A Rift in Time
by Agent_410

Email:  box9missingno@hotmail.com   

An X-Files fic starring Mulder and Scully
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Young Mulder and Scully take a trip back to the 
future... and come face to face with a big surprise.

Disclaimer: My thanks go out to Chris Carter and all those 
over at 1013 productions, for letting us fans have some fun 
with M & S. The characters and situations of the television 
program "The X-Files" are the creations and property of 
Chris Carter, Fox Broadcasting, and Ten Thirteen 
Productions, and have been used without permission. No 
copyright infringement is intended. Credit goes out to 
Serta for the Serta Sleep Number beds. Only used the term 
as part of a joke in the fic. All rights reserved; No 
copyright infringement is intended.


It all started on a warm fall day, with Mulder and Scully 
walking up to the main FBI office. "It's a nice day, Scully 
-- are you sure that you don't want to go and check out 
that crop circles exhibit with me later?" Mulder said to 
her. I'm sure Mulder -- my life is full of more than just 
aliens, X-Files and UFO's." Scully said to him plainly. "Ah 
Scully -- you need to lighten up some more..." Mulder said 
to her jokingly, as he looked at her with a big old grin on 
his face.

"Oh, Mulder, Mulder, Mulder", Scully said, while laughing 
at his remark and shaking her head, "You've helped me to do 
that already." "Ah thanks Scully -- at least I've done that 
much." Scully smiled at him and then said, "I have some 
plans -- but maybe we can do something in the near 
future..." "Ok, that sounds good," Mulder said -- looking 
over at her, "What do you have in mind...", he asked Scully 
while waggling his eyebrows at her. "Mulder," she said to 
him reprovingly while chuckling, "Nothing like that...", 
Scully waggled her eyebrows back at him in return, "I can 
assure you."

"Oh Scully -- you're just no fun sometimes..." sighed 
Mulder. "No Mulder -- it's just your idea of fun... the day 
that anything like that happens, will be when we all find 
out that the moon is made of blu cheese.", Scully said to 
him matter-of-factly. "Gee, don't be such a wet blanket, 
Scully -- you never know..." said Mulder, with a hint of 
sarcasm in his voice. Scully laughed and said to him, "Yea 
we can never know -- but I do know this -- that day won't 
be coming anytime soon.", Scully told him, with the 
emphasis on both the words 'that day' and 'anytime'.

Mulder was about to counter what she had just said to him 
when he noticed something weird in the distance, in the 
middle of the entranceway to the main FBI building. 
"Scully, do you see what I see?" he said to her, while 
scratching his head curiously. "What, Mulder?" Scully 
replied, with a hint of both skepticism and interest in her 
voice. "That odd purple light over there...", Mulder 
replied in response to her question. "Yes, just vaguely... 
what do you think it is, Mulder?" Scully said. "I don't 
know Scully, but I think we should go check it out you know 
-- just to be on the safe side of things." "Are you sure 
that's the best thing to do, Mulder? "Are you sure that 
it's even safe to go near that thing?" Scully said with 
concern in her voice.

"No I'm not sure, Scully -- but where's the harm in just 
checking it out...," he said to her, as he walked over to 
the light and waved his hand over it. "See Scully -- no har 
--" The light had just mysteriously sucked him in. "Mulder, 
Mulder," she said, shaking her head, and followed his path 
and did what he had just done -- and got sucked in by the 
light as well.

They both landed in the middle of a field somewhere... West 
Virginia to be exact. The year is 2008 now -- no longer 
1998, the year from which they came.

And things are about to get a whole lot weirder...

They both got up and started walking towards a seemingly 
deserted farmhouse in order to try to get some help and 
information. "Mulder, are you ok?," Scully asked him 
worriedly. "I don't know, Scully -- it's like one minute we 
were both at the FBI building and the next minute we landed 
here, out in the middle of nowhere."

"Ah, gee thanks for the play-by-play Mulder -- do you know 
where we are exactly?," Scully asked him, a note of concern 
entering her already worried voice. "Honestly Scully, I 
have no clue.," Mulder said to her. "It could be just about 
anywhere on the East coast or Midwest from the looks of 
things.," he continued. "Oh... well that certainly narrows 
down some things.," she said back to him sarcastically, as 
she went to knock on the house's door.

Someone approached the door and opened it. Scully was in 
mild shock... She thought that the person seemed so 
familiar in a way -- just how, she was not sure of 
though...

"Do you need some help?," said the person who answered the 
door, a woman with long auburn hair, who was wearing a navy 
blue blouse and a pair of jeans. "Yes we do," Scully said, 
"Can you please tell me and my friend here where we are 
exactly? We're new to the area..." "No problem," said the 
mystery woman, just as a mystery man came up behind, 
embraced her and started to kiss her softly on the neck. 
"Jesus, Mulder -- not now...," she said, with a hint of 
mirth in her voice, "We have company..." "Oh come on 
Scully...," the Future Mulder said playfully. "Oh hi 
there...," he continued. "Sorry about that..., " he said to 
both the Past Mulder and Scully, as they were standing 
there -- now completely in shock over this new development.

