Title: On a Star Spangled Night
Author: Gina Rain (ginarain@aol.com)
Category: MSR, casefile-ish
Rating: NC-17 (mild enough but, if you're underage, 
please read something else)
Spoilers: Post- The Unnatural
Summary: Think the X-files meets Love American Style. 
Well, not really, but it's a catchy summary for once, 
dontcha think?
Special thanks: To Ms. Sybil for her lovely beta 
services. Thank you so much! 

XXXX

Scully's apartment
1:45 AM, Sunday

Scully opened the window to let in the cool spring 
air. It touched her fresh-from-the-shower skin and 
sent a shiver down her spine. It wasn't the only thing 
that elicited a shiver this evening, but was something 
that might help bring back all the memories for a 
curtain call. What she needed to capture and hold, 
more than anything else that happened tonight was the 
feel of his arms as they encircled her body. Being 
held by him during a moment of non-duress sparked 
feelings of warmth, security and even a strange kind 
of vindication. For a few hours, everything that had 
ever gone wrong in their lives seemed worth all the 
trouble because nothing could feel more 'right.' Their 
cares floated away with every ball that joined the 
stars for a brief dance in the night sky.

What she needed to release, however, was the one 
crushing moment of disappointment she experienced as 
they stood by her car door after the dance was done. 
He looked down at her with an unguarded smile that 
seemed to light from the deepest regions within; she 
almost closed her eyes in anticipation of sealing 
every promise offered by the look in his eyes. Perhaps 
it was the flicker of her lashes that signaled his 
guards back to duty. During that brief moment, his 
smile faded into one given by one coworker to another. 
He wished her a good night as he turned and headed 
toward his own vehicle.

It was hard to remember the sweet without 
concentrating on the bitter taste that followed all 
too soon.

Kalispell, Montana
4:45 AM, Sunday

Anna knew walking through the woods probably wasn't 
her wisest course of action. But it was safe. Nothing 
bad ever happened in Kalispell, Montana. Besides, 
walking through the woods in order to reach the lake 
at sunrise, was such an incredible experience, it had 
become addictive. 

There was that delicious pre-dawn chill in the air as 
she strolled among the ancient trees. She was right on 
schedule. Just as the sky would begin to lighten, she 
would reach the clearing where she could watch the 
warm colors of daybreak celebrate their daily victory 
over the power of night. She let out a small laugh. 
She was reading way too much poetry lately. Ah, well. 
She had a lot of spare time. The library was not 
exactly overflowing with patrons.

She used her flashlight to guide her through the path 
that would take her to the final clearing and stopped 
dead in her tracks. The amount of light she was seeing 
was much more than the small flashlight could ever 
provide.

Anna looked up.

There was a spark-a brilliant white dot of light high 
in a small space amongst the trees. It slowly made its 
way down until it was about eight feet from the ground 
and then simply hovered. There was another spark-this 
one blue-that followed the same routine. And finally, 
a red spark ignited from nowhere and quietly fell 
until it was side by side with the other two.

Anna watched in amazement as the three sparks slapped 
against each other and multiplied, dancing in a 
whirlwind fashion. They moved faster and faster and 
instead of following the laws of gravity and 
descending, they rose higher and higher until they 
soared above the highest tree and then ... simply 
disappeared.

US Highway 93
Monday, 4:49 PM

"You're awfully quiet today, Scully," Mulder gave her 
a quick glance before looking down at the map that lay 
on the seat between them.

Scully looked blindly at the scenery passing before 
them as they made their way to meet with their 
eyewitness to . . . what? She bit her lip, repressing 
a rude remark about Mulder's search for patriotic 
alien sightings. They had investigated stranger 
things, she supposed. It was just the timing that 
bothered her. The office wasn't busy. But Mulder *had* 
to find something to do every single moment of every 
single day. They could have had a free weekend; he had 
to go digging through the archives and running off to 
meet with Arthur Dales. Still, that didn't have to be 
a bad thing. She thought he might have learned 
something from the experience. It had seemed to touch 
him enough that he actually took a few hours to 'stop 
and smell the horsehide.' She had even allowed herself 
to hope for more: that the simple, but extremely 
intimate, physical encounter signaled a shift in their 
relationship.  But she was completely wrong. The 
thought, apparently, held no allure for Mulder and as 
soon as this quirky report passed his desk, he lost 
absolutely no time in booking their flight and having 
them jet across the country to investigate.

