Going Home:  Chapter 9 Another one bites the dust

Crystal City Place
7:35 am

Three dirty mixing bowls were lined up on the
counter top.  Half an eggshell teetered on the edge
of the garbage disposal.  Some unidentifiable
yellow-orange substance formed a puddle just at the
door of the refrigerator.  William stood atop one of
the kitchen chairs, hastily stirring a large mixing
bowl with a wooden spoon.  Mulder, rear end
skyward as he bent in Skinner's bottom cupboard,
was searching in vain for a griddle.

"Aha," came a triumphant yell followed
immediately by a loud thump and a muttered curse
word.

"Daddy, Mommy doesn't like -- "

"Yes, I know, William," Mulder said as he rose
from his stooped position, one hand holding the
griddle, the other one rubbing a rising bump on the
back of his head.  "It just slipped out.  Besides,
Mommy's still asleep and what she didn't hear won't
hurt her."

"I'll remember that," Scully said, leaning against the
door jam.  "What in the world are you two up to?"

"Pancakes, Mommy!" William crowed from his
perch on the chair.  "I'm the stirrer."

"And I'm the cooker," Mulder said, leaning over to
kiss his partner good morning.  "You looked tired,
we thought we'd let you sleep."

"I was tired.  And I was sleeping but two little birds
in the room next to me starting jabbering to each
other and I figured it was time to get up."

As if on cue, both girls toddled into the kitchen,
Missy grabbed the chair William stood upon and
tried to climb up with her brother.

"Uh huh, none of that," Scully said, picking up the
tiny girl into her arms.  "If you want to see, Mommy
will help you.  See Will making pancakes?"  She
looked over at Mulder.  "Did you buy all the
makings for pancakes when you went grocery
shopping?"

"What makings?  I bought a box, it said just add
eggs and water," Mulder corrected, pointing his
chin to an empty box now resting in the recycling
bin.

"But why all the bowls," Scully asked slowly and
then shook her head.  "No, on second thought, as
long as they all fit in the dishwasher, I really don't
want to know.  C'mon girls.  Let's go find
something to play with while we wait for the men to
call us to breakfast."

Breakfast was consumed in little under fifteen
minutes, but it took another hour to get the kitchen
back in shape.  Finally, Scully shooed Mulder into
the shower and then had a chance to get cleaned up.
The diaper bag was restocked, including bottled
water for their trip into the city.  William was
dressed in one of his favorite tee shirts, the Knicks,
and jeans shorts while the girls were dressed in
matching jumpers, one yellow and the other green.
Mulder grabbed a suit, thought better of it and opted
for slacks and an oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled
up.  Scully decided on black capri pants and a white
tee shirt.  It wasn't Bureau issue, but neither partner
seemed to care.

Since they'd called ahead, Kim was waiting for
them at the guard desk.  She had special visitor's
badges made with all three of the children's names
on them.  William was especially proud of his
badge when Mulder told him it looked exactly like
the one he had worn every day to work.  The guard,
the same one Mulder had seen when he'd brought
William the first time, let William watch on the
monitor while Mulder's keys went through the X
ray machine.

William was fascinated by everything he saw, and
the girls were kept busy being the object of much
attention from the support staff and the female
agents who recognized either one or the other
partner.  Mulder was a little surprised that Kim took
them in to see the Director's office.  But the biggest
surprise was yet to come.

They went back to the elevators, supposedly to
leave the building, but instead of hitting the floor
for the lobby, Kim hit the button for the basement.
When they arrived, she smiled and ushered the
family through the hall and down to the door that
once housed the X Files Division.

Mulder stood there exchanging looks with Scully as
Kim knocked on the door and it opened from the
inside.

Walter Skinner was standing in the office, a half-
grin on his face.  "Welcome home," he said, waving
at the interior space.

The desk was a little more battered, Doggett's desk
was missing, but a computer table was arranged as
it had been when Scully used the space as her own.
The bookshelves once again held manuals, but no
psychology books or medical journals.  Two
matching grey steel filing cabinets were lined
against the wall.  The only bit of color in the room
came from the poster, positioned perfectly on one of
the two bulletin boards.

Mulder's throat closed up as he stepped into the
office.  "Walt.  You've been busy," he quipped.  He
walked over to the poster and ran a finger across the
image of the unidentified flying object hovering just
above the treetops.

"Hey, want to see some pictures on the slide
projector," Kim said cheerfully, taking William and
the girls to the back of the office.

"Walter, we can't -- " Scully started, but Skinner
held up his hand.

"I'm not asking you to come back, Dana," Skinner
said with a shake of his head.  "I'm trying to get
another agent assigned to the Division.  I just
thought you two should at least get to see what I
was up to, make any suggestions you can think
might be appropriate."

She sighed in relief.  "Oh, well, if that's all, I have
one suggestion."  After a measured pause she
grinned.  "Lose the damned slide projector."

Mulder shot her a look and shook his head.  "Make
sure he has a partner, someone who can back him
up.  Or slice him to ribbons when he's out of line,"
he said with a knowing tilt to his head.

"Oh, believe me, that was already on my list,"
Walter assured him.  "You two are OK with this?"

"I thought the Bureau was focusing on Homeland
Security these days," Mulder said, not really
answering the question.

"Most of the resources are in that direction, yes.
But we still get calls from local law enforcement.
The very least we can do is be prepared.  Don't get
me wrong, this won't be a full time assignment, at
least not at first."

"Colonization isn't a threat any more," Scully
pointed out.  "At least, the consortium isn't
involved.  All the players are dead and buried."

"But that wasn't all we investigated, Scully.  Take
this case Wright has -- "  Mulder stopped mid-
sentence and shot a look at his old boss.  "Wright is
who you're thinking of for this position, isn't he?"

Skinner ducked his head.  "His name has come up,
yes.  He has a pretty impressive record in BSU,
although he lacks a lot of field experience.  And he
has a special interest in the types of cases you
worked on here."

Scully furrowed her brow.  "A special interest?
How so?"

Before Skinner had a chance to answer, the phone
on the desk started to ring.  Without thinking,
Mulder picked it up.  After a few moments silence
he handed the phone to Skinner and turned to
Scully.  "Holly transferred the call down here.  It's
Wright.  There's been another murder.  And this
time there's surveillance tape."

"Where?" Scully asked.  She looked over at Kim,
who was holding the girls hands and chewing her
bottom lip.

"Richmond," Skinner answered, hanging up the
phone.  "Do you think your mother could come get
the children?"

"Mulder," Scully said, her voice full of warning.

"I have a better idea," Mulder replied, hoping to
negotiate the difficult waters he knew he and his
partner were entering.  "How about if you go back
to the condo with the kids and I'll go with Walter
out to Richmond?  I'll be back in time for dinner.
Better yet, I'll stop at Tony's on the way back and
the kids can taste real pizza for the first time in their
lives," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"You're just there to check out the scene, Mulder.
Nothing else," she told him sternly.  "You can't go
after this guy, you don't even have a weapon."

He held up two fingers.  "Indian Guide Honor," he
recited with a wink.

"Like I really believe that," she said with a snort.
She looked at William and the girls.  "OK,
everyone, it's time to go back to the condo."

Benson Industries
Franklin Industrial Park
Richmond VA
12:05 pm

"She was sitting at her desk, just like the other guy,"
Wright noted as he met Mulder and Skinner at the
entrance to the office.

Mulder walked over to the tidy desk and looked
closely at the woman sitting behind it.  Her eyes
were open, if not for the fact that she was
unnaturally still, anyone might think she was simply
deep in thought.  There was no terror in those eyes,
Mulder noted.  If anything, the expression looked
almost to be one of recognition.

"They called the cops and not the paramedics?
Why?"

"They called both, actually.  And both arrived at the
same time, but the cops told the paramedics not to
touch anything.  Oh, and this was found on the
desk."  Wright held up a lump of plastic in an
evidence bag.

Mulder took it from his hand, holding it up to
examine it by the light coming from the ceiling
panel.  "Is that a stapler?" he asked with a frown.
The plastic was molded, squeezed in the middle as
one might find a tube of toothpaste.

Wright nodded in answer to Mulder's question.
"According to the manager that found her, that was
a fairly new stapler.  The victim was recently
promoted to this position and got a brand new
matching desk set from the people who used to
work under her."

Mulder held it up close and looked it over intensely.
"Wright, I think there are prints in here.  I'd have the
lab concentrate on this baby."

Wright smiled.  "That's what I thought, too," he said
with a note of pride.

Forensics and other agents were in full force,
bagging objects and dusting for prints.  There were
a lot of people in the room and in the hall.  "The
manager is over there."  Wright led the way to
where an older woman sat with a tear stained face
but a determined expression.

"Mrs. Nelson, this is Assistant Director Skinner and
uh, Mr. Mulder.  If you could show us the
surveillance tape from the security camera again?"

Mrs. Nelson nodded, obviously relieved to have
something to do.  "I just don't understand it.  Nancy
is . . . was the salt of the earth.  Just last week she
was putting together a box to send over to the boys
and girls in Iraq.  One of our summer workers
joined the National Guard -- well, anyway, there's
no one on earth who'd want to kill her.  And right
here, in our offices!  I can't believe it."

The woman spoke a mile a minute as they walked
down the hall to a small alcove with security
equipment and four monitors.  "We don't have a
camera pointed at her desk, mind you," she said for
Skinner and Mulder's benefit.  "We do in reception
but not back where Nancy works, uh, worked.  But
we have the hall leading to her office."  She picked
up a VHS tape and checked the label.  "This is it.
This is the one."  She handed the tape to Wright,
who inserted it into one of the tape players.  "I went
to her office to tell her a shipment she'd been
waiting for wasn't going to be delivered this
morning.  I found her . . . "  Tears followed the
worn path down her face.  "I just can't believe . . . "

"You've been very helpful, Mrs. Nelson," Wright
assured her.   "Is your husband on his way?"

"Oh, yes, thank you Agent Wright.  I better go out
front and look for him.  He won't find me in this
crowd of police officers."

Skinner shot Wright a look as the woman departed.
The younger agent shrugged.  "I thought she needed
someone for support.  Her husband is the CEO, but
he had a meeting out of the office this morning.  I
told her to call him."

"Good thinking," Mulder said with a nod.

The tape started and Wright did the play by play.
"The mail room clerk delivered mail at 9:05.  He
reported that Mrs. Endicott, er, Nancy, was alive
then.  According to the receptionist, she called the
front desk looking for that shipment Mrs. Nelson
mentioned at 9:13, we verified that with the phone
company.  Here, see, at 9:43 a deliveryman came
asking for Nancy by name.  There he is -- coming
down the hall, entering her office.  He comes out
and -- the tape goes wiggy."  Wright sat back after
his narration, befuddled.  The tape shows only
static.  "Mrs. Nelson said she found her at 10:00,
when she went down to tell her the trucking
company said the shipment would be late."

