Truth And Life (1/?)
by Namarie

Spoilers: IWTB, all of Life
Keywords: MSR, XF/Life.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Slightly AU. What if there was a very good reason we
never saw Charlie Scully on the show? What would happen if he
met up with his sister again, much later on in both of their lives?
Disclaimer: I don't own Life or XF, or their associated characters.
Feedback: Would be most welcome. Send it to pomme_noire AT
hotmail dot com

Author's Note: This is an idea that occurred to me as my sister and
I were catching up on the first season of Life. I bounced many plot
ideas off her as I wrote, and owe her thanks for several good
suggestions. 

Many thanks also go to Anjou for her incredibly helpful plot and
background ideas, which have allowed me to fit these universes
together and keep moving the story along!

Thanks also to missmonkeh for taking a detailed look at the story,
and making sure it makes sense and flows - even for someone who
hasn't watched Life (yet!).
~~~~~

Life is like stepping onto a boat that is about to sail out to sea and
sink. - Shunryu Suzuki


Chapter 1

Detective Charlie Crews held a hand up to shade his face from the
setting sun. He smiled, recalling a comment his partner had made to
him a while back. She had asked him why he hadn't taken his
money and gone to lie on a beach somewhere. Here he was now,
on a beach. Of course, this probably wasn't the kind of beach
Reese had been thinking of when she'd asked him that, and he
wasn't lying on it - he was standing. But still. He might lie on it later.
He'd have to tell her that he had taken her advice.

It was peaceful here. Despite the beautiful weather, the beach was
not too crowded. Charlie guessed that this particular part of the
California coast was not the most popular tourist destination in the
state. Which was fine by him. He had driven quite a distance out of
LA to get here, and it had been worth the trip.

He stood at the edge of the surf, barefoot, and smiled again as he
listened to the rhythm of the waves hitting the sand. Yeah, he could
definitely see himself coming back here.

Quiet laughter behind him brought Charlie out of his reverie. He
didn't turn right away, but the smile on his face began to fade. There
was something about that laugh - something strangely familiar,
though he had not heard it in a very long time.

Slowly, Charlie turned around. A tall, dark-haired man was walking
next to a short woman with long red hair. He was bending to
whisper directly into her ear, and whatever he said made her laugh
again. That, plus the fact that they moved out of the shadow of the
rock face into the sunlight, confirmed it for Charlie. It was her. It
had to be.

It took him several seconds to do anything more than stare. Finally,
he took one step toward the couple, cleared his throat, and said,
"Dana?"

The two immediately stopped moving. They turned to look at him,
and Charlie watched as his sister's expression changed from one he
recognized as hiding faint fear, to utter shock, to what he hoped
was pleasure. "Charlie? Charlie? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me."

She stared, then ran forward, and Charlie opened his arms just in
time for her to embrace him. Apparently it wasn't an entirely
unwelcome surprise, he thought, closing his eyes as he returned the
hug.

They separated, and Dana looked up into Charlie's face. "It-- it's
good to see you, Charlie," she said after a pause. She looked
unsure of his reaction.

"It's a surprise, though, isn't it?" he asked, aware that she would
see through his smile.

She nodded. Her hair was much longer than it had been when he
had last seen her. "Well, yes. It's been a while since we've kept up
with the news from out here regularly, but..." She hesitated, looked
down, and then met his eyes again. "How long has it been since you
were exonerated?"

"About two years," Charlie answered.

She swallowed, and looked down again. At that moment, her
companion, who had been watching this exchange silently but with
interest, cleared his throat. "Oh, I'm sorry," Dana said quickly.
"Um, Charlie, this is Fox Mulder. Mulder, this is... my brother
Charlie."

Charlie shook the man's hand, sure he was being sized up just as he
was sizing Mulder up. He remembered hearing that his sister had
been partnered with a man named Mulder at the Bureau, but they
sure didn't look like they were on a case right now. "Nice to meet
you, Agent Mulder."

The man nodded. "Nice to meet you, too. It's actually just Mulder
now."

"Oh," Charlie said. He looked from Mulder to his sister. "You two
aren't with the Bureau anymore?"

Dana sighed, then laughed a little sadly. "I guess we've got a lot to
catch up on, don't we?"

"I guess we do," Charlie agreed. He walked over to where he had
left his shoes and picked them up. "Do you know any good
restaurants around here? We could have dinner, if you two have
time."

His sister looked at Mulder, and then turned her gaze - so familiar
and yet so disconcertingly changed by the years - back to Charlie.
"We'd love to," she said quietly. "There's a great seafood
restaurant not far from here."

