Title: Discovery of the truth
Authors: Tanja
E-mail addresses: tanyavoet@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-13
Keywords: Pre-X-file, MSR, Mulder/Scully/Skinner friendship
Spoilers: not really
Summary: The truth is discovered, when not only Mulder and Scully, but also
their boss visits a high school reunion. Who would have guessed ...?

Disclaimer: They're not mine, though I wish they were. I'm not rich, though
I wish I was. So please don't sue me :o

Archive: The story can be archived anywhere, as long as you let me know, so
I
can visit :D

Dedication: Joey, for beta-reading, suggestions, and for the first part!!!!!
Thanks Jo!!!!

Discovery of the truth

Part 1

The usual buzz greeted Special Agent Dana Scully as she walked through the
corridors leading to the basement office. She was well-aware of the
whispering and sniggering of some of the other Agents as she passed them but
to be honest, she couldn't really care less. She had woken up that morning
with a feeling of great contentment and for once, she was determined not to
let anyone take that away from her.

To many she passed, she was Agent Scully, cool and professional with a
reputation for being an Ice Queen that they thought she didn't know about.
She did, she just didn't care. They didn't know her, they couldn't know her.
Otherwise at least one of them would have picked up on the fact that Dana
Scully was a woman with a secret. A secret she wasn't willing to let go of
yet.

She got to the office and paused with her hand on the doorknob, taking a
deep and slow breath. Then she opened the door and stepped over the
threshold. Her partner, Fox Mulder, barely acknowledged her presence. He
lifted his eyes briefly to meet hers before concentrating on something else.

Curious as to what was keeping his attention riveted, she closed the door
behind her and stepped closer to the desk. Her gaze fell on two identical
cream-coloured envelopes, standing out in contrast to the dark brown of the
desk. The only difference in them was that on one the name Fox Mulder was
printed in a curvy font and on the other, Dana Scully was printed.

"Are they ... Are they what I think they are?" Scully found her voice and
arched an eyebrow at her partner when he looked up. She reached out past him
and picked up her envelope turning it in her fingers with a thoughtful look
on her face. An invite to remember the past.

"To go back to where it all began," Mulder agreed, speaking up. They looked
at each other in silence, knowing that they were both casting their minds
back, back to the high school of the reunion they'd both received invites
to. Back to when their secret had begun.

ALMOST 13 YEARS EARLIER

It had been a long time since the Scully's had been to Chilmark. A long
time, in fact. Dana looked out of the car window as they pulled up outside
their new home, sadness tainting what should have been a welcome homecoming.
She was sick of moving around but she never complained. Nope, that was the
role Melissa and Bill Jnr. played. Good old Dana just went along with it.
And now here she was, back at the place that had once been her home after
over four years away.

"Dana, honey", Margaret Scully, her mother, turned in her seat to smile
reassuringly at her.  "Are you okay, Darling?"

"I'm fine, Mom," the words came out automatically, just as they had done
since that day. Margaret stifled a heavy sigh, gazing at her youngest
daughter in concern as she got out of the car. It had been a long time since
Dana's best friend had disappeared, yet it seemed to Margaret that part of
her daughter had gone with her, and showed no sign of coming back.

"It'll be okay, Maggie," Captain Bill Scully spoke quietly as he too
watched his baby girl put on a brave face.

"I'm not sure bringing her back here was a good idea," Margaret confessed
to her husband.  "Too many ghosts."

"She has to let go," Bill told his wife.  "Either that, or she has to
accept it and move on. Maybe Dana will find a way to say goodbye by being
here."

"I hope so," Margaret whispered to herself as she opened her car door and
stepped out.  "I really hope so."

The day disappeared in a daze of moving boxes and unpacking their contents.
After a family meal, Dana retired to her bedroom, earning concerned glances
off her family but ignoring them. She changed for bed and turned off the
lights, pretending to be asleep an hour later when her parents came to check
on her.

It was only after they had all gone to bed and the house was silent that
Dana dared to get up from her bed. She reached beneath the mattress and
pulled out a worn and tattered photo, creeping over to the window and
squinting even in the moonlight as she gazed at it.

Gazing back up at her was herself and her best friend, Sam. Samantha Mulders
big brown eyes smiled up at her, innocent and unaware, even as the silent
tears fell from Dana's eyes and landed on the picture, blurring the picture
that was burned into her memory.

END OF PART 1

PART 2

Four years had gone by since the night Sam had disappeared and there hadn't been a day since, that Dana hadn't thought about her. Sam had been her best friend and all of a sudden she hadn't been there anymore. She remembered all too vividly the way she had found out. She had gone by Sam's house to pick her up for school. Usually Sam would already be waiting for her in front of the house, that morning she hadn't been. Thinking her friend might be sick, Dana had knocked on the door.

Samantha's brother, Fox, had opened the door. His face was one of the things she wouldn't forget soon. His eyes showed a sadness, sadness that she hadn't seen there before. A sadness that told her that something had to be very wrong. He had looked at her, not knowing what to say. She had asked if Sam was home and all he could tell her was that she wasn't and that they didn't know if she ever would be again. 

Being almost eleven, Dana had been old enough to understand that she would never see her friend again. Two months after Sam disappeared, Dana and her family had moved again, this time to San Diego. Her parents had hoped that it would help her to forget about what happened, hoped that the old Dana would come back. But things had never been the same again, not for Dana. 

And now it was four years later and her parents knew that despite the time that had gone by, their youngest daughter still remembered, still hadn't been able to forget. It was like Maggie had said to her husband a few months after the accident "Maybe we were wrong, thinking that she would get over it. I don't know Bill, but it seems like part of Dana disappeared with Samantha."

He had assured her, told her it would take time, but eventually she would be able to forget. But even he had to admit that he had been wrong. His wife had been right, his little 'Starbuck' had never been the same again. She pretended she was alright, told everybody she was fine, but every now and then it was as if she remembered something she had tried to forget, unsuccessfully. As time went by it happened less frequently, but even after 4 years it still happened occasionally.

It hurt to see how she would distance herself from the rest if it happened, the sadness that washed over her, when she got lost in the memories. When Bill got offered the job that would bring them back to Chilmark, back to the place where the memories that haunted Dana were created, they had hesitated, especially since they had been informed that this job would probably be for at least 3 maybe even 4 years. What if it would only make things worse? What if it would bring back Dana's nightmares, that had taken a long time to go away? In the end he accepted the job, hoping that going back would do the only thing that nobody or nothing else seemed to be able to do for her. Accepting and moving on.