"No clear picture of the assailant," Mulder said,
pulling his bottom lip.  "Wright, did this guy have
to sign in?"

"You don't think he would use his own name, do
you, Mulder?" Skinner asked with a touch of
disdain.

"No, but it's still worth checking out, don't you
think?"

The three men walked up to the reception desk to
check the log-in.  "Here.  Logged in at 9:37.  Chris
Davey, Polarity Electronics," Wright read from the
binder.

Mulder frowned, thinking.  "I know that name," he
said absently.

"I'll call it in, have a check run on it.  But it's
probably an alias, Mulder," Skinner said doubtfully.

They headed back to Endicott's office, Skinner on
his cell phone having someone at the Bureau run
Chris Davey's name through the system.

Wright stopped Mulder, biting his lip.  "Um, do you
think Dr. Scully would mind doing another
autopsy?" he asked nervously.

Mulder sighed.  "She'll probably find exactly what
she found last time, Jeremy."

"I know that.  But . . . she was the best -- is the best.
I just don't want this to end up . . . " He let his voice
trail off, clearly upset.

"With no answers," Mulder supplied.  "I'll call her.
It will take her a while; she has to get someone to
watch our kids.  I'll tell her we'll meet her at
Quantico."

Jeremy gave him a grateful look.  "Sure, that would
be great!  Thanks, Mulder."

"Jeremy, we're close to finding this guy.  You're
doing a great job," Mulder said, patting the young
agent on the shoulder.

"You don't know how much that means to me.
Thank you."  Wright turned away quickly and
Mulder felt Skinner's eyes on him.

"Fatherhood has definitely smoothed some of your
rough edges," Walter said fondly.

"I had edges?" Mulder shot back, an evil twinkle in
his eye.

"Mulder, you were all edges," Skinner returned.
"They'll call me with that name and they should be
able to pull that print off the stapler.  Shouldn't take
long."

Quantico Labs
4:59

"Where were you?"

Scully's question surprised him, since she was
looking intently at what appeared to be a shriveled
heart.

"I found a computer, I was looking something up.
Did you know that with the right access code, you
can read all our reports to Skinner on line?"

"You were reading old case reports?" she asked
absently.

"That name just keeps bugging me.  I know that
name."  He rubbed his jaw, noting that he needed to
shave later if he had any intention of kissing his
baby daughters good night.  Or possibly enticing his
partner into some other forms of play after the kids
were asleep.

"Did you find anything?" she asked, breaking his
thoughts.

"No.  The reports are there but the search function is
typical FBI issue -- it sucks."

She pulled her plastic safety goggles off along with
her gloves.  "It's the same as before, Mulder.  I
didn't find anything different on this body.  Well,
except for something I picked out of her pocket."

She handed him a pink 'While You Were Out' note,
blank on the front but with one word scribbled on
the backside.

"Polarity," Mulder read aloud, handing it back to
her.  "Polarity."  He swallowed hard, realization
coming to him in a split second.  "Polarity, Scully.
Polarity."

"It means intrinsic polar separation -- "

"I know what it means," he said with exasperation.
"Think back.  An investigation we did as a favor for
one of your old students, Kelly Ryan?"

"Oh my god," Scully gasped as she looked at the
word on the paper again.  "But Mulder, the word
Polarity doesn't mean -- "

"It was the name of the company.  Chris Davey was
one of the partners at Polarity Magnetics -- the one
not taken away right from under our noses.  I'm
going to do some checking, employment histories
and the like -- "

"Mulder, why don't you let Agent Wright do the
checking," Scully said, hands on her hips.

He chewed on his upper lip before reluctantly
answering.  "Yeah, you're right.  OK, I'll have
Jeremy look at the employment records of the
victims.  But if he finds anything, I can tell him to
call us?"

She shook her head in affectionate vexation.  "Yes,
if he finds something significant," she stressed the
last word, "he can call us -- in the morning.  But
right now, I'm going to change and then we're going
to call Tony's so that the pizza is ready by the time
we get there."

Crystal City Place
6:05 pm

Mulder juggled the pizza while Scully dug the key
out of her pocket.  The door opened before she had
a chance to put the key in the lock.

"Pizza!" shouted William and proceeded to run
around the room in a circle.

"We don't get carry out pizza much, no one wants to
deliver all the way out to our place," Mulder
explained to Maggie as he deposited the pie on the
table.  "But Dana has become quite the pizza chef
instead."

"I'm listening.  You better tell this straight," came
his partner's voice from the other room.

Maggie chuckled.  "Well, I'm sorry I can't convince
you to come home and have Italian Beef with us --
Tara's been cooking it all day."

Scully came out of the bedroom, in casual clothes, a
baby girl on each hip.  "We're pretty wiped out,
Mom.  But what about tomorrow?  What time is the
game starting?  Should we meet up at your place or
arrange to meet at the ballpark.  I know parking can
be a problem sometimes."

"Let's meet up at the house and then we'll figure out
how many cars we'll need.  The game starts at 3:05,
but we better get there early.  Why don't you come
for lunch around noon and we'll figure the rest out
from there?"

Scully shot a look to her partner.  He tilted his head
and she nodded slightly.  "Yeah, I guess that would
work.  We'll be at the house at 12."

"Dana, would you mind walking me to the car?"
Maggie asked suddenly.  Another look was
exchanged between partners, this time Mulder
smiled in reassurance.

"I'm going to see what Will's gotten into.  The
upstairs is way too quiet all of a sudden," Mulder
announced, taking both of his daughters.  He leaned
over to accept the kiss Maggie placed on his and the
babies' cheeks.  "See you tomorrow," he promised
her.

With her partner's footsteps echoing on the stairs,
Dana turned to her mother.  "OK, Mom, you got rid
of Mulder," she said with a sigh.  "What do you
want to talk about?"

"Dana, what on earth is going on?  Now, I don't
mind watching the children, I'm so happy to have
them close so I can do this, but calling me in the
middle of lunch, I'm supposed to drop everything
and run down here to babysit -- Dana, what am to
think?"

"Mom, Mulder's been helping a young Agent -- "

"Helping an agent?  You mean he's been working at
the Bureau?  Dana, is that wise?  I didn't think he
left on very good terms, even before -- well, you
know."

Scully drew in a fortifying breath.  "Mom, he's
doing it as a favor to Walter.  It's just one case."

"I mean, if it meant you were thinking about
coming home, moving back here, that would be one
thing -- "

"Mom, our home is in Montana.  We have a house,
Mulder has a job, I'm going to be teaching this fall,
we have friends.  It's where we want to live.  I know
it's hard on you -- "

"Dana, I don't want to get into another argument.
Lord knows we've had enough of those these last
few days.  I'm just trying to let you know that I'm
worried.  It seems when you two get wrapped up in
these cases, you forget that you have a life outside
the investigation."

It wouldn't have felt so much like a slap in the face
if she hadn't been thinking the same thing herself.
"I know, Mom.  It's just -- the Bureau, our
investigations -- were our lives for so long.  It's hard
to just turn our back on them."  She felt totally
helpless to explain it to her mother.

Maggie looked at her with such concern and cupped
Dana's cheek.  "It's what brought you together.  But
it's not what is keeping you together.  It's time to
move past the lives you used to lead."

"I know, Mom.  We both know that."

"But acting on that knowledge is sometimes harder
than just admitting it," Maggie said sagely.  "Look,
you go enjoy your pizza before it gets cold.  I'll see
you all tomorrow."

