"Sorry to ruin your weekend. I know you had plans," Mulder said when he picked her up for the airport. "It's not really an inconvenience. I was going to Matty's first communion and since you talked Skinner into letting us fly into San Diego for me, I don't even have to pay my own airfare," she grinned at him as he grabbed her bags. Plodding their way through security and luggage check-in and more security they made their way to the right terminal in time to go through security again. 'Hurry up and wait' had always been Mulder's opinion of airports, and for once Scully agreed. Taking two seats near the windows facing the runways, Mulder gave his partner more information about the case. "You've seen the headlines in the papers about the "Romeo and Juliet Conspiracy," right?" he asked, flipping through the news clippings in the case file. "Some kids running away from their families because they're in love, right?" she replied. "Except they disappeared so well nobody can find them." Her voice rose over the whine of the handicap tram that raced down the corridor behind them. "Exactly. Most of the cases were in California and local PD didn't do much with the missing persons reports. Beyond an initial investigation there was no reason to; it was obvious these couples left together and of their own volition," Mulder said. "The families were furious that their children would dare have a relationship outside their racial, social or religious circle. They gave their kids no choice. Then they got mad when their children made their own choices. There's no conspiracy. To which you say-" he grinned, giving her her cue. "-Then, Mulder," she drawled out, "Why are we here?" She grinned right back. "I'm so glad you asked," he said, playing the game to the hilt. "A couple of reasons. First, some of the families hired private detectives. When three of the families coincidentally started asking for the same thing from the same P.I. firm, the firm figured something hinky was going on. They started asking around the police departments and the local media got wind of it." "Hinky?" she eyebrowed him. "Go with me here," he said, mock glaring at her, "If you prefer, I can find some slimy dead things for you to cut up here while I go enjoy the California sun." "By all means, then, continue. I'm sure I'll be quite happy with the live slimy things in California," she said sweetly back, contriteness not quite making it into her voice. "If that's what you're after, I've got a live sli-" he started, leering playfully at her. "The CASE, Mulder," she said, her glare quite real but softened by the way the edges of her lips were fighting not to rise to the occasion. "Well, the firm figured out that there wasn't some scam going on, but they couldn't find these kids. In fact, they found several more cases with the same pattern after they started asking questions. A number of these couples could be traced to San Francisco," he said. "My guess is because it's a place known for being 'free.' They probably never realized how expensive it really is to live there, not to mention the crime, the increasing rate of unemployment and sexually transmitted diseases..." "It's a beautiful place, Mulder," she said, looking at him seriously. "I agree with you Scully, but everything I said is true. Even freedom has it's problems. Hawthorne said even utopias have prisons and graveyards," he replied, not turning his gaze from the planes in front of him, yet somehow still able to see her brief nod. "At any rate, some of these couples were traced as far as Chinatown. It's easy to get lost in the crowds there, and certain things can be had for cheap, including room and board. The trail went cold there." She was about to ask a question when their flight was called. They paused their discussion and waited for their part of the plane to be admitted, taking the time to grab her purse and briefcase and Mulder's small overnight bag. Once boarded they continued from where they left off. "Okay," Scully started. "So at least some of them went to Chinatown. What's the problem?" "The problem is, they never left. Or if they did, they didn't take their stuff with them. That's the difference between the original police investigation and now. When they first left, these couples were prepared. They took what they wanted or needed before heading out. This time, wherever they went they left their stuff behind. There's a youth hostel in Chinatown with four people's stuff there, a three-week unpaid bill for one and more than twice that on the other and a lot of questions." "If they were in a hostel in the first place, they probably didn't have much money. Maybe they just didn't want to pay or couldn't afford it," Scully said, agreeing with him silently but needing to cover the bases. "What's different?" "There's a hole-in-the-wall hotel on the other side of town asking those same questions about a pair of college kids who went awol a week and a half ago, leaving behind a two-hundred dollar bill. They also left four suitcases, an active credit card in the name of the father of the missing girl, a few duffel bags and a diamond engagement