"Okay." The sound of the waves crashing against the shore faded
behind them as they started up the path to where Charlie - and, he
assumed, his sister and Mulder - had parked. "Do you want to
carpool, or give me directions so I can meet you guys there?"

Dana hesitated for a moment, and then spoke to her - boyfriend?
Husband? Neither of those words seemed to Charlie to fit.
"Mulder, would you mind if I rode with Charlie on the way to the
restaurant? It's just... there's a lot we need to..."

Mulder nodded as she trailed off. "No problem. I'll meet you both
there." He gave Charlie a long, searching look, then squeezed
Dana's hand before heading toward their car.

The two reunited siblings walked slowly to Charlie's car. Charlie
knew his sister wanted to say something, maybe an apology of
some kind. He wasn't about to jump in with a reassurance that
would not be genuine. This needed to proceed as truthfully as it
could for both of them.

She stopped walking suddenly, staring at his car. "Charlie... wow."

"What?" He followed her gaze. "Oh, yeah, that." He guessed the
car was a little more luxurious than she was expecting. "It's new.
My last car crashed into an FBI agent's garage."

Dana looked at him and raised an eyebrow in an expression that
was startlingly similar to one that Reese used on him frequently. But
she shook her head and said nothing.

As soon as they were in the car, Dana gave him some directions to
the restaurant, and then fell silent. He waited. "Charlie, I-- I don't
know if you can forgive me, but I want to apologize," she began. "I
can't imagine what you've gone through, and you should have had
your family there to support you through all of it."

Charlie looked at her briefly, nodded, and turned his eyes back to
the road.

She took a deep breath. "Anyway, um, I'd be happy to tell you
whatever you want to know about... about what you missed, or
listen to whatever you want to say to me."

He thought for a moment. "I wouldn't mind hearing what you've
been up to."


"Since the last time I saw you?" Dana gave another unhappy laugh.
"Let me try to figure out where I should start."

"You'd just gone into remission," Charlie prompted her. He flashed
back to how thin and fragile she had looked during that brief solo
visit. She had been the only family member who came to see him,
despite the fact that he had family who lived in the same state. "And
you didn't want to tell me what else happened while you were in
California."

His sister's face grew shadowed. "Yeah. I was... I was right in the
middle of a very personal investigation. It involved a little girl who
turned out to be my daughter."

Charlie turned to her again. "Turned out to be? You didn't know
she was?"

Haltingly, Dana explained the all too brief days during which she
had known the little girl, and what she knew of her origins. It was
all unbelievable-sounding, but this was Dana telling him the details,
and Charlie had never known his sister to make things up.

From there, Dana's story only got more unbelievable. Charlie got
the feeling he was getting a sanitized summary of events, but this
version was still plenty to absorb. His sister and her partner had
had a child together, which they had been forced to give up for
adoption due to threats to their family, and then they had both been
fugitives from the FBI for a year. And then her partner   this
Mulder that she was still with, despite it all - had finally had the
charges against him dropped last year. They were currently on
vacation together - Dana's first vacation since getting her new job at
a small local hospital in Virginia.

After Dana finished her tale, Charlie took a deep breath. "Wow. I
sure don't have as much to tell you as all that." They had arrived at
the restaurant by this point. Charlie noted that Mulder had been
waiting in his vehicle for them to pull up. "How much does Mulder
know about me?"

Dana sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt. "I'm not totally sure. I told
him that you and the rest of the family weren't on the best of terms.
And I think he must have done some more research himself
when..." She looked down and bit her lip. "When you went to
prison. Because he was unusually quiet and sympathetic after the
news broke."

Charlie nodded, and they both got out of the car. There was a brief
awkward pause as the three of them met up outside the restaurant.

"Well, shall we go in?" Charlie said finally, with a bright smile. He
motioned for the others to proceed him inside.

The restaurant was busy, but not so crowded that they had to wait
long to be seated - which was a relief. Charlie knew he hadn't quite
regained the skill of making small talk yet, and he had the feeling it
might be considered impolite to come right out and ask the
questions he wanted to ask this Mulder character. Although, he
thought, eying the man discreetly as the waitress led them to a table,
he got the feeling Mulder might not mind as much as Dana would.

They sat down, and there was another short silence as they looked
at their menus. "Nice place," Charlie commented, sincerely
admiring. The d‚cor was tasteful, and the walls were almost entirely
windows, which was something he could appreciate.

"Yeah," Dana said, looking up for a second from her perusal of the
menu. "They have really good food, too."

"A lot of selection." Charlie was a little dismayed at this, actually.
