Title: Believe in Miracles
Author: Agent X
Summary: It really was a giftÉ
Keywords: angst, DSF and maybe a bit moreÉ
Timeline: right before TINH
Spoilers: The Gift, bits of season 8 up until TINH, very minor Emily
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The wonderful characters in this story are the property of the genius 
Chris Carter, 1013 and Fox
Archive: anywhere you like, just let me know please
Feedback: Yes please, good or bad, to aussie_xphile25@yahoo.com.au
Dedication: This story is entirely dedicated to the wonderful Robert Patrick, who 
has inspired me to write this by bringing the character of John Doggett to life! _
Also to the crew of the Doggship - love ya guys!!

*Completely un-beta-d. Excuse the many typos*

*	*	*

Believe in Miracles

At the sound of the first gunshot, Dana Scully dropped to the damp ground and 
pressed her face into the dirt. At the sound of the second she scuttled forward on 
her hands and knees to hide behind a large fallen tree.
Eyes wide and alert, she peered into the darkness that enveloped the forest in 
every direction. The only light was a faint glow from the waxing moon, which 
illuminated leaves in silver and made strange shadows on the forest floor.
She moved in the direction that the gunshots had come from, and promptly 
stumbled in a large hole. She cursed herself for never carrying a flashlight, but 
she wouldn't use it now anyway, for fear of being targeted by whoever was 
shooting.
As she crept forward inch by inch, she listened for any sign or sound of her 
partner, who until a few minutes ago, had been directly in front of her. Somehow 
they had lost each other in the darkÉ and then came the shotsÉ
Shit, she hoped he was alright.
After another five minutes of creeping silently through the trees, there was still no 
sign of her partner, *or* of the person with the gun.
Suddenly she heard a faint muffled gasp off to her right. With her gun out and 
ready to fire, she crept towards the sound.
She found him lying on the ground, the faint moonlight bathing the clearing in 
silver light, making it look almost surreal.
Ignoring her instinct to be quiet, she ran towards her partner, calling his name.
"John! John, are you alright?"
She dropped on her knees at his side and her heart stopped for a moment when 
she saw the deep red stain on the front of his shirt.
Oh, god.
She shook him gently.
"John?"
His eyes fluttered open for a moment, the tiniest of smiles crossing his face as he 
saw her. He tried to speak her name, but could utter no more than a faint gasp.
"Ssshhh," she whispered. "Don't try to talk."
His eyes fell shut again as she pulled open his shirt. She discovered not one, but 
*two* bullet wounds in his chest, both gushing with bright red arterial blood.
He groaned softly as she pressed a hand over the wounds. The blood continued 
to flow, pulsing out between her fingers.
She touched his neck, feeling for a pulse, and was alarmed to detect only a faint 
one.
"No," she whispered. "This can't be happening."
He opened his eyes again, steel blue in the dim light.
"Dana," he whispered, his breath coming in faint gasps. "I'm sorryÉ"
"Sssshhh," she whispered again, feeling for his pulse again. It was barely there.
"Oh god, you're losing him," she thought to herself, feeling the tears begin welling 
up behind her eyes.
She lifted his head gently to rest in her lap, still pressing one hand to his chest in 
a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
Minutes passed and Scully stared at her partners pale face in despair.
She was a doctor dammit! She should be able to help him, to *save* him, but out 
here she was as helpless as he was.
She closed her eyes, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. This can't be 
happening.
She was startled to feel his hand on hers. She opened her eyes to see him 
staring up at her.
She started to say something but he slowly raised his arm and pressed one 
finger to her lips to silence her.
"I'm sorryÉ I didn't find him," he whispered, between gasps for air. "I promisedÉ 
I would find himÉI'm sorryÉ"
With those words he drew in one last breath and closed his eyes. Scully felt his 
head start to fall away.
"No!" she cried, grabbing his face in her hands. "No, John, come back!"
She took his by the shoulders and shook him, sobs wracking her small body.
"John, please," she begged through tears. "Don't leave me! I *need* you, John. 
Oh, god, please noÉ no, don't do thisÉ noÉ*no*Éno!"
Her words trailed off as she laid her head against his chest and sobbed into his 
lifeless bodyÉ

*	*	*

Five hours later

Dana Scully sat balled up on her couch at home, eyes puffy from tears and 
sunken from exhaustion.
"He's gone," she thought to herself. "I'm never going to see him againÉ"
She blinked quickly as tears began to well up in her eyes again.
She just couldn't comprehend it.
After just over three months of being partnered with John Doggett, she had 
become closer to him than she had after eight years with Mulder. He was such 
an uncomplicated person. Noble and strong. Never one to put himself before 
others.
Their introduction certainly hadn't been a pleasant one, and it had taken her a 
while to trust him. After all the stunts the FBI had pulled in the past to close down 
the X-Files, she had thought he was just another mole. He had certainly proven 
her wrong.
Not only had he given up his chance of a *real* career with the FBI to be her 
partner, but he had worked night and day to find a man he didn't even know. A 
man who meant nothing to him except a permanent scar on his record known as 
the X-Files.
"Why is it always the good people who die first," Scully thought to herself. "My 
sister, Emily, and now JohnÉ oh, god, why him?"
A tear trickled silently down her cheek.