ring." "Oh. That's different. So, theories?" A few came to her as she asked. "Several. First are of course my usual. I'll save those for later," he said, smiling at her as the plane taxied to the runway. "The usual suspects are simple kidnapping, serial murder, they're just very good at hiding, or they're all victims of hate crimes." "Hate crimes. You mentioned they're from different backgrounds - explain," she said, ignoring the stewardess at the front explaining the emergency procedures. "It's all in the files, you can check the details later. Basically, they really are variations on Romeo and Juliet. We're here especially because of two of the couples. One is a black male, a big hulking guy, captain of his college football team and his diminutive Spanish girlfriend, damned from both families for crossing racial lines. The other is a pair of women from Santa Cruz, ostracized for more obvious reasons," he frowned. "What makes them special?" "Beyond why their families looked down on them in the first place? They crossed state lines to get here. The argument can be made that their first disappearance led to the second. Because of that, the out of state angle makes this a federal case rather than local. Add to that the other disappearances fitting the case profile and you get us on this plane. Some kind of conspiracy IS at work here, even if it turns out to be benign," he finished. "You still haven't entirely explained away the possibility they may just not want to be found," she said, gripping his hand tightly as the engines roared. The passengers were forced into their seats as the plane took off. Mulder winced at her grip but answered anyway. "Counting that one out is more of a given here than anything. It's possible, but this case has been investigated three times, four if you count the initial missing persons reports. The investigation firm looked into this, and it's a quality firm. They do good work. It's the same one I have on retainer looking for-" he stopped, knowing she knew what he way going to say. Her grip relaxed as their ride smoothed out, but she didn't let his hand go entirely. "Anyway," he continued, "After they put two and two together, the police started digging deeper themselves, especially after the local news broke the story. National media picked it up and with that our two out of state cases came to light. Local Bureau offices in each state looked into it as well, but shortly after the road led to Chinatown, Washington was called in. There was a bit of a territory fight over which local office or police department got to continue the search. Ended up, they were all looking but nobody was sharing. The Director pulled rank and handed the case to Skinner and told him to send some of his own agents from the Hoover. If the local cops and Feds couldn't play nice they should just go home. So the case was turned over to us." "So not only do we have a case to solve, we have three Bureau offices ticked at us and God only knows how many local PDs?" Scully was incredulous. "Stick with me, Scully, and I'll show the world," he joked. "Just be happy that even we can't piss off more than six billion people." She was about to point out the obvious and then realized there wasn't any point. Instead she turned to the stewardess and asked for a Diet Coke, some aspirin and a pillow. --- They touched down, aided by another fierce grip and some distracting small talk. Deplaning and renting a car took a considerable amount of time, and they wouldn't make it to Bill Scully's home until after sundown. "Are you sure I should stay here, Scully?" Mulder asked as they headed toward the Navy base. "I can easily get a room nearby. I know part of the reason you're here is to try to patch things up with Bill. I don't want to get in the way of that." Scully sighed. "One of the problems Bill has with me is the simple fact that you are a part of my life, Mulder. It's actually better that you're here. It would be too easy for him to play nice now if I'd come alone, only to start up again the first time I call him from D.C. With you here, at least he'll be honest. We may not get anywhere, but at least he'll realize I'm not backing down either-" She stopped and looked over to him, the colors of the fading sunlight silhouetting his features in a prism of colors. "I'm sorry, Mulder. I just realized how selfish I'm being. I never even bothered to ask if you wanted to be here. I know how Bill treats you. I just assumed-" "That I'd follow you into the gates of Hell itself?" he turned and smiled to her. "I'm happy to do so. You don't have to ask. I feel like you're fighting for me, though, and I'm sorry for that." "I'm not fighting for you. I'm fighting for me. For my right make my own decisions. It's taken me years to beat sense into you and I see you almost every day. He's just farther away and a bit more thickskulled than even you." They chuckled together at that, looking out at the barely visible moon in the thick California sky. "I really am sorry, though," she said. "For?" he asked. "I just realized how much I take advantage of you, expecting you to be there for me. Even