s possible he was just trying to give me some strategies to get you to cuddle up in front of the fire.”

“He’s lucky I haven’t been keeping up with my kickboxing.”

Mulder and Scully banter over a (hypothetical) haunted cabin.

OctoberFicFest Day 6: The Fair “Can’t you hear it?” he said, and suddenly, she could, her mind untangling layers of background noise: traffic, crickets, frogs, cicadas, and beneath it all, the Pied Piper lilt of carnival music, half-heard like the fair itself was balanced between worlds.  She’d read stories like this when she was younger.  Some barrier between mundane and magic thinned and a fair appeared, replete with wonderous prizes and the kind of people one would never see again.  

Mulder takes Scully to the fair.

@danascullysjournal/Paper_hearts_and_homemade_arts's If You Will Let Me (Ao3) But that couldn’t be his fate- not yet.  Not while the possibility of finding Scully was even remotely plausible.  Every second was closer to something terrible for her, he knew.  Something meant to break her and fold her into the writhing mass of darkness.  He could feel time ripping away from him.  The memory of Padgett choking her on the bed, taking every shred of her dignity, was carved into his subconscious.  The gloating visage of that man haunted Mulder.  Taunting him inside his head. 

That hadn’t been real. 

Post-Milagro Mulder and Scully are tortured by old forces.

Keleka's Gray Ghosts He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I don't know, Scully, but it seems like a good place to start. Besides that, the key is missing. Maybe someone has been using the room for some reason and that has--"

"Reawakened the spirits?" I say, finishing his sentence.

He shows me that goofy grin again and I can't help but smile myself. Okay, he's right. It is a place to start, if nothing else.

Post-Amor Fati Mulder, Scully, and TLG investigate a haunted military base.

@atths--twice/ATTHS_TWICE's (FFN) Just Beyond the Edge (Ao3) “You’re saying you think the forest is haunted?” Mulder asked Cassie. 

“I… I wouldn’t say haunted, but…” She looked at the other people around her and they nodded. “There is something to it.” 

“But it’s been searched,” Scully stated and Mulder turned his head to look at her. “Have you not all been involved in the search?” 

“Yes, we have. It’s just… have you been out there? Have you seen the forest?” 

“I have,” Scully said with a nod. 

“And you didn’t feel anything?” 

S7 Mulder and Scully investigate the Tali Keno.

MystPhile's

Bump in the Night (mulderscreek) Scully shrugged. "Well, we got out alive. And for your birthday, I had to think of something you'd like to do. So I checked into your haunted house file and selected this one because it was located nearby." She flashed her light around, like a realtor showing off a highly desirable property. "Does it have enough atmosphere to satisfy your . . . desires?"

Mulder and Scully and a spirit who must witness an act of love to be free.

2008 01 - 04 Combined (1/3), 2008 01 - 04 Combined (2/3), and 2008 01 - 04 Combined (3/3) She knew that Mulder, traumatized by the early loss of Samantha, was still sensitive. The Glass Menagerie, which ends with Tom abandoning his family to save himself, was bound to resonate unpleasantly for Mulder. Especially since Amanda, Tom's mother, tried so hard to foist the responsibility for his sister's well-being onto Tom. Shades of the old Mulder Guilt.

Poor, torn Tom had run from the unfair burden, only to be haunted by thoughts of Laura's need, and his own guilt. Laura's candles, by the end of the play, turn into his glowing, burning perpetual guilt, impossible to escape from or forget, even amidst the flames of war. His memories, his misery at failing his sister, were just too close to Mulder's feelings for Scully's comfort. Always find out what play you're seeing, she told herself. Life Lesson #382.

AU-- After a long separation and reunion, Mulder and Scully give an earnest shot at a relationship (while unwittingly stumbling upon a haunted seaside cottage.)

Erin M. Blair, XSketch, Pattie, Mae'chii''s Saw, Sanders and Spectres To her complete surprise and with a hundred pounds of guilt in her head, Scully had managed to have a long sleep. She had fallen asleep in the livingroom waiting for the hospital to call.

Post-Closure Mulder and Scully believe his late mother is trying to warn them.

Cornerofmadness's Clowning Around “Mulder, what have you gotten me into?” Scully stared at the clown painting above her bed in horror.

Mulder picks a motel adjacent to a cemetery.

@ladymeggs/LadyMeg's Remember Promises (Ao3) “We both know my aim is far better than yours. But don’t get your hopes up, I’m not going to be wooing you with a fluffy pink bear today, Mulder. Sorry to shatter your dreams.” 

Mulder and Scully are scared in a haunted house (but it at least kicks them into an acknowledgment of their feelings.)