NEXT MORNING

Dana got out of the car. After waving her mother goodbye she sighed and turned around. Usually a new job meant a new place and a new school. This time it wasn't really a new place anymore. It might have been 4 years, but the same people would still be there. She just didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing. The good thing was that old friends would be there, the bad thing that Samantha wouldn't be one of them anymore. Sighing again she continued her walk and decided that she might just as well get it over with and go inside.

A FEW DAYS LATER

It hadn't been as bad as she expected. It had been good to see her old friends again. But after 4 years they had moved on, for them Samantha was part of something that belonged to the past. Not somebody or something they still thought about every day.

Sitting at the beach that afternoon, staring at the sea, Dana thought about it. Why was she the only person that seemed to remember Samantha? Why was she the only person that for some reason didn't seem able to move on like everybody else had? Coming back here hadn't made things exactly better, it only reminded her more of what had happened. And not for the first time since they had come back, the tears fell down her face, without Dana even noticing.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. Disturbed she turned around and looked up, finding herself face to face with somebody familiar. He was a few years older now, but hadn't changed that much. The thing that struck her most, was the sad look in his eyes. She had seen that look before, but that had been a long time ago. 

He didn't seem to remember who she was though. "Are you alright?" He asked worried. He wondered why this girl was sitting here on the beach crying and all alone. He didn't even know why he had come up to ask her this, she probably wanted to be alone, but there was something about her that had made him walk to her. She looked young, 14 maybe 15. Just a little older than Sam would have been, if she ... 

He returned his attention to the girl, instead of thinking about things that couldn't be changed anymore. The girl nodded, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "Yes, I'm fine." 

"Are you sure? You don't look that fine to me. You want to talk about it?"

She hesitated, not sure whether she should or not. Then again, he might be the only person who would really understand. "I miss my friend." Was all she said. 

"What happened?"

"It's ..." She paused. "She disappeared and ..." 

He abruptly looked up. "She disappeared?" He whispered.

Dana nodded.

"When?" 

"About 4 years ago, they ..."

He knew she was talking about Samantha, it was not every day that children disappeared in Chilmark. He had no idea how this girl knew his sister, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. "never found her." He finished for her. She nodded again.

"How do you know about Samantha?" He wanted to know.

"She was my best friend, Fox." Dana said simply. And then he remembered who she was. 

"Dana?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"When did you come back?" He wanted to know, he remembered her and her family moving away a few months after Sam's disappearance. 

"A few days ago. My dad got another job here, so we moved back."

"How does it feel to be back?"

"Strange." She admitted. "I remember everything, my old friends even remember who I am, but it's different. They all have moved on, forgot about the past and I seem to be the only one who can't move on, can't forget ..." Her voice drifted away.

"You try, but you can't help thinking about what happened. You wonder what it would be like if she would still be here. Four years have gone by, but it seems like it happened yesterday, isn't it?" 

"Yes. And everybody tells me I should forget, should move on. And I can't."

"I know what you mean. It works the same for me, but until now I thought I was the only one who missed her." He said. 

"Your parents must miss her too, don't they?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. They changed, things changed after Sam disappeared. They fought a lot and about two years ago they divorced. My mom's always away and the few times I see my dad he's either drunk or yelling at me."

"I'm sorry, Fox. I didn't know ..."

"Don't be sorry, it's not like it's your fault. Besides, it's probably better this way anyway."

There was a silence, then he said "I'm glad you're back, Dana. It's like after a long time there's finally somebody who understands me, who misses her like I do."

"I know." Was all Dana answered. 

They talked a lot that afternoon. It was the beginning of a special friendship. A friendship that did the only thing that nothing else could have done for them. Together they could talk, laugh and cry about Samantha and the memories they had about her and even though it took time, slowly their wounds started to heal. 

A friendship that was destined to change, as time passed and feelings grew
stronger.

End of part 2

Part 3

BACK TO PRESENT

The room was full of people when they entered, people were talking, laughing and 
dancing. Their eyes scanned the room, looking for the faces of old friends 
they knew so well back in high school. It would be great to see them again 
after all these years.

Dana suddenly discovered the whole group Jenn, Andy and Mark with a woman that 
was probably his wife. All of a sudden Jenn turned around and spotted the 


three of them standing there. She recognized them immediately.

"Oh my God, Dana, Fox!" She exclaimed enthusiastically, hugging them.

"Hi Jenn." They both grinned and hugged her back. 

After greeting and hugging everybody, their old friends looked curiously at 
the girl hiding behind Fox's legs. Well, actually she wasn't that 
little anymore, she was 6 years old already, but all these new people made her a 
little shy.

Fox grinned and leaned down to pick her up. She put her arms around his 
neck. "Aren't you going to say hi to these people, Amy?" He asked her, whispering.

She turned her head around a little, looking at the new people. They all 
looked at her friendly. "Hi." She said shyly.


Mark spoke first "Hi Amy, I'm Mark and this is my wife Callie."

And then two pair of jaws dropped, when Andy said "And I'm Andy and this is my 
wife Jenn. It's very nice to meet you my lady." He bowed for her and she 
giggled.

It was Dana who found her voice back first. "Y ... y .. you two are married?" 
She stuttered in total surprise.

Jenn grinned. "Guilty."

"Since when?"  Fox frowned, also very surprised. It was not that they didn't 
match together, they did. The reason they were so surprised, was because back 
in high school the two of them couldn't stand each other. Jenn had been Dana's 
best friend and Andy one of Fox's friends. But that had not stopped them from 
fighting a lot, sometimes to the great despair of their friends. Jenn had even 
declared once that she wouldn't go out with "that", even when he would be the 
last thing on earth. But it looked like time had made them change their minds.

"8 years, married 6 years." Andy smiled lovingly at his wife, she smiled back 

warmly. It had taken her a while, but in the end she had finally given up and 
had admitted that she didn't dislike him at all, the opposite had happened.

"Funny, I never expected the two of you to end up together." Dana laughed.

