Title: Death Of A Piper Epilogue
Author:RaEnright

O-kay, here it is, the epilogue to Death Of A Piper. I just can't seem to stop! Help! There's a lot of romance, but nothing graphic. It'd seem sort of stupid for a fifteen year old to write something NC-17, right? So everything is just...implied. It's short, and there's not much of a plot, but I thought is was sweet, anyway. And I had fun writing it.

I introduce a new character, that of Fox's uncle, Mike Mulder. You'll see him again, count on it. I've got at least one story already written about him and daughter Erin; I'm waiting to see the response to this before I post it.

Insert all that legal stuff here, no copyright infringement intended, ect, ect,ect and ect.

Epilogue

It was Friday, May 7, 1996.

Mulder was celebrating.

One year ago today he'd found Samantha; one year since his abduction. Seven months since the end of his trial.

They were having a gourmet dinner at his uncle Mike's restaraunt, all the trimmings. His parents, Sam of course, Mike and his daughter Erin, Scully, her mother, and her sister. They filled the only large booth in the restaraunt, talking and laughing. Sam's fiancee, Mark Ho, was also there. He was the only other adult Fox had rescued; a good man, who really loved Sam.

Mike raised his glass, clearing his throat. "A toast! To Fox, Sam, and Mark, may they never be bothered by little green men again!"

General laughter, a few sly looks at Mark. Then everyone raised their glasses and toasted. Samantha reached across the table to hold his arm. "Thank you, Fox." She squeezed his wrist lightly and let go. His father smiled at him; it seemed like a long time since that had happened.

*What more could anyone want?* Fox's eyes strayed to Scully. *Well...*

He snapped out of it, and joined in another toast.

His head pulsed...too much wine. But it was worth it...

Fox's eyes blinked open, staring at his ceiling. He didn't know how he'd gotten home; likely Mark had driven him. Or Scully. His mouth twisted into a slightly crooked smile at that. *Dana Scully, my caretaker. Oh, I'd _take care_ of her if she gave me half a chance-* his smile widened, remembering the party.

"You're up!" Scully's voice echoed across the room. And he was lying there, grinning like an idiot. He pushed himself onto one elbow, shaking his head to clear it.

"Barely. Thanks for bringing me home."

"Don't mention it. You're...mellow, when you're drunk."

"S'why I don't do that very often. Just please tell me my parents left."

"Yeah, they went right after dinner. Don't remember much?"

"Nope." He shook his head again. "But it was worth it, definitely." He lay back on the pillow, giving her one of his killer smiles. "Especially to wake up with you here."

She grinned back, leaning in the doorway. "So...lunch?"

"Lunch?! What time is it?" he glanced around wildly. The radio said twelve-thirty. "Jesus."

"You didn't even get home until one this morning. Wow." Scully shook her head. "For someone who was passing out drunk last night you slept it off quick."

"I think lunch sounds good." He sat up, ignoring her jab. They'd become much... closer... since that day last year, the confrontation in their office. He wasn't complaining.

Climbing off the bed, he wandered behind Scully into the kitchen. "Did you notice Melissa last night?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Not in particular...why?"

"Mike and her were getting a little close-"

"My uncle Mike *Mulder*? And your sister Melissa *Scully*? Oh..."Fox rubbed his forehead. "You're joking."

"Would I joke about that?"

"Yes." He poured himself a cup of coffee. "But you aren't, are you?"

"Nooo...I think something's going on. I'll have to ask her." She sat at his table, her own mug in her hands. "Must be something in the Mulder genes-"

"Genes? Or jeans?" he joked, slapping his leg.

"You're impossible."

"But I'm cute..."

"In the way a gorilla is, maybe." She laughed. "But by human standards, well..."

"Objection, your honor, defense has a hangover." He cut in.

"Overruled. And I have to be getting home."

"What about lunch?"*c'mon, have mercy.*

"It's in the fridge. Have fun." She stood, draining the last of the coffee. "See you Monday."

"Eight sharp. Skinners got something new for us, but he wants to run a backup first."

"Whopee." She smirked. "Monday."

