TITLE: Save The Last Dance For Me 1/1

AUTHOR: Carol Gritton

E-MAIL: grey.lady@virgin.net

DISCLAIMER:  Fox Mulder, Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter, 1013 and
Fox TV.  They are used without permission and no infringement of
copyright is intended.

RATING: G

CLASSIFICATION: V

SUMMARY: The date has arrived?

COMMENTS:  Feedback is greatly appreciated and will be made welcome at
the above address.

Save The Last Dance For Me 1/1
By Carol Gritton (grey.lady@virgin.net)

January 31, 1999

     Fox Mulder sat in his apartment, counting down the hours and
minutes until the world as he knew it would end.  Was this what it was
like to be a condemned man, he wondered, waiting for that final moment
when life would be extinguished?
     Some life, Mulder thought bitterly – nothing but heartache and
unhappiness throughout the years.  It was never-ending.  He stared at
the bottle of vintage Tattinger champagne that stood on the coffee
table – he'd bought it with the intention of cracking it open the day
he was reunited with his sister.  Now that day would never come.
     Mulder had spent the best part of his adult life trying to save
people, as if that would somehow atone for what had befallen Samantha.
Amongst them were the less fortunate in society; children and adults
alike, victims of sometimes unspeakable crimes or cruelty.  And when
he tried to save the world, no-one was listening.

     Mulder hadn't even bothered to entertain thoughts of escape –
where was there to escape to?  As he understood it, no place on Earth
would be spared – there would be no hiding place for those trying to
avoid the coming apocalypse.  He leaned forward and took hold of the
champagne, thoughtfully twisting the bottle between his palms.  One
thing was for sure – he didn't want to end up as fodder for some
gestating alien to feed off.  Within a few minutes, a decision was
made.  Mulder shrugged on a jacket, picked up the champagne and
pocketed his car keys.
     As Mulder drove, he passed party after party; people celebrating
the end of the old  millennium and waiting to herald in the new.
Houses and apartment buildings blazed with lights; Christmas trees
still stood in windows and on front lawns, festive garlands adorned
doors and windows.  Raucous music blared out of those same houses, and
crowds of merrymakers sang and danced in the streets – every last one
of them blissfully unaware that they were facing oblivion within a few
hours.

     The cross town journey to Scully's apartment took longer than
usual – Mulder had to drive slowly to avoid the knots of drunken
carousers staggering on the sidewalks and the streets.  Maybe they had
the right idea, he mused – if they got so drunk they passed out, they
would never know what hit them.  Some would consider that a blessing
in disguise, given the horror that was to come. For once, the
doom-mongers who paraded by day up and down the city's main streets
wearing sandwich boards proclaiming that the end of the world was nigh
were right – only the end would come in a way they could never have
imagined.

     The light from Scully's apartment was subdued, but at least it
signalled that she was in.  Mulder grabbed the champagne and headed on
into the building.  He knocked on her door, but didn't announce
himself like he usually did.  He heard her footsteps cross the floor,
then they stopped – she was now looking through the security hole.
Then the door was opening.
     "Mulder!  What are you doing here?" she asked in quiet surprise.
     "I thought you might like some company," he replied.  "And I need
someone to help me drink this."  He proffered the champagne bottle.
     "You'd better come in."  Scully stood aside to let him pass, then
closed the door behind him.  "I'll get some glasses."
     While Scully was in the kitchen, Mulder selected some music from
her collection and slipped the disc into the CD player.  The soft
strains of some bluesy jazz would make for a pleasant backdrop to
conversation.
     "What's this, Mulder?  A party for two?" asked Scully, coming
back with two champagne flutes and setting them on the table.  She
handed back the bottle, adding, "Make yourself useful and open this."
     "I don't know if it should be a party or a wake," he answered,
popping the cork and pouring the bubbling champagne into the glasses.
He handed one to Scully.  "So let's make it a toast to absent
friends – and family."
     Scully nodded, thinking of her father and her sister Melissa, sad
that they were no longer here, but glad that they had been spared what
was to come.  Mulder was also far away, thinking of his sister, and of
his father, who had come to question his role in 'The Project' and had
ultimately died because of it.

