From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: 4 Nov 2001 17:52:17 -0000
Subject: Someday(1/7) by Virtues & Vices
Source: direct

Reply To: virtuesandvices@aol.com


Title: Someday
Author: Virtues & Vices (AKA Virtie)
E-mail: virtuesandvices@aol.com
Website: http://www.geocities.com/fanficcorner/
Rating: Hard R for language and sexual situations.
Category: MSR, Conspiracy, angst
Classification: TR - Adventure/Romance
Spoilers: Tiny ones. Blink, and you'll miss them.
Archive: Yes, but please let me know where first.
Summary: Mulder's final attempt to keep ahead of the
Syndicate puts him on the run with Scully. The third of a
series, the first being 'The Letter', the second 'Eyes in
the Night', and the last 'Wambli'. As before, one does not
have to read the others to enjoy this one.
Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully and other X-File characters are
the property of CC, Fox and 1013. I only wish I was, too.
Dedication: To the wonderful Mortis. Where would I be
without you? Not here, that's for sure. Thanks for everything!

************************************************************

Someday

*****

U.S. Post Office 
Arlington, VA 

He held the future in his hands. 

It was a rather plain little box, about the size of a small
lunch box, and he knew that the object inside was much
smaller, but it was probably the most important package in
the world. Ever since he had learned of its existence, eight
months ago, he had been determined to get his hands on it
before others less honorable than he did. Now, he finally
had it, and he knew his life was in extreme danger as long
as he knew where this box was. He was a walking dead man. 

He had faced death before, but now he desperately wanted to
live. He wanted to live to insure that the contents of this
box were tested, to make sure it wasn't some hoax. He wanted
to live to insure that if the contents were indeed genuine,
they could be replicated so the world might share in his
discovery. But most of all, he wanted to live because of the
hope that he might find happiness with the one person who
made life worth living. 

The creator of the box's contents was already dead, that he
had learned just this morning. He couldn't go home, it
wasn't safe. And he couldn't go to anybody in D.C. for help.
Not his boss. Not his partner. Not even his friends, as few
as they were. He would have to grab some cash from the ATM
here at the Post Office now, before 'they' discovered he had
the package. Then he would have to lie low for a few days.
Fortunately, he had prepared for this eventuality. 

He would have to contact the one person whom he trusted to
test the contents. The one person who would help him find a
way to keep it safe and to distribute it when needed. The
one person he respected, trusted, and loved above all
others. 

He had to contact Scully. 

************************************************************

U.S. Federal Building 
Spokane, WA 
6 Days Later 

Scully's head was throbbing. She sat with her elbows on her
desktop, trying to rub away the pain from her temples.
Migraines caused by stress had to be the worst kind of
headaches, she thought. And a job that was 80% desk work
didn't help. Being out in the field had always seemed to
keep these headaches at bay. 

She looked up and out the window. Another sunny, summer day
in Spokane, with temperatures in the 90's. At least the
humidity wasn't as high as it was in D.C., and it had rained
more this summer than last, making it a little more green
outside town. But she would have preferred spending the day
next to a lake in the shade reading a good book, not stuck
in this air-conditioned, but still stuffy, building. Not
here finishing up the paperwork from at least five different
cases. It had been like this for the past two weeks. 

It didn't help that she hadn't heard from Mulder for almost
a week. 

Not getting an e-mail or a phone call from him for three or
four days wasn't unusual; He rarely contacted her when he
was out of town on a case. But she always knew when he was
leaving on one, and didn't expect to hear from him for a
while. He had said nothing last week about a case, but there
had been no response to her e-mails or phone messages.
Scully couldn't help it. She was starting to worry. 

"Agent Scully?" Liz Girard, her assistant, poked her head in
from outside the office. "Bill Hout called and said that the
Sherman trial was being postponed until further notice." 

Scully groaned. If it wasn't one thing, it was something
else. The Sherman trial had already been held up twice, and
Scully, being the arresting officer, had to be ready to jump
when they finally got the trial rolling. Without her
testimony, the pediphile might not get sent to prison for
good like he deserved. She nodded at Liz, then directed her
attention back to her work. 

She soon found her mind drifting to Mulder again. He was
planning on coming out in late August. They had arranged
their vacation time to coincide, and he planned on taking
her to Seattle. She wasn't sure exactly what was in Seattle
that was so special that he had chosen it as a destination;
except maybe the hotel he had made reservations at. She
doubted they would leave the hotel room much. 

Justin Monroe, one of the agents under her charge, and Cat
O'Neil, Mulder's partner, knew about Scully's developing
relationship with Mulder, but she doubted many others did.
She wondered what Skinner would say when he found out that
she and her ex-partner were vacationing together. 

Scully hadn't seen him in six months, not since the case
that had brought them together in February. Serial killer
Matthew Ross, AKA 'The Beast', had been captured with 
the help of animal-psychic Moira Anderson. Ross was 
now in prison awaiting trial next month and Moira was 
still a friend, a friend who had encouraged Scully to 
take that final step in her new relationship with 
Mulder. Though six months had passed, she could 
still remember their last moments together as if 
it had happened just last night. She still had 
the note he had left for her. 'Someday'.

The phone rang, breaking Scully's train of thought.
"Scully." 

"Agent Scully? It's Cat O'Neil." 

Scully felt her breath catch and her heart speed up. "What
is it? What's wrong?" 

Cat's sigh on the other end was loud and frustrated
sounding. "I was hoping you could tell me, but judging from
your voice, you don't know anything, either. Mulder's gone.
No one has seen hide nor hair of him for almost a week." 

Scully leaned heavily back in her chair and closed her eyes.
Oh, no. "Did he tell you where he was going?" 

"Nobody even knew he was going anywhere. He didn't take any
luggage, he made no plans. We aren't even on a pending case
at the moment. We'd closed one up just before he
disappeared." Her voice sounded worried and stressed. "He
was acting perfectly normal, or as normal as he ever is, the
last time I saw him. He's just gone. I'm terrified something
bad has happened to him!" 

"Why didn't Skinner call me?" Scully didn't realize she'd
asked the question out loud until Cat answered. 

"He was going to, but we both decided to keep quiet for a
while. Skinner said Mulder's done this before and that we
should cover for him. He also said that if you didn't
already know, you would soon enough. But it's been six days
with no contact. That's too long!"

Scully had to agree with Cat. "What does Skinner want to do
now and how much trouble is Mulder in?" 

"Skinner's willing to give him more time," Cat answered.
"The Bureau is ticked at him, as usual. OPR is very anxious
to get their hands on him. Any excuse to fire him. John and
the boys think he's dead. They'll really believe that after
I tell them you haven't heard from him." 

Scully barely registered Cat's use of Byers' first name.
"He's not dead. I'd know it if he were dead." She said it
with confidence, then wondered how she could be so sure. 

"Look, I've got to go," Cat said. "Both Skinner and I
thought you should know what was going on." She paused.
"You'll call me if you hear from him, right?" 

Scully was silent for a while. If Mulder did contact her and
involve her in whatever was going on, she was pretty sure he
would not want anyone else to know, especially if he hadn't
told the Gunmen anything by now. Softly, she told Cat, "I
can't promise anything." Then, she hung up. 

************************************************************

Scully's House 
Colbert, WA 

Once home that evening, even more stressed than before,
Scully immediately checked her messages. Nothing. She had
called Skinner after talking to Cat and had asked for
permission to send an agent out to help Cat find Mulder. She
had desperately wanted to go herself, but something held her
back, and it wasn't her job here. Mulder knew where she was
now, and if he wanted to contact her, she best be easy to
find. Knowing that Justin Monroe had gotten along well with
Cat, she asked him to go. While Justin was not a 'fan' of
Mulder's, he agreed, privately excited about going to D.C.
He'd requested more times than he could count to be assigned
there. Scully had to remind him it was only temporary. 

She couldn't sleep that night. She hated sleeping with the
air-conditioner on, so she worked up a sweat tossing and
turning. Somewhere around 3 A.M., she fell asleep.

And she dreamed.

***She was on a beach. A lovely beach, with white sand. 
It was facing a beautiful azure ocean. Somehow, she 
knew it was the Pacific. A warm wind was blowing off 
the water, tugging at her hair and at the white, gauzy 
dress she was wearing. She closed her eyes and 
breathed in the fresh, salty air. She leaned her head 
back and felt the warmth of the sun on her face.

She felt him come up behind her and turned, smiling.

He stood barefoot, in jeans, his shirt unbuttoned, the edges
flapping in the breeze. He wasn't smiling. In fact, his
expression was worried. Scully felt her smile disappear. She
knew she was dreaming, but his worry frightened her.

"Where are you?" she asked, her voice sounding oddly
distorted.

"You'll have to figure that out for yourself, Scully," he
said quietly.

"Are you all right?" Even knowing this was a dream, she
hoped to find answers.

"What do you think? What do you feel?" He smiled sadly. "All
our work, Scully. It's all come to this."

"What?" 

"I'll tell you soon." 

"When? When will I see you?" 

"Soon," he said again. "Just start looking." 

Mulder turned and started walking up the beach. Scully
wanted to follow, but her feet felt like they were stuck in
cement. She realized the SHE wasn't controlling this dream. 

"Mulder?!" she called after him. 

He turned, a full smile on his face now. "Someday, Scully!
Someday!" Then he turned again and disappeared into the
glaring sunlight.***

Scully woke, her body bathed in sweat. Without really
knowing why, she jumped out of bed and went to her computer.
She turned it on and waited impatiently for the hard drive
to warm up. Then she called up her e-mail messages. One new
one was displayed: 

'722500-THE ROCK'

Scully felt her brow furrow. The address of origin seemed
familiar. She wracked her brain, realizing she hadn't seen
it in more than a year. With anger and confusion, she
grabbed the phone, glad for once she had two phone lines,
and dialed a number she hadn't used since she left D.C. She
waited impatiently as it rang several times, staring at the
message, not understanding. Finally, someone answered. 

"Lone Gunmen," a sleepy sounding Langly answered. 

Glancing at the clock, Scully realized it was only 5 A.M. in
D.C. It didn't matter. She needed answers now. "What the
hell does this mean!?" she demanded without preamble. 

Pause. "Scully?" 

"Yes, it's Scully. I got your e-mail, and I want to know
what it means!" 

"Just a minute." She waited as Langly gathered the rest of
the Gunmen, wincing when he dropped the phone at one point.
Finally, he came back on the line. "Speakerphone," he said.
Scully heard a click, and knew that now all three could hear
her. 

"I repeat: what does this e-mail mean?" 

She heard Frohike first. "We don't know, Scully." He sounded
more awake than Langly had. "Mulder gave it to me about a
week ago, said to e-mail it to you if he didn't show up in a
week. At first, I didn't think anything of it. He's been
acting so weird lately." 

"So Mulder wanted me to have this?" She looked again at the
numbers. What was Mulder telling her? 

Scully stared at the message, something tugging at the back
of her mind. Then she recalled what Frohike had just said,
"Wait a minute. What do you mean he's been acting weird? In
what way?" 

"Well, excitable, temperamental, more than usual anyway." 

Byers interrupted. "He's actually been acting like he was up
to something. Even Cat noticed it." 

Cat. Hmmm. Later. "I talked to her today. She said he was
acting normal." 

"Well, yeah. He was. Just before he disappeared." 

"Other than purposely mentioning his 'vacation' to Seattle
several times to Frohike," Langly added. 

"Sure. Rub it in," Frohike quipped. 

Scully would have been amused by their banter at any other
time, but not tonight. "Do ANY of you know what this means?"

Byers was the first one the respond to Scully's inquiry. "We
guessed it was some private thing that only the two of you
knew about. Something you set up when he was in Washington,
maybe?" 

The Rock! Scully released a breath. "Of course!" she
whispered. "You guys, I love you! I gotta go!" She barely
registered all three voices expressing worry and surprise
before she hung up the phone. 

Looking at the calendar next to her desk, she frowned. It
was July 20. If '722' was what she thought, July 22, then
she had only two days. The '500' was easy, now that she knew
what to look for. 500 hours. 5 A.M. 'The rock'. She smiled.
"Looks like I'll get to see your refuge sooner than I
thought, Mulder." She stood to get dressed, knowing sleep
was impossible now. Too much to do. She had to be in South
Dakota in two days. She had to meet Mulder.

************************************************************

Black Hawk Stables 
North Spokane 

Scully knew by noon that day that she was being followed.
She began to feel paranoia creep through her, convinced that
every employee of the Federal Building was watching her. And
while she was sure someone was, she had no idea who it was
or who they were working for. She kept about her business as
usual, even down to her riding lesson that evening. 