@starbuck09256/Starbuck09256's Trick or treat? “Mulder, this doesn’t look structurally sound, at all” but his back is facing me and he turns and makes that face the one that dares me to back down and I can’t I can’t not go after him, not follow him.

Mulder and Scully, now a couple, visit a "haunted" house.

Analise's (xphilefic) Haunted House "Apparently Mrs. Hallery has lived in these parts for years. Her husband has died recently and she is trying to determine if she wants to sell the house or not. Mr. Kride was not very enlightening about much else. All he was clear on was that this house is haunted and that the 'dark spirit' that walks the halls at night is dangerous. He thinks we should leave as soon as possible."

"And did you tell him that we weren't planning on making this our vacation hideaway?" she asked, her voice soft with sleep and humor, her eyes closed.

Mulder and Scully's stay-over at a haunted house takes a turn.

Shoshana's Jerome I closed my eyes one more time and when I opened them she was gone. I suppose I should have believed. However, the power of suggestion is so strong, and I was so relaxed and happy before I went to bed, that I still doubted whether she had appeared to me or not.

A night at a ghost motel (and a proposal.)

AUs

BarbaraWar's The Ghosts Whose Christmas Was Stolen "How bad is it?" "Yeah." She grimaced. "I think you may have pierced my stomach, Mulder." He winced at the wording. "What can I do to help? Is it serious?" "If you did puncture it I have maybe 15 minutes before I die of either blood loss or poisoning from my stomach acids. You need to get help Mulder, fast." Her pallor was increasing, her breath becoming more labored.

How The Ghosts Stole Christmas ends very differently.

Philiater's Night House For some reason, I felt I knew the house and stopped my car in front along the circular drive.

Scully buys a haunted house... or she believes.

@dreamingofscully’s (Ao3) Surely, to the sea (Ao3) “A haunting, maybe? A spirit focused upon him or the house? It might explain the electrical problems, the radio interference. How worn down he is from being tormented in his sleep… but he never reported any strange noises or objects being displaced. No temperature changes. And he hasn’t reported the feeling of a presence. I don’t think you’d go in that— what?”

“Scully,” Mulder was staring at her with a dazed expression, a smile spreading on his face. “I don’t know how it’s possible but I just fell in love with you all over again.”

“That’s not very helpful,” she said, though her chest tightened at his words. 

AU-- Mulder and Scully, married paranormal investigators, are called to a house engorged with evil.

Deadcanons's X-Tropy Reyes thought for a moment. “Maybe a persistent ghost can come back after being sent away. And maybe that causes the rules to change.”

            Scully snorted. “It’s science fiction, Monica. I was malnourished, exhausted... Mulder might have haunted the house in Tennessee, but what happened last Christmas was a delusion. It has to be.” Her eyes dropped to the candle between them and stayed there.

            There was a short silence. Reyes tapped Doggett’s cane on the floor. “I’d like to hold a silent supper for him. Do you know what that is, Dana?”

An immortal Scully disbelieves, at first, that her late partner is reaching beyond the grave, despite the decades, to keep her new, patchwork family safe (from dark magic and malevolent intentions.)

BONUS

memories_child's (LJ) Three Times Mulder Was Afraid of The Dark And One Time He Wasn't There are two kinds of things that go bump in the night. He learned this in school today, sitting on the top of the monkey bars with Billy and Walt. There are two kinds of things that go bump in the night. The good things, like Mom checking the latches on the windows downstairs before turning out the lights and climbing the stairs, like Sam stubbing her toe on the doorjamb before climbing into his bed and asking for a story, like Santa's reindeer bumping the sleigh onto the snow-covered roof on Christmas Eve. And the are the bad things, like the bogeyman hiding behind the closet door and making it creak, like the monster under the bed that rustles and bangs when he's just about to drop off to sleep, like the vampire that taps on his window pane when it's dark and the wind is whistling outside.

He laughed it off then, when the sun was shining and the yard echoed with the yells of kids dressed as ghosts and ghouls.

Mulder is haunted by (metaphorical) ghosts.

Viridian5's Haunted "I'm fine. How long was I in orbit?"

"Just a few minutes."

From the look on her face, Mulder guessed that his own had revealed more of the emotions involved with that memory than he would have wanted her to see. He treasured her for letting him decide whether to bring it up or not.

"I just saw a few ghosts of my own, Scully." The past colored the present... Then it fit. "I think Aaron may be haunting his cousin, instead of this site."

Mulder is transported back to a dark time in his life.

CONCLUSION

Hope those are what you're looking for!

