The Truth is Out There--Epilogue 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 didn't ever think that my little idea would become a huge 104 chapter story that was being translated into several languages...but I am very happy it has been so well received. Thank you everyone, for sticking with me. This epilogue is set in August 2010, which is 10 months after the events from the last chapter. I do not own the characters and I don't make any money from this. Enjoy! ********************************** "Yes, I'll hold" she said unhappily as she closed the fridge door and walked around her brightly lit yellow kitchen. She looked out her new kitchen window and watched the ocean softly roll in the distance as a sailing crew took advantage of the wind and their boat skittered along the shoreline. A construction worker with a loud drill started to work right outside the window she was standing at, and she escaped to the upstairs, the whole time listening to Muzak. She walked into Patrick's room to do one final inspection of his luggage. The last time they had gone to visit her mom for a few days, he had covertly taken out almost all of his clothes to make room for toys and, she had had to go shopping for him in Baltimore so he wouldn't be wearing the same underwear for 4 days. The luggage was just as she had left it, so she zipped it up and plunked it down next to hers and Mulder's in the hallway. "Dr. Scully, Chief Director Skinner is on the line." Kim's voice chirped in her ear. "Thank you" she said to the woman. "Dana?" she heard him ask. "Yes, I'm here." She smiled "I got a message to call you..." "Yeah, I'm sorry, but Dinah and I aren't going to be able to make it to the island until the weekend. Umprey has arranged a house for you that is right down the beach. Something has, uh..." "What has happened with the investigation?" she asked expectantly. "We've taken into custody a Mr. Etienne Guillemot who, it turns out, has been a henchman for the Consortium for many years. His agreement to work with us is going to bring a lot of the conspiracy information we've had a hard time confirming, to light." "Wow" Scully sighed as she leaned against the rail. "Yeah, this is big Dana, and I need to stay here and make sure this is handled properly." A door opened and closed downstairs and she heard Mulder yelling "Come on Scully, we've got to get moving!" as he walked through the house. "I understand." She said "Mulder and I will be interested to hear how this develops." "I'll keep you posted" he said distractedly "I'll see you in a few days." The phone disconnected and she stood holding it for a few moments. Mulder walked up the stairs with a paper in his hand, studying it. "This latest bill from the contractor is crazy." He said as he walked up to her "are they using gold nails in those guns?" She looked at him and smiled. "Skinner won't be coming until the weekend, there's been a development and he needs to stay on a little longer." "A good development?" he asked, eyeing her. "I think, a very good development" she said, suddenly remembering Patrick's dental floss and walking toward the washroom. "I'll bring you up to speed later." Mulder followed her into the washroom and walked up behind her. Wrapping his arms around her and turning her in his embrace. "Speaking of bringing me up to speed..." he said as he kissed her neck and hoisted her onto the countertop between his legs. "Mulder!" she admonished him "The kids!" "Are in the backyard" he said as he worked his way over her collarbone "and they can't hear you when they're together, so..." "Mulder" she admonished him, more softly this time. "All I need is five minutes, Scully" he said as he reached to undo the buttons on her shirt. "Mulder, we can't." she said trying to hold the pieces of her shirt together "we have to get to the airport." "Okay, I'm not promising any romance, but if you'll help... I'll only need one minute" he said reaching to undo her pants. "Oh, and you were going to give me five minutes of romance before?" she laughed. He stopped undoing her pants and leaned his head against her shoulder. "Mulder, we're going away for two weeks with the kids" she said as she nibbled at his ear "Two weeks with them constantly together." He raised his head to smile at her. He did up the two buttons he had managed to undo on her shirt as she studied him. "Besides, Patrick was just at the Paige and Henry's place this last weekend. And they'll be in school together in two weeks." "I know" he sighed and then looked in her eyes and waggled his eyebrows. "Two whole weeks of naughty thoughts, huh?" "Two whole weeks" she said kissing him soundly on his lips. "You get the kids and I'll get the bags" he said helping her off the counter. Scully walked down the stairs and through her partially renovated beach house. It was big by their standards, but quite small by the standards of Corolla. But, it was beachfront and that was important to Mulder. The house had 4 bedrooms and was open concept with a big family room and kitchen, which was important to Scully. She was still working on the interior decoration, but it was coming along. Paige and Henry Edwards lived up the shoreline a few miles in a lavish house with ocean side pool and yacht club membership. The four of them had been working together in an open co-parenting situation that everyone seemed to be happy with. They had accepted Mulder and her into Gillian's life as biological parents living down the beach and wanting to be part of their daughter's life. And, in return, they had accepted the Edwards' involvement as a type of foster parents to Patrick, who wanted to be actively involved in the life of their daughter's twin brother. She exited the side door and looked up at the progress on the siding. "It looks like you guys are on schedule" she said to George, the foreman. "The railings arrived today and once the siding is up" he said gesturing to the new deep blue wood siding laying on a skid "we'll get your porches built." "What about the shutters?" she asked as she eyed the piece of new white railing leaning against the house. "They should be arriving in the next couple of days." He confirmed. Scully smiled to herself. The house was going to be beautiful when all these renovations were done. Despite the high price tag of buying in Corolla, the house needed a lot of updating and these last few months had been spent in renovation hell. It would be done just in time for Patrick to start school and Mulder to begin his fall book tour. The second book 'A Lie Hidden Between Two Truths' had been as big a hit as the first, swooping in on the New York Times bestsellers list and staying there for a while. Now, with the third at the editors, it looked like fall book tours would be happening for a few years. She walked into the yard and saw Gillian sitting quietly on a chair looking at the water. Her hair had grown into a wavy short bob and her skin had darkened a little with all the summer sun. She was glowing and healthy with freckles dotting her face. "I thought Patrick was with you?" Scully asked as she walked up next to her and placed a hand on her hair. "He's waiting for the horses to come by again." She said looking up at Scully. "Where is he?" Scully asked, looking around. "Just on the other side of the dune, and he says to come over, they'll be here any minute." Gillian rose from her seat and took her mother's hand, guiding her toward the dune. Scully clambered over the edge and saw Patrick on the other side, expectantly waiting for the wild horses that lived on the island, to run past. They sat on the sand with the tall grass around them and waited. Mulder walked around the dune and looked at Scully. Patrick was leaning into her one shoulder and Gillian sat with her hip rubbing up against her on the other side. Her two children were happy and the smile that spread across Scully's face spoke volumes. He walked toward the group and sat down heavily next to Gillian placing his arm around her shoulder. "What are we doing?" he asked. "Shhhhhh" Scully whispered as they sat quietly and waited. Minutes later, a group of wild horses ran past them on the beach. Their beautiful manes danced in the sun and their hooves pounded into the sand. The family sat curled up against each other, hidden in the dunes and watched in awe. ******************************** Truly, the end.