As her mother left, Scully closed the door and
leaned against it.  She'd told her mother the truth, as
far as she felt.  It was her partner that was another
matter.  She'd have to talk to him soon.  Maybe
moving past their old lives wasn't what he had in
mind.  She pushed off the door and went to the foot
of the stairs, calling him and the children down for
dinner.

~~~
 
 

Chapter 10 Exigency

Crystal City Place
June 8, 2005
5:05 am

Scully felt the bed shift and was vaguely cognizant
of the cool air-conditioned breeze against her bare
shoulder.  "Where are you going?" she asked
sleepily as she saw Mulder tiptoeing around the
bedroom.

"Going for a run, I'll be back in half an hour."

"No more pancakes, Mulder.  Bring back bagels,"
she said around a yawn and snuggled back into the
blankets.

"Your wish is my command," he grinned as he
leaned over and kissed her ear.  "Love you."

"Love you, too," she mumbled, or something that
sounded like it.  She was asleep again before he left
the room.

A quick peek in on the occupants of the other two
rooms showed that both twins were still fast asleep
and William was out for the count.  Mulder made
quick work of tying his shoes, stuffing his driver's
license and his keys in his pocket and headed out
the door.

After Maggie left for Baltimore, Scully had told
him about her mother's concerns.  Mulder could
have seen that one coming, but he didn't.  Life was
so much easier when 'family' was two thousand
miles away, not seeing every little thing you did
wrong.  He hadn't really had his family looking over
his shoulder since he left for England.  It was hard
coming to terms with this bunch of people he'd been
peripherally aware of now being drawn closer as an
extension of his and Scully's little nuclear family
unit.  They might not be married, but it sure felt like
he was having 'in-law troubles'.

Maggie was just worried that they were getting
sucked into the FBI again.  Mulder could
understand that concern, hell, he shared it.  But the
fact remained that he really did feel it was necessary
to help Agent Wright in any way they could.  The
kid was green but he had good instincts.  More than
that, he was interested in the X Files.  The threat of
colonization might be permanently on hold, but that
wasn't the only case in those file drawers.  They had
plenty of just plain weird cases to show for their
trouble.  Plenty of weird, dangerous cases.
Remembering a few as he jogged up one of
Georgetown's quaint side streets, he shuddered.  It
was a wonder he and Scully were still alive.  No
wonder Maggie didn't want them getting involved
in that again.  He felt his resolve building with each
passing mile he ran, but at the same time, the
thought of leaving Wright's case behind made his
gut wrench.  He couldn't do that, he couldn't leave
without knowing.

'You're chasing your tail,' he thought as he crossed a
street at the light.  He spied the little bakery in the
middle of the block and was relieved to see there
was no line.  He jogged inside and told the young
lady behind the counter what he needed.  As he
waited for his order, his mind was still on the case.

If he could just help Wright figure out who was
killing these people, they could all relax and enjoy
their vacation.  How hard could it be when the killer
left his name on a log-in sheet?  But he'd called
Wright at the office and found that Chris Davey had
fallen off the face of the earth right about the same
time as Kelly Ryan's death.  Had the man changed
his name, gone into hiding after his friend turned
murderer?

Or was there another explanation?  He and Scully
had seen a shadow, all that was left of a body
exposed to dark matter, on the wall of the particle
accelerator.  But whose shadow was it?  They had
assumed it was Chester Banton.  What if that was
what they were supposed to believe?

He was deep in thought as he rounded the corner to
go back to the condo.  He had to get back to the
office, read the report he'd submitted to Skinner
about Chester Banton all those years ago.  Maybe
there was something there that could help him find
the answers.

The elevator was stuffy and by the time he made it
to the 17th floor, he was itchy and in definite need
of a shower.  He slipped the key into the lock and
stepped into the foyer.  Silence.  Everyone must still
be asleep.  He dropped the bag of bagels and cream
cheese on the kitchen counter, stepped over to the
phone in the living room and quickly dialed a
number.

"Jeremy, it's Mulder.  Oh, sorry, no I didn't realize it
was only 6.  What time do you normally go to the
office?  Wow, really?  Oh.  Well, could you move
that up a bit and meet me down there in about half
an hour?  I think I have a lead."

He gently returned the phone to the charger and was
turning around when he bumped into his partner,
literally.  Scully was standing there in her short
satin robe and a very dour expression.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, arms crossed and
eyes blazing.

"Um, to the shower.  Bagels are in the kitchen, I got
you a whole wheat one."  He neatly sidestepped her
and started up the stairs.

"I heard you on the phone, Mulder.  You're going to
the Bureau." She followed him up the stairs,
through the master bedroom and into the attached
bathroom.  "What lead do you think you have?"

Mulder was pulling off his shorts and tugged the tee
shirt over his head.  "Scully, remember that
investigation we did as a favor to Kelly Ryan?"

"The one that got her killed, yeah, I remember," she
said, her demeanor not softening a bit.

He started the water in the shower and turned
toward her, continuing despite her stern expression.
"OK, after we found Det. Ryan's . . . remains, we
went to the lab.  If you remember, the particle
accelerator was on and we watched a body
disintegrate while being bombarded with subatomic
particles -- "

"Dark matter, yes.  Chester Banton was in the
accelerator," she said, taking a seat on the counter
while he stepped into the spray and closed the
shower glass door.

"No, Scully, we have no proof that was Chester
Banton.  Remember, Chester had a partner -- "

"Chris Davey.  The man who signed into the log in
sheet at Benson Industries and then killed Mrs.
Endicott."

"No, that's what he wants us to think.  Scully, Chris
Davey is dead, he's been dead for ten years.
Chester Banton killed Mrs. Endicott."

Scully pulled open the door to the shower, getting
wet from the water shooting off her partner's body.
"Mulder, wherever did you get that harebrained
idea?"

He stopped scrubbing his underarms to stare at her.
"Scully, that body was placed in that accelerator
expressly for us to find.  But there had already been
an attempt to take Chester Banton, an attempt that I
assumed was from the consortium.  He was
lightning in a bottle to them, Scully.  He could kill
with this shadow!  You know they wanted to find
out what he could do to an enemy force -- an alien
invasion."

"I'm not following," she said, dropping her robe to
the floor and joining him in the shower.

"OK," he said patiently, handing her the shampoo
when she motioned for it.  "Someone took Chester
Banton from the hospital before he could be
transferred to county lock up.  But Banton escaped
and headed back to Polarity Magnetics -- his lab.
When we showed up, Det. Ryan was dead, a body
was in the accelerator and Banton was missing.  We
assumed it was Banton in the accelerator.  But what
if it had been Davey in the accelerator and the
consortium nabbed Banton, this time for keeps."

"The consortium doesn't exist anymore, Mulder.  It
was systematically eliminated by Will's friend," she
reminded him, pushing his shoulder so he would
turn and she could wash his back.

"Then what happened to all the people they've been
collecting over the years, Scully?" Mulder asked
quietly.

She gasped softly and bit her lip.  The thought had
never occurred to her.  What had happened to all
those people?  The Eves, Brad Wilczek, Cecil
L'ively, a lot of people, some innocents, some very
dangerous.

"I think I better call Wright," Mulder said, breaking
into her thoughts.  "Maybe I don't need to go to the
Bureau.  I think I need to see what's left of Polarity
Magnetics."  He opened the shower door and
stepped out, leaving her still standing there.  She
watched his naked back through the steamed glass.

"I guess the thrill really is gone," she muttered with
a roll of her eyes.

"I heard that," he shouted back.  "And I have every
intention of proving you wrong, later tonight!"

She wrapped herself in her terry cloth robe from the
back of the bathroom door and headed after him.
He was already in his boxers and a tee shirt;
dressing at light speed.  "Mulder, wait a minute,"
she pleaded as he stepped into the walk-in closet,
pulling out a suit and dress shirt.  "Just wait,
please?"

He didn't turn to face her, only sighed.  He stood
looking down at the clothes in his hands and shook
his head.  "What, Scully?  What do you want?"  He
still refused to turn and look at her

She reached over and took his hand, pulling him to
the bed.  She took the hangers from his fingers and
hung the clothes on the valet, then sat down beside
him.  "I really don't want you to go to after this man
by yourself."

"I said I'd call Wright," he said casually.

"Mulder, Jeremy is a nice guy, and he'll make a
great agent, but not yet.  And you haven't been in
the field for four years.  You haven't touched your
weapon since last summer and you'd be going there
unarmed today.  I don't like it."

"What if I stay on the side lines, just go along with
Wright and let him handle it?" he offered.

She closed her eyes and shook her head.  "Like that
would ever happen," she muttered.

"You don't understand," he said, defeat heavy in his
voice.

When she looked at him again, his expression
caused her to pause.  "Why do you feel you have to
do this, Mulder?  Tell me, so I can understand."

He chewed his lip, searching for words to explain
what he was feeling.  "It's not that I want to come
back to the old life, Scully.  Please, don't ever think
that.  But it's like some part of that life is still
pulling at me.  Something feels unfinished and I just
want to get it over with so we can move on -- so I
can move on.  I left here with you three years ago.  I
never expected that we'd find happiness. I never
expected that we'd find William," he said, shaking
his head.  "Scully, I got my heart's desire.  But it's
all been out of place since I went to Oregon.  When
I got back, Kersh was determined to shove me out.
Doggett was your partner and even though I know
you weren't doing it intentionally, you wanted me as
far away from the X files as you could get me."  She
tried to interrupt but he put a finger to her lips.

"I understand your motives, really I do.  You
wanted to protect me.  Hell, Scully, how many
times in our life together have you accused me of
being overprotective?  Pot, meet kettle," he said
with a sad smile. "But the truth of the matter is, I
was shoved out before I was ready."

"So what about now?" she asked, almost dreading
the answer.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed each
knuckle.  "Now, I just want to get this case over
with because it's the last.  I'm ready to leave.  I just
want to go out right."

She fought the tears in her eyes and swallowed to
loosen her tight throat.  "Mulder, when you had to
leave us, after Will was born, I was left behind.  I
worked with Doggett and Reyes on some of their
cases but to be honest, I really had no joy in that.  I
felt like I was just going through the motions.
Without you, it was meaningless to me."  One tear
escaped her lashes and she wiped at it quickly.  "All
I wanted was to be with you again."

He shook his head, sure she didn't comprehend what
he was saying but this time she stopped him with a
hand on his cheek.  "I left the Bureau and the X
files.  I wasn't forced out.  I was happy to go.  I had
my 'last dance'.  I understand your wanting to have
one, too."

"I'll be careful," he promised.  "I'll do this and be
back with you, no looking back, no regrets."

"Just come back to me," she said, leaning over and
kissing him soundly.  She would have gone further,
but the sound in the next room stopped them short.
"You get dressed, I'll put on the coffee and toast
those bagels you bought."

She rose from the bed and started for the door, but
he caught her hand and she stopped to look at him.
"I love you, you know that," he said, his voice full
of emotion.

She smiled at him, love and amusement in her eyes.
"Yeah, I know that.  You better know it, too."

He was able to match her grin.  "Never doubted it."

Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC

The city streets were pretty deserted at the hour of
6:30 am, so Mulder had little trouble finding a
decent parking space.  He bounded up the door to
the Hoover Building and knocked on the glass.
Luckily, the guard was someone who remembered
him well and smiled brightly as he opened the door.

"Agent Mulder!  I do declare!  Oh, wait, it's 'Mister'
Mulder, I hear tell.  So, how is Agent, er, Miss
Scully?  I heard through the grapevine you two have
a brood now."

"James, you still moonlighting for the CIA?"
Mulder teased as he signed the visitor's register and
accepted a pass.

James laughed and shook his head.  "Oh, Agent
Wright called, said he'd be a little late.  Told me to
have you go on down to your old office, he'll catch
up with you shortly.  I guess you know the way?"

"I can probably remember it," Mulder replied with a
wink.  "And I'll tell Scully you asked about her.  For
the record, we have William and twin girls, Melissa
and Samantha.  Hardly a 'brood'," he tossed over his
shoulder.

"Man, you're just gettin' started!" James retorted as
Mulder disappeared into the elevator car that would
take him to the basement.

He flipped on the light and was once again amazed
at how little had changed.  He recognized most of
the banker boxes lining the hallway, many of them
yellowed with age.  Files of little note,
interdepartmental memorandum, extra copies of the
employee newsletters, all awaiting records
retentions schedules that had passed them by
decades ago.  "One match," Mulder mused aloud as
he made his way to the door in the middle of the
hall.

Obviously the Bureau saw no need to lock an
unoccupied office, Mulder put his hand on the knob
and found the door opened with ease.  Again hitting
the light switch, he walked over to the desk along
the opposite wall, where he used to sit.  As he sat
down in the chair, he noted that it wasn't his old
desk.  His desk's bottom drawer never closed
properly and had a mismatched drawer pull on file
drawer.  This desk was near the same age, probably
first issued around the time of Elliot Ness.

He leaned back and put his feet firmly on the desk
surface.  Memories danced in his mind.  'Do you
believe in the existence of extra-terrestrials?'  'Given
the distances needed to travel the far reaches of
space . . . '  Mulder chuckled as he remembered his
partner, just a slip of a woman, a girl, really, all
prim and professional and so damned beautiful --

"Make yourself at home," came a voice from the
doorway.

Mulder startled and almost ended up on his ass for
his trouble.  Finally getting his feet to the floor and
grabbing the desktop in a death grip, he regarded his
intruder.  "Hey, Walter.  What are you doing here so
early?"

"I still work here," Skinner said dryly, stepping
forward and slouching comfortably in the chair at
the other desk.  "Gathering wool?" he asked, a look
of concern in his eyes.

Mulder smiled.  "Old times," he replied.  "Does this
thing work or is it a really cheap paperweight?" he
subtly changed the subject and nodded toward the
computer at his right elbow.

"It works.  What do you need?"

"Access to our old files.  Reports I sent to you.  Are
any of them on the system?"

"Should be," Skinner answered, frowning.  "How
far back?"

Mulder winced.  "About 10 years."

Skinner shook his head.  "I have a folder on my
personal drive."  He waved Mulder out of the chair,
booted up the machine and accessed his files.
"Here.  Now promise me you won't go hunting
around the system using my password.  I have 8
months until retirement and Kim is hoping that she
won't have to support the both of us on her salary."

Mulder chuckled.  "I just want one file, Walter.  As
a matter of fact, I can find it, print it out and we can
shut the sucker off."  He glanced at the heading and
frowned.  "Laffoday?  What kind of file folder
name is that?"

"One I created when I got your first reports.  I
thought it very appropriate," Skinner replied,
crossing his arms.  His whole demeanor screamed at
Mulder to challenge his comment.

Mulder stared at his friend for a moment and then
turned back to the computer.  "Ah, you filed them
by case number.  This should be easy."  In seconds
he had the right file on the screen and gleefully hit
the print button.  "One thing you have to give
bureaucracies -- they know how to keep arcane
shit!"

"I'm so happy you approve," Skinner responded
dourly.  "Mulder, about what I said the other day
down here.  I don't want this to cause you and
Scully any trouble -- "

"Scully and I are fine, Walter," Mulder said with a
faint smile.  "I just need to get a few things out of
my system.  But believe me, if you're looking for
someone to move in down here -- I'm not your man.
Scully and I have a very nice life out in Montana
and I'm finally realizing how much I miss it."

"As long as you know what you're doing, Mulder,"
Skinner said, clearly not too sure he did.

Skinner left Mulder to his own devices, with one
last warning glare as he exited the room.  Mulder
poured over the report, a grin on his face, letting the
memories overwhelm him.  The year was 1995.  He
remembered clearly the time of year, the color of
the coat Scully wore, the way they chattered all they
way out to Richmond.  The baseball season had just
started and Scully refused to let him listen to the
pre-game show, insisting on tuning in a static-heavy
edition of 'Performance Today' on National Public
Radio.  He had been so damned glad to have her in
the car, even six months after her return, that he let
her have her radio station until they lost it just south
of the exit for US 17, but she found another
classical channel and they'd listened to that the rest
of the 2 hour trip.

He remembered his excitement when they began the
investigation.  One man missing, only a black
scorch mark on the floor.  According to the report,
and to his memory of the day, Scully had been the
one to suggest the scorch mark could have been
burned human remains.   It was one of those
moments that would always remind him just how
much he loved his partner.  Skeptic to a fault, yet
with a mind as open as the wide Montana sky.

Flipping through the pages, he finally found what
he was looking for.  At that moment, Wright arrived
looking somewhat like he'd just stepped out of the
shower and thrown his clothes on.  "Sorry, I got
held up in traffic, believe it or not," he said
breathlessly, setting his Starbucks cup on the desk
and looking over Mulder's shoulder.  "Is that the
latest autopsy?"

"No, it's a report from an old file, but one that I
think we need to revisit, or in your case, visit for the
first time."  Mulder stood up and stretched.  "Have a
look."

Wright settled in the offered chair and after a few
minutes, looked up at Mulder.  "So the guy at
Benson Industries who signed in and then killed
Mrs. Endicott was involved in one of your old
investigations.  But when I ran his name, I came up
with nothing for the last 10 years."

"I know," Mulder agreed.

"You think he was hiding all that time?" Wright
asked.

"No.  What came out of those prints on the stapler?"

"I'm supposed to get those first thing this morning,"
Wright replied, looking at his watch.  "Which is in
about an hour."

"Wrong," Mulder said with a grin and handed
Wright the phone.  "Call the lab.  I'm betting they
have the results, they're just waiting for you to come
get them."

Wright looked dubious, but placed the call.  After a
few 'uh-huhs', he hung up and regarded Mulder.
"How did you know -- "

"I always kept weird hours, Wright, but I quickly
discovered the geeks up in the lab kept even weirder
hours.  They like to work when the building's
deserted.  That's when no one can catch on to their
voodoo practices."  He shooed Wright toward the
door, the young man still giving him questioning
looks.  "Hurry up.  Time's a wasting."

Wright was back in under ten minutes.  "They had
it, but they weren't happy," he said, tossing the
folder down on the desk.

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked, picking up the
folder.

"They told me the prints are from a dead guy.  Dead
a long time," Wright said, dropping into the chair in
front of the desk with a tired sigh.  He ran his hand
over his face and shook his head.  "A dead end."

"Chester Banton," Mulder read from the pages in
the folder.  He looked up and smiled at Wright.
"Agent, have you ever known a dead guy who could
melt a stapler with his hand?"

Wright shot Mulder a look.  "Maybe the prints
weren't clear enough.  That has to be a mistake."

Mulder shook his head in the negative.  "No.  No
mistake.  This is what I thought we'd find.  C'mon,
we don't have much time."

"Where are we going?" Wright asked as he stood to
follow Mulder to the door.

"Richmond, a little industrial park that was once
home to a particle accelerator.  If I'm correct in my
assumptions, that's where we'll find Chester Ray
Banton."

