TITLE: Dinner with Bill (1/1) 
AUTHOR: Brekke (elseheavens@hotmail.com)
CATERGORY: MSR Bill angst?

SUMMARY: Bill notices something different about his baby 
sister.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.



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The restaurant is crowded. Not an unusual condition for a 
Saturday night. But as usual, Luciano has a table ready for
his favourite Navy Officer and his beautiful kid sister.

What can I say? Rank has *some* privellidges. 

It's been a long time since I've had dinner with my sister.
It used to be a common event every time I happend to be
in town, but lately things have been strained between us,
and more than once, I know Dana has backed out with a
phony excuse. 

It pains me every time I hear that little hitch in her voice,
a Dana telltale of a lie. But nevertheless I keep trying. 
And to my surpise, this time it paid off. 

"Sure Bill, I'd love to come," she had assured me instantly
over the phone. 

Maybe there was hope afterall. Maybe she'd finally got wise
of Fox Mulder and was ready to admit that he was a sorry son
of a bitch after all.

Dana didn't say much while we ate. Normally, I would've been
concerned, but there was this knock-out smile around her lips
as we discussed the petty details of my latest assignment and
the vague details of her latest case, that forced all concern
to the wind.

For the first time in years, my baby sister looks genuinely
happy, and hell, I can put up with some silence for that. 

And then I see it, and every little bit of joy I just felt
sinks to the pit of my stomach, as all the little clues fall
into place. 

She was talking about some old school mate she ran into the
other day while raising the glass of red wine to her lips
when I notice it, and within an instant I know exactly what
it means.

You don't get this far in the Navy, if you don't know how to
read signals, afterall.

And the breathtaking emerald ring on my baby sisters marriage
finger could only mean one thing. 

The ring is so perfect for her. Bold, but not obnoxious, 
heart wrenchingly beautiful in a peculiarly understated way,
and glimmering with from a light that seems to come from
within. Only someone who knows Dana inside out would get her
a ring like that. Only someone close to her.

Only someone like that sorry son of a bitch, Fox Mulder.

I know it can't mean anything else but marriage. Dana has
always felt very strongly about certain traditions. And the
tradition of putting no other ring but a wedding ring on her
marriage finger is in her top ten. 

My stomach churns at the thought and I have to swallow 
convulsively to stop from retching right there and then.

Dana notices my discomfort immediately. "Bill?" she asks with
concern. "Are you alright?" She seems utterly oblivious of
my contemplations of her ring, and in an instant I am glad.
Because in the part of me which is a decent man on occasions,
I know exactly what I have to do.

Gathering every scrap of willpower I possess, I perform the
bravest manouver of my career. "Nothing's wrong, Dana," I
reassure her. "Everything's ...perfect."

The rest of the evening goes without distraction, but I find 
myself claiming an early night. I may be a good man, but I'm
not *that* much of a good man.

As I lean to give her a kiss goodnight on the cheek, however,
I feel like I should say something. Maybe I'll get an 
explantion in return, though I somehow doubt it.

"Take care of yourself, Dana," I tell her, pausing to gather
my courage, and swallow the lump in my throat. "And...and
give my regard to your husband..." I try not to spit out
the name, I really do. "..Mulder."

Her eyes widen with recognition, and she blesses me with a
broad, honest-to-god, light up the sky smile. It almost makes
the whole situation worthwhile to see my baby sister smile 
like that. Almost, but not quite.

All at once I can't keep it in any longer. "And tell him he's
the luckiest son of a bitch alive, and that if he does 
anything wrong by you, I'll kick his sorry ass to kingdom
come." So much for the decent, generous brother attitude, but
Dana doesn't seem to care. 

She hugs me tight to her and whispers 'thank you'. I don't
move, I just watch her as she walks away to her car. 

She actually seems to be glowing from within. Like someone 
flicked a light on inside her. She's happier now than I have
ever seen her in her whole life. She looks like a cat that
just got the cream. And despite the terrible things that
have happend to her, she has that look in her eye that a
person gets when they have their heart's very desire. 

And for one crazy instant, I'm actually grateful to Fox 
Mulder.

___________
 
 THE END
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