"Yeah well we did. A lot can happen in 10 years. You know, I always wondered what happened with the two of you? After high school everybody left Chilmark 
to go to college. The last thing I heard is that you went to England in your 
last year Dana, what happened after that?"

"I decided to push back my last year and stayed in England. We got married and we had Amy. After Fox graduated we returned to the USA. Fox accepted an offer to join the FBI and I finished my last year in Medicines. I didn't want to work as a doctor, because it would mean long hours and I didn't want that because of Amy and Fox. I got an offer for the FBI too. Which I accepted, I teached at Quantico for about 2 years and after that ...." She smiled and looked at her husband.

"We got partnered." He finished with a smile.

"Wow, sounds like a lot has happened." Mark said. "It's hard to believe 12 years have gone by already, isn't it? Remember the day it all started?"

Fox and Dana grinned, remembering that day very vividly. It had all started 
when she had come back from that holiday.

ALMOST TWELVE YEARS EARLIER

Fox looked around, seeing if he could find his friend. Summer hadn't been 
really bad, he had had fun with his friends, but he was also glad that school 
was starting again.

His best friend had spent the summer away from Chilmark, with her grandparents 
in California. He had missed talking to her and spending time with her. 
However, today school was starting and she would be back.

He had spoken to her on the phone shortly last night, but she had just arrived 
home and had been tired, so she had told him that she would see him tomorrow and 
tell him everything then.

To his surprise she wasn't there yet. All of a sudden he noticed some sort of 
turmoil at the parking lot. He saw people whispering and staring at something. 
Wondering what was causing the commotion he walked closer to see it with his 
own eyes.

His jaw dropped when he saw what the cause of the tumult was. Or maybe it was 
better to say "who". He blinked with his eyes and took another good look to 

make sure it was her. It couldn't be, could it? Then again, she did look like 
her, but how ....?

It was indeed Dana, standing there, in the centre of all attention. But it was 
another Dana then he knew. The glasses and braces were gone for one thing. 
This wasn't the tomboy he knew, the girl that used to wear a pair of old 
jeans and t-shirt, her half-long hair pulled back in a casual ponytail, no 
trace of make-up on her face.

This girl was someone completely different. The braces were gone, the glasses 
replaced with contact lenses. Her hair had grown longer and was curling 
elegant around her face and on her shoulders. It was the first time in his 
life that he saw Dana Scully wearing make-up. Instead of jeans and a t-shirt 
she was wearing a sundress and .... his eyes moved to her feet that were clad 
in .... high heels????? Dana Scully wearing high heels? What the hell was 
going on here? 

He was obviously not the only one who had noticed the shocking change. Half of 
the male population in the school had. They were all staring at her as she 
walked by them, some of them whistling their appreciation. She didn't react to 
the whistling, she continued her walk, giggling.

Fox nearly choked when he heard her giggle. The old Dana would never have 
giggled. She always said that giggling was something for cheerleaders and all 
the other girls that seemed incapable of doing anything else but staring in 
awe at the guys from the football team. 

Suddenly she stood in front of him. "Hi Fox." She smiled at him.

He still stood there with his mouth open. "Erm .... hi Dana."

"Did you have a nice summer?" 

"Erm ... yeah, I did. How was your summer?" He managed to stammer.

"Great, California was marvellous!" Again that giggle.


Marve ... what? Where on earth did she learn to use words like marvellous? 

She looked at her watch and saw that she was getting late for her class. "Oh, 
I got to go. Talk to you later, bye bye, Fox." 

She walked away, leaving him behind, utterly confused. She grinned, when she thought of his reaction. Exactly what she had been hoping for. Revenge could be very sweet.

Dana Scully had changed over the summer. She had been staying with her 
grandparents, together with her sister and cousin. When they had just gotten 
there, she had been feeling very sorry for herself. She was sulking over the 
fact that her best friend didn't even seem to notice that she was a girl also, 
one that was interested in him, but he didn't even seem to realize.

After finding out what was going on, Melissa and Jennifer had decided to help 
her change this. One afternoon they had dragged her with them to the shopping 
centre and gotten her a completely new wardrobe. After that they took her to a 
hair dresser, who changed her haircut completely. Walking out of the hair salon 
she hadn't even recognized herself when she had looked into a mirror. She had 
been lucky enough that her braces had been removed too and she and Melissa had 
convinced their parents to let her have contacts instead of glasses. They 
showed her how to put make-up on her face and dragged her to the beach with 
them.

Surprisingly Dana hadn't found all this as annoying as she thought it would 
be. Actually she had really enjoyed it. So instead of spending the whole 
summer in her grandparent's garden, with her nose in her books, she had spent 
it on the beach and hanging around with her sister and cousin in the shopping 
centre. She had been surprised to get attention of boys all of a sudden, she 
hadn't had the pleasure before and had decided she liked it.

Of course she hadn't changed completely. From the outside she had, from the 
inside she was still the same Dana. She was still the girl that wanted to do 
good in school, but this didn't mean she couldn't have a little fun. She was 
still in love with Fox Mulder, but she had decided that she was tired of 
waiting for him to take the first step. As far as she was concerned he could 
go out with whoever he wanted, she couldn't care less (of course she still 
did, she was just telling herself she didn't) and would do the exact same.

Which was exactly what she did the next weeks. She made new friends, went on 
dates and was having a great time. But every now and then she missed Fox. She 
missed their friendship, talking and laughing with him. The late night movies 
and the walks on the beach. It was as if he had disappeared out of her life 
completely. She saw him walking by sometimes and all he would do was greet her 
quickly and move on. She wouldn't admit it, but it hurt. 

At the same time Fox missed her too. He had tried to ignore it. He was glad his friend was having fun, making new friends. She obviously seemed to enjoy her new life. But he missed her. She was the only one that had really understood him and it wasn't until now that he had realized how much he had taken her for granted. She had been "good old Dana". Until now he hadn't realized how much she really meant to him.

He tried to go on like he always had. He went on a few dates, but all of a 
sudden the girls weren't as interesting anymore. He kept comparing them all to 
her and she would always come out better than they did. He wondered why it had 
taken him so long to realize this. Why had it been necessary for her to change 
like she had, before he had realized she was the girl he wanted? It hurt to 
see her go out with other boys, but he didn't know what to do about it. He did 
realize that he had been doing the exact same thing. He had been going out 
with other girls, telling Dana everything about his new conquers. How stupid 
could he have been? No girl would be interested in someone who did that. All 
this time he had been looking for something that had been right in front of 
him. And he had only realized this when it was too late. For the first time in 
his life, Fox Mulder was really in love.

