From:Katie Category:MSR Rated: PG13 Summary: Mulder learns of Scully's cancer. DISCLAIMER: Ok, this is gonna be a weird disclaimer, because I do not only NOT own these characters, but I also don't own the idea of this story. 1013, CC, and FOX do. I don't own the idea baceuse they actually gave Scully cancer on the show, and I'm just continuing the idea in my own way. So I REALLY hope no one sues me now! Author's Note: Ok, now I know I said I'd give up on trying to write ANGST, but when they did this, I was so full of it myself, I just had to give it another try. Bare with me here as you all know it's x-tremely hard for me to write ANGST, but cancer should make it a tad easier to do so. And now, on with the show! Second Chance She sat up in bed, cradling her knees in her arms, gently rocking back and forth. Now she was certin. She wiped the blood from her nose, and started crying deep heavy sobs. It couldn't be happening. Not now. Not after all they'd been through. She was so scared. She didn't want to die now. It wasn't her time. Then again, when someone was dying, was it ever their time? What would she tell Mulder? When? She coughed hard, and more blood came out. She'd have to go to the doctor tommorow and see how bad it was. If she let it go, it would only get worse. Dana jumped when the phone rang loudly atop her bed stand. It was Mulder she knew, but what would she say to him? He would be able to hear the sadness in her voice, that was a given. He always knew how she was feeling. It was like *his* sixth sense. She cought it on the fourth ring. "Scully." She said, trying to get the crying out of her voice. "Scully, it's me. I know it's late, but I had to ask you something. Earlier you looked distressed, and scared. I dismissed it fatigue, after the little encounter you had, but I wanted to know if you're okay." He sounded a bit hoarse, and she knew he was worried. "I'm fine, Mulder." Even though it came out of her mouth, even *she* wasn't sure if she meant it. It didn't sound very confident, and she knew he wouldn't buy it. "Are you sure? I could come over, and we could talk." Why did this have to be so hard? A part of her wanted nothing more than for him to hold her, and tell her everything would be okay. But a stronger part of her knew she couldn't tell him anything until tommorow when she went to the hospital. "Thanks for the gesture, but really, I'll be fine. See you tommorow, okay?" "Yeah, sure. Night." "Night." She put the phone back on it's cradle, and lay back. If she could just get some sleep, maybe she could stop thinking about it for a while. The next morning, Dana got up really early so she could get to the hospital, and to work on time. The last thing she wanted right now was to have Mulder wonder where she was. As she walked in the hospital main doors, all the people in the waiting room turned to look at her. She felt lke a zoo attraction, and almost started crying again. She couldn't do that. She would hold up at least until she was back in her car. Sitting in a hospital gown on an examining table, she waited for the doctor to come in. She had never been so nervous in her life. She knew it would be bad news, yet she had to know. A flash back of seeing Betsy Hagopian laying in that room, so full of tumors, she would explode. A single tear ran down her cheek, and she got scared all over again. The knob turned on the door in front of her, and she quickly rubbed the tear away. "Dr. Scully, I'm afraid I have bad news for you." The doctor set her charts down, and put a hand on dana's shoulder. "Dana, I'm afraid you do have cancer. It started in your stomach, and spread upward. Though there's one thing I can't figure out. We can't seem to classify what kind of cancer you have, and it has to be marked as extraterrestial. Now I don't know if this means it will react any differently to treatment, infact I'm not sure what will happen no matter what we do. I have never encountered this type of cancer before, and neither has this hospital, but we will do everything we can to cure you." Dana almost laughed. "Dr. Fuller, I'm afraid I know I'm dying. I know you were trying to mask the possibility, and I appreciate that, but I know that if cancer gets in the lungs, it's terminal." "Ahhh, doctors are always the worst patients. They always know how bad it is. All I can say is don't give up hope, Dana. There's always a chance." She walked in the office door, and tried not to look at him. "Morning, Mulder." "Morning, Scully." When she sat down, he noticed her face was red like she had been crying. He never would have expected that the news she was about to tell him would be so earth shattering. She composed herself from across the room, and knew she had to tell him now. She lifted her head slowly, and almost whispered, "Mulder, I need to tell you something." Seeing her this shaken up scared the hell out of him. It was really bad. He walked over to her desk, and stood before her. She looked into his eyes and began. " Last night, when I was fighting off Betts, he said something that disturbed me greatly. He said "You have something I need." I