From: ExPhila Date: 6 Apr 1999 14:06:14 GMT Subject: *AUTHOR DEBUT* - " Last Dance by Exphila (1/7) Title: Last Dance Author: Exphila Rating: PG (for naughty words) Classification: SR *A* Spoilers: Yes, spoilers will indeed spoil this story. Summary: A surprising event Rocks Mulder and Scully's world. Disclaimer: The dynamic duo belong to the lord of creation, the dudes at 1013 productions, and the people at fox. PLEASE don't sue! All you'll get is this computer, my room and maybe my cat. Oh yeah, and that song (since I've since heard is called one of us) I heard it on the muzac in the grocery store, so, sorry to whoever made it. "Fly" is by Celene Dion, "Last dance" is by Sarah McLachlan,"band of gold" is by Freida Payne If she's/their reading this I love your music and the last thing I'd ever want to do is infringe on your copyright. SORRY!! I've begged and I've pleaded, Feedback is needed! You can praise me, Flame me, Even maim me! Some of you have sent me some, The rest of you, get off your bum, And write me some, At Exphila@aol.com, Solong! Authors note: this is my second fan-fic and my first try at 3rd person. Be kind. On my last story I got a message that said " what would you do if today was your last day on earth? Especially if by doing some thing it wouldn't! If you feel like writing again- think about what you have to value in life." en quote. So as I said: be kind, at least this time I had a proofreader. Robyn is a fictional character. Any resemblance between her and the living is probable-the dead miraculous. Thank you to Tammy- who kept my story realistic and spelled correctly. Wouldn't be here without ya Tammy! Last dance 1/7 6:30pm, Midtown bus Mulled looked up from his newspaper as the bus reached the next stop. He felt the bump of it stopping, the slide of the doors and the lurch as they got moving again. The next stop was the one he wanted. He covertly looked around. There was a mother with a child asleep on her shoulder, Scully- dressed in plainclothes as he was, a few white collar guys on their way home from work, and a young girl with clear hazel eyes and brownish greasy hair who was obviously homeless. He turned his attention back to the newspaper he wasn't really reading. " Done one stake-and-catch you've done em all," he thought to himself, but actually, he was kind of worried. The guy they were " stake-and-catching" was really vicious; you never knew what to expect next. He passed a discreet glance to scully, who gave him a confident look back. Their next stop would take them to the airport, but if he and scully did their job right this bus would be getting there without Rodney Denture. Scully sighed and looked at her watch again, Two minutes to go. She stole a glance around the bus. A mother with a child on her shoulder, asleep, who she hoped, would be getting off at the next stop. There was mulder, dressed in running pants and a New York Knicks T-shirt. There were three businessmen who looked n a hurry to get home. And there was this poor girl who had been bugging her the whole time. She had brilliant clear hazel eyes, God knows what color her hair was under the grease and dirt, Probably red, Pale skin marked with bruises cuts and streaks of dirt, and dirty rags of what had once been nice clothes. Scully then realized she had not been paying attention. She saw Mulder glance at her. Trying to look confident, she glanced back. But she actually felt as if there were an elephant mosh pit in her stomach. She licked her lips and undid her holster as they bumped to a slow. Mulder watched the man get on. A mixture of hate and disgust ran through his veins as he studied his ratty clothes and yellowed teeth out of the corner of his eye. He made sure his holster was open as the man paid the bus driver. He knew there was an unmarked FBI van somewhere and about 20 backup members of the SWAT team standing by somewhere, but it was up to him and scully to get Denture under control, make the arrest, and then tell skinner and the swat team that they had through the tiny ear piece inside his T-shirt. The man walked past him, eyeing everyone suspiciously. By now mulders newspaper was folded and on the seat next to him. Mulder glanced at his watch. He knew this arrest was meant to be textbook, but he had a bad feeling as the guy walked to the back. Scully hated this guy. She felt her skin creep and crawl as he walked past her and sat down next to the Homeless girl. She saw mulder lean forward and tell the bus driver something, and she figured it was about to start. She knew mulder was telling the bus driver not to stop under any circumstances until he said so. Scully waited until mulder sat down and then she cleared her throat, the signal. She heard mulder stand up and pull out his gun. " Freeze Denture." Denture, realizing he was caught, took a few glances around. When he realized there was no way out, he put his hands up in surrender. Mulder breathed in short, shallow breaths. Textbook-sort of. There was something wrong, But he was jittery and the thing had gone all right, so he dismissed it as butterflies. Mulder stood his ground, trying to keep his gun steady through his nervousness. Denture started approaching him. Oh great, Mulder thought as he cocked his pistol and tightened his finger on the trigger. Panicking, Denture grabbed the person in the seat next to him, grabbing her wrists, twisting her arm behind her and putting her in a headlock. It happened to be scully. Her pistol went flying into a nearby seat. Denture placed his gun to her Temple, tightened His finger on the trigger and grinned. A baby was crying. Then there was a gunshot. ------------------------------------------------ For disclaimers and so on see part one. Last Dance (2/7) Then there was another one, and another one. And it stopped. Denture and scully went limp, scully still in a headlock. Mulder's Heart stopped for half a moment as he watched. One stirred. She weakly got up on her palms and pushed herself away from Denture with her feet until she reached the back wall where she slumped. She glanced at mulder as if to say, ""What happened?" The girl just stood, frozen in shock. There was a metallic thump as Scullys gun fell at her side. The she sat (fell?) robotically down as the edge of the seat caught her. She kept looking at her hands, flexing the fingers. It was like she was thinking to her self, What have I done? Mulder checked to see if everyone was alright, Helped scully onto a seat, tried to calm down the business men who were either swearing or staring at the girl, and reassured the mother who was now rocking her sobbing baby. He didn't know what to do to the girl so he just left he there. He then pulled the collar of his T-shirt up to his mouth and spoke into the mike there, braking the astonished bubble of silence, only broken by the sobbing of the baby. He knew the a whole event had been monitored by the small camera, and he answered to the exclamations by needlessly saying: "Denture is down." ********************************************** Scully stood outside the Interrogation