Disclaimer: see chapter 1.

A/N: I'm so beyond sorry that this took so long, I started writing, but then I had to go to another state for a week to visit family. Thanks to my reviewers (you know who you are) for giving me ideas, I'm still not really sure where this story is going. Also, I've never been to D.C. so if the travel distances are messed up, I'm sorry.

Mulder heard the knock on the door and went to answer it. He let Dana in and pulled her into a hug. Then he went into the kitchen and left a note on the fridge for Sarah so that when she woke up she would know why the apartment was empty.

Sarah

I took Dana out to the monument. We'll be back by 2. I have my phone in case you need me.

-Dad.

He took Dana's hand and led her out the door and into the elevator down the hall. The monument was about a 45-minute drive away, mostly because of the heavy traffic. When they got close, the parked at a meter and put 2 hours worth of quarters into it. Hand in hand, the pair walked down the sidewalk taking in all there was to see. When they reached the reflecting pool they found a bench and sat down.

"Have you ever been here before?" Mulder asked.

"No. It's beautiful." Dana replied. She couldn't believe it was all happening, she was sitting on a bench, dangerously close to a very attractive man, who happened to be the father of one of her students… 'It's too bad Sarah couldn't be with us, she would love this' both people had the same thought on their minds. Dana leaned over to rest her head on Mulder's shoulder; he welcomed it, and gently pulled her closer. There they sat for at least 20 minutes, her head on his shoulder and his head on her head, in a dreamlike state.

Both were reluctant to get up, but they were starting to get hungry. They walked around for a while trying to find a casual diner, and when they found one it didn't take long for them to be inside ready to order. Mulder's phone rang and he excused himself to answer it. "Mulder." He stated once the phone was at his ear.

"Hey dad, it's me, I was wondering if I could have Alaria and Aretha over today to work on a project?" came the voice on the other end of the line.

"Sure, do they need rides?" He asked, really hoping he didn't have to cart his daughter's friends around.

"No, Aretha's mom can bring them." She answered, knowing that her dad didn't like driving everyone everywhere.

"Ok, I'll see ya when we get back." He said ready to hang up, but the girl's voice interrupted that idea.

"Hey, dad, ummm… How's your date going?" She asked wondering if she could keep them out longer to buy some more time for her and her friends to execute their plan.

"Really well." A pause "Why?" He was suddenly very curious about what was going on in that apartment.

"Oh, just wondering, hey, you guys should stay out a little longer, go see a movie or something…" Sarah knew her dad was getting suspicious.

"Sarah. What is going on there?" Mulder asked very seriously.

"Nothing. I really like Dana, she's my favorite girlfriend that you've had since mom… ya know." Sarah said. She was telling the truth, since her mother had killed herself, her dad had been dating all kinds of women; Ms. Scully was by far the nicest and smartest of all of them.

"Ok, Sarah, I trust you. We'll stay out a little longer, but don't do anything dumb." He gave in to his daughter's request.

"Bye, dad, have fun. Oh, and kiss her this time. For real." Sarah said as she laughed and hung up. Mulder returned to his table, and made conversation with Dana until their food came. She was already talking about movies, so it was easy to ask if there was one she wanted to see in theaters. They picked one out and after Mulder paid for their food and put more quarters in the parking meter by their car, they went to the theater.

Meanwhile back in apartment 42, the girls were busy cleaning and cooking. Alaria set the table for two, with candles and wine glasses, and a nice tablecloth, Aretha got to work on the vegetarian lasagna. Sarah picked up the phone and called Ms. Scully's apartment to leave a message.

"Hi, you've reached the home of Dana Scully, I'm not in right now, but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Beeeeep

"Hey Ms. Scully, it's Sarah, come to my apartment at 6:30. Dress nicely" She hung up. Later on she got a call from her dad saying that the earliest showing of the movie they wanted to see was at 3 so it would probably be close to 6 when they got home. Damn, that was too late. She ran out the door ignoring her friends' questions, hoping that she could erase her message on Ms. Scully's machine before they got back. Luckily the door was unlocked and she was able to take care of it. It was time for a new plan. Sarah decided that she and Aretha would go over to Ms. Scully's apartment to get her when they were almost ready.

