The Truth is Out There--Scene 64 from XF3
by Lolabeegood

E-mail: lolabeegood@gmail.com
Distribution: Archive freely with my name attached.

Rating: R
Categories: S, R
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance, Post-IWTB
Spoilers: IWTB
Summary:  The truth is something Mulder & Scully may have to 
pay a steep price for.

Author's Notes: 

Ever since I watched IWTB I have thought of the ideal way to 
start and storyline a third movie.  So, after much thought and 
deliberation I have a series of scenes that I have written for 
the third XF movie.  The scenes will not necessarily run right 
after each other but they are in sequence.  They are more like 
scenes I would like to see in the XF3 that develop character, 
tie loose ends, and add plot 
interest.  

I do not own the characters and I don't make any money from 
this.

Enjoy!

**********************************

Dana sat under the huge oak tree watching her son play with 
Monica's nephew Atticus.  Although Atticus was quite a bit older 
than Patrick they seemed to be getting along quite well.  Atticus 
was showing Patrick how to fly a kite and Monica was lying 
nervously next to her on a blanket.

"He's a nice boy Monica, you've done a good job with him" Dana 
said smiling down at her briefly before looking back at her son.

"He's a handful, and every night when I go to bed I list all the 
things I said and did wrong, and all the things I did right with 
him and, my lists always end up quite uneven" she laughed.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself.  You were placed in a 
difficult situation and you stepped up."

"Truthfully" she said raising up to lean on her elbows "I was 
looking for a way out of the FBI and, as much as I would want 
Atticus' parents back in a heartbeat, it gave me an opportunity 
to leave without regret.  Who would hold it against me?  Say I 
was quitting?"

"You're talking about John."

"I feel like I'm always thinking about John, but talking very 
little about, or to him."

"I know that feeling" Dana smiled into the distance "what is 
going on with you two?"

"You ask like I should know." Monica said sitting up.

"If you don't want to..." Dana stammered looking over at Monica, 
she was always uncomfortable with these 'girl talks.'

'Look at me mom!' the voice in her head yelled.

Dana's head snapped toward her son as she watched him run through 
the grass to give his kite more height. She smiled at the sheer 
joy her son was experiencing.  

"It's not that I...what I mean to say, is John and I have not been 
together for almost a year now."

"I'm sorry" Dana said sincerely "I didn't sense...I mean, it 
didn't seem as though you two..."

"We didn't fight.  He had been coming to visit me in Belle Meade 
for a while, staying the weekends when Atticus was at a friend's 
house, that sort of thing."

"Uh huh"

"Well, one morning John was in the kitchen eating breakfast by 
himself and Atticus came home early."

"Oh" Dana nodded.

"Let just say, fourteen year old boys aren't the most understanding 
of creatures" she said looking off into the distance "so I 
ended it.  I have regretted that decision for a long time but, I 
don't know how to go back to...".

"You don't" Dana said.

"What?"

"You don't go back.  You start fresh" she said looking Monica in 
the eyes "There were so many things I regretted, things I did or 
said to Mulder that, if I stayed in the past, I wouldn't have ever 
been with him.  I would have missed out on that wonderful boy there" 
she said gesturing to Patrick.

"What if he doesn't want to start, again?"

"Then you find out, lick your wounds, and move on.  It's better 
than not knowing."

Suddenly Atticus was panting next to them "I'm headed to the 
washroom" he told Monica.

"I'll go and play with Patrick" Monica said rising as Atticus 
left "Dana why don't you lay back and relax, enjoy the beautiful 
oak tree, I'll make sure he's safe."

Dana smiled as she watched Monica clamber over to Patrick and show 
him how to make his kite dive.  She lay back on the blanket and 
willed herself to not remember the last time she lay under a big 
oak tree.  

She and Mulder were in Vermont on a case.  It turned out that the 
'hauntings' as Mulder liked to call them, were merely a 
well-executed hoax designed to lower property values so a 
developer could move in and build.  The case was wrapped at 
supper time and Mulder treated her to a burger and an ice cream 
cone.  They had walked though a nearby park talking about 
mythology when Mulder stopped abruptly and walked over to a big 
oak tree.

