~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Nine
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Call nine one one," Scully said again.  "She needs a 
hospital."

Pittsfield stared at them, gun hanging down in his limp hand.  
"You're doing fine," he said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.  
He coughed deeply.

"I am not doing fine.  She's going to die if we don't get her 
to a hospital."  Scully raised one bloody hand to Penelope's 
throat, where she felt for a pulse.  A slow, faint rhythm 
beat under her fingers.

"Father, please."  Lily grabbed Pittsfield's arm.  "Don't let 
her die."

Pittsfield shook the child off.  "Shut your mouth, girl."  
The sound of her whimpering and his raspy breaths filled the 
temple as Scully worked furiously to keep Penelope alive.

"I can't stop the bleeding," she said, more to herself than 
Pittsfield since he did not appear to be listening to a word 
she said.  The floorboards creaked as he walked closer.  She 
could feel him looming over them.  "We need help," she said 
again.

Scully turned her head to look up at him, to beseech him one 
last time before Penelope died under her hands.  She found 
his face close, shadowed and intense in the moonlight.  
"You," he whispered.

"Help her," Scully pleaded.

His eyes fixed on her.  "You," he said, and stretched out a 
trembling hand.  Scully's heart stopped.  "God did touch you, 
didn't he?  He touched you right good."

Scully swallowed.  "We need an ambulance."

"You're the one I need."  His hand closed around her upper 
arm.  "You come with me."

"I can't leave her!"

"You come with me."  He yanked her away from Penelope.  
"You're going to tend to me now."

"A hospital can treat you both," Scully said, breathless.

"It's Christmas.  It's time.  Today is the day of my 
rebirth."

He was dragging her toward the exit, her heels skidding on 
the hard floor.  "We can't just leave her here."

"Father, the Angel!" Lily ran behind sobbing.  "You have to 
save the Angel!"

Pittsfield halted abruptly, his eyes wild.  "This is your 
angel now," he said, shoving Scully.

"I am a *doctor*," Scully insisted.  "Not an angel."

"Your baby," Pittsfield said.  "Your baby came from God."

Scully stiffened in horror.  "I--I don't know what you're 
talking about.  I have no baby."

He touched her belly with the nose of his revolver.  "You 
can't hide the truth from me.  God has shown me the way.  He 
sent me to you, and you will fulfill my destiny."

"You're wrong."  He started dragging her again, and Scully 
resisted.  "There's no baby," she said desperately.  "I can't 
help you."

"You will."

Scully could not breathe.  He was crazy, totally insane, and 
she felt infected with the madness, as if it had traveled 
down his arm into her blood.  Hot and cold at the same time.  
Terror at being dragged back to the car.  Whatever his plan 
had been initially, it had clearly gone all to hell.  

*Don't let him move you to a new crime scene.*  It was rule 
one in the survivalist's handbook.  This would be crime scene 
number three, and the body count was rising.

She wouldn't put it past him to kill them all.

"Okay, I'll help you!  If you call an ambulance for Lily, I 
will go anywhere you want."

He stopped struggling with her for a moment.  "I don't see 
that you have a choice."  The gun brushed her ribs.  "We 
don't have much time now, come on."

Just as they started forward again, the sound of an engine 
outside stopped him cold.  The car stopped and Scully heard 
several doors slam.  No voices.

"This way," Pittsfield hissed at her as he dragged her back 
through the temple.  Lily grabbed Scully's gown and held on 
tight.  Scully turned her neck, trying to see who was at the 
front door.   "Not a word," Pittsfield warned.  "I'll shoot 
the child right here."

Lily choked.  Scully squeezed her.  "It's okay," she lied.

Pittsfield found the back stairs and forced them all down to 
the basement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Found your squad car," Mulder said as they surveyed the 
synagogue parking lots.  "She's here."

"DC plates," Grenier remarked of the other car.  "Could be 
Pittsfield."
 