"Scully?" Damn. He never could leave things alone.

"Yes?"

"Is everything all right?"

"Sure. Fine."

He laughed. "Whatever?"

"What?" She shot him a look.

"Nothing. I'm just remembering another time you seemed 
pissed off at me for no apparent reason."

"Mulder, I do not have to fill every moment of every 
day with what would amount to useless noise. I don't 
have anything to talk about right now, and as far as 
the case is concerned, I'm reserving judgement on that 
until we hear the details."

"Oh-kay."

She knew the silence was momentary.

"So, Scully," she couldn't suppress a small smile at 
the hesitation in his voice, "could you ever live in a 
place like this?"

"No," she said, without need for much thought.

"No?"

"I like cities, Mulder."

"Hmmm."

"Hmmm . . . what?"

"I just thought the quiet life would hold more appeal 
to you. You've told me so yourself, many times."

She turned to face him. "Just what-in our six years of 
partnership, gave you the impression that I was 
longing for life in the woods? I would like a few 
quiet moments now and then but complete isolation-no."

He looked at the road straight ahead. "Once in a 
while, I think I could be happy in a cabin by a lake. 
Wake up at the crack of dawn, go fishing . . . "

"Was 'On Golden Pond' rerun again last night?"

She smiled at the sound of his soft laughter. "Face 
it, Mulder. You are physically incapable of complete 
relaxation. I'm sure when you are lying on your couch 
at night watching whatever it is you're watching-
somewhere in the back of your mind-you are waiting to 
get the "relaxation bit' over and done with so you can 
have enough strength to go running off again."

"Isn't that the goal of relaxation?"

"Not necessarily. Sometimes you do it because it's 
enjoyable. Life can have enjoyable moments."

"I know. I had fun Saturday. Didn't you?"

"Of course I did. But it was a fluke. An x-file. 
Probably more of one than the red, white and blue 
sparks in the sky."

"Scully . . . "

"Forget it, Mulder. I shouldn't have said anything. 
You are who you are and I'm not trying to change that. 
I just think you could never really enjoy the type of 
lifestyle you're dreaming of. I guess you could always 
prove me wrong someday."

She went back to looking at the scenery knowing that, 
this time, he would not break the silence. He was a 
seeker of truth, but sometimes, the truth hurt. He 
would always be running--searching for some holy grail 
to the exclusion of everything and everyone in his 
life. 

Sometimes, the truth hurt them both.

Monday, 5:59
Public Library, Kalispell, MT

Anna felt like an idiot. She had to usher them in the 
back room when they came in before everyone in town 
would know what she had done. If she knew that the FBI 
would come flying out the day after, she would never 
have reported the incident.

As a case study of people, it was rather interesting 
to watch the two agents they sent. The man was leaning 
forward, seeming to be interested in every word she 
had to say. The woman sat back in her chair and could 
only communicate her skepticism more by crossing her 
arms over her chest-but she was too well-mannered, or 
well-trained-to do that.

She didn't blame Agent Scully. She had been pretty 
skeptical herself. She had spent a good hour after 
dawn, climbing trees and looking for some sort of 
electronic equipment that could account for the 
lights. Unfortunately, she couldn't climb that high 
due to a bad case of vertigo and found nothing on the 
lower halves of the trees.

"This vision-was it frightening?" Agent Mulder asked.

"No, not at all. It was more fascinating than 
frightening. And, well, it was pretty. Like a tornado 
of color that was just there to kind of amuse you. 
There was no scary noise. Just little multiplying 
lights spinning together until they were simply gone."

"In red, white and blue?" Agent Scully asked.

"Yes."

"And you reported this because . . . " She was a tough 
customer, all right.

"Because I thought I should. I wasn't frightened. I 
didn't feel threatened. If anything, it seemed like an 
unexpected treat. But it was out of the ordinary, and 
even though I looked, I couldn't find a source. So, I 
thought someone might want to investigate in case 
there was more to it than met my eye. I had no idea 
the sheriff would contact the FBI. If I had known, I 
might have made another choice."

Anna focused her dark brown eyes on the agent's blue 
pair. She hadn't felt like she was in this much of a 
staring contest since first grade when Becky Myers bet 
her a bag of jelly beans that she would blink first. 
She really liked jelly beans and thoroughly enjoyed 
the spoils of her victory later.