Thanks for reading~

LaLizWoman's (annex-files) The Price

She must have the nose of a blood hound, because now she is closing in fast. We should have just gone straight to our room, packed up and snuck out under the cover of night, but nothing calls to a couple of hot blooded guys like us than the sensual pull of neon, clanging bells and half dressed women offering us free drinks as long as we keep hitting the spin button. Besides, I had that tip to spend.

Post-Three of a Kind Frohike is paranoid about Scully's revenge.

Pattie's Party Girl

Scully strode into the office sheepishly avoiding eye contact with her partner. As she hung her coat on the rack, she jumped when she heard his voice.

"Tough time in Vegas?" Mulder tried to supress a grin.

Post-Three of a Kind Mulder is ready to hear the fun.

@catarinquar's (Ao3, WBM) 18 for the prompts/cold coffee and cologne coats

He looks down for a second. “I thought I’d pick you up.”

Oh. “That’s—” Oh. “But I’m. The flight, I’m—I’m more than two hours delayed, Mulder.”

“Yeah,” he shrugs. “I’ve been waiting. Read some magazines, gave the Gunmen a chewing on your behalf even though I know you’ve probably ripped them to shreds at least a couple of times already. Counted half a billion airplane windows, you know, the usual. Lots of the hot stuff,” he holds up three stacked paper cups, dried foam trailing down the sides.

Coffee, she could use coffee. Really, she’s ready to mainline it. She tilts her head and pouts, feeling only slightly less miserable than she pretends to be. Says, “did you get any for me?” and draws out the last word.

AU-- Post-Three of a Kind Mulder picks up a weary Scully from the airport.

Vickie Moseley’s (Ao3, Gossamer) I'm Gonna

"So, what are we having for dinner?"

She smiled and sipped her own wine. "I haven't the foggiest. But it smells heavenly, doesn't it?"

Now, Mulder was really confused. "Scully, if you cooked it, how could you not know what it is?" he demanded, but before she could answer they were interrupted by a throat being loudly cleared from the kitchen doorway.

"Dinner . . . is served. Madam."

Mulder's mouth dropped several inches when he realized the man in the black tux with white tie and tails was actually Langly. Langly, who considered tieing his shoes to be formal attire, was dressed to the nines and looking for all the world the part of a high class maitre 'd.

Post-Three of a Kind Scully forces TLG to make her and Mulder a fancy dinner.

shannono's (xffics) Lessons Learned 08 - Honesty

They're afraid of me.

Good.

"Gentlemen," I begin in a cool voice as I see Frohike return from the door. "I believe we have some unfinished business."

Post-Three of a Kind Scully invites her partner out to dinner.

@pilotinthestars/PilotInTheStars's eleusinian mysteries (Ao3)

There was a time where her period had been extremely predictable. But that had been a long time ago, before her disappearance and cancer and everything else her body had been through. Now it was just an unpredictable reminder of something she really wanted to forget.

Mulder had been gone from the basement all day, pulled by the Violent Crimes Unit for his assistance as he’d been on his way to Forensics. For a while, as she sat in their office alone, she considered that he might be staying late (a cruel fate on a Friday), until the door handle finally rustled and he finally walked through the door, tie astray and suit jacket thrown over his shoulder. 

“Long day?”

Post-Three of a Kind Scully joins Mulder at TLG's.

Alelou's (xffics) Practice

After that, after my total inability to broach the subject, I decide that I need some practice. It's how I do almost everything else, after all. I'm a dead shot because I practice at the firing range every week without fail. I don't end up wrestling with suspects that often, but just in case I work out at the gym every other day when we're in town, and I take practically every self-defense refresher the FBI gives, and that's saying a lot. Maybe practice is what I need.

So as I'm leaving work, driving out of the parking garage, I think, "I love you, Mulder." And then, I say it. "I love you, Mulder." It's not so bad to say. He's not there, of course, so it's easy as pie. I say it a few more times before the rigors of commuting require more focus.

Post-Three of a Kind Scully believes she needs to step up and tell Mulder her feelings... but can't (yet.)

AUs

@starbuck09256/Starbuck09256's Ass Kicking

“Ok, fine. Get dressed up, go to a fancy show, get married, see the Grand Canyon and at least one elvis impersonator.”

He locks eyes with her for this next part is very important to him.

“Start working on that baby we’ve been talking about,” his voice is hushed in the dark room.

His fingertips trace her stomach and he can’t help smile at the strength of his candor. She grins at him and tugs at his hair.

“Are you being serious Mulder?”

AU-- Pre-Three of a Kind Mulder is with Scully when she gets the call.

@scullysexual/PostApocolypticAlien's 50 Days of Prompts - Chapter 18

Maybe something about that phone call was off. That Mulder’s voice hadn’t sounded quite right. Scully had put it down to being awakened at 3am  but the sounded robotic, synthetic, fake; lacking any form of emotion or humour she had gotten used to over the last six years. Most importantly, the voice on the phone hadn’t been Mulder’s.

