THE X-FILES
	"AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS"
	Part Twelve
	"A Welcome in Washington"
	By Alien Girl
	comixgirl@juno.com
	www.geocities.com/Area51/Underworld/1113

	Rating: PG (Surprising, isn't it?)

	Classification: Adventure, Mulder-Scully engaged (and soon to be MSM!!) 

	Spoilers: Ummmmm........no.

	DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER DISCLAIMER...(Um...what am I disclaiming again??)

	Song Disclaimer: Wow...the last song of the series! And the winner is..."Time of Your Life", by Green Day, I think (I'll have to look that one up...) I'm sure everyone has heard of it, and I like that song, and the lyrics go really well, too. Haven't heard it in awhile, though. Anyways, I don't own it! If I did, I would be having the time of my life myself!!

	Summary: After their long journey around the world, 'The Believer' and its crew return home...to a wedding and the beginning of a completely new journey!

	Author's Notes: Oh my goodness gracious me...THIS IS THE LAST PART!!! NO MORE AFTER THIS!!! 
:*(  There will be the occasional viningettes for the series and Riva's "The Curse", which will come later, but basically this is the last we shall see of this universe for awhile! I hope everyone's enjoyed the ride...I know I have! :) I shall certainly try and make this last part worth all of your efforts and have everyone leave feeling happy. Thank you thank you so much for reading the entire thing! I realize it has an extensive length, and I give you much kudos for having made it to the very end! You have all of my respect from now to forever!! :):)

And now...on with the final show!! 

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*********AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS***********
.............."A Welcome in Washington"..............
*********************By Alien Girl*******************
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"Time of Your Life"


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	1:23 P.M.
	Wednesday, September 20th, 2000
	Close to Chesapeake Bay

	'The Believer' was a proud representative of the pathmakers of the sea, a prime example of the millions of ships that had wet their hulls in salt waters. When it had first left the coast it was now approaching, it had been young and fresh, full of life and ready to take on the entire world. Now, only a year old, the beautiful boat was showing the signs of age. It had mastered everything from tropical waters to ice-cold gray waters to murky, city-dirtied waters. It had survived mudbanks, icebergs, storms, reefs, and all kinds of weather from the biting cold of Antarctica to the scorching heat of Egypt. Now the boat was ready for a long rest after its perilous journey; ready for its retirement.
	Fox Mulder stood on the prow of 'The Believer', watching in silence as the crowded docks of Chesapeake Bay came into view. He sighed heavily, thinking of what was waiting for them when they came home. So much could change in a year...especially in this past year. Their constant travelling had allowed them to see how much of the world was changing, but there was little he knew of that had happened back home. He wondered if he would like the changes. 
	"Mulder..."
	The sound of a familiar voice caused him to smile and turn around. Scully walked up the two short steps to the prow, towards him. Mulder could not help but admire her for just a moment... Scully was now about six months pregnant. All anyone had to do was look at her for a moment to know it...her stomach was very round and protruding, so much that all hopes of wearing anything but maternity clothes was now gone. Of course, Scully was not used to having such a large belly before, and it did create some problems...for one thing, if Mulder wanted to kiss her, he had to somehow move around to her side. And she would sometimes bump into things when walking, or couldn't quite sit properly when they were eating meals. But despite Scully's constant complaints, Mulder felt that the larger Scully's stomach got, the more beautiful she became.
	"How much longer till we reach the shore?" Mulder asked as she came up alongside him.
	"Mom's guessing about an hour. Everyone else will be coming out on deck soon for the docking, just as soon as they finish getting everything packed up." Scully sighed. "It's going to be somewhat difficult trying to get through everyone's questions as soon as they see me..."
	"What's to answer? Just say you're pregnant! I'd think it was pretty obvious!" Mulder joked.
	"I mean as to the reason *why* I'm pregnant."
	"Well, that should be pretty obvious, too!"
	"Oh...never mind! You know what I mean!"
	Mulder put his arm over Scully's shoulder. "No matter what anyone says to you, Scully, on the inside they're thinking about how lucky you are."
	Scully sighed again, and shuffled her feet against the worn wooden planks. "I'm really going to miss this old boat...it's going to be very hard getting used to being 'landlubbers' again."
	"Yeah...I still have this impression in the back of my mind that we're going to stop in D.C. for about a week or so and then head out on the ocean again. As if we're going to stay on this boat forever."
"As much as I love 'The Believer', I wouldn't want to stay on it forever, though. Too much to mantain without that much living space."
	"Especially for the Lone Gunmen," Mulder grinned, thinking of how the unlucky Frohike and Langley had had to sleep on the couches in the living room for the past eight months.
	"Speak of the devils..." Scully nodded as the trio approached them up at the prow. 
	"Everyone else is ready to dock," Frohike informed them. "And we're all coming up here to greet the New World!"
	"Oh, really?" Scully asked with one eyebrow raised. "So what was the Old World?"
	"The one before you two saved the world!"
	"But if we saved it, wouldn't it still be the Old World?"
	"Ummmm...." Frohike had to think about that one for a minute. "So the Old World was *before* Scully got pregnant!"
	"Frohike!"
	"Yeah, we'll change the time scale to A.P. and B.S...." Langley carried on Frohike's joke. "A.fter P.regnancy and B.efore S.e--"
	"Alright, I THINK that's enough..." Mulder shot a warning glance towards Langley, which shut him up instantly. Mulder was *very* protective of Scully and her baby, even if the Lone Gunmen were only joking about her pregnancy. But they knew better than to argue. 
	Now the coastline of Chesapeake Bay was very close, and they could see several people gathered at the dock. "Looks like we have a welcoming party," Byers said, trying to divert everyone's attention.
	Looking forward, they could just barely see a mass of people standing on the dock where they were going to anchor. They were too far away to pick out individual people, but they would find out soon enough.
	In time, everyone else came out on deck except for Maggie so she could steer 'The Believer' into its docking space. They stood at the rail in anticipation, watching the dock and the people grow larger and larger. Even Moby was out and staring at his approaching new home. Mulder held Scully against him, knowing that she was still slightly nervous of the reactions of those who knew her.
	"Hey..." Mulder said to her. "If you can survive insane Amazonian tribes, horrible storms, panicked French mobs, Egyptian slavetraders and evil Japanese ronins, you can survive this."
	Scully looked at him quizzically. "What? I didn't say anything."
	"I knew what you were thinking..."
	"Actually, I was wishing that Moby would stop licking my ankles. It's annoying me."
	Mulder was caught. "Uhhh...it's exactly as I was saying! If you can survive all of the things I said, you can survive Moby licking your ankles, too!"
	Scully couldn't help but laugh. They had both read each other's minds and had both unconsciously responded to what the other was thinking...or, at least *thought* the other one was thinking, anyway.
	The last half-hour of their world trip seemed to last forever. 'The Believer' sped along silently through the blue-gray waters, as if in a race against time, even though they had all of the time in the world. But in time, the great houseboat eased into the shallow waters and pulled up alongside the dock, dropping its anchor.
	Waiting for them on the dock were all of their friends...Skinner, Holly, Gerret, Grant, and Alyssa. Scully could pick out her two brothers, Bill and Charlie, waving to her towards the front. She waved back. Among their well-known friends were other people who had decided to meet them there...friends of Skinner, and those who were going to work under them in the new X-Files division. There were a few news reporters, as Scully feared, but luckily Skinner had been able to fight most of them off and send them on their way.
	Finally, they stopped at the dock, and lowered the gangplank.
	"Welcome home!!" Skinner announced in his usual take-charge voice, the first person to appear after the gangplank was lowered. He strode up the wooden ramp and put his hand on Mulder's shoulder. "It's great to see you all again!"
	Almost immediately, everyone else swarmed around them as well, following Skinner's example. They embraced the group of nine and pounded them with questions and exclamations.
	"It's so great to see you all got back here in one piece!"
	"Oooh...who IS this little guy? That is THE cutest dog I have ever seen..."
	"Alright, I want to hear the *entire* story from you three stowaways! Don't you leave anything out...I want to know *exactly* how Mulder could've let you stay on 'The Believer'!"
	"Dana, I heard from Skinner that you got kidnapped in Egypt! You have to tell me what happened; he wouldn't say anything!"
	"I heard the news, and I've been counting the says till the wedding for the past three months."
	Mulder and Scully and those aboard 'The Believer' struggled just to get through the pressing questions and people so they could stand on solid ground. Mulder held up his hands. "Don't start asking us questions about the trip yet...we'll explain everything later!"
	"...Although most of it will be related in 'Tales from the SamCam'!" Samantha said, holding her camera aloft.
	"Oh, no..."
	However, as soon as Scully stepped out into the open, everyone began to realize what exactly she had under her skin. Alyssa was the first to notice.
	She stared in surprise at Scully's stomach for a moment. She didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't help it. Then a giantgrin burst across her face. "Dana..."
	Scully nodded.
	Alyssa took up Scully's hands. "Dana, that's *wonderful*! You must be so proud!! Do you know when you're due?"
	Scully was thankful that at least Alyssa was thrilled with the news. "Around late December or January, I think. Technically speaking, New Year's Eve."
	"Come on, we have to go show everyone," Alyssa said, trying to pull Scully to the center of the crowd.
	She didn't need to. Skinner caught sight of Scully as well, and raised his eyebrows at her enlarged stomach. "Scully...it looks like you gained some weight." Skinner was still not yet informed that Scully *could* have children, much less that she *was* going to have one soon.
	Scully shot an evil glare at Skinner...she still didn't like being reminded of her weight. Skinner cringed at the glare, but quickly redeemed himself. "It's great to see that you and Mulder have had a chance to find some private time," He said, remembering how they had in one letter been complaining on not having any time to themselves.
	Skinner pulled Mulder aside and said in a low voice, "I believe you forgot to mention this little detail concerning Scully in your last letter to us..."
	Mulder shrugged. "Surprise?"
	Charlie moved his way through the crowd until he found Scully after hearing all this commotion surrounding his sister. When he saw her, his face instantly exploded in shock. His jaw worked on no words for a minute before any came out. "Dana...you're pregnant?"
	Scully nodded again, smiling.
	Charlie tried to get over his surprise. He knew how his sister and Fox Mulder felt for each other, and he was glad that Dana had finally found the person she belonged with. However, he also knew that they were not married yet. And even if they did love each other, Scully was still Catholic. (Apparently not Catholic enough...) 
	He chose to accept the pregnancy and be happy for Dana, knowing how much she had wanted a child of her own. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered a congratulations. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
	"Girl. Her name's Melissa Samantha Mulder."
	Charlie smiled at the mention of his other sister's name. "Dad would've been proud of you, Dana...Missy, too."
	"Hey, outta the way, bro, I want to have a look at the sister I haven't seen in years!" Bill Scully Jr. said to Charlie teasingly as he made his way up to Dana.
	And then *he* noticed it.
	Bill's face dropped. Despite all the things that had happened and his knowledge of how Dana felt for Mulder, he still disapproved of their decision to marry. He still regarded Mulder as an obsessive, dangerous man who believed anything that so much as sounded interesting and never had any concern for the wellbeing of his baby sister. He just couldn't understand how Dana could love a man like him. When he had first learned of their engagement, he had after a time forced himself to accept Dana's decision...after all, she *was* her own person. She could have chosen a man much worse than that Fox Mulder (although how such a man could exist he had no idea...) He had learned to be tolerant.
	But this! It wasn't enough that Dana had to marry this man...now she had to go against her own religion and sleep with him before they were married! Just the very thought of that...*person* in the same bed as his sister made his flesh crawl. And to think of what they were doing... It made Bill angry enough to send invisible waves of contempt in Mulder's direction. Dana was going to have his baby.
	Ideas began to form in his mind...ideas that he somehow knew weren't necessarily true, but believed them anyway. (It wasn't something Dana wanted at all...he forced her to sleep with him. And she's just keeping the baby because she knows it's something he wants as well. Against her will...)
	Bill finally realized that he had been staring at Scully the entire time, and she was looking at him as if to say..."*Well??*"
	Bill cleared his throat nervously, struggling to remain calm. "Um...how did this happen?"
	Scully shot him a look. "It doesn't matter how it happened...the fact is it happened."
	(It matters to *me*...) Bill thought. The fact that Scully wouldn't talk about it just made him even more suspicious...he was getting all sorts of bad mental images. (If he hurt her in any way, I'll make him pay for it!)
	Bill leaned in closer to Scully so that everyone else couldn't hear. "Dana...you know that you don't have to go through this if you don't want to..."
	Scully's face dropped into an instant frown. "What're you saying?"
	"I'm just saying that there *are* ways out of this. You don't have to go through all of this just for him."
	Scully looked at her brother with a face somewhere between shock and anger. "Are you saying that I *don't want* this baby?!!"
	"Start running NOW," Bill heard Troi whisper from somewhere behind him.
	Bill instantly knew that this was the wrong thing to be saying to Scully right now. Whether <ulder had forced her conception upon her or not, Scully wanted the baby and intended to keep it. Feeling the anger Scully was directing at him burn a hole in his body, he moved away from her. He would just have a little talk with that Fox Mulder later.
	Fortunately, Bill was the only one who reacted negatively to Scully's pregnancy...everyone else was very happy for her, if not a little shocked. And even though they were happy for her, Scully could tell that they were acting differently around her now...they were treating her less like the usual solid, confident Agent Dana Scully and more like a delicate, moody pregnant woman.
	(Amazing what motherhood does to people's perception of you...)
	In time, everyone they knew became aware of Scully's pregnancy, and even some people they didn't know. It took some considerable time before their welcoming commitee finally toned down on the enthusiasm and escorted them off of the dock. Mulder took one last look at 'The Believer' as they were leacing. It stood at the dock, with workers already beginning to move their things out, the boat's engines permanently silent. He smiled at their beloved houseboat, wishing it a silent farewell.
	"So...what happens now?" Troi asked excitedly, walking ahead to the front.
	"Now we're giving you a welcome home dinner," Grant announced. "We haven't seen any of you in over a year, so we're going to need a pretty big dinner to handle it all."
	"And *I* will help cook!" Samantha stated.
	"No, Sam..." Alyssa shook her head. "Everyone who was on 'The Believer' is not going to do any work. We're hacing professional cooks."
	Samantha was crushed. "Are you saying that I'm *not as good* as a professional cook?!" She complained in a shocked tone.
	"Of course not! We're counting on *you* to tell them what they did wrong when they serve it."
	Both Mulder and Scully could tell that there was something going on within the mind of Maggie Scully...she wanted to have the wedding right then and now. However, a large reason for it was because she wanted to be able to keep it small and out of sight of many people, and the more time they had the more people would become aware of the fact that they weren't married yet. Maggie had already made most of the arrangements for the ceremony, and she wanted to have it in about five days. 
	But until then, she would have to wait. And in the meantime...they had a lot of food and a *lot* of talking to look forward to...