In a few moments, Agent Scully blinked and Anna 
rejoiced in her non-jelly bean victory. She had 
convinced Agent Scully she was telling the truth. 
Whether the other woman found it important or not, she 
didn't think Anna was a complete crackpot and that was 
all Anna could ask for.
 
On the road again
7:45 PM
Monday

Scully watched Mulder as he looked at the signs on the 
road. She knew he was looking for lodging before he 
even said a word.

"Why are we staying over, Mulder?"

"Because Anna Winters isn't the only one who has seen 
these lights. They've been seen several times a week 
since the original sighting was reported about a month 
ago.  And you saw her. She's a reputable witness. This 
is not some teenaged prank."

"But what was she doing in the woods at that time of 
night, Mulder?"

"You heard her, she likes watching the sun come up and 
this particular stretch of woods leads to the duck 
pond in Woodland Park, where the sunrise is supposed 
to be spectacular."

"And you believed her? A grown woman gets up in the 
middle of the night to trek through the woods to share 
daybreak with wild fowl."

"Sure, you said so yourself, Scully. It's not the big 
city. Standards of excitement are different."

"So, we're staying here in the hopes that you can 
share in a little rural thrill?"

"I take my thrills where I can get them."

He made a sharp turn off the road and Scully watched 
him park in front of the Glacier Motel. 

Thrills. Mulder was a big thrill-junkie, all right. 
She adjusted her skirt and followed him.



An evening apart was just what they needed. Of course, 
it wasn't a full evening. They would be meeting around 
5 AM to take a little walk in the woods but, for now, 
it was a nice break. Scully had taken a short trip to 
get some sandwiches and ate in her room. She took a 
long, leisurely shower and watched the news on 
television.

By 11 PM, she kind of missed him.

By 4 AM, she jumped the gun and went to his room. He 
opened the door and his face registered his surprise. 
"You're early."

"Well, I figured by the time we found the exact spot . 
. ."

"Okay. Give me a moment." He grabbed a backpack filled 
with various essentials and shrugged into a jacket. 

They traveled through the countryside in silence and 
left the car by the edge of the woods. A small hike 
led them to the spot Anna had told them about. And 
they waited.

"We could sit," Mulder suggested, as they stood 
around, shuffling from one foot to the other and 
looking skywards.

"We could."

They sat.

Mulder pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars 
and instructed Scully to flash a beam of light around 
the woods. Aside from disturbing a few birds' slumber, 
nothing else could be seen or heard.

Scully watched Mulder as he took out each and every 
high-tech toy in his backpack and tested them out.

When the sun rose and no light display took place, 
Mulder spent a couple of hours climbing trees, further 
up than she expected him to. 

Finally, he jumped from a fairly high limb and was by 
her side once again.

"Nothing?" she asked.

"Nothing.

He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small 
nudge. "Come on."

"Where are we going now?"

"To the duck pond, of course. I could use a rural 
thrill about now, couldn't you?"

They made their way through the woods to a sudden 
clearing and walked down a small hill. There it was. 
The spectacular colors of dawn had disappeared leaving 
a calm, peaceful body of water surrounded by the cool 
mist of morning. A few birds were calmly paddling 
through the water.  It was easy to forget about 
America's vast and varied scenic repertoire when one 
lived in the city. Even while traveling here, Scully 
had ignored what was right in front of her eyes. But 
she was seeing it in all its majesty now. She felt as 
if the entire world boiled down to one lake, two 
people and a bunch of ducks. She laughed softly.

"You got a little thrill?" Mulder asked in a fairly 
good Yiddish accent.

"Yes, I think I did. It's nice."

Mulder dumped the backpack on the ground and stretched 
his arms out.  Scully wasn't sure why. He looked like 
he was either exercising stiff limbs or embracing the 
view before them.

"You see, this is the way to start off a day. 
Remembering that there is real beauty in this world 
but even this big old lake is just one infinitesimal 
speck in the universe. And, if it's a speck, what are 
we? And, yet, we have our place."

Oh, uh. There was that feeling again. Mulder was 
reminding himself he was only human again, and that 
was a very dangerous thing since it reminded her that 
she was, too.

"Have you ever made love outdoors, Scully?" he asked.