As the weeks went by, it became more difficult for him to ignore her and her 
new life style. And all of a sudden, one afternoon he couldn't take it any 
longer. He couldn't stand to look one more day at the girl he was in love 
with, in the arms of other boys. He ran into her in the cafeteria, she looked 
up in surprise when she saw him, a smile lit up her face. "Hi Fox!"

"Hello Dana." He gave her a quick nod and intended to walk away, but for some 
reason he changed his mind and turned around.

His short reply hurt her more than she had expected. What was it that he could 
still get under her skin this easily? To her surprise he changed his mind 
about walking away and turned around again. Maybe he did want to talk anyway, 
maybe they could .... 

"Enjoying your new life, Dana?" He asked, the words coming out more sarcastically than he had meant them. 

What on earth did he mean by that? All hope left just as quick as it had taken part of her. "Excuse me?"

"You don't understand my question? It can't be that difficult, is it?"

She felt anger rise up in her. How dare he? What gave him the right? "Oh yeah, 
I understood the question, but since when do you care?" She asked coolly. 

"More than you do obviously. Come on Dana, Bobby Logan for god sake you could 
get better than that! The guy dated half the school! You used to laugh about 
girls who would go out with him and now you're going out with him yourself? 
What is wrong with you?"

By now the whole cafeteria was looking at them and listening, but they didn't care. "What is wrong with me?" Dana repeated his words, anger in her voice.

"Yeah, what is wrong with you?"


"Nothing's wrong with me at all! I have my own life and I go out with whoever 
and whenever I want! Who do you think you are, my father?" She yelled at him, 
not caring who would hear them.

"I thought I was your friend, but obviously your ideas of a friend are a 
little different than mine!" He yelled back.

"If you really were my friend you should be happy for me. I happen to like my 
life and for your information, I do like Bobby. And what do you care who he 
dated, Mr I-date-everything-that-walks-around-in-a-skirt. At least Bobby 
doesn't go around telling me everything about his latest conquers! At least he 

doesn't see me as "good old Dana who will always be there no matter what I 
say", unlike some other people I know!" After saying that she turned around 
and was ready to walk away, when he grabbed her arm, spinning her around 
again.

"You think I don't care! Like hell I do, I'll show you!"

End of part 3

Part 4

Before she could say anything, he pulled her against him in one swift move, 
kissing her in front of the whole cafeteria. At first she was too surprised to do anything, than she got angry and tried to push him away, but in the end she gave up and with a sigh she gave into the kiss.

As much as they could stand there forever, they needed to breath too. After a 
few minutes they let go of each other and he looked down at her sheepishly. 
She could only stare back, still dumbstruck by his action.

It took a while, but suddenly Fox came back to his senses and realized they 
were still standing in the middle of the school cafeteria and everybody was 
staring at them. "Erm ... you think we can continue this conversation somewhere more privately?" 

"Huh?" She looked around, also starting to realize where they were. "Oh ... 
erm yeah I think that's a good idea."

He quickly led her outside of the school, to his car. Opening the door for 
her, she seemed to hesitate for a minute. "Fox, I have a class to go to in 5 
minutes."

He grinned, she hadn't changed that much after all. Maybe the looks, but the 
rest was still there. 

"Me too, but I think we can miss a few can't we? I think this is more 
important, unless you ....?"

"No, you're right, this is more important. Let's go." She smiled, she 
wasn't going to walk away of this again. This had lasted long enough, it was 
time to talk.

He drove them to the beach. The drive went by in silence, both busy with their 
own thoughts. About half an hour later they finally arrived at the beach. 


They walked for some time, before Fox decided to be the first to say 
something. "I'm sorry for yelling at you back there."

She stopped walking and looked at him, smiling. "I'm sorry for yelling at you 
too."

He brought up his hand to touch her face, smiling warmly. "You changed." He 
concluded.

She shook her head. "Not really, maybe a little, but I'm still who I always 
was."

"Why? Why did you do it? I thought you looked fine the way you were. You 
didn't like it anymore?"

She looked away from him, staring at the sea. "Fine wasn't good enough, I 
wanted to look more than fine. More like ..." She paused, reluctant to continue.

"More like what?" He urged her to finish.

"Like those girls you date." She whispered, avoiding to look at him.


And it suddenly hit him. She knew what he had gone through the last few weeks, 
she had been through the exact same. He had been dating all those other girls 
and every time he did, he had probably hurt her a lot. All this time he hadn't 
even noticed. So she had decided to change and when she did, he had noticed 
her and he hadn't been the only one.

Others had noticed her too. And she had been tired of waiting for him to 
notice her, so she started dating other guys. And he had been the one who 
hurt, he had been the jealous one this time. He had missed her and he had 
finally realized he had fallen in love with her, probably a long time ago 
already. He had almost lost the best thing that ever happened to him. Almost 
..., it wasn't too late yet.

"Oh Dana, I've been really stupid. I'm sorry. When I met you, you were my 
sister's friend. A few years later you came back, you were the only one I could really talk to. Only you knew what I was going through, because you missed her too. You became my best friend, but I was too stupid to realize that you were much more to me than just a friend. 

I was glad when school started again, because you would be back and I missed 
you over the summer. I didn't even recognize you at first, the Dana I knew 
didn't look like the Dana that came back from California. She didn't giggle, 
she hated wearing skirts and dresses and she laughed at people like Bobby 

Logan. Don't get me wrong, you look beautiful and I really like the new you, 
but I miss the old you too. It's a little ironic that it took the new you to 
make me realize that I had fallen in love with the old Dana."

He finished and looked at her expectantly. "Dana?"

"Huh?" She stared at him, coming out of her reverie. 

"Are you alright?"

"Fox, was I dreaming or did you just say that you fell in love with me?" 

"Dana, I AM in love with you."

"Oh." She said, looking up at him at him with sparkling eyes.

"Is that all you're going to say? Oh?" 

She suddenly realized that he was waiting for an answer. And probably 
something more than just "oh".

"Sorry Fox, I was still trying to convince myself that I heard you right. I'm 
in love with you too." She grinned widely.

He heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God, I have to admit, you had me a little 
worried there." Then he seemed to realize something else. "I would like to 
kiss you again."

She answered that by moving closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, 
moving her face close to his. "As if you need to ask?" He leaned down and 
kissed her softly, smiling. It had taken him some time, but he had finally 
found what he had been looking for.

Are those your eyes?
Is that your smile?
I've been looking at you forever
Yet I never saw you before
Are these your hands? Holding mine?
Now I wonder how I could have been so blind.
And for the first time, I am looking in your eyes
For the first time, I'm seeing who you are.
I can't believe how much I see
When you're looking back at me.
Now I understand what love is,
Love is ....
For the first time ....

Her change had been a real eye-opener. For the first time he had realized what 
she really meant to him and wondered how he could have been so blind.

When the kiss ended he let go of her a little. "Dana?"


"Hmmm?"

"I really like the new you too, but promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Could you please get rid of those high heels? They really aren't you."

The question was meant completely serious, but she laughed out loud. 

He gave her an indignant look. "It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry Fox." She said still laughing. "It's not that funny, it's just the 
way you said it. But I promise. I didn't like them that much anyway. They hurt 
when I walk on them!"

"Good." He smiled and pulled her closer in his arms again. She sighed happily 
and put her arms around his waist. They stood like that for a long time.

BACK TO PRESENT

Everybody laughed, remembering the cafeteria story. It had been quite a 
sight, Fox and Dana yelling at each other in front of the whole school and Fox 
finding a very effective way to end it.

Jenn grinned. "Does he still end fights that way, Dana?"

"Only when we have a fight at home, which happens seldom thankfully. For some 
reason I don't think our boss would  appreciate it when we would solve our 
arguments at work like that." She grinned at Fox.

He laughed loudly. "The poor man would probably have a fit if he knew about 
our private life."

"You mean that your boss doesn't know about your marriage and you having a 
daughter?" Andy asked.

They shook their heads. "Not really. Actually nobody at work knows." Dana 
admitted.

"Why didn't you just tell them?" Mark asked.

"It was not really a secret, but the subject just never came up." Fox 
shrugged. "By the time we returned to America, we were married and we had Amy 
already. At that moment I was busy with my new job, Dana with her study. When 
Dana joined the FBI we thought it would be better if we didn't tell about our 
marriage. I didn't want my reputation to affect Dana's career."

"Your reputation?" Everybody frowned.

Fox sighed. "Yeah, let's just say that the cases we work on are a little 
different than usual. Our department investigates cases with a more paranormal 
background. Which got me the nickname 'Spooky Mulder'." That was all he wanted 
to say about their work. He and Dana had been through a lot of things and had 
seen a lot during their cases. But it weren't really things that other people 
would understand.

"And after we partnered we decided that it was good that nobody knew about our 
private life. We want to keep it separate from work. If our boss would know we 
would be separated in a minute, because the FBI frowns on relationships 
between partners. So at work we are Mulder and Scully and at home we are just 
Fox and Dana."

Dana finished the story. Their friends nodded, understanding. They probably 
had good reasons to live their life like this.

Listening to the music, Mark asked Callie if she wanted to dance. She smiled 
and accepted.

Dana saw another friend and went over to greet her. Fox was talking to Jenn 
and Andy, Amy playing with a few other kids right behind them.

A while later Dana returned and Fox asked her if she wanted to dance too. She 
hesitated, looking at Amy. 

"We'll keep an eye on her." Jenn and Andy promised.

"Okay, thanks guys." She smiled and followed her husband to the dance floor. 
His arms moved around her, pulling her close and she leaned against him 
happily, getting lost in the music and the feeling of being here in his arms.

What they didn't realize was that they were being witnessed by somebody who 
had just entered the room.

END OF PART 4

PART 5

His eyes narrowed as he took another look, wondering if it was really him. If 
it wasn't him, he sure looked a lot like him. Same height, same colour of hair 
and his face looked awfully familiar too. And if it was really him, what on 
earth was he doing here tonight?

He stared at the man who was talking and laughing with another man and woman, 
while his wife standing next to him was talking to an old friend. He wondered 
why he had let her talk him into coming with her tonight. Actually he knew 
why, she had been really enthusiastic to go and she had really wanted him to 
come with her and he couldn't refuse her anything. Which was why he was here 
tonight. 

He did a double take when another woman joined the group. A woman that looked 
awfully familiar to him. He was pretty sure now, it had to be them. But what 
were they doing here? Together?  He saw the man leaning closer to the woman, 
whispering something in her ear. A smile spread over her face, while she 
nodded and they walked to the dance floor hand-in-hand.
Suddenly his wife seemed to notice his absent-mindedness. 

"Honey? Is everything alright?" Sheila Skinner looked at her husband, 
wondering where he had been with his thoughts. She followed his stare, so did 
her friend Darlene.

"Hey isn't that ...?" Before Sheila could finish, Darlene interrupted her.

"Fox and Dana." She smiled warmly as she said it. After high school and 
college she had returned to Chilmark, to teach at the local high school. Both 
of them had been students of her. She had seen their friendship growing into 
love. And even though they had still been very young, she had noticed that 
they had already found something that lots of people would never find, no 
matter how old they would be. 

"You know them?" Walter asked her in surprise.

"I do. How do you know them?"

"I work with them at the FBI. They are partners, which is why I'm kind of 
surprised to see them here together tonight.  I knew they have always been 
close, ever since they were partnered about 2 years ago rumours have been going 
around about them being more than just partners, but until now they have never 
been confirmed by either one of them. I guess they must have been seeing each 
other for a few months already, without anybody knowing."

Darlene grinned, wondering what his reaction was going to be, when she told 
him to add more than a few years to that.

"Was Mulder one of your students?" He asked her.


"Yes, they were students of mine. I've never seen two people that were as 
close as they were. They were so young when his sister disappeared, but old 
enough to realize she wouldn't come back anymore, she was only 11, he was almost 13. After that her family moved away, but they came back about four years later. They became friends, but you could tell that there would be a time that they would be more than friends. I guess they were always meant to be together."

Skinner was a little lost by her use of they, instead of he. "Erm what do you 
mean?"

"Fox and Dana, I guess they were always meant to be together." She grinned at 
the look on his face, when he finally started to realize. 

