Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files.

Spoilers: "Travelers" and any other episode dealing with the back story of Mulder and Diana's relationship.

A/N: Another X-Files mystery is revealed in the episode "Travelers" in which Mulder is clearly wearing a wedding band in the flashbacks. The two explanations I ran across the most were: A) that Duchovny had just gotten married and wanted to wear his ring on set and B) that Duchovny wanted to eventually introduce a plot point about an ex-wife but never got around to doing so. The Gunmen tell Scully that Diana dated Mulder from his Academy days through the discovery and early days of the X-Files. "Travelers" takes place during late 1990. The timing checks out, and it's possible that the Gunmen did not want to reveal the whole truth to Scully. Diana's birthday is never given (at least to my knowledge), so I assigned her this one because it suited my purposes.

The Wall Came Down

November 9, 1991

Witnesses claim that the male suspect is capable of scaling walls using nothing but his bare hands and feet, Mulder read in the X-File. Further inspection yielded an unidentifiable, sticky substance discovered on the sides of the buildings the suspect is accused of scaling.

Mulder absentmindedly hummed the Spiderman theme song as he continued reading the X-File.

The suspect was never apprehended, and the case remains unsolved.

"Obviously, since it's an X-File," Mulder muttered, closing the file and dropping it on the basement table.

He leaned back in the chair and stretched, his mind already preparing for whatever unsolved case he would pull out next. Maybe he would find another case about a mysterious creature. Maybe he would discover one about a particularly insane serial killer. Or maybe he would even choose one about alien abduction.

Glad this would soon be his official job, he stood up and walked over to the filing cabinets. Mulder flipped through a couple of files and pulled out one that caught his interest.

Victims with two puncture marks in their abdomens, he read. First victim: Dan Fowler, early thirties, recently married. Wedding band oddly discovered on right hand instead of left…

Dan Fowler…early thirties…recently married…wedding band…

Mulder bolted upright at his table, his mind connecting the dots more slowly than it should have.

"About four hours too slow," he said to the empty basement.

He grabbed his coat and threw it on, running for the elevator. Diana was going to kill him. It was her birthday, and they were going to celebrate both her birthday and his official appointment to the X-Files. He had even contemplated lobbying for her to become his partner in spite of bureau policy; now he would be lucky if she would even talk to him.

"She'll talk to me," he said to the unresponsive elevator door. "She'll forgive me. She always does."

Jumping into his car and slamming the door, he sped away from the parking garage. He regaled his steering wheel with optimistic predictions and plans of attack and defense.

Mulder stormed the door of his apartment complex and charged up the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator. He ran down the hallway, apologies on his lips as he reached the apartment he and his wife shared.

"I'm so sorry, Diana," Mulder said as he opened the door. "I'll make it up to you…tomorrow."

The word died on his lips as he took in the disheveled state of the apartment. While neither he nor Diana was incredibly tidy, the apartment was more disordered than normal. Some things had been taken, so Mulder drew his gun.

The burglars could still be in the apartment, he thought. If they've hurt Diana…

Mulder crept forward, noticing what was missing. Diana's lamp. Diana's pictures of her family. Diana's coat. Diana's…

Once again, Mulder connected the dots too slowly. Realization crashing in on him, he holstered his gun and walked from room to room. Everything of Diana's was gone, except for a few unimportant items she had left behind.

Their bedroom was turned upside down, empty drawers gaping open and doors ajar. All of Diana's clothes and jewelry were gone; without her castoffs, nobody would be able to tell she had once lived here.

Mulder's eyes were drawn to the bed, a single piece of paper beckoning to him. He briefly considered not reading the note, but his curiosity got the better of him. His eyes wandered to the bottom and confirmed the signature, so he sat down on the bed and read the letter.

Dear Fox,

Please forgive me for leaving you, but I cannot stay here and continue to watch the X-Files consume your life. When we first married, the X-Files were just a hobby, something you indulged in once in awhile when you were bored. But then you discovered all those alien abduction stories, and you began drifting farther and farther away from me.

I understand your desire to find your sister, and I enjoy searching for the Truth with you. But Mulder, the X-Files are not my life. They are your life now. They are all you do. I had hoped that you would eventually give them up and come back home to me, but I saw the ecstasy in your eyes yesterday when you were officially assigned to the X-Files.