"What?" Surely, her hearing just went haywire.

"I'm not propositioning you. I'm just curious."

"Um. No. Not outside."

"Translation: you did it in a car. Technically, not 
outside but not in a warm bed, either."

"What about you?"

"Yes. With Phoebe mostly. She was a bit of a 
daredevil-exhibitionist-whatever."

"And you take your thrills where you can."

"Something like that."

Mulder was far away, probably with Phoebe, reliving 
past glories. If Scully were a different woman, she 
would do something to drag him back to the present. 
But she wasn't. They were on duty. It was as simple as 
that. And even if they weren't, there were 
consequences to impulsive behavior.

She sighed and he turned to look at her. "Let's go 
back. We'll stay here another day or so and then, if 
we don't clear up this red, white and blue mystery, 
we'll leave it as an open x-file and leave, all 
right?"

"Okay."


Glacier Motel
Mulder's Room Tuesday, 10:27 AM

They met up in his room an hour later. It gave them 
both enough time to shower, change and for Mulder to 
do a bagel and coffee run. Breakfast was fairly quiet. 
Even though it was mid-morning, the hush that had 
surrounded them all night long stayed with them.

"I didn't like it outdoors much," Mulder said 
suddenly, sipping his coffee thoughtfully.

"You didn't like what?"

"Making love. Having sex, really."

She gave him a quick glance over her own coffee cup. 
"Really?" she said, in a noncommittal manner, hoping 
he'd drop this bizarre subject.

"Well, the sex was quick and dangerous and I was young 
so that was all good, but it was just something to 
talk about later. Kind of like skydiving or any other 
extreme sport. Something to tell your grandkids."

"You will be a very strange grandfather if you tell 
the kids about that."

He laughed. "I think that would be a given, even 
without the sex stories. I just meant, you don't 
remember the feelings or even the woman all that much. 
You're too busy concentrating on whether someone is 
whipping around the corner at that moment and will see 
your ass in the air."

Scully nodded with her lips pursed tightly. The 
subject matter was not making her comfortable but she 
wanted him to feel free to talk to her about anything. 
This definitely qualified.

"Did you feel comfortable in a car?"

"I'm not exactly comfortable now. I don't want to talk 
about weird sexual encounters. I mean, what's the 
point?"

"There is no point. It's just conversation."

She stood up and tossed the remnants of her breakfast 
in his trashcan. "Well, maybe we'll continue this 
conversation at a later date. Right now, I think I'd 
like to catch up on some sleep."

She went over to the door, reached for the knob and 
felt his hand come down over hers.

"No."

"No?"

"Don't go," he said, wrapping his arms around her 
again. It was different than the batting practice the 
other day, when his arms were confident and secure. 
She could feel his uncertainty in the ginger way he 
was holding her, in the way he was barely breathing.

"Mulder, this is . . ."

"This is what? It's you and me completely alone. As we 
always are, in some ways. But it's also different. 
It's quiet and relaxed and I just can't do this 
anymore, Scully. I can't go back into the back into 
the battle-pretending that one man and one woman can 
make a difference when half the time, the biggest 
battle is with myself--keeping my feelings for you in 
check. It's a battle I no longer want to win."

His arms tightened around her a bit and he dipped his 
head to her shoulder. He placed a small, tentative 
kiss on the top of her sweater and then nuzzled closer 
to the neckline. He placed another extremely gentle 
kiss on her neck. She felt herself shiver all the way 
down to her toes.

"This is what I wanted to do on Saturday," he 
whispered, kissing her again, a little more boldly.

"Why didn't you?" she heard herself say over the sound 
of the beating of her heart.

"It seemed too big a step to take. I didn't want you 
to run off."

"I wouldn't have. Maybe I would. I don't know."

"You would have." He was right. Mulder took her by 
surprise that evening and all the hopes for more were 
written into the scenario after the moment had passed. 
If he had made his move then, she would have run for 
the hills because it wouldn't have been in keeping 
with the person she expected him to be.

"Are you running now?" he asked her, grazing his face 
against the shoulder of her sweater.

It was put up or shut up time. If she really wanted 
him to change their relationship, she had to show she 
was willing. She took her hand off the door and used 
it to guide Mulder's head closer to her neck. This 
time, he abandoned his hesitation and applied a full, 
open-mouthed kiss to her skin. He let out a low moan 
that almost made her knees buckle.  