A few weeks after Matthew Ross' arrest, Scully had started
taking lessons from Moira. Twice a week, after work, she
drove out to 'the barn' to spend an hour learning dressage
and jumping. It had become a sort of stress relief for her,
and she had made a lot of horsy friends, most of them
teenage girls who were in awe of her position in the FBI.

Tonight, however, she didn't feel much like talking to
anyone, and quietly ignored the chattering and laughing
going on around her while she went about preparing for her
lesson. 

Outside, while lunging her horse to warm him up, she spotted
a car parked on the road just past the gate. Her breath
caught, both in fear and anticipation of the challenge ahead
of her. 'They' were hoping Mulder would come to her, or that
she would lead them to him. Scully laughed softly to
herself. Didn't they know that the hardest person to surveil
was a person who was trained to do it herself and knew all
the tricks in the book? 

Suddenly, Scully was nearly pulled off her feet, and she
shot her attention back to the horse circling around her on
the end of a long line. Wally was a little grey Thoroughbred
with tons of energy, and he proved it by bucking and
cavorting around Scully. She had just started riding him
about a month ago, and was still getting used to his antics.
Bred for the racetrack, Wally was very efficient when it
came to re-locating his riders. Scully hadn't come off him
yet, but she had come close to taking an unplanned dirt bath
more than once since she had started riding him. 

Soon, she had Wally calmed down enough to get on his back.
She rode into the arena, which had been watered to reduce
the dust, but was still stifling from the heat, and started
her lesson with her three classmates. She tried her hardest
to keep her mind on her riding, but it kept drifting. With a
sudden, sharp twist, Wally shied at an imaginary monster by
the arena wall. Scully grabbed his mane quickly, regained
her seat, and got him under control. She took a deep breath
and glanced at Moira with a guilty expression on her face.
Moira just looked at her, a speculative gleam in her eye. 

Finally, they were done. Moira flipped off her microphone
and walked over to Scully. "You seem a bit distracted
tonight. Need to talk?" 

"You know me too well," Scully said wryly. "I need to ask a
favor of you." 

Moira nodded, then let Scully ride off to care for her
horse. As quickly as she could, she untacked Wally and put
him on the hot walker to cool down. Then she found Moira. "I
need to borrow your pick-up." 

Moira's eyebrows shot up. "My pick-up? Why?" 

Scully sighed. "I can only tell you this. See that car
parked by the gate?" She waited until Moira glanced down at
the entrance to the stables. "I need to get out of town
without the people responsible for that car knowing about
it." 

"This is something dangerous, isn't it?" 

"Not for you," Scully quickly emphasized. "But, yes. It may
be dangerous for someone else." 

Moira was silent for a moment. "Fox?" Despite Scully's
attempts to remind Moira he preferred to be called Mulder,
Moira always called him Fox. 

"Are you sure you can't read my mind?" 

Moira smiled. "I'm sure. It's just that I remember you
mentioning on Tuesday that you hadn't heard from him in a
week and you were starting to worry." 

Scully nodded. "Can you help me?" 

Moira nodded. "Of course. I'll do anything you need." 

"Okay, here's what I need you to do..." 

************************************************************

Fortunately for Scully, the moon was waning that night.
Dressed in a black shirt and jeans, with a duffel back full
of 'goodies', including ammunition, Scully slipped out her
back door at 2 A.M., jumped her fence, and silently
disappeared into the forest behind her house. 

Less than an hour later, she reached the parking lot of the
Saint Joseph Catholic Church, the same church she attended
every Sunday. Sitting in the parking lot, just as she asked,
was Moira's pick-up. Finding the keys under the rim of the
left, rear tire, Scully climbed in and started her journey.
She had a little over 26 hours to get to Custer, South
Dakota and Mulder.

*****

End of 1/7

Someday-Part 2/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

In actuality, it only took 16 hours to get to Rapid City
following I-90 all the way. She arrived in Custer, passing
both Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Mt., just after sunset.
She was amazed by the number of people traveling in these
small but lovely mountains, and she had to go to four
different motels before she found a vacancy. The Triple M
Motel was small, but neat and clean, with a cafe and heated,
outdoor swimming pool. The manager was a spry woman with
grey hair who stood even smaller than Scully. She didn't
seem at all suspicious when Scully, wearing a baseball cap
and sunglasses, checked herself in as Gloria Samuelson. She
made sure she mentioned that her husband, Rod, would be
joining her tomorrow. The little old lady, Mrs. Conrad,
nodded her head. "I'm sure you both will have a wonderful
time!" 

Scully reached her room, exhausted but wired. She was too
tired to even shower, but she didn't think she would be able
to sleep, either. Falling down on the bed fully clothed, she
was asleep in moments, wondering what Mulder was doing right
now.

************************************************************

Triple M Motel 
Custer, SD 

The alarm that Scully had fortunately remembered to set
before falling asleep woke her at 4 in the morning. Feeling
groggy and stiff, she climbed off the bed. She wanted a
shower, but wasn't about to be late, and she had no idea how
long it would take to find the meeting place. Quickly, she
brushed her teeth and her hair and headed out to find the
Rock. 

The motel was located on Highway 16 west of town.
Desperately trying to remember Mulder's directions, which he
had told her 6 months ago, she drove through town towards
Custer State Park. It was just beginning to get light
outside, and the town was still asleep. The tourists weren't
out and about quite yet. As sleepy as she had been when she
drove in last night, she hadn't bothered to look around.
Now, she saw the incredible granite peaks that stood
sentinel over the area. Granite peaks just like the ones
that had been used to create man-made sculptures: The famous
Mt. Rushmore and the as-of-yet unfinished Crazy Horse
Mountain. 

It wasn't long before she saw the turn-off for the Outlaw
Ranch. She pulled onto the gravel road, slowing down for a
deer running across the road. The winding road passed
forests and meadows, still green and lush. These mountains
were incredibly beautiful and peaceful looking in the early
morning light. She passed houses and crossed a little creek.
Then civilization began to disappear. 

The forest began to thicken. Then she saw it. An old logging
trail that met up with the road she was on. She pulled onto
it, only to be stopped by a gate. She realized that the gate
prevented automobiles from driving onto the old road, but
allowed people on foot, bikes or horseback to travel by
passing through a small opening off to the side. She turned
off the ignition and got out. 

With slow, steady steps, she made her way up the trail. She
could see 'the Rock' just ahead. It wasn't as large as she
had envisioned. She realized that the large boulder was
sitting on a hillside, leaving one side low to the ground
while the other side created a drop of about 20 feet. With
nerves near the breaking point, she moved towards it. 

The morning air was moist, the ground covered in dew. The
sun, barely over the horizon, was touching the tops if the
Ponderosa Pines with a golden hand. It was going to be a hot
day, Scully could tell, and the birds were singing loudly,
as if they knew it would be too hot to do so later. She
recognized a chickadee, and what she believed was a pine
siskin. She smelled damp earth and heard flies buzzing, but
it all felt like a dream. What if he wasn't there? What if
he really was dead? 

Suddenly, a figure stood up from behind one of the smaller
rocks. Scully felt her heart skip a beat and she stopped
sharply, watching as the man replaced his drawn weapon in
its holster. The first thing she thought was, 'God, he's so
thin!' Then she felt her feet carry her forward. He met her
halfway, grabbing her up tightly in his arms, burying his
face in her hair. 

"I knew you'd come," Mulder whispered against her neck. "I
knew it."

************************************************************

"Am I that predictable?" Scully's voice was shaky as she
asked the question, but her hold on him tightened. 

Mulder didn't think he had ever felt anything as wonderful
as Scully's arms around him. The last week had been pure
hell. Little food, even less sleep, always looking over his
shoulder. It had been a little better since he had reached
the Black Hills. With tourist season in full swing, the
locals tended to ignore strangers. It was the perfect place
to hide in plain sight. And now Scully was here. He wasn't
alone anymore. 

He felt Scully pull back and regretfully loosened his hold
on her. She brought her hands up to his face, brushing her
thumbs along the weeks growth of beard. She smiled slightly.
"You look like a pirate." 

"I feel like a hobo." He had managed an occasional shower at
truck stops on the way west, but his clothes were the same
ones he had set out in: jeans, hiking boots, T-shirt and
leather jacket. He felt grungy, as well as incredibly tired. 

Scully sighed, looking into his eyes. "What's going on,
Mulder?" 

Mulder grabbed Scully's hand and pulled her over to the
Rock. Kneeling down, he pulled out the box. Scully's
eyebrows rose. "It's a lunchbox." 

Mulder grinned and nodded his head. It was indeed a blue
nylon lunchbox/mini-cooler. "But look at what's inside." He
unzipped the top and pulled the contents out. "I've had a
hard time keeping this cool." He pulled out a 50 cc vial
filled with a thick, pinkish liquid. Scully knelt down next
to him as he handed her the little bottle. "We've both been
injected with something similar to this before." 

Scully was inspecting the liquid closely. "The vaccine?" 

Again Mulder nodded. "But not the same stuff that the
conspiracy was trying to create. This is a true vaccine. Not
only does it kill the alien virus after it's infected a
host, but it can 'prevent' a person from being infected!
And," he paused, smiling. "It can be replicated." 

He knew Scully still had her doubts about the conspiracy and
its true objective, but she had seen and been through too
much to not understand how important it was for the world to
have a defense against the contagion she had been witness to
first hand. "How did you get this?" 

"A man named David Hendrickson. He was a doctor who worked
on the Project years ago, when my father was involved. A
grunt, basically. He left when he discovered their real
objective, and they let him go because they didn't think he
knew anything important. But he did, and he developed this
vaccine right under their noses, in Richmond." Mulder sat
down fully, his knees drawn up. "He contacted me about eight
months ago, wanting my help. He was afraid he had been found
out. Last week, he called and told me he needed to see me.
He wanted to hand the vaccine over to me." He lowered his
head. "He mailed it to me the next day. The day after that,
the day I got it, he was dead." 

"Eight months?" Scully sat back on her heels. "You knew
about this when you were in Spokane in February?" Mulder
nodded. "No wonder you were so insistent that I know how to
find this place." She looked up at the Rock. 

"We need to have this analyzed, to make sure it is what it's
supposed to be. Then we have to find a way to distribute
it." 

"As what, Mulder? Should we tell everyone 'It's okay. We
have the only protection against future alien invasion'? You
actually think anyone will believe you? You'd end up back in
that padded cell!" 

"What else can I do, Scully?" His voice had a hysterical
edge to it, and he tried to calm down. "As long as I know
this vaccine exists and where it is, my life is forfeit." He
grabbed the bottle and put it back into the box. 

"If we can replicate it, like you said, we could spread it
out, keeping batches of it safe in several different places.
We wouldn't have to tell how much or where. We could tell
only the people we know we can trust, and tell them only of
certain hiding spots, not all. 'They' would have no way of
knowing where we put them or who we told. They'd have to
leave us be." 

Mulder nodded slowly at her suggestion. "It might work."
Then he looked at her intently. "But what is this 'we'
thing? It doesn't need to be 'us'. You can leave anytime you
want, go back to work, tell them you tried to find me and
failed." He sighed. "A part of me really wishes you would do
just that." 

"But you know I won't. I can't." She reached over and placed
her hand on his knee. "You need my help. You asked for my
help. And you've got it. Always." 

"And your job?" 

Scully shrugged. She knew there was a good chance she
wouldn't have one when this was over. "It was starting to
get boring anyway." 

Mulder laughed softly, shaking his head. "Just us. Against
the world." He paused. "Contramundum." 

"What?" 

"Contramundum," he repeated. "It's Latin for 'against the
world.' You and me, against the world." 

"Contramundum." Scully sounded the word out. "Doesn't sound
so bad when you say it like that." 

They sat quietly for a while. Then Scully slowly stood up,
reaching down to Mulder. "Come on. I got us a motel room in
town. You can shower, shave and sleep the rest of the day
away." 

Mulder grasped her hand and stood. "Actually, I was thinking
of keeping the beard. It's a damn good disguise." He eyed
her up and down. "If you're gonna help, you should think
about changing your look, too." 

"Well, I certainly am not growing a beard," she quipped.
"Come on," she repeated. 

"Wait." Mulder gave her hand a tug. "I want you to see
this."

************************************************************

Mulder pulled Scully to the far side of the Rock, then he
started to climb. She followed him up the side of the
granite boulder, noticing bits of quartz and mica imbedded
in the rock, which was covered in a pale green lichen. It
was an easy climb to the top. 

Mulder looked out over the tops of the trees. The sun had
come up over the horizon now, bathing the mountains in a
golden glow. Older than the Rockies, there were no
snow-capped peaks in the Black Hills. But Mulder pointed out
a large mountain with a round, rocky top just off to the
west. "That's Harney Peak. The highest point in the U.S.
east of the Rockies." Then he pointed to a group of
monolithic rocks that pointed into the sky. "Those are
called the Cathedral Spires." 

