From: Autumn Fugazzi Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 14:53:30 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Defining Moments by Autumn Source: direct Title: Defining Moments Rating: A nice wee, 'G' Category: Pre-XF, a little bit of Mulder/Scully Romance Keywords: Pre-XF, MSR Summary: How did Scully quit smoking? And why did she contemplate a career in the FBI? A late-night chat with a stranger changes her life, years later. Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me, they belong to Chris Carter, 20th Century Fox and 1013 Productions. No infringement intended. Spoilers: None, I think. Author's Notes: It's been so long since I wrote a story, and even longer since I posted one. This, unbelievably, is the finished product of a late night muse. Also, I would like to mention that, although it's probably abundantly clear, I am British. Therefore I spell things differently. I do not leave 'u' out in colour, I spell centre this way and not any other way. So many times before I have been criticised for using British English. Feedback: Please comment on montchoisy2002@yahoo.co.uk, it's been so long since I posted fan-fiction, I'd love to know what you think. Thank you. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Missy looks pretty, doesn't she?" Charlie asked, resting his chin in his hand. "Like a princess." Dana frowned, casting her brother a worried glance. "A princess? She looks like a witch. No one wears maroon to a prom dance." Her mother glared. "It's not maroon, Dana, it's plum!" Missy was indignant. "Yea, Dana, it's *plum*. What colour is yours? Oh yea, you're not going. You weren't invited. You're just a junior." Dana slumped, her shoulders sagged. "Melissa! Apologise! You know how much your sister wanted to go." Charlie sighed. "Sorry." Missy grumped, half-heartedly. "I don't care. I have more exciting things to do anyway. Anyone whose cool wouldn't want to be seen at the pathetic suck face ritual, that is the school prom." Dana swung her legs over the bed, scooping her backpack into her arms. Melissa stuck her tongue out. "She's so jealous." Missy whispered, and Dana rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She snapped. The truth was, she did have more exciting things to do. Daniel McPeake had been on her mind all day, and finally, *finally*, he'd asked her out on a date. A proper, date. Not just a trip to the arcade, where all the other boys thought it was 'radical' to go. Daniel was getting alcohol and cigarettes. Maybe Melissa thought a real date was dinner and movie. Maybe Missy thought she was too grown up for the bad stuff, either way, Dana didn't care. As if being stuck on Martha's Vineyard wasn't enough, she was expected to be angelic too? Living by the beach had it's pros, though. Weekends spent sunbathing, if the Atlantic chill wasn't too much, of course. Which it usually was. Still, the kids at Remington High braved the cold, just to be seen, muscles taut, in bikinis and sexy swimwear. Bill caught her arm. "If I find out you're with that creep, I'll tell dad." Dana yanked herself free. "News flash, Billy, dad is two thousand miles out at sea. What will he do? Send a telegram? Get lost, you loser." Bill's eyes, the same shade of blue as hers, flashed with fury. He fancied himself as her protector. It was Melissa that needed protecting, going to the prom with a jerk like Jamieson Montgomery. Jamieson wanted in Missy's pants, and she was too dim to realise. It didn't matter to him whether her dress was maroon or plum. She could attend in a potato sack, just so long as her breasts still looked big. He made Dana sick, and made Melissa swoon. "Bye mom!" Dana slammed the door, racing down the driveway and down the street to where Daniel promised he'd be waiting. When she turned the corner, she immediately noticed the absence of his old Toyota. Seaview Crescent, a sleepy cul-de-sac, was empty. Sighing heavily, she dropped her backpack to the grown, dropping to her bottom. There was a sickening humiliation lingering in her chest that made her suspect Daniel wouldn't be coming to meet her at all. Despite his promises, endless flirting and sly looks across the classroom, he wasn't a guy she'd necessarily trust. Even if he was gorgeous. "Are you alright, there?" A guy, about Melissa's age, stepped out of the shadows. "Who's asking?" Dana snapped peevishly. She hated knowing she'd been stood up. Maybe this jerk was one of Daniel's friends, coming to gloat. Coming to make fun. "Uh, William. I leave on the Parade. Are you okay?" He didn't sound like one of Daniel's usual cronies. His voice wasn't ghetto, American