He usually had Ted around to give him recommendations when the
food was this fancy.

"We could order one appetizer to share," Mulder suggested. He
glanced at Dana before continuing, "Scully-- Dana and I tried the
jumbo white Mexican shrimp last time. They were very good, and
there was enough for three people."

Dana nodded, looking faintly amused. "Although you didn't have
any trouble finishing it off as I recall, Mulder."

Charlie looked at the description of the shrimp dish. The vegetables
included with the shrimp sounded good   but... "What does it mean
by a 'napoleon of yellow squash, eggplant, zucchini, tomato, and
mozzarella'?"

His sister stared at him for a moment. "I don't know. I think we
had--" She looked at Mulder again, and then at the menu. "We had
the Mexican shrimp cocktail, not the one with the vegetables."

"But I'd be willing to try that one," Mulder added, and Dana
agreed.

"Okay then." Charlie put down his menu. "How about we try it?"

Their waitress, a pretty young woman who had introduced herself
as Janet, came by. "Are you all ready to order some appetizers?"

Dana gave her their order, and Janet nodded as she wrote it down.
"A very good choice."

"Can you tell me what it means by a 'napoleon' of all the vegetables
that go with the shrimp?" Charlie asked, just before Janet turned to
walk away. "Is it supposed to remind you of Napoleon in some
way?"

Janet blinked. "You know, I'm not sure why it's called that. I know
that it's squash, eggplant, and the other vegetables layered with the
mozzarella, but I'll ask the chef about the name and get back to
you."

"Thank you, Janet." Charlie smiled, and Janet gave him a lingering
look and a smile as she left. He turned back to his companions, and
saw Dana raising her eyebrow as she stared at him. "What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. It's just... I don't remember you
taking such a keen interest in the details of food preparation terms."

Leaning back in his seat, Charlie replied, "I'm just curious. So I
asked someone who might know the answer. 'Only the
crystal-clear question yields a transparent answer,' after all."

"Uh huh." Dana was smiling, but still looking at him skeptically.
Charlie looked over at her partner, and saw that he had apparently
watched the entire exchange with more than a trace of amusement.

"Well, on that note," Mulder said, "what brings you to this part of
California? You're with the LAPD, right?"

"Yep." Charlie watched Mulder's face carefully. This question
could be transparent, but he wasn't going to bet on it. "I'm a
homicide detective. Just down here for a few days' vacation. My
partner's on leave and the captain thought I could use a few days
off, too."

"Is your partner all right?" It was Dana who asked this question,
but Charlie could see genuine concern in Mulder's expression, too.

"Reese? Yeah, she's fine," Charlie answered. He wondered what
she was doing at the moment... and then smiled faintly, guessing it
might be something with Tidwell. "There was a little bit of...
excitement with a Russian mob boss, but she's fine."

Both of them looked suitably impressed by that offhand comment.
Charlie took the moment to pick up his menu again. There was still
way too much to choose from. Maybe he could narrow it down
right away and choose something from the "Fresh Fish" list. It was
a seafood restaurant, so it seemed like he ought to order seafood.

After a minute, Janet returned, with a platter of Mexican shrimp and
a smile directed at Charlie. "Here you are." She set it down. "I
talked to the chef."

Charlie nodded, expectant.

"He says," Janet reported, "it's meant to be like the French dessert
that's called a napoleon, which is layered pastry and cream."

"Oh," he said, returning her smile, "well, that makes a lot more
sense. Thanks for finding that out for us, Janet."

Janet put a lock of hair behind her ear, still smiling. "Not a
problem."She took out her notepad. "Is everyone ready to order?"

Dana cleared her throat, shooting Charlie a look he couldn't
interpret before giving her order. Mulder gave his next, and Charlie
finished up.

"I think I'll try the..." Charlie glanced down again. He had no idea
how to pronounce the middle two words, but he guessed Janet
would get the picture. She seemed like an intelligent young woman.
"The grilled... Scottish salmon?"

"The grilled Loch Duart Scottish salmon?" Janet asked,
pronouncing it perfectly - as far as Charlie could tell, anyway.
"Excellent choice." She gave the whole table another friendly smile.
"Do you all want to start off with any drinks to go with your
Mexican shrimp?"

Charlie was more than happy to defer to his companions'
preferences of a wine to share. They ordered, and then Janet
departed.

Charlie realized that his sister and Mulder were staring at him again.
"Something wrong?"

Mulder just smirked as Dana said, "Our waitress seemed a lot
more... enthusiastic about your choice of entr‚e than mine or
Mulder's, Charlie."

