Message-ID: <3583D276.35CA@wmcstations.com> Date: Sun, 14 Jun 1998 13:39:12 +0000 From: Lyle Bontrager Reply-To: lbontger@wmcstations.com X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (Macintosh; I; PPC) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: fishies@onelist.com Subject: The Way I: Meeting Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Title: The Way I: Meeting Author: RocketMan >lbontger@wmcstations.com< Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully and X-Files and all the craziness belongs to CC,1013, and Fox. No fringe is intended. SPOILER:::::::REDUX::::::US5:::::up to The End Rating: Mulder Scully friendship with ocassional UST and MSR. X-File. The Way I: Meeting ===== "And now I will show you the most excellent way." --1 Corinthians 12:31 "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." --1 Corinthians 13:2 "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." --1 Corinthians 13:6 "Love . . . bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." --1 Corinthians 13:7 ===== Calls came fairly irregularly in their office. Often not at all--what with cellular phones and a heavy caseload that kept them out a lot. So when they heard it ring loudly, too loudly, they thought only of trouble. Maybe SKinner, maybe someone else needing a favor. Mulder picked it up and answered as cheerfully as he knew how: morose and somber being the tone of his voice of course. And she saw him turn pasty white, like milk curdled in the heat. She stood and came to sit on the edge of his desk, her face painted with the brush of worry and the colors of concern. Scully knew there was more to this call than a Skinner reprimand. ~~~~~ Mulder sighed as he picked up the phone and wondered just what they had done this time. Contrary to popular opinion, they really didn't get in trouble all the time. "Mulder." "Uh. . .Fox?" The voice was wrong. So familiar it *had* to be wrong. "Fox?" "Yeah, uh....who is this?" "It's me, Samantha." His eyes slammed shut and he felt Scully's hand come to his shoulder. He jerked from her touch and pegged her with wild eyes. "Why . . . what's going on?" "Fox, I . . ." The woman paused to breathe in deeply; he could hear tears coming from her end. "I don't want to hurt you, Fox. I just thought I owed it to you to call, to think about what you said. And I did. I did-" "But?" His voice was cold, hard, flat. "But I just don't want it all coming up again. I just want to live peacefully, in my own home. Fox, I don't want my children in danger and I know that if we . . . if I pursued this, they'd be at risk." "How do you know that?" "Please, Fox. Accept this. It would hurt too much." "Don't you think Mom has a right to know?" He saw Scully's eyebrows shoot up in alarm and he rested a hand on her knee, pleading with her to not ask questions. "I may. . . may go see her. If she's still there. I would like to see her. But I have another life now Fox." "So why'd you call? To torture me or something?" "No! Fox, no. I feel like I owe you more. You . . . Father told me you've spent your entire life looking for me, regardless of what you've lost. I feel like I need to repay you-" "No. No payment." He forced the words out like they were dirty and grotesque in his mouth. "Not like that. Information. Things I know that might help you. With everything you've told me, I realize that I've probably been lied to." "So what is this?" "Meet me Fox. Bring your partner, Agent Scully." "Why?" "Please, Fox. It's important that she be there. It's about her." "How do you know things about her? What have they-" "Fox. Calm down. Listen to me. Tomorrow on your lunch break, say noon. At the Mall. A bench or something. Okay?" "Why should I . . ." "Why should you trust me? Because I'm your sister. And because I'm sorry that you've gotten caught up in this all because of me." "How will I find you?" "Bring your partner. I'll find you, Fox. I'll find you." "Wait! I . . . I've been saying that out loud, in a kind of prayer to you for twenty four years. I'll find you." "I won't let you down, Fox." The phone began making noises in his ear and it took him a long moment to realize that she had hung up. He dropped the phone to the cradle and looked up to meet Scully's intense eyes. They scalded him. She knew who it was and was angry, angry and sorrowed. "Why didn't you tell me, Mulder?" ~~~~~ She was hurt, but she was always getting hurt by him. She was angry, but anger was pretty futile with Mulder. She was sad, but her sorrow only made him feel more guilty. So she simply looked at him and wondered what wonderfully good excuse he would come up with this time to make it seem like it was all to protect her. "Scully. I met my sister while you were in the hospital. I didn't tell you." Her eyebrows raised and she did her best not to let her confusion and, most of all, her hurt show through. "I gathered that. Mind telling me why you chose not to inform me that your sister dropped in on you while I was out?" "I forgot." Her face dropped into bewildred disbelief. "You forgot." "Well, it seemed trivial compared to you." Her heart softened and she sat back down gingerly. "What do you mean?" "You got better. Cancer Man was dead. You got better. I had you back, Scully. I didn't think about it. I just . . . just shut it out." Her voice was gentle as she came to sit next to him, perched on the small cabinet beside his desk. "Mulder, why didn't you tell me later?" "I didn't want to ruin it for you." "Do you want me to think you're noble or something, Mulder?" "No. You think I'm a perverted freak, but that doesn't stop me from trying to be noble." He gave her a tiny triumphant grin and reached out a figner to trace her knuckle. She slid her hands decidely away from his and frowned at him. "Why didn't you tell me Mulder? The truth this time." A long, quaky sigh issued from his lips and he leaned his head back. "She wants to meet us tomorrow. On the Mall, a bench or something." "Mulder, don't change the subject. You're going to tell me why you didn't seem to think it necessary to mention to me that Samantha was alive!" He grunted and stood up from his chair, causing her to jump down from the makeshift seat and follow him right to the door. "Where are you going, Mulder?" "My apartment. You coming?" ~~~~~ The blinds were drawn tight to the moon trying to slip her way through and the milk he had given her sat untouched on the coffe table. She wasn't looking at him anymore. His story was done and he had a feeling so was his partnership. The night had turned cold and he stood to grab a blanket, then thought better and grabbed two, spreading one out and tucking her in on his couch. She closed her eyes and breathed in a deep breath. "Let me think about this Mulder." He nodded and kissed her cheek softly. "Good night, Scully." Dana watched his back turn and his gait shuffle slowly along the hall to his bedroom. Since he had no bed, she wondered exactly what he would do, but was too tired to call him back and have him sleep there, have him drive her home. All she could do was hurt: for him, because Samantha had rejected him, because this was putting a wedge between them, because it was her life too. Her life too. ~~~~~ Her dreams were too vivid and too real. There was Samantha: the long curly hair, the oddly thin and long Mulder mouth, the lean body with fear curled around the edges. There was the Bounty Hunter: grim, rock hard as he held her away from Mulder. Held her captive to make him choose. He chose. This time, it was Dana that fell into the rushing water, this time, it was Samantha he chose. He chose Samantha. ~~~~~ end part one In Him RM