room studying the papers and statements from other passengers on the bus. They still needed a statement from the homeless girl. Mulder approached. "Ready to go in scully?" Scully took a deep breath and said with a sigh, " Yup" " Okay, so what do we do about the girl?" "Well they're not going to prosecute her, I made sure of that." She replied, " Skinner backed me up the whole way. We all know what would've happened if she hadn't made the shot, the question is, why?" I think that's what we're about to find out." mulder replied, nodding to the door. " So what should we do with her?" " I think we should just get a statement and get her home" said scully in a finalizing voice. " Home to what?" Mulder replied. Well he had her there. What would they do with her? They couldn't just send her back out to the cold streets in January, could they? " Lets talk to her before we make that decision." scully Decided. Mulder nodded as they peered in the Interrogation room window. The girl sat there behind the table, her hair hung in greasy thick clumps and she had a shocked look in her eye. She was still looking at her open hands, which she now folded into fists and rested her head on. The muszak was appropriately playing A song scully didn't know the name of to but sang: " What if god was one of us? Just a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on a bus, trying to make his way home?" Scully forced herself to concentrate. As they entered the girl heard the door click shut and raised her head, opening her closed eyelids as she went, revealing hazel eyes. She stared at them blankly for a moment before exhaling deeply, wiping her hands over her dirty face. Poor things still in shock thought scully. " She looked up at them, waved at the double sided mirror that skinner was observing them from, and then said, " So how many years do I get?" In a suprisingly perky voice. " Zero, You're not being prosecuted." Mulder said. "I'm not." the girl replied in a bored, slightly sad, heavy, yet relived voice, " Then why am I here?" Scully spoke up then, " We just need to get your account of the events that happened on the bus. All you have to do it tell us a bit about your self, then tell us what happened." Scully couldn't tell why, but she was automatically speaking to her as if she knew her. Mulder took out his small black Dictaphone thing, pressed record, and told her to begin. The girl began to speak, telling the recorder the story of her life: " My name is Robyn. I am 15 years old. I had a ritzy early life, but Two years ago our driver was drunk and he smashed our limo into a brick wall. My Mother, Dana, was killed, and my father has never been seen again. I woke up in a government hospital. I can remember phrases, but no voices, no faces, I know about my life, but bits of it keep disappearing everyday. I don't know where I was born, I don't know the events of my 13th birthday, I don't remember what my parents look like, But I remember my mother giving me a necklace for my 15th birthday. As none of my relatives wanted me, They shipped me off to an orphanage, but I escaped and I have been on the streets ever since." She finished her account of the story. Scully found herself feeling really sorry for this girl. What a life, If she'd been one of her relatives, shed taken her. " That's great Robyn, But you didn't tell me your last name." " Oh," She rolled her eyes at her own stupidity and said " Its Mulder-Scully, Robyn Melissa Mulder-Scully." Last Dance (3/7) For disclaimers and stuff see part 1 Scully looked at Robyn; She couldn't shake the strange, panicky feeling. The government, the names. Mulder, Scully, Dana. All she could think of was this phrase on fox, for some sci-fi show or other, Its happening again. She glanced at mulder, who seemed cool as a cucumber, but she couldn't tell if he was panicking. She wondered if he realized it or just wiped it off as a coincidence. He looked at her, and she looked into his eyes. Yeah, He was panicking all right, not like mulder to consider coincidences. Suddenly it hit her. She excused Mulder and herself from the room and they went out into the hallway. "Mulder", she said, " Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" " Yes" he said, exhaling nervously. " Another one." The words hit scully like bullets, even though she had already figured that out. She opened her mouth to speak just as mulder did, and they paused and laughed nervously. " You go first." she said. So mulder spoke. " Scully, there's something I need to tell you that I have not told you before. You know Emily?" She knew all right. She felt like he'd poured salt in an open wound. "Mulder, It was last month." " Scully, there's more, more Emily embryos. I found them when I was looking for Dr. Caldron. I didn't tell you because I thought it wouldn't come up again and I didn't want to hurt you anymore." Scully was still hurt, but she understood so she swallowed her feelings and spoke. " There's something else mulder. What if that bus stunt wasn't panic induced? What if it was a test? I mean, remember the eves?" "I see what you mean scully, but he grabbed you." " But what if it was an assasination, what if he meant to grab her? I mean we're both petite, both lean, and her hair could be mistaken for red. It would've been easy to make a mistake." Mulder considered it for a moment, and then agreed, " We'll put her somewhere safe." he decided, nodding as he said it. Scully then saw her chance. " We can put her at my apartment, I have a spare room and I'm sure the last thing she needs is safe house with strangers." She knew that they were strangers also, but at least she'd met them. " Ill have a blood test too." she finished. Mulder agreed and they went back into the room to find Robyn studying scratches on the table. She looked up as they came in and looked at them as if to say, " So....." Scully began. " Robyn, we don't want to send you back out onto the streets, so you can come stay at my house for a day or two until we get this sorted out." Robyn thought this was too good to be true, A real house again! She nodded eagerly and followed them as they walked out of the room. The lady agent said to her " We want to take a blood test, just to see how your health is." A blood test? These guys sure were worried about her. She didn't even know their names. " Hey guys, what are your names?" she enquired. Here goes, thought scully, The moment of truth. " I'm Dana Scully, and he's fox mulder." She watched closely for the girl's reaction. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she said through a nervous laugh, " Shiiit! That is like, so weird! And then brushed it aside. Mulder and scully exchanged amused looks at her reaction. Scully took the blood from Robyn and gave it to the lab technician with two others, her and mulders, all anonymous. He said it would be delivered to her office in a couple of days. Then they went home. For disclaimers and stuff see part one. Last Dance 4/7 Agent Scullys apartment, 10:00pm "And here is where you'll be staying" scully said, opening the door to her guestroom. It was a nice room, with a double four poster bed in the middle; bookshelves built into the warm salmon walls (of course lined with medical manuals), And a little white dressing table next to the physiatrist like couch. Robyn walked in, amazed at the marvel, as she had done with every other room. She looked at the little Christmas stickers on the picture window, and sat on the window seat. Looking around. "So what do you think?" scully said, breaking the silence. " Its lovely" she said breathy " I don't remember every seeing anything like this." she said in a strange, almost confessing voice. Then she said, " I'm sorry, but do you have anything to drink, I'm parched. She blushed a little " Sure" scully said, not surprised in the least, " Come with me out to the kitchen and we'll get something" and she left with Robyn following. Scully came out of the kitchen with a glass of juice and a sandwich and placed them gently on the table, seeing that Robyn was over looking at the photos on her mantle piece. Scully went up beside her and started naming names. " This is my mother, this is my late father, and these are my brothers Bill and Charles, my sister, Melissa, and me." " Is that agent Mulder?" she asked, looking at a small picture in a pine frame. " Mmm-Hmm" scully replied nodding her head with a smile on her face, the picture was taken after the mothman case. They were both smiling, happy to be rescued, their arms were each other's necks and though they looked absolutely terrible, they looked wonderful. Robyn ate her sandwich, and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Scully wondered how long it had been since she'd slept in a bed. She watched her for a while, Thinking, wondering if this could really be her child, and wondering where mulder came into it. She found, though, that she was looking at the small stickers on the window. They were smiling Santas pulling sleighs with rosy nosed reindeers prancing along. She had put them up at Christmas, before emily, when she had been feeling particulary merry. She wondered why she hadn't taken them down. She suddenly found herself very weary, and fell into her own bed, sleeping well for the first time in months. At another apartment, sleep was the farthest thing form a mans mind. He tapped away at his computer, accessing things no one except the most important people were meant to access. He munched on sunflower seeds, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and got more and more frustrated until he embarked on a discovery that made him shake his head in wonder, even though he had been ready for what he would find. He then fell onto his couch, tumbling in his own land of nod ************************************************* "Mulder, This doesn't make sense." Scully said for the umpteenth time. " Look in the file scully" Mulder retorted That's what I found. " But Mulder" Scully stressed " This file is empty" " Exactly" He replied n a voice that wasn't much more than a whisper, a smile forming on his face. The fact hit scully hard, so that her mouth dropped open, yet she still needed to hear it from someone, to assure her. " What are you saying?" she asked " I am saying that this girl Robyn has no records, Anywhere. And that there is no listing of any car crash with a girl in a hospital, Mother Dana, Father Unknown. She doesn't exist Scully, That's what I'm saying." He finished with a sigh and a resigned look on his face. He looked so tired, and she wondered how much sleep he'd gotten last night." ok, she doesn't" she repeated, " But what I need to know is how she grew up. I mean, Emily was 3, this girl is 15, bit of an age difference. My abduction was only 3 years ago." There, shed said it, now the answer would come. " Scully" Mulder began," I think they can combine your eggs with a source and grow these clones to any age they want. Emily, obviously, was created with alien DNA for a base, that's why she bled green, She was a hybrid." mulder said, this time softer, more gentle. "Well, first of all, Robyn bleeds red, she is a human, and second of all Mulder, " she continued with her hoped truth, " We don't even know if this is my kid, She could....." " But what is she if isn't yours?" Mulder Interrupted " Why wasn't she ever heard of or existed? Mulder stood back, waiting for an answer. " She could of been born at home" scully stated, " she could....." Mulder just looked at her. " So fine, she's this hybrid thing, she bleeds red, she acts like a normal person, she doesn't have a chip in her neck or some spore growing out of her chest, so what did they combine it with?" She stood back and looked at him triumphantly, she could already see him trying to find an answer for this one. Just then there was a knock on the door. "Ill get it while you think about that." she stated and twisted the doorknob. She took the vinyl package from the carrier outside and hesitated before she opened it. She knew this was the final test results. She had given hers, Robyn and mulders blood to the attendant anonymously. As A, B, and C. She skimmed the sheet and then read it again, again, and again. She didn't believe it. " What, what is it?" Mulder asked. " Found out what they used as a base." she said detachedly. " What?" mulder asked Innocently, he had no Idea of what was going on. She turned around, and he could see what was on that paper struck terror into the middle of her ocean blue eyes. She moved her mouth, in what didn't seem to be a word, but more of a hoarse whisper, and replied: "You." Last dance (5/7) Mulder didn't understand her, he couldn't figure out what she was saying. It sounded like she said "ewe". Could Robyn have been involved in the sheep cloning process? That would be purely sick. He stood and waited for an answer. Scully repeated It to herself again, this time in a whisper, " you". She felt panic rising in her throat. A primordial terror that made her breath speed up and her knees weak. She could do only one thing, run. Mulder watched scully, she was totally shocked. All of a sudden she started hyperventilating and she went wobbly. "Scully are you ok?" he said striding over to her. She pulled away from him like he was going to hurt her. He stared into her eyes. They were livid with terror and panic. She muttered something like " Excuse me", dropped the report and ran for her life. He just stared after her, wondering what had happened. He looked to the floor, picked up the report, and read. Scully ran blindly through the darkened halls and empty briefing rooms, That's all the basement was for. She found herself at the ladies room, where she promptly went into the toilet and threw up. Having done that, she went to the sink and just stared at her refletion. She turned on the tap and splashed her face with water, then turned it off and went back to staring, only to find that she couldn't hold herself up anymore. She slumped down next to the sink and lost herself in thought. Mulder slowly absorbed the words in the report. " This researcher has found that the subjects A and B are the biological