	7:24 P.M.
	Wednesday, September 20th, 2000
	Scully residence

	Samantha had to admit that the food was pretty good, even if she didn't get to contribute her talents to it. She had wanted to use many recipies that she had picked up at various spots along their journey, but everyone insisted that since they were back in America they should eat something that wasn't from a foreign country. The problem was finding an American food that *didn't* come from a foreign country. They finally decided on barbecue.
	Mulder drowned some of his iced tea after taking another bite of his steak. It was the first time in over a year that he had had barbecued ribs...they couldn't barbecue on 'The Believer', and it was somewhat difficult to find steak ribs in Antarctica or Egypt or Japan. Scully was eating almost twice as much as Mulder, (although he still couldn't keep her away from that strange sweet-and-salty foods combination...)
	"We've already set up everything for you," Skinner said around a mouthful of food to them. "Your new main office, materials, accomodations, and all of the agents that will be working under you in the new division. They've been awaiting verification from you two to go ahead with some reports that they've already gotten."
	Mulder appeared distraught. "Does that mean that just me and Scully won't get to do any work in the field together? That all these other agents will be doing the fun stuff while we sit around in our stuffy plush offices all day?!"
	Skinner figured that that worry would be coming from Mulder. "Both of you can still do field work together, if you wish. There's certainly nothing restraining you. Just know that it will be a lot more difficult to carry on both your responsibilities as heads of the department and your own investigative work. Especially..." Skinner looked in Scully's direction. "If you're starting a family."
	"We can do it!" Mulder assured him.
	"If anyone can do it, *they* can do it," Troi said under her breath to Samantha.
	"Oh, I'm not doubting that at all," Skinner said to them. "Although I think you'll have to let your agents take over most of the grunt work until Scully is capable of working again."
	Scully shot Skinner an angry stare, as if silently protesting that she *could* work, although she knew that he was right. Then she felt Mulder's hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it Scully...I'm sure you're going to get a lot of work out of this, perhaps more than you want." He gave her a sarcastic grin. She just rolled her eyes at him.
	Out of the corner of his eye, Mulder saw Bill Scully glaring at him. Mulder swallowed nervously. He had a feeling that Bill wasn't going to let Scully's pregnancy go off easily. And the last thing Mulder wanted to do was to tell Bill how he and Scullu had had a fight because he possessed her...er, no, because they had eloped in Bombay! Mulder brushed away the confusion...he still had his conflicting memories from the two realities he had altered. He quickly turned his attention away from Bill.
	Troi was busy related to Alyssa her encounter with Shay McGuire in Australia...even now, after the trip was over and they were back home, she still missed him. "He was the only real 'boyfriend' I ever had, for lack of a better word," She sighed.
	Alyssa could see Troi's distress regarding Shay...she was subconsciously thinking that if she never saw Shay again, she would never really find a guy that she could be with. Alyssa smiled and rubbed the anxious teen's shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it, Troi...there will be guys that you'll meet, and some of them you'll like. And sometimes they'll like you back. But that doesn't mean you were meant to be together. Perhaps the reason why he had to stay in Australia is so *you* could be with the person that's meant for you. The strangest thing is that sometimes you see a person and you say you love them and you think they're 'The One', but then it turns out to be someone else who's been staring you in the face the entire time and you didn't even know it."
	Troi listened to Alyssa's words carefully, taking at least some comfort from her sure statements. From somewhere at the back of her vision, behind Alyssa, she thought she saw Gerrett Corban looking at Alyssa strangely...but then he quickly turned his head again.
	(I wonder what's the matter with Gerrett...)
	More than just Troi's story was related. The group was kept busy telling all that had happened to them while trying to eat at the same time. The conversation went from spending a very hot night in the Amazon jungle to having to outrun an animal stampede in South Africa to meeting Benton and hearing his talk on ghosts and then coming around to Scully's kidnapping in Egypt. 
	Jacob Grant nodded at the reminder. "We did what you asked in the e-mail Skinner forwarded to us...the CIA sent out a team of people to Riogia and the other towns you described. We found that slavetrading mob almost right away...arrested nearly 60 slavemasters and lower-ranking officers, including that one called Tsadyrr, and liberated nearly 110 slaves, a large majority of them women - I couldn't believe how many of them knew your name! Anyway, most of the people we caught were punished for crimes against humanity, and the CIA has been making negotiations with the Egyptian government to crack down harder on the slave trafficing that's been going on there."
	Scully nodded with satisfaction, pleased that the people that had kept her in bondage for almost a week had been finally dealt with. There was more talk as the conversations switched back and forth, and eventually winded down as their dinner came to a close. Maggie had hurried off just as they finished...she had tomeet with more people concerning preparations for the wedding. Scully could tell that her mother was *very* eager to get the ceremonies underway, probably more than both her and Mulder put together. Maggie might've been eager to get the wedding underway so as to avoid people's noticing of Scully's illegitimate child as soon as possible, but both Scully and Mulder were quite content with their present state and the state of their not-so-illegitimate daughter.
	As they were beginning to clean up, Samantha stood to make an announcement. Everyone looked at her as she cleared her throat. "Hey, everybody...I just want to say that this had got to be the *best* dinner I've had since...oh, I dunno, since forever!"
	A general applause went up around the dining room.
	"Aaaaaaand..." Samantha carried on with a mischevious smile. "To invite you all to a very special private viewing of 'Tales from the SamCam' in two days!"
	Groans instantly emitted from the group from 'The Believer'. "Aw, Sam...don't you think you can just sell the thing to 'America's Funniest Home Videos' or something so we'll never have to see it again?!"
	"Well...I *could* give to 'America's Funniest Home Videos', but then we could win and EVERYONE would see it on national television."
	"Never mind!! If you're going to show it, do it in a dark, closed room!" Mulder cried.
	Samantha grinned at her brother. "Good idea. I've boycotted 'America's Funniest' since Bob Saggot left anyway..."
	With her point made, Samantha got up from her seat to help put the dishes away to the kitchen to be cleaned, and everyone followed her example. The main group dispersed into smaller groups where smaller conversations were held.
	Bill Scully Jr. had a conversation of his own in mind, and he pulled aside Mulder from the rest of the group. His sister's refusal to give away many details to her pregnancy and his mother's indifference to the matter heightened his tension. Now he wanted to know *exactly* what had gone on between them, grisly details included.
	"I need to talk to you about something," Bill said firmly to Mulder. Mulder didn't reply...he knew what was coming.
	"Now, I know my sister," Bill began. "I've known her for a lot longer than you have. I know that she had morals and beliefs, and that they're very important to her. I also know that she believes that intimacy outside of marriage is not right. But I seem to be having some trouble understanding that, considering those morals, she is now six months pregnant." He shot an angry look at Mulder. "I figured that since *you're* the reason behind this, you could tell me how this happened."
	Mulder's almost instantaneous reaction to Bill was with his own anger. In the past he had accepted Bill's harsh criticism of him because he felt he deserved it. But now there was really no reason for Bill to be angry with him other than the fact that Bill didn't like him. He had just as much of a right to Scully as Bill did, if not more so.
	"Know what?" Mulder answered defiantly. "I don't think I *need* to tell you exactly how she got pregnant. As you said, you've know Scully longer than I have...don't you think that by now Scully would be able to make her own choices? If someone was trying to make her think or do otherwise than what she feels is right, she'd make that person think twice about coming near her. Whatever you're so anxious about, you don't need to be."
	Bill's face grew hot with resentment. This was the first time Mulder had ever talked back to him, and he would have none of it. "If you...*forced* her in any way...I will find out. I still cannot grasp that she would consciously choose this on her own..."
	Mulder's anger flared. "You think I would *hurt* Scully?!" He exclaimed in a voice that was just a little too loud.
	"My sister's well aware of where he beliefs stand," Bill countered. "And I want to know why she hasn't done something about this! Being a doctor, she should know all about what to do with a child conceived outside of marriage..."
	"Bill? Is there something you'd like to say to me?"
	Bill's voice caught in his throat. He turned around, only to find Scully glaring at him, arms crossed. For some strange reason, Bill got the feeling that the baby inside her was glaring at him, too. "Dana..." He cleared his throat nervously."We were just talking about you."
	"I know. I overheard most of it."
	Bill was silent.
	"So, you're not happy with me being pregnant, Bill? Don't think it was my choice to have a baby? Think I'm just keeping it to save myself from guilt if I killed it?"
	"I wasn't telling him you had to kill it, Dana..."
	"Well, Bill, let me tell *you* something," Scully said. Bill winced...this was not going to be pretty. "I do intend to have this baby. And as soon as I've recovered I'm going to have more. And YOU are going to come to every single birthday party and every single graduation and every single marriage for *every* single one and you're going to come with a BIG smile on your face 'cause now on you're going to be known as 'Uncle Bill' whether you like it or not."
	Mulder winced slightly...he was surprised even with this amount of ferocity that Scully was using to defend her baby.
	Bill stuttered, shocked at how his sister was backing up Mulder. Obviously, Scully was not ashamed of anything she and Mulder had done. Finally, Bill muttered something under his breath and turned to walk away. Scully caught him by the arm. "And just for your information..." She said in a low voice, "That was the best sex I've ever gotten in my life."
	Mulder wasn't sure whether to hug Scully or to hit her out of sheer embarassment. Bill muttered something else and walked away quickly, clenching his fists. Mulder turned to Scully with a huge grin. "Man, Scully...go easy on the guy! He *is* your brother, after all."
	Scully shrugged enigmatically. "Maternal instinct, I guess..."