know he wasn't trying to scare me, Mulder. Then late at night, just before you called, I was coughing pretty hard, and saw blood. It didn't come from my coughing, but I had a nose bleed. I went to the hospital this morning, and they said I do have cancer. It started in my stomach, and spread upwards. To my lungs. That kind of cancer is uncurable, Mulder. They said they had never seen this kind of cancer before, and classified it as extraterrestial. Now I think we both know that what I have is what Betsy Hagopian had. I'm dying, Mulder." Her last words struck his soul so hard, the wind was knocked out of him. Tears started streaming down his cheeks. He lifted her to a standing position, and held her tight. Soon, they were both crying, sobbing in each other's arms. "You can't die. You can't die, Scully, you can't die." "Oh, Mulder. I don't want to die. I'm afraid." She cried harder than she had ever cried before. When she had told her mother, she had also cried. Now telling Mulder, holding him, made her cry even harder. Sitting on his couch later that evening, Fox did some deep soul searching. He had loved Dana with all his heart and soul ever since their first case. He had never told her, and now he was going to lose her. Again. He sat with his head in his hands. All of a sudden, his phone rang. He had expected it to be Scully, but was horrified by the voice he heard. "Hello, Mulder." There was a cough on the other end, and then the voice resumed. "I hear Miss Scully has been stricken ill." "You bastard! You did this to her, didn't you!" "Now now, Mulder. I did nothing of the sort. In fact, I was just going to inform you of some very important news. You see, I have the cure you are looking for." "Why should I believe you?" Mulder hissed. "Who else have you got to believe? I would think that desperate times call for desperate measures, wouldn't you?" "How do I know you won't kill me?" "You don't. See that's the funny thing about trust, Mulder. It isn't real." "Why would you want to help me?" "You don't understand, do you, Mr. Mulder? I don't want to help you, in fact, i'd like to have you dead. But as I said before, I like your persistance, and I like your partner. That's why I returned her to you before, and also why I helped your mother." Mulder didn't understand, but if he had any chance of saving Dana's life, he would risk the world. "How do I get this cure from you?" "It's very simple, Mulder. There will be a packedge on your doorstep in the morning. It will contain highly secured elements, and must be taken orally. If you give Miss Scully the pills in the box, she will live. Without them she will die." "How do I know it won't kill her?" The phone went dead. Mulder slammed the phone down "Dammit!" When the packedge arrived, Mulder brought it down to the lab to see if they could identify the stuff. See if it would be harmful. To his surprise, it only contained vitamins, and protiens. It would be harmless to take, but Pendrell had said the pills were very potent. Would kill off any invading object in anyone's body. Mulder only hoped he was right. He knocked on Dana's door, and hugged her when she answered. They sat down at her kitchen table, and she asked, "Mulder, you said you had something important to tell me." "Yeah. Last night, I got a call from Cancer man. He said he had a cure for your cancer, and would give it to me. I took the stuff I found on my doorstep to the lab this morning, to make sure it wouldn't hurt you. I think we should try it, Dana." She reached across the table, and held his hands. "Fox, I don't think they'll work." "But it's worth a try. We can't give up, Scully. There's no way I could live if I lost you again." She closed her eyes, and nodded. He cupped his hand on her cheek just as he had done when her father died. "There's something else I wanted to tell you, Dana." Her eyes opened, and she looked into his. "Ever since our first case, I've loved you heart and soul. Until now, I never told you because I was afraid. Of so many things. But now, when I might lose you, to be afraid of anything else would be foolish. I feel that we no longer have souls, Dana. We have a soul. A single soul that we share. If you die, I die. But I think we'll live." A tear ran down her cheek onto his hand. He wiped her eyes, and held her again. She whispered into his neck, "I love you too, Fox." She began taking the treatment, and amazingly within a couple days, the cancer started to cure! The doctors were dumbfounded, as the cancer seemed to just dissolve. Dana and Fox were together everyday, sharing every breathe, taking nothing for granted. As she walked in the office one morning, she smiled as Mulder told her of a new X-File. When he asked why she wasn't depressed, she simply said, "Because now I have you, and I have a second chance. Not even another X-File could put me down." The End! That's all folks! Tell me what you think. Everything can be sent to dkscully@juno.com I personally think my second attempt at angst was ten times better than the first, but WhatI'm really interested in is what *you* think, so don't leave me hanging!