.:.:.:.:.:.

Mulder thought he was here to investigate a mysterious drug. Scully had told him about it, done the ringing up at 3am for a change, told him to get to Las Vegas and well…who was he to refuse her order?

AU-- Three of a Kind TLG set Mulder and Scully up on a blind date.

@cultureisdarkbeer/CultureisDarkBeer's What Happens in Vegas

“Maybe next time,” she flirted and Mulder saw red.

On an impulse he boosted her up his lengthy body and over his shoulder. He heard Scully squeal her approval. Frohike appeared as if from thin air. Mulder wasn’t sure where he came from or if he had been there the entire time. “I can’t remember the room number,” Mulder slurred to Frohike, feeling suddenly lightheaded.

“Come on, follow me. And Mulder, keep an eye on her, she just blew on another man’s dice.”

AU-- Three of a Kind Mulder gets drugged, too.

@atths--twice/ATTHS_TWICE/ATTHS's

A Slightly Different Path - 2 (Ao3) and A Slightly Different Path - 3 (Ao3)

“Oh, we take walk-ins! What are your names?” She smiled, looking at them both, a pen and paper held at the ready in her hands. 

“No, no. We just … we thought we’d check out the memorabilia you might have. We’ll be going now. Sorry.” Mulder hurriedly said, glancing at Scully. 

“You two were not looking to get married tonight?” the woman asked, frowning at him. 

“Us? No. No,” he laughed and cleared his throat, glancing at Scully again. 

“Dana Scully and Fox Mulder,” Scully said, staring at him. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as she grinned. 

AU-- Mulder and Scully, The Unnatural and Three of a Kind and Amor Fati, and their secret marriage.

Thanks for reading~

@foxanddanapetrie​‘s (Ao3) Don’t Let Her Get Hurt This Time 

““She has a daughter. Mulder has envisioned just about every scenario of their life together.  Scully and him dating, them getting married, them having kids - a daughter, a son maybe.  Adopting a kid they might have stumbled across on a case. He’s imagined them buying a house - in the city or in the country.  He thinks about what they’d decorate their house with. He’s decided that he’ll let her decorate. Probably with some things from her mother’s house.  He’s imagined her as a mom, him as a dad watching their kids open Christmas presents while she holds a mug of tea to keep her hands warm. But he never imagined this.

He’s driving 20 over the speed limit in the 1992 rental car he snagged for cheap on his way out of the airport.  He doesn’t care if anything happens to it.””

Mulder speeds to Scully and Emily, making wild plans of their future together. His hopes and anxieties only increase after he meets her.

@kateyes224‘s (Ao3) 

Things You Said - Chapter 2 

It took three days, but she finally stopped hanging up as soon as she heard my voice.  Something was wrong, I could hear it in the crushing silence on the other end of the line before a =click= signaled that the call was dead and I was left staring at the receiver, dumbfounded, growing angrier by the second at the interminable drone of the dial tone....

When had she ever not had words for me?

Mulder’s hurt and dread builds after Scully’s aborted call; but it vanishes when she finally loops him into the tragedy unfolding in California. 

Unnamed  

Scully thought, not for the first time, how gravely serious her daughter was.  How little she smiled.  Emily lifted a small hand to Scully’s face.  “It’s okay, I’ve been to the hospital before.  My mommy used to tell me secrets on the way.  Tell me a secret.” Scully swallowed hard, closing her eyes before meeting Mulder’s gaze again in the rear view mirror.  She tried to smile at Emily, brushing the girl’s damp hair back from her face.  “Okay…well, you know my friend, Mulder?” 

Emily nodded silently.  “He doesn’t like anybody to know this, but his real name is Fox.”

Emily’s forehead scrunched.  “Fox?  Like Robin Hood?” This time, Scully’s smile was genuine as she heard Mulder chuff a laugh from the front seat.

Emily wakes in the car on the way to the hospital; and Scully bonds with her while very aware of Mulder’s quiet vigilance. 

Donna’s (Gossamer, mulderscreek) 

I’m On My Way (Gossamer) 

She was definitely not okay. "An X-file?" He tried to make his tone light, but knew, at least with this woman, he had failed.

"Apparently so."

That stopped him again. For her to admit something like that . . . his stomach hurt.

Mulder’s fairly relaxing Christmas is turned upside down by Scully’s tearful call. 

His Emily Thoughts (Gossamer) 

Emily was a special needs child.  He'd done his research.  The child would never be well, would probably not live to a ripe old age.  And Scully would be hurt again.  The question was should she endure the hurt now or later.  Either way, it was inevitable and that thought was devastating to him.