"Remember how you told me that something like this would 
never happen, Scully? Well it looks like it has... So I 
guess we can now say that the moon is officially made of 
blu cheese..." "Mulder, Mulder, Mulder...," she said back 
to him... while giving him the 'look'. "Do you mind if we 
excuse ourselves for a minute?," Scully asked them 
politely. "That's ok, take as long as you both need.," the 
Future Mulder said to her.

The both of them walked out of the house for some fresh 
air. Mulder started to laugh and grin. "Just what is so 
funny, Mulder?," Scully said to him with an interested look 
on her face. "Oh nothing Scully... I just was thinking 
about the future...," Mulder said, while continuing to grin 
and laugh, "and you and me..." He began to stare off into 
the distance and let off a low whistle and continued, "I 
just can't believe my own eyes -- you and me together in 
the future... it's like something out of the Twilight Zone 
-- not that it's anything bad, might I add, Scully." "It's 
just a lot to take in."

"I know Mulder, I know." "I'm still getting used to the 
idea myself." "You as a mature adult..." Scully grinned at 
the thought and continued, "and the both of us living 
together in our own house... is a lot to take in, like you 
just said."

"Are you ready to go back in yet?" Mulder asked her. "Yes I 
am, Mulder, are you?" Scully asked him in reply. "Yep, 
let's go back inside..."

They both went back inside the house. "Are you two ok?" 
asked the future Mulder. "Yea we are -- just needed some 
fresh air, that's all." Scully told him. "Ok, that's good -
- we were about ready to order some pizza, and the both of 
you are more than welcome to stay for some dinner.," he 
told her, as he got out his cell phone and dialed up the 
pizza guy. "No we don't want to impose on the two of you -- 
anymore than we have to.," she said matter-of-factly. "No, 
no -- that's no problem," he said, "we don't have anything 
really important planned for tonight -- so you are both 
welcome here." "Aren't they?," he called back to the future 
Scully. "Yep no problem. In fact, you two are the most 
company that Mulder and I have seen in weeks.," she said to 
the two of them. "Oh and by the way --" she continued, "to 
answer your question that you two were wondering about 
earlier... you are both in the state of West Virginia."

"Oh I see... and what year is it?," Scully asked her. "It's 
2008...," she replied back to her. "Wow, Scully...," Mulder 
said with a look of slight surprise on his face, and then 
continued, "10 years have passed..." "Just what in the heck 
happened when we touched that purple light?" "It seemed to 
have acted like some sort of time machine or hole in time, 
Mulder..." Mulder stood there in shock... "You actually 
think it could possibly be either of those phenomenon, 
Scully?" "Not really, but with the way things are right now 
-- we can't be sure of anything, Mulder...," Scully said to 
him. "And, thanks for all of your help.," she said to the 
Future Scully. "No problem... and if you two don't mind me 
interjecting -- you're both from the past?" "It certainly 
sounds like one heck of a story that you have here.," she 
said to the both of them. "Yep... it most certainly is..." 
he replied back to her. He then told them the story about 
how they got there.

"Wow...," the Future Mulder said, once the story was over 
with. "You two really did come from the past then? I didn't 
think that was even possible -- aside from anomalies such 
as the Bermuda Triangle." "Scully, remember when we were on 
the Queen Mary?" "You had to rescue me and you saw the past 
like I had..." "Yes I do, Mulder...," said the Future 
Scully. "Only I didn't really believe it at first..." "It 
was only after the fact that I even opened myself up to the 
possibility that something like that could happen..." She 
smiled and laughed at the distant memory. "We were both so 
much younger then...," she went on saying, "and the 
circumstances were so much different..."

"They most definitely were -- I told you that I loved you, 
and you didn't believe me...," the Future Mulder said to 
her with a hint of laughter in his voice. "Well you were 
still under the effects of sedation... that's why I didn't 
believe you." "But as for now, I definitely know that you 
love me and that I love you.," she said to him with a hint 
of a smile on her face. She then looked at him tenderly and 
kissed him softly on the lips. He smiled at her and said, 
"There's never a day that goes by that I don't love you -- 
and it was on that day that I knew -- for sure -- that I 
was truly in love with you."

"Woah...," Mulder said to the both of them, his face full 
of awe and wonder. "Just out of curiosity -- when did the 
two of you finally fall in love?" "It was on New Year's Eve 
in 1999 -- right after the ball had dropped...," the Future 
Scully told him. "We both saw this couple on tv kissing and 
something just clicked -- we looked at each other... and 
then kissed." "It was purely spontaneous -- and completely 
wonderful." "We both knew from then on that things would 
never be the same -- and that a line had finally been 
crossed." She looked over at the Future Mulder and smiled 
at him once more.