"You mean that they were ...., they knew each other before ...?"" He asked in 
disbelief.

"Yes, they did. You didn't know? They have known each other for a long time. Dana and her family moved away for a couple of years, but they came back 
when she was about 15 years old. They became friends, especially because they both missed Samantha.

"Were they ....?"

"A couple?"

"Yes?"

"Yes, they were. Not immediately, it took them some time to get there. When 
Dana moved back here, they became best friends. By that time Fox was 16 
and he was pretty popular with the girls, he dated quite a few of them, without realizing what was right in front of him. They were still friends, but sometimes I saw the look in Dana's eyes when she saw him with another girl. I could tell she wished it was her instead of that other girl.

She got her revenge though, she spent the next summer with her grandparents in 
Florida and when she returned the tomboy she had always been was gone, together with her glasses and braces. 

Of course the change didn't go by unnoticed. There were lots of boys interested in asking her out and she did go out with some of them. She was enjoying her new life and I think that she also did it to take revenge on Fox, doing the exact same thing he had done to her.

With success, because he finally realized she wasn't just "good old Dana" 
anymore to him. For a few weeks he didn't do anything, until he couldn't take 
it any longer. He told her what he thought of her new behaviour and her latest 
boyfriend, in the middle of the school cafeteria. She got angry and told him 
what she thought of his behaviour and his girlfriends.  

The whole cafeteria could hear their fight, until Fox found the most effective 
way to end the fight and shut her up in the same time, by simply kissing her. 
It was the end of the fight and the beginning of their relationship.

They were inseparable the next 1,5 years. Then Fox graduated and he got 
accepted into Oxford. It was what he wanted, but he didn't want to go because 
of Dana. I don't know exactly what happened, but in the end he did go.

After he left, Dana changed. She became more quiet, forced herself to fully 
concentrate on her study. It was the only thing she had left to do. I could 
tell it was tearing her apart, she missed him terribly, but she didn't want to 
talk about it."

Skinner sighed, in some way this didn't really surprise him. He had always 
expected they would fall for each other sooner or later. Despite the fact that 
they were partners and that it was against FBI policy. It was not like they 
had cared a bit about rules before anyway. But he was happy for them. They 
deserved some happiness and it was obvious to everybody who looked at them 
that they did love each other. "Was that the whole story or did they see each 
other again after Mulder left?"

"Everybody thought that it was the end of their relationship when Fox left. 
They were wrong, Fox did come back ..." Darlene looked at the couple on the 
dance floor, before she continued her story.

END OF PART 5



PART 6

"He came back?" Skinner echoed, intrigued by the whole story. He wondered what this meant. If Mulder had indeed come back, had they been reunited and stayed together since that time or had it only been for the summer and had they met again in the FBI?

"Yes, he did come back. Unexpected. I knew from Dana that they had decided not to stay in contact, because it would make things unnecessarily difficult. Not that it made a real difference. It was obvious that she missed him a whole lot. In the time that Dana and Fox were together, she changed. She was quiet, shy even, completely focused on her study. Once she and Fox became involved, she turned into a more open person. She still considered school important, but her life didn't turn around it anymore.

When Fox left that changed. Their friends tried to convince her to join them, when they went to parties or other things. She refused to go with them every single time. Whenever you would see Dana, you would see her studying, just like she used to, before her relationship with Fox. It was good for her grades, but it didn't make her happier.

At the end of the year she graduated, cum laude. There was the farewell prom before the graduation party. I tried to convince Dana to come, she had enjoyed it so much the year before. She refused, said she didn't feel like going. She didn't say it with so many words, but I know she didn't want to go without Fox. To my surprise she did show up that night, together with Fox.

I was surprised, but then again not too much. Everybody knew how close Fox and Dana had always been. And seeing how miserable she had been, he couldn't have felt much better, being in England without her. He must have known it was her prom night and used it as the reason to come back home to see her again."

Darlene smiled when she thought about that night, already 12 years ago.

ALMOST 10 YEARS EARLIER

"Dana?"

Dana Scully looked up from her book, when she heard her name. She smiled, when she saw her friend Jenn.

"Oh, hi Jenn."

"We're going shopping for prom night, you coming with us?" She knew there was a small chance Dana would agree to come, since she refused to go to her prom, but she had decided to ask anyway. It would never hurt to try one more time.

As she expected, Dana shook her head. "No, thanks Jenn. I'm not going, no matter how many times you try. Thanks for asking though, I think I better finish this book." She held up the book, to show that she really was reading a book.

Jenn sighed. "Dee, in case you didn't notice, school's over. We don't have to study anymore for a few months. Unless you're already getting ready for college?"

"Jenn, I ..."

"Look Dana, I know you still miss Fox. Don't tell me you don't, that would be a lie. It's okay to miss him, but it doesn't mean your life stopped when he left. It's not a crime to have fun. Even if you don't want to go to the prom, which is still a huge mistake in my eyes, but okay, it doesn't mean that you can't go shopping with us today." She gave her friend a pleading look, but it was a lost case.

Her friend didn't give in one bit. "Thanks Jenn, but I'd rather not, I'm not really in the mood to go shopping. Have fun." After saying that Dana stood up, gathering her books and walked away with a "see you later Jenn". Jenn sighed as she looked at her friend walking away. She wondered if Dana would ever get over Fox.

SCULLY RESIDENCE

"Mom, I'm home!" Dana yelled, entering the house. Nobody answered her.

"Mom? Missy? Bill? Charlie?" Still no reaction, obviously everybody was out doing other things. Having a better social life than she did these days. With a sigh she threw her bag in the corner of the room, turning around in shock when a voice behind her said "hey, bags have feelings too you know?"

She whirled around, that voice ... She would recognize it anywhere. She wasn't disappointed. In front of her, standing in the door step with a big grin on his face, stood the one person she had missed so much the last year.

"Fox?????" She asked in disbelief.

"Alive and kicking." He grinned at her.

"What are you doing here?" She couldn't believe he was here. Wasn't he supposed to be in England?

"What do you think? Visiting your grandmother? To see you silly!" He moved closer and all of a sudden she seemed to come out of her shock. She flung herself in his arms and he swirled her around, holding her close to him. "God, Dana, do you have any idea how much I missed you?" He mumbled, right before he leaned down to kiss her.