~~~
 

Going Home:  Chapter 11 Seeing You Again in all
the Old Familiar Places

New World Industrial Park
Richmond, VA
June 10, 2005
9:15 am

A weather-beaten For Sale or Lease sign greeted
them at the end of the drive.  Weeds were already
pushing up the asphalt of the once expansive
parking lot.  Ivy ran rampant along the concrete
planters and up the smooth exterior of the structure.
The sun glared off the windows, but as Mulder
looked at the building, he could see where several
seals were broken, allowing moisture to give the
glass a smoky appearance.  The place looked like a
futuristic ghost town.

"You said there was a particle accelerator here?"
Wright asked, a little taken back.

"Yeah.  It was sort of hidden in plain sight, for lack
of a better term.  They had it in a lab on the third
floor," Mulder replied.

"And you think this guy's been holding up here?"

"Just a hunch, Jeremy.  He's got no place to go.
You read the file.  I don't think he needs 'soft light'
any more.  I think he just needs to be completely
away from people."

"Well, this is sure the place for that," Wright
muttered just under his breath.  "Shouldn't we be
calling for back up?"

"We don't even know for sure if he's up there,"
Mulder pointed out.  "Let's take a look around first.
You call out the cavalry too many times to chase
wild geese and they aren't so fast to show up when
you really need them."

Wright looked worried, but reluctantly nodded.

The front door was padlocked.  Mulder looked
around and motioned for Wright to follow as he
headed to the back of the building, away from the
parking lot.  A rust-stained pad of cement showed
where dumpsters had once stood.  A grey service
door rested in the middle of the concrete wall and
Mulder approached it.  Crouching down, he
fingered the seam of the door right next to the
functional metal handle.  "It's been jimmied," he
said to Wright and then tugged on the handle.  "This
is how he's getting in."

Wright reached to his back and unsnapped his
holster.  Mulder waited patiently and then pulled the
door open, stepping into the darkened stair way just
inside.

Only the light from the narrow windows gave any
illumination, but Mulder could hear a faint hum that
seemed to echo off the cinder block walls of the fire
stairs.  Motioning with his index finger, he pointed
up.  Wright nodded and followed Mulder up the
steps.

At the first landing Wright stopped and motioned
toward the door that led to the office space.  Mulder
looked up the steps, certain that they would find
Banton on the third, and top, floor of the building.
Still, it was only good procedure to check out all the
floors.  Grudgingly, he allowed Wright to take the
lead and they systematically began searching the
first floor.

All the doors to the offices stood open, all the
spaces vacant of furnishings.  A few light covers
hung down from the ceiling and a cracked window
had let rainwater stain a patch of carpet.  Beyond
the occasional pile of rubble left in a vacated office,
there was nothing to be found.

The second floor was a little more revealing.  In one
of the offices, obviously an executive suite, they
found a pile of blankets on the floor.  Cans of soda
and bottled water littered the area, as well as a few
empty fast food bags serving as trash bins.  "He's
been here recently," Mulder noted, showing a wet
ring on the bookshelf when he lifted a soft drink
can.

"You think he's still here?"

"Do you hear that hum?" Mulder returned and
Wright nodded.  "I think he's managed to connect
the accelerator to the electrical grid again."

Wright walked over to the wall and flipped the light
switch.  Nothing happened.  "I don't think the
power's on in here."

"The accelerator pulled so much power it was on its
own transformer," Mulder replied.

They made their way up to the third floor.  The hum
was louder there and the air crackled with
electricity.  The hair on the back of Mulder's neck
raised in warning.  "Jeremy, I think we may want
that back up now," he hissed as he stood staring at
the door on the opposite end of the long hallway.

Wright pulled out his cell phone and dialed a
number.  Putting the phone to his ear, he shook his
head and then brought the phone down to look at
the display.

"Shit.  No service."

"Probably from that," Mulder said, pointing to the
strobing effect of lights coming from the window of
the far door.

"Maybe I can get reception outside.  Just stay put,"
Wright ordered and quickly headed back down the
stairwell.

"Yeah.  Sure thing," Mulder muttered, creeping
further down the hallway.    When he made it to the
door, he threw himself flat against the wall and then
shuffled closer.  As he reached the door, it suddenly
opened.  A gloved hand grabbed him around the
neck and he was pulled into the room amid the
surreal light show.

"Agent Mulder," the shaky voice rasped.  "Long
time, huh?"

"Dr. Banton, what are you doing?" Mulder growled.
He reached to take hold of Banton's hand around his
neck, but the scientist pushed his hand aside.

"You don't want to risk touching me, Agent
Mulder," Banton said sadly.  "I don't want to hurt
you."

"You didn't mind hurting those other people,"
Mulder pointed out as Banton slowly let go of his
throat.  He was shocked at the scientist's
appearance.  The man had been haggard when
they'd found him ten years ago but the skeleton
standing before Mulder could barely stand.  His
eyes were red-rimmed, as with a drug addict, but
Mulder knew that wasn't the case.  In those eyes he
saw a madness that comes from living with terrible,
unending pain.

"Those other people deserved what they got,"
Banton said cryptically.  "Do you know what I've
been through, Agent Mulder?  The tests, the torture?
Every day to wake up hoping that it might end, that
all the pain might finally kill me.  And then, they
didn't come.  I thought they'd forgotten me.  After a
couple of days in my prison, I found I could escape.
They had vanished, every one of them.  So I left.  I
wasn't afraid of my shadow anymore.  They had
successfully harnessed my 'powers'," he sneered.
"They turned me into a monster, more of a monster
than I'd already become!  So, finding myself on the
opposite side of the world, I got on a ship hoping to
make it home.  When that quake and tsunami hit -- "

"It changed your power.  The disturbance in the
earth's magnetic field disrupted your own magnetic
field."

Banton rewarded Mulder with a small grin.  "I
always knew you were smart, Agent Mulder.  No
one else on the ship felt the quake, we were on the
high seas and we sailed right over it.  But I felt it.  It
knocked me unconscious.  When I came around, I
knew what I had to do."

"You killed a person on board," Mulder interjected.

Banton nodded sagely.  "It was an accident.  But it
was a fortuitous accident because it alerted me to
my new powers.  And it allowed me to formulate
my plan."

"All those people you've murdered, they were all
involved in your work here, weren't they?" Mulder
asked, watching Banton move toward the
instrument panel along the wall.

"I thought at least one of them would have made
inquiries.  At least one of them would have given a
damn what happened to me.  But no one did.  No
one."

