I don't own The X Files or its characters. The X Files is the property of Chris Carter, and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.

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Chapter 12: The Other Dinner, Part Two by AnarchyX-Phile

Two nights later and they were back on Maggie's porch, this time they matched their clothes on purpose. As they waited for Maggie to answer the door, Scully straightened Mulder's tie and ran her finger lightly through his hair and smoothed it behind his ears. "You need a haircut." She said as she tilted her head to look at the sides of his face.

When she heard the doorknob clang as it was jerked open, she lowered her hand from his face and looked down into her nephew's face, "hey honey, how are you?" she asked as she rubbed her hand roughly through the boy's hair and stepped past him, taking off her jacket and hanging it up on a peg next to the front door.

Matthew spun on his heel and looked at Dana, "grandma won't let me have dessert until after dinner." He took off running into the living room. "Dana is here, and that man is with her," he screeched.

Mulder looked at Scully and shook his head, being 'that man' wasn't exactly the welcome he was hoping for. He heard Bill's voice break into the air as he told his son to calm down. Tara walked out of the living room and wrapped her arms around Dana's small frame, rubbing her hands down her back as she talked about it being too long since they had last seen each other.

When they broke away from each other, Tara smiled at Mulder and hugged him too, less enthusiastically but it was still progress. Bill walked to the doorway leading to the living room and leaned his shoulder against the door jam, "How are you Dana?" he said, not even bothering to look in Mulder's direction.

"We've been great." She said as she reached for Mulder's hand and pulled him out of the anteroom and made their way into the living room, sitting on the loveseat while Bill and Tara sat down on the couch.

"Staying busy I bet." Tara said as she picked a piece of lint from her dress pants and rolled it between her fingers.

"Always. That's the good thing about our job, it never gets boring" Mulder said awkwardly, cringing as he realized he just made an opening for Bill to start bitching and moaning.

Sure enough, Bill cleared his throat and leaned forward, his intense stare bouncing back and forth between her and Mulder. "Well do you still have good insurance or are those hospital visits draining your bank account?"

Scully laughed as her nails dug into Mulder's palm. "Between the two of us, I think we'd come out better with a punch card—with every ten visits, get one free."

"Or a free coffee mug" Mulder laughed, and a bubble of laughter fell from Tara's lips before she could stop it.

Bill's face turned red. "You wouldn't have to think that way if you had become a doctor like mom and dad wanted."

"This may come as a shock to you, but this is my life—not everything is about you."

Mulder grimaced, she had told him that once too.

Just then Maggie came into the room as she started pulling her apron off. Mulder stood up and went to give her a quick hug, helping her untie the knotted apron string behind her back. "Fox, it's good to see you again dear." She walked over to Dana who was still sitting on the couch seething and kissed her on the head.

"Dinner is ready, Fox will you help me put everything on the table? Dana and Bill, you two catch up." Mulder looked at Maggie like she savior she was, and on his way out of the room he turned back and gave Scully a smug little smile and laughed silently at her as Bill started in again.

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Dinner was awkward, as was to be expected, with Bill telling them about his voyages but getting angry when Scully told of her and Mulder's adventures. Finally, when Maggie was dishing out dessert, Dana's face fell as it all finally clicked into place. "You asshole." She said as she sat her fork down and looked at him hard. "You're just jealous."

"Of what?" he spat as he wiped his hand across his lips.

"That I get to have adventures too. What? Is it not a woman's place?"

Tara narrowed her eyes at Dana but she didn't notice. "Dad always said I would go far and I think it makes you mad that he was right."

"Oh yea, you really made it far with this guy. Seven years and nothing to show for it."

Dana's brow arched as she tried to stand up but Mulder put his hand on her knee and kept her in her seat. "Nothing except a career and a future with him."

"Both dead ends if you ask me."

"Well I didn't ask you!" She slammed her hand down on the table, sending her fork soaring through the air, sending blackberry cobbler flying directly at Mulder, landing with a splat on his tie.

Everyone got quiet as Mulder wiped a napkin down his tie and frowned as Scully's face cringed. That was one of the ties she gave him, she touched the cloth and rubbed it between her fingertips, "Don't worry, I'll go wash it now and I'm sure it will be fine." He said quietly, wanting so much to be able to kiss the frown off her lips but he settled with a wink and a grin before turning to drape his arm over Maggie's shoulder and walked with her out of the room, saying something cleverly charming about getting to undress him in her kitchen.

