'To Kill a Nightingale' 11/11
By phoenix99 (xphoenix99@hotmail.com)

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EPILOGUE

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Two weeks later


By the time the car slowed down to a stop, Scully was just
itching with suspicion. Mulder had been strangely quiet
since he'd shown up at her door, and that had been a
while ago.

They were on assignment in Tennessee. It was a bullshit
case that Skinner had given them as a break. When they
had been released from the hospital, they'd been given a
leave of absence, which Mulder had spent at her
apartment. He'd insisted that it was too dangerous to be
alone, and he had used that excuse to his full advantage.

When they had been called back to work, Skinner had
sent them here to investigate something about people
seeing strange lights in their corn fields. So, she and
Mulder had talked to a few people, gone to a few fields
and examined a few pieces of rusty metal that were
supposedly part of the 'space ship'. Turned out that the
aliens were only a bunch of bored kids having bush
parties. Though there were few trees, so corn must have
seemed a suitable substitute.

They had to leave for DC the next morning, and Scully
had been packing all her things away when there had
been a knock at the door. It had been Mulder, asking her
in his rarely heard unsure child voice, if she was very
busy. She had joked about having lots of packing to do,
and he had actually believed her until she told him she
was just kidding. He wasn't usually so gullible or
insecure and she was immediately suspicious.

She told him she'd go with him as long as they weren't
going to look at mutilated cows, crop circles or haunted
houses and he had nodded quickly, reassuring her that it
was none of those things. By the time she had grabbed
her coat, he was already waiting with the car running.

And that's what had brought them here, to this field in
the middle of nowhere. Mulder turned off the car and got
out without a word.

"Mulder?" Scully said as she got out of the car as well. He
still didn't say anything as he went to the trunk. It
popped open and she watched his head disappear inside.
When he came back up he held a bed comforter, which
looked incredibly similar to the ones in the motel.

"What exactly do you have planned?" she questioned. He
smiled a bit, not really making eye contact and
pretending to be concentrating on what he was doing.
But it wasn't as if unfolding a blanket was very difficult.

"It's more innocent than you think," he finally answered.

Unfolding the comforter, Mulder laid it down on the
hood of the car and smoothed out all the edges. Scully
could tell by his confident movements that this was
something he had done before, and she guessed often.

He quickly hopped up onto the car, which bounced and
swayed as he got himself comfortable. Scully frowned at
him. "Mulder," she started, but he held out his hand to
her and she went quiet. She still had no idea what he was
planning, but she just sighed and took his hand, giving
him the unquestioned trust he always demanded. He
helped her up onto the hood and laid back against the
windshield, pulling her along with him so they were side
by side.

Scully just stared at him in total confusion for a moment,
still not understanding exactly what was going on.

He must have seen the look on her face and he just
smiled at her. "Look," he whispered to her before turning
his head upwards. She watched him for a moment more
before giving in and looking up into the sky with him.

It was a beautiful sight. The bright stars and the small
crescent moon shone brightly above them. It was
captivating and she smiled in delight. There were no
large cities anywhere near them to dull the brilliant light
and each speck of silver stood out. She hadn't seen a
night like it since they'd been in Maine, and even then it
was dull compared to thin. It brought back so many
memories still fresh in her mind.

"I use to look at the stars all the time when I was
younger," Mulder said suddenly, his voice distant as he
remembered other times in his life he'd had moments
like this. "Now the only time I have to do this is when
we're on cases out in the middle of nowhere. I always
used to sneak out on clear nights, after you were asleep. It
always helped me think, to clear my mind." She could tell
he was looking at her, his gaze burning the side of her
face. "It reminds me of how tiny all of us are and how
insignificant everything we do can be. It's humbling...
and I think it's good to remind yourself of that fact." He
paused for a moment, thinking about what he would say
next. "Now I think it has even more meaning."

Scully looked away from the stars and over at Mulder,
who was watching her thoughtfully.

"Do you really think she's up there, Mulder?" Scully
asked him carefully. The question had been eating away
at her all week. Even if she already knew the answer, she
needed to hear it.

He looked back up at the sky, squinting at the silver
moon as he sighed.

"I think so," he said slowly. "I've convinced myself that
it's better than what her life would have been like here."

"Maybe she was never meant for this world, at least not
yet." Scully whispered. "They would have butchered her,
Mulder. They would have done such horrible things to
her."

Mulder nodded. He had already dreamed up thousands
of savage things they could have been doing when he'd
been sitting useless and drugged in that cold cell for all
those hours.

"I hope that she's safe, and that maybe she and my sister
will take care of each other...."

Scully hadn't thought of that possibility, that Karen and
Sam were in the same place now. It was somewhat
comforting to know they had each other. Scully reached
over and grasped Mulder's hand in her own, squeezing it
reassuringly. "I'm sure they're together, Mulder, and that
they'll never really be gone."

Mulder didn't say anything and they both laid there
silently as they watched the heavens move above them.
The overwhelming nature of the sight, the feelings of
being so small and inconsequential set in and Scully felt
as if the huge blanket of stars above would fall down on
her at any second. It was such a powerful feeling to
remember what she was part of, that everything around
them was such a miracle. She had forgotten all of this,
these simple things she had recognized years and years
before when she had been very young. She'd forgotten
just like Mulder had, how important they really were.

After so many years of sneaking around to look at the
stars by himself, Mulder had finally brought her here
with him. He had decided to share with her something he
had kept private for so long, something that obviously
meant a great deal to him.

"Thank you for showing this to me Mulder," Scully said
as she looked over at him. He dropped his head to the
side and smiled at her. The look of sadness she had seen
before had disappeared, replaced by a wonderful smile.

"Not showing," he said softly. "Only reminding."

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END

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Ok, that's it. Hope you liked it. I would really like to hear
what you thought, good or bad at
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