He directed Scully's attention to the east. "You can't see
them from here, we're not high enough, but the Great Plains
are that way. Miles upon miles of grass. We're sitting on an
island of trees in the middle of an ocean of prairie." 

He looked over at her. Her expression was peaceful yet full
of wonder. "They're beautiful, Mulder." 

"You know, a lot of Northern Plains Indian tribes believed
all life began here in the Black Hills. They called them the
'Center of the Universe'. When I first came here, I could
almost feel their power. I still can." 

"I can, too," Scully whispered. Mulder gave her a sharp
look. "I feel like I could talk to God here, and know that
He hears me." 

Mulder smiled. "When I'm here, I can almost believe that
there is a God." His heart felt full; Scully felt the wonder
of these mountains, too! 

Scully looked up at him. "Thank you." 

"For what?" 

"For letting me be here, in this place. Your place." 

Mulder shook his head. "Not mine. Ours."

************************************************************

Triple M Motel                                               Custer, SD

By the time they drove back to Custer, the town had woken
up. Traffic had increased and more than half the vehicles
were from out of state. Scully knew their Washington license
plates wouldn't even be noticed. She dropped Mulder off at
the motel, telling him she had checked them in under the
names Rod and Gloria Samuelson. He gave her an odd look as
he gave her the key back and disappeared into the room.
Shaking her head, she left on an errand of her own. 

When she arrived back at the room a short time later, Mulder
was just coming out of the bathroom. Wearing nothing but
jeans, he was still damp from the shower. Again, Scully
noticed how thin he was. Mulder had always been lean, but
now his ribs were easily visible. He'd lost more weight that
a weeks worth of running would have done. Even his face
looked gaunt, despite the beard. 

"I brought you breakfast," she told him, handing him one of
the two small bags she carried. "Just save some for me. I'm
taking the shower next." 

Mulder took the bag of doughnuts from her, smiling
appreciatively. "Thanks." He looked at the other bag.
"What's that?" 

"You'll see," she smiled at him.

"Most of the stores don't open until 7 or 8," Scully
continued. "so we'll have to wait to get you some more
clothes." Moira had given Scully her ATM card with 
the promise of being paid back in full, with interest 
(Scully had insisted), when this whole mess was over. 
She wasn't about to use a lot Moira's money, but they 
would have it if needed. "I did, however, bring you 
these." She walked over to her carry-all and pulled 
out a couple of over size T-shirts. She had originally 
bought them to sleep in, but they would fit Mulder 
just fine. "I'll be back." 

When she had finished with her shower, and other tasks, she
looked at herself in the mirror. Like Mulder, she had
circles under her eyes, but not as bad as his. It would do
them both good to stay here for a couple of days, to rest
and plan, before heading out into the unknown. A part of her
was excited; adventure in her life had been rare since
leaving the X Files. Another part of her wondered why the
hell she wanted to go back to that kind of life. Her
reflection offered no answers.

Scully left the bathroom wrapped only in a towel, expecting
Mulder to be asleep or close to it. Instead, she found him
sitting on the end of the bed, remote in hand, staring at
the TV. He was watching some cheesy movie on the free
Showtime the motel offered. It was a pretty racy love scene.
It wasn't porn, but it was close. 

"Don't tell me you still watch videos like this?" 

Without looking away from the screen, he replied, deadpan,
"Only the ones with red-heads in them." 

Scully bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. He
finally turned his head to look at her, probably wondering
why she hadn't snapped out a quick comeback to his comment.
When he saw her, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
Scully let herself laugh out loud. 

"I may have to dig out all those videos with blondes in them
again," he said when he could speak. 

Still smiling, Scully walked up to him. She had chosen
blonde for her new hair color because it suited her
complexion better than darker hair. Besides, she'd always
wanted to be a blonde. She moved to stand between Mulder and
the TV. "I wanted to see if it was true." 

"If what was true?" 

"That blondes have more fun." She brought her hand up and
gently ran her fingers along his bearded cheek. "Mulder?" 

"Huh?" 

"Turn off the TV." 

Without hesitation, he lifted the remote, pressed the off
button, and threw it on the table next to the TV. 

"Thank you," Scully said simply. Then, without another word,
she stepped back, untucked the towel from around her, and
let it fall to the floor. 

************************************************************

It was well over an hour later when Scully got out of bed
and dressed, leaving a sleeping Mulder snoring softly under
the sheets. She hadn't planned on seducing him this morning,
but she could tell he was wired, like she had been last
night, and would need help to get his overactive mind
quieted. She had thought a little vigorous activity would
help. She smiled. And vigorous it had been, despite his
exhaustion. Now he slept peacefully. 

She brushed out her hair and pulled it into a ponytail. She
smiled at herself in the mirror; she looked like a
cheerleader! Scully had never been a cheerleader. Her eyes
caught the reflection of the little cooler sitting on the
dresser behind her. She turned and walked over to it,
opening it, and taking out the vial. Protection against an
alien invasion. She shook her head. Despite all she'd seen,
she still didn't know how it was possible. But she had seen
what Mulder called the alien virus kill. She herself had
nearly been a victim. This indeed was a gold mine she was
holding.

She placed the vial carefully back into the box, noticing as
she did so that it needed more ice. Quietly, she left the
room to get more ice at the cafe. While there, Mrs. Conrad,
the manager, saw her. 

"Mrs. Samuelson," they grey haired lady said. "Did your
husband finally arrive?" 

Scully turned to her smiling, thanking God, fate, or
whatever for making her wear a cap when she checked in the
night before. Hopefully, Mrs. Conrad wouldn't notice the
change in her hair color. "Yes, he did," she replied. "But
he's so tired, I wouldn't be surprised if he slept the day
away." 

Mrs. Conrad smiled broadly. "Well, you just best keep him
company, now. You are on vacation, after all. You'll have
enough time for sight-seeing later." 

Scully nodded. "I wouldn't dream of leaving him alone now
that I have him all to myself." She was only a little
surprised to realize she meant it. 

"Have a good day, then." The little woman walked off to
greet another guest, and Scully, cup of ice in hand, went
back to the room, where 'Mr. Samuelson' slept.

*****

End 2/7

Someday-Part 3/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

It was early afternoon when Mulder finally woke. Scully had
spent most of the time writing notes. It had become habit
for her to write detailed reports about every case she was
involved with, and she had decided to treat this 'little'
adventure like a case. Even if she didn't have a job when it
was over. She had tried to nap next to Mulder, but the sleep
she had received last night had made it impossible to rest. 

She was staring off into space, wondering how long they
should stay at the motel, when she felt his gaze on her. She
turned her head to look at him. "Goodmorning, Sunshine," she
said softly, a small smile on her face. 

Mulder grunted something unintelligible and sat up, rubbing
his hands over his face. Scully let her eyes roam over his
naked torso. Despite his thinness, he was still well-muscled
and sexy. "What time is it?" he asked, looking at her once
more. 

"Just after 3." She glanced at the curtained window, hearing
the voices of a vacationing family pass by outside the room.
"We should probably do some shopping and get something to
eat. You know, play the tourists so nobody gets suspicious." 

"You should have told them we were on our honeymoon. Then we
wouldn't be obligated to even leave the room." 

"Nobody would buy that." Mulder glanced at her
questioningly. "Have you ever noticed how we act in public?
We look like we've been married for years!"

Mulder chuckled, then threw the sheet off and stood to walk
over to the TV, grabbing the remote. Scully let her eyes
track him for a while, then looked away quickly, suddenly
embarrassed. The air conditioner was on high, but she still
felt abnormally warm. "Would you quit that!" 

"What?" He flipped on the TV and walked back to the bed. 

Scully glanced at him. "I can't think clearly with you
walking around butt-naked!" 

"It's nothing you haven't seen before. Even before that
night at the cabin in Hayden Lake." 

"Yeah, well, before Hayden Lake, you'd never walk in front
of me with nothing on!" She paused, thinking back. "Not so
comfortably, anyway." She faced him as he sat back down on
the bed. 

"We never got the chance to enjoy each other's physical
attributes back when you were with the X Files, did we?"
Mulder asked. "We always seemed to be in dire straits
whenever one of us was naked." Scully tried not to smile.
"But I remember using my imagination often enough." 

Scully's eyes widened. "Oh, really? When and where did you
use this imagination?" 

"Oh, anytime." Mulder had a slight smile on his face. "But
most often it was when we were working late in the office. I
especially liked it when you would bend over to get a file
in one of the lower drawers. What a view!" 

"Mulder!" Scully didn't know whether to be angry or amused.

"Then you would suddenly realize that bending over might not
be such a 'polite' thing to do, so you'd squat down. And if
you were wearing a skirt, it would ride up, and that was an
even better view!" 

"You sexist pig!" Scully exclaimed, but there was laughter
in her voice. "All that time I thought you respected me, and
instead you were eyeing me as if I was some piece of..." 

"I was *admiring* you, Scully!" Mulder interrupted. "That's
all! It's not like I was jerking off under the desk!" 

Scully was speechless. 

"Don't tell me you never..." Mulder stopped, looking like he
didn't know how to continue. "Okay, this is going to sound
really egotistical, but you never looked at me that way back
then?" He looked incredibly hopeful. 

Scully was still a little stunned, but that familiar
puppy-dog expression on his face made her smile. "Well, I
guess. Yeah, I...watched you on occasion, wondering..." 

"Why do I hear a 'but' in there?" 

Scully sighed. "But, I never really thought you looked at me
as anything more than a sister, or sexless friend, or even a
mother at times." She felt herself blush again at Mulder's
astounded stare. 

It was his turn to be speechless. For a moment. He glanced
at the TV, as if for inspiration, then looked back at her.
"Scully, do you, by chance, recall moments in our past when
we were pressed together in very close quarters? Do you
remember *feeling* anything unusual? Do you actually think I
was thinking about my mother at the time!?" 

Scully didn't think is was possible, but she felt her face
heat even more. Before she could respond to him (God, what
could she say?), the TV caught her attention, as well as
Mulder's. 

"There is a nationwide manhunt going on today for two
missing FBI agents," the female reporter from CNN was
saying. Pictures of both Mulder and Scully were flashed onto
the screen. "Agent Dana Scully, an Assistant Special Agent
in Charge with the Seattle Field Office based in Spokane,
and Agent Fox Mulder of the Washington D.C. Division, have
both been missing for two days. While the FBI is being
tight-lipped about what may be behind the agents'
disappearance, they are requesting the help from
law-enforcement officials across the country in locating
them. 

"The missing agents, who are former partners, are expected
to be traveling together and are more than likely armed.
Whether or not they are dangerous to the public, the FBI
would not say." The woman continued onto the next story. 

Mulder and Scully sat silent for a while. Then Mulder spoke.
"Rather vague, weren't they?" He paused, a thoughtful look
on his face. "I would have thought the Bureau would have
wanted to keep this quiet." 

"Someone must have leaked it to the press," Scully replied.
"They had to make some kind of formal statement. But you're
right; they weren't very open with their information." 

"Just enough to make people nervous," Mulder nodded.
"They'll think we're a pair of renegade agents out to kill
everyone." He sighed. "Maybe we should wait until tomorrow
to go out shopping." 

She looked at him, a smile on her lips. "Oh, come on. I want
to play tourist while I can. No one's gonna recognize us!" 

Mulder's brow furrowed. It obviously wasn't what he had
expected her to say. "Okay. Let's go." 

Scully tried not to watch him as he dressed, but she
couldn't help it. He pulled on one of her T-shirts to go
with his jeans. It had a picture of a jumping horse and
rider on it and said in big, red letters: JUST JUMP IT! She
thought it made him look cute. 

In deference to the heat, she had put on a pair of shorts
that morning, and couldn't help but feel good when she
caught Mulder looking at her bare legs. It made her remember
what he had said about using his imagination, checking her
out while they were working. She should have been angry. It
was incredibly sexist. But she didn't mind it at all. 

************************************************************
    
Triple M Cafe                                                Custer, SD

Scully was acting very unusual this afternoon. 

"Every shopping trip or tourist excursion should begin with
a meal," she was saying. Mulder assumed that was why she had
dragged him to the cafe first. He didn't mind; he was
starving. And the Scully sitting across from him, this
blonde, smiling Scully, was so fascinating, so new, he
wasn't about to lose sight of her yet. She was playful,
giggly. Even her seduction of him this morning had been
different. She had always been exciting in bed, a fact that
had awed him upon discovery, but this giddy, almost ditzy,
Scully attracted, amused and confused him. "My mother taught
me that," she finished. 

After the waitress brought them their orders, the two
started eating; but Scully kept chattering. She was telling
him about all the places she wanted to visit: Reptile
Gardens, Bear Country, Wind Cave. She told him how they
should try to get in some hiking or horseback riding. She
giggled and laughed more at that meal than she had in all
the seven years they had worked together on the X Files.
Mulder felt his confusion grow, and his amusement and
attraction began to die. He was beginning to miss 'his'
Scully. 