mother and father of subject C. This test is 99.9% accurate, so no further testing is needed." He was shocked and overjoyed at the same time. One part of him was screaming: You're a Father to a beautiful girl and with a Beautiful woman you love! What more could you ask for? And the more logical, greatly ignored part of him was saying, You're going to have to live your life in secret, whenever you screw up they'll go after her to hurt you. They probably want her too; you'll have to hide her. He understood why scully bolted, It was worse for her. How many more were there out there? What if Robyn died like Emily? How much more could she take? What if the Idea of him being father of her child repulsed her? What would they tell skinner? So many questions, no answers. But he main one they were both thinking of was, Why? Scully walked into the office to find mulder slumped against his desk with a glazed look over his eyes. The Report was in his hands. Thank god she wouldn't have to tell him. He wasn't responding at all, he just sat there. Not a good sign. Somewhere the physician in her said posttraumatic shock. She wanted to tell him how glad she was that it was him and not some awful alien or worse, she wanted to tell him not to worry, that everything would turn out alright, she wanted to tell him she loved him. But all she could say was: " We have to protect her, those bastards are going to want her." Mulder just turned to scully and looked at her, as if he was just noticing her. His eyes were still glazed, " Are you ok?" he asked " I'm fine Mulder." she said automatically. She watched him get up and sit in his chair. "Mulder, how did they....."She started" well, you know.., cause you've never been abducted and the other alternative is......Ridiculous." She blushed despite herself, wishing she'd never brought up the subject. Mulder smiled (sort of), " I think it was at Ellen's air base." "Oh yeah" Scully shivered at the memory. <"How did I get here?"> " I think you should go home and be with her, Ill figure out how to break this to skinner, I'll drop by later." Mulder said, giving her a smile that sent shivers down her spine. When had she come to feel this way? She tried to remember but she seemed to have felt this way ever since their first case. Could she have been so nieve? "Are you going to be ok?" Mulder said breaking her train of thought She looked into his caring eyes and answered honestly, " I don't know mulder, I hope so. " "You'll be fine Scully, Just keep an eye open and call me if anything goes wrong." "Ok" she said nervously. Usually being alone would have been all she wanted at the moment. But strangely she didn't want to leave his side. She felt protected around him and she didn't know what lengths those government goons would go to get Robyn. Mulder could see her worry. " C'mere" he said, Encircling her petite frame with his strong muscular arms. " Everything's gonna be Fine." he assured her. She snuggled her head into his chest and closed her eyes. God, how she wished she could believe him. He held her closer and landed a kiss on the top of her head. And that's how Skinner found them. He had been going to ask them about that denture case when he found them, and he had to try really hard to hold back the grin that was trying to push through when he saw them. It's about time, he thought. But he knew he had to disturb them. He cleared his throat. " Agents?" Scullys eyes shot open. Dammit skinner, She thought angrily, Why do you have to ruin everything? She immediately stepped away from mulder. " Sorry sir" she said in what she hoped was a respectable voice. " You're excused" skinner said with the ghost of a smile. " Agent mulder, I need you see you in my office once you.... Compose yourself." "Yes sir." Mulder replied and with that skinner left. "I better go mulder, will you call later?" scully said Hoping like hell he would. "Sure scully, see ya later" he shot her heart breaking smile and added "Good Luck" "Same to you" she replied, grabbed her coat and bag and went in the direction of the car park. Mulder sighed, grabbed his report and went off to skinners office. *********************************************** Scully struggled to unlock the thick door that blocked her off from her apartment. How could she look Robyn in the face? She hoped that Robyn wouldn't ask about work, she couldn't bear it. The key finally turned in the stiff lock and the door swung open. "Robyn?" she called softly. When she heard no answer she called a little louder. Still no answer. She started to panic and ran to Robyn's room She stopped dead in her tracks. Robyn was sleeping soundly in her bed, just as shed left her that morning. Scully walked over to her, relieved to see the rise and fall of her chest. Scully felt around her neck and felt a little beat that reassured her totally. " Christ Dana, get a hold on yourself!" She thought, " Your getting more paranoid than mulder!!" And yet she couldn't help it. This was her Daughter. One girl that was greatly wanted by the government. She had seen too many deaths where they " Just fell asleep" and the next thing they were under a sheet on her autopsy table. Scully sighed, pulled down the shade on the window, and left the room. She walked into her own room and tossed her coat and purse on the bedspread. She glanced at the digital clock on her side table, 3:45pm. She changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt, grabbed her well-worn copy of "breakfast at tiffany's" and went out to the couch to read. As she stretched out she wondered how mulder was doing. ************************************ Please don't let me in, Mulder willed the secretary, Please be the stubborn bitch you usually are. She waved her hand and he winced. He opened the door and stepped into the office of AD Walter Skinner. He approached the desk as Skinner looked up. " Agent Mulder" he stated " I'm assuming you have a report for me." "Yes sir" Mulder replied, handing it to him. Skinner pushed it away. " I don't want that." He replied, " What I want to know is something on the girl who shot Denture. What have you found?" " Nothing sir" Mulder said, Exhaling slowly. " You mean you haven't done the research?" Skinner accused. " No sir, I can't find anything on her, anywhere." Mulder watched closely for the AD's reaction. Skinner took it all in and responded with, "You and agent scully are getting awfully close, don't you think?" Skinner looked up at mulder with questioning eyes. Mulder wished they could get even closer, but responded with the truth, again. " Agent scully was very upset sir" he answered " I was merely comforting her." He kept his tone dry and professional. Skinner nodded his head. "What about?" he enquired. "Damn you skinner", Mulder thought sourly, "You know just how to get the facts out of me don't you?" If he answered truthfully skinner would know about Robyn. If he didn't, It looked like him and Scully were disobeying protocol. He didn't want Scully in trouble. "Here we go," thought Mulder, "The moment of truth." He took a deep breath