"That was a wonderful story that the both of you have 
shared with us...," Scully said to them, with a smile 
crossing her face. "If you don't mind me asking... What 
else has happened over these years since 1998?" "Well...," 
the Future Scully said to her, "both of us started to date 
each other... sleep together... and in the end -- we ended 
up having a child together." And on that note, Mulder's jaw 
dropped to the floor. "You're kidding me, right?," he asked 
her. "Nope, I'm not kidding -- all of this really 
happened.," she said. "Wow...," Scully said back to her. 
"This is a lot more to take in... so much has happened, so 
much has changed..."

"Yea -- you're definitely right there, Scully..." "This is 
so hard to believe -- especially the part of the story 
where a child comes into the picture...," Mulder said, with 
a note of skepticism entering his voice. "Now since when 
have you ever been skeptical about anything, Mulder?" "This 
is certainly a first for me...," Scully said to him, with a 
slight smile forming on her face. "Not very often, Scully -
- and certainly not as often as you have been.," he said to 
her jokingly -- with a slight grin on his face. Scully 
laughed and the Future Scully said to the both of them that 
she asked Mulder to help her to conceive and that he said 
yes. They both stood there -- still in disbelief... then 
Mulder spoke up. "Was the child a boy or a girl?, " he 
asked her. "It was a boy named William -- which I had named 
after his father's father." She looked over at the Future 
Mulder, smiled and then sighed. "What's wrong?," Scully 
asked her.

"In the end, I had to give him up for adoption -- due to 
forces outside of our control.," she said to her sadly. 
"What kind of forces?," Scully asked her. "Namely the 
Syndicate...," she said to her straight-forwardly, with a 
trace of anger and bitterness entering her voice. From that 
she continued -- "Not the one that either of you are 
familiar with though, even though they share similar 
goals..." "That one -- got killed off years ago... this new 
one consists mainly of supersoldiers... a group of people 
who are very strong and deadly..."

"They tend to believe that there is something special about 
our son -- and they were willing to do almost anything just 
to try and take him away..." "Not to mention that strange 
cult that tried to do the very same thing... only for their 
own reasons..." "So in the end... giving him up for 
adoption was the safest way to go -- not that it was an 
easy decision to make though..." Her voice wavered, as her 
eyes filled up with tears, but she still continued on. "I 
didn't want to give him up -- and I was damn sure that his 
father, my constant, wouldn't want to do that either." The 
Future Mulder looked at her and nodded in agreement. She 
was relieved to see this -- even though she knew all along 
that he had felt that way about it.

Tension filled the air as the news hit the younger pair... 
the day has started out normally -- but now things were 
definitely a lot more complicated. "Are either you planning 
on either going to visit him or getting him back someday?," 
Scully asked them politely. "We'd love to do either of 
those things -- but sadly, due to the way things are 
presently -- it wouldn't be in either of our best interests 
to go and do that. It just wouldn't be safe.," the Future 
Scully said solemnly.

"Oh...," said the younger Mulder and Scully back in unison. 
The front buzzer rang. "Ah, the pizza's here...," the 
Future Mulder said, a big smile coming onto his face. 
"Anyone want the one with anchovies on it?" They both 
looked at him like he'd just slipped into a pile of camel 
dung. "Kidding, just kidding... it's pepperoni, pineapple 
and ham -- and I had it checked for any radiation...," he 
told them, while laughing.

"I guess somethings never change, Mulder...," the younger 
Scully said to her cohort, while laughing. "You're still 
the same smart-alecky self... only older -- not that I mind 
-- there are some redeemable qualities..." She sat there 
grinning, while getting herself a slice of pizza. "You're 
certainly right about that...," the Future Scully said to 
her, while laughing. "If he'd become old and stodgy -- then 
things would most certainly be a lot more dull..." She 
looked over at him and grinned. "Life wouldn't be as fun 
for me without him." The younger Mulder looked over at his 
partner, grinned and then laughed. "So -- I'm still the 
same after all these years?" "Come on now... something had 
to have changed during this time...," he said to the future 
Scully. She sat there quietly for a minute and then said, 
"Well -- you become a better listener for one thing..." 
"Along with being more tolerant about things..."

"Ah...," he said. "Guess that comes with age then." The 
older Mulder looked at him and then said in his best old 
person impression, "Yes I guess it does, sonny..."

The younger Scully started to chuckle. "Hey...," her cohort 
said back to her, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 
"What are you laughing for?" "The sight of both you and 
your older counterpart making fools of yourselves...," she 
said back to him, with a grin on her face. "Oh -- I 
see...," he said, "Well it is rather silly... I admit 
Scully -- but it is kind of fun...," he said to her, while 
starting to chuckle himself.

Everyone continued to laugh and eat somemore pizza, as the 
evening continued on.

"So...," the younger Mulder said to his older counterpart 
with a grin on his face, and his mouth still full of pizza. 
"How has Scully changed over the years?" Mulder laughed and 
continued,... "Well... she's certainly a lot more relaxed 
and more open about things... and definitely more 
colorful..." He said that last part with a hint a mirth in 
his voice. The older Scully laughed and said,... "He's most 
definitely right about all of that -- and he's in fact part 
of how I became that way..." "If it weren't for him -- I'd 
probably still be who I was back then... someone who was a 
lot less relaxed and open -- someone who really didn't let 
their emotions show."

