Summary: Scully has received some startling information from Fowley that causes her to question her partner's crusade. Who should she trust -- her partner, or his enigmatic ex?

TITLE - A Truth to Find the Lies (1/1)
AUTHOR - Heather D. Behl
E-MAIL ADDRESS - hdbehl@canada.com
RATING - PG for some language, but nothing serious
CATEGORY - V, some A
SPOILERS - Up to and including all of Season 6, except the
finale (which I haven't seen yet... *sniffle*)
KEYWORDS - MS-UST, Diana Fowley
SUMMARY - Scully has received some startling information from
Fowley that causes her to question her partner's crusade. Who
should she trust -- her partner, or his enigmatic ex?
FEEDBACK - I would love it!
NOTE - Yes, I know, I write a lot of Fowley stories -- she's
a very mysterious character, and because of that, she fits
flexibly into many roles. By the way, this is the last part
of a longer story. The first part was basically
uninteresting; it just showed how Fowley visited Scully and
told her a bunch of stuff about Mulder using her and actually
being the opposite of what he tells her to be, CSM is good
guy, etc. I cut it out because I'm too wrapped up in another
story to work on it. Maybe one day, you'll see the full
story.
DISCLAIMER - They aren't mine, they belong to Fox and 10-13
and all those people. I'm just accompanying them on this
harmless little romp through my imagination. I doubt you want
to spend precious millions of dollars in court to claim my
paltry summer job savings. Save your court dollars and take
on some with more money -- Bill Gates, Conrad Black,
Soeharto...


----------------------------------------------------
***A Truth to Find the Lies***
----------------------------------------------------

-SCULLY-

Mulder lied to me. I must find out the truth.

These are the only thoughts raging through my mind as I drive
furiously towards Mulder's apartment.

I have been to the lab technicians and the Lone Gunmen. They
have confirmed some of what Fowley told me. Not all, but enough to
make me suspicious.

Enough to make me realize that he has been hiding things from me all of
these years.

I am going to find the truth, damnit. I'm going to make him
confess and find out how much of what Fowley said is true.

Somehow in my red haze of fury I find my way up to his
apartment door. I slip my key in and open it, not bothering
to knock. Mulder is sitting on his couch, watching TV, and
looks up at me, his mouth open in a big "O" of surprise.
Then he smiles slightly and says, "Hey, Scully."

He is too busy trying to hide his porn magazines to notice
that I am drawing my gun and aiming it at him. He is
babbling something, but my mind won't focus on it. It only
has two thoughts now.

Mulder lied. Must find the truth.

He lifts his head then and sees the gun, and his face whitens
instantaneously. Then it fades into a look of surprise and
confusion.

"Scully?" he murmurs.

"Don't move!" I say, my anger controlling my words.

"Scully, what's going on here?" he asks in his damn
psychologist voice.

"I know," I spit out. "I know all about your schemes. How
you *used* me." I am able to keep my voice reasonably
steady, an amazing feat considering that I am on the verge of
hysteria.

"What?" he asks, a medley of emotions on his face.

"I worked for years with you, thinking that I was helping to
*save* mankind...and now I know that you were just trying to
selfishly save yourself." I hesitate. "And me." I don't
know how much of this is true, but I'll use everything Fowley
told me. Maybe I'll hit on something that will make him
confess.

He murmurs something, but I don't care to listen. I am
enjoying this blazing anger too much. The fury from the
times he left me stranded in DC while he went off hunting
UFOs and aliens has accumulated into this one wonderful
night, and I am relishing it.

"I don't want any part in it anymore, Mulder. You can tell
those colonists or whatever they are that I don't want to be
spared. I won't stand back and watch the rest of my race die
so that I can spare my own life!"

He squirms like a little worm caught between a child's
fingers. "Scully, *please*, I don't know what you are
talking about."

"Diana told me, Mulder," I say, watching his eyes carefully .
"About her abduction."

"What?!" he says incredulously. "Her abduction?!" There is
a look in his eyes I can't quite place my finger on. Guilt,
perhaps.

"I was right, Mulder, you were wrong to trust her. And I was
wrong to trust you and not her." The look on his face is
definitely guilt now. I have him pinned down.

"Oh, God, Scully, what's brought this on?" he asks, and he
steps up to take a pace towards me. He stops suddenly,
looking terrified.

"Kristin Kilar," I say calmly. "Diana Fowley. Engagement."

His face twists with horror and guilt and pain.

My eyes still fixed on him, watching him, I bend down and
pick up the envelope.

"Open it," I say.

His hands are shaking as he opens it. His eyes widen as he
sees what is inside.

"Oh, no, Scully?I can explain."