and began. " We actually did find one thing, sir" Mulder began, He handed skinner the piece of paper from the lab. " You found her parents?" Skinner asked, quite astonished, " This isn't a small thing. This is serious - We need to find out who this girl is. Who do samples A and B belong to?" Mulder slowly exhaled. No use tiptoeing around the facts mulder, he told himself, Just tell him straight. " Agent Scully and I sir." He kept his voice slow and heavy. Skinner's eyebrows raised. His eyes shot back to the report and then to mulder. " I know what you're thinking, but the only relationship me and Agent Scully have to speak of is platonic." Mulder said immediately, trying to squelch some of the Questions forming in the ADs head. Skinners eyes unconciously flickered to the ashtray on his desk. Well, he thought, They sure have themselves in a mess this time, don't they? He had supervised Mulder and Scully through everything from Flesh eating insects to that flukeman thing - But he'd never expected something like this. " I believe you Agent Mulder." Skinner replied, Still trying to wrap his mind around the fact. " Do you know what this means?" Skinner Do I ever, thought mulder. It meant that when they were told to stay off a case, They stayed off or faced the consequences. It meant that if something happened, God forbid, To him, scully or both of them, the government got Robyn back into their orphanage. He couldn't even imagine what they'd done to her there. It meant their lives would never be the same. " Yes sir," he replied, " am prepared to face those responsibilities." Skinner studied Him. This event had shocked mulder into a subdued, respectful, Quiet agent. Right at the moment skinner would've passed all that up just to hear mulder make one rude remark or one wisecrack. He couldn't even comprehend how scully was dealing with this. He looked over mulder one more time and said, " I want you to protect that girl. They're going to want her, dead or alive. Take care of agent Scully and find out all you can about......" " Her name is Robyn, sir," Mulder said in a voice not much more than a whisper, " Robyn." "Well, Agent Mulder, Give her my luck." Skinner replied, and with that, he got up and went out the offices other door. Last Dance (6/7) Scully walked Through the Hallways Aimlessly. She didn't know where she was, but it was bright white and there was soft music paying, like the intro to a song. She was walking so easily that she was almost floating. Her once sweats and a T-shirt had changed into a white sleeveless dress with thick straps and a flowing white fabric skirt. The waist hugged her petite curves perfectly, but she couldn't figure out how it had gotten there. She didn't remember changing. She walked on. Then she could see something. There was she and mulder; they seemed to appear out of the white. She was dressed in a white gown that looked like it was made out of a spiderweb. It had short sleeves and it was pure white, so that it hurt her eyes. She had matching gloves on. Mulder Was wearing a Tux as black as the night with a blood red bowtie and buttons that looked like drops of dew from a mountaintop. Then the other mulder placed his hands on the other Scullys hips and they began to dance as the soft music flooded into words. Fly, Fly little wing Fly beyond imagining. The softest cloud, the whitest dove, Upon the wings of Heavens love. Past the planets and the stars, Leave this lonely world of ours. Escape the sorrow and the pain, And Fly again. Fly, Fly precious one Your endless journey has begun. Take your gentle happiness, Far too beutiful for this. Cross over to the other shore, There is peace forevermore. But hold this memory bittersweet Until we meet. The song was very different, but nice. She didn't know what it had to do with what was happening. Until the images began to change. She watched as the two dancing Agents danced, her dress flowed like water, and mulder looked so good in a tux, she could watch them forever. Then mulder tripped sending them both to the floor, mulder landing on scully. They looked at each other for a minute and burst into laughter. Scully smiled the perfect image. Then suddenly it changed. Mulders tux faded into his usual gray suit, her dress faded into a red skirt and white blouse, but it wasn't her lying under him, it was Robyn. Then she disappeared and mulder was on his back. His bowtie melted from blood red to real blood, flowing openly onto his shirt. And that dammed song kept playing.. Fly, Fly do not fear Don't waste a breath, don't shed a tear. Your heart is pure, your soul is free. Be on your way, don't wait for me. Above the universe you'll climb, On beyond the hands of time. The moon will rise the sun will set, But I won't forget. Christ, she knew where this was going. She could see a different image now. It was fuzzy, she couldn't make out any features, but it was someone in a hospital bed, someone beside it. She turned away from the image to face Robyn. " How long have you been here?" To which Robyn replied, " We're always right beside you." She looked down at Robyn's hand and was surprised to see Emily there. And then they were gone faded into a black hole as the song finished. Fly, Fly little wing, Fly where only angels sing. Fly away the time is right, Go now, find the light. ************************************************ He was walking through a red place, there were no actual appointed rooms that he could see, but he seemed to know where to go. Then he saw her. Melissa was wearing a bright red dress, tight, with that black velvet thing that she always wore. She stood there for a minute, but then her red stained lips curled into a smile. He himself was wearing a black tux with a red bowtie. Melissa walked over and seemed to grab a piece to the red and tear it back to reveal a white hole, which he walked through. He saw Him and scully dancing. Scully was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She was wearing this incredible white dress which shaped her body perfectly and was topped off with white gloves. A delicate string of pearls was fastened around her throat and matching pearl drops glistened in her ears. Her hair was teased do it was shorter, so it cut off under her ears, It was pushed back behind her ears and had a simple pearl in front of one. He gazed for a minute before he felt something wet under his feet; he looked down to discover blood. Then he was back in the red with Melissa. She smiled again end placed something in his hand before disappearing. He looked down, it was a simple band of silver with an alien charm on it, and he looked up again to see Robyn. He sat up straight. What a dream. He looked back down to his hand; a ring was there. He put it back in his box and lingered for a minute.... Yes, he would. He grabbed his coat and ran to his car. Scully slowly became aware of her surroundings. She was laying on a couch in sweats and a T-shirt. She felt strange, like someone was watching her. She lifted he head and looked around, someone was. She sniffed, trying to clear the sleep