"They thought you were dead," Mulder tried to
explain.  "They thought you'd been disintegrated by
the dark matter."

"Oh sure, that was the easy out.  Where was Chris?
I suppose he got rewarded for betraying me," the
scientist hissed.

"Actually, I think he was murdered for his part in
your abduction, Dr. Banton.  I think his body was
the one placed in the accelerator for Agent Scully
and me to find."

Banton swallowed hard and shook his head.  "No
matter.  It's over.  I can leave now."

"Leave?  And go where?" Mulder asked.

Banton favored him with a dead-eyed smile.
"Where I should have gone a long time ago.  I'm
just sorry you're going to be making the journey
with me."  He turned and flipped more switches, the
hum in the room becoming much louder.

"Banton, what the hell are you doing?" Mulder
demanded.

"Finishing the clean up, Agent Mulder.  There will
be a big hole, but nothing will remain of the
monstrosity I've become.  Maybe some will learn
their lesson."  He walked calmly over to the door
and pulled off the glove on his right hand.  Taking
hold of the knob, his touch effectively welding the
door closed.

"Wait!" Mulder cried.  "I don't want to die!  I'm not
ready to die!  I have a family!"

Banton threw his head back in a bitter laugh.  "That
was very foolish of you, Agent Mulder.  Don't you
understand?  They take everything!  Your life, your
work, your loved ones.  They take and take and take
and all you have left is the hope of ending it all.
That's what I'm giving you -- hope that death will be
better than this hell I've been living for 10 years!"

"No!" Mulder yelled.  "Look Banton, I thought that
way once, too, but it doesn't have to be like that.  I
thought they took everything, first my sister and
then my father and my mother and the woman I
love, my son, everything.  But I got most of it back.
I got back more than I'd lost.  Please, I don't want to
lose what I finally have!"

Banton looked over at the counter on the wall of
instruments.  It read 20 seconds and counting.
"There's no time," he said with a sad shake of his
head.

"Get this door open!  Please, there's time.  We can
make it.  You can make it.  We'll figure something
out!"

After a moment's thought, Banton walked over to
the door.  Grasping the handle, he pulled with all his
might.  The door tore from its welded lock with a
scream of abused metal.  The opening wasn't large,
but it was enough for Mulder to squeeze through.

"Come with me," Mulder pleaded, as he crawled
through the opening.

Banton smiled and shook his head no.  "This is my
life, my wish.  You go back to yours."

Mulder raced to the stairwell, the hum so loud in his
ears that he feared for his eardrums.  He hit the door
to the fire escape running dead out and grabbed the
top railing just as the explosion hit.

Jeremy Wright was standing in the middle of the
forgotten parking lot, trying to get someone to listen
to him.  "Look, we have a dangerous fugitive
cornered in a building on the edge of Richmond.
Send a SWAT team -- "

The blast knocked the young man off his feet,
sending him sailing through the air to land in a heap
some five feet from where he was standing.  Horror
blossomed on his face as he took in the building,
now crumbling before his eyes.  "Mulder!" he cried
out and ran around back toward the door they'd
found open.  As he ran, he disconnected the
previous call to the Bureau and dialed 9-1-1.  "This
is an emergency.  There's been an explosion at the
New World Industrial Park in Richmond, Virginia,
on Staples Mill Road about two miles south of the I-
64 interchange.  Send fire and ambulance, we have
at least one man, possibly two inside.  Hurry!"

St. Mary's Hospital
5801 Bremo Rd.
Richmond, VA
3:45  pm

Scully hit the Emergency Room like a small
invading force, her mother and Charlie close behind
her.  Walter Skinner was standing in the waiting
area talking to Agent Wright.  Without issuing a
greeting, Scully got to the point.

"Where is he, what's his condition?"

"Dana, settle down.  The ambulance just got him
here.  The doctors are still with him, no one is
telling us anything," Skinner tried to appease her.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded, spinning
to level her glare at Jeremy.  "You said there was an
explosion?"

"We went to the building that used to house Polarity
Magnetics.  The place looked deserted but the back
door had been jimmied open.  When we went inside
there was a hum -- an electrical hum, like under
high power lines.  We went up to the third floor and
we could see lights coming from one of the offices
at the end.  Mulder told me to call for back up but
there was no reception up there.  I went down to the
parking lot; he was keeping an eye on the door in
case Banton decided to leave.  While I was on the
phone, about five minutes later, the place went up."
The young man was trying so hard to look
professional, but it was obvious that he was shaken
to the core.

"I lost my father when I was 9, Ms. Scully.  If I had
any part in this, so help me God -- "

"Jeremy, you did every thing you needed to do,"
Scully assured him.  She turned to Skinner.  "Where
was he found?"

"In the stair well, according to the Fire Department.
They had to remove a lot of rubble to get up to him.
He was pinned by some fallen I-beams and there
was glass from the overhead lights.  They wouldn't
give me any word on his condition, they just loaded
him as fast as they could and came here.  The site of
the explosion is a madhouse, Homeland Security
and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are duking
it out in the parking lot but the Fire Chief told me
there was no radioactivity noted in the area Mulder
was found.   They couldn't get closer to the lab and
no one could find Banton.  I gave up trying to find
out more and followed the ambulance here.  Dana,
I'm sorry we couldn't reach you sooner."

"We were at the ballpark," Scully said, the words
catching in her throat.  "He was supposed to meet us
there.  I was starting to get worried, I'd just tried his
cell phone when you called."

A nurse opened the double doors leading back to
the examination area and Scully saw her opening.
She ran through the door, almost knocking the poor
nurse over in her haste.  She looked around wild-
eyed and saw an orderly moving a gurney with
nurses and doctors surrounding it.

"I'm looking for Fox Mulder," she called, hoping to
be heard over the noise of the busy ER.

"You can't be back here, Miss.  You have to go to
the waiting room," the nurse she'd plowed into was
taking her arm and leading her back toward the
door.

"No, please, where is Fox Mulder.  Please, I need to
see him," she tried again.

One of the nurses accompanying the gurney let
loose of the bedrail and walked toward her.  "Are
you his wife?" she asked.

Scully couldn't breathe for a second.  The words
wouldn't come.  "I'm -- I'm his -- "

"I'm sorry, unless you're immediate family, you
have to wait in the lounge outside.  Someone will be
out to talk to you shortly."

"He's the father of my children," Scully murmured,
tears streaking down her face as she watched them
move the gurney into the elevator and disappear
from sight.

"Miss, you have to leave, now," the first nurse said
sternly.

Scully bit her lip to keep from crying out.  Her chest
was so tight she thought sure she was having a heart
attack right there.  She stumbled through the ER
doors and into the waiting arms of her mother
where she finally succumbed to her sobs.

6:45 pm

With only a modicum of Federal intervention
perpetrated by Assistant Director Walter Skinner,
the small band of people awaiting word on Fox
Mulder were allowed up to the surgical floor.  The
waiting room was nicely appointed, with
comfortable chairs and couches and a big screen
television.  The TV was tuned to CMT, the country
music channel -- a choice made by Scully's brother
Charlie after the CNN headline news had replayed
the explosion in the deserted industrial park one
time too many for the family's mental health.  Last
report had listed two casualties from the explosion
and Maggie had been the one to tell Charlie to 'turn
the damned thing off!'

Scully had stood for almost the whole time, staring
out the window.  When Bill arrived just before 7
o'clock, he was the only one brave enough to
approach her.

"Tara and Karen have the kids at Mom's for now,"
he said quietly, not daring to touch her.  She was
standing so stiff, her arms wrapped around her
torso; he couldn't help but think her muscles would
be sore in the morning.

"Thank you.  Thank you for taking care of them for
me, Bill."

Her brother nodded, swallowing hard.  "They'll be
fine, Dana.  Every thing will be all right."

He immediately regretted his words, afraid she
might take offense.  But her face crumbled and she
drew in a sob.  "He can't die.  I love him too much.
He can't die," she said through her tears.

Bill wrapped his arms around her shoulders,
drawing her to him.  "He won't die.  He loves you
that much, too," he said, kissing her head.

"Oh Billy," she sobbed.  She was about to say more
but he put a finger to her lips.

"He's a good man, Dana.  I can see how much he
loves you, how much he loves the kids.  He's not
my first choice for a brother-in-law -- or whatever.
But you never were that interested in football
players and I think Drew Brees is probably a little
young for you," he teased.  At her confused look he
grinned.  "Quarterback for San Diego."

She grinned back at him through her tears.  "To be
honest, Mulder would probably want me to hook up
with someone from the Redskins, if anyone.  That
way he could get tickets to the games."  She pulled
away a little and looked back to the door leading to
the 'consultation rooms', where the doctors met with
the families of the patients after surgery.  "I just
wish we'd hear something."

As if on her word alone, the door opened and a
nurse in blue-green scrubs stood in the doorway.
"Is there a Ms. Scully here?"

Maggie stood, but Dana smiled and shook her head.
"I'm Dana Scully."

"We received a fax from the FBI.  Apparently, as
far back as 1995, you hold Mr. Mulder's medical
power of attorney?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, I did -- I do," Scully stammered.