"Yeah." He looked down into his cup.

"Jesus, Mike, I've never been so scared. All right, maybe *once*..."

Michael Mulder sat on his living room couch, watching his nephew pace the room. *Fox Mulder..._scared_?*

"Well, what exactly are you afraid of?"

Fox gave him a sardonic look. "You want me to list them?"

"If that would help..."

"Now who's the shrink? Fine. Fear of rejection, fear of commitment, fear of losing my *job*, for starters."

"Losing your job?" Mike snorted. "How?"

"Think about it. Romantic involvement, with a partner, for godsakes, emotion on the job leads to sloppiness in my line...that's if I succeed. And if I fail-"

"Yeah, right."Mike snickered.

"If I fail, what does that do to our friendship?"

Mike groaned and stood up. "Fox, you are my only nephew, and I love you. But if you don't stop thinking about what could happen and just let it happen, you're going to end up in a mental institution. Get going, you don't want to be late."

Fox followed him out the door, muttering to himself. "Either way, I completely screw up our friendship."

Mulder took a deep breath. It was another Friday night, a week after the party, and they had agreed to go out to dinner to celebrate privately. He picked at his stew.

"Scully, I have to ask you something."

She looked up from her soup. "Sure, Mulder, what's up?"she smiled at him. "If you say it's about work, you get the soup in the kisser."

"No, I need to ask you something serious."

"All right, I'm listening." She watched him. He ducked his head, bit his lip. "Ah..."

"Mulder, is something wrong?"

"Not yet," hemuttered. He looked up, meeting her eyes. "If I don't say this now, I never will. Dana Scully, will you marry me?"

She choked. "Mulder, is your tie on too tight?"

"Please. I'm asking you, seriously." He pulled a felted box out of his pocket, holding it out to her.

"Mulder, I..." she trailed off, her eyes wide.

"You think you could call me Fox? Just this once, even if you say no?" he pleaded.

"Yes."she smiled. He gave her a confused look. "Uh, was that to the question, or The Question?"

"Both. Fox." Her smile widened.

"Both? You mean-"

"Both. Fox Mulder, did you actually expect me to say no?"

"Well..," heput on a sheepish look. "Here...I hope it fits." He opened the box, moving around the table to stand next to her.

"Oh..." she looked at the ring. A gold band, twisted like a rope, formed a crown to hold a small diamond at the top. "I couldn't afford much. But I didn't think you'd want any ring at all." He smiled tentatively.

"No, it's perfect." She twined her fingers in his as he crouched to eye level with her. "Perfect..." She leaned forward, falling into his eyes. He kissed her quickly, not wanting to make a public scene. "Later." He whispered.

"Right." She responded, giving him a conspiratorial smile. "But not too later."

"Definitely not."

Fox looked up at the night sky outside the restaraunt, automatically finding Epsilon Bootes, and the Pleiades.

"Fox...are you okay?" Dana...he could call her Dana now, couldn't he? Dana looked at him.

"Okay? I'm ecstatic." He smiled. "I couldn't be anything else."

"Me either." She took his arm...oh, he'd waited way too long. "So, think you'll be able to sleep tonight?"

"Most likely not. Why?"he knew what was coming-

"I don't know...just wondering."

"You want to stay at my place tonight?"

She laughed. "Now that's a line if I ever heard one. Yes, I would." He barely suppressed a tremble. *Way, way, too long. Extrememly.*

He drove back to his apartment, glancing over at her every so often. *Luckiest man in the world...* fumbling for the keys, he unlocked the door, suddenly embarrassed at the state of things.

"Sorry about the mess..."

"I don't care." She laughed. "I'll just pull some spare casefiles over me to keep warm-"

"Oh, the heating's not that bad. Besides, they might slip off in the night and then what?" he mocked a prudish expression. "You might be...exposed," hekissed her again, tentatively.

*He's afraid of me.* the thought flashed through Dana's mind. *He's afraid I'm going to hurt him.* she returned the half-kiss vigorously, and saw his eyes widen comically. "Later is a little sooner than I thought." she said into his mouth.

