Let's Face the Music and Dance-Part 7/7 Summary and disclaimers in Part 1 ***** "Go There With You" I know you've heard me say these words before But every time I say I love you, The words mean something more I spoke them as a promise Right from the start I said death would be the only thing That could tear us apart And now that you are standing On the edge of the unknown I love you means I'll be with you Wherever you must go I will take a heart whose nature Is to beat for me alone And fill it up with you - Make all your joy and pain my own No matter how deep A valley you go through I will go there with you I will give myself to love the way Love gave itself for me I would climb with you to mountaintops Or swim a raging sea To the place where one heart is made from two I will go there with you I see it in the tears You wonder where you are The wind is growing colder And the sky is growing dark Though it's something neither of us Understands We can walk through this together If we hold each other's hand I said for better or for worse I'd be with you So no matter where you're going I will go there too I will take a heart whose nature Is to beat for me alone And fill it up with you - Make all your joy and pain my own No matter how deep A valley you go through I will go there with you I will give myself to love the way Love gave itself for me I would climb with you to mountaintops Or swim a raging sea To the place where one heart is made from two I will go there with you I know sometimes I let you down But I won't let you go We'll always be together - Steven Curtis Chapman ***** EPILOGUE Three Months Later Maggie Scully was sitting cross-legged on the floor of her daughter's living room playing with her grandson when she heard a knock at the door. Knowing Dana was in her bedroom/office working on an overdue autopsy report, Maggie didn't want to disturb her. Standing, she walked toward the door, watching Will's reaction as she did so. The boy was watching her with wide, unconcerned eyes that looked eerily like his father's. "Who is it, Will?" she asked softly. Any other grandmother would have meant this as a rhetorical question, but not Maggie. The baby's eyebrows shot up and a grin formed on his face. Though he couldn't speak, yet, his level of understanding was significant. And Maggie saw his response as a positive thing. It was someone he knew. Someone he liked. Looking through the peephole, Maggie recognized John Doggett instantly. With a smile ready on her face, she opened the door. "John!" "Hello, Mrs. Scully," he said with a grin of his own, entering the apartment as she stepped aside. "Is Dana here?" "Yes," Maggie said. "I'll get her." Maggie knew the apartment was small enough she could just call out to her daughter, but it was so much more civilized to fetch the person in question. It was a habit she had tried desperately to drill into her children with only partial success. Walking down the hallway, Maggie opened the door and peeked inside. "Dana? John's here to see you." Her daughter glanced up from the computer, which she had moved to her bedroom only a month before, after Will's crib had been moved to the guest room...now his room. Her eyes were shadowed and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. "What's he want?" Maggie frowned. "I didn't ask," she said firmly, crossing her arms. Dana gave her a faint grin. "Sorry. Guess I need a secretary, huh?" She rose from her desk and stepped past her mother toward the living room. John had seated himself on the sofa and was talking to a grinning Will. The baby picked up a wooden block with the letter 'D' on it and handed it to the agent. John frowned slightly, his gaze contemplative. "Yes," Dana said softly. "He meant to give you the 'D'. For Doggett." John looked at her, his astonishment evident. "He's only nine months old." "And your point...?" Maggie laughed and moved to sit back down next to the little boy. "He's very precocious," she explained. "That's an understatement," John mumbled. He stood and handed the file he was carrying to Dana. "It's the final report on the explosion." Maggie stilled suddenly, watching her daughter with concerned eyes. Dana took the folder from him. "Final? It's closed?" John nodded. "I'm sorry. But the findings are official. No survivors." Dana stared at him, her jaw tightening. Without opening the folder, she turned away. "I won't accept that." Maggie could tell her daughter was talking through clenched teeth. "Scully--" Dana turned a glare on her former partner. She refused to be called by that name anymore. It was either Dana or Agent Mulder. Not Scully. Not anymore. "Dana," John started over. "I know it's hard--" "I found his dead body once, John. I watched as they put him into the ground. I WILL NOT believe he's dead...even if you *had* found a body. Which you didn't." John sighed and looked down at the baby, who was now watching them with worry. Maggie wondered, as she often did, how much the boy understood. With a sharp nod, John headed for the door, taking the file from Dana as he walked by her. "I'll see you later." Maggie cast a pleading glance toward her daughter. Dana met it, sighed, and turned toward him. "John." John turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised in question. "Thank you for your concern." Dana offered him a small smile. Returning her smile, he nodded, then left. Dana sighed again, looked at her son, who teasingly blew a raspberry at her, then turned toward her room once again. "I'll be done in a bit," she told Maggie. "Then we can bundle up and go play in the snow." Maggie knew she was speaking out loud for her sake, not her child's. Will already knew what she was thinking. As Maggie watched her go with worried eyes, she noticed how her daughter's fingers kept reaching up to play with the cross around her neck. Only, it wasn't around her neck anymore. It hadn't been for three months. Maggie had never gotten the courage to ask Dana where it had gone. ***** El Creyente Base Southern Arizona Dr. Susan Donahue sat down in one of the several chairs that circled the round table in the main conference room. She was wearing black, as were most of the others in the room, in respect for the man they had buried just that morning. CGB Spender had finally kicked the bucket. And though she was more relieved than saddened by his death, she knew she needed to present an air of mourning. After all, he had been the only one between the earth and invasion...once upon a time. Across the room, several men entered...if one wanted to call them men. They had once gone by the names Billy Miles, Ray Hoese and Knowle Rohrer. Now, they were simply guards. Protectors of the Council and the children. There were thirteen children now. Three more babies had been discovered since the transitional period had begun a few months ago. All were results of the Syndicate's tests on three former employees, two of which were now dead, one the newest member of the Council. All but one of the children were now in Susan's care. Three of the children's birth parents had joined the Council and helped her in the care and early education of the talented babies. Not that they needed any help in learning; her own Wesley, at only one month over two-years-old, could already add and subtract, and was beginning to read on his own, without any real encouragement. A handful of men and women entered the room and moved to their chairs. They were silent and moved with abnormal grace. The Grays. Attending the meeting in human form in order to keep their associates comfortable. Serious and incredibly observant, the Grays didn't need to talk aloud, but chose to do so as it was easier for them to get their ideas across to those humans who resisted the mind probes...as she did. Besides, only two men could 'speak' back to them...and one was dead. A tall blonde woman entered cautiously behind them. Catching Susan's eye, she made her way around the table and sat in the chair next to her. When the woman had first arrived, she had been sick and terrified. It had taken weeks for her, and her tiny daughter, to settle in. Now, she looked calm and collected. Ready to face whatever was thrown her way. Susan couldn't help but admire the woman; it wasn't easy to face these creatures every day and pretend to be their friend. 'Especially when one of those creatures looks like the father of your child,' Susan thought, casting a glance at one of the replicants, who wore the face of a man she once loved. The few quiet discussions that had been going on throughout the room faded as a new person entered and made his way to the head of the table. Standing behind his chair, he looked carefully around the room, meeting the eye of everyone present, even the replicants. His gaze was steady, unafraid, determined. Confident. The look of a man in charge. As he sat down and began to talk about the business at hand, she watched him reach up and finger the tiny gold cross that hung around his neck. Susan felt a smile play at her lips and fought to control it. He *was* in charge now. Thank God. THE END Love it? Hate it? Mixed emotions? Tell me what you think!