When he let go, she was crying. "Dana? Are you alright?" He asked, worried. Maybe coming back to see her hadn't been such a good idea after all? Maybe he shouldn't have, why couldn't he be happy with the memories he had? The answer was simple. He had missed her too much, had needed to see her again. Oxford wasn't too bad, but there was no Dana there. She quickly took away his doubts though.


Laughing through her tears she said "I'm okay, really. I just ... I never expected to see you here, I missed you so much and things just weren't the same, I ..." Before she could continue, he stopped her with another kiss. For a while they just enjoyed being in each other's company again.

Then Fox asked "So, when's prom night?" He looked at her, touching her face tenderly.

"Ehm ..." She looked away from him, staring at her shoes she mumbled something. He couldn't hear her very well, but he thought he heard her mumble "not going."

"You are not going?" He asked, not sure if he had heard her right. She nodded.

"Why not? I thought you liked it last year?"

"I did, but last year was different. Last year it was with you. It wouldn't have been the same now ..." She paused, she would have loved to gone to her prom night, but hadn't want to go without him. If only she had known he would be back ...

"So, you do want to go, but not without me?"

She nodded again. Looking at him, to see what he was thinking. He was smiling at her. "Well, I'm here now. So I'm taking you there. Wouldn't want you to miss your prom would we?"

A smile spread over her face, but disappeared again, when she realized she didn't have anything to wear.


He misunderstood however. "You don't want to go?"

She quickly reassured him. "No, I do want to go, but I thought I wasn't going, so I didn't buy a dress and ..."

"That's all?"

"Yes, but ..."

"Okay, that can easily be fixed. I came all the way from England, so one dress won't stop me now." He grabbed her hand and started to push her in the direction of the door. It took her a minute to realize what he wanted to do, then she smiled. It looked like she was going shopping and would be going to her prom night after all.

A FEW DAYS LATER

Prom night had been wonderful. All their friends had been there and had been very surprised to see her there, together with Fox of all things. They had had an unforgettable night and unfortunately it had been over too quick.

Of course not completely, there was still a whole summer left. To Dana's relief Fox hadn't come home for only a week. He would stay the whole summer, until school would start again. The question was, what would they do after the summer? Fox would have to go back to Oxford and Dana would start at Maryland. The year apart had been hard for both of them, now back together for a whole summer would make it even more difficult to say goodbye again. 

There would eventually come a moment that they would have to talk about it. Because neither of them wasn't so sure that they would even want to say goodbye again. It looked like the moment had come, when they were taking a walk on the beach one night, hand-in-hand. It was Fox who started the conversation, by asking "Dana, what are we going to do when the summer is over?"

END OF PART 6

PART 7

She looked at him, when he asked the question that had been unavoidable. "What do you want Dana?" He asked her.

She turned around, completely facing him now. "I don't know, Fox." She said quietly. She only knew that she couldn't end this, she did not want to say goodbye again. "But I know one thing, I want to be with you and wanting that is the problem, because I know we can't. In a few weeks we will both be going back to school and it will be over again. I know I can't have all I want, but ..."She paused, sighing.

He thought of that for a few moments. She had just said what he had been thinking too. He felt the exact same way about this and was desperately trying to think of any solution that would solve their problem. "We could take the middle road." He offered.

"The middle road?"

"Yes, I know we are going to have to say goodbye when the summer ends, but I think you'll agree that the decision we took last year didn't work. I thought we'd manage to move on, no matter how hard it would be. I was wrong, I couldn't move on. You were in my thoughts every minute of the last year. I missed you, so much that I took the first plane home when I could. I had to see you again. And now that I have, I know I can't let you go again. We can write, there are phones and there are the holidays of course. You know it won't be a problem for me to take a plane home whenever I want." It had never been a big secret that the Mulder family had money. And even though Fox had never been one to use that in his advantage, sometimes it did come in easy. "But it's your choice. If you want me to leave you alone, I will. Now matter how hard it will be."

She looked at him, his face serious. Even though he didn't want too, he would go if she would ask that. If she would say she couldn't do this. But she didn't want him to go. They wouldn't know how things would go, if going into a long distance relationship would work or not. It might be hard and indeed they might not know which way the road would go in the future, but she didn't want to take the road alone. "I want the same. I don't know what will happen, but I want to try, I want to be able to say see you again when you leave, instead of goodbye." She whispered, a smile spreading over her face. In the knowledge that they could make this work.

He smiled too, hugging her close to him. "We'll make this work, Dana. I promise. I know we can. We have to."

BACK TO PRESENT

"Did they stay together?" Skinner asked curiously to Darlene.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I do know they were together that summer, I saw them a couple of times. They looked young, happy and very much in love. At the end of the summer they both left Chilmark to go back to college and I didn't know what happened after that. Neither of them came back to Chilmark again, Dana's parents moved somewhere else and Fox wasn't really close to his parents, so he didn't come to see them in the holidays. Their love was strong and might have survived the years away from each other, but I'm not 100% sure. I think we would have to ask them to be sure." 

She turned around to look at the couple and saw something had changed. Her mouth opened and grinning she said to Skinner "I think I know the answer already." She pointed in the direction of Mulder and Scully who were laughing and talking with their friends and a young girl who obviously looked like she was theirs was holding their hands.

It wasn't the first time that night that Skinner's jaw dropped. "You think that's their daughter?"

"I'm pretty sure, from what I can see she does look a lot like them. I guess they did stay together all those years." Darlene smiled.

At that moment Mulder turned around, for only a second, but he did look in their direction and saw them. His mouth opened when he saw his boss staring at them and realized their secret was no longer a secret anymore. 

"Sweetheart?" He whispered to his wife.

"Yeah." She smiled, looking up at her husband.

"Remember that a little while ago we talked about whether we should tell Skinner
about our marriage and Amy?"

"Sure, we agreed we wouldn't, not yet anyway. Why?"

He turned around and she followed his look and her jaw dropped when she discovered Skinner standing on the other side of the room, looking at them.

She looked back at her husband. "Erm Fox, do you have any idea what Skinner is doing here?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea, but I guess we won't have to worry about telling him anymore."

She sighed. "I guess not. You think we should go and talk to him?"

He nodded. "Might be a good idea." They excused themselves and walked across the room towards Skinner, who was still looking at them. He didn't look angry or anything, which was a good sign, they thought.