Mulder, slower and clumsier than Looney and Grenier, limped 
up the synagogue stairs behind them.  Looney checked the 
door.  "It's been jimmied open," he said.

Looney drew his gun and the trio entered the building.  "I 
can't see anything," Looney whispered.

"I'll find a light," Grenier muttered.

Mulder drifted forward towards the temple.  He stood in the 
doorway, watching the moon shine down, and listened for the 
presence of anyone else in the room.  He heard a gurgle on 
the floor.

"God, Scully."  He hurried forward as fast as his injured leg 
would carry him.  As he rounded the aisle, he saw Penelope on 
the ground.  Her shirt was soaked in blood.  "Call nine one 
one!" Mulder hollered back.   "Penelope's hurt!"

His leg screamed in pain as he struggled to kneel next to the 
injured girl.  Her eyes were closed and her skin was clammy.  
"It's Mulder," he told her.  "We're going to get you help."

She didn't reply.  "Can she talk?" Grenier asked from behind 
him as Looney called it in.

"I don't think so."

"Where's Pittsfield?"

"Not far unless he's stolen another car."  Mulder shifted to 
his feet again.  "Stay with her."

"Mulder--"

Mulder grabbed Grenier's arm and squeezed.  "She's dying," he 
whispered.  

Grenier looked pained, then resigned.  "Okay," he said.  
"I'll stay."

Mulder took his flashlight and began a slow, painful journey 
to the front of the temple.  At the back door, he paused to 
shine the beam on the door and around the walls.  

A bloody smear marked the doorjamb, right at the midpoint.  
Mulder touched it and his finger came away wet.  He continued 
into the back foyer and found a second smudge of blood on the 
wall by the staircase.  He listened again but heard no sounds 
coming from downstairs.

Mulder's uneven footsteps were heavy on the stairs.  If 
Pittsfield was down there, he would hear him coming a mile 
away.  Mulder kept one hand braced against the wall for 
balance as he descended into the blackness.

~*~*~*~*~

White light streamed in through the high basement window.  
Lily huddled in the corner behind a stack of boxes, small 
face buried in her knees.  Pittsfield had one arm around 
Scully's neck and the other around her midsection.  The gun 
lay just out of her reach on the table.

"Dear Father in Heaven, I come to you on this day seeking 
life," Pittsfield said, his voice hoarse in her ear.  "As you 
began life, I would be reborn today into your kingdom."

Outside, Scully heard the wail of an ambulance and 
approaching squad cars.  She eyed the locked door to their 
hiding place and wondered if she could maneuver her way to 
the gun.

"Raise me up again, Lord, as you raised Lazarus and your son.  
Grant me that I can continue your work here on Earth."

Scully stretched out her fingers but Pittsfield just gripped 
her harder, his forearm tight across her windpipe.  She 
coughed, and he raised his voice louder.

"I am your true follower, Lord.  I have served and will 
continue to serve until my last day.  I have found this baby 
that you sent to me.  I am ready to begin my new life."

The doorknob rattled.  Scully held her breath.

"Go away!" hollered Pittsfield.

"Open the door, Pittsfield.  It's over."  

Mulder, Scully realized, almost weak with relief.  The 
doorknob shook again.  "Scully, are you in there?"

"I'm okay," Scully managed to yell before Pittsfield choked 
her off.

"Our Father, who art in heaven," Pittsfield muttered with 
increasing speed.  It felt to Scully that he might be 
hyperventilating.  "Hallowed be thy name."

The door was flimsy, and Mulder had it open in seconds.  He 
stood on the threshold, breathing hard.  "Let her go, 
Pittsfield.  It's over."

Pittsfield backed them up against a wall.  "Thy kingdom come, 
thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Mulder took a step into the room and Pittsfield stopped 
praying.  "Let Scully go," Mulder said calmly.

Pittsfield clutched Scully tighter.  "Child," he called.  
"You know what to do."

"No," Lily sobbed into her knees.