She looked over at him and smiled and continued, "Thanks to 
him -- I've become a better person." "Wow, Scully -- I 
didn't know that I've had such an effect on you...," he 
said to her with awe in his voice. "Well you did, Mulder -- 
and I'm grateful that you did." "We've definitely come a 
long way from what we were both like at the beginning...," 
she said to him with a knowing look on her face.

"Heck yea we have -- I certainly wasn't that much of a 
prize myself...," he said, with a touch of bitterness in 
his voice. "Well you certainly went to hell and back in 
terms of all that you went through up to that point..." She 
looked at him with the utmost compassion in her eyes and 
said it to him with calmness and love in her voice. "Still 
-- I wasn't that much of a person -- a loner if you 
will..." She patted his back and said, "Well, in the end -- 
you overcame all that... and became a better person, and 
that's what really matters..." "I guess so... but if it 
weren't for you... I'm pretty sure that things would have 
turned out way differently...," he said to her matter-of-
factly. "You really helped to set my life on a better path 
-- one not nearly as messed up or as dark and I'm forever 
grateful for that." He said that to her with nothing but 
honesty and love in his voice.

"Thanks Mulder -- I'm glad that I was able to do at least 
that much for you.," she said to him, with a tear coming to 
her eye. They looked at each other for what seemed to be an 
eternity -- with a look of pure adoration, knowing, respect 
and love on both of their faces.

Both of the younger agents sat there in wonder, seeing the 
moment unfold. They couldn't believe just how close they'd 
be to one another within 10 years of the time from which 
they had come. "So...," the younger Mulder said, "how do 
the both of you put up with one another?" "Both Scully and 
I get on each others' nerves at least once or so a 
month..." The older pair chuckled at the remark.

"Well...," the older Mulder replied to him, while choosing 
his words carefully, "it certainly helps that she's a good 
kisser... and that she puts up with my habit of being so 
disorganized..." The older Scully gave him the 'look' and 
shook her head. "Mulder, Mulder, Mulder...," she said, 
while barely concealing a grin that was slowly coming 
across her face. "Some things never change...," she 
continued, "and to answer your question -- we keep each 
other on our toes... make each other laugh..." "Of course 
there are fights and disagreements every now and then -- 
but in the end, our love and overall, our relationship 
comes first."

"Yep...," the older Mulder said, as he yawned slightly. 
"That's pretty much the truth there -- plain and simple..." 
"As hard as it may be for the both of you to believe..." 
"It did take some time for the two of us to get used to 
living together, but in the end -- things worked out well." 
"Pretty much...," she said, while chuckling a little bit. 
"We still have our little quirks... but now they've become 
rather endearing for the most part..." The younger Scully 
started to laugh. "Does he still throw pencils up into the 
ceiling?," she asked her with a grin. "Yep he still does 
that -- along with eating sunflower seeds..." "Nice...," 
the younger Mulder said, with a grin on his face. "I guess 
it really is true when they say that old habits die hard."

Everyone laughed at that remark and continued to finish up 
what was left of the pizza. "Wow... it's getting late...," 
the younger Mulder remarked. "Can you guys tell me where 
the bathroom is?," he asked them matter-of-factly. "It's 
down the hall and to the right.," the older Scully said 
back to him. "Thank you...," he said back to her, as he got 
up from the table to go to the bathroom.

He found the bathroom and turned on the light. "Wow... so 
this will be our bathroom..." He laughed a little bit at 
the thought... as he sat down to go to the bathroom. 
Thoughts raced through his head -- about the past, about 
the present (circa 1998) and about the future. So much was 
being processed... that it was scaring him somewhat. He got 
up, flushed the toilet and washed his hands... when all of 
a sudden, a thought came over him. "Should I go and check 
out our future bedroom?" He chuckled slightly at the 
thought -- and then went for it... He went straight from 
the bathroom and right into a sideroom, that lead directly 
into their future bedroom.

He stood there, in complete shock as he gazed upon the 
room's flowery walls and the bed itself, with its blue 
bedspread that had crop circle like patterns on it.

"Oh my god...," he said to himself. "Just what kind of 
nightmare have I walked into?" "Is this some kind of 
bedroom, ala: Martha Stewart or something?" "I know that 
Scully's going to be living with me... but flowery 
wallpaper?" He sighed deeply and continued, "What did I do 
to deserve this?"

The older Scully heard him, and walked into the bedroom. 
"What the...," he said to her, completely surprised. "I'm 
so sorry that I startled you there..." "I just heard you 
talking and I thought that something might have gone 
wrong." "Oh I see...," he said to her with a chuckle. 
"Thanks... and I'm sorry about being in here..." She 
laughed and said, "No problem -- I could tell by your 
reaction that you're no fan of the decor..."