And he would not be there to help her.  Oh, he'd be there as much as she allowed, but this was Scully.  She would want to take on this burden and not admit she needed any help.  His help.

Mulder’s stomach is in knots as he sits on the Scully couch-- feeling ominous about the future and hurt thinking he’d be shut out either way. 

Feeling Safe (Gossamer) 

Safe.  A strange word, especially now, but it seemed to be the correct description for what she was feeling.  She was watching his hands gripping the steering wheel - so strong, his fingers lean and tanned.  He wasn't looking at her, concentrating instead on the road, but she knew he was totally aware of her.  He was trying to give her the space he thought she wanted.  For that she was grateful, much more solicitousness and she would explode.

That was why she has chosen to ride with him.

Mulder is driving her home, and Scully feels safe-- so much so that she plans to fall apart with him once she arrives back at her place. 

After Emily (Gossamer) 

He took the stairs down to the basement, ignoring the elevator.  He was in a hurry.  The door was open and the light on.  That startled him and he slowed.  Who would be here this late?  For sure they didn't belong.

Mulder is pulled up short by the sight of Scully crying in the office after closing hours. He understands, and assures her she is not alone. 

XP1′s Still Waters 

“I’m not expressing...myself...correctly. Or very well. Or even…” He sighed and brought his hands to her biceps, stepped a bit closer. He whispered to her so closely his words stirred what loose strands of hair she had at her crown. “I...I need you to know that there’s...meaning...behind this, what I’m saying, or, asking...that this isn’t…”

She put a hand to his chest and patted once, then rubbed. He wasn’t sure who the touch was meant to console. He couldn’t watch a child die, he thought, and ... he could not watch her do the same. He bit his lip to still some of the depths of his feelings. His breathing was ragged, but she moved closer, rubbed the tension he was putting on his jaw.

“I know.” she told him, tipping her head up. The tip of her nose brushed his chin. “I know you. I know.” His jaw clenched and the lids of his eyes were hot with the promise of tears.

“Relax”. She asked of him. He tried, took a breath. “Relax.” she repeated, and so he was, after a moment.

Mulder is brimming with anger and stress in the wake of his custody testimony; and desperation for solutions leads him to propose to Scully. He is appalled that she rejects: not at her rejection so much as his perception of her defeat. In a beautiful moment of absolute honesty, Scully lays out for him the sad realities of Emily’s impending demise, using her pain to save all three of them.

The characterization and dialogue in this piece is next-level. Mulder’s speech is phrased exactly how he’s acted on-screen; and Scully’s gentle honesty, while hard for her to admit, saves her and Mulder and Emily from more pain. 

Highly recommend reading! 

Fialka‘s Soliloquy 01 - Bill Scully 

You took one of my sisters, then you almost took the other. Now she's sitting on the couch, crying her heart out, and what do you do? You just sit there, talking about nothing. Oh, you say, but she's not crying. That's what I mean. You don't know her. Dana doesn't cry with tears. She cries with silence. Mom knows that. Lookat her over there, fixing coffee for all of us. She's waiting.

Bill internally directs his hatred at Mulder, darkly reminiscing about all the times he’d taken up for his sister. He settles into simmering resentment that she shuts all but her partner out.

stellar_dust’s (Ao3) Family (Ao3) 

“Wait!  I need to  need to take a sample, we've got to get this analyzed ..." her voice trailed off as she searched frantically in her pockets for a vial.

"Scully, no."  Mulder reached out and grasped her hand, stilling it. "Don't do this to yourself ... let her go."  

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, heaved it out, swallowing.  He was right.  "All right."  She nodded.  "Give me give me one more second.”

Mulder stops Scully from taking a sand sample from the coffin, kindly affirming her choices and reflecting more deeply on the ones that his parents had made.

@baronessblixen​​‘s (Ao3) 

Unnamed Prompt #24 

“She's had to say goodbye to Emily before she had the chance to properly say hello. Baby Matthew might never know he had a cousin named Emily, once.

"I should go inside," she says, opening her eyes and biting her bottom lip. Inside, they'll look at her, pity her, watch her with curious eyes when she holds her nephew. She is not ready. What will she see once she turns to Mulder? Is that how he’s going to look at her, too?” 

Scully is in the throws of grief after Emily’s death, and dreads walking back inside seeing everyone’s pity and sadness. Mulder understands and knows how to support. 

Unnamed Prompt for cuddle fic  

“I’m sorry, Mulder. I didn’t mean to-” Scully’s voice is dull, is teary, is too much. Mulder listens with his ear close to the answering machine. Another click – the message is over. He rewinds the message again and again. Something is wrong. The lights still off, Mulder grabs his coat again. The food on the table is forgotten, as are the files. His only thought is Scully.”