She walked back over to her apartment where her friends were preparing for the dinner. At exactly six o'clock, her father was at the door. Sarah had locked the door from the inside so his key wouldn't let the door open all the way. When she saw him starting to try to open the door she grabbed a blindfold, unlocked the door, and slipped into the hallway. "Hey, dad. Listen the girls and I have a surprise for you, and if you go in there with your eyes open it will ruin everything. So put this on and I will guide you so you don't trip. Ok?" Sarah said quickly not bothering to breathe until after she finished explaining everything.

"Ok… Is everything alright in there?" Mulder asked, very worried about what 3 teenagers could have done to his home.

"Don't worry dad, it's a good surprise, I promise everything is fine." Sarah reassured her father. He wasn't one to keep a perfectly clean house, but he only appreciated the messes that he made himself. Sarah led him into his room and sat him down on his bed. She then shut the door and went to his closet.

"What are you doing?" Mulder questioned his daughter.

"Finding you something to wear." She replied innocently.

"For what?"

"We arranged something special for you and a certain someone tonight" Sarah replied, obviously enjoying toying with her dad's brain.

"Who?…I mean…What?…I mean Why?" he stammered trying to ask the right questions.

"Because you and this person both have secrets that you need to talk about, before anything bad happens to your relationship." Sarah said, mentally kicking herself for the use of the word 'relationship,' now he would definitely figure it out.

"You're talking about Dana right? And what secrets do I have, that she doesn't already know?" He wondered how much his daughter knew about his job.

"You need to tell her about mom." Sarah stated quietly and calmly. "You need to tell her that the last woman you had a long relationship with killed herself because she hated living with you and didn't want to be the mother of your child. You have to tell her that you drove mom to suicide." Sarah was now crying. It always hurt remembering the old days. Her memories were faint, because she had been young, but you don't forget living in an abusive household. Her mom would get upset at how messy her dad was and take it out on Sarah. Her dad's voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Why? Why does she have to know? It wasn't my fault. Your mother was insane, I have no idea what I was thinking when I married her. No regrets about you though. I don't think I should tell her, and I don't think you should either." Now he was about to cry too.

"Hold on a minute." Sarah stuck her head out the door and sent Aretha and Alaria off to get Ms. Scully. "Dad, I know this is hard for you, it's hard for me too, but I really think she should know about what happened to mom before your relationship gets too serious. And like I said, you both have things you're not telling each other. She has secrets too."

"Are they as depressing as mine?" Mulder asked.

"Absolutely not." Sarah said lightly. About 10 minutes later the girls and Dana returned. Dana was blindfolded as Mulder had been, and she was lead to the room where Sarah and her father were waiting. The girls removed Dana's blindfold and shut the door, they made sure everything was perfect and then allowed the couple to come out; the girls went to Sarah's room to hang out while the adults had dinner. About halfway through the meal Mulder decided to tell Dana about his last wife.

"Dana, listen to me for a second, I have to tell you something about my past that Sarah is worried about." He paused.

"Okay, shoot." Dana said, curious to know more about the man she was with.

"My wife, Sarah's mother, killed herself." He almost cringed, concerned about how Dana would respond.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, but what does it have to do with us?" Dana asked.

"Well, she did it because of me. I mean because she was sick of living with me and didn't want to be a mother." It hurt him to say these words. He really didn't understand why Sarah's mom didn't want her.

Dana was silent. She didn't know what she could say, but she suddenly felt like she wanted to spend the rest of her life with the man across the table. She mentally kicked herself and dismissed the thought; she hadn't known him long enough to make any decisions. Mulder took her silence the wrong way and put his head down.

"You can leave if you like. I'll understand." He said quietly, avoiding her eyes.

"No, I want to stay, I really like you, I might even love you. But I have something to say too. It might make things a little complicated."

"Okay, go for it." He offered a small smile.

"I'm a teacher at Greenlake High." She said, testing his mind. Mulder recognized that as the school his daughter went to.

"I don't see why that matters, not that your job isn't important, but what does that have to do with us?" He said. Dana gave up and decided to just say it.

"Your daughter is in my first period biology class." She said, wondering what he would think.

"Wow. Are parents allowed to be involved with teachers?" He asked. Suddenly he was concerned that this was a strange attempt on her part to end their relationship.

"I don't know, but parent-teacher conferences are coming up soon and we have to be careful." Dana replied. Mulder realized that she wanted to continue what they had because otherwise she wouldn't be talking about the future.

"Okay, I feel better now."

"Me too. I'm glad we had this talk." They finished eating and sat down on the couch to watch a movie with the girls.

End Part 3

A/N: Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. How far do you think the Mulder/Scully relationship should go?