Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 2:01 PM

Title: Beyond the Glass
Author: Susan Frankovich
E-mail: susanf@ticnet.com
Classification: VA
Keyword: Mulder angst
Rating: PG
Spoilers: late season eight
Archive: Anywhere, just ask first please.
Disclaimer: This character doesn't belong to me.
I wish he did.

Summary: Surely he wasn't seeing what he thought
he was.
************************************************************

Beyond the Glass
by Susan Frankovich
~~~~~~

His eyes widening, he wrapped his arms around
his stomach and collapsed onto the bed behind
him.

Surely he wasn't seeing what he thought he
was.

Or was he?

There in front of him was Scully, her hands
cradling her belly.

A very pregnant belly.

How was it even possible?

Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward in his
bed and took a closer look at her.

It was her all right, and she was most definitely
pregnant. Turning to her left, she started talking
to a man who was in the room with her.

He couldn't see who it was because his back was
turned, but he could see that he was tall and
had brown hair.

And that he was wearing a black leather jacket.

What the hell?

After blinking his eyes several times, he stood
up from his bed with unsteady legs and walked
over to the window.

This wasn't happening.

It couldn't be.

It couldn't be him.  It just couldn't be.

And yet it was.

Scully was talking to him, and he was touching
her stomach, and then they were hugging each
other.

Goddamn it, what was going on here?!

"Like what you see, Mr. Mulder?" a voice asked
from the corner of the room, causing him to spin
around so fast, he nearly lost his balance.

"She thinks she's with you, and that's the way it
will stay...that is, until she has the baby," the
low voice added, staying in the shadows rather
than stepping out where he could see him.

"Once we secure the child for our purposes, we
will no longer need you and you will be free to
go to her."

And with that, the glass window in front of him
disappeared into the wall as if is had never been
there at all.

He quickly reached out to touch the glass he knew
was there, but all he felt beneath his fingertips
was warm air.

And all he saw was an empty space.

And all he heard was the rapid beating of his
heart.

Surely he hadn't just seen Scully with someone
who looked exactly like him.

And surely she wasn't pregnant with a baby They
were planning to take as soon as it was born.

This was all just a dream, wasn't it?  Wasn't it?

"There are no dreams here," the voice said abruptly
as the man behind it finally stepped out of the
corner.  "You should know that by now, Mr. Mulder."

And with those parting words, he disappeared too,
slipping into the darkness beyond the glass.


~end~

*Yeah, I know this was sad and dark, but after
reading the news that The X-Files will be back
for a ninth season without Mulder, sad and dark
is all I want to write now...

~All my poems and stories can be found at:
https://members.tripod.com/sfrankovich/index.html
or
http://geocities.com/filesfan34/