SPOILER WARNING: Minor ones for Tooms, One Breath and Detour
RATING: PG-13, I think. Sexual content.
CONTENT WARNING: Hmm. Some might consider the ending to be a bit sappy. But *I* like it.
CLASSIFICATION: SRA, MSR
SUMMARY: M&S discuss the future, and we finally get a little bit of closure. A Silver Bracelet story.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Season 6 hasn't happened. This story, and all the other Silver Bracelet stories, exist in an alternative timeline which diverges from the TV show sometime after FTF.
Also: It is probably necessary to read at least two prior entries in this series in order to catch everything that's going on: Transfiguration and Consummation.
Finally: At the very end of this story is a tribute to Macspooky's story "Generations: A Wonderful Day".
This is probably the last in the series -- at least for awhile. There is potential for future developments in this relationship, but this particular story arc seems to be reasonably complete at last.
Partners Forever
by Brandon D. Ray
Fox Mulder awoke in Dana Scully's bed to an unaccustomed feeling: Contentment.
For a few moments he just lay there enjoying it. It wasn't often that he had an opportunity like this, simply to lie in bed, nowhere he had to go, nothing he had to do, wallowing in his own happiness.
Correction,>> he thought sleepily. Wallowing in OUR own happiness. Mine and Scully's.>>
At the thought of his partner he rolled over in bed, and was mildly disappointed to see that she wasn't there. A glance at the clock told him why: It was nearly eleven in the morning, and she had probably been up for hours.
He closed his eyes, and for just a moment longer he continued to lie there, enjoying the warmth of the bed and the lingering trace of Scully's scent that still clung to the bedclothes. He noticed with pleased amusement that even that faint trace of her was causing his usual morning erection to grow more intense, and he wondered idly how much money he could make if he could bottle that scent. The Viagra people would be out of business in a matter of weeks; of that he was sure.
He threw back the covers and rolled out of bed. For just a moment he stood before Scully's full-length mirror and considered his erection. "Pretty impressive for a guy of 37," he commented, then smiled ruefully and shook his head.
She had really cast a spell over him; of that there was no longer any doubt. When he'd started this whole thing on Christmas Eve, he hadn't dared dream that it would turn out to be this good. Nothing in his prior experience with relationships and women had prepared him for the intensity of his feelings for this woman. He thought briefly of Phoebe and Diana, and shook his head again, still smiling. Nope. Neither of them held a candle to Dana Scully.
God he felt good.
Time to do something practical about this erection. To his delight and surprise, Scully had turned out to be as enthusiastic about morning sex as he was. She was the first woman he'd been with who really seemed to enjoy making love first thing in the morning. His smiled broadened as he remembered the way she'd woke him up on New Year's Day, and his penis swelled just a little bit larger.
Definitely time to go find Scully.
Two minutes later he was standing in her kitchen, frowning and looking at the note he'd found resting on the counter. "M -- I have to go out for awhile. I'll be back as soon as I can. Love you. S" And then the P.S., in which she demonstrated yet again her uncanny ability to see right down into his heart: "Please don't worry; it's nothing serious, but I need to be by myself and think about something for a bit. I really will be back soon, and I really do love you." And the word "love" was underlined three times.
The frown on his face turned to a slightly wistful smile. She did love him; of that he had no doubt. But it was very touching that she had added the postscript, and so quintessentially Scully that the addendum was actually longer than the body of the message. He hoped whatever it was that she was trying to work out wouldn't take her too long; he missed her already.
He sighed, and laid the note back on the counter and went back down the hall to take a shower and get dressed.
# # #
An hour later she still hadn't returned. Mulder prowled restlessly through the apartment, trying unsuccessfully to find something to occupy his mind. He'd already finished up the few dishes left over from dinner the night before, and put away a couple of books that had been left laying out in the living room. The TV hadn't been able to hold his interest, and neither had any of her books or magazines, and so now he just paced through the empty rooms, and on every third circuit he stopped to reread the note she had left him. Especially the postscript.
He reentered the living room and for the dozenth time he stood staring at the telephone, willing it to ring, but it obstinately remained silent. He wondered if he should try to call her. He'd discovered early in his pacing that she had apparently taken her cell phone with her, giving him implicit permission to call her if he really needed to. He hesitated, his hand hovering over the receiver, then shook his head. He knew intuitively that she'd taken the phone with her because she trusted him not to disturb her unless he got to the point where he couldn't bear it any longer, and he just wasn't there yet.
But he could see it from here.