"The doctor is available to speak with you now.  If
you'll just follow me."

~~~
 
 

Going Home:  Chapter 12 This Diamond Ring

St. Mary's Hospital,
Richmond, VA
June 11, 3:45 pm

Broken ribs, a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, a
ten inch gash running down the length of his left
calf that required 20 stitches to close and some
minor internal bleeding, but all in all, Mulder had
escaped the jaws of death and then some.  It came
as a surprise to everyone but Scully when the doctor
announced his intention to move Mulder out of ICU
and into a private room.  Only Scully realized that it
wasn't just Mulder's amazing recuperative powers,
but the collective noise from the gaggle of people
who had invaded the Intensive Care Unit's Family
Lounge that was the attending physician's
motivation.  Either way, she was eternally grateful.

Just before lunch, she asked her mother to stay with
Mulder while she ran back to DC and grabbed a few
things from the condo.  He had been in and out all
morning, waking disoriented at first because of the
temporary deafness caused by the blast and then
falling back to sleep the minute he saw she was with
him.  The doctor had finally ordered a stronger
sedative and Scully was certain he wouldn't be
awake to miss her so she took her leave.  She was
back in just under 4 hours.

"You barely had time to get there, sweetheart,"
Maggie chided as her daughter nudged her out of
the chair next to Mulder's bed.

"Didn't need much time.  Just needed to pick up
some things."

"Things?" Maggie inquired.

"His toothbrush.  His cordless razor because he
hates feeling scruffy in the hospital.  Things,"
Scully replied, not looking her mother in the face.

"Well, I'm going to check on everyone.  Do you
think the children will be able to visit tonight?
They really miss you."

"If Karen doesn't mind dragging them all the way
down here, I would love that, Mom.  I miss them so
much.  Mulder might be awake enough to see them,
too."

Maggie patted her daughter's arm.  "I'll go call her
right now and make the arrangements.  Bill got a
couple of rooms at the Comfort Suites just down the
road last night, maybe you can stay there with
William and the girls tonight."

"We'll see how Mulder's doing," Scully replied.  In
her heart she knew he was doing much better and
that he'd escaped more serious injury, but she was
still loath to let him out of her sight.

Scully had just fallen asleep, or so she thought until
she noticed the shadows from the window.  Long
fingers were caressing her hand.  She smiled, her
eyes still closed, when those fingers lifted her hand
to his bruised and swollen lips and placed a tender
kiss on her left ring finger.

"Did I miss a memo?" he rasped, his eyes at half-
mast staring at her as he always did when he was
still groggy from injury and drugs.  He ran his
thumb over the diamond ring on her finger.  "This is
new.  Who gave it to you?"

She opened her eyes and smiled at his playful
expression.  "A guy," she replied haughtily.

"A guy.  A nice guy?  A good-looking guy?  A guy
you want to be shackled to for the rest of your life?"

"Well, I don't know about the shackles," she teased
in return.

"He probably got that ring from the Republic of
Cubic Zirconia," he joked.

"Not from what I could gather," she said, scooting
forward so he could see her lips as she spoke.  His
hearing was slowly returning, but the doctor had
said there would be a ringing in his ears for a few
days.  "I found the receipt, it most likely set his
bank account back a few months.  He might have
even given up some of his more erudite magazine
subscriptions to pay for it."

"When did you find this?" he asked, lifting his eyes
from her hand to her face.

"The night I came back from the beach," she said.
"I was all set to be angry with you for caving to
Bill's demands until I read the date of the receipt
and found out that you'd had it for 8 years.  Then I
had to rethink a few of our conversations," she said
with a raised eye-brow.  "I guess you really were
lucid when you told me that you loved me.  I should
have remembered that drugs wouldn't have
impaired your faculties that much."

"I was too much of a coward to give it to you," he
said sadly.  "There were a thousand different times
through the years when I would start to get it out, to
give it to you and then something would happen and
we'd be off again on another case.  I could never
find the right time.  And then in Montana -- "

"I didn't want to get married when we were living
assumed lives, Mulder," she said softly, hushing
him with a finger to his lips.  "And what I said back
then, I meant.  I've always felt married to you."

He kissed her fingers and then took hold of them,
drawing their entwined hands back to rest on the
bed.  "So what changed your mind all of a sudden?
Or do you just want to show the ring off to your
brothers?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes, but a hint
of wariness hiding behind it.  The wrong answer
would be his undoing, she was certain.

"Fox William Mulder, father of my children, love of
my life, my partner in law and in crime, will you
marry me?" she asked, keeping her voice as steady
as her roiling emotions would allow.

"Before I answer that, I repeat my question," he
replied.  "Why now, Scully?"

Her face broke, tears coursing down her cheeks.  He
started to comfort her but she pushed him back,
away from her gently.  She swallowed hard and
finally won her composure.  "When they brought
you in, they wouldn't let me see you.  I wanted to go
to you, back in the ER, but they stopped me.  I
couldn't even say I was your partner, or that I was
your doctor.  The nurse asked if I was your wife.  I
tried to tell them that you're the father of my
children, but it didn't matter to them.  I had no
standing in your life, at least in their eyes."

He started to object, but again she stopped him.
"Mulder, I'm not saying I suddenly need this now to
prove something to myself or even to my family.
I'm saying that I want the world to know and
understand that you are my life, and I'm yours.  I
don't ever want to be in a position where a fax from
a federal law enforcement agency is the only thing
that gets me a seat by your bedside."

He frowned at that and shook his head.  "I'm pretty
sure I don't want to know what you're talking about,
and I'm not trying to be obstinate.  I just want to
make sure we're doing this for the right reasons.  I
don't ever want you to think you were forced into
getting married."

She snorted a bitter little laugh.  "I think we're
pretty far away from the barn for the horse to think
it was forced through the door, don't you?" she
asked.  Then she grew serious again.  She turned his
hand over in hers so that she was stroking his palm.
"Mulder, I almost lost you again yesterday.  And it's
happened so many, many times in the past that
you'd think it would be old hat.  But it isn't.  It never
is.  It almost killed me to go through it again.  But
there was another factor this time -- we have a little
boy and two little girls who almost lost their daddy
and the right to every legal protection they would
have if we were married.  That got me thinking
about why we hadn't done this before and I came to
some conclusions."  She drew in a steadying breath.
He waited patiently.  Finally she continued.

"I'm a coward."  When he started to protest she
squeezed his hand and he let her finish.  "No,
Mulder, I am.  When things got too hot and heavy
with Daniel, it terrified me, and rightly so looking
back.  But it started a pattern in my life that has
continued right down to our relationship.  With
Jack, with Ethan, with every man in between, it
wasn't my career I was choosing when I broke
things off -- it was my fear that made me run.  And
our relationship was so different from the very
beginning, I think I fooled myself into believing
that I'd react differently.  Of course, that's true to an
extent.  I've never wanted to run from you, Mulder.
Well, maybe one weekend in Philly that I still
contend was about me and not about you -- but I
came back.  And I was so proud of myself that I did
come back.  I convinced myself that our
relationship was so unique that it transcended all the
usual trappings of romance . . . even to being above
marriage."

"But you see, it's not, we're not above it.  We're a
part of it.  I see Bill and Tara and their kids and
Charlie and Karen and the boys and I see how
happy they are, how much they love each other --
and I see them proclaim their love to each other
every day.  How can I say that they're wrong and
we're right?  Maybe we're doing it wrong.  Marriage
is a sign not just for the two people involved, but for
the world to see.  Not just for us, but for my
brothers and mom, our children and grandchildren
and great grandchildren -- "

"Scully, not to interrupt, but how long have I been
out of it?  Because you're scaring me here," he
teased.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.  "I'm not
saying this right," she said with a sigh.  "What I'm
saying is that I can't articulate all the reasons I want
to marry you.  I just want to marry you.  It's not a
one time offer, I'm not asking in the heat of the
moment, I've had a very long time to think about
this.  So, I'll ask again -- will you marry me?"

"Yes.  My answer is yes, today, yesterday, and a
million tomorrows down the road.  Yes, I will to
marry you," he said, bringing her hand up to his lips
again.

She gave him the smile he continually awoke just to
see.  He reached his hand up to her cheek and
guided her down so he could kiss her freely.  When
she finally pulled away he grinned as she rested her
forehead against his.  "Any plans on how we break
this to the four year old?" she asked teasingly.

"Are you kidding?  I'm more worried about how
Bill's going to react," he shot back.  "But if we tell
him now, I'm already in the hospital."

She laughed.  "Well, we can't do anything until you
are out of this place and back home."

"I don't want to wait till we get back home to
Montana.  Hey, since you popped the question, does
that mean I get to plan the wedding?"

She gave him a dubious look.

"Nothing involving RFK Stadium, Scully, I
promise.  It's just I've thought about it a lot in our
time together and I actually think I can do this.  I'll
use your mom and Karen and Tara as wedding
consultants, nothing will happen that some female
doesn't first approve."

"With an offer like that, how can I refuse?" she said,
kissing him again and again until he yawned in the
middle of a kiss.

"I should let you get back to sleep," she told him,
stroking his hair.

"Wait, I still need to find out.  What happened to
Banton?"

She shook her head.  "Mulder, let's wait -- "

"Please Scully.  Just tell me what happened to
him?"

She pursed her lips, but finally acquiesced.  "The
lab was a hot zone, but they were able to get in
there with the proper suits.  They found a body,
what was left of it at least.  Wright said he was sure
it was Banton."

Mulder nodded.  "It was what he'd come to do," he
said mournfully.  "He couldn't live with what he'd
become, what they'd made him."

"He almost killed you in the process," she replied
tersely.

"No, he was saving me at the end.  Scully, you
realize he's just one of the people who were
captured and experimented on by Cancer man and
his cronies.  There are others, and the ones still
capable of escaping are out there, roaming the
streets, potential time bombs every one."

"Mulder, I thought you said this was the last dance."

He looked startled.  "Scully, I wasn't talking about
us or even just me.  I'm going to tell Skinner I'll file
any report he thinks the Director might listen to, a
report to recommend the re-opening of the X Files
office with Agent Wright as the Agent In Charge."

She smiled broadly at him.  "Those are pretty big
shoes you're asking him to fill, Mulder."

"Are you saying I have big feet, my love," he shot
back and then grinned.  "I think he can handle it.
As long as Skinner starts looking now for a partner
for him.  Maybe more than one."

"A whole battalion?" Scully mocked.  "I mean, who
could possibly replace us?"

"Laugh it up, former g-woman.  If I'm right, poor
Jeremy is going to need all the help he can get.
Speaking of help, am I gonna be out of here in time
for Walter and Kim's wedding?" he asked with
trepidation.

"We'll see," she said with a Mona Lisa smile.

St. Patrick's Cathedral
The
Washington DC
June 25, 2005
1:55 pm

"It's too tight," Skinner complained as he tugged at
his collar.

"It's perfect," Mulder assured him.  "You're talking,
you can breathe, it's straight, don't mess with it."

"I thought you were supposed to be my best man,
not my mother," Walter groused, but emotion
behind the words was light hearted.

"If I were your mother, you'd be in deep shit,"
Mulder returned.  "Now, can you do my tie, Walt."

With one arm in a sling and still using a cane,
Mulder was pretty incapacitated in getting the final
touches to his attire.  When Walter quickly did the
ascot at his neck, he patted him on both shoulders,
causing a slight wince from the former agent.
"Take a look, how'd I do?"

Both men stood in front of the mirror and surveyed
their appearance.  Skinner, in a grey morning tux
with tails, looked years younger than his usual dour
self.  If anything, he looked like a nervous young
groom.  Mulder, in a black tux with tails, made a
striking counterpoint and smiled at his older friend.
"Relax, Walt.  You're only getting married."

"You just wait," Skinner growled.  "You'll see."  He
tugged lightly at his collar again.  "I thought these
things were looser."   As if suddenly remembering
something vital, he shot Mulder a panicked look.
"You have the ring, right?"

Mulder smiled and produced Kim's wedding ring,
fitted neatly on his pinky finger, just past the first
knuckle.

"If that finger swells in this heat, I'm sawing it off to
get to the ring," Skinner charged.

"I hope I'm not this snippy at my wedding," Mulder
muttered as he looked at his watch.

"What was that?" Skinner growled.

"Show time!" Mulder announced, waving to his
friend as he limped out the door that led to the altar.

The church was enormous and Mulder looked
around slightly awed.  The stained glass windows
softened the glaring sunlight and created a cascade
of hues down the aisle.  He smiled as he saw Scully
coming toward him, a pale salmon tea length gown,
gathered at the waist, off the shoulders.  Following
her down the aisle came Kim in a radiant white
wedding gown, but Mulder only had eyes for his
partner.  Partner, lover, next of kin and very soon to
be wife.

The wedding passed in a blur.  Mulder was happiest
to see how at ease his good friend Walter was after
the ceremony.  Kim smiled and seemed to glow
with an inner beauty as she stood beside her best
friend and now husband, cutting the cake.  The
reception was a formal affair at the Washington
Hilton, the cake alone, complete with a working
fountain and garlands of fresh flowers, easily cost a
week's salary at even the Assistant Director's level.
Mulder had mentioned how impressed he was by
the show, but Walter confided to his friend that he'd
been putting money away for something for a long
time -- now he had something and someone to
spend it on.

The bride and groom left for the honeymoon suite
just before 11 and soon after, Mulder escorted
Scully back to the condo, where they had the place
to themselves, the children spending the night at
Maggie's.

"That was a beautiful wedding," Scully said with a
sigh as Mulder puttered around in the bathroom.

"What?  I have the water running," he called out to
her.

"I said, that was a beautiful wedding," she said,
going to the door to see what he was doing.  She
smiled as she saw his endeavors.  The bathtub was
almost filled with warm water and bubbles; candles
were strategically placed around the room on every
flat surface.  "My, my, my.  To what to I owe this
pleasure?"

"We are sans small children, you were so absolutely
gorgeous today I thought I'd have to run down to
the Y and take a cold shower halfway through the
ceremony . . . and I don't really think I need a
reason," he ticked off on his fingers.

She grinned at him and stripped off the last of her
clothing, he joined her and they both slid into the
soapy, fragrant water.

"You're going to smell like vanilla all day
tomorrow," she warned.

"I've smelled like worse," he countered and
proceeded to wash her back in slow, lazy strokes.
"So, you really liked the wedding?" he asked, just a
slight hesitancy in his voice.

"Didn't you?" she returned.

"Oh, it was fine.  It was great.  It was -- "

"Not us," she supplied and he kissed her shoulder in
reply.

"Not that we couldn't do that, mind you," he said
quietly, now paying attention to her shoulders and
arms.

"Mulder, that wedding took months to plan.  Kim
told me they lucked out on the church because
another couple eloped.  They had planned on
getting married at a church near Tinley Circle, but
opted for St. Patrick's when it was available.  Even
so, they've had the Hilton booked since last
October."

"So you're saying you doubt my ability to pull off a
big church wedding with a sit down reception?
That sounds like a challenge to me," Mulder said
quietly.

Scully turned in his arms and put her hands on
either side of his face.  "Hey, I said it was a
beautiful wedding.  Not that I wanted one just like
it.  You promised you were planning this wedding
and I want to see what you come up with.  No
cheating by copying off the Skinners.  Hear me?"

He smiled at her, kissing soap bubbles off her nose.
"You're sexy when you boss me around."

"Oh yeah?" she growled, she straddled him.  "I'll
show you 'bossy'.  Come here, you love slave!"

"Be gentle now, I've been recently injured," he said
between kisses.  It was the last comment either of
them made for a long time.