"The one in your left hand almost matches tests on my own
blood. That is the vaccination you gave me in Antarctica.
You gave copies of these results to the colonists so that
they could know in advance what they were up against."

His mouth drops open. "Oh, God, Scully-"

I feel tears, but I try desperately to damn them inside. I
have to stay on this sudden wave of anger or I'll drown in my
other emotions.

"I ran more tests, Mulder. The virus used by the colonists
is still in your blood, but your vaccination -- and now mine
-- prevents it from destroying you. The reason I got ill in
the first place was because of you, not because of the bee."

"What-"

"I tested the bee. It only had a doping agent. I got sick
because of you."

He looks as if he is about to start sobbing at any second,
and my anger dissipates slightly. I am suddenly aware of how
much this is hurting him.

But I have to find the truth.

Who told you all of this, Scully?" he asks so softly that I
barely hear him.

I try to speak, but my voice catches in my throat.

"Who told you this?" he demands, loudly.

"The people who are trying to stop you and your plans," I
reply softly. "The people who sent me here."

"Who sent you here to do what?"

"To convince you to stop the colonization."

He looks as if I've just kicked him. "That's exactly what
we've been trying to do for years now, Scully!"

"No," I say. No. This can't be all wrong. There must be
some truth. Why else would you lie to me, Mulder?

* * *
-MULDER-

"Where did you get these?" I demand, shaking the papers in my
fist. "Where did you do all of these tests? It was with
Cancer Man, wasn't it? He's behind all this!" My anger is
growing uncontrollably. This can't be happening.

"He's trying to stop you!" she yelled, taking a step towards
me.

"He's trying to tear us apart!" I yell back. "He's trying to
save his own ass! Trying to get you to kill me so that he
can continue his own plans without interference!"

"You *used* me," Scully growls.

"Damn right!" I snarl. "Damn right I used you! If using
your scientific expertise and your goddamn stubbornness to
help me find the truth is using you, then yes! If coming to
you when I needed support or someone to trust is using you,
then yes, I used you!"

"Stop!" she cries. I see her finger tightening, see the
barrel pointed right between my eyes, and I know what is
coming. But I can't stop it. There is no time. I will die
because of another man's lies, at the hands of the person I
love and trust the most.

Her hand flexes as her finger pulls the trigger.

There is a horrific crack through the air, and a flash...

And nothing. No pain. I open my eyes to see Scully staring
at me, her face pale, her body trembling, her arms still
braced and the gun still pointing at me.

She has missed.

Scully never misses.

Her body collapses in slow motion, as if she is a balloon
figure and the air is slowly being let out. She sinks and
sinks until she reaches the ground, and curls into a ball. I
am suddenly aware that I am sinking too, falling to my knees,
curling my body around her. I hear a sob I recognize as
mine, matched by one from Scully's figure. I feel her warmth
under me as I hold onto her, and I feel her arms wrap around
me as we cling to each other. Her face buries into my
shoulder. She is shaking. I am, too.

"I'm sorry, Mulder," she chokes. "I'm sorry..."

Who did this to her? Who did this to us? I want to ask,
want to know. But I can't speak, can't even choke out a
response to her apology. I just hold onto my Scully more
tightly, and bury my wet face in the soft blueness of her
shoulder.

There is so much to explain. Like how I used Kristin because
I missed Scully so much. Like how I never even heard of
Diana's abduction. Like why I didn't tell Scully about the
tests I ran. So much to explain.

But for now, I have her warm in my arms, her hands clawing
into my back, her face slick and warm against my neck, and
that is all that matters.

They will never tear us apart.

***
-CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN-

I watch the two of them sadly. They are locked in each
other's embrace in a huddle on the floor, weeping like two
newborn children. I'm beginning to think that nothing can
ever separate them. This time, I had used many of my
resources: scientists, laboratories, printers, government
officials...

Diana is beside me, her mouth set in a deep frown. She sits
down, shaking her head.

"He knows now. He knows everything. I knew that this was
too big of a risk. Now is in a position to give all we know
away to the colonists."

I shake my head, taking a deep draft of my cigarette. "You
didn't tell her everything. There is a lot he doesn't know
yet."

"I feel sorry for her," Diana says solemnly. "The person she
trusts most is using her as a pawn."

I ponder the irony of what she has just said.

"You have to be careful who you trust in this world," I say,
knowing that she will not catch on, knowing that she will
trust me as long as she believes I am her father.

I turn to look at her, and she looks back at me with innocent
brown eyes, unaware of just how much of a pawn she really is.


-----THE END------

Okay, so it's pretty weak on its own. Maybe I'll go back and
try and revise the rest of the story after all. =)