I'm sorry this took so long to upload.. my computer crashed and I had to retrieve this from another website! This is chapter three... duh, that's why it says part 3! Ha! Pleeeeeease review... and if you like Harry Potter... my third story is up.. prologue only... gotta start somewhere.

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With Hope there is Truth
part 3

Scully's apartment
9:16 pm

"She'll call if she gets lost. Mulder you have to calm down. I'm
sure Anne-- I mean Hope is fine," Scully was seated on her couch
nursing a half bottle of beer. Mulder was holding his own bottle and
pacing around the room.

"She doesn't know her way around Washington and we have no idea to
know where she is." Mulder took his seat next to Scully and stretched
out his feet.

"If you had stayed in the office a little longer, you'd have known
that I gave her my cell phone number and directions back to my
apartment just in case she got lost. She is 20 years old you know,"
Scully smiled as Mulder swung his head to look at her.

They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments till Scully
broke the silence. "What is it, Mulder?" She remembered what Anne
had said earlier about how she had also read Mulder's mind in
Skinner's office.

Mulder looked her face over and smiled his lopsided smile at her.
"Have I ever told you that I think you're beautiful, Scully?"

Scully was taken aback. 'It's the beer, it's the beer.' She kept
telling herself. "Mulder..." She said softly.

That was it, he had crossed the line. No going back. Mulder smiled
at her and moved a little closer. "I'm serious, Scully. Why is it
so hard for you to believe that I think you are so beautiful?"

"Mulder, we're partners in crime. I guess I've never thought about
it a whole lot." She didn't lean any closer, but she didn't lean
back either. She could remember being in this position once before
with a Mulder look-a-like. This was her Mulder though this time.

Mulder moved even closer and draped his arm around her on the back of
the couch, his face mere inches from hers. "You're afraid "I'm"
going to burst through the door any second aren't you?" Scully
nodded. "Well, I'm not. I'm right here with my reason for living.
I distinctly remember telling this wonderful and beautiful woman, not
one month ago, that she was my constant, my touchstone. She means
the world to me; I want to love her."

Scully felt the heat rise in her cheeks and the tears in her eyes
threatening to fall down her face. "And I remember telling that man
that he is also mine. I meant every word. He is the only one I
trust and I want to love him too." Her tears fell. It took almost
seven years, but they were finally there.

Mulder's hands came up and framed her face. He leaned close to her
face and softly kissed away her tears. He pulled back and looked at
her shining eyes. Scully put her small hand on the back of his neck
and gently pulled him to her. Their lips met in a soft, almost
chaste kiss. They both pulled out of their first kiss and smiled.
"I love you, Scully," Mulder whispered to her.

Scully smiled and whispered back, "I love you too," He kissed her
softly but was stopped when a small screech came from the hall. They
both jumped up and Mulder reached for his gun.

The door knob turned and in stepped Hope Carter with a grin from ear
to ear, knowing exactly what had been going on in the apartment. She
strode over to the chair, removed her jacket and crashed on the
chair. Mulder stared at her while Scully sheepishly looked around
the room. "I love being right. God, seven years huh? That's a long
time for best friends not to say those three magic words. It's cool
though, Mark and I have known each other practically all our lives
and we've never done anything."

"Well thank you for your approval on this "Agent Carter". I forgot
that I have to deal with Scully and a mind reader now," Mulder went
into the kitchen with a groan. "And this was my idea!" He called as
he put on a pot of coffee. Both women laughed.

"So how did it go?" Scully sat on the edge of the couch, looking at
a very tired Hope.

"Not as good as things went here I take it," Hope threw her a sly
smile. Scully blushed. "But, Skinner is nice. Kinda long winded
but he's a good man. He's hiding something, but I'll have to get to
that later. I parked the car next to yours. It's the black Jetta.
Real nice car. Anyway, I'll leave you two alone, I'm going to bed.
We can talk more in the morning." She got up to go to her bedroom
to crash for the night.

She was half way down the hall when she turned to see Mulder handing
Scully a cup of coffee and sitting back down on the couch. "I
assume, Mulder, that someone will call you over in the morning... or
are you staying here the night?" She winked and ducked as Mulder
tossed a pillow in her direction.

The door to her room shut and locked, and Mulder moved to put his arm
around Scully. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her
eyes. "She's a piece of work, Scully."

"Yeah but she knows us so well already. So, Mulder," she looked up
at him staring at her hair. "are you going to spend the night?" She
had a gleam in her eyes as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Yes I am. But, I was planning on curling up on this couch with you
and holding you all night long." He grabbed the blanket that was on
the top of the couch, covering both their bodies.

"That was my exact thought. How ever did you know?" Scully smiled
and leaned into his chest.

"I think I'm developing Anne's ESP... or I just know you too well,"
He kissed her head and both agents drifted into a comfortable sleep
in each others arms.

In the next room, Anne laid in her bed smiling. She grabbed her
small medallion. "Hope" it read. She felt a tear run down her cheek
and it landed on her pillow. Anne was no more, she was Hope until
it was safe to go home. If only she could have told her parents. If
only she could see Mark again. In the back of her head, she felt
something was wrong. She couldn't place it, but it wasn't good, and
she didn't know how to fix it.

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8:42 am
December 4, 1999

Hope awoke and slowly walked into the living room. Mulder and Scully
were no where to be found. She crept back down the hall, and quietly
opened Scully's door. Scully was laying on the bed and facing the
door. Mulder had his arms around her waist, spooning her body while
Scully tightly held his hands. Hope smiled; she had never seen two
more content people.

