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Mulder called Frohike later that night, after he'd introduced Scully for the first time.
"So, what do you think of her?" Mulder didn't really care, but a corroborating positive opinion would be useful.
Besides, anyone calling Scully "hot" needed to be investigated.
He heard keys tapping through the line. "Tryin' not to, kid."
Mulder blinked. "Good." Crap ... that sounded a little too eager. Damn. He winced.
Frohike picked it up, of course, and chucked. "Well, I dunno. D'you think a pathologist and a guy like me -"
"No!" ... Shit, he'd done it again. Frohike was rollin' on the other end. "Um ..."
Return of the Sis
Diana knelt before Mulder's chair, grasping his hands like a dying woman. "There's more. It won't be easy for you to hear, Fox, but you must." She looked up into his eyes, and he stared back, forehead creased.
"Tonight I'm going to betray them, Fox, turn them over to the rebels. If I don't make it back, you're the only hope for Earth."
"Diana, don't talk that way. You have an understanding with them, a trust that I could never earn. We need you here; I need you."
"No." Diana smiled, shushing him. "You fight in your own way, Fox. In time, you'll learn to understand that, use it against them as surely as I hope to tonight."
She looked down at their clasped hands. "Resistance to the virus is strong in my family. My father has it, I have it, and - my brother has it." She held her breath, waiting for his response.
Comprehension dawned slowly on Mulder's face. "Oh, God," he whispered, stroking her cheek. "No, no, it can't be .. "
"Yes. It's me, Fox; it's always been me. And that's why I have to go."
"I know ..." Standing, Mulder pulled away from her, and turned to the window. The city was quiet, in muggy, complacent afternoon slumber. "Somehow .. I've always known."
"There's good in our father yet, Fox. I know it, I've talked with him. I can save him, I can bring him back to us. I have to try, and if I'm not there with him - tonight could be our last chance."
Mulder nodded. "Go."
Diana - Samantha - kissed him once on the cheek, and silently left. Mulder stood at the window, still, staring at nothing, until his cell phone rang in his pocket. He raised it to his ear. Scully.
"Mulder, what's going on?"
With a screech, Scully careened the car to the side of the road as the night sky lit up in flames before them. She and Mulder shot out of their seats, slamming the doors and scrambling to watch side by side as the Syndicate's funeral pyre wiped them out of existence forever.
Mulder's face was pinched and distracted; Scully eyed him warily, biting her lip. "I'm .. I'm sure Diana wasn't in that thing when it blew ...?"
"She wasn't." Mulder smiled, and his features lit up in wonder, as she'd never seen them before. "I can feel it."
Scully's heart sank to her toes. She tried valiantly to keep the bitterness and accusation from her voice. "You love her. Don't you."
With a quick shake of his head and a little smile, Mulder turned his attention completely to her. "Well, yes."
Scully nodded her head briskly and folded her arms across her chest, looking away and trying not to cry. "All right. I understand. Fine. When she comes back, I won't get in the way."
"Oh ..." Crap, Mulder thought, but couldn't keep the chuckle from bubbling out of his throat. "It's not like that at all." He reached out and turned Scully's chin to face him, smiling in comprehension and looking deep into her eyes. "She's my sister."
"What - " Scully gaped. Suddenly her bones didn't seem to work anymore. "But - Saman -"
Sure of himself for once in his life, Mulder grinned and pulled her in for a long, deep, exultant kiss.
Astonished, Scully kissed him back, and her eyes rolled open in wonder as the last sparks from the hangar lit up the horizon in a glorious display.
It looked like everything was finally going to be all right.
Anakinship
"Join me, and the Dark Side will give you the power to save every person you've ever loved!"
In the darkened theatre, Mulder closed his eyes and tried to pretend he hadn't seen it all before.
You won your fight, he told himself. You never gave in.
Maybe, but Anakin chose out of love. Mine was- what? Pride? How can I claim that's better? Scully could have died-
"Mulder?"
"Hmm?"
"Stop comparing yourself disfavorably to the most evil villain in the history of cinema, and enjoy the movie."
"Yes, ma'am."
Smiling, he wrapped an arm around Scully's shoulder and complied.
A New Hope
"So, what now?" Will kicked a rock. The trees loomed ominously. "I leave all this, ride off with you, we save the world, everyone rejoices?"
Fox Mulder - Will's dad?? - spit out a sunflower seed. "'Join me, and together we will rule the galaxy as father and son'?" he intoned. He chuckled humorlessly and shook his head. "Not quite. I'm not sure about anything. If you need to stay here, that's – that's okay. I'll leave, and - and it'll be okay." He looked away. "But I'd - I'd like for you to come."
Will studied the strange, sad, brooding man who'd appeared only yesterday with his incredible story. He wasn't sure he believed it, but something about this man was so compelling, so heroic - and yet fragile - that he wanted to believe.
And lord knows, there was nothing to keep him here - not since his parents (his adopted parents!?!?) had died. And Mike was well beyond capable of leading the group -
He made up his mind. Will put a hand on his father's shoulder.
"All right, Ben. I'll come with you Alderaan."
Mulder grinned.