Some time later she was still sitting on the couch staring into space when the 
phone rang. She was in no mood to talk to anyone so she let the machine get it.
"Agent Scully," came the voice of Assistant Director Skinner over the phone. "I'm 
just ringing to tell you how sorry I am about all of this."
He paused and she heard him taking a deep breath and letting it out again.
"There's something you need to know. After you leftÉ left the sceneÉ to go for 
help, someone else must have been there. Dana, I'm sorry, but the body is 
missingÉ"
At those words Scully leapt up off the couch and grabbed the phone.
"Hello? Sir, I'm here. What do you mean the body is missing?"
"I don't know what happened, Scully," said the AD on the other end of the phone. 
"We can't find a trace of anyone else having been at the scene, but we're still 
looking."
Scully didn't answer.
"Scully? Are you there?" the AD asked, concern evident in his voice even over 
the phone.
"What? Yes, I'm here," she replied. "I'm coming back there."
"No, Scully, that's not a good idea."
"No! I'm coming! I need to find him!" she said, starting to cry again. "Oh, god, I 
can't believe this is happening."
"Look, Dana," said Skinner. "You're not doing yourself any good worrying about 
this. You have to let us handle it. You need to get some rest. You have to think of 
the baby now."
"I know," Scully whispered. "I just wishÉ I just wish he were still here."
Skinner didn't quite know what to say to that.
"I'll call you as soon as I know anything," he said finally, hanging up.

*	*	*

After finally slipping into a disturbed, fitful sleep, Scully was awakened by a knock 
at her door.
Thinking it may be the AD with news about the body, she swung to door open 
without checking to see who it was.
She gasped in shock and grabbed the doorframe for support.
Standing in the hallway was John Doggett.
"What? How? WhÉ" she stammered, staring at him in a mixture of wonder and 
fear.
He reached out to touch her but she backed away, wary. He stepped forward and 
grabbed her shaking shoulders.
"Dana," he whispered. "It's okay. It's me."
She lifted a hand and reached out to touch his face. It was warmÉ alive.
"Oh, god," she cried, throwing her arms around him. It is you. It *is* you!"
He returned her embrace and held her tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"I thought you were dead," she choked out between sobs. "I thought I'd lost you."
"Sshhh," he soothed, stroking her hair with one hand. "I'm okay. I'm still here."
He pulled back and smiled at her, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"You can't get rid of me that easily."
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she just hugged him again. Then 
something occurred to her and she pulled back quickly.
He was wearing the same clothes as before, still stained with blood and dirt.
She pulled his shirt open, expecting to see the two bullet wounds he had 
received out in the forest. The skin of his chest was unmarked.
"WhatÉ howÉ how is that possible?" she whispered, running her hands over the 
warm brown skin, looking for the phantom wounds. "I *saw* them! I *saw* the 
wounds. Where are they?"
He grabbed her hands and pulled them away from his chest.
"I'm okay," he said quietly. "They're not there anymore."
Scully didn't understand.
"ButÉ but how?" she asked him. "How can they just disappear? How can you be 
*fine*? I thought you were dead!"
"I was," he whispered, looking at the floor.
He glanced back at her to see a mixture of fear, confusion and disbelief in her 
face.
"Dana, do you believe in miracles?" he asked.
She reached out and touched his face, her eyes bright with tears.
"I do now," she whispered.
He took her by the arm and led her over to the couch.
"Do you want to know to whole story?" he asked.
She nodded and rested her head against his shoulder as he started the tale.
"This is a story about a gift, a miracle and setting some free. A few weeks ago in 
a town called SquamashÉ"

The End

Author's Note: Okay, for those of you who didn't quite understand the ending and 
how it was that Doggett didn't die, I'm basing the story around the assumption 
that once the soul-eater from The Gift cures someone of an ailment, they never 
suffer from the same thing again. In other words, the soul-eater 'healed' 
Doggett's death so he will never die again! Woohoo!
An immortal John Doggett - now *that* is what you call paradise!! <grin>
As always, feedback and flames are very welcome, but flamers beware, rude 
feedback only encourages me to write more, if only to piss you off! _