"It's Satan, Child," Pittsfield said roughly.  "We can't let 
him win.  He must be stopped! You know what you must do.  
Go!"

Still crying, Lily got to her feet and went to the gun.  She 
picked it up with shaking hands.

"Hey, wait," Mulder said, holding up his hands.  "I just want 
to help you.  I want to help you and your dad."

"You can't fight the Lord's will," Pittsfield said.  

Mulder backed up one step, but Grenier was right behind him.  
Behind Grenier was a uniformed cop with a gun.  They blocked 
the doorway.

"You can't stop me," Pittsfield yelled.  "I am the Lord's 
son. I have lived and died and I will live again!"

"Give us the gun," Grenier said to Lily.  "We're police 
officers and we want to help you."

"No," the girl said, her voice quavering.  She backed away 
from them.

"I am invincible!  I am reborn!  I am---"

A sudden shot exploded in the room.  When the sound cleared, 
Pittsfield lay bleeding on the floor.  Lily dropped the gun 
and started screaming.

"I am the resurrection and the life," Pittsfield wheezed, 
coughing.  Blood oozed from his mouth.

Grenier snatched Lily and dragged her from the room.   The 
cop radioed for help.

Scully stood, covered in blood spatter from two people now, 
and stared down at Pittsfield as he went still.  Lily had 
shot him high in the ribs.  

Mulder came forward, limping badly.  "Scully," he said as he 
took her by the arms.  "Are you all right?"   

She stared at him.  "I'm pregnant," she whispered.  

"I know."  His eyes were black in the eerie light.

"So it's true?"  She felt herself tearing up.  Mulder hugged 
her tight.  He smelled like sweat and wet wool.  Scully 
bunched fistfuls of his coat and buried her face in his 
chest.  "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to get the hell out of here." 

Scully pulled away and looked down at Pittsfield.  He did not 
appear to be breathing.  "I can't believe she shot him," 
Scully murmured.

Mulder put his arm around her.  "I'm not sure she was aiming 
for him."

The arriving EMTs poured around them, and Scully helped 
Mulder back out into the hall.  Together, they mounted the 
steep steps and found the temple blazing with light.  A half 
dozen officers milled about.  Grenier stood off to the side, 
pale as the sheet covering Penelope's body.

"She didn't make it," he told Mulder and Scully.  "She never 
even opened her eyes."

Her blood still stained Scully's hands. "Pittsfield got his 
wish," Scully said.  The two men looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked.

Scully took a deep, shuddering breath and contemplated the 
young woman's body.  "She's finally an angel."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Pittsfield died en route to the hospital.  Exhausted to her 
very bones, Scully managed the strength to note a final 
irony: she had claimed medicine could save him and Penelope 
while Pittsfield said only God would have that power.  In the 
end, she and God had both dropped the ball.

The hospital wanted to keep her and Mulder overnight, but it 
was Christmas and Scully wanted a real bed.  They crashed at 
Mulder's apartment, drawing the blinds and crawling beneath 
the sheets somewhere around dawn.

"Some Christmas," Mulder said as she carefully snuggled into 
his side.  His fingers tickled her scalp.

"More excitement than I really needed," Scully agreed.  She 
stretched an arm around his chest and hugged him close.  
Despite the horror of the past twenty-four hours, she felt 
grateful for her blessings.  Mulder was safe.  Natalie was 
safe.  And there was a new life growing inside her.  She 
still couldn't quite believe it was real.

"So, um, a baby," Mulder said as if reading her mind.

"Yeah."

"We'll have to buy a crib and stuff."

For some reason, this made her smile.  "I think we have time 
for that," she said, squeezing him.

"Two cribs, even.  One for your place and one for here.  I 
think my mom might have stored one away from when Sam and I 
were little."

Scully yawned.  "Mulder," she said, nuzzling his shoulder.  
"We don't have to figure everything out right this minute."

"Yeah, okay."  He fell silent, but she could feel him awake, 
still thinking.