"Scully?" He finally interrupted her chatter. 

"Gloria," she automatically corrected him. 

"Gloria," he lowered his voice. "Was there something other
than hair color in that bag this morning?" 

Scully beamed at him. "Gee, Rod. I'm only trying to be
'blonde'!" 

Mulder watched Scully's face closely, then saw the sapphire
glint that he had somehow missed before. He must still be
tired! He started laughing. "You are nasty!" 

"I know, I know! Not ALL blondes act like that. Moira's
blonde, and she's one of the most level headed people I
know. She always tells me it's the bleached blondes that
give blondes a bad name, not the natural ones." She
shrugged. "So, I'm just playing the part." 

Mulder shook his head. "And doing a very good job, I might
add. I got really worried there for a minute. The last thing
I need right now is for my calm, rational Scully to lose
it." 

"YOUR calm, rational Scully?" 

Mulder just gave her a smug smile. 

"Okay. Your calm, rational Scully thought of something very
important while you were sleeping." Mulder gave her his
full, serious attention. "Do you remember Chloe Wood? I
introduced you to her back when the X Files were closed and
I was teaching at the Academy." 

Mulder nodded. "She was one of the pathologists down there,
wasn't she?" 

"Actually, she was a virologist. She specialized in vaccine
reproduction before she went to work for the Bureau." 

Mulder felt excitement roar through him. "Where is she now?" 

"Last I heard, she lives and works in Tucson, Arizona. And
I'm almost sure we could trust her to help us." 

"Almost?" 

"Trust No One, remember?" Scully's face became serious. "How
many people we've put our faith in have either turned on us
or died?" 

Mulder became somber. "They'll never know she's involved.
We're still one step ahead of them, remember?" 

Scully's eyes drifted to look outside the cafe window. They
were pensive, worried. 

"Hey," Mulder asked softly. "What are you thinking?" 

"I'm wondering what my mother is thinking about all this. I
hate how my exploits worry her." 

"She has faith in your abilities, Scully." He reached over
and grasped her hand, waiting until she turned her attention
to him again. "And she knows you're with me, now, too. I'd
like to think that would make her feel better about the
situation." 

Scully gave him a soft smile. "You're right. It would. She
knows we'll take care of each other." She glanced down at
her plate. She hadn't eaten much, he saw. But she seemed
pleased that he had eaten all of his meal. She muttered
something about him being too thin, then stood to pay the
bill at the register in the front. Mulder stood to follow. 

"Now what?" he asked. 

She turned that dazzling, blonde smile on. "Now, we get to
play tourist!" 

************************************************************

FBI Headquarters 
Washington D.C. 

Justin Monroe reclined in Mulder's chair, feet on the desk,
watching Cat O'Neil pace the room with amusement. She
glanced at him, her dark eyes flashing. "You know, I'd
really appreciate it if you'd stop smirking at me, get off
your ass, and help me figure out what to do now!" They had
just received word today that they had been taken off
Mulder's case. His disappearance, as well as Agent Scully's,
was being investigated by a team from the Office of
Professional Responsibility. They had made it clear that
whatever Mulder and Scully's reasons for their flight,
neither of them would have a job when they got back. 

Justin, having heard the rumors and stories for years, knew
both agents had been under fire before. Separated, removed
from the X Files, put on probation and/or suspension. They
had survived everything the Bureau had thrown at them, and
had still managed to keep going, solving the most difficult
cases time and again. They were, Justin knew, living
legends. And more than one person in this building, and
elsewhere in the Bureau, were on their side, no matter what
the reasons were for their disappearance. 

"What do you want me to do?" Justin asked his new partner.
"Make my own rut in the floor? We're off the case, O'Neil.
It is out of our hands. This is the X Files, and while their
disappearing act is a mystery, it is not 'paranormal'." He
said the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. 

Cat glared at him, her arms folded across her chest. Justin
had to admit that she was a fine looking woman. If he were
interested in that sort of thing, he might be tempted to hit
on her. But he had also learned in the last couple of days
that she had one hell of a temper, one he was quickly
learning to respect.

"We can look into the matter on our own time," Cat told him.
He could tell she was clenching her teeth in an effort not
to yell. "Come on, Monroe. Don't you want to find Scully?" 

Justin sighed. "Yes. Of course I do. But we have a job here.
One I'm not too thrilled with at the moment, but a job
nonetheless." 

A knock sounded on the office door. Justin stood immediately
when he recognized Assistant Director Walter Skinner. "Can
we help you, sir?" 

************************************************************

Skinner stood in the door, his eyes darting between the two
young agents. It was almost deja-vu, he thought, though
these two looked nothing like Mulder and Scully. They were
strangers to this office, even if O'Neil had been working
here for almost a year now. Every time he came down, he
expected to see Scully instead of her. He expected to
interrupt his two best agents intently working on reports or
bickering about a case. He glanced at Mulder's nameplate on
the door; he hoped he wouldn't have to take it down anytime
soon.

With a heavy sigh, Skinner strode into the office. "Have a
seat, Agents." He waited while Monroe and O'Neil sat at
their respective desks; Cat had finally talked the
janitorial staff into moving an old, tiny desk into the
office about a month ago. Mulder hadn't said a word. 

Skinner walked over to the corkboard, glancing up at the 'I
Want To Believe' poster. Then he looked at a picture stuck
in the board with a thumbtack. It was easily visible from
Mulder's desk. It was a picture of a group of about 15
people. 'The Beast Task Force' from Spokane, Washington.
They had taken the group photo the day that Matthew Ross had
been arrested. They were happy, for the Beast had been
killing for more that five years. He noticed both Monroe and
O'Neil in the picture, but his eyes were drawn to two tired
looking agents standing at the edge of the group. Always on
the edge, those two, Skinner thought wryly. 

They were both smiling slightly, but they had an air of
sadness about them, as well. As if they knew that Ross'
capture meant separation for them once again. Mulder was
standing behind Scully, his left hand sitting almost
proprietary-like on her hip. Though he couldn't be sure, it
appeared as if Scully was leaning back against the man
behind her. 

It hadn't taken a rocket scientist to know that something
had changed between Mulder and Scully after Mulder's return
from Spokane. Mulder's behavior had been enough of a clue.
His slight blush when Skinner had asked him, "So, how is
Agent Scully?" the day of his arrival back had spoken
volumes. Rumors about the two of them being lovers had
circulated for years; how else could you explain their bond?
But Skinner had always doubted the rumors. Just like he
doubted the rumors about Mulder and O'Neil that were going
around now. He *knew* they weren't true. But if Mulder and
Scully had finally taken that final step into intimacy, he
was happy for them. 

He turned again to look at his agents. He had asked Monroe
to stay on to help with the X Files indefinitely this
morning, the same time he had told them they were off Mulder
and Scully's case. He liked the young man, despite his
obvious disdain for the work Mulder loved. He and O'Neil
worked well together. They would take care of the X Files.
But they weren't Mulder and Scully.

"Agents," Skinner finally said. "I want you to find Mulder
and Scully." 

Dark brown eyes met sky blue eyes, both startled. 

"Sir," O'Neil started. "OPR has taken over the case." 

"I know," Skinner nodded. "And I'm putting you both back on
it...unofficially." He paused, meeting the eyes of both
agents. "And if you do find them, you will help them with
whatever they ask. Understood?" 

O'Neil nodded immediately, excitement in her eyes. Monroe
nodded after a long pause. "Good," Skinner nodded back at
them. "Prove to me you are both capable of taking over the X
Files by doing what may be the impossible. Just like Mulder
and Scully did for years." With that, he left the office.

*************************************************************

The Black Hills of South Dakota

Mulder and Scully spent that evening and the next day
playing tourist. After finding Mulder appropriate clothing,
including a new pair of jeans and a pair of khaki shorts, he
and Scully set out to see the sights. They were determined
to have the vacation they knew they weren't going to get in
the fall. 

They visited 'Bear Country', a wildlife park, as well as Mt.
Rushmore, fighting the hordes of visitors at the monument.
They decided to visit 'Reptile Gardens', though neither of
them had any fondness for snakes, and were surprised to find
more than slithery serpents. Scully appreciated the colorful
parrots and the tropical flowers. Mulder liked the Bewitched
Village trained animal show, which included a bell-ringing
cow, a dancing chicken, a gun-fighting bunny, and a
gold-mining pig. Scully even managed to get Mulder on a
horse when she talked him into a trail ride just before
sunset. He groaned and complained that he hadn't been on a
horse since he was a kid, and had no desire to get on one
now. But in the end, he seemed to enjoy the ride through the
pines, as well as Scully's compliment that he looked 'pretty
damn good' on a horse. 

It was fun and relaxing. 

If the days were relaxing, the nights were anything but.
Despite the fact that they needed their sleep, it was next
to impossible to just sleep while sharing the same bed. One
touch, and they both went wild. It was almost like a
honeymoon, Scully thought. They couldn't get enough of each
other. 

Finally, early Monday morning, they checked out of the motel
and started driving south. Arizona was their destination,
but they were in no hurry to get there. Neither of them
discussed why. It was simple: They were together, they were
alive. The future was so dark and unsure that they wanted to
take advantage of every second of peace they could find. But
in the end, they knew they had a job to do. 

It was while they were stopping for gas just north of Denver
that they had their first scare. 

Scully had gone into the convenience store to pay for 
the gas and grab something to eat when Mulder saw 
the black sedan pull up. He tensed, but continued 
to clean the windshield of the truck, keeping his 
eye on the car. Two men stepped out, one wearing 
jeans and T-shirt, the other in slacks and a polo 
shirt. Despite their casual dress, Mulder smelled 
'Fed'.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scully step out of the
store. She looked up, noticed the men, and faltered ever so
slightly. 'Stay cool' he told her silently. Without taking
her eyes off the men, she continued walking towards Mulder.
The older man made eye contact with her. She didn't look
away. The man finally did, as if embarrassed, then he and
the other one went into the building. Mulder gave a sigh of
relief. There had been no recognition on the man's face.
Either he wasn't looking for them, or he just never realized
that Scully could be a cute blonde when she wanted. 

Without a word, they both got in the truck and drove away.
Scully swiveled in her seat to watch out the back window.
The men never reappeared and their car never moved. She
faced front again, taking a deep breath. 

They were silent for a long while. Then Scully asked
quietly,"Do you think they were looking for us?" 

"Everyone's looking for us," Mulder responded. "Don't you
watch the news?" Their pictures were still being flashed
from time to time, but the press was losing interest; no one
would tell them why two FBI agents were missing. Mulder was
pretty sure the only people they had to worry about were
Federal agents. And whoever else knew about the vaccine. An
image of a tall, cigarette-smoking monster came to mind. He
was out there somewhere, Mulder was sure of it.

*****

End of 3/7

Someday-Part 4/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

Most of the rest of the trip was uneventful. But then they
got to Mew Mexico. 

It was after sunset, which came noticeably earlier this far
south compared to the Black Hills. They had decided to drive
through the night, as the air conditioning wasn't always
working, and the desert in late July was not the coolest of
places. Somewhere around Truth or Consequences, Mulder's
stomach began to growl. He felt Scully's eyes on him, but
didn't look at her. Instead, he pulled into the parking lot
of a roadhouse called 'End of the Earth'. 

"Mulder, it's a bar." 

"Bars have food." 

"Yeah," she countered. "If you want to call piles of grease
and fat food." 

"I'm starving, and I'm betting this place has great
hamburgers." 

Scully shook her head in exasperation, but followed him in
anyway. Dark, smoky, with loud country music, it was your
typical, middle-of-the-desert watering hole. Mulder smiled,
thinking that with his beard, he fit right in. But as they
moved to a table, is smile began to fade. The crowd,
consisting mostly of men, was paying a little too much
attention to Scully. 

After ordering from a tall, leggy, large-chested red-head
(Mulder couldn't help but laugh at Scully's very dark look),
Scully commented, "I feel like I should be wearing a short,
leather skirt and a tube top." 

Mulder grinned at her. "Even with the hair, I just can't
picture that." Then he stood. "I'll be back." He turned and
headed for the men's room. 

When he came back a short time later, he wasn't at all
surprised to see someone hitting on Scully. Naturally,
jealousy was his first emotion, but curiosity overrode it
and he quietly walked over to the table to listen. 

"Come on, darlin'," the man, a big, burly biker type, was
saying. "Just one dance?" 

"I told you, I'm with someone." 

"Hey, you're not wearing a ring, so that means ya don't
belong to nobody. Just one dance." 

Scully turned ice blue eyes on him. "No." It was simple and
to the point. Heaving a big sigh, the guy turned and walked
off.