This morning, I was offered an Anti-Terrorism job in Berlin. Since I was married, I initially turned the offer down. Then you failed to show up for our celebration dinner, and I realized that if I remained married to you, the rest of my life would be like this.

So I am taking the job, Mulder. I am taking the job because I have finally realized the Truth: There is not room in your life or in your heart for both a wife and the X-Files. I can start over in Berlin, and you can continue to feed more and more of yourself to the X-Files.

Do not try to change my mind; do not try to find me. I will not be the good little wife who comes back to her husband in spite of his continued dalliances with his other woman. I wish you nothing but the best, and I hope you find what you are looking for.

Thanks for the good times and best of luck,

Diana Fowley

Mulder stared at the wall for what seemed like hours, completely at a loss. He came to with a jerk and jumped up from the bed as if it had suddenly turned to lava. He looked at it with disgust, glaring at the poofy pillows and the thick, soft quilt.

Tomorrow, I'm selling it, he thought.

Gathering all of Diana's remaining possessions did not take long; he shoved them in a corner of the bedroom and closed the door. His pillow and blanket were still right by the couch, so he picked them up, fluffed them, and set them back on his couch where they belonged.

He considered going to a bar, putting in one of Frohike's tapes, or visiting the Gunmen, but he settled on watching television instead. The TV was on a news channel that was running a late-night story about the second anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!' President Johnson said," the anchor intoned.

The picture cut from the anchor to clips of various sections of the wall being demolished.

"And the wall came down."

The anchor droned on, but Mulder tuned him out. Diana was going to Berlin because the wall came down. Not just the Berlin Wall, but the wall he had once erected between his professional life and his personal life. He admitted to himself that Diana was right and that he should have noticed the truth sooner.

"But why didn't you tell me?" Mulder said to the empty apartment. "You didn't even give me a chance to change. And now…"

Mulder realized the truth as he turned off the television. "Now I don't have a reason to change. I'm going to see my other woman."

Without a backward glance, he drove back to the Bureau and went back down to the basement. To some, the room would appear lonely and homely, but to him…

"You're beautiful, and I love you," Mulder said, grinning rakishly. "You never complain, you tell me the truth, and you're always there for me. You never get tired, you age well, and you're the best hope I have of finding my sister. If I choose to spend all my time with you, you never tell me it was the wrong thing to do. Find me a woman like that, and I might be willing to make time for her. But for now, I'll love the one I'm with."

The small table beckoned to him, the inviting red and white manila envelopes more appealing than Diana's sheet of excuses. He reached for the file he had been reading before he left, but decided he did not want to continue reading it. Mulder realized the truth about why he had come back, so he put up the other envelopes and pulled out The One.

"Mulder, Samantha T.," it read. Mulder once again read all the information he had been able to gather about his sister's abduction, including the information he had gathered from alien abductees. He now understood so much more about her disappearance, but he also realized that there was so much more he did not know.

"I'll find the Truth," Mulder said aloud. "And I'll find you. And I'll do it alone if they'll let me."

While Mulder had enjoyed working with Diana on some of the X-Files, he had always liked that he reported to no one. Diana was a consultant, not a full partner. Mulder admitted that it probably would have been better had she never become involved in the X-Files at all.

The X-Files killed my relationship with my wife because I got too deeply involved. Any new partner they'll try to saddle me with will either be a good ol' boy they will send to smother me or a pretty face they will send to seduce me. Neither will succeed, because neither will get close.

Mulder looked down once more at the face of his sister, staring up at him from an old photograph.

If they send me a woman, I'll work hard to keep her beyond arm's length. I will respect her professionally, but I will never let her get close to me because that would be a lose/lose situation. If she is sent by someone to debunk my work and shut me down, I'll push her away to protect myself. If she ends up becoming a good friend and someone I love, I'll push her away to protect us both. As Diana so eloquently said, there is not room in my heart for both a wife and the X-Files.

"Hopefully, they won't send in anyone who will try to come between us," Mulder said, leaning back in his chair and launching a pencil at the ceiling.

Soon, there will be a desk in here, just another surface for me to fill with clutter. It will be nice to have somewhere to stretch my legs when I sit…

"But I love you just the way you are," he said, looking fondly at his little table at which he had spent so many wonderful, profitable hours.

His eyes returned to Samantha's file, as did his mind. And he lost himself once more in the love of his life.