They make their way up the tattered hillside in the early morning dawn; Scully with a worn coat thrown over the hunchback outline of her back, and Mulder with his arm around her.
In town, people ask where they have been, say they've been worried, question their discoveries. Mulder gives a few one word answers, and Scully quickly wanders off towards their tiny cabin, coat clutched around her shoulders. Neither knows how to broach this development, what reactions would be. At the moment, it's simpler to contemplate for a short while. They do.
When he finally makes it back to the cabin, Scully is sitting on the edge of the bed, back towards him. She has her arms wrapped around herself and is slowly rocking and humming a tune he's never heard. Mulder wraps his arms around her and the pale folded wings against her porcelain skin.
She sighs, and for a moment, it strikes them both that this is a strange reality, one neither of them really believed in. Scully spent her entire life trying to prove herself wrong or right, science or God or both—she never really found either. And Mulder, he…he tried to find his own way and give her life a different meaning as he went. But somehow, the truth was clearer to him now than any other moment.
At some point, Skinner abruptly charges in, assuming from the quiet they're either sleeping or away—they never figure out exactly why he showed up. Startled, Mulder turns around and unblocks the view of Scully's folded wings and Scully, free to move, stands up in shock and surprise. Skinner gasps and grabs a table for support, "Oh my God Dana—" as her wings unfold in fiery glory, reflecting the sunlight filtering in through the window and leaving Skinner in cowering shock.
Neither of them attempt to explain, and for a few minutes they simply look at each other—Skinner frozen in shock, Scully proud and tall, and Mulder between the two.
He speaks abruptly, struggling to get the words out. Haltingly, unsurely, Skinner gasps, "Can you…fly?"
She smiles, a genuine display of happiness for the first time in a long time, and murmurs back: "We'll see."
After a pause, he starts to smile and mumbles that he'll see them later and exits the cabin, practically running. Neither Mulder or Scully know if he'll tell anyone else, neither care. They burst into uncontrollable laughter for a few breathless minutes.
Later on, they lie in bed, lazily gazing at each other. Scully's staring at Mulder, who's absentmindedly stroking her right wing, eventually moving his gaze to meet hers.
"Scully…I think this is the truth."
She props her head up on an elbow, still staring at him, but not with skepticism or amusement, just a blank gaze which signals she's too open to any possibility to care what he says.
Mulder continues with a wandering tone of voice, gaze locked with her blue eyes.
"I think this," he says still stroking her wings, "is what we've always been looking for…"
"What is that?"
"That everyone gets some reward, some end to their struggles. Everyone is given a sign or proof that life has meaning, that somehow…things lead up to a climax and don't get worse after that."
Scully stares at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"So what's your reward?"
He pauses for a moment, then smiles back.
"I have you."
In the end, both fade into myth and legend. Mulder and Scully, the invincible pair who tried to save the world and maybe did—after all, some people survived. As time went on, it became more Scully—an angel or unexplainable phenomenon depending on who one talked to—and Mulder, her devotee and true companion.
People know Mulder died, people know people who helped bury Mulder and were the last to see the woman with wings.
No one anyone knows buried Dana Scully.
In whispers, they say she never died, just flew off and continues around the world to the day, vibrant red hair and sinewy wings that sparkle if you're lucky enough to catch a glimpse.
No one knows what happened to Scully.
But they know that she will never die.
A/N: X-Files not mine.
Please review,
Thanks to wingedrequiem, because I've never gotten a more satisfying review than yours. I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations; I haven't written X-Files in what seems like a long time now, not sure I ever will again.
Thanks for reading.