"Can we move away from the door?" he asked and she 
nodded in response.

He unwrapped his arms and stepped away from her. She 
could run, if she wanted to. She was still facing the 
door and she would never have to see his face. If 
there was a mark on her skin, she could cover it up 
and they'd never discuss it or the momentary insanity 
that caused it. That much she knew about both of them. 
But he was right. You choose your battles and this one 
was over a long time ago. Perhaps it was one that 
never should have been undertaken to begin with.

She turned to him and he smiled. 

He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, 
turning it palm side up before placing a kiss in the 
center. Who was she kidding? A new battle had just 
begun. One with herself to keep from quivering to 
death while she held her emotions in check long enough 
for him to actually do something that merited actual 
quivering. It had just been such a long, long wait 
that her body was jumping the gun a bit.

"Say something, Scully."

"What else did you want to do on Saturday?"

He put his hands on her shoulders and drew her into 
his arms. He bent his knees a bit and she met him more 
than halfway by standing on her toes. Their lips 
touched in a soft, sweet caress. Then another, and 
then there was nothing gentle about their kissing. 
Scully was straining all her muscles to reach as much 
of him as she possibly could while realizing all that 
stooping couldn't possibly be good for his back.

She pushed him a little and he walked backwards until 
he hit his bed and then toppled them both over on it. 
Scully adjusted herself over him so she wouldn't be 
elbowing or kneeing him in painful areas and then 
resumed kissing his sweet mouth. This time, she pushed 
aside the quivers and ignored the rapid and audible 
breathing. She just wanted more.

And so did he. They touched and then tugged off 
clothing in a fairly sloppy manner and weren't even 
fully undressed when he reversed their positions and 
pushed her on her back. They both had their underwear 
on and Mulder was wearing one sock. He held both her 
hands out by the sides of her head and kissed her 
slowly and deeply. 

"We were going too fast," he murmured against her ear.

"I didn't think you minded."

"I didn't. I don't. But we should slow down a bit."

She ran her hands through his hair. He closed his eyes 
as she slid her fingers through the soft strands. She 
then trailed her hands down his neck, across his back 
and to his behind. She slipped her fingers under the 
waistband of his boxers and started to slide them off, 
gliding her hands across his buttocks as the material 
made its way down. He lifted himself up a bit and let 
her guide them to his thighs, then he reached down and 
pulled them off-laughing as he found the single sock 
and removed that as well. He lay down beside her and 
she reached over and touched him. She used one finger 
to gently outline the length and then used her entire 
hand to give him a tentative stroke or two before he 
stopped her.
 
He pulled her up to a sitting position and unfastened 
her bra. As the material fell away, he didn't let her 
flesh cool in the air of the motel room. He ran his 
mouth over her soft skin and gave each nipple a kiss, 
followed by a small tug, followed by another kiss.  
She put her arms around his head and lifted his face 
up to hers.

"Mulder, I can't. I just can't," she hurried when she 
saw the look of crushing disappointment on his face. 
"No, not that. I just can't wait anymore. Please, we 
can take it slow later but now-I just want to-please."

He nodded, quickly slipped off her panties and 
positioned himself over her. He looked into her eyes 
once more and she closed them as he slowly slid just 
an inch of himself into her. He was waiting, she had 
no idea why. It wouldn't be supremely comfortable this 
first time simply because it had been so long since 
she made love to anyone. But Mulder was Mulder. He 
could push her to do the near superhuman in a work 
situation but he obviously thought she'd break in two 
in a romantic one. Well, that was not true. Mulder was 
not Mulder. He had been full of surprises lately. 
Maybe all he needed was a little encouragement.

 She put her hands on his backside and pushed him down 
further. It felt like too much and not enough all at 
once. She took a deep breath and pushed him as far as 
he would go. She whimpered a bit as her body gave a 
small, painful protest. He pulled up immediately and 
sank in slowly, and then did it again and again until 
her body fully accommodated his and their movements 
became more fluid and sure. She felt the shift in 
their positions when his movements became quicker and 
stronger. He was close and trying so hard not to come 
before he satisfied her. She opened her eyes and 
watched him, his eyes boring into hers, his forehead 
and chest glistening in perspiration. He reached out 
one hand and grabbed onto the bedpost, thrusting 
himself deeper into her and then began pumping much 
more quickly. There was that pleasure-pain sensation 
again but the pleasure was definitely winning out. He 
sensed it and slowed down one last time, thrusting as 
deeply as he possibly could. It was enough. She rode 
out her orgasm while clutching at his back and 
shoulders. In a few seconds, she helped him ride out 
his by clutching at his backside. He'd carry those 
scratches proudly for days.