	3:49 A.M.
	Friday, September 22nd, 2000
	'The Bijou' Film Viewing Facilities
	FBI Headquarters

	Mulder squeezed in carefully between Scully and Samantha, a bag of popcorn and two sodas tucked under his arm, one of which he handed to Scully. Scully looked at him quizically. "Where'd you get all this, Mulder? We're not in a movie theatre...
	"I made some and brought it with us. This 'Tales from the SamCam thing may take awhile...best come prepared with provisions."
	The entire group was sitting in one of the small personal theatres of the FBI building, where usually agents came to review documents or other films. Now they had been able to reserve the theatre for themselves and Samantha's special presentation of her "documentary" film.
	Samantha stood at the front of the theatre, nearly bouncing on her heels with excitement. Everyone they knew was there; no one else was allowed inside. After awhile of getting food and drinks and settling down in their relative seats, the doors closed and the movie-goers became quiet as the focused on Samantha.
	Samantha cleared her throat. "I would like to welcome you all to a very special screening of 'Tales from the SamCam'! This is the one and only time you will get to see this film in theatres...it will be available on video later!"
	"*That's* a pleasant thought..." Mulder whispered to Scully.
	"So, without further ado, I present to you...'Tales from the SamCam!!' Roll the film!" She motioned to the person sitting in the film booth and excitedly skipped over to her seat next to Mulder in the third row.
	The lights dimmed and then went out completely. Everyone watched the screen as the camera in the film booth centered on the screen and then focused. The screen became white and then black. Despite Mulder's constant criticism of Samantha's film, he found himself actually looking forward to it, just because he was interested as to how Samantha viewed their trip.
	Suddenly, the words "JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO TO THE MOVIES AGAIN..." appeared in large green block letters. Loud, dramatic music began to play in the background. The screen changed: "THERE CAME...'TALES FROM THE SAMCAM'!!!" (Well, I guess that's appropriate,) Mulder thought.
	Now, the scene changed to their first day of the trip, some time before they were going to board 'The Believer' and leave. The music from "2001: A Space Odyssey" was playing as the SamCam panned up to a view of the brand-new houseboat in all its glory. "Here we are, on the first day of our trip around the world, about to board our beautiful ship 'The Believer'..." Samantha's voice came from the background.
	Mulder and Scully smiled as memories of their first departure from D.C. came back to them. The bright, elegant sunrays bouncing off the boat's new white paint...the moving crowds, the warm sea air...and the overall sense of adventure , of discovery, of the readiness to embark on whatever journey lay ahead of them.
	The film continued on with different slices of time which had been recorded. the different video tapes had been edited flawlessly; it was obivous that Samantha had had some professional help when setting up the movie. 
	Then, they came to another scene, one which made Mulder and Scully jump in surprise. At first, all they could see was part of a fishing net and the side of the boat. Samantha said, "Welcome to another episode of the SamCam..." In a whispered voice. She continued to whisper as the view moved up past the rail of the deck...giving everyone a wonderful view of Mulder and Scully kissing behind the captain's quarters.
	"Hey!" Scully protested loudly to Samantha. Mulder's sister just shrugged and grinned. The pair could hear several people snickering in their seats...Bill was not one of them.
	Finally, in the movie, Mulder became aware that they were being watched. "SAMANTHA!" He yelled angrily, heading in the direction of the camera. The camera wobbled unsteadily and then tumbled down into the fishing net as the sound of Samantha splashing into the water could be heard. At this, most everyone burst into uproarious laughter. Even Bill was snickering at the camera's distorted view of Samantha spitting out seawater.
	The audience's hilarity died down as the scene changed again, running into a segment on how they had arrived in Cuba and showing everyone a nice view of their beach hotel area. More segments on Cuba passed before coming to one that Mulder did not care to remember...
	They were at the dolphin show in Cuba, the dolphin show that had gone horribly wrong. And soon the part came along where Mulder's seat was called and he was chosen with the "priviledge" of petting the dolphins. Mulder winced as he watched himself suddenly go underwater, and then get dragged and battered around like a pool toy as the four dolphins attacked him. The camera was wet and shaking since Samantha had run down to help while filming, and the audience couldn't see what was happening very well. Everyone watched the screen eagerly, anxious to find out what was happening. Everyone who had been there at the dolphin show remembered it clearly, but still found themselves gripping their seats with worry.
	Finally, Troi pulled out the microphone that had been lowered into the water and stopped the dolphin attack. The camera was shaky again for a moment and then switched off, going to another scene. "Waitaminute!" Frohike protested. "We never got to see the extent of his injuries!"
	Mulder threw a piece of popcorn at Frohike, which hit him on the ear. Frohike didn't seem to notice. The film continued on without many notable occurrences, just what was happening along the boat and the places they stopped. Then, another scene popped up, beginning with a blurry view of some Amazonian fern leaves, and Samantha's voice saying, "Welcome to another episode of the SamCam..."
	"Aw, no!" Mulder jumped as he realized what Samantha had been filming...it was Scully trying to pull him out of the quicksand pit! Mulder was up to his neck in black mud, and Scully was trying to throw out an old, mossy log for him to grab on to.
	"In a life-or-death battle against the deadly forces of nature, the brave Dana Scully struggles to save Fox from the black pit of doom!..." Samantha's voice toned. At this, everyone in the audience burst out laughing again.
	"It's not f-funny!" Mulder protested, even though he was laughing himself. On the film, Scully turned to look at the camera and yelled, "If you're so interested in making this a Kodak moment, Sam, why don't you get over here and *help* us?!"
	"But this is *soooo* Indiana Jones!!"
	The laughter was quickly doubled in size. At the time, Mulder's encounter with the quicksand pit had been no laughing matter. But now Mulder found himself unable to stop laughing at his own sticky misfortune.
	There was a fast scene change to another view of the Amazon jungle, this one blurry and bouncy. The SamCam had a wonderful view of Mulder covered from toes to chin in dried gray mud and running for his life along the edge of teh Amazon with a full-grown jaguar on his heels. The audience found this very funny too.
	"Why is it that whenever something bad happens to me, people start laughing their heads off?" Mulder leaned over and asked Scully.
	"I dunno!" Scully said between hiccups of laughter.
	Mulder couldn't help but notice that Bill was laughing louder than the others, whether because of his funny-looking pose covered in mud or the fact that he was about to get his head ripped off by a jaguar he didn't know.
	After the Amazon adventure ended, there was a long period of time where there was no film on what had happened, because they had been blown off-course by the storm. There was a brief segment where they were on the ice-covered 'Believer' and Samantha explained all that had happened to them during and after the storm. No one laughed at this part; their getting lost in the Antarctic sea had no humorous qualities. Samantha also did not have any film on what had happened when they went ashore, including the underground dimension-door cave. Mulder wrapped his arm around Scully's shoulders, remembering his fight with the stormy sea for her, and their long days spent in the fog with nowhere to go.
	After their period of no-show, things began to lighten up again as they arrived in South Africa. There were shots of their hotel, the city of Cape Town, and even of the large dent 'The Believer' had received from the Antarctic iceberg. Samantha's next big moment was her filming of the zebra herd being chased by the leopard in the animal reserve. "The zebras are doomed!" Her voice exclaimed. "It looks like the end of the world is rapidly approaching..." That produced a few more snickers from the crowd.
	More shots of animals came by, including the rhinos, and the elephants, the ostriches and the infamous okapis. However, the camera had been shut off before they were able to witness Mulder's staring contest with the lion.
	At last, the climatic moment of their stay in South Africa arrived...the chase through the stampede. The first shot was a shaky view of a charging wildebeest, hidden partially behind a choking cloud of dust. "W-welc-c-come t-to an-n-nother-r e-p-pisode of-f th-the S-SamC-C-Cam!" Samantha cried out in a rattling voice. "T-th-this is-s w-w-what is kno-own as-s a st-tamp-pede!!"
	The camera moved back to give a clear view of the incoming mass of dranged animals...zebras, gazelles, wildebeests, impalas, giraffes, and elephants raced the bouncing vehicle the camera was filming from, snorthing and braying and pounding the earth with hoof and foot. Samantha was shouting something, but the outside noise was too loud for anyone to have heard her. Instead of humor the audience felt suspense, wondering how they were going to get out of this one.
	Suddenly, the camera was knocked and became fuzzy, causing everyone to roar in protest. The camera landed in a small bush clump, where it was still filming. It had a great view of the stampede from the ground, giving the scene a larger-than-life experience. All manner of animals ran over or around the camera, some of them coming too close for comfort. Once, a great golden lion leapt right over the camera, causing everyone in the room to gasp in surprise.
	It took awhile for the stampede to end, and finally the different animals thinned out and then were gone, leaving the camera a broad view of the empty, dusty serengheti.
	"That was pretty cool!" Troi said aloud after the scene ended. 
	The stampede ended the segment on South Africa, which meant that now they were moving on to Paris, France. Samantha hadn't taken any films of the time when they had gone from all the way from the bottom of Africa to the top of Europe. Their next part was when they had arrived in Paris, and the Notre Dame cathedral was coming into view. There was little to laugh at as it was just their moving up the Seine River and past the ancient French buildings.
	There were even more parts and pieces, including their going up to the Eifel Tower and a little bit of their Christmas morning. There was another scene that attracted Mulder and Scully's attention, but in the wrong way. The camera showed a few of the outdoor restuarant tables that were by the Tower, and the surrounding ferns and bushes. On the movie, Mulder and Scully were sitting at one of the tables, dressed nicely, talking to each other. They recognized it instantly...it was the place that Mulder had proposed to Scully. "It's late in the evening...and it appears they are engaged in some sort of conversation!" Samantha's voice entoned. "Yes! It looks like he's going to kiss her..."