"You've certainly got that one right...," he said to her 
with a chuckle. "Oh and to answer your question -- it's 
your future self's bedspread... and I picked out the 
wallpaper." "He let me do so -- since he lost a bet..." 
"What kind of bet?," he asked her curiously. "A sports 
one...," she said back to him with a grin. "You've got to 
be kidding me... Scully doesn't really like sports that 
much...," he said to her matter-of-factly. She laughed at 
the comment and said, "Well -- I'm not a huge sports fan -- 
but I've warmed up to them... thanks to your future self." 
"Oh and by the way, it was a baseball bet -- the Angels vs. 
the Yankees." "And the Yankees lost -- 4-3." "I went with 
the Angels... and the bet was if the Angels won that I'd be 
able to pick out the wallpaper." "And if the Yankees won, 
then he'd be able to do the same," "Oh...," he said, while 
stifling a small chuckle. "I see..." "Well thanks for 
clearing that up..." "No problem...," she said back to him. 
"Oh, and by the way -- that's another way of keeping our 
relationship fresh -- another form of challenging one 
another..." The younger Mulder smiled and laughed at the 
comment, as his older self entered the room, along with the 
younger Scully.

They were both laughing at a comment that he -- the older 
Mulder -- had said. "What's so funny?," the younger Mulder 
asked curiously. "Oh... it's nothing...," she said to him 
with a mischevious grin on her face. He looked over at the 
older version of himself and then asked him the same thing. 
"Well...," he told him, with a grin on his face. "I just 
told her that you will be just as sarcastic and off-color 
now as you were back in 1998..." "She seemed to be very 
happy about that... as you can tell by the look on her 
face..."

He started to chuckle at the remark and his fellow cohort 
continued to laugh. "Wow..." said the older Scully, while 
yawning slightly. "It's getting really late -- you two are 
more than welcome to stay the night -- if you'd like..." 
"No -- no, we'd best be going..." the younger Scully said 
to her. "We don't want to overstay our welcome..." "Oh... 
that won't be a problem -- you both can stay in our guest 
room." "It's down the hall somewhat and to the left." "Oh, 
thanks -- and come on Mulder..." He followed her out of the 
future bedroom like a puppy dog, while wearing a slightly 
silly grin on his face. The older pair chuckled slightly 
and soon followed suit. The younger Scully turned around 
for a second and asked her older counterpart one final 
question. "Do you ever call him by his first name?" The 
older Scully laughed and said in reply, "Only when he ticks 
me off... other than that, no." The older Mulder laughed a 
little bit at the remark and said, "I call her by her first 
name every so often as well -- don't I Dana?" He said the 
last bit of the comment with some humor and sarcasm in his 
voice.

"Yes you do, Fox..." she said with a hint of irritation 
intermingling with some sarcasm and humor. The younger pair 
broke into stitches of laughter. "I can't believe this..." 
the younger Mulder said to his fellow cohort. "Us, calling 
each other by our first names teasingly, and albeit with 
some annoyance tossed in..." "Well..." she said back to 
him, "we have changed... quite a bit -- so by now... we're 
probably used to it..." The older pair chuckled. The older 
Mulder then said, "She's most right about that one. We've 
grown accustomed to one another. So now -- if Scully calls 
me by my first name -- even though I still don't like it -- 
it doesn't really bother me..." "In fact, for the most 
part, I take it in stride." "And not to mention -- I dish 
out as good as she does..." Just after he said that, he 
smiled at his partner mischeviously and said... "Let's turn 
in..." "Oh Mulder..." She sighed and reciprocated the smile 
back at him. "Ok..." "Good night, you two..."

They went into the bedroom and closed the door. The younger 
pair then went down to the guest bedroom. They looked 
around it and saw two twin beds. "Oh good..." Scully said 
to him. "You take the one nearest the door..." "And I'll 
take this one..." she said as she started to sit down on 
it. He chuckled and said... "Good night Scully..." "Good 
night Mulder..." she said back to him with a smile forming 
on her face.

As the night continued on... they heard some laughter... 
and the sounds of two people bound together as one. Mulder 
chuckled and said... "Those two are thicker than thieves -- 
aren't they?" Scully chuckled in return and said... "Yea 
they most certainly seem to be that way..." Mulder grinned 
at that remark and let out a low, yet appreciative whistle. 
"Hey Scully...," he said to her quietly. "Do you ever think 
that this future will ever come to pass?" "I'm not sure 
about that, Mulder... we can never be sure about these 
things." "But if what our future selves said is true -- how 
would you handle it?" he asked her, his voice full of 
curiosity. "Hmm -- good question Mulder... and I guess 
that's one road I'll come to along with you if indeed it 
does happen." Mulder chuckled and grinned. "Well... I 
certainly hope that it does..." "Now why is that, Mulder?" 
she asked him. "There's no one better than yourself -- that 
I'd rather spend my time with... aside from... you-know..." 
"Mulder... why do you even keep your company with that 
stuff?" "Old habit -- I guess Scully... along with my 
insomnia..." "That's mainly why I have that aforementioned 
habit anyways..." Scully chuckled and said to him... "Oh I 
see..." "Well get rid of it..." "I've tried to, Scully... 
but it's hard to..." "But maybe, just maybe -- being with 
you will be enough to break me of it..." He said the last 
part with complete earnestness.