     "I thought you'd be with your family, Scully," said Mulder,
setting his half empty glass on the coffee table.
     "I've said my goodbyes, Mulder, in not so many words."  Scully
took another sip of her champagne.  "What about your mother?"
     For the first time in years, Mulder had spent Christmas in
Connecticut with his mother – he felt it was the least he could do as
it was the last ever time they'd see one another.  Mrs Mulder had been
surprised but pleased to have her son with her over the festive
season.  They'd talked in a way that they had not been able to talk in
a long time – it was almost as if she knew she would never see her son
again.
     "I've said my goodbyes, too, Scully," he answered quietly,
recalling the way his mother's eyes had filled with tears when he'd
told her that he loved her.  Mrs Mulder hadn't heard those words from
her son for so long, and now she would never hear them again. "I'm
where I choose to be, and with the person I choose to be with," he
said softly.

     Suddenly restless, Mulder crossed to the window, moved the
curtains aside and gazed out.  "Look at them, Scully – they have no
idea what's about to happen."
     Scully moved to his side and looked out at the revellers.  "Maybe
that's just as well, Mulder – there'd be mass panic.  Maybe it's
better that they remain in ignorance."
     "They wouldn't believe you if you told them," sighed Mulder, long
used to his words falling on deaf ears.  "To the average man on the
street, the whole scenario would be so far fetched?"
     Scully rested a hand on his arm and spoke softly.  "We did our
best, Mulder."
     "Our best wasn't good enough, Scully," Mulder replied bitterly.
"Just look at what we've both lost."
     "I know, Mulder.  In the end, this thing was bigger than both of
us."

     They drained their glasses of the champagne.
     "I'm glad you came, Mulder."  Scully's voice was barely a
whisper.  "I didn't want to die alone."
     "Me neither, Scully."  He took her hands and drew her up onto her
feet.  "Dance with me."
     "Mulder. Are you crazy?  We're about to die, and you want to
dance?"  Long being used to her partner's eccentricities, Scully's
tone carried no reproach.
     "Surely you wouldn't refuse a dying man his last request?"
parried Mulder softly, his eyes wrinkling as he smiled.
     Scully smiled too.  "Of course not, Mulder."
     "Good.  One of my favourite songs is coming up next."  On cue,
the relaxing sound of Billie Holliday singing "There Is No Greater
Love" trickled into the air.  Mulder took Scully into his arms, and
holding her close, began to move slowly in time with the music.

     A low hum filled the air, becoming louder and louder.
     "They're here, Scully," murmured Mulder, against her hair, and he
felt her arms tighten around him as they continued their slow dance.
    Joyous cries became cries of fear and panic as the alien craft
loomed large in the sky – people screamed and scattered in all
directions; their celebrations rudely and abruptly curtailed.
     "And so it begins," said Mulder softly.  "Are you afraid,
Scully?"
     She pulled back a little and looked up into his eyes.  "I'm not
afraid, Mulder."  He remembered her saying when she was returned from
her abduction that death held no fear for her.
     "Me neither?" He gave her a tender smile.  "I can face anything
with you by my side."
     "Are you trying to sweet talk me, Mulder?" smiled Scully, her
voice soft.
     "Never, Scully.  I'm not the sweet talking type."  He drew her
head down onto his shoulder and they continued their slow movements in
a tight circle.  Mulder's hand touched her hair and he murmured, "I
love you, Scully."  There was a brief pause and then, "I thought I
should tell you before we?"
     Scully's fingers came to rest upon his lips.  "Sshh, Mulder?"  In
the low light, he could make out the tears shimmering in her blue
eyes.  "I love you, too."  They both moved back slightly, then their
lips met in their first and final kiss as everything went black and
the world as they knew it ceased to exist?

The End