	The laughter broke out again, along with several "Oooooohs!" for effect. Then, in the film, Mulder once again became aware that they were being watched and headed towards the camera, scowling. The camera shook and then went fuzzy again. "Censorship, you understand," Samantha remarked to her audience.
	Finally, there came the last Paris scene, which was of the New Year's Eve party around the Eifel Tower. It was difficult to see or hear anything that was happening since the camera was crowded with thousands upon thousands of yelling people. There was a brief camera pan to where Mulder and Scully were, having to shout back and forth just to hear each other. After a few more minutes of just constant noise the countdown to the new Millennium finally began. The noise sounded confused and disfigured to the camera, but they could still tell what was going on. The countdown sounded something like:
	"IIIIV...OOOR...EEEE...TUUU....UUNNN!
	OOOOOOOOOHAAUUUUUUUZZZZZAAAAAAAAANN!!!!!"
	Everything on the screen became an incomprehensible blur of loud sounds and moving shapes, just like a giant roaring black beast that was miles wide. Most people in the theatre put their hands over their ears to block out the surround sound of a million people making as much noise as they could.
	Suddenly, a different kind of roar came from above, far overcoming the screaming masses. The SamCam shot up quickly, showing a giant ball of white and red fire descending from the skies. The fireball crashed through the very top of the Eifel Tower, splintering its steel rails like a tower of blocks. Everybody was screaming.
	Frohike, Langley and Byers were cringing as their beloved plane spiraled down into the river, hidden behind several buildings. "Man...I am *really* glad that we bailed out when we did!" Langley said to his two friends. "Otherwise we'd be French toast!"
	Troi overheard Langley's comment and burst out laughing. The laughter was *very* out-of-place considering what was happening on the screen, and everyone turned to look at her.
	The New Year's Eve party segment ended there, since at the time Samantha had been too busy trying to get out of the mob alive to worry about filming. Next they moved on from France to Italy, and their arrival in Venice. The film had them coming into the water city, and several other scenes of what had happened during their short stay there.
	There was one part that made everyone jump in surprise, particularly Tina Mulder. It was the shot of Tina being attacked by the strange water creature, and Samantha's attempt to save her mother and film the event at the same time proved to be hilarious. The screen showed a jiggling view of several slimy gray tentacles and a strangely-shaped head with long spike-like teeth that curved outwards. "Would you LOOK AT THAT!" Samantha exclaimed in the movie. She focused on the creature's mouth, and everyone jumped in surprise as the tongue shot out and punched a neat hole close to where Samantha's foot was. "HEY, DID YOU SEE THAT?!" He voice came again.
	"Of *course* we did!" Jacob Grant cried, completely caught up in the enthusiasm of the movie.
	As for Samantha and Tina in the show, things were looking bad. Suddenly, the surround sound blasted the audience with the sound of gunshots, and part of the camera was splattered red with blood from the monster. There came a howling shriek from the water, and then the nightmarish animal disappeared beneath the grayish surface in a flurry of bloody bubbles.
	The camera went crazy for a moment, with Samantha trying to help Tina up and talk to Maggie and the bartender. Then, a sudden explosion caused everyone to jump in their seats. The camera switched around fast, and showed the canal erupting in flames on the surface of the water. The canal bubbled and frothed red and yellow liquid like a witch's cauldron. The audience either gasped in surprise or cringed with disgust.
	The sea creature explosion ended the Venice segment. There was little film for their time spent in Egypt, as most of their time was spent looking for Scully. Samantha had not filmed the slave auction Scully had been sold at or anything that happened after that. Basically, the only film was a short piece of when Mulder's camel caravan was going through the desert. Samantha was explaining what they were doing and where they were going, and was giving the audience a nice view of the dry wasteland they were travelling through. There was little for the audience to think but be happy that they weren't in that scorching deathtrap now.
	Their next stop, India, had only a small amount of film as well. Samantha showed off Benton's palace, and Mulder smiled at the mention of his ghost-seeking friend. Everyone was clearly impressed by the large, luxurious rooms, exotic plantlife and tamed wildlife that Benton had to offer.
	The scenes switched back and forth between various scenes from India, one of which included the tiger attack at the dock. Their last scene was when they were on the tour through the Indian jungle with elephants, right before they were attacked by the tiger themselves. Mostly they heard Samantha talking, but the last thing they all saw was a giant white cat leaping in front of the caravan before the segment ended.
	"Heeey!" Alyssa protested loudly. "What's with all this keeping-us-from-seeing-the-end stuff, Sam?"
	"You have to make up your own ending," Samantha grinned. "Like one of those 'Choose Your Own Adventure' things."
	"I choose the tiger begins talking in JFK's voice, relating the mating habits of the Latin-American aardvark," Frohike said.
	The movie was slowly yet surely getting closer to the end. There were quite a few scenes of their stay in Australia. Alyssa noticed Troi sighing in her seat whenever the camera focused on Shay. There were wonderful shots of the Australian coastline, and a very interesting part where Samantha filmed how they went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.
	Samantha had gotten a very quick shot of the catiburr, from right before the creature had run off to escape from the poachers. There were several "awwwwwwws" from the audience at seeing the cute brown-eyed mammal that held the cure for cancer. "So when are we going to get some *action*?" Gerret whined.
	"Oh, don't worry..." Samantha grinned secretly. "We'll get to some action soon enough."
	There was little film on their stay in Japan as well. Samantha managed to shoot Mulder struggling to give an apology to the Japanese fishermen whose fish-pen they had run over, which produced many laughs from the crowd. There was little else, as their stay was interrupted by the discovery of Scully's pregnancy and then by Samantha's own kidnapping. She had wanted to get some shots of the magnificent Japanese palace she had been taken to, but at the same time it wouldn't have worked.
	After the Japan segment ended, there were several dispersed segments of the long period of time spent on the Pacific and the few islands they had stopped. Mulder was thankful that Samantha had not tried to tape Moby the dog licking his face during his nice Scully-centered dream. He was anticipating the small piece Samantha had done showing the secret island with Amelia Earhart, only to remember that that film no longer existed. He sighed, (If only *I* wasn't the only one to remember all that...)
	The last part of the Pacific segment was their stay in Hawaii, which consisted mostly of the Hawaiian beach and the luscious flora found on the islands. An underwater scene showing the crystal-clearness of Hawaiian waters then suddenly changed to a scene showing some familiar ferns and trees...
	"Welcome to another episode of the SamCam..." Her voice whispered secretively. The Camera rose up and over the ferns, revealing what appeared to be Mulder and Scully standing very close together at the edge of the water. Then the cameras zoomed in and...
	"Samantha!!" Mulder whirled around to his younger sister with a look of fury. "I TOLD you to get rid of that tape!!"
	Samantha just shrugged, being careful not to look Mulder in the eye. "Forgot?"
	The entire theatre went up in gasps and snickers as the movie played on...showing Mulder and Scully kissing each other furiously, pressed against each other's bodies. The audience was mesmirized with this public display of affection, paying close attention to every place their tongues touched and every sound they made. And all the while Mulder and Scully were sinking lower and lower into their seats.
	Bill, who was sitting a few rows behind them, was fuming and grinding his teeth harder and harder. The sight of his little sister kissing that man and enjoying his response made him sick, and he had to refrain himself from jumping up and strangling Mulder. Samantha continued to whisper her comical comments as the movie Mulder and Scully began to move into restricted areas, with Mulder's hands beneath her shirt and Scully's legs rubbing against his. The entire audience "Ooooooohed" at Scully's loud moan. "This is what we call the XXX-Files, folks! You won't see anything better than this!" Samantha's voice said.
	It was then that, on the screen, Mulder realized that they were not alone. He let go of Scully and began to storm towards the camera. "Uh-oh...I think we're about to experience some technical difficulties..." At that moment, the camera fuzzed out again.
	"Man!" Frohike whispered to Langley. "I *really* wanted to see the rest!"
	"And what?" Langley replied. "Pretend you were there instead of Mulder?"
	"Of course not! She's pregnant, you pervert!!" Frohike felt someone kick the back of his chair from behind.
	Although this just proved to Bill that Scully had obviously not had her pregnancy forced on her, he was still boiling red with anger. The *last* thing that he wanted to see was his little sister sticking her tongue down that man's throat. Mulder just hoped that Bill wouldn't come after him with a sledgehammer after the movie was done.
	If that did happen, Mulder didn't have long to live, for the movie was now approaching its end. There were just a few more scenes of their continued journey on the Pacific and then what they had done for their short stay in Mexico. The very last scene was of their approaching Chesapeake Bay, with Samantha talking in the background. "...And so, as home approaches, our journey around the world as told by the SamCam comes to an end. We've laughed, we've cried, we've yelled at each other, but we still managed to somehow make it through in one piece. And so, we say goodbye to 'The Believer' and to the SamCam..." The camera suddenly twisted around to where Mulder, Scully and Troi were standing. "Say goodbye to the camera, guys!!"
	"Huh?" Mulder said in confusion at the screen.
	The camera twisted back away from them quickly. "And so that's it! This is the SamCam, signing off!"
	The screen went black, and then the words "THE END" popped up. Finally, the screen faded to gray and the lights came back on.
	The audience exploded into tremendous applause. Samantha blushed, giddy with pride as everyone turned to her with huge grins on their faces. Even Mulder leaned over to her and said, "That was really great, Sam.....I'm going to kill you."
	"Ditto," Scully said to her. 