"Mulder?" She rubbed a palm over his chest.  "You all right?"

"Yeah."  He kissed the top of her head.  After another 
minute, he stirred again.  "It's just, I want to be prepared, 
you know?"

"Prepared for what?"

"Everything. You've seen what can happen, Scully.  Look at 
Natalie."

"Natalie is safe at home now."

"Yes," he said, and she knew he was thinking of the other 
little children they had seen fall victim to violence or 
neglect over the years.  "They're so small," he said 
wonderingly. "It's hard to believe they ever survive."

"And yet they do."

He toyed with her fingers, caressing the back of her hand 
with his thumb.  "You don't find any of this remotely 
terrifying?"

She huffed a breath.  "God, yes.  Completely."  She laced her 
fingers through his and squeezed his hand.  "The world can be 
a scary place.  No one knows that better than you or I.  But 
today of all days, I think that hope has to outweigh fear."

"Hope," he said, trying the word.  "I guess it is Christmas."

"Yes."  She kissed the underside of his chin.  "Merry 
Christmas, Mulder."

She fell asleep then and did not wake until it was dark 
again.  Mulder had left the bed, and she smelled spaghetti 
sauce cooking in the kitchen.  Her stomach rumbled in 
anticipation.

Scully rolled over and switched on the bedside lamp.  The 
sight of a brightly wrapped Christmas package on the 
nightstand stopped her in her tracks.  She pulled it onto her 
lap for examination and leaned back against the pillows.  
There was no identifying tag on the present.

Just then, Mulder entered the room on his new set of 
crutches.  "Hey, you're up.  I was just making dinner."

"Dinner?  What time is it?"

"Almost six."

"That's not too bad," she said.

"On December twenty-sixth," he replied.  He sat on the bed by 
her hip.  "We slept through Christmas, Scully."

"But I see Santa was here."

He smiled.  "Open it."

"Yours is at my place," she said ruefully, and he shook his 
head. 

"We'll do Christmas later.  Consider this a freebie."

Scully peeled back the red and green paper.  Underneath was a 
set of plastic baby blocks.  The set of baby blocks Mulder 
had been harboring in his closet for years without telling 
her.  A lump sprang up in her throat.

"I've, um, had them a while," he said, looking at the floor.  
"Since when we started trying three years ago."

Scully still didn't trust herself to talk.  She stroked the 
edge of the box for a minute.  "They're perfect," she managed 
at last.

"I was thinking about what you said about hope.  And I figure 
whatever other obstacles you and I might have, that after all 
these years we've got hope pretty well covered.  Don't you 
think?"

Scully scooted forward and gave him a fierce hug.  "I love 
you," she said into his neck.

"Yeah?" he said, sounding pleased.  "See, I always hoped so."

She answered with a watery laugh and hugged him tighter.  
"Never doubt it."

He rubbed her back and rocked her gently.  "Merry Christmas," 
he murmured.  "One day late."

"Merry Christmas," she said, because it was.  She wiped her 
eyes and drew back.  "So now I'm hoping for dinner."

"Must be a Christmas miracle," he replied, deadpan.  "Santa 
brought spaghetti."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day Scully drove them to the Department of Child 
Services, where they found Amelia waiting.  "Thanks for 
letting me sit in on this," she said.

"You know them best of all of us," Mulder replied.  "You 
should be here."

"Where's Adam?" she asked, and Mulder looked at the floor.

"I think he's sitting this one out," Scully told Amelia.  

But just then, Adam came through the door.  "Am I too late?" 
he asked as he adjusted his tie.

"You came," Mulder said, surprised.

"Yeah."  Grenier looked uncomfortable.  "These people gained 
and lost Lily a second time all in one conversation. I 
figured they might want to talk to someone who knew their 
daughter.  And, well... I knew her."

Amelia touched his arm.  "They'll appreciate that."