if you don't mind it." "I don't. Lord knows I do it to," he grinned at her, flipping on his signal and changing lanes. "They have a word for that, you know." She didn't answer. Instead, she nodded and reached across and took his hand in hers for a few minutes, before he needed it again to drive. Both felt the loss of contact. --- They made it to Bill's house with no trouble; the problems waited until after they pulled into the driveway. While Tara ran out with Matty to greet his "Auntie Dana," Bill's first words were spoken from the doorway of the house and were both loud and blunt. "What the hell is he doing here?" Mulder looked up from Matthew's unruly hair to his partner's face, asking with his eyes which one of them would answer the challenge. In reply she unwrapped her arms from Tara's back and took Mulder's hand in one of hers and her nephew's in the other. A show of force that she was both family and friend. That the two worlds could actually exist together. "He's here because we have a case," she called to him. Bill went nuts. "Can't you say no to anything, Dana? You could have said no to him. You said you'd be here for for your nephew and here you are-" "Here I am, for my nephew, Bill, exactly as I promised him and you. In your front yard because you don't even have the common decency to let your sister and her friend into your house before you let into them. Does that about sum it up? "As far as the case goes, I requested it myself." She continued, ignoring the dropped jaws of both her brother and her partner. "Now are you going to invite us in or should we wait for the MP's with the Domestic Disturbance citation?" "Won't you please come in, then," Bill said, his words civil but so cold as to freeze fire. The four people in twilight trudged through the haloed door Scully's brother held open. Tara took Matthew upstairs for a bath, giving their guests and Bill some time alone to talk. She understood that her husband was only trying to protect his sister, but couldn't understand why he didn't realize that his protection was exactly what would drive her away for good. In the kitchen downstairs, silence reigned. Mulder sat stock still in his chair, head down, studying the intricacies of the Formica tabletop. "So you have a case," her brother started. He was blunt, but had calmed much since his previous outburst. "In San Francisco," Scully replied, just as brief. "That you asked for," Bill continued. Mulder wondered of conversations like this were the ancestral basis for games like tennis or badminton. A vision of Pong flashed in his mind. He spoke up. "Look, while you two talk I'm gonna bring your stuff in, Scully. Call a hotel, too." "You didn't get a room?" Bill asked, obviously surprised that Mulder could possibly be so inept. He wondered again how the man had stayed alive so long. Scully answered for her partner who'd simply walked out of the kitchen without saying a word. They heard the front door open and close. "I was going to ask you to put him up. You have the room, and he's here for me. Since he's part of what's going on between us..." "Absolutely not," said Bill, standing and moving to the coffeemaker, pulling a cup and a filter down from a cabinet. "Then I need to get out there now," she said, standing as well. "Get him to book a second room for me." "Are you giving me an ultimatum?" he asked, sounding exactly like his father did when they were children. "No, Bill," she sighed. "Just refusing to give into yours." "Mine?" he said, voice rising on the word. His cheeks flushed as he turned to her. He stopped the turn and reversed it, grabbing the pot from the counter and filling it with water. He spoke again, his voice back under control. "Fine, sis. The couch is a sleeper." "What do you hate him so much?" She surprised even herself with the question. Bill considered. "He symbolizes every bad thing that's happened to us. Melissa, Dad, everything you've been through." Scully stepped behind her brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. She spoke softly to him. "Ahab and Mulder never met, Bill. As for the rest, that's what he symbolizes to you. You so easily forget all the times he's saved my life. All the times he's been there for me." "If he'd never been there-" he started. "Then I'd still be an FBI agent. I could be in charge of a field office by now. Or SAC of a special department, overseeing other agents, right?" She watched the back of his head nod quickly at her words, then stop and drop as she continued. "I could be dead, too. Killed in the line of duty. I could be permanently disfigured, or handicapped. These 'what-ifs' aren't all they're cracked up to be when you're honest about the possibilities." She stepped away from him and turned him around, the hot water hissing as it bubbled in the coffeemaker. "What I know is that I'm here. I'm alive. I work with my best friend. We do good work and we're both both extremely proud of what we've achieved. We're sad for all we've lost, too. I think in most circles that's called life, Bill." She watched his face for his answer. "But-" "But nothing. Your problem isn't Mulder, it's