	9:26 A.M.
	Monday, September 25th, 2000
	Martha's Vineyard

	Scully could feel her hands shaking. The silk-soft material pressed against her skin felt like iron threads weighing her body down. She twisted around in front of the mirror, observing herself from all angles. She had always pictured herself in some trim wedding dress, a young, virgin Scully now ready to enter the adult world. And ironically, here she was pregnant and already married, having "entered the adult world" ages ago. She sighed at her stomach. There was nothing wrong with the dress, of course. Her mother had designed it so that it fit around her stomach perfectly. But she was slightly depressed at her form and the impression it would impose upon everyone.
	"Dana, stand still! I'll never be able to get this thing fastened if you don't stop squirming."
	"I don't understand why I'm so nervous," Scully admitted. "I shouldn't be."
	"Dana, *everyone* is nervous on their wedding day! If you *weren't* nervous I'd be surprised."
	"But we're *already* married," Scully protested. "It's not like I don't know what I'm getting myself into. We'll basically just be repeating what we've said before with everything a lot fancier and dressed up. So there's nothing to be worried about."
	When Mulder and Scully had first explained their eloping in India when Scully's pregnancy was discovered, Maggie and had been shocked, and just a little bit upset. She hadn't understood why her daughter had to run off and marry him in secret, especially after Maggie had made so many plans for their wedding. But she had finally understood their ideas behind it, and accepted it. Of course, that didn't mean they weren't going to have the wedding now. "There's something different about saying your vows to a crowd than to your husband," Maggie answered her. "Even though it's meant for your husband. That's what makes you nervous." Maggie certainly was understanding about speaking to a crowd...she had spent the last half hour trying to shove off the dozens of reporters and interviewers who had come to get a few shots of the wedding between the famous FBI agents. And obviously, pictures of Scully in her state at her wedding sent all over the world was not the best thing for anyone at the time. The reporters had gotten so numerous that Maggie had finally just called in several friends who had been at the wedding already to stand guard at the entrance to the building and "severely punish anyone with a camera who comes within 50 feet of the wedding." 
	In response to Maggie's statement, Scully just nodded. The wedding was only an hour or so away, although it seemed to her like it was days away. Her mother was right...there was something unusual about this public ceremony, this knowledge that everyone would be watching them say their vows. Their relationshop had always been private, and it was this making public their love that made her more nervous than just getting married itself.
	Troi was in front of the mirror as well, turning around excitedly in her new dress. Troi had been chosen as one of Scully's bridesmaids, and she was very enthusiastic about it. "I've *always* wanted to do this, Dana!" Troi said, voice full of happiness. "I've never gotten to participate in a wedding before."
	"I had to be a flower girl in a wedding once," Samantha said from behind the curtain where she was changing. "I think I was five. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do, so I just dumped out my little basket of flower petals on one spot of the floor and walked down the aisle." Samantha had been chosen as the maid of honor for Scully. Normally, Scully's sister Melissa would have gotten the title, but Samantha took her place instead since she considered Dana a sister to her anyway. However, Samantha kept making jokes about how Melissa Samantha Mulder was the *real* maid of honor. 
	At last, Scully had her wedding dress fitted on completely. It was elegant yet simple. Not frilly at all, but not too plain or revealing either. Scully smiled. It seemed as if her round stomach almost made the dress look better on her. She had chosen not to have a headress, and her red locks stood out brilliantly against the ivory white of her dress.
	"You look gorgeous, Dana," Her mother said from behind her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "You don't know how proud I am of you."
	"It's nice to hear you say that," Scully sighed. "Some of the people who were helping to set up the tables outside were giving me strange looks."
	"Well, do *you* feel good about yourself when it comes to this wedding?"
	"Of course."
	"Then you have nothing to worry about. This is your wedding, and no one else can dictate how you feel."
	"We're going to start in about an hour," Someone opened the door to the dressing room and stated within. "Is she ready?"
	"I'm ready, I think," Scully said. She straightened herself out, admiring herself in the mirror. She was secretly glad that she would not have to appear in sight of everyone until she walked down the aisle, instead of out there with everyone else eating and talking. As she reached for her shoes, she thought, (I wonder how Mulder's doing?...)

	Mulder was killing the grass unmercifully as he paced back and forth, feeling as if there were little strips of paper floating around in his stomach. He tugged on the sleeves of his tuxedo, feeling uncomfortable. It was strange...he had been wearing suits practically all of his life, but this one felt different for some reason. The black threads felt heavy and restricting. 
	"Mulder, settle down! You look like a turkey three days before Thanksgiving!" Langley told him. Langley was slightly upset that they were making his wear an actual suit instead of his preferred T-shirt suit.
	"I don't understand *why* I'm so nervous," Mulder said, discouraged. "There's nothing to be nervous about."
	"Well, for one thing, you're getting *married*," Frohike said. "I'd say that's worth being nervous about."
	"Yeah, but..." Mulder didn't finish his sentence. Mulder realized that the only thing he was really nervous about was the impression that he and Scully would put on other people. (I can handle that,) Mulder told himself, upset that he was getting anxious over such an unimportant thing.
	If anything, Skinner, who had been chosen as the best man, had more right to be nervous than Mulder. Even though Mulder and Scully were now their own bosses in charge of their department, Skinner still always regarded them as "his agents". Those two crazy antisocials who hung out in the basement. And here they were now getting married, one of them six months pregnant. He wondered if people would regard it all as the product of his good guidance and authority over them or lack thereof. 
	"So, Mulder..." Frohike looked at Mulder expectantly. "You *are* planning on getting the ceremonies over with quickly, right?"
	"Why would I want to do that?"
	"'Cause I *seriously* don't know how much longer I can wait to get my hands on some of that wedding cake..."
	Instead of the traditional white cake, Samantha had made for them a chocolate alien-shaped wedding cake, topped with green frosting and black frosting for the eyes and everything else. Samantha had wanted to put gummy worms in the cake to add to the effect, but Mulder and Scully had both said that enough was enough. So instead, the gummy worms sat in a little dish next to the cake.
	Charlie Scully, who was dressed in a fine suit, came up to the men standing around in the yard talking. "I hope you guys are all ready...we're going to start in about an hour."
	Mulder tugged at his bow tie nervously. (This is it. This is our day.) 
	But he was prepared. Whether the wedding went along smoothly or was just one big disaster, whether it would be remembered by all or was known as "that wedding", he was ready. He just hoped that Scully was as well.
	