Mulder receives a morbid, unfinished call from Scully on New Years, and rushes over. She just wanted company for the first holiday after her daughter’s death. 

Dashing Through the Snow 

“Scully, look." Maybe it's because his voice is full of wonderment that she does follow the direction of his finger. The park across the street looks like a tiny winter wonderland with its snow-touched trees and meadows. That's not what Mulder means to show her, though. Scully watches as children of all ages sled down a small hill and she'll blame the cold wind for it, her eyes start watering.

"We need to get back to work, Mulder." She doesn't want to see this. 

Mulder helps Scully navigate her complicated pain around children; and the two end up borrowing one of the park kiddies’ sleds.

@frogsmulder​​/Brynstein‘s “I’m right where I belong” (Ao3) 

In unison, they make their way to her couch, like they’ve always done it like this: him entertaining a little three year old whilst her mother cooks up a feast of spaghetti bolognaise fit for kings; telling her stories of mothman and bigfoot whilst she drew her interpretations with the crayon in her chubby toddler hand. And of course the Mr Potato head impressions that had her in fits of giggles and rolling around on the floor much to her mother’s delight. Like he didn’t play the part of domestic husband, washing the plates and dishes and cleaning up the crayons, whilst Scully had bathed her daughter and put her to bed.

A happier reality with Emily alive and love blossoming is followed up immediately by the harsh reality of Scully’s loss and their mutual pain.

Piper’s Pajamas 

I stand against the wall, silently bearing witness to this ritual of closure.  I don't respond to her statement - somehow I don't think that she expected me to.  There's really no reason for me to be here.  As experienced as I am in self-torture, today Scully is beating me by a mile.  All I do is keep vigil as she stubbornly insists on boxing up the clothing that she bought in such blind hope for Emily, now about to be worn by some Goodwill kid who doesn't know even know how lucky she is to be alive.

Mulder silently witnesses Scully’s grief as she packs up Emily’s clothes for donation, both knowing that her death crushed both of their dreams.

Alanna’s Fortress 

We're on a freeway, heading somewhere.  Driving around in circles, mimicking our souls.   Cars zip around us but I barely notice the road.  I need to touch her, to make sure she is still there inside her shell -- that she hasn't slipped away from me altogether.  So I reach my right hand over and lay it gently on the back of her hand, painfully contracting my arm muscles so that I might not hurt or startle her.  She turns toward me and the traffic is sparse so I hazard a quick glance at her, my eyes meeting hers. 

And then her hand moves under mine and her palm meets my own, her fingers twining into mine.

Shattered Mulder decides to keep driving so he and Scully can have time to bind up their compounding wounds. He is relieved he opens up on their Tijuana detour, heartbreakingly honest though it may be.

@greekowl87​/@darkesttimelinestuff​ ‘s (Ao3) Drabbles Collection - Chapter 2 

He hugged her tightly, ignorant of the potential older brother danger as she cried harder. He closed his eyes, wishing and willing to take all of her pain away.

“I just wanted a chance, Mulder.”

A case keeps Scully longer in San Diego; and finally she breaks. Mulder comforts her in her purgatory.

@the-spooky-alien​ ‘s Day 10 of Fictober  “Sometimes I think it would be better if you stayed away from me.''

It sounds weak in the air between them. Every words shake under the weight of his guilt. His eyes never leave the road.

She wishes he would look at her.

Scully insists Mulder pull over so that she can instantly squash his self-loathing; however, she still can’t fully admit why she chose him.

Diana Alexander‘s Introspections 

After my cancer was cured, I had to get used to actually *living* again.  I was so prepared to meet Death with stubborn will blazing in my eyes, and a straight spine that I hadn't really prepared myself for the chance that there would be a cure that would keep me in this world a little while longer. I was lost for a long time afterwards, and now, at Christmas, I get the biggest blow since I discovered the cancer that was lodged in my head.

Scully had been prepared to lose the fight to cancer; but can’t seem to recover from the painful loss of her daughter. She retreats internally to lick her wounds.

@starbuck09256​‘s (Ao3) Hope  

Everytime she closes her eyes she sees a scared little face begging her to stop the tests. She sees Mulder clutching yellow flowers too tightly as his own sorrow for her pours from his eyes. He knows what this tiny child was to her. He knows that she wanted another life another path, not because of him or their quest. But because fate had chosen her to live on, she had been returned survived the incurable and yet her destiny wasn’t to find the joys that she had forsaken it was as if she was being punished for fighting.

Mulder barges into Scully’s apartment, refusing to let her shut him out. His comfort and common sense make all the difference.