from her system. " How long have you been here?" " 'Bout half an hour." Mulder replied. " What have you been doing?" she said raising her eyebrows. " Watching you." Mulder put on a sly smile and she felt her heartstrings tug. "What are you doing here." She asked as he said " How long have been asleep." They both smiled and laughed at the irony. " I had dream." they said yet again together. They laughed. It sounded so good together. Mulder began and scully listened. " Had a Dream scully, It got me thinking......" H4 paused, trying to figure out how NOT to sound stupid. " Ever wonder what you're going to do with the rest of your life?" She smiled. " Well after the events today I have no idea. You came here to ask me that?" " No, this. Can I have this dance?" he noticed a great song on the radio which was playing and he could only think of one thing to do, but to his delight she held up her hand daintily. He swept her up to her feet and led her to the middle of the room. She fell into his arms and he held her as he began to dance. It was an instrumental piece they were dancing to, By Sarah McLachlan. She tried to think of only being in his arms, of his smell. She closed her eyes and moved in time. Mulder let his chin rest on Scullys head, slowly swaying his body in time to hers. He slowly lifted her out and twirled her once and back, and then he picked her up and swirled her around. Scully flew in his arms, twirling and swinging, she felt like and angel. He whispered in her ear, his lips brushing soft on her earlobe. " What's this song called scully?" "I think its called Last Dance." She whispered back. " But Scully," He said with a playful tone." This is our first dance. We have our whole life to do our last; you don't want to sit out on that, do you? " Scully smiled but a chill ran down her spine. She just sank deeper into his arms. This ultimately sent him off balance, tripping him. He fell on top of her. They each looked into each other's eyes for a moment, losing themselves in a pool of colour. The he giggled, and they both started laughing. Her laughter tinkled like a beautiful bell, her eyes like pools of water. And as he leaned down and put his mouth on her smiling one their dreams were the last thing from both their minds. And as they kissed through smiles, she started to laugh, and the walls between them came crashing down. As they drew for breath, He smiled at her, " God scully, you must be numb from the waist down." She wriggled out as he got up. He stayed on one knee as he pulled something out of his pocket. He stood up, a little velvet box in his hand. He opened it to reveal a gold ring. The middle was entwined in something that looked like a sideways 8. He handed it to her and sat her down on the couch, holding one of her hands. " Scully, this symbol means eternity, affinity, forever, whatever. " He took it out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. " Scully, Dana, Partner, Baby, Mommy, Love, Starbuck, Friend, I want to be yours forever and beyond, will you marry me?" A tear of joy rolled from Scullys eye, this was happening, it wasn't a dream, it wasn't a fantasy, it was reality and she loved it. " Yes mulder, of course I will." Robyn leaned back behind the wall, wiping a tear from her own eye. That was better than any movie she could remember. She knew from the moment she saw them that they belonged together, She didn't even need her powers, It was obvious. She tiptoed back to her room thinking about her powers, as she called them. They had come after the accident. She could know things about people just by touching them or looking at their picture. She could pass any IQ test in the world and move things with her mind. She could heal someone with the palm of her hand or kill someone with a look. I came and went everyday though. She had it today, but she didn't the day before. That's how it went, dayin, and dayout. But they didn't know that, that's why the government wanted her. She had found out about the agents today, she went to the mantelpiece, and found out that scully had been recruited in 1990, assigned to the x-files in 1992, She had fallen in love at the graveyard, the one where they stood in the rain. She was also her mother. She was glad, she didn't remember her old mother, but she knew she'd been created in a lab, her false mother had told her that. Mulders sister had been abducted when he was 12, Its had torn his family apart. He had found the x-files in 1991 with Diana Fowely.He had fallen in love the moment she walked into his office, romanced by her beauty and intelligence and inspired by her strong belief in science. He was her father. When she had touched both, she had seen images, snippets. Of an orange X on the road, of Scully in her undies, mulder examining her lower back. Of A hostage for Mulders life, a little boy, Mulder crying in a church, Them screaming at each other with guns in the arctic, Green bugs, tanks with people, a man being shot for mulder, a liver eating monster, mulder in Mexico, Scully in a car trunk, Mulder crying because scully was going to die, superstars of the superbowl, a fat sucking vampire, scully with cancer, three losers, an oroborus tattoo, scully, gaunt and wasted away, and a little girl, her sister, Emily. She knew the government wanted her for her powers of healing, but she also knew that both agents had sworn a silent oath to protect her at all costs, Even Death. ************************************************ Part 7 soon. Exphila@aol.com *********************************************** Last Dance 7/7 Scully pulled the brush through her silken mane. She had teased her hair up so it was shorter than normal, yet it didn't look frizzy. She Painted her lips with an almost - clear, slightly pink gloss and Pushed two white pins through her earlobes. She smoothed her dress, remembering earlier that night when mulder had presented it to her. " It was my mothers," he had said, " I want you to wear it." As she had picked up the garment she and felt a slight chill, It was the dress from her dream. But she had pushed it aside. The dream was obviously her guilty rational side coming out and telling her that when skinner found out he would have a stroke. The dress was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Unlike most dresses, there wasn't a shred of harsh lace on it, Nothing scratching her legs, nothing ruining the softness of it. I was, instead, Silk with a hint of velvet, she felt like she was wearing a cloud. It looked like a spider web. The veil looked like a fairy had planted drops of dew into a lacy trail and it had fresh white roses on top. The sleeves were short so they only covered the very top part of her arm, and she was wearing gloves of pure white. Her make - up was a perfect ensemble of pale, natural colors. In her hands she would carry a bouquet of fresh roses, red as rubies, Plump and dewy. She smiled at her image in the mirror. Her hair was tucked carefully behind her ears and the veil pas on top, covering her face in a white mist. She lifted the veil and folded it up so