	Scully stood behind the wall, clutching her boquet of flowers as if it were her life support. She was certain that she was killing the poor things. There was a slight breeze against the wall of the building, rustling her dress with the sound of silk against silk.
	She could hear the procession going on behind her, out on the lawn. She had already watched everyone else pass by her on their way up the aisle" the flower girl, the ringbearer, the maid of honor, the bridesmaids, the best man, the groomsmen. They had all waved to her as they passed, and most of them talked to her for the brief time that they had. But now they were all gone, waiting there at the altar for her arrival.
	She swallowed. She almost jumped as she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. One of the people helping to coordinate the wedding looked at her expectantly. "That's your cue, Dana...you're going up there now."
	Scully nodded unconsciously. Taking a deep breath, she walked out from behind the wall of the building and then stood at the back of the aisle.
	For a moment, she stopped. She soaked in all of her surroundings with one quick look, trying to imprint the image on her brain. The outdoor wedding was perfectly set up, with several rows of folding chairs on either side of the aisle. The aisle itself was just a path through the grass, littered with blue and white flower petals provided by Charlie Scully's little daughter, who had been chosen as the flower girl. Scully had decided that she wanted blue and white colors for the wedding, and there were streamers with boquets of flowers with those colors fluttering from the trees. There was a large podium set up at the front, which had some more arrangements of flowers and streamers. The overall feel of the place was cool, calm, with the cleanest oxygen seeming to concentrate there and clear her lungs.
	Everyone was looking at her. The moment her footsteps had sounded against the grass, all heads immediately turned to stare in her direction. She felt somewhat uncomfortable being under the gazes of so many people at one time. There were a few people here and there who had been invited from far away, and hadn't seen Scully yet. Obviously, there was some surprise as to the little thing that had *not* been mentioned in the invitation.
	Scully chose to avoid the eyes of the masses. Instead she looked to the front, where the people she knew best were standing. Charlie's daughter was standing there at the edge, squirming with having to stand still for so long. Her brother, the ringbearer, was on the other side, although not quite as squirmy. Troi, Alyssa, and Scully's good friend Emma were all bridesmaids, smiling at her with pride and confidence. Samantha, her maid of honor, was beaming with happiness for her great friend and new sister-in-law. Scully couldn't help but smile back at Samantha's genuine grin.
	She also looked at the left side of the participants. Of course, the Lone Gunmen were the groomsmen, just because they were perfect for the position. They were just as bad as Charlie's daughter, squirming around and looking both bored and excited at the same time. Skinner, the best man, stood proudly towards the front. Scully found it strange seeing their former boss there, after him spending so many years looking upon their strange behavior with scorn and confusion, and now being the best man in their wedding. Their church's priest stood at the front, dressed in his traditional clothing, waiting for Scully to come up. He at least didn't look as bewhildered as the priest that had married them in Bombay.
	And then there was Mulder.
	He stood there in front of them all, hands clasped behind his back, his child-like hazel eyes focused directly on her. She was pinned by his gaze, unable to move. He was dressed in a perfectly-created black tuxedo with a matching bow tie. It was somewhat strange to see him without his color-clashing tie. His hair was combed down neatly, again somewhat strange considering she was used to his unruly hair. And he was smiling at her, that strange twitch of a half-smile that seemed to say, "You've invaded my personal space and screwed up everything I've believed about myself, and I can't thank you enough." It was just like that smile he had given her the first day they had met.
	It took Scully a moment to escape from the trance he had put her in. She took a deep breath and began to walk down the aisle, still keeping her eyes focused on Mulder. She held her head tall, keeping the boquet of flowers tightly clenched in her fingers. Everything seemed to move by so quickly. All of the while that they were on the trip and even when they got home, it seemed like the wedding would never come, as if it were some fanciful idea that would never be carried out. But now here she was, walking down the aisle towards Mulder, and it seemed as if the past months had just passed by in a flash, giving her no time to breathe.
	Even though the past few months suddenly seemed to have flown by like a falcon, this walking up the aisle was lasting an eternity, each step bringing her closer to Mulder and making the aisle longer at the same time. She was happy and excited, clam and controlled, nervous and consciencious, afraid and confused, and she felt perfect.
	And then the chairs full of people were pushed behind her and she was standing at the front, next to Mulder. He was still smiling, and he held out his hand to her, and she placed her hand in his. His touch sent a little shiver of electricity through her. She saw Mulder twitch slightly, and she wondered if she felt it too.
	They turned simotaneously and faced the priest at the podium, their backs turned to the onlookers. Some kind of musid suddenly entered Scully's ears; she hadn't even realized it had been playing until now. She could here scuffling and the wind in the trees in the background as well.
	The priest opened the book and began to read from it. Scully didn't listen to what he was saying and didn't remember a word of it afterwards. Even though she and Mulder had written their own vows for each other, somehow her mother had insisted that it was tradition for the priest to give this speech beforehand. Scully didn't like standing up there in front of everybody not doing anything, and she was certain Mulder felt the same way.
	At last they came to something that Mulder and Scully could finally do...the exchanging of the rings, They had not bothered to get rings when they eloped, so now was the time they would finally put them on. Charlie Scully's little boy was the ringbearer, and he stepped up to them somewhat nervously and offered Mulder the little black box he was assigned to hold. Mulder smiled at his soon-to-be nephew and took the box.
	Inside were two rings. Unlike the elaborate Claddagh symbol engagement rings they had, they were nothing more than simple gold bands, with the words "You Are My Truth" inscribed into the inside of the rings. First Mulder took Scully's ring and held up her hand, feeling her delicate fingers within his. He carefully slipped the ring over her finger, right next to the engagement ring. Scully then did the same for him, fitting it tight around his skin with the knowledge that it would never come off.
	The rings now in place, Mulder and Scully felt more confident, and turned back to the priest. Now was the moment they had been waiting for...the saying of the vows. Everyone now was watching them with their undivided attention, knowing that this was their moment.
	The priest looked at the page they had provided him with, slightly confused. Shrugging, he continued on with the vows. "Er...do you, Fox Mulder, take this woman, Head Director of Paranormal Pathology Medical Division Dana Katherine Scully MD, to be your lawfully wedded wife, in wealth and in poverty, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for as long as you both shall live?"
	"I do," He answered. Scully let the words echo through her ears.
	"And do you, Dana Scully, take this, um...obsessive, screwed-up, guilty-conscience believer-of-all-things man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in wealth and in poverty, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for as long as you both shall live?"
	"I do," She answered. It was the answer she had given to the unasked question a long time ago.
	The priest was nearly finished with this crazy couple. He turned his attention to everyone watching the procession. "If anyone does not believe that these two should be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."
	There was a long, tense silence. No one moved. Then, from somewhere close to the front, there came a desperate squeak out of Bill, followed by a grunt of pain as Maggie Scully gave her son a quick kick in the shin. 
	Assuming nothing was said, the vows were finished. "Then...by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife! You may now kiss the bride!"
	Without a second of hesitation, they turned and came in and their lips locked. Both closed their eyes and wrapped their arms around each other and kissed, and kissed, and kissed. The sound of all the people surrounding them bursting into applause was drowned out by their union and the sensations it created. It was nothing but happiness, an unstoppable happiness that instantly evaporated any doubts or nervousness they might have had. It was a physical representation of the spiritual undertaking they had completed long before, a symbol of perfection.
	At that moment, as they kissed, Scully felt something else inside her. A sudden burst of energy, a movement that surprised her completely and made her gasp into their kiss. Mulder pulled away from her in confusion, allowing Scully to release something between a shout and a laugh.
	"Mulder, I just felt her kick!" Scully said, a huge grin spread across her excited features.
	Mulder pressed his hands against Scully's stomach, almost not believing what she was saying. Then he felt it as well as his baby daughter kicked again. Mulder laughed, suddenly feeling a wave of pride for their baby wash over him, causing him to almost forget that they had just been married. "She kicked!" He repeated it, loving the sound of himself saying it.
	They only had to glance at each other and then they were embracing again. The applause continued on, slightly lessened since people had been clapping for so long. The second kiss lasted twice as long as the first, lingering and deepening until people were wondering if they were still breathing.
	When they finally pulled away, the applause died down as they headed back down the aisle. Most of the people dispersed, but all of their family and friends followed them back to the dressing room area. As Mulder shoot the sweat out of his hair, he felt Frohike put his hand on his shoulder. "Well, I guess you're no longer a member of the bachellor's club, Mulder!" He sighed.
	"She kicked!" Mulder said again, still slightly in awe.
	"Scully kicked you?" Langley said, confused.
	"No! The *baby* kicked!" Scully corrected. And then she suddenly found herself enveloped in both Samantha and Troi as they embraced her at the same time.
	"Now I can *really* say you're my parents!" Troi said excitedly.
	"And now *I* can really say you're my sister," Samantha added.
	"Suddenly I'm a wife, a mother and a sister all at once," Scully laughed. "I'm not sure what to do first!"
	"How about we just go to a reception first?" Mulder said, grinning.
	"Well...I was *hoping* for some time to ourselves..." Scully said slyly. "But I guess I'll have to settle for a reception."