They barely said anything to each other for hours 
afterwards. And yet they were awake a good deal of the 
time. Either one or the other would drift off, only to 
be awakened to touches of discovery or long, wet 
kisses. Mostly, they stared at each other and smiled 
gently. To know someone thoroughly for years and find 
a new, undiscovered side to them was somewhat of an 
adventure and, most definitely, a thrill.

The day drifted toward evening and Scully was in the 
middle of a catnap when she felt Mulder turn away from 
her for the first time in hours.  He was trying to 
leave and she had a bad feeling about it. Soon, it 
would be time for them to go back into the woods and 
resume their search for the source of the lights. Work 
and duty would rear their heads once again and remind 
them both they had no time or business doing what they 
did this evening.

She reached out and put a hand on his bare hip. She 
leaned forward and kissed his shoulder. "Just one more 
minute, Mulder."

"I have to go, Scully."

"No, it's all right. I'll leave. It's your room. I 
just, I'm glad about tonight. And it won't get in the 
way. We'll be fine. Just the way we always have. I 
just need a minute." A minute to soak up the feelings; 
to feel bare skin against bare skin; to remember 
exactly how he felt in her arms. One minute to 
potentially last a lifetime.  She slid her hand up to 
his waist and he shivered in response. 

Or was it just a shiver? No. It was a laugh. What the 
hell was so funny?

"Scully, I have to go to the bathroom. I'm not leaving 
or giving you some sort of kiss-off. I just didn't 
want to shake the bed since we both had very little 
sleep and now-I've *got* to go."

He got up and dragged his naked body over to the 
bathroom. Scully could feel the flush on her face but 
told herself to get over it. Perhaps she wasn't quite 
the Mulder-expert she thought she was.

"Scully?" he said, poking his head back out of the 
bathroom. "One other thing-for the record, we're going 
to be more than fine. We'll finally be battling with 
the right people." He winked at her and went inside.

Kalispell, Montana
Wednesday, 4:30 AM

They were sore, showered, dressed and fed when they 
reached the place where they sat the night before. 

"You really think we'll see something?" Scully asked, 
unsuccessfully holding back a yawn.

"I'm pretty sure we will. As a matter of fact, while 
you slept, I almost guaranteed it."

"You what?"

"You'll see in a few minutes."

"You have powers you didn't tell me about, Mulder."

"Ah, Scully. You don't even know the half of it yet," 
he said, giving her a swift kiss on the top of her 
head.

"So, you found the source, huh?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Mulder ... I think you might have to tell me everything 
now. Total disclosure. I think those are the rules."

"You *think*?"

"It's been awhile and it's not like my relationships 
were much more solid than yours."

"Well, if you were expecting total disclosure, I can 
see why." He pointed at the night sky. "Look!"

She watched as a single white spark flared and then 
started falling. About midway down, it stopped, only 
to be joined by a blue spark, then a red. When all 
three were lined up, they bounced, multiplied and spun 
around in a frenzy of color. Scully looked up in 
wonder. It *was* beautiful. In the quiet of the night 
sky, in the sanctity of this forest with a clear sky 
above and wide-open spaces just a short distance away, 
it was a strange reminder of the magic that existed in 
this world. It took something that was naturally 
beautiful and added something weird and wonderful that 
pushed it into a realm somehow above and beyond the 
one they were in.

And then-it was gone. But no sadness remained. The 
excitement lingered.

"Wow," Scully said and Mulder laughed at her 
uncharacteristic use of the word.

"Now, do you want to know or do you just want to . . . 
believe."

She sighed. There was always a catch, wasn't there? 
She wanted both and had to choose.

"Tell me."

"Ambrose-come on down."

A short, squat man came down from the tree in record 
time.

"You were up there all along and no one spotted you?" 
Scully asked after a brief introduction to Ambrose M. 
Johannsen, master hologramist. 

