Title - News (1/1)
Author - corvus
E-Mail address - corvus_1@hotmail.com
Rating - PG
Category -SRA
Spoilers - Christmas Carol/Emily
Keywords - Mulder/Scully romance
Summary - Bill jr deals with his sister dating the bogey-man.

[Disclaimer: I own neither Dana Scully, nor Fox Mulder. Not Maggie Scully or 
Bill Scully. Certainly not Bill jr. All belong to Fox, Chris Carter, 1013 
productions, DD, GA, etc etc. this is completely unauthorized and non-profit 
making.]


News

Someone knocked at the door. She opened it, and there, with a full grocery 
bag and a bouquet of flowers stood her oldest brother, Bill jr.
"Oh my god!" She hugged him and pulled him into her apartment.
"I was in the neighbourhood.... "
"What are you doing here?"
He smiled. "Just thought I'd drop in. Say hi."
"Does Mom know you're here?"
"Of course; who do you think this is from?" he gestured to the groceries he 
held, and then to the flowers. "These are from me."
She smiled, and took them from him. "Thank you. Now, come and sit down." 
They moved to the sofa. "What are you doing here? Did Mom know you were 
coming?"
"Yeah, it was just a last minute thing, really. Work. I told Mom not to say 
anything, I wanted to surprise you."
"Is Tara with you?"
"No, she's home with the baby."
"How is he?"
"Fine. Bigger than ever. I've got photos back at Mom's. She's cooking dinner 
tonight, can you come?"
"Of course. How long are you around for?"
"Just a couple of days. But enough about me. You're looking good. Happy."
Dana couldn't help smiling. "Yeah, I am. I really am."
Bill narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Mom told me your news."
"Oh."  From the look on his face, she knew exactly what he was talking 
about. Only the previous day she had been worrying about how Bill would 
react to her being with Mulder. Clearly she wasn't going to have to wait to 
find out. "So... what do you think?"
Bill sighed. "I think you know what I think, Dana."
"You hate him. You think he'll treat me badly. You'll never forgive me if I 
stay with him." Bill began to chuckle. "You want me to be single forever, 
or... marry a nice doctor or teacher who'll take care of me, give Mom lots 
of grandkids and talk baseball with you. Anything but be with the evil crazy 
alien seeking g-man. Right? Even if he does take care of me, and probably 
would talk baseball with you if you gave him half a chance."
"I didn't say you should marry a doctor or a teacher. A fireman would do." 
She glared at him. "I'm kidding! Look, I know you think I'm being irrational 
and over protective, but I care about you. And I know I hardly know Mulder, 
but everything I do know about him makes me worry about you. I was worried 
when I thought you were just friends. Now... I just don't want to see you 
get hurt."
"He's not going to hurt me, Bill."
"I don't believe he would intentionally hurt you. But his whole life... he's 
obsessed. Looking for aliens, or whatever. He's on a mission, and he doesn't 
care who gets in the way. This family has already lost enough."
"It's not his fault."
"How can you say that? Ever since you started working with him... Melissa 
died, Dana. You nearly did. You lost your chance to have children, and I 
don't want to think how much danger you've been in that you haven't told us 
about."
"It's not Mulder's fault. What happened to me... someone's to blame, but not 
Mulder. As for Melissa, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It 
should have been me, and there's not a day I don't wish I could change what 
happened. But I can't, Bill. None of us can."
"I know, I didn't mean..."
"If you insist on blaming Mulder for the things that have happened, then 
blame me too. I could have chosen to walk away at any time. No one's forcing 
me to be there. His mission has become mine. As for the danger I sometimes 
encounter, well its the nature of my work. It worries me too, sometimes, but 
I love my job. Believe me, I've thought
about leaving, but I just wouldn't be happy." She leaned forward and put her 
arms around Bill. "You want me to be happy, right?"
"That's all I want, Dana. And for you to be safe."
"I know, but you have no control over that." She pulled back and smiled at 
him. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to live my life the way it makes *me* happy."
"Boy, if I didn't know that by now!"
"I don't like upsetting you, Bill. It makes me think of Dad up there, still 
worrying about me."
"You've never upset me. Not since I left home anyway! But I'm afraid I will 
always worry. Big brother prerogative, I guess. And don't worry about Dad. 
He was always pissed at you for some reason, anyway. And secretly proud. I 
think he got a real kick out of you always doing your own thing."
"I don't think he got a kick out of me joining the bureau."
"Are you kidding? The night you told him, he phoned me to complain about you 
ruining your life.  By the end of the call, he was boasting about his future 
FBI-director daughter."
"And Mulder?"
"He'd probably hate him."
Dana hit him on the arm. "I'm talking about you and Mulder."
"Ah. Well... I can't pretend I like the guy. What can I say? I just don't 
think he's good for you."
"My life, remember?"
"Yeah. Like I said, I just want you to be happy. I guess I'll need some time 
to get used to it."
"I love him, Bill."
"Well, he just better be good to you."


Later...

Someone knocked at the door. After the previous surprise, she looked through 
her peephole. It was Mulder. Even now they were regularly staying at each 
other's place, they were still not entirely sure of the protocol for every 
situation. Dana remembered having a similar dilema about whether or not to 
let herself in a couple of nights previously. She opened the door. He 
grinned. "Hi honey, I'm home."
She didn't move from the doorway, simply raised her eyebrow. She waited 
until his grin faded, and he almost looked heart broken before pulling him 
in and kissing him. "Hey."
Looking over her shoulder, he noticed the vase on the table, filled with 
flowers.
"Secret admirer, Scully?"
"Pity you weren't here earlier. We had a visitor."
Mulder smiled, noticing the *we*. "Yeah? It wasn't that guy, Joe, down the 
hall was it? I think he has a crush on you."
"Mulder, he's 75."
"I'd have a crush on you if I was 75."
"Mulder..."
"Go on. Who came to visit?"
"My brother."
Mulder coughed. "Oh... Bill jr?"
"Yes. Bill jr. He sends his regards."
"I bet."
"Mom told him about us."
"Ah." He grimaced. "Come to congratulate us?"
"Hence the flowers." She smiled. "No, he *was* a little..."
"Homicidal?"
"...concerned. I told him there's nothing to worry about. What a great guy 
you are."
He moved to her, and held her close. "I am that."
"And how you two are going to be best buddies in no time."
"Oh, yeah. No time."
"I'm hoping to convince him over dinner tonight."
He pulled back and looked at her. "You mean I'm not going to see you 
tonight?"
"Of course you are. You're coming with me."
"I don't want to cause a family dispute."
"The way I see it, Mom loves you already. As long as you behave, any 
disputes are Bill's fault."
"Oh, that's comforting."
"It'll be fine."
"I really don't think I should..."
"You're not getting out of it Mulder."
He grinned and took her hand, pulling her towards her bedroom. "Maybe I need 
convincing."
END