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Danger lurks around
every corner. Shadows pose threats they can’t see. They
don’t fit in with the other townsfolk. Nothing will ever be
able to free them from this nightmare...
But they’re enjoying it all the same.
Almost two years ago Fox Mulder had just learnt his partner had
had to give away their son for adoption, and he’d been
sentenced to death by lethal injection. But now he sits
peacefully on the steps up to the back deck with a
quietly-humming toddler seated on his knee. Now, after every
twist and turn in his complicated life, he finally feels settled
and free.
Of course, the child happily basking in his company and the woman
resting on the couch in the living room after a long day working
at the medical center have everything to do with that level of
serenity and inner-peace, and he thanks whatever’s watching
over them every second of the day for these blessings.
“Daddy, ‘fly!” William suddenly exclaims
excitedly, clapping his hands together and pointing at the
butterfly that lands on the lawn not far from them.
Mulder’s smile widens as he lowers his head slightly to kiss
the crest of his son’s head and then looks over at the
delicate, beautiful creature. “Pretty, huh?” he
chuckles quietly.
“Mommy mo’ pre’ee.”
“Definitely, and she has to flutter around a lot more than
that butterfly to keep us in check, but we’d better not tell
Mommy that - you know how she gets when we say stuff like that in
front of her.”
As the toddler’s squeal and the man’s low snort of
laughter echoed in the early-evening air, both fell silent again
and continued to watch the insect until it flew away, out of
view.
Mulder felt the contentment envelope and overwhelm him as he
pondered over how the hell he had ended up here with all that he
had. He’d loved Scully since their first case together -
since she’d come to his motel room with her trust held out
in her palm for his taking and asked him to check a couple of
suspicious marks on her near-naked form - but if you’d told
him four years ago, as their relationship broke past the
boundaries they’d silently set (or even, for that matter, as
he’d walked out on them nearly three years ago) that
he’d be here now, settled in a large home overlooking the
sea with his partner and son; the x-files so long and far behind
them and only the occasional English lecture at the local school
to call his ‘job’... Well, the laughter exploding out
of him would have rendered him unconscious - if not killed him
outright.
“No storms on the horizon...”
He looked up at the sound of the familiar voice behind him and
jostled William a little on his knee until he could reach out a
free hand to Scully as she lowered herself onto the step beside
him. Their eyes locked on each other.
“The sea’s calm,” she clarified, refusing to look
away as she lost herself in the depths of his soul - still
finding it difficult to grasp the fact that they really are
together again.
He nodded his head slightly and carefully handed their son over
to her. His warm smile grew as she gratefully accepted Will,
quietly cooing “Hey, sweetie! You been good for Daddy?”
but then it faded. Everything was so painfully perfect that he
need never ask for anything again, but they’re still
fugitives on the run from an alien force that had plans to take
over the planet in eight years, she still can’t see her
family, and they still have to fight for the future. It’s
their sacrifice, he supposes, but as the sun sets for the last
time before they have to finally meet with Marita Covarrubias to
discuss tactical moves to combat the coming apocalypse, it
doesn’t mean he has to agree with it.
“Me goo’,” William replied - clearly tired but
still trying to be as exuberant as always. “We saw
bu’fly, but it no’ as pre’ee as you...Even Daddy
say so.”
Dana hugged the boy closer (silently praying there would be more
days like this after tomorrow) and then shot a raised eyebrow in
her partner’s direction.
“What can I say? The boy knows a pretty lady when he sees
one,” Mulder quipped with a shrug of his shoulders. “We
could end up with the girls queuing outside our door when
he’s old enough!” He leaned in and kissed Scully on the
lips. “I just hope he gets as lucky as I did and finds the
right one.”
Her lips parted and the kiss deepened briefly before they
reluctantly broke apart and pressed their foreheads together.
“Kiss me too!” the small voice called from between
them. They both obliged, but then Scully sighed and looked back
out at the sea.
“You think it’s the calm before the storm?” Mulder
whispered, smoothing a hand over the top of Will’s head.
She stood up and took a few steps away from the house with both
arms wrapped around her, but there was no response, and all fell
silent for at least fifteen minutes as they both weighed up the
situation - both wishing they could change it or at least put it
off so that they can savour this time just that little longer.
Finally, he set the boy down and moved to stand behind her.
“We can do this...I don’t doubt that...” She
paused and let her eyes slip shut. “I don’t doubt us.
But--”
“We’re owed this,” Mulder breathed into her ear,
wrapping his arms around her waist. “We deserve this.
We’ve lived this long knowing what has to be done, and
we’ll live like this when actually doing what has to be
done. Don’t think tomorrow will be the end. And...And if the
storm does pick up, we’ll just sail through it like we
always have...If we’d avoided every storm on the horizon in
the past, we’d have sunk ages ago.”
She turned in the circle of his arms, staring at him for long
seconds before lowering her head and glancing at Will, who
intently stared back at the two of them. They’d found their
truth, they’d learned to live a relatively normal life, and
against all odds they were alive. He was right: there was nothing
that could be thrown at them that they wouldn’t be able to
face.
This was who they were - their own different kind of existence -
and, God, they deserved every second of it!
“There’s always Hope,” she smiled, looking back up
at Mulder with a glint in her eye.
“But of course. But we can consider that more after
dinner...and maybe even further after we’ve put the munchkin
to bed.” The brightness of his smile lifted her spirits even
higher, and soon they were all making their way back into the
house.
The sea remained quiet, but dark clouds begun to form on the
eastern horizon.
**********
THE END
DISCLAIMER:
This is Carter's and Ten-Thirteen's mess that we have to put up
with - I'm just trying to make the whole mess more bearable and
have a better resolution...no money is being made, honestly.
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