At that moment he heard her key in the lock, and he turned to face the door just as it swung open, and in another instant he was at the threshold and taking her in his arms. He felt her stiffen in surprise for the barest second, but then she relaxed and her arms went around his waist, and for a pair of minutes they just stood there in the doorway, holding each other, neither of them saying anything at all.
After a timeless interval Mulder pulled back, just a little, and looked down at her face. She had obviously been crying, but he could see that she was better now. Not perfect, not happy, but better. He bent his head and gently kissed her on the mouth, an accepting, welcome back sort of kiss, and murmured, "Thank you for the note. It helped a lot." He hesitated, then added, "Do you want to talk about it?"
She nodded slightly. "Yes. But can you just hold me for a few minutes, first?"
He smiled down at her. "I think I can manage that." And he led her into the apartment and shut and locked the door, then took her over to the sofa and sat down, pulling her down onto his lap and cradling her in his arms.
For awhile they just sat there, cuddled together, rocking gently back and forth as Mulder tried to put his mind on hold. He wanted to focus all of his attention on the woman in his arms; he wanted to project nothing but faith and acceptance. But try as he might, a few of his own self-doubts and insecurities kept creeping in. He wanted to know what it was that had upset her so much, and he wanted to know it now. Whatever it was, he was confident that by working together they could fix it, but until she told him --
"Mulder, it's okay." Her voice was very soft, and slightly muffled against his chest.
Mulder shook his head; he couldn't help but smile, even though he knew she couldn't see his face. "Mindreading again, Agent Scully?"
That actually brought a chuckle from Scully, and then she lifted her head and looked up at him, reaching up with one hand to gently caress his cheek, a very slight smile on her face. "Only with you, Mulder. I would never practice telepathy with anyone but you."
"I'm glad I can count on your fidelity," he said softly, returning her touch.
"Always." And she tangled her fingers into his hair, pulled his head down and kissed him, briefly but thoroughly, before finally laying her head down on his shoulder. Mulder simply waited, holding her, caressing her, being with her. Knowing that she would tell him when she was ready.
At last she said, "I'm sorry, Mulder. I shouldn't have shut you out. I should have come to you; I should have woke you up. But old habits die hard."
"That's okay, Scully," he said. "It really is okay. I was worried, but your note helped me more than I can say."
"I'm glad." Another moment of silence. Finally: "I started my period this morning."
Mulder tightened his arms around her and thought about that for a moment. He didn't think he was ready to be a father, and a large part of him was relieved at this news. But she pretty obviously felt otherwise. "I'm sorry, Scully," he said at last. "I know we haven't talked about it since New Year's Eve. But I'm sorry things didn't turn out the way you wanted."
Scully lifted her head off his shoulder and studied his face for a minute. Finally she shook her head. "No, Mulder. No, that's not it. I didn't want to be pregnant." She paused for just a moment, and a hint of sadness flickered in her eyes and was gone again. "I just wanted to know that I could be pregnant."
Mulder nodded slowly. "And for awhile you thought maybe you might be, and now you know you're not, and so you're back to not knowing again." He pulled her closer, and rubbed his cheek against hers before pulling back to look into her eyes again. "But it's okay, Scully. It'll be okay. Not knowing whether you can conceive is better than knowing that you can't, isn't it?"
She nodded. "Mostly. It was just...a disappointment. And I was all tangled up inside, because I really DIDN'T want to be pregnant, and on that level it was a big relief. And so I got kind of confused." She took a deep breath. "And on top of it all, the holidays are over, and tomorrow we have to go back to work for real, and we have to break the news to Skinner, and we have to start leading something resembling normal lives again. It's kind of like Christmas vacation is over, and now we have to go back to school and study again." She hesitated, then went on, "And...and I've been a little bit afraid, too."
"Afraid of what, Scully?"
She dropped her eyes. "Afraid that we're going to wake up in the morning and the spell will be broken and everything will go back to the way it was before." She shrugged. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but --"
He touched her lips with a finger to silence her. "Shh. It's okay, Scully. I've been a little afraid of that, too, but it's not going to happen." He took her hand. "This is real, Scully. This is us; you and me. This is forever."
She glanced back up at him, looking just a little uneasy. "Forever is a long time, Mulder."
"Not nearly long enough," he replied, and suddenly he felt things bubbling up inside him that he'd never felt before, and the words came spilling out. "I want you, Scully, and I'm pretty damned selfish about it. I want you now, today, and I want you tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that. I want you for the rest of both our lives, and if there's anything after that, I what you then, too. I mean it, Scully. Forever."