~~~
 
 

Going Home:  Chapter 13:  I thee wed

The Beach
Ocean City, MD
July 8, 2005
6:00 pm

Seagulls played with William and his sisters and his
cousin Matt as they scampered near the surf under
the watchful eyes of their grandmother.  Three men
stood in tuxedoes with the pants rolled up, feet bare
on the sand, careful not to step too close to the
encroaching water of the shoreline.  It made for an
odd picture, but this was a private beach and no one
really took notice.

"You think they skipped out on it?" Bill proposed as
he stared off toward the house and the glare of the
setting sun.

"How could they?  We have their kids!" Charlie
shot back.

Walter chuckled but Bill was still concerned.  "All I
know is half my 401K is going to go to pay for
these damned tux's if we stand out here any longer.
The salt spray from the surf is -- "

"They're here," yelled Nate from the deck of the
house.

Maggie, Tara, Karen, and Kim exchanged silent
glances and smiles.  Ben, with Nate's help, rounded
up the children, including little Julia in her carrier
and assembled them in some order along the path
out to the shore.  "OK, everybody, remember, toss
the flower petals, not the baskets," Ben warned.
Two little boys exchanged sullen glances and then
nodded at their older cousin.

The groom was the first to arrive, pulling off his
sneakers and leaving them on the deck.  He was
dressed in a black tux, as the other men on the
beach, but his tie was not the same as the others.  It
matched the bridesmaids' dresses worn by Tara,
Karen and Kim.

Mulder ruffled his son's hair as he passed, picking
up each of his daughters to place a kiss on their
cheeks before placing them back in the line up as
tiny princesses waiting for the queen.  The girls
wore taffeta dresses selected by their aunts to match
the colors of the bridesmaids, with little crowns of
flowers from the bride's bouquet encircling their
heads.  "Daddy," Melissa said, giving Mulder a big
wet kiss on the nose.

"I love you, too, baby," Mulder said with a wink.
"But I have to go marry your mommy right now.
We'll have a party in just a few minutes."

Jeremy, with a very pretty young woman at his side,
was the next to arrive, followed shortly by a young
priest whom Maggie greeted warmly.  Mulder
walked over and shook the man's hand.

"Thanks for coming, Father Michels," Mulder said.

"Hey, always happy to do a wedding," Michels
remarked.  "Besides, Father McCue, who sends his
love and prayers, bet me 25 bucks that I'd get here
and it would be a hoax.  I took his bet and now I'm
$25 richer, after the ceremony of course."

"Don't ever let the evils of gambling get in the way
of a good joke, Father," Mulder replied dryly,
casting a glance at Maggie trying desperately to
hide her laugh.

The young priest smirked and looked around.  "So,
we're just waiting on the bride, I take it?"

"She's inside, but she'll be coming out in just a
minute."  He signaled Ben, who had spent the better
part of the afternoon arranging and rearranging the
sound system.

"I got it, Uncle Fox," he said, leaving the receiving
line in Nate's hands so he could start the music.
Mulder had to smile, he'd put the boys in charge of
the music and almost expected Green Day or some
underground alternative band to come blaring over
the speakers.  He was pleasantly surprised to find
their tastes were more eclectic than the usual teens.
They had a very nice selection of classical and
baroque pieces that they had insisted he had to
preview.  He'd immediately approved all of their
choices.

The first selection came to a close and the opening
notes of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring filter to the
assembled group on the gentle breeze.

Mulder was gripped with a memory.  Sitting on a
beach, watching a child play with his parents.  He
looked over at his own children -- Missy and
Sammi wide-eyed and listening to the music float
over them, hand in hand as they had since they
could take their first steps.  Will was giggling at
something Matt had said until a look from his big
cousin Ben reminded him he was had a part to play
and was supposed to be quiet.  And then, at the
door, stood a vision in white.

He never thought they'd get to this day.  So many
times fate had intervened and almost snatch her
from him, or him from her.  When he'd come back,
from his abduction, 'death' and burial, he'd been so
confused and so lost.  But she was always there.
Over protective to the max, but also willing to let
him worry, let him search to find the meaning of
their miracle.  Then he'd had to leave her and the
precious boy now kicking sand on his older cousin.
Mulder's heart wrenched when he thought of that
lonely year without both of his loved ones.

They hadn't talked about it, everything they'd lived
through in the dark times.  It was their way.  But
sometimes the shadows of those horrible
experiences weighed heavy on them both.  Now,
watching her look at him from the steps of the deck,
he truly felt like they'd come to the end of a long
and arduous journey, that they'd at last found their
truth.  It had been hiding in each other, all that time.

He hadn't seen her wedding gown.  He'd teased her
about that, but she'd insisted.  He was planning the
wedding, but she was picking the gown.  She found
it in a resale shop in Georgetown.  It was pure
white, cinched at the waist as befitting her tiny
figure.  The skirt was full and seemed to dance
around her in the gentle breeze.   Instead of a veil,
which she'd assured him would have blown off in
the wind, her hair was secured away from her face
with a clip and cascade of tiny silk roses.  She was a
vision.  She was his vision.

The bride walked barefoot out on the deck.  She
smiled at the assembled 'honor guard' as she walked
through.  Sammi and Missy looked up and smiled at
her and Will gave her a toothy grin.  Suddenly
remembering they had jobs to do, the children, her
son and daughters and nephews, tossed pink rose
petals at her feet.  A few stuck to her dress, but
rather than brush them off, she hoped they would
stay.  They looked like they belonged on it.  Just as
the song came to its conclusion, she joined her
beloved at the sea.

The honor guard followed the bride to her groom
and everyone gathered close to hear the words of
the priest and the betrothed above the pounding of
the surf.  As the ceremony ended, and the groom
kissed his bride, the water came forward and lapped
at their feet.  Everyone dove for higher ground
except the newlyweds, who were so lost in each
other they didn't notice the cold water that covered
their feet and ankles.  The two partners broke the
kiss and looked at each other for a long moment.

"Scully, what is it about you that makes me not
mind being 'all wet'?" Mulder quipped with a tilt of
his head as the tide continued its journey to the high
water mark several feet toward the beach house.

She laughed and tugged at his hand.  Together they
dashed to the deck, kicking water and sand in their
wake.

The party continued long into the night.  Mulder
had rented the house from Bill's friend for the
weekend, so when little ones grew tired they were
carried off to bed so the adults could continue the
festivities.  As the stars came out, couples started to
wander out onto the sand, going for moonlit strolls
along the shore.

At one point in the evening, Mulder found himself
standing at the railing of the deck, watching the surf
in the moonlight.  He could hear his bride, the
thought making him smile, talking animatedly with
her sisters-in-law about pre-schools and on-line
shopping.  He didn't notice that he wasn't alone until
the other person cleared his throat.

"Bill," Mulder said, startled.  "Sorry.  I didn't see
you come up."

"S'OK," Bill said.  "Need another?" he asked,
nodding toward the beer in Mulder's hand that
rested on the railing.

"Nah, I think I've hit my limit.  She gets mad at me
if I have too many," he said, tilting his head in
Scully's direction.

"Yeah.  Tara's the same way.  Only time I get to cut
loose now is on shore leave -- and even that's
getting fewer and farther between.  Just not the
same when you're on the down side of 40."

Mulder nodded in agreement.  It was the most civil
conversation he could ever remember having with
his brother-in-law.  That thought gave him pause.
Bill and he were now 'officially' family.  Would
wonders never cease?

"Thanks for coming today," Mulder blurted out, for
no particular reason except he could think of
positively nothing more to say to the man.

"Yeah, well, couldn't miss it, now, could I?  I just
wanted to say, well, we've had our disagreements in
the past -- "

It was everything Mulder could do to keep from
spitting his mouthful of beer out on the sand below
the deck.

"and I still can't see what she sees in you.  But I
guess that's not really up to me, is it?"

"No, Bill, but I'm grateful you realize that," Mulder
interjected.  Bill seemed so concentrated on what he
wanted to say that he probably didn't hear the
comment, or at the very least understand its
meaning.