With a smirk, Mulder sat back down across from Scully. She
glared at him, blaming him for their present situation, no
doubt. He shrugged, but didn't say a word. As he had
guessed, his hamburger, when it came, was great. Scully had
settled for a bowl of chili, which, to Mulder's great
amusement, made her eyes water. They were almost finished
when he noticed a tall man with black hair and piercing blue
eyes staring at them from across the room. Or, more
specifically, staring at Scully. The glint in his eyes made
Mulder nervous. 

Soon, they stood to go. Mulder again wasn't surprised when
the man accosted them before they could reach the door. He
was beginning to think the bar hadn't been a good idea after
all. 

"Hey, pretty lady," the tall man said to Scully in a husky
voice. "What the hell are you doing with someone like him
when you could be with someone like me?" 

Scully smiled sweetly. "How original," she told him. "Are
you going to ask me what my sign is next?" 

The man simply laughed. "You're new here. I know I've never
seen you before." 

"Hey, Jake!" another man called out. "How can you tell that
when she's got all her clothes on?" 

The room erupted in laughter. But a few people looked
worried. The last thing they wanted was a fight. 

"Come on, babe," Jake continued. "I could show you things
you've only dreamed about." He grabbed Scully by the arm.
With a quick twist, she easily slipped our of his grasp. 

"Nothing you have could possibly interest me in the least."
Her tone was frigid. Ice Queen, Mulder thought, content for
now to let her handle the man. My Ice Queen. 

Scully started walking out and Mulder followed, trying hard
not to smile as he passed Jake. He didn't succeed. 

"Yeah, you just keep smiling, Mister. I would be, too, if I
was going home with a cunt like her." He turned his leer
back to Scully. "I'll bet she tastes as sweet as pie." 

Mulder's smile vanished. The use of that word, that one,
obscene word, to describe Scully had him seeing red. 

"Well?" Jake continued. "Is she?" 

Scully must have known what he was going to do before he
knew himself, because she tried to stop him. "Mulder, no!"
But she was too late.

Mulder spun around, his right fist connecting with Jake's
jaw with a 'SMACK' that echoed throughout the room. Jake
fell back, stunned, but he didn't go down. His eyes met
Mulder's and Mulder suddenly realized why Scully had tried
to stop him. He was committed to this fight until the end,
now. 

With a roar, Jake rushed him, his shoulder ramming Mulder in
the ribs, plowing him against the wall. He became conscious
of the cheering crowd that circled around them, but with the
breath knocked out of him, his eyes lost focus. His
training, however, was strong. He kicked upward with his
knee, shoving his opponent sideways as it connected. Jake
found himself off balance, and struggled to remain on his
feet. Jake's attention elsewhere was all Mulder needed to
get his breath back. With a left this time, he punched Jake
again. Jake recovered, and Mulder felt his own head jerk
back as Jake's fist connected. 

The man may have outweighed Mulder by a good 30 pounds, but
Mulder's agility, his training, and most of all, his
sobriety, was too much for Jake. Soon, Jake was on the
ground, groaning, not able to continue. 

Mulder stood straight, his ribs aching, blood dripping from
where his lip had split. He suddenly realized how silent it
had become. He looked for Scully and saw her still standing
by the door. Her face wore a mixture of shock, horror, and
something he wasn't ready to name. Her eyes met his, then
drifted down his body. He looked down to see what she was
looking at. During the fight, his jacket had gotten caught
behind his weapon. No wonder the room was so quiet; they
were afraid he was going to pull his gun and shoot somebody.
Mulder suddenly began to realize what a fool he had been.
The fight, combined with the no-longer-concealed weapon,
meant police would be arriving very soon. "Oh, Shit!" He
groaned. Then, without another word, he sprinted for the
door, grabbing Scully's arm on the way past. He didn't have
to drag her far, for once they got outside, she was running
full tilt on her own. They ran to the pick-up, which was
fortunately parked in a dark area of the lot, and drove off
without any headlights. No one followed.

************************************************************

Sheriff's Department 
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico 

Jake was fuming. First, he gets beaten up in front of all
his fellows, for the first time in ages. Then, his opponent
runs off, leaving him to deal with the police. Now, he sat
in a chair, an ice pack held up to one eye, trying to
explain the 'encounter' to a deputy without making himself
look like the guilty party. 

"Look, I'd never seen them before. He and the broad were
obviously not from around here." 

"What did he look like?" the Deputy asked patiently. 

"Tall, 'bout six feet, not as tall as me. Skinny. Dark hair
and beard." He paused. "When I saw the gun, I immediately
thought 'cop'. I guess it was the way he wore it." It would
explain why he beat me up so easily, too, he thought to
himself. 

"What about the woman? You said he was with a woman." Jake
sat silent. "You know," the Deputy continued. "The one you
guys were fighting over. What did she look like?" 

"Short, blonde, a bit prissy. Nice bod, but nothing
spectacular." Jake paused again. "Come to think of it, she
coulda been a cop, too." 

The Deputy made notes, then looked at Jake again. "Do you
have any idea what their names were?" 

"No, man! I told you! I've never seen them before!" Jake met
the Deputy's glare with one of his own. Then, he remembered
something. "Wait a minute. She called him something, just
before he hit me the first time." He thought back. "I think
it was 'Mudler' or 'Moulder'. No, no! It was 'Mulder'." 

The Deputy wrote down the name, then stood. "Hey, Luke," he
called across the room. "Run a check through the computer on
a 'Mulder', will you?" 

************************************************************

In the middle of the desert in New Mexico, about 3 miles
from the Arizona state line, is a small, run-down motel
called The Last Resort. After driving north for about 45
minutes, then south again, hoping to keep any pursuers from
learning their real route, Mulder and Scully settled there
for the night. However, things were not very settled at the
moment. 

Scully was angry. Very angry. As angry as Mulder had ever
seen her. And not just at Mulder, but at herself as well.
When she recalled yelling out 'Mulder' just before the
fight, she had berated herself as hard as she had Mulder.
Now, she paced the small room, arms folded, her eyes
blazing. Mulder was surprised her hair hadn't turned red
again due to her fury. He sat through it all, sitting on the
end of the bed, watching her with a washcloth wrapped around
ice held up to his jaw. Trying hard not to think how sexy
she looked angry. 

"I can't believe you did that!" She said for the umpteenth
time. "What were you thinking?!" 

"I wasn't thinking, that's the problem!" Mulder moaned. "I'm
sorry. I was angry. When I heard him say that word, I got
pissed!" 

Scully stopped her pacing and glared at him. "They'll report
this, you know. It will be known that we look different now.
It will be known what part of the country we're in. It's not
much, but at the same time, it's too much! Damn it, Mulder!
How could you?!" Her voice had risen steadily through her
short tirade. And again, despite the situation, Mulder felt
a nudge from below his belt. 

"What else can I say?" he asked her. "Look, maybe there's a
chance they didn't call the cops. I'm sure I wasn't the only
person in that bar carrying a concealed weapon. Or, maybe no
one heard you shout my name. Maybe they'll let it slide by." 

Scully said nothing, but her expression said, 'Yeah, right!' 

"Well, we'll just keep going, straight to this Dr. Wood, and
keep a low profile." 

Scully shook he head. "Isn't that what we've been doing?"
She sighed, and Mulder saw the anger drain from her. "I
guess the honeymoon's over."

Mulder's eyebrows rose. "Honeymoon?" He stood and walked
toward her. "Darlin', I still have yet to do things to you
you ain't never done before." 

Scully smiled faintly at Mulder's parody of Jake. She looked
up at him. "I hate to admit it, but..." 

"But what?" 

"Watching you fight like that. For my 'honor', if you will.
It was..." 

Mulder smiled. "Yes?" He thought he knew what she was trying
to say, but wanted to hear her say it. 

Scully sighed. "It kind of turned me on." She tried her
hardest to look regretful, but it didn't work. 

He wrapped his arms around her. "Just be gentle. My ribs
hurt."

"Oh, poor baby," Scully said sarcastically. Then she stepped
out of his arms and started to pull his shirt up over his
head. Mulder lifted his arms to assist, wincing. Then he
shivered as her soft hands began running gently along his
ribs, which were already showing signs of bruising. She bent
and kissed the worst of the bruises. 

"I think you'll be fine," she whispered. She slowly started
to unbuckle his belt. He backed towards the bed behind him,
Scully following. 

"Scully," he said, his voice rough. 

"Hmm?" 

"As my reward for being your 'knight', can you do something
for me tonight?" 

With a small smile on her face, she asked, "Like what?" 

"Call me 'Fox'." 

She laughed outright. Nearly every time they made love, she
ended up calling him 'Fox'. Gently, she grabbed his lower
lip between hers, running her tongue along the small cut
there. Mulder groaned, the sound a mixture of pain and
pleasure. "Only if you do your job right," she threatened
him.  

"Oh, I'll be sure to," he replied in a husky whisper. With a
quick move that made Scully gasp, he grabbed her by the
waist, spun her around, and literally threw her on the bed.
Scully gave a delighted laugh, thrilling Mulder; oh, how he
loved to hear her laugh! With speed that would have
impressed a NASCAR pit crew, they undressed. Mulder joined
her on the bed. 

She wrapped her arms around him, lifting her face to meet
his lips, but he didn't kiss her. Instead, he lowered his
head, grasping her nipple in his mouth and sucking hard.
Scully arched her back, letting out a hissing breath. With a
smile, Mulder began working his way down her body. He felt
her tense, but continued his journey, making sure the
bristles from his thin beard rubbed against every inch of
her he passed. She was breathing hard, but lying still, when
he reached her center. Though their love-making has always
been passionate and a little wild, they had yet to go this
far. He looked up at her questioningly. She was watching
him, her eyes dark. She gave him a slight nod. Meeting her
eyes one last time, he lowered his head, kissing her wet
core, using lips, tongue and teeth to drive her mad. She
wriggled and bucked beneath him. He grasped her hips, trying
to hold her still, but her taste, combined with her panting
cries, were driving him just as wild.

"Mulder!" Scully screamed. "Now!" She was tugging on his
hair, her whole body arching violently off the bed. He
stopped his ministrations, causing her to groan in both
relief and despair. He slid his body up hers, taking her
lips this time, feeling her tongue thrust into his mouth at
the same moment he thrust into her wet, swollen channel. She
screamed again, but it wasn't 'Mulder' she said. With a
smile, he began to pound into her until his own release made
him scream and her smile.

************************************************************

The blue Taurus rental sped down the highway. Cat was at the
wheel; she rarely got to drive when she was with Mulder.
Monroe was studying a map in the passenger seat. They were
headed to New Mexico, where their first, and so far only,
lead was. They had gone to Spokane first, but no one there
knew anything...or they just weren't talking. But now it had
been confirmed that Mulder had been spotted in a bar fight
in New Mexico. 

"What the hell are they doing in New Mexico?" she asked
aloud. It was a rhetorical question, but Monroe answered
anyway. 

"You know, Roswell. Crashed alien spaceships. That sort of
thing." Monroe never looked up from the map. 

Cat glanced at him. "I thought you didn't know anything
about that kind of stuff." 

"Hey, everyone in America knows about Roswell, whether they
believe it or not." He looked out the window. "Maybe their
not 'in' New Mexico. Maybe they were just passing through." 

"On the way to where?" 

Monroe shrugged. "You know Mulder pretty well. What do you
think?"

"The guy the county sheriff described had a beard. That's
not the Mulder I know." She thought for a bit. "Why are they
hiding? What do they have? Information, or something more
concrete?" 

Monroe sighed, shaking his head. 

"Well, you know Agent Scully pretty well. What would it take
to get her to up and leave her job like this?" 

"The deputy said the woman with Mulder was blonde. That's
not the Scully I know." His tone was dry. 

Cat sent him a glare. "Monroe, please. Help me out here?" 

He looked at her with a smirk on his face, his blue eyes
flashing. "Sorry." He shrugged again. "It's got to be
something she's dealt with before. Something extremely
important. And dangerous." 

They sat quietly in the vehicle for a moment. "Wait a
minute," Cat said. "Something," she repeated, emphasizing
the 'thing'. "What if it's the vaccine?" 

Monroe furrowed his brow. "Vaccine for what?" 

"The alien virus. Mulder told me about it after he found me
reading Scully's file one day." She paused as Monroe started
laughing. "Come on! I'm sure you heard about what's happened
to her in the past. How she was infected with a virus and
nearly died." 

"Yeah, but alien?" 

"Whatever. What if they have the vaccine for it? Where would
they go?" 

Monroe quieted, thinking. "Scully's a doctor. She would want
to find another doctor to help her. A friend most likely." 

"One the Conspiracy doesn't know about," Cat murmured. 

"Conspiracy?" 

"Never mind. I'll explain it to you later."