Maggie's arm wrapped around him in a half hug as she reassured him that she'd be able to get the stain out. "Time me, 30 seconds. I've had years of practice." She bragged as she took the tie to the sink and began working on it.

"I've been practicing for years too, and I'm always done in 30 seconds." Mulder laughed mischievously as he raised and lowered his eyebrows, Maggie laughed—and not the soft, polite chuckle she had done through dinner, this was the real-deal, a full-bellied laugh that came straight from her heart.

And it pissed Bill off.

Tara sensed the storm brewing so she picked up Matthew and took him upstairs to get him ready for bed. As soon as his wife left the room, Bill stood up and walked over to Dana, looking down at her. "Why do I feel like you're about to tell me how to live my life?" she asked as she glared up at him.

"Because it needs to be said, and since dad isn't here to say it, I have to. It's no secret that I don't like Mulder. But he's no good for you Dana, he's tearing you down with him and I hate seeing you like this."

"Happy, you mean? You hate seeing me happy? Because that's what I am Bill, I am deliriously happy and it is all because of Mulder."

"No, you're happy because you're back with your family again—and he couldn't even leave you alone long enough to enjoy a family dinner."

The laughter in the kitchen had died off as soon as Bill and Dana started fighting, and now Maggie appeared in the doorway glaring at her children. "I told you both no fighting—and I'll have you know Bill that I specifically invited Fox here tonight; he is a part of this family now and has every right to be here, in my home." She said as she sent a warning glare in Bill's direction. "And Bill, if your father was alive, he would never say those things to Dana." Maggie turned to look behind her at Mulder who was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen, "Dana was always our favorite, you know?" she said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Mulder and Scully laughed, Bill however was not entertained.

"She's my favorite too." Mulder said as he winked at her.

"How can you stand there and joke about this mom, when you've seen how much he has changed her? How much he tortures her?"

Scully groaned and rolled her eyes as Maggie sighed and wiped her damp hands on the front of her dress. "Bill, nobody is torturing anyone. Dana wants to be exactly where she is."

"Mom, you don't even know this man—how can you defend him? I expected a fight from her but never you."

"Fox and I know each other very well—I'll leave it at that." She said as she nodded slightly to Mulder, wanting him to understand that he could trust her as much as he trusted her daughter.

"Yea, well I guess there is plenty of time to chit chat while you're both sitting in hospital waiting rooms waiting to see if Dana will survive his latest screw up." Bill spat as he glared at Mulder. He yelled up the stairs at Tara, telling her to pack their bags and get Matthew in the car—they would not be staying the night. When he looked back at Maggie, his heart softened at the hurt look on her face, but when she glanced back at Mulder, who gave her a reassuring nod, Bill lost his temper again.

He turned to Dana and stalked up to her, his face so tight that a flash of terror passed within her eyes and Mulder came out of the kitchen to stand beside her, his hand coming down to lay against her stomach as he tried to push her behind him, but she wouldn't move.

"You make the decision now." Bill said, as he looked from Dana to his mother and then back to Dana. "As long as Fox Mulder is a part of this little family, then my family won't be."

Maggie started crying but no one chanced looking at her in fear that they would break the spell and all hell would break loose. Scully's shoulders lifted and lowered as she breathed heavily. "Don't do this Bill." She finally said.

"He's making me do this Dana." He said as he glared at Mulder.

Scully shook her head as a lone tear streaked down her face. "Bill, if you give me an ultimatum—you or Mulder—I will choose Mulder. Every time."

"Don't you see what he has done to you? He's devalued you so much that you don't think you can live without him."

"No, I could live without him—but I don't want to. Mulder would never give me an ultimatum, and that's why I choose him over you. He understands me and he loves me enough not to ask to destroy a relationship." Mulder's hands came up to her shoulder and his thumbs gently caressing her skin.

"Get your hands off her" Bill said as his fists balled up, "get the hell out of this house and don't ever come back." His teeth were so tightly clenched that his words came out more like a growl.

"That's enough!" both Dana and Maggie said at the same time.

"He has taken everything from you—he's left you an empty shell. Why can't you see that? He won't ever be able to give you what you need."

"That's not true." Scully said quietly as she shook her head, tears streaming down her face, not because of her own emotions but in concern for how Mulder must be feeling listening to Bill's bullshit about him being inept. "He is all I need."

"Then you're just as worthless as he is. You're no sister of mine."