She was quiet for a minute, but for once in his life Mulder felt no doubt or uncertainty. He was almost certain he knew what her reply would be, but no matter what she said, he had just spoken the truth, and he could not regret that.
"Mulder," she said at last, very softly, "was that a proposal?"
He thought about it for the barest fraction of a second, and then replied, "It was if you want it to be. Is that what you want, Scully? Marriage?"
This time the silence was even longer. Finally, she shook her head. "No. No, I don't think so. Do you?"
He smiled at her, and suddenly realized how tense he'd been while waiting for her answer to his question. "No," he said. "I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that I love you." He hesitated. Then: "Are you sure, Scully? Because I told you before: I'll do anything for you. Anything. And that includes marriage, if that's what you want."
Again she seemed to think about it. "I don't know," she said at last. "I suppose every little girl dreams about getting married. And I guess I had always assumed that I would get married someday, settle down, have a family. Most people do." She paused for another moment, then went on. "But we're not most people, are we."
It wasn't quite a question, but Mulder answered it anyway. "No, we're not."
She nodded. "Nevertheless, I do want a family. I want children, if I -- if we can have them."
"I want that, too," he replied. "But that doesn't require a marriage license."
"No. It doesn't." She fell quiet again for a pair of minutes. "I think it would make my mother happy if we got married." Her lips quirked slightly. "But it would make Bill miserable."
Mulder chuckled. "Scully, I'm not interested in your mother or in Bill. I'm interested in you. I want to give you what you want, what you need. And damn the torpedoes, and all that."
She laughed with him, and leaned into him and kissed him. "You and Admiral Farragut." She looked fondly into his eyes for a moment, and stroked his cheek softly. "Mulder, I can't tell you with absolute certainty what I might want in the future, but for now, at least, I don't need to marry you." Then her expression changed slightly, and she bit her lip and looked at him uncertainly. "But there is one thing I would like."
"What's that, Scully?"
"A ceremony."
Mulder felt his eyebrows rising. "A ceremony?"
Scully nodded, still looking a little uneasy, and for a moment she searched his face. "Yes. It doesn't have to be fancy, and there don't have to be a lot of people or anything. Maybe there could even just be you and me. And it certainly doesn't have to be religious. Whatever makes us both comfortable. But I'd like some sort of...symbol. A ritual. Something meaningful. Is that okay?"
Mulder smiled. "Sure." He gently eased her off his lap and onto her feet, then rose to his own feet and took her hand. "Let's do it."
He tugged gently on her hand, but she didn't move. "Let's do what?" she asked.
"Let's have a ceremony."
Scully raised her eyebrows. "You mean right now?"
"Right now." He tugged on her hand again, and this time she followed him as he led her over to the shelf where she kept a small collection of framed pictures. "And see? We can even have your family here." He studied the photographs for a moment, then picked up the one of her older brother. "You think Bill would want to be here for this?"
He heard her chuckle. "Yes. Bill would want to be here. He really does love me, Mulder; he just doesn't always express it very well."
He glanced over his shoulder at her and nodded, then turned back to the shelf and put Bill's picture down next to the one of Captain and Mrs. Scully. "We'll just put him over here next to your mother. That way she can sit on him if he causes too much trouble." He heard Scully chuckle again as she stepped up to stand next to him.
He looked at the collection for another minute, then reached out and gently touched the one of Melissa. "I'm glad she could be here," he said, his voice very soft. "Did I ever tell you she saved my life once?" He glanced at Scully again, and she shook her head. "She did. It was while you were in the coma, after they gave you back to me -- to us. I was...well, the details don't matter. But Melissa showed up at just the right moment, and kicked my ass and persuaded me that you still needed me. I've always been grateful to her for that, but I never got to tell her."
Scully slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him briefly but fiercely. "I'm sure she knows, Mulder."
"I hope so." He turned his gaze to the picture of her parents. "I wish I'd had a chance to meet your father. I don't know if he would have approved of me, but I wish I'd had a chance to meet him. He's been so important in your life." He glanced at her, and she nodded wordlessly. Finally he turned to the photograph of her younger brother, and smiled. "And Charlie...." His voice trailed off and he shook his head. "I have no idea what to say about Charlie. He's unique."
Scully chuckled again. "He certainly is that."
Mulder turned to face her. "So. You ready?"
She shook her head. "There's one person still missing. Samantha."
Mulder looked at her for a long minute, then nodded slowly and pulled his wallet from his back pocket and carefully extracted the worn, tattered picture of his sister which he always carried with him. He held it in his hand for a moment, just looking at it, then placed it on the shelf with the others, propped up against the photograph of Melissa. Finally he turned back to Scully, and took each of her hands in one of his.