	Mulder and Scully were instantly lost within a sea of people and tables. They struggled to make their way through the people congratulating them and commenting them and chosing to ignore Scully's stomach. Before and during the wedding both Mulder and Scully were anxious as to what people thought about Scully's pregnancy, and almost tried to hide it. But now Mulder was telling everyone they saw how his baby daughter had kicked for the first time, grinning all over as if she had just been accepted to Stanford.
	The formalities were quickly over with, however, and what Troi referred to as "the fun stuff" began. Samantha and Troi kept telling Scully to "hurry up and do it, they want you to."
	"Wait...what am I doing again?" Scully asked them.
	"Throwing the boquet!" Troi exclaimed. "We have to see who's gonna catch the boquet."
	Scully tossed the bundle of flowers she was holding into the air lightly and caught it again. "There. I was the one to catch to boquet. Are you happy?"
	"Do it the right way, or we'll take it by force!" The pair threatened, taking her by the arms and pulling her away from Mulder.
	"I think you're taking *me* by force," Scully protested. As soon as the two had brought Scully to an open area, they instantly called out to the entire company on the lawn. "Hey, everybody! Dana's gonna throw the boquet!"
	Scully was surprised just how quickly practically every single woman in the area ran up and surrounded her. They were all talking excitedly and telling Scully to hurry up and throw it.
	Finally, she turned around, getting ready to toss the boquet of flowers over her head. With the throng of excited women behind her she felt like a fox being pursued by the hounds, to pardon the expression. She saw Mulder ahead of her, grinning and snickering to himself. He must see this ritualistic female gathering as very funny.
	Scully kept the crowd in suspension for awhile, then finally threw back her arm and sent the boquet sailing into the air.
	She spun arpund to watch where it would fall. The boquet hovered in the air for a minute, all eyes permanently glued to its graceful arc through the sky. Then it came down and there was a quick scrambling of bodies and...
	"I GOT IT!! I GOT IT!!!"
	Samantha Mulder emerged triumphant from the pile of tangled women. She waved the boquet above her head, showering flower petals on all those below her. A few tried to steal it from her, but Samantha still managed to get away safely, beaming like a lightbulb.
	Mulder shook his head at Scully as she walked away from the crowd. "Still can't believe you women find so much enjoyment in throwing some flowers into the air..."
	"Hey, Mulder!" Gerrett tapped Mulder on the shoulder, appearing anxious. "We're all waiting for you to throw the garter!"
	Scully smiled mockingly at Mulder as he was pulled away, looking as if she would say, "Let's see how *you* like it." She was not far behind.
	All of the men gathered around the newlyweds, already snickering at knowing what Mulder had to do. Mulder slowly sank to his knees in the grass, putting his head level with Scully's stomach. She was smiling down at him, feeling some sort of strange authority with him being in this position, not to mention the fact that she was currently higher up than him. 
	Mulder didn't bother trying to pull up her entire dress. With the way Maggie had designed it, if he pulled it up all the way to her thigh, a little more than just her leg would be revealed. Instead, he just reached his hand up beneath the dress, feeling around until he found the garter. Everyone watched with interest while he fiddled around blindly with the elastic band, trying to unstrap it. 
	Only it seemed to be taking awhile just to unstrap an elastic band.
	"I think it's stuck," Mulder said slowly.
	"*Something's* stuck up there, anyway..." Frohike whispered to Langley.
	"I got it," Mulder finally said, removing the garter from Scully's leg and producing it for all to see. A general applause went up around the men, and Mulder nodded and grinned. Then, without a second thought, he turned it around and tossed it over his head.
	He turned around fast to see all of the men scrambling to get the garter, stumbling over each other to try and find where it had landed. Then Byers got out of the crowd, the prize tightly clenched in his fist. "HA, I GOT IT!!" He exclaimed excitedly.
	Scully joined up with Mulder as the men disperesed. "Kinda ironic that Samantha and Byers should get both the boquet and the garter..." 
	Mulder grinned. "That's my sister's luck for ya!"
	"And the luck of a Lone Gunman..." Scully rolled her eyes. "What a combination."
	After both the throwing of the boquet and the garter were over, the reception fell into a mostly conversations between the guests and the newlyweds. And, of course, the one persistent question was what they wanted to do for their honeymoon.
	"I think we'll be staying right here for awhile," Mulder answered every question the same. Having just spent the last year and a half around the world and with Scully six months pregnant, the only honeymoon either of them wanted was to spend a long time at home, just enjoying their newfound marriage. However, they both had also been having secret yearnings to be back in their FBI office, going over the details of their latest X-File and planning out their next move in the world of the paranormal. Even Scully was just slightly upset that she wouldn't be able to work very vigorously for perhaps the next year or so. There was something addictive about their bantering and poking around in dark places and investigations. It was all very engrossing...just so long as Mulder was there.
	Before they even knew it, another important part of the wedding came along...the cutting of the cake. The entire company on the lawn was called together, and they gathered around Mulder and Scully and their green, alien-shaped wedding cake. The cake was about four stories high, each one alien-shaped with the large eyes and tiny mouth included.
	Everyone else stared at the cake with slight confusion, but Mulder and Scully were ready to get down to business. Both of them took up the cutting knife at the same time, and then carved out a slice of the smallest alien's little round head. Everyone was instantly clapping as they removed the first piece of cake and displayed it for all to see. "Sorta like doing an autopsy, isn't it?" Mulder joked to Scully.
	"Just for that, I'm going to shove this piece of cake down your throat," She joked back. She broke off a piece of the soft, moist chocolate cake and carefully reached up to try and put the cake into his open mouth.
	She managed to just barely toss the cake piece into his mouth. Part of it missed, smearing Mulder's cheek and chin with green frosting. "Daaagh!" Mulder cried out suddenly. "You got frosting up my nose!"
	The entire company of people watching them burst out laughing. Mulder and Scully were laughing along with them while Mulder wiped the frosting off of his face.
	Now it was Mulder's turn to make Scully eat cake. He picked up his own piece, bringing her in closer to him so he wouldn't miss, and placed the piece of cake right inside.
	In response, Scully bit down on the two fingers he had in her mouth, releasing a sigh of content. At first Mulder assumed she was just sucking off the green frosting still stuck to his fingers, but when she still wouldn't let him go, he began to wonder. "Hey, Scully...you gonna let go of my fingers sometime soon?"
	Scully just continued to eat at his fingers. He could feel her running her tongue along his skin, and he had a feeling that she wasn't enjoying the taste of just the cake frosting anymore...
	People were beginning to stare, so Scully finally opened her mouth and let Mulder go. "We should do that more often," Scully giggled. 
	"So how about some more food, and you'll have more of an opportunity to do so!" Frohike said from nearby, sounding impatient.
	They took the advice, and Mulder began to carefully slice up the alien-shaped cake and hand out pieces to the various guests nearby. After awhile they managed to find someone else who would finish cutting up the cake so they could sit down and eat themselves.
	Finally, they got to their own reserved table with a good amount of food, cake, and ice cream to go with the cake. The first thing that Scully did when she sat down was to take several pieces of dill pickles that she had picked up with her salad, dip them in the ice cream and begin to munch happily on her treat.
	Mulder looked at his wife with slight disgust. "I don't understand how pickles and ice cream are supposed to be good for the baby," He said with one raised eyebrow.
	"It's not," Scully said around the food in her mouth. "It just tastes really, *really* good. You should try it sometime." After a bite of her pickle, Scully reached for her milk, having decided that it would be a wiser choice for her and the baby instead of wine.
	"So..." Samantha looked at her brother and new sister-in-law with interest. "How does it feel to be officially married? 'Officially' being the key word, here."
	Mulder swallowed his food and answered her question. "The weird thing is that it doesn't feel any different than before. It just feels like a party for us or something...a real expensive party."
	"An early birthday party for Melissa," Scully joked.
	(I *hope* it's not a birthday party...) Mulder thought to himself. If there was one thing he was grateful for, it was that so far Scully's pregnancy had gone fairly smoothly. He couldn't imagine what he would do if something were to ever go wrong. 
	"Well, I gotta day that I'm extraordinarily proud of you," Samantha grinned. "Right from the moment I met Dana I knew you two had to be together when it was all over. Even though it looked impossible at the time, I just had this gut instinct."
	"Guess we can't argue with your gut instinct, eh Sam?" Scully said.
	"And *my* gut can't argue with this cake!" Frohike said from the table next to theirs.
	"So...what do you plan to do once the wedding's over? Since you're not going to go on a honeymoon, I mean."
	Mulder opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what they were going to do after the wedding. He knew that sometime soon they would have to go back to the FBI building to meet some of the new agents under their command. However, he didn't really want to go back to work without Scully there the entire time. He knew that he would have to deal with it anyway, just because the FBI's new department needed at least *some* leadership sometime soon. But until then.....
	"...I think we're going to go back to our house, sit down on the couch in the living room and watch really old movies until three in the morning."
	Samantha raised her eyebrows at them. "That's all you're going to do?"
	Scully nodded. "Yup...that's all we're going to do."
	"No dramatic ending? No climatic flourish that leaves everyone amazed?"
	"We've already gotten through the drama and the climax," Mulder said carefully. "Now we're going to try out doing nothing important for a change."
	"But still something romantic," Scully quickly added.
	As they were talking, Mulder noticed that there was some music playing in the background. There was a wooden platform that had been set up in the middle of all the tables and chairs, and so far no one had gone up to dance yet because it was the bride and her father who were supposed to have the first dance. But since the bride's father couldn't attend...
	Mulder gave Scully a playful smile as a new song came on. "You wanna dance for awhile, Scully?"
	She smiled back. "I thought you'd never ask."
	Mulder helped her up from her seat, and together they walked towards the wooden dance area.
	"Hey, everyone!" Troi yelled excitedly as she noticed where they were heading. "They're going to dance now!"
	And that, of course, caused everyone to stop what they were doing and turn their eyes towards the couple. Those that weren't nearby came up close to the dance area. "We have an audience," Scully whispered to Mulder.
	"Then let's put on a good show," He whispered back. He got into his dance position as the song began...
	"Another turning point, another fork in the road,
	Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go,
	So make the best of this test and don't ask why,
	It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time,
	It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
	I hope you had the time of your life..."
	Once again, Mulder and Scully fell into step with the song easily, as if they had learned the moves and steps when they were little. It seemed that whenever they danced, it seemed to flow perfectly, like a professional performance, when in reality the two had no idea where they were going with each other. And they didn't worry about it either, knowing that the other would be there to catch them should they trip and fall, or at least fall down beside them.
	"So take the photographs and stillframes in your mind,
	Hang them on a shelf with good health and good times, 
	Tattoos and memories and dancing and trials,
	For what it's worth, it was worth all the while,
	It's something unpredictanble, but in the end is right,
	I hope you had the time of your life..."
	As the lyrics blended into the musical part of the song, they sped up the dance, making Scully's silk wedding dress spin around her in a graceful twist. They danced with locked eyes, completely ignoring all of the other eyes that were set on them. This was different from all the other times they had danced, from Cuba to Hawaii; this was their wedding dance. It was a ritual of joy for their union, to put two pieces together to create one that moved and breathed better than before. On the outside it would seem difficult for them to dance together, with Mulder being so tall and lanky, and Scully being so short and six months pregnant. But everyone watching them was surprised how well they danced, and admired them and their partnership.
	"It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
	I hope you had the time of your life..."
	Their dance ended as the song ended. They slowly moved to a stop, and then were left standing there in the middle of the empty stage. As soon as they were still, the entire company on the lawn burst into applause. Mulder and Scully still didn't notice it, they concentrated only on the other's heavy breathing.
	"Let's do that again," Scully said after a pause.
	Then, another song came on, and they began to dance again. Everyone just continued to watch until Samantha finally cried out, "What are you all just standing around for? You're supposed to be dancing too, you know! This isn't a spectator sport!"
	To illustrate her point, Samantha grabbed Byers by the hand and hauled him up to the dance area. He was somewhat bewhildered, but he couldn't help but get pulled into Samantha's enthusiastic grace and soon he was dancing right with her with a genuine grin on his face.
	Frohike sighed. "Poor Byers...he's a hopeless cause. I wonder when he'll learn that women are just trouble."
	"I dunno...he looks pretty happy tome," Langley cocked an eyebrow at his shorter companion.
	"Uhh...it's just cause he gets to dance!" Frohike frowned.
	"Would *you* like to dance?" Langley bowed to him mockingly.
	"Not with you!!"
	"Then what do you say we go and get some more of that chocolate cake?"
	"Sounds like a plan to me."
	So, except for Frohike and Langley, most everyone at the reception was either in the dance area or on the outside watching those within. Mulder and Scully's joy just increased as more people surrounded them, for they felt as if they were sharing their happiness with all those around them. It carried on and on for as long as they could both remember, until sometime as twilight was approaching they stopped.
	They stopped just as another song was coming on. "You wanna dance again?" Mulder said breathlessly.
	Scully shook her head no. "Actually Mulder, it's getting late...I think we should try and wrap this up now."
	Scully's timing couldn't have been better. As they were exiting the dance area, Maggie came up to them and said, "You two have a car waiting in front of the building complex...I suggest you go on and get out of here, unless you want to help clean up."
	Mulder and Scully took the hint, and headed off to get whatever things they had left in the building complex or the lawn. Everyone else at the wedding knew what they had to do...Samantha gathered around everyone at the reception, handing out the necessary materials. Then they all headed out to the front and took their positions.
	After a time, Mulder and Scully emerged from the building complex, only to find two large rows of guests, family and friends lined up on either side of the path leading them to their getaway car. "Uh-oh..." Mulder moaned. "I forgot about this part..."
	The two clasped hands and sprinted desperately for the car as everyone on either side of them began shouting their farewells and congratulations and throwing something... But it wasn't small and sprinkly like the traditional rice. Instead it was long, sticky, colorful objects they were pelted with...
	"Gummy worms!" Mulder shouted as he saw one land on his shoulder. "Why on earth are they throwing GUMMY WORMS?!"
	Troi shouted her response to them: "Why bother throwing rice when you can throw gummy worms?"
	Mulder and Scully continued to run for the safety of the car as they were pounded on all sides by the crowd's yells and little edible worms. (Why does this feel so familiar?) Scully thought as she felt one gummy worm land on the back of her neck.
	Finally, they managed to make it to the small car, and Mulder threw open the door and quickly moved Scully inside before jumping in himself. 
	The crowds surrounded the car as the driver began to pull away from the curb, all eaving goodbye and holding up their fistfulls of gummy worms for them to see. Then the car turned into the middle of the street and drove away with the two newlyweds within. The traditional array of flowers, streamers and clanking cans sounded out a rhythm from the back of the car, with a sign that read "FINALLY MARRIED" hanging from the back bumper.
	Now that the wedding was over, most of the guests headed for the parking lot to get their cars. However, Maggie, Samantha, Tina, Troi, Skinner, Alyssa, Gerret, Grant, and the two Scully brothers stayed behind to pick up the large mess that had been left all out on the lawn and parking lot and building complex.
	Maggie sighed happily as she bent down to start picking up the leftover gummy worms in the grass. "I never thought I'd get to see my Dana finally drive away in a car with cans clanking behind it," She said in a very proud-mother-of-the-bride voice.
	"*Finally* being the key word," Troi added. "Right from when I first met them and saw the way they acted around each other I began wondering when they were going to get married."
	"And I'd say they deserve it," Skinner said. He knew better than anyone the challenges and roadblocks they had encountered along the way, how the tension had existed between them like static electricity. At first he had simply denied that any romance could ever exist between them; there were too mant complexities and problems involved. And then the last two months before the near-apocalypse, when Mulder was gone, he thought it was all over for Scully. Then things had gotten better, until Skinner was at the point of not understanding why they *hadn't* gotten married yet. He was proud of his two agents, and everyone else knew it. And this wedding seemed the height of his career to him, a demonstration of two forgotten special agents joining together and rising to the top.
	"I guess we should just leave up all of the decorations," Samantha joked, "since we're going to have a baby shower in three months anyway..."
	"I will say that when I imagined Dana at her wedding, I didn't *quite* imagine her like she was here," Maggie said.
	"Upset that you didn't get to see the *real* wedding?" Alyssa said to Maggie.
	"Well, when I first found out, I must admit I was more than just surprised...but I guess there's really no changing it now. And at least the baby wasn't conceived outside of wedlock."
	"I think it's extremely romantic," Troi sighed. "*I* could understand how they would want to elope in India." 
	"In a way, it's almost sort of sad..." Gerrett said as he began placing gummy worms and torn down streamers into a nearby trash can. "It's almost like they experienced their marriage backwards. Everything has already happened that needs to happen during and after marriage...it's like there's nothing left to look forward to."
	"I wouldn't count on it..." Samantha mused. "With those two, there's *always* something to look forward to."