Mulder recognized the Tuckers immediately, even as his brain 
registered the fact that they were no longer young parents.  
The intervening seventeen years had been hard ones, by the 
looks of them.  Tom had put on fifty pounds that he might 
have picked up from his wife's discard; Miriam was a shadow 
of her former self.

Their expressions, however, were exactly as he remembered 
them: complete shock at how quickly life had turned upside 
down.

And here they were about to do it to them again.

"Mr. and Mrs. Tucker," Amelia said, stepping forward to greet 
them.  "You may not remember me."

"Of course we remember you," Tom said stiffly, seeming 
affronted.  As if to forget one minute of the day their 
daughter disappeared was to forget her entirely.  "I remember 
all of you, except her."  He eyed Scully with some suspicion.

"Dana Scully," she supplied.  "I am so sorry about what 
happened to Lily."

Miriam Tucker tightened her hold on her husband's arm.  "At 
least now we know," she said quietly.

"There's a conference area where we can go talk," Amelia 
suggested.  "Can we get you some coffee?"

"No, thank you," Tom answered.  "We'll just hear you out and 
be on our way.  They said we can take Lily with us back to 
California tomorrow."

When they were all seated, Amelia took a deep breath.  "As 
you know by now, Gary Pittsfield resurfaced about ten days 
ago, which is how we were able to capture him and to 
determine what had happened to Lily.  What we have not 
mentioned yet is that there was a second girl in Pittsfield's 
custody.  The reason we haven't mentioned her is that we 
first wanted to determine her identity through DNA before 
talking to you."

"I don't understand," Tom said.  "What's this second girl got 
to do with Lily?"

Amelia withdrew a copy of the still photo taken from the 
webcam that had started the case in motion.  "This is the 
little girl," she said, sliding it across the table.

Miriam covered her mouth.  Tom frowned.  "This is Lily."

"That's what we thought at first too.  But it's not.  This is 
a picture of Lily's daughter, your granddaughter."

"Lily had a baby?" Miriam's eyes were wide.

"Don't tell me that sonofabitch was the father."

There was a pause, and Mulder sat forward.  "I'm afraid DNA 
tests confirm it, sir."

Miriam grabbed her husband's arm.  "But he's dead.  And 
Lily's dead.  Who's taking care of this girl?"

"She's in the custody of Child Services right now," Mulder 
explained.

"She's here?  Can we see her?"  Miriam was excited.  Tom 
seemed to be fighting tears.  Of joy or anger, Mulder could 
not tell.

"Of course," Amelia said.  "She's waiting to meet you now.  
I'd caution you about saying anything about your relationship 
to her at this stage, though.  As you might imagine, she's 
been through a lot."

"I want to see her," Miriam said, standing up.

The small group went to the room where Lily's daughter sat 
coloring a picture with a DCS officer.  "Oh, it's Lily," 
Miriam said again as they all stared through the glass.

"She's called Lily," Amelia agreed, and started to open the 
door.

"Wait," Mulder said.  Miriam and Tom turned to look at him.  
"Her given name is Miriam.  Miri is what Lily named her."

Miriam bit her lip and Tom put an arm around his wife.  "Can 
we go in now?" he asked.

"Certainly."  Amelia and Grenier went inside with the Tuckers 
while Mulder and Scully watched through the one-way glass.  
Lily looked up with curiosity at the newcomers but did not 
smile.

"It won't be like getting their little girl back," Scully 
murmured.  "That child is going to have a lot of anger and 
confusion.  And that's even assuming they want her."

"They'll want her."

Scully sighed and Mulder put an arm around her.  "I think she 
was aiming for him, Mulder.  I think that little girl shot 
her father so he wouldn't kill her first. How in the world do 
you take a child like that and give her anything resembling a 
normal life?"

Mulder pulled her to his side.  "Hope," he said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

End chapter nine.  Continued in chapter ten.

Just one more to go, folks.  Thanks for reading along!

Chocolate-covered Mulders of thanks to Amanda for proofing.

Let's be evil together: syn_tax6@yahoo.com