"No, ma'am. I just set up my equipment. It's very 
tiny. Revolutionary, really. The lasers are about the 
size of a credit card and I camouflaged them under 
some leaves-and then set them on timers. Pretty much 
in the same two hours time frame-going off either 
every night, or every other night."

"But, why?"

"Because it's pretty. I mean, hell, what was I going 
to do? I originally invented it as an alternative to 
Fourth of July fireworks-kind of super-sparks without 
the noise but-really, folks like the noise. It's part 
of the total Independence Day experience.  Then, I 
thought, why not remind people of the red, white and 
blue kind of unexpectedly-in a different time and 
setting than the normal one. You'd be surprised at the 
number of people who actually take nature hikes in 
this part of the country. I did it myself when I was 
inventing this thing. People like this place. It's 
quiet and safe and beautiful. Lets them think. I'm 
just giving them a little reward.  I didn't mean any 
harm."

"I explained that to the authorities," Mulder said. 
"And you can actually continue. Word will be spread 
about what you have set up and if folks want to come 
here and look-it's all right. Just don't charge 
admission!" Mulder told him.

"No sir. I just want to give folks a little thrill, 
you know?"

Mulder smiled in Scully's direction. "Yes, I know."


On the road, 7:45 AM

"So-how did you find out about Ambrose's?" Scully 
asked.

"Well, from Anna's description-I thought it was 
probably a hologram. I did some research on how many 
people worked on them in Kalispell, Montana and, I 
know this will shock you, Scully, but Ambrose is it. 
He's a science teacher who actually has invented new 
and innovative hologram technology."

"And when did you find this out?"

"Before we left DC. I did the research after reading 
the police report Anna filed. I just wanted us to get 
away. There was always an off chance I could be wrong 
and we'd have a real case but I was hoping we 
wouldn't. Not this time. I guess I just wanted us to 
experience the 'magic' ourselves. We did it on 
Saturday and I wanted more. Much more, obviously. 
Anyway, when you conked out on me after I went to the 
bathroom, I went into your room and called him and he 
was very easy to 'break.' I think he was ready to sing 
when I introduced myself as an FBI agent. Then I did a 
little background check to make sure he's legit. He 
is. He's just a nice guy-born on the Fourth of July, 
by the way, hence his predisposition toward red, white 
and blue-who wants to add a little spark to the life 
of this town."

"It's nice that they are letting him continue," she 
said, leaning her head back against the headrest and 
closing her eyes.

"It might add a little to the tourist industry. Or 
maybe not. But it's a little bit of fun for the people 
here. That can't be bad. And, who knows, maybe Ambrose 
will branch out and do more seasonal holograms. I'd 
fly back up here for a dancing shamrock. Wouldn't 
you?"

"Mulder?"

"Hmmm?"

"Was this a one-time only thing?"

"As I recall, it's already been more than one time."

"You know what I mean."

"No," he said, getting serious. "I always thought it 
would be . . . when I pictured us together. Just sort 
of falling into bed due to some extreme stress we were 
under and kind of getting it out of the way, almost. 
But, reality isn't like that at all. The fact is-I've 
wanted you forever and I'm not sure that's ever going 
to change just because we've . . . done the deed."

She smiled.

"Scully?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you have any thoughts on the subject? I've known 
you for years and all of a sudden, you pick these few 
days to clam up on me. Your timing sucks."

"I agree with you completely. How's that?"

"Ooh. Good start. Keep going."

"You are all wise and wonderful . . . "

"Uh, huh."

"And that's all you're getting out of me. Let me sleep 
a little, Mulder. Maybe we can get in some batting 
practice, or something, later."

"I'm definitely retiring here," Mulder said and 
pointed the car back toward the motel.


Kalispell, Montana
8:05 AM

Ambrose climbed the tree to readjust the timer. It 
should be set more or less for the same time every 
night. Now that people were going to know what to 
expect when they came out here, he'd hate for them to 
be disappointed. He had spent a long time creating his 
little patriotic display and was happy it was going to 
be seen and, hopefully, appreciate by others. 

He reached the equipment and frowned. The timer was 
off.

Theoretically, it shouldn't have worked at all 
tonight.

He wondered if he should maybe stop those FBI agents 
and tell them.

Nah. He'd just fix the timer and leave things be. 

They probably had better things to do. 

The End