All disclaimers still apply

"Sophia" Chapter 7 by Macspooky

"Sir," said Bothrington quietly, "I'm sorry they didn't find
Brenda." He looked at the Assistant Director and was filled
with a great sadness.  "If you'd like me to coordinate the
rest of the search while you go back to the
hospital....."

"Thank you, Agent Bothrington.  I think...I think I'll wait
just a little longer.  I'm not quite ready to give up hope yet.
Maybe....maybe there are sealed rooms where the water
hasn't gotten yet.  Meanwhile, the children are being sent
to the Prince Georges Hospital Center.  We'll have to
identify them of course."

"I've already got agents on contacting the appropriate
organizations, Sir," said Both.

"And this woman....."

"Like greased lightening, Sir.  I'm sorry.  It was my fault. I
should have cuffed her, but she had the child taped around
her with duct tape and my first thought was to free it
before it smothered.  The mouth was taped and all the
dust......It was a little girl, Sir." He decided he better not
ramble too much.  It wasn't in character.  They didn't need
Skinner suspicious.

"Would you recognize this woman again Agent
Bothrington?"

"Um....absolutely not Sir.  She wore a black mask.  I
actually only knew it was a woman by her voice."

"And yet you believed her when she screamed <Hit the
dirt!>?"

"Absolutely, Sir.  I had no reason not to. I didn't want to
risk the team."

"Okay.  That will be all for the moment Agent Bothrington,"
said Walter knowing in his heart that the agent was lying.
He wasn't an idiot.  He had his suspicions about just who
the notorious woman in black was.  If she could build a
computer......

Suddenly Sophia appeared out of nowhere looking a little
disgruntled.

"Walter Steven Skinner, what is wrong with you?" she
demanded loudly.


"Don't you keep track of things?"

"Sophia...." he sighed.  Well, if she was the female Zorro of
the gravel pits, she was back in "kook" mode now....full
force.  And he had always considered Fox a cross to bear
back in the old days.

"I was sitting in your car listening to your scanner.  The
police in Georgetown received a call from a young couple
who found a little redheaded girl walking the streets
crying.  She fits Brenda's description perfectly."

"Agent Bothrington...." called Skinner getting the man back.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Take Sophia to the police station in Georgetown.  We might
have found Brenda....."

ONE HOUR LATER

"There's my baby...." Sophia spread her arms.  Brenda who
had been sitting on the lap of a policewoman crying turned
her head and when she saw her aunt gave one final sob and
slipping away ran to her as Both flashed his badge.

Sophia scooped the little girl up in her arms.

"We'll take care of it from here, " he reassured the police
officer.  "We'll take her to Georgetown Medical and get her
checked out and reunited with her parents."

"That's fine.  Check back with us though.  There will be
paper work to do."

"There is always that," he grinned.

THE WAITING AREA AT GEORGETOWN MEDICAL CENTER


Dana and Fox sat and waited, or rather Dana sat and Fox
paced growing more angry by the moment.  No one had
called.  No one had contacted him. He checked his cel phone
for what must have been the 30th time.  Then he
checked Dana's.  He was furious.  Patrick was not yet out of
surgery. There had been a delay getting him up there until
they found a pediatric anesthetist and so he didn't know
what was happening with his son either.

He was just about to blow his stack when the door opened
and Both and Sophia walked in with Brenda in their arms.

"Oh, God.....Oh my God...." said Dana.  The two of them
reached for their daughter at once and hugged her nearly
crushing her.  She was tired and hungry and cranky and
started to cry.

"She needs to be checked out in the ER," said Sophia.  "We
got permission to bring her up here first though to see you.
Do you want me to take her or do one of you want to go?"

"Right now I just want to hug her to death," said Dana
nearly overwhelmed with relief, "but you are right.  She
needs to be checked out."

"You go, Dana," said Fox quietly.  "I....I want to wait for
Wally Wolf...." He slumped in his chair more relieved than
he could have believed.  "Sit with me Aunt Sophia...Tell me
what happened."

"I'll stay with Dana until Brenda is settled," said Both "And
then I have to get back to the mop up."

"Thanks, Both, thanks a lot....."

"There were four other children found, Mulder.  Three of
them were black."

Both turned away and followed Dana.  He suspected that
there were experiments were going on, perhaps with
radiation or some kind of biological warfare agents and that
the preliminary studies were being done on children of his
race.  He wasn't sure where the Mulders fit in except that
they were extremely bright and somehow Fox's family had
been involved from the beginning.  He knew Fox suspected
his own father, now dead.  There was historical precedent
for his belief.  In this case they were saving what they
hoped was the finished product for the white guy.
Less dangerous.  Kill the black kids first...test it out on
them and see what happened.  He squelched his anger.  Now
was not the time.

Meg also went with her daughter sensing that Fox wished to
talk to his aunt alone.

"It was that smoking bastard that got her out," said Sophia
quietly.  She reached into her bag and took out some
knitting.  "Hmm....I seem to have lost my needle.  It will
never be found, I suppose."

"How do you know?"