"Definitely." He returned. "But it's not soon enough."

He lay on his side, Dana's head resting on his neck. *Wow.* he moved slightly, just enough to get the cramp out of his shoulder. She looked up.

"Hmph?"

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay." She kissed his cheek. "I wouldn't have slept for that long anyway. Skinner's going to have a field day with this, you know."

"Mm-hm. He'll probably demand that one of us resign, or some stupid thing like that."

"I'm not ready to do that yet. You?" she looked him in the eye.

"No, I don't think so. But do you really think we can keep working together? I enjoy this a lot...but how will it affect us when we're on a case?"

"We'll just have to remember to keep our professional lives separate. It's going to be easier to work together now, I think, knowing we can trust one another completely."

"I always trusted you, Dana." He murmured. She snuggled closer, tangling herself even more in the sheets. " I know. It's just that there was always..."

"Tension?"

"Discipline. You disciplined yourself so harshly...and then when Samantha came back, it all dropped away. And the new Fox could actually put his entire trust in someone."

"I never looked at it that way. I suppose you're right." He kissed her again, knowing better than to hide this time. " She looked into his eyes. "I'm very, very sorry that this took so long in coming."

"Me too." He tightened his arms around her, feeling the softness of her skin. "But I'm very, very happy it finally came."

"What?" Skinner knew the phone transferred the crack in his voice perfectly. He ran a finger along the bridge of his nose, feeling the beginnings of a colossal headache coming on. "Really? Jesus Christ." He was on the phone with Michael Mulder, and he couldn't believe it. "Yeah, I knew it was coming sometime. And they're...No, glad to hear it. After the hell Mulder went through, it's the best thing that could happen."

"Thanks. I just thought he might be uncomfortable telling you. Oh, he's going to kill me." Mike chuckled into the phone.

"He's going to be busy, I suspect." Skinner said, a trace of a smile at the corner of his lips. "Yes...yes...good day." He hung up the phone, and shook his head. "The X-Files. What did I do to deserve this?"

Okay, I was gonna end it there, but for all you people like me who are just truly hopeless, I decided to jump forward a little. If you're not one of those people that sits around all day saying what if? And comes up with soap opera ideas, then you probably won't like it. Here we go...

September 10, 1997

"Aw, jeez. Dana!" Fox called, perplexed. She came into the room, smiling.

"Help. Please. I'm lost," he said, his eyes begging her. She cuffed his shoulder. "How hard can it be?"

"Just show me, please."

"Fine." She picked up the diaper, deftly fastening it around Samuel's waist. "There, see?" She picked him up, carrying him into the kitchen. "It's not that hard."

"Yes it is. I get lost with all the little tabs," He followed her, calling plaintively.

"You get lost no matter what." She set Sam in his high chair, reaching into the cupboard for some baby formula. "Your dad is such a klutz, Sam."

"I resemble that remark."

"Just grab dinner before it burns."

"Yipe." He ran across the room, pulling the pan off the heat. "Saved it!"

"Good. When did Samantha and Mark say they'd be here?"

He checked the clock. "Anytime now. Thank god we wrapped up that firestarter case."

"Well, you did all the footwork." She smiled tiredly at him.

"Don't think I didn't appreciate you helping out with the paperwork, especially with Sam around. And I know you still don't believe that theory I had."

"I don't think I ever will. C'mon, psychic flames? Didn't we deal with that one already?"

"About five times. Here, let me take that." He took the bottle from her hands, reaching over to feed his son. "He eats like-"

"...You do." She finished. "And don't look at me like that, he's growing." She took the pan from his hand, replacing it on the unlit stove to cool. He ruffled Sam's downy red hair. "I swear." He whispered. "I swear you'll never have it like I did."

She caught his low voice from the counter and smiled. He was so protective of everyone-but it was hard for him not to be. The doorbell rang, and they both turned to get it. He kissed her, holding her hand in his.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Together they went into the front room.

That's the end, I swear...I hope...no, I definitely know that is the end...unless...ack, I'm out of ideas, just let me end it here. Pleeeeze...