slang, which Daniel and his friends favoured these days. This guy had a refined, distinguished accent. And if he lived on the Parade, he had a fancy house to go with it. "Yea. I needed some fresh air," Dana lied. "It's prom night at Remington High," she said, her words irrelevant. William frowned, still obscured by the shadows. "Aren't you invited?" His query was polite, not intrusive, but she didn't like the feeling of rejection she'd experienced since Melissa had paraded around their bedroom in her dress. "I'm not a senior yet. You must be though. Why aren't you there?" William shrugged. "I don't go to Remington. Tonight is an average, boring night, for Kingston Comp." Dana rolled her eyes. Kingston Comp was the most prestigious school in Martha's Vineyard. The elite, intellects went there. William didn't look like one of them, in his baseball jersey and dirty jeans. "Are you one of the kids from Seaview Way? The Navy kids?" Dana had resented being called the Navy Kids, a tag given to them on their second day. The vineyard was, without a doubt, the most miserable place they'd had to endure. Except for Melissa, who enjoyed the company of the local boys - all hot, all with some Irish blood in their genetics. This, mother approved of very much. Dana just missed San Diego. "We're not Navy Kids. And we're not neglected, either. Our father works very hard. He's a captain, you know." William inclined his head. "No. I didn't know that. I'm sure it's wonderful, travelling the country, I bet it puts life in perspective." Dana rolled her eyes. "Don't be so romantic. It's miserable. Just as I make friends in Diego, I'm sent to Florida, from Miami to Martha's Vineyard. Next, they'll station us in Mexico, and I'll have to tolerate Spanish. It's a load of rubbish." William laughed. "Lucky for you. I bet you have the perfect life, with the perfect house, perfect garden, parents and school. Kingston Comprehensive. Get over yourself." William removed his hands from his jeans, crouching beside her. "Kingston isn't so good. At least in Remington I'd be allowed to wear whatever I wanted. School doesn't make anyone's life particularly wonderful, Kingston less than most." They were silent for awhile, until William spoke again. "Daniel McPeake was here, two minutes before you arrived. He left again with Natalie Conner." Dana glared. "How did you know I was here for him?" William picked at his thumbnail. "Daniel lives and breathes the thrill of pulling a new girl. This is where he usually brings them. Two at a time, if he can't decide who he likes most. Whoever turns up first, well they get the guy. Natalie is a better time keeper than you." Dana scoffed. "I was on time." "Natalie was early. Then again, Natalie always was keen." William replied. "I watch it happen all the time. The nice girls are the ones he leaves behind. Maybe he took Natalie because of the mini." Dana dropped her eyes to the concrete. She knew what mini William was referring to. One of the tartan skirts that were all the fashion but her mother would never let a good Catholic girl wear one. If it was plaid, but didn't reach her knees, too bad. "I guess so," she whispered, drawing invisible circles on her jeans. "It wasn't Daniel I was looking forward to. It was the cigarettes," Dana lied. Maybe she was looking forward to smoking a bit, but she had really hoped, despite her inner knowledge warning her otherwise, that Danny would make her night delightful. Apparently not. "I have cigarettes," William offered, pulling a box of Morley's from his jeans. "Although I don't think you really enjoy smoking, that much. I've seen you, outside the community centre. You don't suit smoking." Dana was indignant. "And how would you know? Standing there in the shadows, afraid to show your face." She snatched the cigarette pack from his hand, extracting one of the last two, before realising she didn't have a light. William struck a match, illuminating them both in an orange glow. She blinked, adjusting to the additional light, and finally being able to see her strange companion. "I'm not afraid," he said, lighting her cigarette. Dana thought he looked handsome in an odd sort of way. With soft hair that was much too long and eyes the colour of hazelnuts, he was remarkably appealing, although in ways she didn't want to admit. Her brothers would tease her eternally if they thought she fancied a guy like this. "Oh," she said, inhaling deeply, the nicotine tasting vile within her mouth. He was right, she didn't suit smoking - and she certainly didn't like it. Unfortunately, she didn't have much choice. Smoking was the epitome of coolness. She