"Just a feeling," she replied.  "You know me and my
feelings."

"Yeah....I know you and your feelings...." he said.  "Do I
thank him?"

"No."

"I didn't think so.  Aunt Sophia, you seem to have gravel
under your fingernails."

"Yes, well, there was some sort of explosion and someone
screamed to hit the dirt so I did.  I'm a mess."

The two of them lapsed into silence and waited word from
doctors.  Mulder knew his aunt had been up to something
but he wasn't sure what.  His eyes closed only to open
suddenly when Dana came back.

"Brenda seems fine," she said softly.  "They decided to keep
her overnight just in case.  Aislinn came down and is
sitting with her, but she's sound asleep."

"Thank God," said Fox.


"Mr. & Mrs. Mulder?" They hadn't even heard the
neurosurgeon come in.

"Yes doctor?" they asked together jumping up.

"The surgery went well.  All of Patrick's vitals are strong.
He is beginning to come out of the anesthesia, but
indications are that he is in a light coma.  At this point
there is no cause for panic, but we do have to take a wait
and see approach." The doctor gave Dana a lot more
technical information.

Fox felt his heart break his mind focusing on one word....a
coma....brain damage....his beautiful Patrick a vegetable.
He caught his wife just before she finally fainted as the
doctor walked away, too many hours with no food or sleep
in her condition having taken its toll.

TEN DAYS LATER

Fox arrived for his shift at Georgetown.  Aislinn looked at
him sadly wishing she could tell him that there had been a
change but there hadn't been.  The baby had been on life
support for a week the coma having deepened.  He had never
been left alone for a moment.  One of the benefits of the
large extended family was that they had sat with him in
shifts....Dana, Fox....Maggie, Walter, Sophia, Aislinn and
even Melissa and Tom Colton.  Both had taken turns and
Sinead had come.  Bill and Maureen and Jen and Chris took
shifts, and together Fox's sisters had sat with the little
boy.

Now it was his turn again, and he wasn't sure if he could
stand it.  On the other hand, being home with Brenda was in
some ways worse.  She was always asking for Patrick not
understanding why her brother couldn't be home.  She
didn't want to be in her room alone at night and he
understood the little girl's fears.  Dana was hanging in
there, holding up.  As she told him, she had to.  There was
another baby to think about.  She forced herself to eat and
to try to rest and remember to take her vitamins, but
there was no joy in it.  Neither of them had even considered
going back to work.  Neither of them really cared if they
were fired.  That was okay too.  It didn't matter.  Although
it was unspoken and although they both loved their jobs,
they were also aware that there were other ways to
continue the work and that with another baby coming,
there was a good chance that they couldn't be partners
anymore anyway.  Somehow it didn't seem important.

Fox took his seat and pulled the files he'd brought out of his
briefcase.  Every time he came here, he reread the files
and they were always the same.  Hell, he had had them
memorized the first time he'd read them but
he hoped there was something he'd missed.  The
underground lab had been just about destroyed in the
explosion and flood but luckily four children
had been discovered alive.  Whatever few personnel that
had worked in the building had escaped by a tunnel that ran
almost a mile and under the railroad tracks and emerging
in a wooded area.  They had been smart enough to keep the
lab small so no one would notice too many people
coming and going even in the isolated location. The tunnel
was now being filled in.  One body had been found among the
wreckage.  His eye socket had been penetrated by a sharp
instrument possibly a knitting needle. He had
been identified as one Wilhelm Hoechst, but Fox knew
damned well enough that wasn't his real name or identity.
They had found at least one other...Johan Schneiderman.  He
was sure the man's real name was buried somewhere in old
SS records.

Several fetuses had been found as well and autopsy results
would be forthcoming except that he knew that this
evidence too would disappear.  No progress he knew had
been made on finding the mysterious woman, and
no one knew how Brenda had gotten to Georgetown.  The
young couple that had found her crying and disoriented had
thought they had seen a man in dark clothing smoking a
cigarette standing nearby when they had found her, but
their focus had been on the lost child they had discovered
and contacting the police to reunite her with her family.
Well, at least the bastard had stayed and watched making
sure his daughter didn't get picked up off the street by
some pervert.

No, there was nothing new in the files, and still no tangible
evidence in the war against the consortium.  It did seem
that some progress was being made in terms of guerilla
warfare though and maybe that was something.
Now if only Patrick would wake up from his coma.

A nurse came in to check on him.  She smiled at him.  He
knew them all by now.  They were all kind, but it wasn't
much consolation.  This one was named Vickie Bates, and he
liked her.  She seemed truly dedicated to her
work.  She would talk to Patrick and coo at him while she
worked.  Sometimes she would sing to him as she checked
wires and equipment.

"Can I get you a cup of coffee Mr. Mulder?" she asked
softly.  She had heard the story of this family's tragedy, the
kidnapping of their daughter and the shooting of their son.
There were guards on the floor at all times.  They kept a
low profile, but no chances were being taken and visitors
were being carefully screened in intensive care.

"You mean a cup of liquid mud?" he tried to smile.  "No
thank you.  I appreciate it though."