she could see and walked down the hall to Robyn's room. Robyn was wearing a white sleeveless dress with thick straps and a full circle skirt. They smiled at each other and left the apartment to get to the FBI. Robyn had a gold necklace around her neck and white shoes. Mulder and Scully were being married in their office. They had set it up that afternoon, careful to evade skinner coming there. Mulder had called a justice of the peace and he was coming to merry them that night at midnight. Mulder hadn't let scully look at the office after it was prepared; He wanted to surprise her. She just hoped he hadn't made a Jacket out of alien implants and lined the walls with Erlenmeyer flasks. Robin's hair actually was red; its copper color had come out after a shower. It was held back with a white headband. The necklace around her neck was a fine gold chain; it went about halfway before it dipped under her gown. Her face was rounded and her skin milk white with rosy, natural cheeks. Her eyes were sharp and intelligent, hazel like mulders, With long soft eyelashes that rested on her cheekbones when she closed them. He lips turned to a smile; " I still don't believe that ring you're giving him..." Scully smiled back. The eternity ring was her wedding ring. For his wedding ring was a silver band with an alien head on it. The alien was silver with emerald eyes. Just like him she thought as she turned into the parking lot. Mulder waited nervously, checking his tux bowtie, looking around the office to make sure everything was perfect., chatting nervously with the justice. Then the music started up, the theme to awakenings, indecent proposal, and a few other movies. It was beautiful. He tuned in his spot to see Robyn scurrying up the isle, and then she was there. Her image was like a dream from the clear glass shoes to the red roses she was carrying. She was erethral, with a glowing auora, Like an angel. The office was like never before. All the junk had been cleared away and there was a white carpet ran up the middle. There were two desks by the altar, Behind mulder was his desk, and behind scully was her very own beautiful mahogany desk with a glistening gold name plate that read: DR. DANA SCULLY. And there was the most beautiful sight of all. Standing by the flower woven garden doorway was mulder, Blood red bowtie, black Tux, His mouth hanging open slightly as he took in her image. So she walked, every step signifying her life, and how beautiful life was, to give it, to take it away, To Live. " Hold hands please" Mulder turned to face the angel as the justice recited the special speech mulder had given him. " We are gathered here at the stroke of midnight to celebrate the fall of walls, of barriers that have stopped everything. People can give things to take them away, they can conspire to destroy things that never truly lived, but they cannot touch one thing, and that is love. Love rises beyond all barriers, beyond hope, peace and life. And love continues, even after death, to inspire and be the cause to carry on." Mulder had not really heard any of it; He was drunk on the sweet smell of Scullys roses. Scully felt funny. She just knew mulder would write something like that. " Does the witness have the rings?" Robyn stepped forward. " Right here" she said, giving one to each of them. The justice turned to mulder. " Do you, Fox Mulder, promise to love, to cherish, to have and to hold, In sickness and in health, Till Death do you part?" " Till Death do us part." Mulder said in a voice not much more than a whisper. " And Do you, Dana Scully, Promise to Love, Honor, Cherish, Hold, and Love Fox William Mulder? " Forever and beyond." Scully said, feeling like she had just exchanges half her soul for a little slice of heaven. " The rings." Mulder and Scully each slid a ring on each other's finger. " By the power Invested in my by the state of Washington I pronounce you Believer and Skeptic." The Judge pronounced. " You may kiss the bride." ************************************************ Scully was Happy. She looked up at her new husband, her beautiful daughter. This was perfect. The bonds of marriage officially joined them now. They would grow old together, watch their Daughter grow up and become something, Go to the beach and walk in the waves after dark. Perfect. She dragged her eyes away from them long enough to see her surroundings. She spotted the coke machine and suddenly realized that her mouth felt like sandpaper. The front of the machine featured a bottle of the brown liquid, nestled carefully in Ice, perfect drops of condensation formed on the surface. She had to have one. " Mulder, Robyn, you want a coke?" They looked at each other and nodded. " Just grab us two, an we'll see you down at the car." She smiled and nodded. They needed a chance to be alone. Still smiling, She turned and went back up the stairs. As she put the coins in the machine. Dana Mulder. Dana Katherine Mulder. Dana Katherine Scully - Mulder. Yes, that's how it would have to go. She pressed the coke button, she pushed it again. Didn't anything work in this bloody building? He snapped and twisted the last bit of it together. Done. Thank god, This security station was so hot he thought he might've died of dehydration. He moved to the window, feeling the cool January air seeping in as he pushed it out. He grabbed the other end and looked through the scope, watching and waiting. They stepped out side. "God!" whispered Robyn, " I forgot it was January!" "Here" mulder gave her his jacket. She pulled it on and smiled appreciatively. " Great speech." " Yeah I made it up myself." Mulder surveyed the parking lot, and saw the glint. It was small, but it was there. " Stay here " He told Robyn as he stepped forward to get a closer look, and he saw what it was. Alex Krycheck. With a Gun. Pointed at Robyn. Scully kicked the machine hard with her glass-toed shoe, consequently ripping a hole in it. She looked around; making sure nobody had seen her. There was a machine selling cokes on skinners floor selling cokes, she would go up there. She went to the elevator. Things seemed to go in slow motion. He called Robyn's name. Robyn turned around and he lunged for her. Knocking her to the ground. He felt the two bullets rip through him, big ones, and right through his back. He landed on Robyn, her mouth slightly open. He looked at her face, drinking in her features. She had his eyes, Scullys exquisite cheekbones, Red hair. This was his Daughter, Flesh of his Flesh. And as he felt his eyes fogging over, He felt Pride. His Daughter, Robyn Mulder scully. Nothing needed to be said, He told her with his eyes. And suddenly he was holding his sister in his arms, Family and friends gathered around, And the Pain went away------- 'till Death do us part Scully. Scully got in the elevator and pressed a button, three coke cans in her arms. The elevator suddenly convulsed, then stopped. Oh great, It's stuck. She thought begrudgingly and sank down to the floor, waiting for it to start. Robyn opened her eyes to meet Mulders. She quickly pushed away