	1:39 P.M.
	Wednesday, September 27th, 2000
	FBI Headquarters

	Mulder gazed around their brand-new office with a mixture of awe and confusion. Both of them had *two8 desks, and the office was filled with plush leather chairs, oak wood tables and desks, and large bulletin boards and windows that let plenty of fresh air in. The X-Files themselves had their own special corner, kept in the best file cabinets the bureau had so they could be kept in good condition.
	"I feel like I'm in the Sistine Chapel..." Mulder said, swearing that he could hear his voice echo. "I don't know what to do with all this room."
	Even Scully was slightly overwhelmed at the change of space they had. They had been to their new office many times before, but they still weren't quite used to it yet.
	"What time did they say they'd be here again?" Mulder asked Scully, leaning back in his chair and dropping his feet on top of his new desk. He'd break in this new room sooner or later.
	"Should be any minute now," She responded, glancing at her watch. Skinner, as well as most of the other people who had been at their wedding, were just a little bit confused that Mulder and Scully had been getting back to their work so soon after they had gotten married. But neither Mulder nor Scully seemed to mind, although Mulder kept making sure that Scully did not work herself too hard. "Besides," Scully had been telling Skinner, "It's not what I would really call 'work'."
	Both Mulder and Scully looked up as there was a small knock on the office door. "Come in," Mulder called. 
	The door opened, and in walked two young agents, one male and one female. The male looked to be in his early or mid 30's, and had short, wavy black hair and crystalline eyes very similar to Scully's. He had a fairly good height, with broad shoulders and a large build. He had an air of nervous formality around him, as if he was trying to hide his personality behind his expensively-tailored suit. But, as Mulder allowed his profiling instincts to come into play, he got the sense that underneath the man's professional and high-standard exterior, he was an imaginative and expressive individual, and that it would only be a matter of time before his true self came out.
	Then there was the woman...she had long, blonde hair that was drawn up into a ponytail, and her hair was just the right shade so she didn't look like a ditsy blonde. Her eyes were deep chocolate brown speckled with gold, and her smile went perfectly with her eyes. She was taller than the man, but she didn't look like the sort of person who would make fun of him for it. She looked willing to work, as long as she was allowed to add her own infulence into whatever she was doing. Mulder could tell right away that she was opinionated, firm, and yet careful about how she presented her strong personality.
	Mulder looked at the two people together, and had to smile at how the two young agents reminded him of he and Scully an exhausting seven years ago when they had first met.
	The man extended his hand to Mulder. "I'm Brennan Schuylar, and this is my partner Adia Mackensie." His face broke into a slightly-nervous smile. "So I guess we're working under you guys now."
	Mulder took the hand and shook it. "So, what do you two do individually?"
	"Well...I'm I'm into pathology and virology, all those things with disease and so forth. There's little at the FBI that deals with that sort of stuff, except here, of course." He nodded to Adia Mackensie. "And Mackensie's working on becoming a profiler."
	Mulder raised his eyebrows at the woman as she smiled at him. "Guess you're working mostly under me, then," He said. 
	"You two are partners?" Scully asked.
	"We are now," Mackensie said, excited that they were going to have the famous agents Mulder and Scully be their bosses now. "Once we heard that they were recruiting agents for the new X-Files division, we both instantly knew that's where we wanted to be."
	"So, how many other people are you going to have under your wing?" Schuylar asked.
	"So far, there's only five agents besides you guys, and we haven't met them yet. We have yet to see if there'll be any more coming."
	Scully noticed that the agents were still standing, like students standing in front of the new teacher. "Please, take a seat," Scully said, motioning to the plush leather chairs. Mackensie and Schuylar did so.
	"You do realize what you two may be getting yourselves into..." Mulder warned. "This is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill FBI branch. This thing is entirely unpredictable...there's no book for you to follow, and no set of guidelines we can offer you. Each case is completely different. There will be times that your life is in danger...trust us, we know. So if either of you have any doubts about becoming a part of this branch, you'd better leave now."
	Schuylar spoke for both himself and his partner. "I know that both of us are absolutely ready to do whatever we need to carry out our jobs. We're not afraid for our jobs or our lives, because we know that's what you need."
	Mulder eyed Scully as if to say, "I like these two." "So, you two'll be getting your own office just down the hall from here," Mulder told them. "It's no basement office, but it'll do," Mulder and Scully grinned at each other as if sharing a private joke. 
	Mackensie, using what little profiling skills she had, was already beginning to analyze their new superiors and the way they acted around each other. They obviously had a very deep relationship...far beyond best friends or even a married couple; so deep that they could tell what the other was thinking. Although they both looked young and attractive, she got the sense that they had years and years' worth of wisdom stored up in them. Mackensie grinned at Mulder and Scully...she had a feeling that she and Schuylar were going to enjoy this new line of employment.
	"When do we get our first case?" Schuylar asked.
	"Whenever one comes up. But you won't be limited to just paranormal cases...the FBI wouldn't invest *that* much time and money into the paranormal, even after all that's gone on. Most likely, you'll get a case, but it will have a 'special interest' that brings it to our division," Mulder answered.
	"All the same, we're ready for whenever it comes," Mackensie said.
	"Well then..." Scully decided, "I guess you're ready to get shown around your new office! Come with us, and we'll take you there." She and Mulder stood. 
	Scully heard Mackensie gasp with surprise, and then she understood why...she had been sitting behind a desk the entire time they had been talking, and it was just now that the other agents could see the rest of her very pregnant body. Mackensie became embarassed at her reaction. "So sorry...I was just surprised. I had heard rumors going around the office, but..."
	"It's fine, don't worry about it," Scully assured her. "I say, if the whole world wants to know, then it has my consent!" 
	Mulder opened the door for them to go out of. "It's just down the hall." Mackensie and Schuylar exited, and Mulder grinned at Scully as she also headed for the door. "And so it begins," He said. 



	3:05 A.M.
	Wednesday, September 27th, 2000
	
	The room was completely dark except for the warm, electric glow of the TV screen and the few lights that existed outside the window. The TV itself was flickering with scenes of an old Alfred Hitchcock movie, although its moment of climatic suspense was being observed by no one except the characters themselves.
	The floor was littered with empty bags of popcorn and sunflower seeds, as well as one empty can of iced tea. There was also a bookful of photographs scattered here and there, slightly damaged by fingerprints from where hands had grabbed at them eagerly. The new house was already beginning to feel the homliness that comes from years of living, even though it was only now being used.
	And on the black leather couch that sat against the wall, facing the TV, sat Mulder and Scully, both completely asleep. Scully was resting her head on Mulder's shoulder, her auburn locks falling beneath his chin. Mulder had his arm around her shoulder and his other hand on top of her rounded shoulder, where he had left it as Scully fell asleep. Both had their feet propped up on the coffee table in front of the couch, and it was because of this that one of the empty iced tea cans had been kicked onto the floor. At the moment, their honeymoon was in full swing.
	After a full year of all kinds of places, people, trials, dances, laughs, discoveries, troubles and experiences from around the world, and with an unpredictable yet hopeful future ahead, Mulder and Scully were perfectly happy eating junk food and sitting on the black leather couch watching old movies until 3:00 in the morning.


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THE END!!!!!!
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Author's Notes: YES!!! YES!!! IT IS TRUE!! YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF THE SERIES!!!! 
You get a stripe on your belt! :)  It is finally over, thank you thank you very much! [whew!!] 
It's time to go through the formalities........
Special thanks to Riva (besides being my bestest best friend) for reading the entire thing through and fixing all the times I messed up and encouraging me all the way!! Couldn't have done it without ya!! :) Oh yes, also thanks to Ivonne for being my second not-so-beta-reader (maybe she's a gamma reader??) and reading it the whole way through as well. 
What time is it when "Around the World" is over? No, it is *not* time for you to get a new watch...it's time for FEEEEEEEEEEEEDBAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!! I cherish it always and always, please please please (puppy dog eyes) please please please (getting down on knees and bowing) please please please please (groveling and licking the soles of your shoes) please please please send feedback!!! Thank you sooooooooooooooo much, it makes me feel all warm n' fuzzy inside just knowing that you made it to the end!!!
And (very big hopeful grin) just in case you're wondering, I really don't have many sequels to this sequel planned. There's Riva's "The Curse", of course, which is a must-read just 'cause it's all about Troi and Troi rocks the world. There's my random vinigettes ("Babysitter Wanted", "Second Birth") and the "Storm" trilogy I'm working on, but other than that, that's all you'll be hearing from this universe for awhile, I guess. 
Again, thank you so much for having made it all the way to the end! Bon Voyage for now!!!!!!! :):):)

-Alien Girl

P.S. Brennan Schuylar's last name is pronounced like "Skylar". It's Dutch. :)