"Okay...let me know if you need anything."

She left and he hunkered down for another night of waiting.
He had just about given up hope. They all had, except
possibly Meg who didn't give up hope easily and who had
been going to mass and praying every morning.  He
took his little boy's hand in his own wishing that he had
Meg's faith.  A part of him knew he was lucky to have all
the support he had, all the money, and all the people
praying for the recovery of his little boy, but he
didn't feel lucky.  He felt angry with the world, and angry
with God, and when the priest had come to perform what
was essentially the last rites, he had had all he could do to
keep from punching Father McHugh just for being there.
Dana had been able at least to go through the motions of
saying the Rosary with the priest, but he had had to walk
away or he would have wrecked the room.

"Daddy is here, Wally Wolf," he said softly.  "Daddy loves
you.  The doctors tell me you are supposed to be awake.  It's
not like you to sleep this much.  You never sleep, Wally
Wolf.  All the nights you kept us awake....God, I would kill
for those nights now....." He felt himself choke up and
backed away wiping his eyes.  The man sat down heavily in
the chair feeling an overwhelming exhaustion overcome
him.  His eyelids grew heavy and he began to doze off.  He
dreamed of his sister.  She was whimpering and he
was trying to go to her but couldn't.  Suddenly, he realized
that it wasn't his sister whimpering and his eyes snapped
opening.  He leapt up and went to Patrick's bed.

"Daddy...daddy...wa daddy....." The little boys eyelids were
fluttering trying to open.

"Nurse......" he called.  "Nurse....."

Vickie ran into the room and saw the little boy struggling
to wake up.  "I'll go page the doctor," she said quickly.
"Keep talking to him."

"Patrick....Patrick....Daddy is here....Daddy is here....." he
bent over his son. He stroked the boy's cheek.  "Wake up
Patrick....oh, God, please wake up....."

"Da da..wa da da......." The child dozed again and Fox felt his
hopes collapse.  Still, he had spoken and that was
something.  He started to call Dana and then decided against
it. Why get her hopes up now.  Let her sleep.



The doctor entered and examined the little boy explaining to
him how sometimes coming out of a coma was a gradual
event.  Mulder understood all this but was still devastated
that the child had not awakened.  The doctor turned to leave
when suddenly Patrick let out a shriek.

"Want Dada.....hungry....Wally Wolf hungry.....now....."

"He's awake," said Fox drily.  "This time, he is really
awake." He didn't care what anyone said.  Being careful of
the IV line, he lifted the little boy out of the bed and hugged
him.  "Daddy is here....Daddy is here Patrick." He
turned to an astonished doctor and Nurse Vickie.  "Let's get
this boy something to eat!"

When Dana arrived half an hour later looking as though she
had just gotten out of bed, which of course she had, Patrick
was sitting up in bed with a dish of ice cream and jello that
Nurse Vickie had been kind enough to get for him from a
nearby deli on her break.  The kitchen had been closed and
the child had kept crying that he was hungry and the doctor
had agreed that he should be fed.  Fox was sitting there
feeding him since his coordination was a little off and he
was still very weak.

"Mommy...." he squealed.

"Patrick....." She picked him up and hugged him.

"Me want more food," he demanded and laughing for the
first time in a long time, his mother put him down.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your meal," she told him and
watched happily as Fox continued to feed him jello and ice
cream.  Finally the little boy grew tired and his lids grew
droopy and he drifted off to sleep.

"It's a real sleep Fox," said Dana softly, "not a coma."

"Will he be okay?  Will he be normal?"

"That remains to be ascertained, but I honestly think so.  It
might be few weeks before he fully regains his strength
but kids are resilient and I think we'll have him back to
himself within a few weeks."

ONE MONTH LATER

Fox and Dana looked at their sleeping children.  Brenda had
gone back to sleeping in her bedroom as soon as her
brother had come home, and today Patrick had passed his
neurological exam with flying colors.  Patrick was
Patrick once again.  A new security system had been
installed in the house by Sophia, and two German Shepherd
puppies slept in the kitchen downstairs that would be
raised to guard the children.

Fox slipped his arm around his wife.  "How are you
feeling?"

"Fine...I'm feeling fine.  The nausea has passed.  One of
these days we need to find some time to talk," she sighed.

"I know.  Another baby is going to be rough."

"We'll manage.  I'm glad it will be three children and not
four.  I wasn't ready for another set of twins...." she
swallowed.

"Don't get cocky FBI woman.  Remember last time?" he
grinned.

  "Let's go to bed," Dana replied preferring not to think
about it.  He had a point. She chose denial.


He slipped in next to her and rested his hand on her
stomach.  "I can feel that telltale little bulge," he said with
a smile in his voice.

"Yeah....but that telltale little bulge is not in the way yet,
not that my being as big as a house ever stopped you
before...."

"That's what I love about you Shorts.  You take a lickin and
keep on tickin, go back to work, and then get as horny as
hell....."

She laughed.  "And what are you going to do about it, Fox
Mulder?"

"Shut up, and I'll show you...."

The End