Author's
notes: The timeline on this piece is post-Millennium,
pre-Orison. As always I need to thank my fleet of betas: Jo-Ann
Lassiter, Gerry Hill, Beth, Marti and especially Lynne. With you,
Scully will never have to share spit.
I bought a
ticket to the end of the rainbow
I watched the stars crash in the sea
If I could ask god just one question
Why aren't you here with me
- New Radicals
"You ready?"
Mulder looked up to find Scully in front of him. Dropping his foot down from the wall where he had been leaning while waiting for her to finish in the ladies room, he smiled gently and nodded.
"Yeah, let's get out of here," he replied.
They walked down the stairs from the balcony at the Uptown Theater. Scully particularly enjoyed sitting in the balcony of the old theater, so when _The Green Mile_ had opened there, they'd made plans to see it on the very next night they both had free.
Mulder pushed the door open as they walked into the crisp January air. There were several other couples walking up and down the sidewalk of the Cleveland Park neighborhood. In the past few years it had become a very popular destination for shopping and dining out.
"Feel like going somewhere?" he asked, his breath showing slightly in the cool January air. "We could check out the 4 P's or get some coffee at Starbucks."
Scully considered the probably noisy and smoky environment at the Four Provinces, the neighborhood pub. "Yeah, I think I need to debrief a little bit after that, but coffee sounds better than a black and tan now," she replied.
Mulder nodded and slipped his arm behind her as they walked past the Irish pub to the coffee house.
*~*~*~*
"So, what did you think?" Mulder asked as he sipped from his steaming mug of hot chocolate.
Scully pondered the question without answering for a moment, sipping from her mug of vanilla latte. "I don't know. It's kind of like the things that we see in the X-Files. Do you believe what you see, or what you think you know."
Mulder nodded, leaning forward to look at her more intently. "Scully, do you believe in the death penalty?"
"Not really," she said, after a moment. "I mean, I understand the concept of deterrence, but does it really have that much effect?"
"Not really," Mulder answered. "The murder rate in states with it is nearly double that of the states without. In California, the murder rate actually dropped after the death penalty was banned."
Scully smiled. "I knew I could count on you for some good statistical analysis."
Mulder chuckled. "Well, I'm sure it will come in handy when I finally get on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.' Are you going to come and sit in the 'relationship' chair for me? Make small talk with Regis?"
She laughed and shook her head, not answering. "I think about it sometimes, the death penalty. We've seen it a couple of times, with Boggs, at the Pfaster trial."
"Are you sorry about that?" Mulder asked, his face creased with concern.
"No. I don't know that anyone is served by Donnie Pfaster being executed. It doesn't make those women come back to life, it doesn't take away what he was going to do...what he did to me. It's funny, I hadn't even thought about him for a long time, until tonight. Anyway, the Church says it is wrong and while I don't live my life by every single one of their pronouncements, I tend to agree with that one."
"And Boggs? The warden told me you threatened to pull the switch yourself," Mulder responded.
"I was angry and maybe, if something had happened to you, I would have wanted to see him dead. It's a lot easier to face it in the abstract," Scully answered.
"Do you remember, after the bombing in Oklahoma? There was a father of one of the victim's that kept asking for clemency for McVeigh. I used to wonder if I would be able to do that," Mulder said quietly. "If I found out that Samantha had been killed, or if anything ever happened to you...I'm not so sure that I would feel as much comfort in my statistics about race and innocence."
They sat for a moment, the air thick with silence, interrupted only by the sipping of their drinks.
"You know what really stuck with me?" he asked, changing the subject.
"What?" Scully asked, leaning in, a slight smile on her face.
"Toward the beginning, the first execution. The prisoner asked if Edgecomb thought you could go back to the one time in your life, before everything turned bad. I kept thinking about that again and again as the movie progressed. When would that be for you, Scully?" Mulder asked.
Scully leaned back into the booth and considered the question.
"The summer before I went to medical school. Billy had just gotten his commission and we went to California as a family to see him get his bars. It was the last time we took a real family vacation. My dad rented a motor home and we drove out there from Maryland. I remember that Missy kept sneaking off at night to smoke, even though my mom was still smoking at the time. Charlie was...oh, about eighteen. He was a total pain about having to go, but you didn't say no to my dad. We were never really together like that again. I mean, we got together, but this was different. Billy went to sea, Charlie to the Academy, Melissa, wherever the fates took her. It was always different later."
"What about you? When would you return to?" she asked, her face intent as she leaned forward across the table.
"Clearly before Sam was gone. But when, I don't know. Everything means something different now. We had great summers in Rhode Island, but that was when they were planning...deciding about Sam and me. I know that I would just be in the moment, but which moment was when it all started to go bad?"
"But there has to be some time that was completely happy, isn't there?" Scully asked, concern creasing her face.
Mulder sat for a moment, drawing his forefinger down his face as he thought. "Well, you know the picture, the one on my desk?"
Scully nodded.
"That was a good day. My team won the city championship and she came to watch me play. Afterwards she ran up and gave me such a big hug. My friend's mom took the picture and gave me a copy later, after Sam was gone. I always try to remember her that day. We were really happy that day."
Scully reached across the table to take Mulder's hand in hers. "Keep those memories, Mulder. No matter what we learn, your sister loved you and you loved her, that's all that matters."
Mulder nodded, his throat thick with emotion, tightening his large hand around her smaller one.
"But you know, that's saying what I would pick based on the information I have in front of me. You never know, I could change my mind later, pick a different time," she said, a smile creeping across her face.
"What?" Mulder asked, trying to pull his mind back from Samantha.
"Right here, now," she answered.
"Agent Scully...I'm shocked," Mulder exclaimed, feigning shock. "You'd skip the flukeman to have this, a little hand-holding in a Starbucks?"
"Well, things have been going pretty well...since last fall, New Years. I like this new...well, whatever it is we're doing now."
Mulder sat silent, tracing his finger over her hand. He looked back up at her and smiled. "You're happy? I mean, I am, but I think I'm scared to believe that this might be happening."
"Believe it, Mulder. This is our time. Let's not put it under a microscope, or overanalyze it. Let's just enjoy it while it lasts, and maybe, years from now when you think back on the time you would want to return to, this will be the time."
He smiled and leaned in again, touching her lips gently, then more deeply. After a moment he slid back, his smile echoed on her face.
"Shall we?" she asked, sliding from the booth. He nodded and stood up, taking her hand in his. Tucking herself into his arm, they walked back out into the night and headed toward home.
FINIS
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