Before Skinner could say anything, Darlene greeted them. "Fox, Dana!" She exclaimed. They looked confused for a moment, then recognized their old teacher. "Ms Daniels." Dana smiled, she had always been one of her favourite teachers.

"I'm glad to see you here together tonight. Is this your daughter?" 

Dana smiled. "Yes, this is Amy. Amy this is one of our teachers when we were in high school."

"Hi." Amy said, smiling.

"Hi Amy, it's nice to meet you." Darlene smiled back at her and her old students. Then she thought it better to leave for the moment "I see an old friend I haven't seen in a while, if you'll excuse me ..." With that she left, Sheila following her.

There was a long silence, until Skinner was the one who spoke first. "Agents?"

End of part 7



Part 8

Dana was the first to speak. "Hello, Sir."

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder, what a surprise to see you two here." Skinner said dryly, adding "together."

He saw them looking at each other, probably wondering how they were going to solve this little problem of being "caught in the act" so to speak. 

They were saved by the bell by their daughter, who tugged at her mother's hand. Dana looked down to see what was wrong, knowing her daughter inherited her father's knack for timing she wondered what it would be. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"I have to go to the bathroom." She gave an apologetic look, to say she was sorry, but really had to go. How was she to know that this time her mother was very thankful for her timing? "Sure, let's go." She took her daughter's hand and turned to Mulder, grinning. "Be right back." With that she turned around and walked away, leaving it up to her husband to explain everything.  

Mulder sighed, great now he could explain the whole thing to their boss. It would probably be mildly said that Skinner wouldn't be happy with the fact that the two of them were married, including Amy. He looked at his wife walking away, thinking for the first time that a son wouldn't have been too bad either. He turned around to see Skinner looking at him, to his surprise with a smile on his face. 

"Sir ...?" He asked, not sure what Skinner was thinking at this moment. But he didn't seem to be that angry, did he?

"Yes?"

"I ..., we ..., I mean we have ..."

"An explanation for not telling me about this?"

"Erm, yes. We thought about telling, but ..."

"You decided not to."

"Yes."

"Why not?"

"Well, I didn't want her career to be ruined by the fact that she was married to 'Spooky' Mulder. I wanted her to have the chance to have her own career in the FBI. Eventually we would have told of course, but then we were partnered and ..."

"You thought it wiser not to."

"At that moment we thought so."

"Do you have any idea how many pools are going round about the two of you? Trust me, the one who guesses the right date that the two of you get involved, could win a lot of money."

Mulder looked at his boss, wondering if he was kidding or if he was really being serious here. But it looked like he was serious, then he grinned. "I didn't know, but I'd have to say that they are about 12 years late."

"Yeah, I think so. I would say 'it's about time', but that would be a little late too." Skinner smiled and that's when Mulder realized that Skinner wasn't mad at all, for some reason.

"Sir, I thought the FBI had rules against partners fraternizing?"

"They say they do, though I have to say it still has to be found written down somewhere. As far as I know, nobody ever found it. It's one of those unwritten rules the FBI tells every agent that joins, simply to try and avoid being sued in sexual harrassment cases. The rule is made up to protect them from that. But since you two are married I don't see something like that happening."

Mulder shook his head. "I doubt it. But will we be separated, now that you know?"

Skinner thought of that for a moment, then said "I can't say they won't try, I'm sure they will. But if I have something to say about it, that won't happen. You and Agent Scully have one of the highest solving rates in the bureau, so why split a team that obviously works?"

He saw his agent smile in relief and not for the first time in his career with the FBI he realized that sometimes it wasn't so bad to be an Assistant Director. 

At that moment Dana and Amy returned. "Fox?" She wondered what their boss had told him, she hoped it wouldn't be too bad.

Skinner saw the worried look on her face and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Agent Scully, like I just told your husband, your work has always been good and as far as I'm concerned I don't see any reason to change a winning team."

Hearing that she smiled widely at Mulder who was also smiling. "Thank you, Sir." She said, glad that they most likely wouldn't be separated.

"You're welcome. Just one thing though ..."

"Yes, Sir?" They both said at the same time.

"I've heard your whole story until you went to college from your old teacher, but I have to say I'm pretty curious. What happened after that?"

Mulder grinned. "The short version is that we broke up, came back together, for 3 years we had a long-distance relationship, then Dana took a break from her study, she joined me in England. We got married there and Amy was born about 1 year later. After I graduated we came back to America, Dana went back to college to finish her study, I joined the FBI. And after her study Dana decided to join the FBI too and well the rest you know."

Skinner nodded. "I do. Thanks for telling me." He looked at his wife who was talking to some friends, but she looked like she wouldn't mind being rescued out of there. "I'm sorry, but you will have to excuse me now. It looks like my wife wouldn't mind to be asked for a dance. I'll see you on Monday Agents." With that Skinner left them standing there. Amy sensed that the conversation was over and asked if she could go back to play with her friends. They nodded and she wandered of.

Dana looked at her husband. "Wow, I think that went pretty well, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I had expected him to blow up or something. But nothing like that at all. Maybe it's good that he knows now, don't you think so?"

"Probably, then again I think that in a couple of months he probably would have found out anyway." She smiled secretly.

Her husband didn't get the hint, just looked at her sheepishly. "Huh, what do you mean?"

She paused a minute for the effect "I mean that in a while I wouldn't have been able to hide it anymore anyway." The meaningful look following that finally seemed to make him understand. He gasped. "You mean ..., are you ...?"

She nodded happily. "Yes I am. I'd say that around Christmas we will be a foursome, instead of a threesome."

A huge grin came on his face, while he enveloped her in a big hug. "Another Spooky Mulder, Dana."

"You're not going to call this baby Spooky, Fox. The kid will have a complex, before it's even born!" She teased.

Still in his arms, she looked up at him. "What would you have said, if I had told you 12 years ago we would be here today, working for the FBI, having a family?"

"I always knew." He said serious.

"You couldn't have known. How could you?" She asked, surprised.

"Because I knew, that whatever would happen in the future, it would be a happy one, as long as you were there."

"I love you." 

"I love you too, Dane." He kissed her tenderly, then letting go of her, he said "How about we go find Amy?"

With that and their arms around each other, they walked back to their friends and daughter. Looking towards their future, together.

The end