Mulder's fist collided with Bill's chin, knocking him backwards two steps. Mulder pushed Scully behind him and, at the same time, pushed Maggie into the kitchen, wanting to put as much distance as possible between them and the inevitable fight. "No one—no one" Mulder repeated as his lips flared in anger, "insults Dana Scully. She may have been your family once, but she's mine now and I won't stand by and let you tear her down. If you want to fight, fight me—but you're going to leave them the hell alone." He said as he chanced a glance back to the women now standing in the kitchen doorway, Dana's arm around her mother's shoulders.

Bill's fist slammed into his left eye, the shockwaves sending him back a couple feet as his eye closed involuntarily as the skin instantly began to swell and split. Scully's stomach lurched as she tried to go to Mulder but he pushed her out of the way again and dove for Bill, his shoulder landing in Bill's stomach and sending him down to the ground on his back. Mulder straddled him and threw an uppercut punch. "She's not an empty shell," he grunted, "and I will keep fighting you for the rest of my life, but just know that I will go back to her once this fight is over and nothing you can do is going to change that."

Bill raised his fist but before he could take the punch, Maggie stepped forward , "William Scully, if you raise that hand again it'll be the last thing you do in this house." All the air in the room was sucked away as Maggie leaned over her eldest son with her finger pointed in his face, "I invited Dana and Fox here because they are my family. You are the only one here not acting like it. Either you start acting like my son again or you can leave."

Scully stepped forward and put her hand on Mulder's back, moving to wrap her arm around his waist and pulled him off of Bill, helping him to stand before running her fingers across his face and through the hair on his forehead. "Come with me upstairs and let me look at you" she whispered. There was a gash leading out of the corner of his eye and it had begun to bleed heavily.

Mulder shook his head and looked at the front door instead. He leaned heavily on her shoulder and whispered into her ear, "he kneed me while I was down, I can't make it up any steps." He groaned as the blood dripped off his face and fell down to stain the carpet. He cringed when he thought about Maggie having to clean it up once everyone left.

Scully pulled her long sleeve over her hand and held it to Mulder's wound; she swung open the front door and helped him walk down the two porch steps, slowly walking to their car. "There's a first aid kit in the trunk, once I get you cleaned up, we'll go home." She said as she leaned down and kissed him tenderly. "I am so sorry. We never should have come here tonight." She said as she kissed him again.

Mulder shook his head and swallowed, leaning forward to kiss her again, the feeling of her lips sliding against his took his mind away from the pain. "I had planned this so differently." He said as he eased into the passenger seat and reclined back. Scully ran to the trunk, pulled out a red medical duffle bag, and came back to sit in his lap and she looked at the wound; luckily Bill only got in one punch and apparently a sneak-groin shot.

"Oh really, and what did you plan?"

"Not to fuck everything up. It really wasn't a complex plan and I thought I could do it." he laughed as his shaky hands ran up her back.

She kissed him again, "I am so sorry about Bill. I don't know why he can't see what we have and be happy for us. At least mom loves you—that's what matters."

She touched his cheek and he jerked away from her, leaning his head back against the headrest and groaning. "I like having two Scully women love me."

"Just don't forget that I love you more."

"Never. Let's do this" he said as he motioned towards his eye and braced himself for her to begin cleaning up the wound. While she worked, she grimaced whenever he groaned and she bent down and kissed his forehead a dozen times, whispering sweet apologies against his skin.

When she was done treating his eye, his breathing had slowed to normal and he was back to his old self. "You know, he kneed me pretty hard."

"Oh really?" she asked as one side of her mouth fell into a slight frown.

"Yea, I think you need to check there too" he laughed.

"When we get home" she whispered against his lips before kissing him quickly and continuing to work. She quickly cleaned the cuts on his knuckles, planting light kisses on them too before looking up and seeing Maggie standing in front of their car, watching them through the windshield. She quickly slid off Mulder's lap and smoothed her hair behind her ears.

Maggie just nodded somberly and walked to the door, nudging Dana out of the way so she could talk to Mulder. "Fox, I can't tell you how disappointed I am."

Mulder's head lowered and his throat tightened, "Mrs. Scully, I…" he stuttered, not sure what to say. He had no family left and he had so hoped that he one day he could have considered Maggie as a second mother. "I know I messed up, and I'm so sorry I let you down. You didn't deserve this—I ruined your dinner… your family dinner." The word 'family' cut up out his throat after having been ripped from his heart; it left his mouth drenched in soul wrenching regret. "I messed up your house, everything. I won't come back, I…I promise."

"Oh no dear," Maggie said as she leaned in and wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him into a half hug, "I'm not disappointed in you, Fox. And don't you think that way." She leaned away from him without removing her arm and gave Dana a pointed stare, "go back into the house and start washing the dishes. We'll be inside in a moment."