that I'm not doing what you think Ahab wanted me to do. But I am what he wanted me to be: Productive. Reasonably content. Making a mark on the world even if the world isn't paying much attention. Alive. "If you can't be happy for me because of what I do, be happy for me because of who I am. Never forget, though, Mulder is a part of who I am for as long as I'm still breathing. If you deny that - him - you deny me." He watched his little sister for long moments, his face grim. Finally, a small smile touched his lips. "Love you now or lose you forever, huh?" "Something like that," she smiled back. "Now, let's go find your wife and my partner and figure out the sleeping arrangements." "Dana... I can't promise anything. I'll try, though. For you." Scully nodded, and hand-in-hand they walked out of the kitchen and across the living room. They went up the stairs to find Tara. Had either of them turned around they would have seen Mulder scrunched-down on the living room sofa, shock etched clearly on his features. He got up when they were out of sight and went to retrieve his luggage from the car. Scully found him there and invited him to stay the night. Nobody ever did drink the coffee. --- The next day was much more pleasant than the previous evening, and Aunt Dana played her role to the hilt. She and Mulder took Matthew on a trip to the San Diego Zoo. She felt like she was babysitting two kids, though, chasing after Mulder and Matthew like a henpecked mother after her ill-behaved brood. She finally realized that Mulder wasn't being a child, just acting like one. She felt a dull pain in her chest as she realized he was acting like a father too, slipping her nephew a ransom in quarters so the boy could sneak off and buy more food pellets to throw at the animals they saw. When they returned to Bill's house Scully showered and dressed while Matthew, sitting on his partner-in-crime's lap, regaled his parents with the days events. When Dana came down, dressed formally, Bill pried Matthew off Mulder's lap and took him upstairs for his bath. Mulder offered to fix some drinks and left for the kitchen leaving the Scully women and giving them a chance to talk. "Sounds like you had an adventure today," Tara began. "Definitely," Scully replied, relaxing into the couch. It still smelled of Mulder, she imagined. "I'm not sure which one was more of a child." Tara laughed, saying, "I don't doubt it. Bill's the same way with Matthew. It must be the male parental instinct. Women nurture, men fight and play. Each has its place." Scully faltered at yet another image of Mulder as a father. She wasn't sure if she was jealous or if what she felt was a different kind of loss. "I- I think Mulder would be a great father." "You know, when Bill and I started dating, nobody ever thought it was going to last. A Catholic Navy boy and a Lutheran Army brat? Never in a million years, right?" Both women laughed at the image. "It's as much what's different between two people as it is what's in common. On Christmas we go to a Lutheran midnight mass and a Catholic one the next day. We don't speak to each other for a week after the Army/Navy game no matter who wins. I think he's a fool for treating you and Mulder the way he has. When I think of my perfect man, Bill's not even on the list. But I'd pick Bill every time. Perfection's boring." "Mulder said something like that yesterday," Scully said. "About utopias not being all they're cracked up to be. He's right. He's running out of time, though." "You both are," Tara insisted. Mulder entered at that moment, bearing a tray of cold beer and sodas. "We both are what?" he asked, setting down the tray. "Forever in my prayers for giving Bill and I some time this afternoon," Tara covered. Scully sighed in relief that her sister-in-law had chosen not to pursue her earlier subject. "You're welcome. I can't speak for Scully," he said, sitting down and glancing to his partner, "but I had a lot of fun. I think Scully spent less time looking at the animals and more time trying to corral the two beasts she came with." They all laughed and Mulder relaxed into his seat, head falling to the rest behind him and his eyes closing. Tara pressed her advantage. "Dana told me how good you were with Matty today. Ever thought of having kids of your own?" Mulder's body showed no signs of hearing the question, but after a moment hips lips moved. "I've thought about it. I'm not sure how good a father I'd be, especially considering how much I love my job. Too much of the adventurer's spirit, my grandmother would say." He turned his head too and fro, his neck stretching. He sat up and left his seat, moving for the stairs. "Besides, I can't have kids. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go take a shower and get ready." "You never told me that," said Tara after Mulder was gone. All Scully could say was "I didn't know." Guess what? I have 20k more to write on this chapter alone. This and UABS are the ones I'm working on most right now. Some of you are gonna be squicked by the end of chapter one. Some will laugh. Some, I hope, will come along for the ride. We'll see.