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John looked Monica in the eye. “Take her home,” he said. The straight line formed by his lips mimicked the crease in his forehead. It had been a long night for all of them, Dana most of all. “Don’t let them out of your sight.”Monica put a hand on John’s shoulder. She assured him that she wouldn’t.Her heart was still racing as she pulled her jacket off and wrapped it around Scully’s shoulders, squeezing them in an attempt to be reassuring. She grabbed the emergency diaper bag from its place nearby the door. Scully stared ahead, clutching William to her chest. The emotions radiating off of her were intense—fear, like both she and John were feeling, anger, which Monica could never blame her for, and the emotion she always seemed to feel whenever Scully was in proximity.Love.It was that deep, aching sort of love that made Monica feel as though she were bleeding from the heart. She wondered how Dana didn’t overflow with it. Even Monica felt a lump in her throat, threatening to choke her up, but Scully just looked ahead, eyes narrow in concentration.A man dressed in black had broken into Scully’s apartment earlier that night. She had been able to apprehend him before he laid a hand on William, if only because the baby had started crying before he had even entered the nursery. The child seemed curiouser and curiouser with every passing day, but Monica was grateful for that. The man put up a fight, however, and escaped before John and Monica could make it to the scene. It was the second time something like this had happened. All three of them knew something was going to have to give. Monica just hoped to any god that might be listening that that something wouldn’t have to be at Dana’s expense.Monica ushered Scully and William into her car, buckling the little guy into the carseat that had taken up a permanent spot in her backseat. Things like this were common enough, anyways, that it seemed only practical. She didn’t mind.The ride back to her apartment was quiet. Thankfully, William had calmed down around the time Monica arrived, even if none of the adults had. John stayed behind, ready to call for backup in case anybody came back. Monica drove in a long, snaking route to her home, watching closely to make sure they weren’t being followed. When she felt confident enough in the empty, nighttime roads, she pulled into her complex. Monica patted Scully’s thigh in the passenger seat as she put her car in park, unsure as to whether she was attempting to reassure Scully or herself. She got out of the car as William began to fuss, and she unbuckled him, holding and rocking him. He had only recently begun sleeping through the night, and that was still hit or miss. A night like this couldn’t be easy on him.Monica transferred the baby to his mother, who held him tightly, and guided them upstairs to her apartment. She made sure to lock the door behind them, kicking a wedge underneath for good measure. She swallowed thickly. Your baby almost got kidnapped, and it might have had something to do with aliens, or a cult, or maybe even the government we both work for, but hey, I’ll try to keep you safe in my home! Where does one even start with that?“Here, sit,” she landed on, gesturing to her furniture. “Can I get you some water?”Scully looked up at her. “No, um, that’s okay,” she said. She didn’t sit.Monica bit her lip. “You should get some rest, really. I promise I’ll look out for you both,” she said. “I can go get the bed ready.”“Monica—” Scully started, but Monica brushed her off, heading for her linen closet.“Really, it’s okay. It’s always safer for baby to sleep in a bed. I’ll go out tomorrow and try to find everything he needs, a cot, for one thing. When it’s my turn to sleep I can take the couch.”“Monica, I’m really not trying to impose. I’ll be okay.”Monica turned around. “You’re never imposing,” she said. Letting me keep you both safe is like the furthest thing from imposing, she thought. Scully frowned, seeming unconvinced, but the dark circles under her eyes told Monica everything she needed to know. She was quick to throw on a clean set of sheets and remove the extraneous pillows from her bed so William would have a place to sleep. She went into her closet and dug through some things, pulling out a soft, long sleeved shirt with her university’s logo on the front, and a pair of grey sweatpants with a drawstring. “C’mere,” she said, calling Scully to her room. She laid the extra clothes out for her. “I figured you might want something warmer to sleep in.” She deliberately didn’t call attention to the fact that Scully had fully sweat through the t-shirt she was wearing. She didn’t blame her for that either. “I made the bed, and if you need a shower, just let me know,” she said. “I can watch him. You know where everything is.”Scully’s lip trembled for the first time that night. It was barely perceptible, but Monica was in tune with those things. “Hey,” she said, moving into Scully’s space. She pulled her into a side-hug. She wanted to say it’s okay, but she knew it wasn’t. She just let Scully lean on her, trying, and hoping, some of that burden she was carrying could be offloaded onto Monica.When the energy in the room slowed with the pace of their breathing, Monica let go. She patted the top of her bed. “I’ll let you get dressed,” she said. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”Monica stayed awake, like she said she would. It was about a quarter of an hour after she left the room that she peeked back inside, just to check. Scully was fast asleep with the blanket pulled up to her waist. Monica’s shirt was big on her, the neck swooping down and revealing a bit of skin. Even in her sleep, she was facing William, who snored beside her. Monica was scared. She was angry that her friend, who was the embodiment of everything good, had to go through this. And she felt something else, looking at the slumbering pair in her bed, radiating in her chest, too. She closed the door gently.They would figure out what to do in the morning. They would begin to process this in the morning. For now, she was happy they could both get some rest.