Sheryl Martin’s

Tradition 

Dropping the suitcase by the stairs, she walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on; making a mental note to call Dana in a few hours and see how she was feeling. She had looked pretty rough in the car. Hadn't slept a wink on the flight, although she had put her head down on Mulder's shoulder for most of the time. He hadn't said a word, just put his hand atop hers and looked quickly over for approval. A smile was all he needed, and a slight nod of her head. He'd take care of her as best he could. And she had faith in him.

Maggie adds Emily to the family Bible because she was her granddaughter no matter what.

A Mother’s Thoughts 

Whatever the mystery behind her existence, she was still my grandchild - maybe the one I'll miss the most. But no matter how much I talk to the priest; how many candles I light and prayers I say for all of them, I still don't understand why. Specifically, why me. Why Dana. Why Fox.

Maggie’s pain over their combined familial loss in Emily’s death bleeds into her doubts and constant questions to God. It’s a hard road trying to trust in His plan. 

Gillian Leigh‘s (mulderscreek) Sleepless Roads  

Stepping into the living room, she stopped short of saying her daughter's name a third time when she found her sitting on the couch, sound asleep with her laptop open on her lap. There was a large postal manila envelope on the couch beside her marked with the words "Films Included: Do Not X-Ray". A quick glance at the screen of the laptop showed her that her daughter had been researching adoption. Puzzled, she gently shook Scully's shoulder to wake her.

Maggie is the quiet glue keeping Scully together; but she makes time to drop in on Mulder and make sure he’s getting some sleep. She convinces her daughter not to shut him out; but isn’t privy to the bigger bombshell that Scully reveals to Mulder later.

@i-gaze-at-scully‘s (Ao3) 

Chapter One: Protect  

On a plane to California, Mulder considers briefly if the ova he carries in his pocket should be allowed past airport security. He’s a federal agent, so no one really ever asks, but he wonders. He turns the cylinder over in his pocket, the smooth surface spinning, spinning under his fingertips. She has no idea. Tens of thousands of feet in the air and he knows he’s about to drop the biggest bomb on the person he cares most about in this world. He hopes it is the right decision.

Mulder’s developing thoughts throughout the episode crescendo in love and happiness when he finds a cure for little Emily. He assures Scully she won’t be raising her alone. 

All I Want for Christmas (Ao3) 

Scully is not a last minute shopper. She has all her gifts purchased, wrapped, and packed by 9 AM, December 24. She’ll drive to Annapolis on Christmas morning, early to beat the traffic, and spend the day accepting her mother’s well-intentioned pity. Dana, could you help me in the kitchen? Dana, would you ask Tara to grab your brother? I want to take a picture of you two. Maggie knows. 

Mulder, Mulder knows too.

Scully is so grateful that Mulder distracted her from the painful reminder of last Christmas that she gets him an extra special gift. 

Mystic‘s Beautiful Release

Her eyes stung as she wiped at them and looked back to the window, not able to sleep without dreaming about Emily.

She sometimes wondered just why the girl had affected her so much. How she'd been able to become attached so quickly to her.  

She tried to stop herself from thinking her name, but it didn't work.  It had etched into her mind as had countless other moments and names in her life.  She could only make Emily go away by thinking of Mulder and that brought her pain too.

Mulder and Scully finally make that next step when a case stirs up a painful Emily reminder. 

AUs 

Jennifer Brady’s December 

Scully brought my world down in the simple words she spoke. "Mulder, I need you," Maybe those were'nt her *exact* words, but that's what I heard. You know me, when Scully needs anything that I can provide, I'm all over it. So here I am, out the front door, heading to my partner's side. 

I really would'nt have it any other way.

The devastation of Emily’s death pushes Mulder and Scully closer together. 

Maidenjedi’s Would That I Could Travel Both

She went to California a single lady in her thirties. Hard not to think about her age and her marital status in one sentence like that; she'd been thinking too much about families and love and her place in the world. And then Bill and Tara were standing outside the terminal waiting for Dana and Maggie, Tara as big as a house and a year younger than her sister-in-law. It was a lot to take.

Amidst many assorted AUs, Scully leaves the FBI to become Emily’s mom, much to Mulder’s resigned and pained disappointment.

@leiascully​‘s (Ao3) Unnamed

Under observation, they spend several days with Emily.  Mulder promises to take her to Disneyland in the summer.  Her face lights up.  The social worker smiles and makes notes on her clipboard.

Mulder and Scully rush into marriage to adopt Emily and quit the FBI. Fortunately for them, Mulder is independently wealthy and ready to re-prioritize his life.