*****

End 4/7

Someday-Part 5/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

St. John's Medical Center 
Tucson, Arizona 

It was shortly after noon when Mulder and Scully walked into
St. John's Medical Center. Scully hated it, but she was once
again looking over her shoulder, and she felt Mulder's
nervousness as well. It looked like the honeymoon was indeed
over. Silently, Scully lead Mulder to the 5th floor, where
Dr. Chloe Wood's office was located. 

She swung around the corner and smiled when she saw her old
friend standing in the hallway talking to a couple of
people. Her smile faded when she recognized them. She
stopped and began to back up, hoping to slip back around the
corner before they noticed her. But Mulder, having been
walking several feet behind her, slammed into her back.
"Scully, what..?" The three faces at the end of the hall
turned towards them. 

Scully felt Mulder's body turn to stone behind her, and his
voice, when he spoke, was ice tinged with fear. "What the
hell are you doing here?" 

Cat, her dark eyes wide, took a step towards them. "Mulder!
We're here to help! Skinner sent us." 

"How did you find us?" Scully demanded. 

Cat glanced at Justin. "It was luck, really. We knew you
were in the southwest somewhere after the bar brawl." She
seemed to take note of Mulder's slightly blackened eye and
swollen lip. "We learned that Dr. Wood had taught at the
Academy at the same time as Agent Scully." 

"It wasn't a brawl," Mulder commented. His voice sounded
tired, as if he had given up. "Why did you think we would
come to Dr. Wood?" 

"O'Neil thought you guys might have a vaccine," Justin
answered. "Dr. Wood was the logical choice." 

Scully felt a chill work its way up her back. Cat's
intuition was very similar to Mulder's, it seemed. He was
always making spectacular leaps in logic that proved correct
in the end. She looked at Cat. "Why did you think we have
the vaccine?" 

Cat shrugged. "It was a guess." 

Scully turned to look at Mulder, her eyebrows raised. He was
wearing a small smile, as if proud of his protege. He had
every right to be, Scully thought. Cat was almost a
feminine, mirror image of Mulder. 

Scully looked at Dr. Wood. "Hi, Chloe." 

"Dana." Chloe Wood nodded to her. 

"Chloe," Scully continued. "We need your help." 

Glancing at the younger agents, Chloe smirked. "So I
gathered." She motioned toward her office. "Shall we?"

************************************************************

St. John's Medical Center
Doctor Chloe Wood's Office 
                             
By reviewing the antibodies in Scully's blood, which she had
acquired when Mulder injected her with the original vaccine
a few years ago in Antarctica, Dr. Wood was able to confirm
that the content of the vial was indeed the vaccine. She
also confirmed that it would be easy to replicate. The five
of them 'camped out' in Chloe's office the rest of that day
and into the night. While Scully helped Chloe with the
replication procedures, Mulder and the others planned the
next step. 

From what Chloe could determine, the vaccine had been
produced from the killed virus itself, the way many vaccines
were made. Nonetheless, this made Mulder and Scully nervous;
they didn't like the idea of being around the virus, dead or
otherwise. 

It was well past four the next morning when Scully
determined they had enough made up. "Now what?" Mulder said
to no one in particular, but his attention was on Scully. 

"Are we still going to go with my suggestion?" she asked
back. 

"What suggestion?" Monroe asked.

"I thought Mulder told you," Scully asked. 

"He told us we might have to split up, in pairs or
something, taking the vaccine and hiding it," Cat responded. 

Scully shook her head. "Yes and no. We need to split up,
yes, but I think it's best if we all split up, *all* of us.
The more vaccine we hide away for future use, the better."
She looked at each one in turn. "It's also better insurance
in case one of us gets caught." She looked at Chloe. "I
don't expect you to help us anymore. You've done more than
enough already." 

"Are you kidding?" Chloe asked. "I'm not going to stop now.
I know people in Mexico who can hide this stuff." 

Scully nodded. "We can all hide it, tell a few trustworthy
souls about it, so that more than one person knows where and
what to look for when the time comes. Sort of like the
Navajo's way of passing down stories, huh, Mulder?" 

Mulder nodded, but he knew his nervousness showed. "I'm not
sure it's a good idea to split up completely." 

"Between the five of us, I think we can ensure that this
stuff stays safe," Scully argued. 

But Mulder obviously wasn't convinced. "Scully, can I have
word with you?"

Scully followed Mulder over to the far side of the lab.
"What's wrong? You suddenly don't like my idea?" 

"No. I think it's our best option if we want to have a life
after this is over. I just don't like being separated." 

"Mulder, just because we're sleeping together now does not
mean I can't take care of myself as I have always been able
to do. This is a very good reason why we shouldn't have let
this relationship change!" She was whispering, but her voice
sounded sharp anyway. 

Mulder grimaced. "I know very well you can take care of
yourself. That is one of the reasons I love you so much.
Your strength, your confidence. But I have a bad feeling
about this!" He sighed. "Contramundum, remember?" 

"Mulder, we stand a better chance of succeeding if we
separate. And when we succeed, we can be together." 

"You promise?" His heart started beating harder. The idea of
spending the rest of his life loving this woman thrilled
him. But the fear remained. "Why do I feel like you're
leaving for good, again?" 

She moved in close, looking him in the eye. "Not for good.
Never for good." 

"I just have a bad feeling about this." 

"You sound like a character from 'Star Wars'." Scully joked,
then paused. "Someday is almost here, Mulder. It's almost
here." 

************************************************************

The five of them separated after a quick breakfast around
six in the morning. Chloe was taking a quick trip south of
the border, to a doctor friend in Mexico. Monroe and Cat
headed north, planning to split up in Nevada the next day.
Mulder and Scully retraced their steps east. Well, not
exactly the same route, Mulder thought wryly. They managed
to avoid going near a little road house just outside Truth
or Consequences, New Mexico. 

At dusk, they stopped at a motel somewhere in Texas. The
plan was for Scully to take a flight out of Dallas the next
day, destination unknown to all but her. Mulder was not
anxious for the separation. 

Late that night, he lay awake, staring at the ceiling, his
arms wrapped tightly around a sleeping Scully. He and Scully
had been through so much, what was one more trial? When this
was over, when all the samples were well hidden, maybe they
could get their lives back. Not the same lives, of course.
He knew without a doubt that this little escapade would cost
him his job. Finally. But, he didn't regret it. He was
content to let Cat take over the X Files. Imagine that! But,
then what was he to do?

He turned his face into Scully's hair, breathing deeply. If
he searched deep down in his heart, he knew what he wanted
to do. Marry the woman sleeping beside him and start
producing red-headed, green-eyed babies. But that was most
likely impossible. Even if Scully would settle down and
marry him, she couldn't have children. Not by conventional
means, anyway. His thoughts drifted back to the ova he had
secreted away with the help of the Lone Gunmen. There was
always that option. 

He closed his eyes and pictured it: He and Scully, always
together, never apart, no matter what the situation. He
could see her, smiling, her belly round with his child. He
felt his heart literally ache. God, how he wanted to make
her happy! 

She was starting to wake next to him, her hand sliding along
him, fingers playing with his chest hair. Mulder's mind,
still on his fantasy vision, asked before he could stop
himself, "Do you know what I wish?" 

She lifted her head, giving him a sleepy look. "What?" 

He took a deep breath. "Nothing. Never mind."

Scully gave the hair she was fingering a sharp tug. 

"Ouch!" 

"What?" she repeated. "Don't get me all curious and then
back off!" 

Mulder sighed. "I wish we had made a baby tonight." 

Scully stilled, her eyes wide. Then she smiled. A sad smile.
"Really?" 

"Yeah, really." 

She lowered her head and gently kissed him. "I do, too." 

"What if.." he paused. "What if I told you that you *could*
have children." 

She tilted her head in curiosity, but remained quiet. 

"Scully, I've kept something from you. I know I shouldn't
have, but.." 

"My ova?" Scully interrupted in a soft voice. 

Mulder felt shock sweep through him. "You know?" 

She nodded. "Frohike told me."

For a moment, Mulder felt anger replace his shock. Scully
noticed. "Don't get mad at him. I knew he was hiding
something important from me and I forced it out of him. You
know very well that *he* can't lie to me." 

Mulder felt his face heat. "And you're not mad?" 

"Oh, I was a bit ticked for a while, yes. But not anymore.
And who knows; Maybe I'll have need for them in the future." 
She lay her head back on his shoulder. 

"Scully?" 

"Hmm?" 

"If you do decide you have a need for them..." He stopped. 

"Don't worry, Mulder. You'll be the first to know." He felt
her smile. "You'll have to be if you're going to be the
donor."

Mulder smiled, feeling incredibly relieved. 

"Scully?" 

With a soft laugh, she replied, "Hmm?" 

"Be careful. I want you to have those babies in the future." 

"A future we're helping to protect with this vaccine," she
reminded him. 

"Just promise me you'll be careful." His voice had become
hard. 

"I promise," she sighed. Then she moved up on his chest so
she could face him. "You're really worried, aren't you?" 

He brought his hand up, brushing hair from her face. Then he
cupped her cheek. "Yes." His voice was soft, but deadly
serious. 

He could tell by her expression that she recognized his very
real fear. She nodded, then brought her lips down on his. He
knew she was trying to distract him, and he decided to let
her. In the back of his mind he began to pray, yes pray,
that this would not be the last time he made love to her. 

************************************************************

Somewhere in Virginia

"Well, have you found them, yet?" CGB Spender was angry. He
had learned , only a week ago, about the vaccine Dr.
Hendrickson had produced, and by the time he was able to do
something about it, Mulder had the vaccine. Mulder. He felt
a twinge of pride at the thought of the young agent, but
anxiety as well. He had hoped that Mulder's obsession had
been forgotten in Scully's absence. Evidently, it hadn't. 

Alex Krycek stood before Spender, his eyes never leaving the
old man's. "I thought I had them in Tucson. They met up with
a Dr. Wood there. But by the time I arrived, they were gone.
I think O'Neil and an agent called Monroe are with them as
well." 

"Shit!" Spender cursed softly, then started coughing. "Where
did they go?" he asked when he had his breath back. 

Krycek sighed, for the first time showing his frustration.
"As far as I can tell, all five of them split up." 

"What?" Spender leaned back in his chair. "If they all have
samples of the vaccine..." He shook his head. This was not
good. 'They' would not be happy to hear about this. "We'll
never find it all." He looked at Krycek. 

"Do you want me and the others to keep looking?" 

Spender sighed again. "No." He glanced at the gray haired
man standing towards the back of the room, who had stood
silently through the entire exchange. "No, but I do want you
to find *one* of them." He turned back to Krycek. "I want
you to find Agent Scully and bring her to me." He glanced at
the quiet one again. "To us."

************************************************************

Scully had been mad at herself plenty of times in her life,
but she couldn't recall being this pissed at herself before.
She had made it far too easy for them. Why had she believed
that just because she wasn't carrying the vaccine anymore,
she was safe? 

She had made it as far as the National Airport, and had
decided to call Mulder and tell him she was okay. Standing
at the pay phones, she had called his apartment, getting his
answering machine. She had told him she would meet him and
the others as planned that night at Headquarters. With a
quick 'I miss you', she hung up and turned away from the
phones. 

And she had literally run smack into Alex Krycek. "Hello,
Dana. You are a hard lady to find, did you know that?" 

She'd been unarmed; she'd had to leave her weapon with
Mulder in Texas in order to board the plane. Of course, she
didn't know what she would have done with a gun in a crowded
airport anyway. Now, here she sat, in the back of a dark
sedan, Krycek holding a gun on her. She didn't bother asking
him where they were going; he wouldn't tell her anyway. 

They finally arrived at an old farmhouse in what Scully
believed must be the Virginia countryside. She followed
Krycek into the building and came face to face with *him*. 

"C.G.B. Spender." she commented. "What a surprise. I can't
say that I've missed you." 

Spender smirked. "Ah, but I have missed you, Dana." He
walked toward her and touched her hair. The blonde color was
slowly fading after every wash she gave her hair: thank
goodness for temporary hair color. "I never pictured you as
a blonde before." 

She jerked away from his touch. "Exactly."

Spender turned and walked to a chair, sitting facing Scully.
"Your friend, Dr. Wood, is already back at work acting like
she never left. O'Neil and this Monroe are also finished
with their 'duties' and are back in D.C." He tilted his
head. "Quite a plan you and Mulder devised. I had hoped that
more than a year of separation would have weakened your
bond, but apparently I was wrong. 

"You may have won this round with your vaccine, but you and
Mulder have become too much of a problem with the people in
charge now. They want both of you dead, no excuses. They're
tired of you always getting in the way. I can do nothing to
change their mind. Your friends are safe, for now, but you
and Mulder are not. They WILL kill you both." 