from under him with her feet and turned him over. Blood had spilled on her pure dress. She loosened his tie, trying to give him some air. She closed her eyes, trying to feel a presence inside, and it was there. She summoned the force inside her, moving it to her hand. She slowly moved her hand over mulders chest. It brushed it, and then someone grabbed her wrist and twisted her arms behind her, shoving her face into the ground. Then she felt a gun at her neck. She summoned the power again. " Your Name is Alex Krycheck. You don't want to kill me, just lock me up." She opened her eyes. " Well I have news for you Mr. Krycheck. Kill me here, I'm not going back there." " Shut up." Krycheck told her, tying a blindfold around her eyes. "I know your tricks, they won't work on me." And he was right. She couldn't do anything. They were going to take her back to the orphanage and put her with the one that smoked too much. Krycheck, after tying her, left for a minute to get his bigger gun and talk on his phone. She scooted over and pressed her face against Mulders hand, His spirit was barely with him. She heard something though, He was proud of her, He loved her. She closed her eyes. She would not give up, As long as two people in the world Cared for her, that was all theta mattered, It was reason enough to move on. Krycheck grabbed a 9mm pistol with a silencer and walked over to mulder. She knew what he would do. She screamed out a muffled "NO!" As he put it to the base of mulders neck and pulled the trigger, sending the cartridge deep into his body. He Turned and looked at her, " Sorry kid, Orders are orders." She just sobbed. Her Mother! How could he do this to her poor poor mother. How could they do this to her? She was a person! Like his Mother, his sister, his friends, himself! They were People! All they wanted was Happiness! How could he take it away? As Krychek roughly stood her up, she felt something slip off her neck, her necklace, the one from before the accident, She heard it fall into the pool of her father's blood and she knew; She could not get out this time. About ten minutes later, she stepped out of the elevator, The sodas turning warm beneath her gloves. Gliding out of the grungy steel doors, she found a nightmare that she was late walking in on. The first thing she saw was red. In a pool under him and also soaking into his shirt. Red, Freely flowing from his nose and staining his teeth and lips. And two Gaping black holes in his chest that made him look like a golf course. Fear and panic rose in her throat as she dropped the cans, coke spraying everywhere. She pulled out her cell phone, called 911 and screamed into it: " Officer Down, Officer down! FBI building Ground floor carpark! HURRY!! Then she knelt by his side, staining her dress with his Life Fluid. After feeling his neck, Her skilled precisioned hands slammed down on his chest, pumping his Heart, desperately trying to make it work, Like a child who had just broken her mothers clock. She gave him his second kiss, spitting blood out of her mouth when she was done. She didn't know how long she did it, she was on automatic. She didn't even notice she had company until two strong arms gently but firmly lifting her away. She shook them off, but then they went under her arms, lifting her from her kneeling position and holding her back as two paramedics swarmed on him. They felt for a pulse, but shook their heads. He was Dead. She absorbed the words. And it was then that she realized that she had known it for a while. Half her soul was missing, gone, Dead. She turned into the arms that had now gone limp. She looked up at the face, barley recognizing the bald head and glasses. The arms encircled her in a fierce hug. And she finally let go, breaking down her wall of dignity. She sobbed into his shirt, feeling a pain worse than any cancer or injury. She stayed like that for minutes before she realized that tears were soaking into her hair too, and that the body to which she so firmly clung was softly convulsing with sobs. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% She sat in the room, numb. The Muzak was tuned into the 50's station and yet again was playing an appropriate song: " Now that you're gone, all that's left is a band of gold. All that's left of the dreams I hold, is a band of gold. And the Dream of what love could be, If you were still here with me--" Skinner had been down the street getting groceries when he had seen the ambulance tearing into the carpark. He was really shaken up; He had known Mulder for god knows how many years. He had gone home to sleep; scully couldn't have slept if she'd wanted to. The Morgue had given her a pair of scrubs to wear and had sat her in here while they gave her the details. He had died of a gunshot wound to the back of the neck, killing him instantly. Within Minutes, He would've died of internal bleeding due to two gunshot wounds to the chest. One severing his left Ventricle, the other hitting him in the solar plexus. He didn't suffer, that was all the comfort that came out of this. Robyn was gone, presumed dead. She wasn't though, Scully could feel it. She was alive, though she may have been better off dead. All they had found at the scene were Scullys coke cans and gold cross Necklace, Identical to Scullys. The government had feared her, as they did with any good thing. It just wasn't fair. It shouldn't have happened this way! He was meant to go out in a blaze of glory, not with a whimper, but a bang. He was meant to be old, surrounded by family and friends with the knowlage of the truth he so desperately seeked in his head and his hand in hers. They were meant to wake every morning and face the day together. Not alone. " I wait in the darkness of this lonely room. Filled with sadness, filled with gloom. Hoping soon, That you'd walk right through that door. And love me, like you tried before-.." The Muzac was driving her crazy. She stepped from the room, out the back door. Sitting against the wall, she saw a man coming towards her. Her heart glimmered with hope, her eyes widened. His hair was combed over, his face shadowed in the dark. " Mulder?" she called out, a catch in her voice. " Sorry?" the man said coming closer, " Do you need help miss?" A doctor. He was a Doctor. Dressed in a lab coat, throwing a cigarette on the ground. She managed to shake her head slowly. He regarded her one more time and then stepped through the door, letting out the sickly sweet smell she had come to associate with the morgue. Mulder was in the morgue now. His skin the waxy colors of death, his limbs stiff with rigor mortis. She opened her hand, revealing a golden chain and a ring. A band of gold. She closed her eyes and saw a shadow of him, smiling. Quickly she opened them. She pulled her knees to her chin and sunk into them, tears flowed from her eyes, soaking the paper pants. <" But Scully, This is our first dance. We have our whole life to do our last; you don't want to sit out on that, do you? "> The sun was rising over the skyscrapers Finis! Feedback, Exphila@aol.com.