"Ah... well thanks for your honesty, Mulder." "We'll 
definitely have to wait and see on that one though -- since 
things aren't what they will possibly be yet, Mulder..." 
"It's not that I don't trust you... it's just that I sense 
that there's still some wild oats that you want to sow... 
alongside said habit... and until both things are done 
with..." "I'll be unsure of things between us... not that I 
don't care about you though, Mulder." Mulder sighed, looked 
at her and then nodded his head in understanding. "Guess I 
still have quite a bit of growing up to do then..." he said 
with a chuckle. "Guess you do..." she said back to him with 
a laugh.

Meanwhile... in the main bedroom... Mulder was keeping 
Scully company... one of the best ways he knew how to... by 
spooning with her. "Mulder..." she said while laughing... 
"You're tickling me..." "I know... Scully... I know...," he 
said, while continuing to kiss her neck and shoulders. 
"Those two -- reminded me so much of our past..." she said 
to him, as he embraced her waist. "Yea I know..." he said 
with a chuckle. "They certainly make me appreciate every 
moment that I have with you..." he said to her, while 
kissing her ear. She turned around and kissed him deeply. 
He was happier than he had been for awhile... and so was 
she.

"Mulder..." she said... reclining back onto his chest -- 
"Thanks for the appreciation." "You're very welcome... 
Scully. And thanks for keeping me company after all these 
years." Scully smiled, turned her head and kissed his 
chest. "No problem and besides in the end you're worth it. 
I wouldn't trade you or this life for anything." "It's been 
one heck of a ride and I wouldn't change one thing..." "And 
-- I like how things turned out..." She said that, while 
putting her hand on his chest and looking up at him with a 
smile on her face. He put his hand over hers and smiled 
back at her in return. They fell asleep in each others' 
arms as the night rolled on.

Morning came early... and Mulder nuzzled Scully's cheek to 
wake her... "Oh Mulder..." she said, while trying to stifle 
a chuckle. "It's still really early..." "I know... I 
know..." he said, while starting to chuckle himself. "I 
just wanted to play a little before the kids wake up... if 
you know what I mean..." he continued, while waggling his 
eyebrows at her. She started to laugh... and then kissed 
him deeply just to shut herself up. "Oh Scully -- this is a 
surprise..." he said, while returning the kiss in kind. "I 
really love it when you take the initiative..." She smiled 
at him and said, "Well you've certainly helped make me more 
bold when it comes down to it..." She looked at him 
mischievously and then kissed him somemore.

He didn't want the moment to end... it was just pure bliss. 
But early morning was waining now... and pretty soon the 
younger versions of themselves would be up as well. He put 
his arm around her waist and squeezed her. She giggled 
softly and put her arm on his. She yawned slightly and 
said, "Well we better get moving..." "I don't want to move 
just yet..." he said to her, while kissing her neck. "I 
know... I know...," she said while grinning. "I don't want 
to either -- but we do have company..." "And they'll have 
to get moving as well..." He sighed deeply and kissed her 
tenderly. "Ok... but..." he said to her, with an impish 
grin coming across his face. "You have to shower with 
me..." Scully sighed, rolled her eyes and grinned impishly 
back at him. "Ok..." she said to him. "But on one 
condition..." "What's that?" he asked her curiously. "You 
have to do the dishes..." He groaned slightly, and then 
chuckled. "Oh, well that seems fair enough, Scully..." "I 
look forward to you joining me..." They both left their 
bedroom and crossed over to the bathroom.

Meanwhile -- over in the guest room... the younger pair 
started to wake up. Mulder yawned and rubbed his eyes. 
Scully soon followed suit. "Did you get a good night's 
sleep, Scully?" Mulder asked her. "Somewhat of one..." she 
replied back to him. "Yourself, Mulder?" He chuckled at the 
question. "Surprisingly Scully, I slept for most of the 
night..." "So I guess that these two must have Serta Sleep 
Number beds in their house or something..." Scully chuckled 
at that remark and said, "Yea Mulder -- that must be it -- 
because I didn't even hear you snore..." He sat up, and 
threw a pillow at her. Scully chuckled at him and then 
threw a pillow back at him. "Mulder, Mulder, Mulder..." she 
said to him, while shaking her head. "You'll never change, 
won't you?" "Nope I won't Scully..." he said back to her 
with an impish grin on his face.

She laughed at him and got moving towards the bedroom door. 
Mulder followed suit soon after. They came out of the 
bedroom to the sound of the shower running and of two 
people talking, kidding around and laughing. Mulder 
laughed. "What's so funny, Mulder?" she asked him, with an 
interested look on her face. "Just the sound of these two 
having fun, Scully..." "If that's in part what our life 
together will be like -- then sign me up..." He said that 
to her with a big grin on his face. Scully rolled her eyes 
and chuckled at his remark. "Mulder -- the day that happens 
will be the day when frogs sleep in sleeping bags..." He 
chuckled and said, "Well from the sound of those two -- it 
seems as if that day has come..." Scully laughed and 
stretched. "Well maybe... and I wouldn't mind if our future 
did turn out this way." "You wouldn't?" Mulder said to her 
with a grin. "No I wouldn't -- just the two of us -- with a 
good roof over our heads..." She grinned at the thought of 
it.