Scully let out a humorless laugh. "Aren't you a part of the
'they' you're talking about?" 

Spender shook his head. "No, Dana. Not in this. We want you
and Mulder to live." 

She glanced at Krycek, who stood without speaking by the
door. "We?" 

"Yes," said a voice from behind her. "We." 

Scully spun around, her eyes widening. The man standing
before her was supposed to be dead. 

Mulder had told her that he had died in a car bombing, just
after he had given Mulder the original vaccine that had
saved her life in Antarctica. 

"I heard you were dead," she whispered. 

"Yes," the Well-Manicured Man said. "It isn't as difficult
as it seems to make the world believe you are dead." He
stepped closer, and Scully was surprised to find she wasn't
as fearful of this man as she was Spender. His grey eyes
were flashing with amusement. "We want to help you, Agent
Scully." 

"How?" 

He smiled. "We want to help you and Mulder 'die'."

*****

End of 5/7 

Someday-Part 6/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

FBI Headquarters 
6:51 P.M. 

Mulder was pacing the hallway outside the OPR conference
room. Cat and Skinner were sitting on the bench trying to
ignore his irritating movements. Monroe stood leaning
against the wall, watching Mulder with an amused expression,
his head moving back and forth as if he was watching a
tennis match. They were waiting for Scully. 

Mulder stopped and looked at his watch...again. Then he
glared at Skinner. "Her message said she'd be here." Skinner
said nothing in response. "She would have called me if she
was going to be late." 

"How?" Cat asked quietly. "You don't have your cell phone
with you." 

"She would have found a way!" he yelled. Both Skinner's and
O'Neil's eyes widened in surprise; Mulder rarely yelled. He
sighed, rubbing his hands over his freshly shaved face. Then
he looked down the hall toward the entrance of the building.
No one. 

"Something's wrong," he said. His voice was so soft, the
others almost didn't hear him. 

"Mulder..." Skinner started. 

He was interrupted when the conference room door opened.

"Mr. Skinner?" One of the OPR assistants stood in the
doorway. She looked very nervous, as if about to give bad
news. 

"Sir, we just received a call from the Metro Police." She
looked at Mulder, her expression pained. "Sir, the car Agent
Scully rented at the airport, it..." 

"Go on, Leslie," Skinner encouraged. 

"It was bombed, sir. They just got the fire under control.
They've confirmed that there is a body inside." 

"Agent Scully?" Skinner's voice was suddenly rough as sand
paper. 

"They're not sure. It's badly burned. They'll have to run a
dental check and possibly a DNA check as well. But they
believe that it is her, yes." 

For a long time, silence reigned. The pin that dropped to
the floor could indeed be heard by all. No one could look at
each other. No one could look at Mulder. 

Then, with a sound that reflected incredible agony, Mulder
turned and started down the hall. They all watched him now.
Skinner didn't stop him, even thought he hadn't yet met with
the OPR. He knew where Mulder was going; to the site of the
bombing. He was going to prove that Scully wasn't dead.
Skinner was afraid that he wouldn't succeed. He stood and
followed from a distance; Mulder would need someone to watch
out for him tonight.

************************************************************

Bethesda Naval Hospital 
20 hours later 

Five silent people sat in the tiny waiting room in the
basement of Bethesda. They were waiting for confirmation;
the DNA test to prove that Agent Scully had indeed been in
her car during the bombing was almost complete. This time,
the man pacing the floor was Scully's brother Bill. Her
mother, Maggie, sat quietly, her expression calm, despite
the horror of the situation. Cat sat next to Mulder, ordered
by AD Skinner to keep an eye on him. 

Mulder, his face devoid of expression, sat staring at the
floor. He had ignored everyone, even Maggie, since the
moment he had arrived. His jaw was sore from clenching his
teeth, and he knew his eyes were red from lack of sleep. But
they were dry; no tears. Not yet. 

Finally, a laboratory technician stepped through the door.
He looked exceedingly nervous. "Mrs. Scully?" 

Maggie stood and walked up to him. All eyes followed her.
All but Mulder's. "Yes?" 

"Mrs. Scully," the tech continued. "I'm sorry. The DNA was a
positive match. The body in the car was indeed your
daughter's."

Maggie hugged herself, dropping her eyes to the floor. "Oh,
God," she whispered. Bill came up behind her to grasp her
shoulders, helping her stay upright. Skinner, who had
entered the room following the tech, let his glance fall on
Cat, who looked to be near tears, and Mulder, who hadn't
moved a muscle. 

The tech muttered more condolences, then left. Skinner, who
was trying hard to hold back tears of his own, went up to
Maggie. "Mrs. Scully. I am so sorry. I don't have the
words..." 

Tears slid slowly down Maggie's face. Bill glared at
Skinner, then turned to Mulder. "She was fine in Spokane!
Happy! And safe. Then you had to get her involved in your
war!" 

Mulder didn't look up. 

"You bastard!" Bill continued. "She's dead because of you!" 

"William!" Maggie scolded, her voice strong. 

Bill turned startled eyes toward his mother. Even Mulder had
finally looked up, as if her shout had awakened him from
sleep. 

Maggie took a deep breath. "Bill, please. Dana was her own
person. She lived by her own rules and her life was not
dictated by anybody but herself. Fox is not to blame." 

"Are you sure about that?" Mulder's voice was rusty with
disuse. They all looked at him. "I didn't need to ask for
her help. I didn't have to get her involved." 

"And she didn't have to help you," Maggie argued. 

"But what if she couldn't refuse?! You know how she was,
loyal to the end." He couldn't believe he was talking about
her in the past tense. He stood. 

"Yes, but it was her loyalty to give!" Maggie's voice rose,
then she shook her head in frustration. She walked up to
Mulder and placed her hands on his face, forcing him to look
at her. "Fox! Dana loved you, but she would not do anything
life threatening that she didn't believe in, even if you
asked. I don't know what you both were involved with, but I
do have a feeling she died fighting the good fight." 

Maggie lowered her hands from Mulder's face, stepped back a
bit, then grasped both of his hands gently. "You WILL be
with Dana again. I know it." Giving him a small smile, she
squeezed his hands. 

"Someday." 

With that, she turned and lead Bill out of the room. 

Mulder stood stunned. That word. Was it just coincidence? Or
had Maggie been trying to tell him something? Without
another word, he left the room, intent on getting home. Cat
and Skinner looked at each other, then followed. 

"Maybe we should take his gun?" Cat asked. She knew Mulder
had been thought suicidal in the past. 

Skinner looked at her. "Let's just keep our eyes on him." 

Mulder heard them, but he ignored them and kept on walking.
He knew very well that if he wanted to use his gun on
himself, they would not be able to stop him.

************************************************************

Mulder's Apartment 
The Next Day 

Mulder lay sprawled on his couch, staring at nothing, trying
to keep his mind blank. It was pretty much all he had done
in the last 20 hours. It had been easy to slip into his
apartment, locking out the world (and Cat and Skinner). He
refused to answer the door, though someone knocked every
hour or so. He did not answer the phone. He barely even
heard the callers as they left messages. He did remember
getting the official notice that he had been 'sacked'. No
surprise there. He had also paid attention when Maggie
Scully had called, but lost interest when he realized she
was calling to tell him of the funeral arrangements. Fohike
had called once, asking if he was all right and to please
talk to him or he was going to come over and kick Mulder's
ass. 

He still had his weapon. It sat on the coffee table next to
him. He had almost used it more than one time since he had
left the hospital, but something held him back. He knew it
was Mrs. Scully's use of the word 'someday'. It had to be
coincidence. He contemplated calling her and asking her
outright what she had meant by the word, but he didn't want
to upset her if it was nothing. So he lay there listening to
caller after caller asking if he was all right.

Was he all right? All right? No! He was not all right! Half
of him was dead and the other about to die! Mulder felt rage
building, overriding the grief. It wasn't fair! For the
first time in so long, his future had actually been bright
once again. But now that light was gone. He should never had
found the X Files! They were to blame! 

He closed his eyes, not even hearing the phone ring one more
time. No. As much as he regretted this quest of his, which
had begun so long ago, he knew that he never would have met
Scully had it not been for the X Files. She would probably
be married, have kids, alive. But he allowed himself this
moment of selfishness, glad that he had known her. Glad that
she had made his life better, if only for a short while. 

But had that happiness really been worth it? he asked
himself. After all, the pain of her loss was unbearable. 

Still, that flame of hope that Maggie had kindled burned. 

With a groan, he sat up, amazed at how stiff a person could
become by laying in the same position for hours on end. He
got up, gabbed his keys, his jacket, and his gun, and headed
out the door. He had to talk to Maggie. Even if it meant
going through Bill.

************************************************************

Mulder left his apartment building, shaking his head sadly
when he noticed the agent assigned to watch him asleep in
his car. Skinner had obviously been distracted, sending
agents like that! He started walking for his own car, which
was parked down the street. As he got nearer, he noticed
what appeared to be a person sitting in it. He quickened his
pace. Suddenly, the car, and its occupant, disappeared in a
ball of white and orange flame as the car exploded. Mulder
felt the incredible heat on his face as he was thrown
backwards on the sidewalk. The blazing car lit up the night,
drawing people outside from the surrounding buildings. 

Mulder stood on shaky legs, and was suddenly grabbed by the
arm and dragged into the ally he was standing next to. He
turned startled eyes toward Alex Krycek. The man simply
smiled at him. Then he lead Mulder further into the dark,
man-made canyon. 

Mulder felt his shock from the bombing increase when he saw
who awaited him. Two men, a grey-haired, dignified dandy,
and a cigarette-smoking bastard. 'They meant to kill me,'
was his first thought. 'No. If that was their plan, they
would have succeeded.' 

Mulder's second thought was of Scully. What if this is what
happened to her? "Where is she?" he demanded. 

WMM smiled. "It's nice to see you again as well, Mr.
Mulder." 

"Where's Scully?" 

"What makes you think we have Agent Scully?" CSM asked. 

"Isn't this what you did to her? Blow up her car with
someone else inside, then let the world believe it was her?"

He looked at WMM. "Isn't that what you did for yourself?" 

WMM kept smiling. "Mr. Mulder, I am impressed by your
imagination. It has always had a tendency to reflect fact." 

She's alive! The man hadn't outrightly said it, but Mulder
believed it nonetheless. "Who was in that car?" 

"No one you need concern yourself with, I'm sure," WMM
continued. "But, if you want, it could be you. We can easily
arrange it." 

Mulder stared at the man. He was being offered the chance to
start over; to become someone entirely new. These men could
do it. They could manipulate dental records and even DNA
samples so that the man in the car could become him. "Why?" 

"Our 'former' colleagues want you gone. We decided to oblige
them," CSM answered. 

WMM reached out to hand Mulder a folder. Slowly, Mulder took
it from him, remembering that this was the man who had given
him the original vaccine years ago. The man who had
supposedly sacrificed himself to save both Scully and
Mulder. He opened the folder. Inside was a New York Driver's
License, a passport, a plane ticket and other information.
The pictures on the license and passport were his. The name
was not. "Who's Ian Zweifel?" 

CSM smiled behind his curtain of smoke. "You."

"Fox Mulder is dead," WMM said. "Ian Zweifel has a full life
ahead of him." He nodded toward the folder. "Take that
passport and use that plane ticket. It will take you to a
place where you can relax and think. Where you go from there
is completely up to you." 

"It's kind of like the Witness Protection Program, Fox. You
get to start over." 

Mulder didn't know how to feel. Did he really want to start
over? Did he really want Fox Mulder to die? It wasn't like
he had anything, or anyone, to live for anymore. But... 

"Why should I trust you, after all you've done to me in the
past?" 

"Fox," CSM said, and Mulder winced at the sound of his name
on this man's tongue. "You will die if you stay here. What
have you got to lose?" 

"We can contact one person you trust, but only one, and tell
him or her that you are still alive. Who that person is will
be your choice. But future contact with that person must be
severely limited." 

"Skinner," Mulder said without hesitation. The only other
people he cared enough about to tell the truth to were the
Gunmen, and Skinner would handle it better than them. 

"So you'll do it?" CSM asked. 

Mulder looked at Krycek. "What about him?" 

"He knows nothing. Do you, Mr. Krycek?" WMM asked. 

Krycek looked Mulder straight in the eye. "I envy you,
Mulder. You can leave all this behind. I won't ruin things
for you." 

Mulder had one more question on the tip of his tongue, but
he was afraid to ask it. He looked at the name of the place
he was supposed to be going to. Maybe that was his answer.
Then he looked up at the three men before him, three men he
had spent years hating. He nodded. "I'll do it." 

Mulder glanced behind him, back to where his car was still
burning with a stranger the world would know as Fox Mulder
inside. Firemen and police were trying to keep the
spectators away. When he turned back, Krycek and WMM were
walking away. CSM stood looking at him. 