"Have you ever seen an oak this big, Scully?"

"Not in a long time" she offered as she raised her eyes to look at 
the intricate branches "It's pretty big."

She watched as he lay down under the branches and peered up through 
the foliage as the sun was setting.

"This is beautiful" he said smiling and gesturing for her to join 
him "come here, you've gotta see this."

"I can see it just fine, Mulder" she said looking around at the 
park.  There were a few people milling about with strollers, some 
joggers, and an elderly couple sitting on a bench.  

"It's not the same" he said, obviously upset.

"Fine" she relinquished as she deposited herself next to him, laid 
down, and looked up.

"See the way the sun peaks though the leaves" he said pointing to 
a spot within the branches

"It is very beautiful, Mulder" she admitted.

They lay in silence watching the colours change from muted yellows 
to deep oranges to dark purples until the sun had completely set.

She started to sit up when he lightly grabbed her arm.  She knew 
he wanted her to stay but didn't want to force her to.  She 
considered the offer and instead of lying back in her original 
spot she laid down sideways with her cheek pressed against his 
chest.  He seemed quite startled and almost jumped when her face 
made contact with his chest in the dark.  He loosely wrapped an 
arm around her shoulder and she listened to his heart beat so fast 
and loud within his chest she was considering saying something to 
him but, didn't want to embarrass him.  

"What do we do about us, Scully?" he asked in the dark, his voice 
cracking.

"I don't know" she said as she rubbed her cheek against him.

He had said he loved her, they had kissed, they had gone to the ends 
of the earth for each other, but love was so much more complicated.  
They had taken to standing a little bit closer lately, brushing up 
against each other often, spending a lot of non-work hours together 
at each other's apartments, had been putting their arms around each 
other in a friendly fashion that meant so much more than friendship.
They had a perfectly platonic romantic relationship.  

"I can't live like this anymore" he said abruptly as he pulled at 
strands of her hair "everyday I look at you and I want more.  More 
than...just this." 

His honesty was startling in the dark.  But, she was not surprised 
he waited until it was dark to be this honest.  He wouldn't want to 
see her face drop, her eyes shield themselves, her mind sifting 
through all the possible responses, all the reasons not to become 
more than this.  

"I know" she answered as she rested her chin on his chest and faced 
him in the dark.

They lay in silence for several minutes listening to the crickets 
emerge and the wind pick up.  He shifted against her, obviously 
uncomfortable with her lack of an answer but unable to ask for 
further clarification.  

He cleared his throat and put a hand behind his head and, in doing 
this, he didn't notice her body lift slightly, her weight shift 
onto his torso in that moment.  He merely felt her lips press 
against his, forceful in the dark.  He kissed her back with equal 
force and passion, both surprised and delighted by the turn of 
events.  She pulled back after their kiss and rested a hand high 
on his chest.  

"Mulder, I don't know when it'll happen, or how we got to be here, 
or...anything else" she smiled to herself "but I do know I want 
this...I want you" she said definitively.

"Thank you" he whispered into her hair "Thank you" he said again as 
he kissed her crown

He helped her up from the grass and they walked back to their hotel 
room.  It was weeks before she felt his lips on hers again.







"Dana!" Monica yelled and she sat up abruptly.

Dana Scully watched as Patrick and Monica made the kite do a loop 
around and back circling itself.

"That's amazing!" she yelled as she stood and walked towards them.

"Patrick" she said patting his head "you're a quick study."

"I learned from the best" he said, eyeing Monica "I'll have to show 
dad when we see him again."

Scully was startled back into reality.  Mulder was en-route to a 
Kite facility not here watching his son perform death-defying acts 
with a kite.

'He's coming back' the voice in her head said.

"Now?" she asked, hopeful that Mulder had turned around.

'No' the voice replied sadly 'but he is coming back to talk with you 
under an oak tree again.'

She smiled down at her son and he smiled back.  She didn't have the 
luxury of secrets anymore.

*************************************

The end of scene 64