She quietly went back into the kitchen and hunted through the
cabinets until she found tea bags. She sat at the counter while her
water boiled then went and curled up on the couch with a book she
found in her bedroom.

Ten minutes later, Mulder opened Scully's door and walked into the
living room where Hope was reading. "Hey you. Don't you believe in
coffee in the morning?" Mulder walked into the kitchen and began to
brew some coffee.

"No, my parents drink it but I can't stand it." She sipped her tea
and laid down her book. She could sense that Mulder wanted to have a
talk. He stood and watched the coffee until it was done, then he
came in and sat on the chair across from Hope.

"So, I'll bet you already know what I want to talk about, huh?" He
asked her, sipping his hot coffee and settling into the chair. Hope
nodded and set down her mug, ready to talk.

"It's hard to pinpoint when it all began, I'm beginning to think I've
possessed this all my life. My parents don't know what it is. For
the past eleven years my dad has wanted me to go see some sort of
doctor, but my mom has refused. The first time I remember reading
someone's mind was when I was about five. My mom was pregnant and I
was young so I didn't even really know what that meant. It was early
in her pregnancy, so she wasn't showing. One day I simply asked her
why she was hiding the fact that she was pregnant. I'll never forget
the look on her face. She was shocked that I knew, and she asked me
if I had been listening to hers and Dad's conversations. From then
on out I did it when ever I wanted."

Mulder looked at her with amazement. "Did your friends know? I mean
did you ever tell them?"

"Yeah, but only Mark and my other best friend, Lucy Carl. I've known
her for about ten years. Lucy came over the day after I first came
in contact with the smoking man. I told her everything and she
started remembering times when she thought something was weird with
me. I never used it to hurt anyone, it's just there." Hope sipped
her tea and switched positions in her chair.

"Have any doctors ever been able to explain it?"

"No, as I said, Mom would never let Dad take me to a doctor. Mom
didn't want to hear that I had brain cancer or something and that I
was going to die." Mulder paled as she mentioned the cancer. "I'm
so sorry, I didn't realize it was such a sore subject. I'm glad that
everything worked out for Dana though. She has such a strong soul."

Mulder smiled at her. Anne was an amazing woman, who's life was
threatened because of a precious gift she possessed. "You knew
about--" he gestured to the bedroom.

Hope nodded and smiled. "I knew the minute you two walked into
Skinner's that something more was there. I could feel it." Hope
stopped and looked over Mulder's shoulder. Scully emerged from the
bedroom and shuffled into the kitchen without a word.

"She's not a morning person I guess, huh?" Hope asked. Mulder began
laughing and nodding his head. Scully gave him a smug smile from the
kitchen. He leapt up and ran into the kitchen giving her a quick kiss
on the cheek and refilled his coffee cup.

"I heard you two talking out here. It's an interesting story about
the power she possesses. How do you plan to use it to our
advantage?" Scully glanced at Hope who was once again engrossed in
the book.

"Well, she claims to be able to control it so, I was thinking about
taking her down to the office today and seeing what we can do." He
smiled but Scully groaned.

"It's Saturday, Mulder! Skinner's not even in the office. What are
we going to do all day in the office?" Scully gulped her caffeine fix
down.

Mulder gave her a devilish look. "I could think of a few things,"
He glanced into the living room to see Hope grimacing, then she
looked up and smiled.

"Don't mind me, I can't really hear you!" Mulder rolled his eyes and
put down his coffee cup.

"I have to get home. I'll meet you at the office around eleven and
we can put her to the test. I'll even take you both out to dinner
tonight to make up for it, okay?" He gave Scully his puppy dog look and
pouted.

"Mulder..." she began but he silenced her by kissing her quickly on
the lips and running to the door.

"Good day ladies, I shall see you in a while!" And then he was gone.

"Man," Hope said, looking at the slammed door. She swung around and
looked at Scully. "he has it bad." She smiled and Scully began
laughing.

"Come on, we have to eat and get ready. Want some eggs?" Hope
nodded and came into the small kitchen.

"Yes, I do love him," Hope said as Scully went for the eggs. She
popped her head up with a confused look. "You were wondering how I
felt about Mark, and I love him. I have for years. Ever since we
were juniors in high school. I was just too afraid to tell him. Now
I may never get to." She sighed and rested her head in her hands
watching Scully make the scrambled eggs.

"Sweetie, I know it's hard. I mean look at me and Mulder. It took
us almost seven years to get this far, and we're adults. Your time
with Mark will come. You're his best friend, he just may feel the
same way. Here you go." She placed some eggs on a plate and took
the seat next to her.

"Thanks. And yeah, I like this female bonding thing. I was never
close to my mom and you're like the big sister I never had." Hope
took a bite of her eggs and looked over at Scully who was smiling
brightly.

"Melissa, my older sister, died for Mulder's and my cause. I never
had a younger sister. Looks like you're gonna make up for that. And
I also haven't had a roommate since I went to Quantico, so this is
really nice." They both smiled and went about their breakfast,
discussing plans for Hope to learn her aim and how Mulder was
planning to make Anne Taylor disappear.

Two hours later, both female agents were ready to get going. They
went downstairs and Scully got her first look at Hope's new car.
"Did you say something really nice to Skinner? This car is
absolutely adorable!"

Hope smiled and slid into the car. "Want to go in one car? I'll
drive."

"Sure why not?" Scully got into the passenger seat and they headed
to the office, and to Agent Carter's first day with the FBI.

end part 3