Setting the Record Straight 3: Charles Has His Say

Sara B. 07/06

Charles turned to Bill, “So, does you warming up to Mulder mean that we shouldn’t follow them and forestall what we both think is going to happen?”

Bill leaned against the tree and pretended he was thinking.  “You know, little bro, I told Mulder he’d meet you if he came this weekend.  I think now would be a good time for an introduction.”

The two men jogged to the door and entered the kitchen.  Tara, Jeanne and their Mom watched from a distance.  “That cannot be good,” Tara commented.

“No,” Mrs. Scully replied, “I think this is just some good natured harassment.  I don’t think there is anything to worry about.”  I hope, she added silently.

Bill and Charles found their targets in the back hallway that led to the basement.  They waited till Mulder’s head dipped toward Scully’s to make their presence known.

“Mulder,” Bill called out and the twosome jumped.  Bill held up a basketball he’d grabbed along the way. 

Scully’s head and shoulders shook as she giggled.  Mulder whispered, “Some sort of test?”

“I think they like to call it male bonding.”

“I guess it’s too late to change genders now,” he quipped.

“You do and I’ll have to kill you.  I like your gender just as it is.”  They shared a secret smile.

“Be my personal cheerleader, Scully?” 

“Always have been, always will be.  Now, go teach those two who is king of the court.”

Mulder trotted off with the two Scully brothers.  Scully on the other hand headed for the attic.

“Mulder, this is little brother Charles, in the flesh,” Bill said.  “I told you he was real.”

“I have a birth certificate and everything.”  Mulder instantly liked this newcomer.  Unlike the stern Bill, Charles seemed to have a sense of humor and it appeared to rival his own; which may explain Scully’s reaction to his jokes all these years.  “So, you ready for some b’ball?”

The trio headed toward the temporary court set up in the backyard.  They roped in several Scully cousins and the teams were split.  Bill, Charles and Mulder against Tom, Mercer and Grant Ellington, their father’s sister’s sons.  The game started and within three minutes Mulder realized this was not just a friendly competition, these boys were all out for blood.  Suddenly he heard someone yell, “Give me an X!”  All six players turned to see Dana Scully in her old cheerleading outfit with some makeshift newspaper pompoms cheering on her team.

Mulder nodded and mouthed, “oh, YEAH!”

The Ellingtons didn’t know what hit them, it was a massacre.  Mulder dominated but Bill and Charles were right there with him. 

They were walking off the court and Scully handed them each towels then ran in to change and help in the kitchen.  “Damn, Mulder, we’ve been trying to beat those smug ‘we played ball in college’ bastards for years.  Why the hell didn’t you and Bill make up sooner?”  Charles good naturedly clapped the other two men on the backs of their heads.  “Next time, Bill, find out if the guy is good at sports before you hate Dana’s next boyfriend.”

Under his breath Mulder said adamantly, “There won’t be a next.”  Charles and Bill caught the quiet comment and looked at each other then at Mulder.  Neither was sure if Mulder knew he’d spoken out loud.

~

Mulder was sitting on the lawn watching the children play some home brewed version of hopscotch.  Scully was helping her Mom and his offers to help had been waived off.  Charles joined him, offering him an iced tea as he sat.  “Is this round two?”

Charles just laughed.  “No, I’m not like Bill; I’ve always liked you, mostly.  Dana liked you, Missy liked you in her own weird way and Mom likes you.  That makes for a pretty big endorsement.  Besides, Bill has never liked any of our choices when it came to matters of the heart.  He didn’t even speak to my wife until our first was born.”

“So I have your good opinion?”

“Mostly, there have been times when Dana was hurting that I didn’t care for you very much.  But that all seems to be behind you two.”  Charles sat back leaning on his arms.  “You two really have it don’t you?”  Mulder turned and looked at his companion for the first time since he joined him.  “Wow, I thought Dana was joking when she played dumb but neither of you really see it do you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Charles huffed in disbelief.  “When anyone sees you two it’s like, for you, everyone else disappears.  Like you only exist for each other.  It’s rather unnerving.  You seem to have this communication that is ingrained in your beings.  It’s powerful and more than a little intimidating.”

They grew silent for a few minutes letting their attentions return to watching the game being played before them.  Charles took a long drink from his tea.  “Years ago, I came into town.  I was assigned in Portugal and I had to come to DC for a series of conferences.  It was last minute and just part of the routine so I came alone as usual.  Mom was visiting Bill for the first three days so I stayed with Dana.  She seemed really depressed but, you know her, she didn’t want to talk about it.”  They gave each other knowing looks.

“The second day I watched as she picked up the phone and hit the speed dial then hang up, it was like the receiver bit her.  That was about the seventh time I watched her do that same thing when I forced her to talk about it.

“You two had been on a case, something to do with a cult.  She told me about some past life regression thing you went through and found your so called soul mate.  She also told me that in all the past lives you depicted her as a man and that she died.”  Mulder’s head hung as he remembered how he’d been so adamant and how he challenged her beliefs.

“She didn’t come out and say it but she was feeling unlovable, or at least that’s what I thought.  In your visions you always had someone but she was always alone.  I think she was scared.  I also think she began to doubt her place in the scheme of things.”

“But she doesn’t believe in reincarnation.”  Mulder was confused why she’d have been so affected.

“It didn’t matter what she believed.  She may never come out and say it, but Dana believes in a lot of things.  However, if she can’t prove it she can’t be public about it.  But like I said it didn’t matter what she believed, you did.  Your believing that that woman was your soul mate relegated her to friend or companion and she knew that there was no way you would ever feel more for her.  Feelings like she was beginning to feel for you.  That being said, do you know what her big concern was?”  Mulder shook his head.  “Dana was afraid that you would never let yourself love someone because of those beliefs.  She didn’t want you to be lonely.”

“Scully is so damned generous.  It’s just like her to worry about me while she’s the one hurting.  When she was lying in that hospital dying of cancer, I was in trouble and there was talk of indicting me for murder.  She wanted to lay the blame on herself to clear me.  I never felt so loved in all my life as I did at that moment.  I don’t think I ever loved until then.”

Charles looked at his, now empty, glass.  “Do you still think that woman was your soul mate?” 

“No, haven’t for a long time.  And it doesn’t matter anyway, I love Scully.”

“Good answer.”  The game was ending and the sun was low.  Charles stood up, took their glasses and started walking back toward the house then turned back and pulled something out of his pocket and placed something in Mulder’s hand.  “Don’t let anyone see,” then left.

Mulder looked around before opening his palm and found condoms.  If that wasn’t an endorsement he didn’t know what was.  He got up to go find Scully.

~

Mulder was driving to the motel they were staying at.  Mrs. Scully’s house was full so the overflow was staying at the Candlelight lodge.  Scully sat next to him and their hands were together.  “Have fun today, Mulder?”

“Yeah, I did.  Bill isn’t so bad and Charles is pretty great.”

“Well, you scored big winning that basketball game.  Those guys have been insufferable brats their entire lives.”  They’d reached the lodge and were getting their bags.

“Speaking of the game, I really liked that cheerleading outfit, Scully.  Right out of a fantasy number 6719.”

“Well, I was quite impressed with your sweaty self, Mulder,” Scully teased.

“Oooh, Scully, I’ve got the sweat.”  He graced her with his best leer.

“I’ve got the outfit.”  She tossed over her shoulder, leaving him in the dust.

Final End