The End of a Beginning 
by Emma D.

Email: CarolinaXfiles@hotmail.com
Rating: R
Category: MSR/Spoilers

Spoilers: My rough interpretation of the random
hints we have gotten so far!  Im sure we will 
get lots of these types of stories (please!) but
if you want to see more, email me!

Disclaimers: I Do NOT own them and make no 
money from this!  After a long break, Im taking
another stab at it.  I have several WIP's and 
am re-writing ALL of them.. this is just something
I've wanted to put down for a while!  
Feedback: Yes, please!  It keeps me going!  I am 
assuming people still read!


********************************************
Mulder jogged to the front door, flinging the 
remote behind him on the couch.

"Hey Walter... Thanks for coming all the way 
out here."  

Skinner ducked in the front door, shaking the 
little bits of frost from his shoulders.

"Yeah, no problem.  I assumed discussing this in 
person would be a little more productive than 
over the phone." Skinner shrugged off his coat 
and handed it to, what appeared to be, a very 
relaxed Mulder.  

As Skinner stepped into the den, he was struck by 
how welcoming the place looked now.  The last time 
he had been here had involved bringing Mulder back 
from the hospital after almost having his head 
severed... the house hadn't been so "homey" back then.  
He just remembers it was dark... dusty.  As if Scully 
was rarely there and Mulder didn't care whether 
he was or not.

A lot seems to have changed in seven years.

"Can I get you something to drink?"  Mulder 
asked, gliding into the kitchen and
digging around in the fridge.  "Scully keeps 
a vast assortment of "flavored teas" around 
in here, but I think I can find another beer."

"Water will be fine." Skinner said, casually 
sliding into a chair at the end of the worn 
kitchen table.  He glanced around the warmly 
lit kitchen and noticed how... normal... everything 
looked.  Mail stacked on the counter, clearly 
where Mulder had dug through it to get out 
something that interested him.  A running 
grocery list on the fridge in Scully's quick, 
medical penmanship.  Skinner smirked to himself... 
she had written "Almond Milk" and Mulder had 
scratched through it, writing "Cow Milk" 
beside it and drew a little cow sticking 
his tongue out at the rest of her list.

Mulder passed Skinner his water and then 
swirled the adjacent kitchen chair backwards, 
straddling it and pulling a drag from his beer.  

"Ahhh". Mulder said, grinning.  "We went on 
this microbrewery tour a few months ago in 
Williamsburg and I drank my weight in this 
beer."

Skinner raised his eyebrows and nodded, 
glancing at the label and then peering 
back up at Mulder.  "Everything seems to 
be going well.  I wasn't sure since the 
last time..."

Skinner was cut off by a muted, but 
hypnotizing pulse echoing through the 
house.  

"What in the..."

Skinner followed Mulder's eyes to the 
rafters of the kitchen, as if he could 
see through to the second floor of the 
farm house.  

"Is it Taylor Swift?"  Mulder asked, taking 
another sip from his beer.

"Uh... I wouldn't have a clue." Skinner said, 
his ears trying to piece together the muted 
thud of the bass and the caterwauling of some 
singer.  

"If it's Taylor Swift, Scully's on the rower."
Mulder shrugged.  "Its NPR all the way in the 
car, but when she's on that rower... man, its 
like a fucking concert for 14-year-old girls 
up there."  He chuckled to himself.  
"It's quite cute, actually."

Skinner decided that the images he could conjure 
up that involved Scully and exercising would be 
counterproductive, so he just grinned awkwardly 
and swigged his water.  

"I can come back when both of you have time to 
talk..." Skinner began, as Mulder pulled out his 
phone and began flipping through messages.  It 
was as if they did this everyday, just "hung 
out" around Mulder and Scully's kitchen table.  

"It's fine.  She will be done in a few."
Mulder said glancing from his phone and 
then going back to the screen.  

Skinner began picking quickly at the soaking 
label on his water bottle.  

"A rower is kind of an uncommon piece of gym 
equipment." Skinner began, seemingly being 
the only one who felt incredibly out of place.  
"The go-to nowadays is the elliptical... at 
least at my gym in the city."

Mulder agreed noncommittally as he continued 
to stare at something on his phone, the little 
apple symbol on the back reflecting the 
recessed lighting under the cabinets.

"Yeah, ya know... Frank Underwood and all."

Skinner raised his eyebrows and blinked several 
times.  Why did he know that name?  Was he 
supposed to know that name?  Who was this 
normal, domesticated guy sitting across from him?  

"Frank Underwood?"

Mulder looked up from his phone, finally, and 
his eyes widened.  "You know!   "House of Cards!" 
The show?  Come on, Walter.  It's totally up your 
alley."

"I can't say that I've seen it." Skinner mumbled, 
feeling either old or stupid or a little of both.  

"Oh, well, it is phenomenal.  Washington's 
seedy underbelly.  Scully eats it up."

"And Frank Underwood has a rower?"

Mulder nodded.  "Yes, Frank Underwood has a 
rower.  It has seriously put us in the best 
shape of our lives... if that was even possible 
to improve in Scully's situation."

Skinner just averted his eyes.  Does he nod 
to that?  Was Mulder messing with him?  A 
microbrewery tour and Taylor Swift?  Christ, 
his proposal was going to be a harder sell 
than he had thought.  

The thudding overhead stopped and Skinner 
glanced up.  Without taking his eyes from his 
phone, Mulder stood up and swooped into the 
fridge, pulling out a light yellow glass 
bottle and cut-up apple slices in a Ziploc 
bag.  As he sat back down, Skinner heard 
light footfalls on the stairs behind him.  