@scapegrace74-blog​​‘s (Ao3) Wraith

Perplexed and perhaps a bit put off by the fact that Scully was entertaining a guest in her pajamas with no make-up, he made his way cautiously to the kitchen.   An empty cereal bowl and a half-drunk glass of orange juice were laid out on the table, but there was no other sign of occupation.

Scully stood by the doorway, her bloodshot eyes shining brightly, and gestured toward the empty kitchen chair.

“Mulder, I’d like you to meet Lily.”

Scully is gradually descending into madness-- or Mulder thinks so, until he arrives barely in time to see a wraith drowning her.

Donna’s (Gossamer, mulderscreek)

Trick or Treat (Gossamer)

This wasn't happening.  He wasn't having a conversation with Emily, Scully's Emily.  Even if . . . if Emily had lived, she'd be older.  And she hadn't lived.  Okay, the body had been stolen, but she had been dead.  He'd been there.

"For Halloween."

"Oh."  This was not happening.  Who was this little girl, and where were her parents?

Mulder is shocked to see Emily’s spirit within eyesight everytime he tries to meet up with Diana. The little girl has some sage advice for him and his relationship with Scully. 

jeri‘s (mulderscreek) Ersatz Matriarch 

Scully studied the paper carefully. "Do you think it's really over? Could we possibly lead normal lives?"

"Only one way to find out." He dropped the sheet and held her hands tightly in his own. "Marry me, Scully. I mean, like next week. Before the boys are born."

Scully blinked. "What?”

Mulder and Scully decide to use their downtime under Kersh to pursue IVF-- after faking a marriage at the clinic and failing at their first round, they scrounge up a successful surrogate and begin the rocky road to parenthood (while being deluged with weird X-File info about the pregnancy from Marita, congratulating a newly-married Byers, and avoiding Bill’s newest tantrum.) Skinner even manages to make their New Years the best yet.

sohmer‘s discrete edges 

i'm not unhappy, she thinks suddenly. mulder coughs beside her and she blinks several times in rapid succession in an attempt to refocus her vision. her surroundings click into place.

the thought comes again, louder. it hurts her like vertigo, like ice on naked skin. not unhappy, she tells herself. discomfort comes to mind, or perhaps loneliness. i hadn’t felt lonely with emily.

Scully’s repressed pain over Emily builds and builds after a trip to Skinner’s Christmas Party. Mulder bides his time, slowly peeling the words out of her. 

@ghostbustermelanieking​/skuls‘s (Alt. Ao3) 

Christmas Ficlets - Chapter 2 

She's felt sick on and off these past weeks, growing dizzy and nauseous and eventually having to lean over the sink the night before, but she never expected this. Never thought she'd actually faint at work.

One minute, she's standing by a festoon of Christmas decorations in the hallway (the FBI has Christmas decorations?) and arguing the authenticity of Mulder's toxic slime theory, and the next, her vision is spotted and her legs are weak, the room spinning as she falls and darkness falling like a curtain.

Requiem--Scully faints at the office; but the panic that gripped her and Mulder melts with their shocking pregnancy news. They barely contain themselves before telling Emily back home. 

where the love light gleams  

William wants to know about their mother. “Did you ever know her?” he asks Emily one day, shoving away the copy of Peter Pan. He’s been asking questions tiredly for the past couple of weeks, and she’s been avoiding them, doesn’t want to let him down.

She thinks she had parents, a long time ago, but they can’t be William’s parents because they died. She remembers that. And her mother always told her she was adopted, so that must mean she has a different mother somewhere. She thinks she remembers someone who sat with her on the floor and colored, who whispered things about how they might live together someday. She thinks that the woman had bright hair like her, eyes and freckles like hers and William’s.

In an alternate universe, Emily was shuffled off to a compound run by the CSM; soon to be joined by a captured William. Following the few and vague memories she has to rely on, the two are able to escape and try to find a way to West Virginia (with help from an unnamed woman who seems to recognize them.) 

Lapsed_Scholar’s Family Stories

“It’s Picture Day next week,” explains Emily, still serious. “Mrs. Martin gave us forms. I want to be pretty for the picture, so I need a pretty dress.”

“You look pretty every day, sweetheart. You don’t need a special dress for that.” She’s trying to reassure, but Emily looks up at her, small face conveying disapproval, so she hurries to clarify, “But picture day is a special occasion, and a special occasion does deserve a special dress.”

She’s still fairly new to this—parenting. She wonders if parents who have more experience are more prepared for these conversations, or if it’s something that you always just sort of fumble through.

This series deals with Mulder and Scully navigating the uncharted waters of parenting Emily-- as new parents, then as parents on the run with their children, then as parents of a teen girl with a rambunctious little brother. But they wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

Wheeeeeew! That’s over! Hope you all have a merry feast of angsty fics~.