"Good luck...Ian." He turned and began to follow the others. 

"Why are you doing this?" Mulder called after him. 

CSM turned and smiled. "I've grown much too fond of you and
Dana over the years." His gaze turned inward. "Maybe I do
have a heart after all." With one last puff on his
cigarette, he turned and walked away. 

************************************************************

Pine Lawn Cemetery 
Two Days Later 

It was an impressive gathering. Hundreds of people, some
truly in mourning, most just curious, were attending the
funeral. The Director of the FBI was there. As was the
Vice-president of the United States. Two agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation had fallen to what many
considered horrible terrorist attacks. Today the world was
here to say farewell. 

Sitting in the front of the crowd, listening intently to
Father McCue, sat the Scully family. Though Maggie knew
Mulder wasn't Catholic, she had decided to have him included
in the service with her daughter. Skinner, who had been left
in charge of Mulder's 'estate', had agreed. He sat next to
her, sliding glances her way from time to time, wondering if
she knew the truth; that this memorial service was all a
fake. 

He slowly looked around. He was sure no one else suspected
it. Bill Scully and his wife and son, Charles Scully and his
family, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends. Even Moira Anderson
was there, having flown in from Spokane the day before.
Scully was well represented. 

But Mulder had not been forgotten. Several agents from the
VCS and Behavior Sciences had come, as had the Gunmen. Byers
stood with his arm around Cat O'Neil, both of their faces
drawn and tired. Langly, in a conservative suit (the first
time Skinner had ever seen him dressed up) and Frohike both
looked as if they were suffering from hangovers.

Skinner faced forward again, but still wasn't paying any
attention to the priest's words. He looked down at the two
headstones laying side by side. If they were really dead,
this is how they should be buried, he thought. Together.
Even in death. It was appropriate. 

Soon, the service was over and the crowd began to dissipate.
He saw Monroe, who had been standing further back in the
crowd, come forward. "Sir," he said when he reached Skinner.
"I'm so sorry. I feel like there's something I could have
done to prevent this." 

Skinner shook his head. "You and O'Neil did what you could.
Nothing could have prevented this. Just feel fortunate you
and Cat weren't targeted as well." He sighed, looking back
at the headstones. "Maybe this is for the best." 

Maggie Scully heard this statement, and before she turned to
leave she gave Skinner a small, secret smile of agreement.

************************************************************

FBI Headquarters 
Later That Day 

O'Neil sat at Mulder's desk, her desk now, feet up, trying
to calm her frazzled nerves. She had officially been named
in charge of the X Files today. Her name would now grace the
door; Mulder's had already been taken down. She was happy
for her promotion, of course, but she wished desperately
that it hadn't come about the way it had. Why did Mulder
have to die? She felt the tears come again and quickly
brushed them away. She never cried. 

A knock on the office door startled her. She pulled her feet
off the desk and looked up in surprise as Justin Monroe
walked in. 

"What are you doing here?" 

He grimaced. "It's official. I've been assigned permanently
to the X Files." 

O'Neil smiled slightly. "You don't have to be so thrilled
about it." 

He shrugged. "Well, you know, Scully wasn't very happy when
she was first assigned here, either. She told me. But she
ended up liking it well enough."

"Yeah," O'Neil argued, "but she was being partnered with
Mulder, a brilliant, challenging agent whom she already
respected." 

"I think you're a brilliant, challenging agent, and of
course I respect you." Monroe sat down across from her.
"Just remember, I get my name on the door, too." 

O'Neil laughed softly. "We've got big shoes to fill, don't
we?" 

"Yes, we do," Monroe agreed. "But don't think we can replace
Mulder and Scully; I don't think anyone could. I think we
should just be ourselves: Monroe and O'Neil." 

"You mean O'Neil and Monroe, don't you?" 

Monroe sent her a glare without any real power behind it. 

"So, where do we go from here?" O'Neil asked, her mood much
lighter than it had been all day. 

"Well, first things first, O'Neil. I need to ask you a
question." 

She leaned forward, all business. "Shoot." 

"Is this Byers guy available, by chance?" 

O'Neil's eyes darkened. "Touch him, and you're a dead man,
Monroe." 

He just laughed.

*****

End of 6/7

Someday-Part 7/7
Summary and disclaimers in Part 1

*****

That Same Day 
Starbuck Island, Northwest of Tahiti 

Mulder stood next to his rented jeep and looked up at the
building in front of him. It was a lovely, two story
mansion, built by a French trader in 1918, with a
wrap-around verandah on the second floor. The tropical sun
beat down on the white structure, making it almost too
bright to look at. It was called the Barnet Hotel. 

He was still in a state of shock from the happenings of the
last several days. After leaving the vicinity of the burning
car, he had looked at the rest of the information in the
folder. It seemed that Ian Zweifel was a wealthy man. A New
York bank held more money in his name than Mulder knew what
to do with. He was set for life, it seemed. Mr. Zweifel had
also reserved a room in this hotel indefinitely. 

Mulder walked up to the building, feeling over-dressed in a
long-sleeved shirt and jeans; it was a tropical paradise
after all. He carried a shoulder bag that held his few
personal belongings. Just a handful of momentos from his
past life as Fox Mulder. Another important object was tucked
safely in his front jeans pocket. He had rescued it from his
safe deposit box just before leaving Washington.

Mulder checked in and was lead upstairs by a young bellboy,
a native of the island, he assumed, looking at the kids
Polynesian features. His room had French doors with a
fantastic view of the ocean. The doors opened onto the
verandah, which he guessed was shared by all the guests. He
tipped the boy, sighed, then sat on the edge of the big,
four-poster bed. He was tired. He had been on the move
constantly since leaving D.C. He had flown to L.A., with a
stop in Denver, then changed planes to fly to Hawaii. From
there, he had flown to Tahiti, and then he had hopped on a
puddle-jumper here. Starbuck Island. So, where was Starbuck? 

He had half expected to see her at any moment. Every corner
he turned, he expected to run into her. Every door he
opened, he prayed she was on the other side. He wondered if
he was being too optimistic. Neither CSM nor WMM had
confirmed that she was alive; maybe she really was dead. Or
maybe she just wasn't here. Maybe she had been hidden away
somewhere else. 

With a yawn, he began to undress. He would have to buy new
clothes...again. He smiled, remembering shopping with Scully
in Custer. After taking off his boots and socks, he stood
and walked over to the French doors, unbuttoning his shirt.
The ocean view was too much to resist, so he stepped
outside, walking to the railing and bracing his hands on it.
He closed his eyes, rolling his head around to ease his
tired neck, breathing in the warm, salty breeze coming off
the Pacific. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw her.

She was standing on the beach below, not far from where the
waves touched the white sand. She was wearing a white
sundress that left her arms bare, the skirt swirling around
her bare legs and feet in the wind. Her hair was red once
again, the blonde having finally washed out, but it was
shorter than when he had last seen her. Had that only been
six days ago? It seemed like forever. 

He walked to the far end of the verandah, where a staircase
led down to the sand. Once he reached the beach, he walked
quickly in her direction. Before he had even had a chance to
say anything, she turned to face him, smiling, as if she had
known he was there before seeing him. He stopped sharply in
front of her, letting himself drown in her blue eyes. 

"Hi." Her voice was soft. The wind, coming from her back
now, blew strands of hair against her cheek. Slowly, as if
he was afraid a sudden move would make her disappear, Mulder
reached out to tuck the hair behind her ear. 

"Hi." 

"Welcome to Starbuck Island," she continued, her eyes
glinting with amusement. "I'm Sara. Sara Wegner." She held
out her hand. 

Mulder smiled and took her hand in his. "Ian Zweifel." 

She smiled. "Ian? I like it. It's a strong, Gaelic name."

Mulder laughed, but his smile soon faded. "Your mother
knows, doesn't she?" 

Scully's smile also disappeared as 'real life' was brought
to her attention. She drew back her hand. "Not where I am,
but that I'm alive, yes. They told me I could let one person
know. My first choice was you, but they knew you would be
watched closely after my 'death', and your reaction had to
be real." She looked down. "I am so sorry for doing that to
you." 

Mulder shook his head. "It was rough for a while, but your
mother said something to me that gave me hope." When Scully
gave him that familiar questioning look, he continued. "She
said we'd be together again...someday." 

She smiled again. "Looks like 'someday' is finally here."
She glanced up and down the beach. "Here in paradise." She
looked at him again. "You know, I dreamed of this place.
When you went missing. God, was that only two weeks ago? It
seems like forever since we were in the Black Hills." 

"I know," Mulder agreed. "You dreamed? A premonition?" 

"Maybe." 

"I didn't think Agent Scully believed in premonitions." 

Scully watched him for a while. "No, she didn't. But Sara is
willing to believe."

"Sara." Mulder tested the name out. He shook his head. "How
am I gonna do this? You're Scully. You'll always be Scully." 

"Your calm, rational Scully, as I recall." 

He nodded. "Yeah." 

"We'll make do, Mul-...Ian" 
They laughed. Then Mulder asked, serious, "What do we do
now, Scully?" 

"That's easy," she replied. "We have the whole future ahead
of us, Mulder. So let's start living it!" 

"Okay." That was just the opening he needed. He reached into
his front jeans pocket. "Let's start with this. I need to
ask you a question." He pulled out a tiny object. "I got
this a couple of years ago, just before you left for
Spokane. I bought it in New York, but it's an original." 

He held the object up for Scully to see. It was a ring. A
diamond solitaire bordered by tiny, gold grape leaves dusted
in shades of pink and green. "Black Hills Gold," Scully
whispered. 

"Dana." Scully looked up at him, her eyes flooding with
tears. "Scully. Will you marry me?" 

Scully bit her lip, then asked, "As Scully or as Sara?" 

"Both. Either. I don't care, as long as it's you." 

She nodded, blinking rapidly to keep her tears from falling.

He reached for her left hand and slid the ring on her
finger, breathing a sigh of relief when it fit perfectly.
"Scully, I love you." 

She smiled, unable to keep the tears from falling. "I love
you, too, Mulder." She wrapped her arms around his neck and
brought her lips to his. 

He took them like a starving man, drinking greedily from her
mouth, tongue delving deep. She moaned into his kiss and
rocked her hips against his. His jeans were already
uncomfortably tight. He pulled away slightly. "As much as
I'd like to make love to you on the beach, it is a bit
public." 

Her answering laughter was incredibly erotic. She moved her
hips against his once more. "We better take this inside,
then. We can always come back here after dark." 

Mulder took a sharp breath. "Oh, yeah!" 

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her toward the verandah stairs
at a run. Laughing, she followed without hesitation. They
tripped up the stairs, ran across the porch, and slipped
into the still open doors to Mulder's room. After quickly
locking them, he turned and grabbed her up in his arms. They
never made it to the bed. They didn't even bother to undress
completely. Mulder simply dropped his jeans and lifted
Scully's skirt up, removing her underwear with deft fingers.
He lifted her and pressed her against the wall. There was no
foreplay. There was no need. Both were more than ready for
each other. 

With her legs wrapped tightly around his waist and her hands
gripping his shoulders, fingernails digging into him, Mulder
was able concentrate on their pleasure. He shoved her
against the wall, over and over, knowing he was probably
going too fast, being too rough, but her responses refused
to let him slow down. He contemplated using his hand to help
her along, knowing he was going to explode any second now,
but then he felt her internal muscles tightening and knew
she was with him.

It was quite possibly the quickest coupling Mulder had ever
experienced, yet completely satisfying at the same time.
When Scully gasped out "Fox!", Mulder felt his own explosion
come with a force that stunned him. His knees gave out, and
he sank down to the floor, Scully's legs still firmly
clasped around him, her head on his shoulder. Soon, their
breathing returned to normal. Scully lifted her head and
smiled at him. "I love reunions."
 
************************************************************

Later, finally unclothed and in bed, Mulder watched Scully
as she admired her ring. "It's perfect, Mulder." 

He was silent for a while. "When I held that vaccine in my
hand for the first time, I thought to myself, 'Here is the
future'." He looked at her. "I'm glad the vaccine's safe,
and I'm glad we have the upper hand in this 'war', but I was
wrong when I thought that." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I'm holding the future in my arms right now," he whispered.
He felt slightly embarrassed to find tears in his eyes.
Scully had seen him cry before, but not from happiness. 

Scully smiled though her own tears of happiness. "It's not
going to be easy, this future. Even if we're not directly
involved anymore, we still are a part of the X Files. I
think we always will be." 

"I agree," he nodded. "But, as we have proved plenty of
times in the past, we can do anything as long as we stay
together." 

She nodded back. "Anything. I love you, Fox Mulder." 

"I love you, Dana Scully." 

Let the future begin. 

THE END

How do you define normal?