"Well I guess we'll be standing out here in the hallway for 
awhile now, Scully... considering how long those two are 
taking..." "They're bound to turn into two wrinkled toads 
at the pace they're going..." Scully chuckled and said, 
"Well it is their house, Mulder... so they can take as long 
as they want to in the shower..." He laughed at her comment 
and said... "I know -- but I have to go to the bathroom..." 
"You could go outside, Mulder..." He laughed and said... "I 
guess I could..." And just as he turned to go and do just 
that -- the older versions of them came out in an embrace. 
"Oh my god..." Mulder said, as he broke into laughter. "I'm 
so sorry..." he said to the both of them. "No problem..." 
his older self said. "You can go in now..." "And from the 
looks of things -- the both of you have been waiting here 
for sometime now." "You'd most certainly be right there..." 
he said back to him with a chuckle. "You're most certainly 
one lucky woman there..." he said to the older Scully. "Yea 
I most certainly am..." she said to him, while kissing his 
older counterpart on the cheek. 

He went into the bathroom and shut the door, took a quick 
shower and got dressed. "You can come in now, Scully..." he 
said to her with a grin. "Ok Mulder...," she said. "Now 
leave... unlike our older selves... I prefer to take a 
shower by myself..." He laughed at that remark and left the 
bathroom. She went into the bathroom and shut the door. She 
then took a quick shower and got dressed.

She came out of the bathroom and looked for Mulder. "You've 
got to be kidding me..." she heard him say, as their older 
counterparts were telling him stories of their past. They 
were all sitting in the living room -- laughing their butts 
off. "Can I join?" She asked them, with a grin. "Sure... 
sure..." They both said to her. She sat down next to him 
and listened to what they were talking about. "So... what 
was the weirdest case that the both of you have ever worked 
on?" he asked them with a grin. "Hmm..." the older Scully 
said, while thinking. "Well... that one case that had to do 
with the genie..." "Jenniah, Scully... jenniah..." the 
older Mulder said to her. "Genie, jenniah... they both seem 
the same to me, Mulder." she said back to him with a laugh. 
"They both grant wishes..." Mulder laughed and said to her, 
"Speaking of wishes... at least that one particular 
genie/jenniah granted my wish..." He said that last part 
with love in his voice, and then he turned and kissed her 
on the cheek. Scully smiled and returned the kiss. "Also, 
that invisible man that came from it..." Mulder said to 
them. "Yea I remember that..." she said with a chuckle.

"I pretty much made a fool of myself there... since the 
guy's brother made a wish to bring him back to life..." 
Mulder started to laugh. "Yea as a zombie -- nonetheless." 
"So in the end -- that guy's wish didn't exactly turn out 
as he wanted it to..." "Yea I guess so, Mulder..." "And it 
was too bad -- I was that close (she put her thumb and 
forefinger about an inch apart) to showing those scientists 
from Harvard an invisible man..." She sighed and then 
laughed. "So... anyone up for some breakfast?" the older 
Scully asked. "I can have Mulder here make it..." The older 
Mulder sighed, rolled his eyes and grinned. "Yes I can..." 
"How does green eggs and ham sound ?" he said to them 
jokingly, with a grin on his face. 

They all started to laugh at the question. "Sure..." the 
younger Mulder said, with a silly grin on his face, much to 
his cohort's chagrin. The older Mulder laughed at his 
response. "Well we're not having that... we'll be having 
omelettes..." The younger Scully let out a sigh of relief. 
"Oh darn..." the younger Mulder said with a chuckle. "I 
really thought you were going to make that." "I would have 
gotten a kick out of seeing my partner here squirm..." 
"Right, Scully..." he said, as he nudged her ribs with his 
elbow. She rolled her eyes at him and laughed. "Yea I 
certainly would have done just that... Mulder." She said 
that with a bit of sarcasm entering her voice. The older 
pair laughed at their younger counterparts bantering.

Breakfast went on as planned -- with the older Mulder 
making omelettes. "Um... that smells good..." his younger 
counterpart said, with a grin on his face. The older Mulder 
laughed and said, "Well I'm glad your nose likes the smell 
of my cooking... because Scully's nose is really picky..." 
The older Scully glared at him, and then stuck her tongue 
out. "Hey now... whenever I cook..." she said to him 
simply, "Your nose reacts in the same way... it's just as 
dang picky..." "Well Scully... your cooking is most 
certainly... unique..." "Well so is yours, Mulder..." she 
said that with a chuckle. "I remember one time when he was 
fixing some dinner -- he overcooked it by mistake..." she 
said with a laugh, "and caused a small fire..." "Even the 
firefighters noses were picky..." The younger pair chuckled 
at the story, and the older Mulder glared at his partner 
and stuck his tongue out at her. "Now why did you have to 
share that story..." he said to her. "It was a good one..." 
she said while chuckling. "And at least our house didn't 
burn down." "I can be thankful for that..." she said to 
him, while getting up, kissing him on the cheek and hugging 
him gently.