"I don't think it was your brother's order that she was enthusiastic
about," Mulder remarked, taking a forkful of the shrimp appetizer.

He shrugged and smiled, and changed the subject. "So, Mulder, if
you're not with the FBI, what are you up to these days? I know
Dana's a doctor."

The man leaned back, rubbing his right arm absently. "That's a
good question." He gave a sort of half smile. "Until recently, my
full-time occupation has been keeping a low enough profile that I
don't get snatched by the Feds. I spent a lot of time inside."

"It's nice to be able to get out more, isn't it?" Charlie said blandly,
reaching for a bite of the vegetable napoleon.

Dana winced, glanced at her brother, and turned to look at Mulder.
To his credit, Mulder didn't take long to realize his mistake and
recovered well. "Uh, yeah, it has been nice. But anyway, I think I'll
mostly be doing consulting work with the Bureau for a while at
least. There are still some cases I can help with."

"That's good." He met his sister's eyes. "And how's hospital life
treating you?"

"It's good, for the most part," she answered after a moment. "It's--
it's a very small Catholic hospital, so they aren't always open to the
most cutting-edge treatments, but I do feel like I'm making a
difference." She touched her necklace, and then fiddled with her
napkin. "Long shifts, though."

He had noticed the gold cross necklace back at the beach, and he
nodded now at the additional confirmation that she still had some
kind of ties to their Catholic upbringing. He hoped her faith had
given her more comfort over the years than it had given him.
Thinking about this topic almost made him ask about the rest of the
family, but he thought it probably wasn't kind to bring that up here,
when they were trying to have a nice dinner.

"How have you been, Charlie?" Dana asked then, her eyes soft.

Unexpectedly, Charlie found that he had to look away for a
moment to regain his composure. It had been so long since he had
seen her - and even though there had been damage to their
relationship from both sides, he had missed her. A lot.

Taking a deep breath, Charlie opened his eyes and looked up. His
smile this time both acknowledged his pain and masked it. "I've
been good. I've got a good life." He hoped Dana could tell that he
wasn't giving her a pat answer. He didn't want to give her a list of
things in his life that made it good, because it wasn't the things that
made it good.

She nodded. "I'm glad to hear it." She seemed to have understood,
he thought.

Their meals arrived shortly thereafter, and the next several minutes
were occupied by all three of them enjoying their choices. When
Janet came by to check on them, there was a chorus of very
positive responses about the food.

"Great," Janet said. She waited for a moment, and then, with
another long look at Charlie, said, "I'll be around if any of you need
anything. Oh, and make sure to save room for dessert."

Charlie watched her leave, ignoring his companions' continued quiet
amusement. He thought he might just do that.

~~

"So how long are you two going to be in town?"

He held open the restaurant door for them as he waited for an
answer. The night had been good, he reflected: good food, a
chance to spend time with his sister and her... well, partner seemed
like the right word, and also a business card with a phone number
on it, slipped into his hand by Janet as he handed her the check.

Dana turned to Mulder briefly. "For a week or so. We don't have
any definite departure date yet," she said, and Mulder nodded.

"Really?" That was somewhat of a surprise. The Dana Charlie
knew was not the spontaneous type. She liked to have everything,
even her time off, well-planned.

"Yeah, really." She raised a challenging eyebrow. "I know. Very
uncharacteristic. Mulder's a bad influence on me."

Mulder put up his hands, looking at Charlie earnestly. "Hey, before
you both gang up on me, I'll just tell you right now that I've warned
her about my influence. Quite a few times."

She nudged him. "And I stuck with you anyway."

Charlie was sure he caught a glimpse of something like amazement
in Mulder's expression as the man looked down at Dana - that, and
a kind of love that he hadn't seen much in his life. He looked away
for a second and then said, "You should come over to my place,
then, if you're sticking around California for a while. There's plenty
of room."

The couple exchanged another glance, and then Dana smiled again.
"We'd love to."

"If you'd rather not drive to LA tonight," Charlie suggested, "you
could drive up tomorrow."

"That sounds like a good idea," Mulder put in. "We're still a little
jet-lagged from our flight, so it might be better if we waited until
morning."

"Okay. I'll give you directions before you go." Charlie smiled as he
shook Mulder's hand again, and gave his sister another hug. Yes, it
had been a very good night. Maybe tomorrow he could convince
Reese to come over. He had a feeling that she and Dana might hit it
off.
~

Author's Notes Part 2: Any geographical or timeline errors
contained herein are all mine, and if you are kind, you can consider
them (at least the timeline ones) part of the AU aspect of the story.