"Now are you ready?" he asked.
She nodded, a faint smile on her face. "Yes."
For just a moment longer he stood looking at her, drinking in her beauty and thinking about what he wanted to say. Finally, he cleared his throat and began.
"Dana Katherine Scully. You have been a source of strength and inspiration to me for as long as I can remember. I told you once and I tell you again: You keep me sane. You make me a whole person. If it were not for you, I truly believe that I would not be here today. I would long since have made some stupid, fatal mistake because I would have no one to provide me with the essential balance that I need."
He took a deep breath and continued. "Scully, will you be my partner? Will you watch my back? Will you warn me when I'm about to do something stupid, and come and bail me out when I ignore your advice and get in trouble anyway? Will you kick my ass when I need it, and tell me what you believe is true and never what you think I want to hear? Will you sleep in my bed and bear our children, and when we're lost in the forest will you sing to me? And when we're on a late night stakeout will you always remember to bring me iced tea instead of root beer?"
Mulder stopped speaking, but he continued to look down at her, and for just a moment the air between them seemed to crackle with electricity. And then she smiled and said, "Yes. Yes to all of it." And after another brief minute of silence, she began to speak.
"Fox William Mulder. You have challenged my beliefs for as long as I can remember. Time and time again you have caused me to reevaluate what I thought I knew, and forced me to consider extreme possibilities. If it were not for you, I would have less wonder in my life, and I would not even know what I was missing. I would be teaching from someone else's book, because I would have no one to point out to me that some of the answers in the back were wrong."
Her smile broadened, and now there were tears in her eyes, shining like tiny diamonds. "Mulder, will you be my partner? Will you push me when I get cautious, and when you go chasing after snarks and boojums will you let me go with you? Will you give me space to be strong and self-reliant, and will you help me stand again when I fall? Will you keep presenting me with your outlandish theories, no matter how hard I try to poke holes in them? Will you sleep in my bed and help me raise our children, and when I sing to you will you promise not to laugh? And when a case goes sour on us and I wake up in the hospital, will you be waiting for me with a football video to lift my spirits?"
For just a minute Mulder couldn't speak because of the sudden lump in his throat. This was it, this was real, no matter how much they'd both tried to cloak it in levity. There was, after all, truth in humor, he reflected. And he swallowed, and said, "Yes. Yes to all of it." And then the two just stood in silence for a moment, holding hands and looking at each other.
At last, Scully broke the silence. "So now what happens?" she asked.
Mulder shrugged and gave a lopsided grin. "I'm not sure. I didn't exactly have this planned out in advance. Maybe this is the part where we get to live happily ever after?"
She snorted. "That'll be the day. Try again."
"Hmm." He thought about it a minute, and then it came to him. "Okay, I got it." Straightening his shoulders slightly and raising his head so as to look more official, he said, "By the powers vested in me as Senior Agent of the X-Files Division, I now pronounce us Mr. and Mrs. Doctor Spooky, Partners for Life."
For a moment Scully's shoulders shook with repressed laughter; then she shook her head. "No," she said. "Not Partners for Life; Partners Forever."
Mulder nodded. "Good point. Forever it is." And he took her in his arms and kissed her.
After a timeless interval they had to come up for air. Mulder looked down at the woman in his arms, and gently stroked her hair. "You know," he said, "that was really cool. I'm glad we did it."
Scully snorted again. "'Cool'? Is that anything to say to someone who has just agreed to be your Partner Forever?"
"Sure," he replied. "After all, if you've got 'cool' and you've got a football video, what more could you possibly want?" He took a deep breath, and then let it out again. God -- he felt so happy. This was the real deal, and it was happening to him, it was happening to them, and damn if he wasn't getting a little teary-eyed himself. He cleared his throat and said, "So, Mrs. Doctor Spooky, how would you like to spend our last day of freedom before we get back to the old grind?"
She seemed to consider it for just a moment. Then: "I want to see the dinosaurs."
Mulder raised an eyebrow at her. "The dinosaurs?"
Scully nodded, and now there was a childlike grin on her face. "The dinosaurs. At the Smithsonian. And I want to walk on the Mall and hold your hand, and I want people to look at us and smile benevolently because they can tell how much we love each other. Think you can handle all that, Agent Mulder?"
Mulder leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the tip of the nose. "Dinosaurs it is," he said. And the two partners grabbed their coats, and together they went on out to face the future.
Fini