He sighed and grinned. "Ah Scully, you always know the way 
to my heart..." He kissed her back on her cheek and 
finished making the omelettes. "Who wants the ones with 
eyeballs in it?" he asked everyone with a slightly 
mischievious grin on his face. "Eww... you've got to be 
kidding me..." the younger Scully said, with a look of 
slight disgust crossing her face. "Oh, Mulder...," she said 
while sighing. "Oh, gee... what did I do, Scully?" he said, 
with a quizzical look on his face. She chuckled and said, 
"Nothing really... I was just reacting to you being 
yourself..." The older pair chuckled at the comment.

"What's so funny?," the younger pair asked them in unison. 
"Just the sight of you two interacting... I've kind of 
forgotten how we used to banter..." "Not that we don't 
banter back and forth anymore..." "We still do -- only now 
it's somewhat different -- like a couple..." she said with 
a laugh. "An old married one... might I add...," the 
younger Mulder said with a chuckle. Both Scully's turned 
around and gave him the 'look'... "Oh shi-, I'm in trouble 
now, aren't I?," he said, with a wary look on his face. "Oh 
yes you are, Mulder...," the younger Scully said to him, an 
impish grin coming across her face.

She turned to her older counterpart and said, "Do you mind 
if my partner here helps with the dishes?" "Oh no... I 
don't mind...," she said back to her while laughing. "He 
can help my man out here... he was supposed to do them..." 
"But it wouldn't hurt if he had some help." She said this 
with a mischevious tone to her voice. The older Mulder 
chuckled. "Guess we're both on dish cleaning duty today 
then..." "Way to dig yourself a hole there..." he said to 
him. "Do I still do that in the future?," the younger 
Mulder asked him. "Do what?" "Dig holes, metaphoric ones... 
that is?" "Yep..." "I may be older and some what wiser... 
but I still manage to say some stupid things every now and 
then." The older Scully chuckled at that and said, "Oh yes 
you do, Mulder..." "And that's in part what makes you, 
you..." "Are you calling me a you-you, Scully?" She started 
laughing so hard that she snorted. "No I'm not..." "I was 
just saying that when you say stupid things... that it's 
part of who you are -- what makes you unique..."

"Oh I see...," he said back to her, as he flung a spoonful 
of omelette at her. She shook her head and grinned. "Thanks 
you two..." "For what?" the younger Mulder asked her. "For 
bringing out my man's silly side..." Sure he's playful -- 
but it's been awhile since he's been so silly...," she said 
to him with a grin, while wiping off the omelette off her 
face. The older Mulder smiled at her and said, "I'm glad 
that I could be at your service, honey..." The older Scully 
laughed and said, "Well thanks for it, Mulder... it's truly 
appreciated..." "I'm really glad when you're silly... it's 
nice to see that side of you come out every now and 
then..."

The older Mulder grinned and then blew a raspberry at her. 
She laughed and grinned. Both of the Mulders got up and 
collected the dishes, cups and silverware and did the 
dishes... with both Scullys laughing in the background. 
"Wow...," the younger Mulder said. "It's heading towards 
noon now..." "We'd better be going... we still have to find 
our way back to our own time..." "So soon...," the older 
Mulder said to him. "We're getting used to the company..." 
He sighed and then continued, "this house will be that much 
more quiet again -- it'll take a lot of getting used to..." 
"We're going to miss the both of you..." "Aren't we 
Scully..." "Yea...," she said to him. "You two have been 
fun to be around -- a true reminder of what we used to be 
like -- not that it's been bad in anyway..." "In fact -- it 
helped to bring out parts of ourselves that we've forgotten 
about after all these years..." "I'd like to thank the both 
of you for that."

The younger pair grinned. "You're welcome..." the younger 
Scully said back to her. "It's definitely been interesting 
learning about our future..." "Heck yea -- it has been 
Scully..." "Who would have ever thought that we would 
become parents?" "I certainly wouldn't have..." "Or that 
we'd even get together and then one day live together..." 
"Woah things have certainly turned out way different then 
I'd ever thought they would..." He grinned at his cohort 
and laughed. "Yea, they certainly have, Mulder..." "And 
from the looks of things -- for the most part -- we will be 
happy together..." She grinned at him and laughed. "Thanks 
you two, for putting up with the both of us..." she said. 
"It's no problem..." her older counterpart said. "Do either 
of you need any help in getting back to where you came 
from?" she asked her. "Yea, now that you mention it..." "We 
have no idea how to get back..." her younger counterpart 
said to her, with a quizzical look on her face. And with 
that comment -- the four of them went out from the house 
and into the brave unknown... all to help find a way back 
home.

The End... (or is it?)