"So, anyway, if you guys ever need anything, I
mean San Diego is closer to Montana than
Baltimore, so we could be there faster, ya know?"

Mulder regarded the man next to him and realized
what was happening.  He was being accepted into
the family.  He had to bite his lip to keep from
crying.

"Thank you, Bill.  That goes both ways, I hope you
know."

"Well, Tara and I were talking and we'd like you
guys to come to San Diego for Christmas.  I mean,
we don't have a lot of room in base housing, we'd
have to put you up in a hotel -- "

"Not a problem.  The kids have never seen the
Pacific.  We'd love to come.  I'll let Scu -- Dana and
Tara can figure out the details.  We'll be there."

Bill then lifted his hand and put it on Mulder's
shoulder.  "Take care of her . . . of them."

"Always," Mulder replied.  When Bill left, there
was still a warmth where his hand had been and it
spread through Mulder's whole body.

Mulder had just about decided it was time to take
his bride to their room when Charlie stepped up.

"So I hear you're spending Christmas in San
Diego," he said with a wry smile.

"Yeah, well, Bill offered," Mulder demurred.

"I must say, that takes guts, Mulder.  I mean, you
and Bill, Tara and Dana, just the two families -- "

Mulder choked so hard he couldn't respond.  Charlie
broke into laughter.  "Boy, you are soooo easy!
This is gonna be fun!"

Mulder started breathing again.  "You Scullys have
a very wide mean streak, I'm discovering."

"Seriously, we'll all be there at Christmas, Mulder.
Wouldn't make you take Bill on during the holidays
all by yourself.  No one should have to face his
eggnog French toast alone."

"Eggnog French Toast?"

"Yeah, and don't try telling him you're a vegan.  He
doesn't use real eggs in the batter."

"I really don't want to hear this right now, Charlie,"
Mulder said, his stomach doing a slow roll.

"Well, I just came by to say we're probably shoving
off early tomorrow, noon or so if Karen has her
way."

Mulder regarded the younger man and put his hand
on his shoulder.  "It's been great getting to know
you, Charlie.  Even if you do have a terrible sense
of humor."

"It's great having you in the family, Mulder.  Takes
some of Bill's heat off me for a change," Charlie
shot back.

As soon as Charlie left the deck, Mulder started
looking for Scully.  She was giving her mother a
kiss on the cheek as Maggie departed for her
bedroom.  He took the opportunity to give Maggie a
good night kiss, too.  Then he took Scully's hand.

"Hey, can a groom get his bride to take a walk on
the beach?" he asked.

"Let me see, I have to check my social calendar,"
she teased, but took his hand and they stepped down
the stairs and into the sand.

"It was a beautiful wedding, Mulder.  You did a
great job."

"Thank you," he said, leaning down to kiss her on
the lips.  She smiled at him as he broke the kiss and
they continued walking close to the surf so the
waves lapped at their feet.

"It's so beautiful here.  I'd like to come back
sometime," she said wistfully.

"How about next summer?" he asked.

"It will probably be rented next time, Mulder.  We
can't always be this lucky.  I'm shocked you were
able to get it for this weekend on such short notice."

"About that, Scully.  Um, you know how I was
intending to get rid of my parents properties?"

"Yeah.  That's what you did all day Wednesday at
your lawyer's, right?"

"Well, yes, sort of.  Actually, I was at the lawyer's
and Bill's friend's real estate office."

"What are you stumbling to tell me here, Mulder?"

"My lawyer said that if I sold the properties out
right, I would be in for a huge tax liability.  But if I
took the money and purchased other property -- um,
-- "

"You _bought_ this beach house?" she squeaked.

"Yeah.  And Walter's condo in the city.  Between
the West Tisbury house, the Greenwich house and
the summer place in Rhode Island, these two
properties just about covered my gain.  I had a little
to put in a trust for the kids.  We have papers to sign
on Monday."

"We?"

"It's joint tenancy, Scully.  Half yours.  My whole
estate for that matter."

"Mulder, I don't know what to say!  That is a huge
beach house -- "

"Seems we all just fit in it, though.  Look, it will be
for family gatherings.  I want Will and the girls to
know their cousins, Scully.  And maybe sometime
we could convince Joe and MC to bring their kids
out for a week on the beach.  The rest of the year
Rick will manage it like he does now as a vacation
rental.  But we get first dibs any time we want, of
course,"

"But Walter was renting the condo," she pointed
out.  "How did you buy it?"

"Easy.  I talked to the owner.  She's a sweet little
lady and not really that excited about finding a new
tenant as good as an Assistant Director of the FBI.
She's more interested in moving to Phoenix to be
near her grandchildren.  She told me I was doing
her a favor.  And this way, we'll always have a
place close to your mom's when we come out."  He
hesitated for a moment and looked out to the ocean.
"Unless you want to stay out here," he said softly.

She cupped his cheek and turned his face so that
their eyes met.  "We have a home.  It's on a
mountainside in Montana.  But I appreciate the
gesture.  I have to say that I'm a bit overwhelmed,"
she said thoughtfully.

"Nothing is in black and white yet, Scully.  We can
tear up all the papers.  No deal goes through without
your signature -- "

She stopped him with a kiss.  "I love the idea," she
said.  "Mom will be thrilled, of course."

"Good."

"Bill will be absolutely green," she added with a
twinkle in her eye that wasn't from the moonlight.

"Hey, icing on the cake," Mulder shot back hugging
her close.  "Shall we head back?"

"It's awfully full in that house tonight, Mulder," she
said taking his hand and walking backward, pulling
him away from the waves.

"What are you suggesting, my wife?"

"Well, I loved your beach wedding.  How about I
show you my beach wedding night . . . "

Beach house
July 9, 2005
6:50 am

They thought they were sneaking in before anyone
was awake, but Maggie met them at the door with
cups of coffee and a wicked grin.  "Have a nice
night?" she asked.

Mulder bit his lip and then remembered he had
nothing to be ashamed of.  "Yes, a very nice night.
We even took a quick swim this morning."

"Well, you two better go take a shower before
everyone else gets up.  Sand has a way of sneaking
into the most uncomfortable places," she said with a
perfectly straight face.

Scully tried to hide her grin with her hand, but
Mulder just bowed and headed off to the shower,
doubling back to grab Scully's hand and take her
with him.

Charlie, Karen and the boys were the first to leave.
Charlie had to get back to port and Karen wanted to
get Ben ready to leave for school in the fall.  There
were tearful goodbyes, but not unhappy ones and
Maggie was excited that Ben would be close
enough to come to see her some weekends.

Bill and Tara packed up next.  They'd collected all
their belongings from Maggie's the day before and
were ready to head to the airport.  Mulder offered to
have them stay another day, but their flight time left
them no options.  Bill hugged his sister while Tara
hugged Mulder.  Then while the women were
hugging, Mulder offered Bill his hand.  Bill shook it
firmly and then pulled Mulder into a brief hug.
"You're family now.  Get used to it."  Mulder could
only nod.

They stayed at the beach another week and then did
all the things in Washington that Will had been
promised -- the National Zoo, the Smithsonian, all
the monuments at night.  The little boy loved it all
and solemnly vowed that he'd do it all again next
summer.

Before they knew it, it was time to leave.  Maggie
swore she wouldn't cry, but Mulder made no such
promise.  Tears were in his eyes as he hugged her
goodbye.

"Goodbye Fox.  I'll see you at Bill and Tara's at
Christmas."

"You could always come out this fall and visit,
Mom.  The aspens on the mountain are beautiful in
September," Scully offered.

"I might just take you up on that," Maggie said,
wiping some errant dampness from her cheek.
"Damn these allergies!  I didn't have this problem at
the beach!"

"Just call Rick any time you want to go out there,
Maggie," Mulder told her.  "It's your place, too."

"I'll miss you all so much," she said, hugging them
each in turn.  And then they boarded the plane and
were on their way.

Epilogue

Walmart Super Center
August 5, 2005
7:15 pm

Joe and Mulder were in their usual aisle of the store,
looking at the end of the season sale on grills and
grilling equipment.

"So you go on vacation, end up getting involved in
an old case, get blown up, end up in the hospital and
renew your wedding vows on the beach.  Oh, and
buy a condo and a beach house, just for the hell of
it.  Man, you lead a very strange life," Joe said,
shaking his head.

"It's not like I planned any of it, Joe," Mulder
assured him.  "Well, except for the vows on the
beach."  Mulder and Scully had decided not to go
into too much detail about the circumstances of
their nuptials with their friends in Montana.
Renewal of vows seemed the most innocent of
possible fabrications.

"So this kid, this Agent Wright.  He'll be replacing
you and Dana on those closed down cases?"

"Yeah, Walter called me right after we got back.
The Director approved the reopening of the X Files
and Wright's assignment to them.  Plus, they
already have a partner for him.  Walter says he's a
pathologist."

"The partner's a 'he'?  Guess they learned that
lesson, huh?" Joe laughed.

Mulder ignored the obvious jibe.  "Jeremy's a good
agent.  And since Walter hand picked his partner, it
will be a good fit."

"So, if he calls, are you going to lend a hand
again?"

Mulder looked over at his friend. "If I can help out
by email, yes.  If it requires me to travel five feet
from my front porch, no.  I'm out.  I told Walter as
much before we left."

"Right answer, former G-man.  You don't need any
more trips to the hospital."  Two arms wrapped
around him from behind and he looked over his
shoulder to see Scully smiling at him.  He turned on
his heel so he could put his arms around her waist.

"That last dance was a doozy," he said with a smile.
"I have too many other things to keep me
occupied."

"Oh, such as . . .?" she inquired.

"Wondering where our children are, if they aren't
with you," he said pointedly.

"Josh has Will in the sporting goods aisle looking at
bats and gloves and Meg has the girls in the Barbie
aisle."

"Barbie?  Aren't they a little young for that?" he
squeaked.

Her knowing smirk was all the answer he was going
to get on that one.  "So, what else do you have in
mind to keep you occupied?" she purred, hugging
him around the waist and giving his butt a pat in the
process.

He squeaked again and dropped his eyes to her face.
Licking his lips, his eyes at a dreamy half-mast, he
rested his forehead on her forehead.  "This smoker
over here.  Scully, we could smoke our own turkey
this Thanksgiving!"

She reared back indignantly.  "No, Mulder.  No
more grilling equipment."

"But Scully," he whined, "we could smoke hams,
too.  Maybe take one to Bill for Christmas."

"We are not poisoning my brother.  Put the idea out
of your head this instant."

Joe had wandered down the aisle and caught up
with his wife.  MC pointed over to their friends with
a jerk of her thumb.

"What are the Mulders doing?" she asked.

"Arguing over a smoker," Joe replied casually.

"Arguing?  Why do they look like they're
laughing?" MC shot back.

"I have no idea, sweetheart.  But until they settle
down, let's pretend we don't know 'em."

The End (until I can think up another reason to
visit)

Thanks for sticking with me and for all the
wonderful feedback!