This is pretty well going to wrap it up, I think. Most of us knows what happens in season 7, 8 and 9. I just wanted to paint a little picture of season 6 and release some of my Fowley hating tension.

Disclaimer: Don't own them sue.

CHAPTER 12

Washington D.C.

A few months later.

As cliché as it sounded, Mulder had to give some creedance to the notion that time heals all wounds. Many things were the same but much more was different. Scully still shot holes in all of his theories, but now she did it with a faint glimmer of something new in her blue eyes. He didn't know what it was, but he liked it.

They were also spending more casual time together: Pizza and moviesat his place, beer and the Knicks at hers. Neither of them considered that time dating as such, but they were both grateful to have each other's company.

Even if they never said that they did.

On this particular day, he and Scully had to put off watching a movie for some real work. The only problem was that he had overslept and as he stood brushing his teeth, finally looking into the mirror and not seeing a heartless empty shell of a man, he heard Scully's familiar knock on the door.

When he answered it, he was slightly surprised to see the rattled look on her face. "New neighbor?" she asked. He shrugged and put the toothbrush down. "Yeah."

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"Mr. Padgett?"

Part of Mulder wanted nothing more than five minutes alone with this guy in a closed room with no witnesses. The other part of him wanted to getthis guyas far out of his and Scully's lives as possible.

For the most part, Scully seemed fairly detached from this case, which was a huge shock considering their main suspect had already written close to 300 pages about her life, her thoughts, her "fictional" extracurricular activities. Something about this guy was not right, even if Scully didn't see it and as long as this "writer" was obsessed with ihs partner, Mulder was goingto keep a close eye on his.

No matter what had transpired in the past, Mulder would fight with his life and breath to make sure his partner would be safe from harm. He knew she knew it too, which was probably why she wasn't putting up too much of a fight when it came to Mulder's obvious displays of machoism that he had taken up during this case.

"We're sorry Mr. Padgett, we made a mistake," Mulder said coolly, thinking about how good that five minutes would feel. "You're free to finish your novel."

He handed the smaller man an evidence bags filled with papers, Scully keeping close behind him, as if Mulder was shielding her. As Padgett passed, he gave her a brief look that made Mulder want to shove that bag down his throat. Scully just looked at him with a mixture of pity and sympathy.

"I made a mistake as well," Padgett spoke, turning to face both the agents.

"How so?"

Padgett cleared his throat and looked at her for a brief second.

"In my novel, I wrote that Agent Scully falls in love," he said briskly. "I know that now to be impossible."

Then he turned and glared at Mulder.

"Agent Scully is already in love."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving alarm bells going off in both the agent's heads.

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Weeks later…

Phillip Padget had been dead for weeks, but his words continued to hang out there between the agents as if he had just spoken. And while Mulder had wanted to question Scully about it, he also didn't want any type of confession to be the result of instigation by a crazed novelist.

Now, as he was leaving Arthur Dales' crappy apartment, an idea came to him. "Agent Scully is already in love." Mulder smiled and decided it was time to up the ante. Instead of driving home, he pulled into the nearest sporting goods store.

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"So I get a this call on my answering service from a 'Fox Mantle' telling me to come down here for a very early or very late birthday present, and I'm looking around and I don't see any nicey wrapped presents so….what gives?"

Mulder smiled wickedly at his partner as she leaned against the fencing of the dugout.

"You've never held a baseball bat, have you?"

She chuckled and wrapped her arms around her. "No, I guess I always had more worthwhile things to do."

Mulder grinned at her sarcasm. He loved it when she was a smartass and the way the lights from the ballfield reflected off of her hair…..

"Get over here Scully," he practically growled.

The night had been fun. She hit a few good ones with his help and without it. The kid shagging balls for them made a good $30, but when the bat gave her a splinter, they decided to call it a night.

As they walked to their cars, Mulder swung his arm over her shoulder.

"I dunno Scully, you might be ready for the majors, if you can learn to suck up the pain a little."

She pinched his side and laughed as he doubled over, pulling her down with him. They struggled to disentangle themselves, laughing hard and kicking up dirt. Finally, she broke loose and leaned against her car, trying to catch her breath from the hysterics.

"No fair, Mulder," she gasped. "You're taller than me, you have the upper hand!"

Mulder dropped the equipment he purchased on the ground and leaned over, resting his hands on his knees, laughing just as hard.

"You may be short but you carry a big elbow," he laughed, but when he looked up, it subsided. The stadium lights then shut off, leaving them in the dark with only the illumination of the moon in the sky directly behind Scully. The light cast a luminous halo over her and, God help him, she looked as if she were glowing.

Her laughter subsided at the look on her partner's face and she began to wonder if she had connected with his head.

"You okay, Mulder?" she asked, always concerned.

He remained in that position a few seconds longer, before straightening up. "Yeah. I'm good. I think I'm great even."

She chuckled. "Well, we think a lot of ourselves, don't we?"

He smiled but walked closer to her. The expression on her face changed as he reached up and traced her jaw with his finger. He looked into her now wide eyes earnestly.

"That's not what I meant, Scully." He whispered. A small smile crossed her features as she seemed to welcome his touch.

"I know, Mulder. I know how you feel."

He closed the few more inches of space between them. This was different than the events of the hallway. There was no sadness, no tears, no desperation. This was positive, pure, perfect.

He leaned closer to her face and was happy to see her eyes close a little as she leaned into him. He lifted her chin and stared at her.

"Scully…" he whispered.

She smiled again and ran a hand up his shoulder to the nape of his neck.

"I trust you, Mulder. I love you, too."

He smiled and leaned in, closing the spaces between their lips.

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In the darkness of the surrounding area, the black Cadillac sat motionless, its power off. The occupants watched the two people entwined in a very passionate kiss.

"You've failed to separate them." A puff of smoke drifted across to the passenger seat where she sat, attention affixed, clearly angry.

"We underestimated their devotion to each other," Diana said flatly. "We strengthened their bond."

The older man leaned back in the driver seat and took another drag off of his cigarette.

"We'll wait and see," he said snidely. "If no other opportunities present themselves, we'll create them."

The two dark figures watched asthe man and the woman outside remained locked in love's embrace, quietly promising each other that the future was theirs, no matter what it may bring.

-FINIS-