wanted to be cool. "Are you going to be a university guy, then?" William shuffled back against the wall, sitting beside her. The darkness, not quite as dense now, allowed her the chance to examine him further. "Yes. I'm looking forward to getting off the Vineyard. This place is too small with too many petty minded people." William rolled his last cigarette between his fingers. Dana took another draw. "Where are you going? Princeton?" A graduate from Kingston Comprehensive would, logically, move on to great things. Princeton, along with Harvard, were two of the prestigious universities generally chosen by the gifted ones. William shook his head. Dana frowned. "You're not slumming it, are you? Surely your parents are horrified? It's normally not accepted, right? A bright, Kingston Comp student downgrading their massive egos to attend somewhere like Louisville University." William picked at the sponge filter in his smoke. "I told you, I'm getting *off* the Vineyard. I hear Louisville is a good university though, don't make fun of it. I got accepted overseas." Dana didn't try to mask her surprise. Few American students went overseas, unless they had severe ego problems. But sitting on the ground, amidst dried gum in dirty jeans, Dana doubted that William was one of the egotistic boys. "Cambridge?" she asked. "Oxford," he replied. Dana whistled. "What? I'm a sucker for an English accent," he joked. When his smile disappeared, Dana spoke. "I thought I hated it here, but you, well, you've taken it to a totally different league. England is a long way away. Won't you miss your family?" William thought about it for a moment, his expression barely masking his disappointment. "No. Not really. I'm looking forward to studying. I've enjoyed the basic psychology classes I've taken at Kingston. I'm sure England is a lovely place, really." Dana finished her cigarette, tossing it unto the sidewalk. William watched it roll, eventually disappearing down the drain. "What do you want to do with your life?" Dana asked. William was still rolling the cigarette, now completely useless in his hands. "I was thinking of joining the FBI whenever I'm done. Who knows? The work they do looks interesting. Maybe that's where my destiny lies." Dana scoffed. "Destiny? We make our own fate. I don't believe in all that. I'm going into medicine, myself." William smiled. A wannabe career girl. He liked that. "No children? No husband? Surely a family as big as yours has instilled some maternal instinct?" Dana scoffed. "No way. There's plenty of time for that. I'm really interested in medical sciences. My father wants me to become a doctor. I mean *really* wants me to become a doctor. My mom says I can do whatever I want. Maybe your FBI idea could be cool." William broke the cigarette in half, tobacco falling unto his lap. "I don't know. Medicine is definitely a huge part of my plans." William nodded. "There's opportunities for doctor's in the FBI, too. You should think about it." He chuckled. "You never know, maybe we'll run into each other again someday." Dana gave him a sideward glance, pleased that he had suggested he might like to. "Maybe," she chuckles back. "Who knows?" At the bottom of the cul-de-sac, a street lamp went out, plunging the bottom half of the crescent into darkness. William glanced at his watch, a technical device that lit up blue at the touch of a button. "I have to be going," he said, brushing tobacco off his jeans. "I'll see you around." Dana doubted she'd meet the ominous William on the Vineyard again, but, she suspected they would meet another time. "See you around," she replied, standing and slinging her backpack over her shoulders. At the corner, William stopped and turned. "Hey," he called. Dana lifted her head, catching his eye in the faint light. "Promise me you'll quit smoking? You're too nice for that." Dana smiled, and he smiled back. "Goodbye, William," she said, and he disappeared around the corner. As she swung the door open, Dana caught sight of Bill, leaning over a half-constructed model airplane. Charlie was beside him, on his knees, holding two pieces of the fuselage together. Billy frowned. "You're back early. Did jerk-boy stand you up?" Dana bared teeth, grinning. She looked crazed. "Yes. He did. It's wonderful." Charlie was bemused, his fourteen year-old mind unable to comprehend how his big sister could possibly be happy about being rejected by a boy. Dana ruffled his red hair, and skipped joyously up the stairs. Butterflies flapping in her stomach. Melissa might have gotten invited to the prom, but Dana had been stood up *and* had the best date in her life! End.