From: "Grey Lady" Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 19:06:59 -0000 Subject: NEW: Wrapped in Starlight 1/1 by Carol Gritton Source: xff TITLE: Wrapped in Starlight 1/1 AUTHOR: Carol Gritton E-MAIL: grey.lady@virgin.net DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 and Fox TV. They are used without permission and no infringement of copyright is intended. Similarly, the lines from "Bookends", words and music by Paul Simon, are used without permission. ARCHIVE: Gossamer and Spookys; anyone else please ask first. Thank you. RATING: G CLASSIFICATION: V SUMMARY: Remembering Samantha. SPOILERS: FTF, Season 7 "Closure" NOTES: Although I have quoted a couple of lines from Simon and Garfunkel's "Bookends", this is not a songfic. The lines have been driving me mad all day, until I had to do something with them. COMMENTS: Feedback is greatly appreciated and will be made welcome at the above address. Wrapped in Starlight 1/1 By Carol Gritton (grey.lady@virgin.net) Time it was and what a time it was it was, A time of innocence, a time of confidences. Long ago it must be, I have a photograph Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you. Mulder slowly leafed through the photograph album that he kept in his desk drawer. The last time he'd looked at it was after the Dallas debacle, just before Scully had come to tell him that she was quitting the FBI. Then, he'd been looking for evidence that Kurtzweill had indeed known Bill Mulder. Then, the well manicured Englishman had led Mulder to believe that Samantha was still alive, sacrificed by their father in a bid to save her from what was to come. Now, Mulder knew that he had been clutching at straws, hearing what he wanted to hear. Cassandra Spender had told him that Samantha was 'out there, with them', and yet again, he had heard what he wanted to hear. Now he knew that he had been deluding himself that for all the years he had been looking for her, Samantha had been dead. The photographs were many and varied; all of them telling their own particular story. High days and holidays, school and sporting achievements - all were frozen in time within the covers of the old album. Mulder was studying a snap of Samantha holding aloft the book prize she had won for consistent good marks in English. She had been so excited the book had been the first thing she had ever won. Mulder chuckled, also remembering how the prize had gone to her head and how insufferable his little sister had been for weeks afterwards. He was about to turn the page when there was two sharp knocks at the door. "It's open!" called Mulder, not even turning round as Scully came through the door. He knew it was her, there was no-one else to come visit him. Not now. Not ever. "Hey," she murmured softly, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing?" "Reliving old times." His fingers lightly touched the photo of Samantha captured in mid flight on their old garden swing, and he traced the contours of her broad smile. "We had some good ones, Scully." "I'd love to hear about them some time." She peered over his shoulder. "Isn't that your house at Quonachontaug?" "Yeah." "Why are you laughing and why is Samantha soaking wet?" Even now, the recollection made Mulder smile. "My dad had promised to take us fishing. Sam had never been before, she'd been too young, and unable to swim very well. But she had badgered him senseless, and in the end he agreed to let her come along too. She was helping me to push the rowing boat out when she lost her footing and fell into the water. Of course, I couldn't help but laugh and she got real mad, stamping her foot and yelling and crying with the humiliation." "Did Samantha ever get to go on that fishing trip?" "Oh yeah. Dad took us the next day, and Sam was thrilled because she caught a bigger fish than me. That made up for her soaking the day before." Mulder turned the page again and pointed to the photograph in the top left hand corner. "There that's Sam and her prize fish." Scully peered at it over his shoulder, seeing the gloriously happy little girl holding a small fish in both her hands, which were held out in front of her. "We were so innocent then, Scully," sighed Mulder. "We knew nothing of projects and conspiracies, of shady men in shady rooms plotting the downfall of the human race, and of surrendering their own family members like they were bargaining chips." Mulder closed the album and placed it back into the drawer. "Come on, Scully." "Where are we going, Mulder?" "Just come with me." He took her hand and pulled her along behind him, snatching his jacket off the peg by the door then closing the door behind him. "Where are we going, Mulder?" repeated Scully as she fastened her safety belt. "A magical mystery tour." "Sounds like any one of our cases, Mulder." Scully smiled up at him. Wherever he led, she followed. With the warm throaty chuckle Scully had feared she would never hear again, Mulder pulled out and drove off into the night. Scully kept glancing at her partner as he drove, and as if sensing her thoughts, Mulder said, "It's okay, Scully. I'm completely sane I haven't taken leave of my senses." Scully looked down at her hands, cradled in her lap. "I'm sorry, Mulder, I didn't..." "It's all right, Scully," he answered reaching for her hand and squeezing it as he drove. "I'm fine." "You're stealing my line again." Scully's tone was one of warm affection. Mulder glanced sideways at her and said softly, "Today was the first time I've felt able to look inside that album since the day I learned about Samantha's fate." He'd taken it out of the drawer often enough, but hadn't been able to bring himself to open it, with its record of his family in happier times. A complete family. Now he was the only part of that family that was left. However, Mulder didn't feel alone, as he'd effectively been alone since the day his sister had disappeared. His father had never been there, and his mother had withdrawn into her private grief. Mulder had learned to live with the pain of abandonment in his heart. Now it was Scully's turn to take his hand. "That's good, Mulder. You should remember Samantha was she was, and the good times you had together. No-one can ever take those memories from you. They're yours to keep and treasure." After a good hour's driving, Mulder turned off the main road onto a dirt track. The car bumped along for another mile or so, and he brought it to a stop at the bottom of a small hill. "Now what?" asked Scully. "We get out of the car and we climb the hill," answered Mulder. Scully gave him the raised eyebrow, as if to say, 'ask a silly question,' but followed him anyway. Scully settled herself beside Mulder on the grass. His neck was craned up towards the sky and he was scanning the black velvet heavens. "I taught Samantha all the constellations and individual star names," said Mulder, his eyes still roaming across the sky. "We' d sit out on the veranda in summer, and watch the sun go down and the stars come out. Her favourite was Orion, probably because it was one of the easiest to spot." Scully listened in silence as he continued with his reminiscences, hugging his knees to his chest, his breath coalescing in the chilly night air as he spoke. "How did you find this place?" "I was driving around one night... I couldn't sleep, and I ended up here. It's one of the best places to stargaze. Just look at them, Scully it's like you can see every star in the universe." "It's beautiful, Mulder." "Sometimes I'd come out here to talk to her, to Samantha. I'd tell her how much I was missing her, that I was still looking for her, and I would never give up that search..." "I'm sure she knew that, Mulder," said Scully softly, her hand resting on his back. "Anyone else would probably have given up long ago. You have nothing to reproach yourself for in that regard." Suddenly he grasped her arm. "Up there, Scully!" "Where, Mulder?" Scully turned her eyes to the heavens above her. "There." She followed his long forefinger, which was pointing to the biggest and brightest star in the sky. "That's Samantha. All the years I looked to the heavens for answers, and she was there all the time, wrapped in starlight." Scully remained silent, letting him absorb the revelation. Mulder's smile, when he looked at her, was a beautiful one. The smile of a man at peace; a peace that had been a long time in coming. The End