Scully shook her head and took a step closer to Mulder, "we're just going to head home, mom. Mulder needs to rest." But Maggie's glare stopped her and made her take a step back. "Mulder, are you going to be okay?" she asked as her brows furrowed.

"For the love of God, Dana—he is a grown man, of course he is going to be okay. Now leave us." Scully grabbed the medical kit, put her hands up, and walked backwards until she got past the back bumper before she turned and walked back into the house, looking over her shoulder to see her mother crouching on her knees beside the open car door as she held on tightly to Mulder's hands.

"Have you asked her yet, Fox?"

"No—I was going to ask tonight after we left here. I don't think I will now."

"I'm sorry Bill treated you like that. You have my blessing, you know that."

"I wasn't looking for his blessing—I don't want it. Dana, she's the one that wants it. Even though she doesn't act like it, I know she cares about what he thinks."

"Dana doesn't need anything from us—she never has. But then I watch her when she's with you, and I see the need in her eyes."

"What she wants is different than what she needs. Sometimes wanting means more than needing."

"You're a good man, Fox." Maggie said and Mulder started crying. He didn't feel like he was truly a good man, but it meant everything that she had said it anyways.

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Dana walked into the front door and cringed when she saw Tara leaning over Bill holding a bag of frozen peas to his chin. "Here, let me look at you." She said as she stood behind Tara and waited for her to move, she was hesitant at first but when Bill nodded, she slid over and let Dana crouch down in front of the couch until she was eyelevel to Bill.

"First time you've been on the losing side." Dana said as she ripped open an alcohol swab and began dabbing it against his split lip. "I got to say, you seemed a lot tougher when we were kids."

"We're old now Dana, me more so than you."

"I'd say we're all old enough to know better than to use our fists instead of acting like grown adults." Tara said as she shook her finger in Bill's face. He nodded somberly and hissed when Dana rubbed a little too hard at a cut.

"I just want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted for you." Bill said quietly to Dana.

"I know, but you need to realize that Mulder is a good man and you can't treat him like a scapegoat for everything bad that's happened to me. I love him Bill, and he'll always be in my life. I hope that doesn't mean that you won't be in my life." Tara quietly excused herself and went upstairs, giving them as much privacy as she could.

Bill nodded his head sadly as he looked down at the floor. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "I never told anyone this, but I came to see you one night in the hospital when you were sick. When I walked in, he was there, leaning over you. At first I thought he was going to do something to you—but he just stood there looking at you. I waited outside your door for an hour and he never moved." He took another breath in and looked away from her, "I thought he just felt guilty—that he had finally realized what he had done to you and he was just standing there, watching you die. Waiting for it…maybe I was wrong…"

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When they got to Mulder's apartment, Scully drew him a bath and told him to 'go soak' while she folded his clothes and put them away. When he came out of the bathroom and saw her stacking his clothes in his dresser, he sighed contentedly and watched her work.

"Are you going to stay tonight?" he asked quietly as he dug his toe into the carpet. She'd been quiet ever since his and Bill's fight and he was beginning to worry.

"If you don't mind." She answered as she closed the last drawer and slid the laundry basket into the floor of his closet and shut the door. "I'm going to take a shower."

Mulder nodded his head and left the room, going into the kitchen and grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator and walking back into the living room, going through his shelves as he searched for a movie he thought she'd like.

He must have zoned out because the next thing he knew, she was turning the shower off and pulling a towel off the rack. He smiled cunningly as he bent down to his bottom shelf, grabbing a tape with no box and shoving it into the VCR, hitting rewind as soon as the tape slid inside.

When she walked out of his bedroom, her hair was gliding across her shoulders; she was wearing one of his baseball jerseys and his red speedo. He busted out laughing before taking a gulp of his beer, keeping his eyes on her legs as he walked to the fridge and grabbed two more bottles of beer and went to the couch, pulling her down next to him as he grabbed the remote.

"What are we watching?"

"You, my love, are about to watch the most worn out tape from the infamous Fox Mulder Bottom Drawer Movie Collection."

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Ooooh, things are about to get hot and heavy! I know it was short and there wasn't any smoking wild scenes—come on, admit it, that's why we read fanfiction—but I hope y'all enjoy it just the same. As always, review review review and I'll try and get another chapter uploaded by Sunday. I will also be working on Chapter 3 tonight for The Profiler and The Doctor so check it out and hopefully you'll have new installment to read before bedtime!

-Anarchy X-Phile