"Hey, Skinner." Scully said with a smile, 
resetting her red ponytail at the crown of 
her head as she headed to the kitchen.  
Skinner stood and extended his arms in a 
hug motion, which Scully accepted eagerly.  
She was so small in sneakers.  

"It's good to see you, Dana." he said sincerely 
as he took his seat back at the table and 
watched the scene before him.  

Scully leaned against Mulder's shoulder and 
took the yellow glass bottle and downed half 
of it, Mulder still on his phone but his arm 
snaking around her knees to pull her closer, 
as if it was completely a subconscious move.  

"I hit 500 more meters today." she said 
breathlessly, her flush cheeks making her 
eyes sparkle in the kitchen light.  
"I thought I was going to die."

Mulder looked up when she began to talk 
and smiled in surprise.  "Nice job." he 
said sincerely.  "You earned an apple 
slice." he joked, handing her one from 
the baggie.  "Even though you know you 
should be drinking water and not those 
antioxidant teas that taste like medicine."

"Shut up, Mulder." she said, grinning and 
snatching the slice and making her way to 
the other chair at the end of the table.  
Mulder's eyes followed her the entire way, 
her black workout tights not helping 
Skinner's situation remotely.  
"Sorry to keep you waiting, I thought I had 
a little more time than I did."

"Not a problem." Skinner said, finishing 
the last of his water, and reaching down 
to his briefcase to pull out the file he
had brought for them.  

Skinner paused for a moment and glanced up, 
looking at his two former agents as they sat 
across from him.  Mulder had leaned over to 
show Scully something on his phone that made 
her snort with laughter, causing Mulder to 
start a low, easy chuckle.  He was laughing 
more at her laughing than at the video on 
his phone.  He heard her mumble "Mulder, 
stop showing me stuff like that." to which 
he picked up one of her hands and kissed 
her knuckles briefly.  

They were happy.  And free.

Emotions that Skinner didn't remember ever 
seeing in the almost 25 years he had known 
them.  There had been spurts of normalcy 
and happiness but they had always been 
short-lived.  What he was seeing now was 
long, sustained love and confidence in 
each other.  

The ultimate Truth, as Skinner saw 
it.  

Re-opening the X-files would change all 
of that.  

But, it had to be their decision.

"So." Skinner began slowly, giving them 
time to avert their attention back to him 
as he laid the file lightly on the table.  
"We are several months away from fruition, 
but there have been developments at the 
Bureau that involve the both of you."

Skinner noticed that Mulder's hand was 
still wrapped around Scully's fingers 
and it flinched slightly.  

"What's going on?" Mulder asked.

Skinner sighed a deep sigh and then 
pushed the paperwork over to him.  

"The Powers-That-Be want to re-open 
the X-files.  And they want you two 
to head them up again."

Scully's head snapped up, her blue eyes 
deepening with surprise.  She looked over 
to Mulder, who's mouth was agape, his eyes 
fixed on Skinner.  

"But, why?" Mulder balked, glancing down 
at the folder in front of him, as if 
touching it made it real.  "Why would 
they want to open it up after taking 
such care to tear it down?"

Skinner shook his head and took off 
his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  

"There are people in power now that have 
more invested in this sort of thing... plus 
the types of cases that would classify as 
X-files are piling up..."

"Or they are trying to trap us again." 
Mulder grumbled, his non-committed fingers 
restlessly drumming on the table.  

Scully had gone incredibly still, her eyes 
fixed on the table.  

"Even if we were to entertain this thought, 
which we are not" Scully started in a low 
voice, "We couldn't be partners again.  We 
are... involved..." she motioned between the
two of them, her eyes suddenly glassing over 
with unshed tears.  

Mulder's grip on her hand tightened.  "That 
didn't stop us before."

Skinner cleared his throat anxiously and 
nodded in understanding.  He fought 
the urge to wrap Scully in a huge bear hug... 
Hell, to wrap both of them in one.  

"That is why I am coming to you so early." 
he said, his words feeling heavy and deep.  
"All of this..." he motioned around them and 
landed with his hands pointing at their 
joined hands.  "All of this will have to 
change in the next few months... if you 
two want this and want to stay together
professionally.  I can't go around the
Bureau's mandate on that.  Ultimately, 
it is going to be your call."

Scully looked over at Mulder, whose mind 
was clearly already whirring at a million 
miles a minute.  

The table was quiet for several beats when 
Skinner stood slowly and collected his 
briefcase.  "I want you to think about it 
and let me know something within the week.  
I have to give my recommendation next 
Monday."  He turned towards the door, 
leaving the dumbfounded couple sitting at 
the table, hands still joined.  

"I'll show myself out." he said quietly, 
making his way to the coatrack and 
shrugging on his overcoat.  

"Walter." Mulder called from the kitchen, 
as he made a bee-line towards the front door, 
stopping Skinner's movements with his hand out.  
"If we decline, will they open them anyway?"

Skinner looked Mulder squarely in the eyes 
and nodded curtly.

"It's a done deal either way."

Mulder stood in front of Skinner, 
hands on his jean-clad hips, 
energy rolling off of him in waves.  

"Then I don't see how we have much of a 
choice."

The sound of the back door clanging to 
the jamb caused both men to turn towards 
the kitchen, only to find the kitchen table 
empty and Scully gone.