Title - Thy Summer's Play - Time Of No Replay (Part 6 
of ?)
Author - Lady Disdain
E-mail - The_Lady_Disdain@mailcity.com
Rating - G
Summary- Scully attempts to deal with the absence 
in her life. 
Description - Story
Category - Post-Requim
Spoilers - seventh season finale (Requiem)
----------------------------
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, Fox does 
and I'm just borrowing them. I most certainly do not 
own Nick Drake and his lyrics.
ARCHIVING - Yes I do realize I must be driving the 
Gossamer people bonkers but I have finally found the 
title to gather all of my other stories under. I 
apologize to for any inconvenience; I'll try to think 
these things through next time. 
Author's notes: I realize that most people who read 
these stories do not even think of sending feedback 
but you can not begin to understand how important 
feedback is in the construction of a work. 

ATTENTION: I'd also like to let people know ~**THIS 
IS A MANY PART STORY!**~ (Time Has Told Me is the 
first installment, A Place In The Cloud being the 
second and Way To Blue the third, Things Behind the 
Sun the forth and Home the fifth) Due to me being 
insane these stories are not under the bridge title 
of "Thy Summer's Play" at ephemeral but with any luck 
they will be under that title at gossamer. If you 
really want to you can read this as a standalone but 
as this series progresses its going to get *more* and 
*more* confusing! I also apologize if there are any 
inaccuracies concerning the events of the seventh 
season finale, I'm sorry I didn't tape it and this 
coming from memory...*grimace* please tell me if I'm 
way off. 
-----------------------------
Thy Summer's Play, Part 6
"Little fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink and sing
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing."
 - William Blake "Little Fly"
-----------------------------
Time Of No Reply by Lady Disdain 
<The_Lady_Disdain@mailcity.com>

"Summer was gone and the heat died down,
And Autumn reached for her golden crown,
I looked behind as I heard a sigh,
But this was the time of no reply

The sun went down and the crowd went home,
I was left by the roadside all alone,
I turned to speak as they went by,
But this was the time of no reply.

The time of no reply is calling me to stay,
There's no hello, and no goodbye,
To leave there is no way." 
- Nick Drake "Time Of No Reply" 

Scully let out a breath she did not know she was 
holding as she stepped into Mulder's apartment. 
Somehow a part her had hoped to find him asleep and 
sprawled out on the couch with the TV still on. But 
the sun shone through the blinds and the rays hit the 
empty couch.

She was feeding the fish like she did every morning 
when the Lone Gunmen walked in.

"Sorry we're late, Frohike here thought he stumbled 
on to something big but..." Byers shrugged. "We uh, 
brought the truck so we could move his...belongings 
to...where ever."

Scully stooped as she sprinkled some more food in the 
direction of George, her favorite fish. "Yeah I don't 
know what I'm exactly going to do with it all yet. I 
mean, I know he's not coming back but part me wants 
to keep everything just in case..." Scully shook her 
head, she knew she was being silly. It had been over 
a month and a half since she'd seen her partner and 
she knew why. "Um why don't we just clean the place 
up before we decide. I'll start on the desk." She 
gestured toward the mound of paper that she assumed 
had a desk under it. 

As she walked towards the desk to begin cleaning she 
saw it, the key, a ray of sunlight just happened to 
land on it and illuminate it. Scully bent down to 
pick it up and saw that it sat directly above a 
drawer with a lock on it. Almost instinctively she 
grabbed to key and shoved it into the lock and 
turned. Scully felt as though she was the Wart and 
was taking the sword from the stone. Scully gasped as 
she felt the lock click and pulled the drawer open. 
There was a single envelope in the drawer. The 
envelope had her name written on it in Mulder's 
handwriting. With her finger she tore on the envelope 
and unfolded the letter inside.

"Scully

 All of a sudden I feel compelled to do this, like 
this will be important soon. You're probably at my 
place to make sure the fish aren't dead yet. For some 
reason I know I will be gone forever when you read 
this. I know (I don't know how) that you will be 
carrying a burden I have left on you. Now that mom is 
dead there is no one else to contend for what I am 
giving you. When my dad died he left me a large sum 
of money. I want you to have it. I've created an 
account with all of the money ready for you to 
access. Enclosed is the bank statement with the 
account number and the password. Notify the landlady 
that the place in vacant now, I paid the rent 
already. As for the rest of the stuff, let the Gunmen 
take whatever they need and give the rest to 
Goodwill. I know you'll take good care of the fish. 

Mulder"

Scully blinked back the tears as she stood up and sat 
down on the couch. Langly walked in "Hey Scully what 
do you want us to do with..." His voice dropped off 
when he saw her eyes. He swallowed "Hey guys get in 
here."

Byers was quickly kneeling at her side, gripping her 
hand. He softly said, "Scully what is it? What did 
you find?"

She cleared her throat and hoped they couldn't hear 
her voice shaking.  "I found this note from Mulder 
saying he expected us to be doing this and...that you 
guys can have whatever you want and the rest goes to 
Goodwill."

She stood up and stuffed the letter in her pocket. 
Scully felt her confidence resume, "I just need one 
or two you to help me put the fish tank in my car." 
Byers and Frohike offered to carry it for her. On her 
way out she saw two pictures on the bookshelf, one of 
young Mulder and Samantha and the other was a recent 
photo of Mulder. The latter looked as though it had 
been Teena Mulder's originally. She grabbed them both 
before following Frohike and Byers out the door.
*****************************************************
The blonde haired assistant smiled at Scully, "The 
Assistant Director is taking a call right now but he 
will see you in a moment."

Scully thanked the woman and sat down on the navy 
couch. The cushion next to her felt empty. 

Mulder had once said to her that he didn't want to do 
this alone, that he didn't even know if he could. 
That if he quit now, they win.

She had come to Skinner's office to resign. She was 
quitting and taking a job teaching at Quantico. For 
now they would win. But somehow she knew that in the 
end, they would lose, that her resignation was the 
beginning of the end.

The door opened and Scully was jarred out of her 
reverie. Skinner stepped out, "Agent Scully."

She followed him into his office and took a seat 
across from the desk. Skinner sat down and laced his 
fingers on the desk. "Agent Scully I would like you 
to shed some light on your request."

Scully sat back in her chair, "Well Sir, I feel I 
have come to a point in my life where I can no longer 
work in the X-Files. I would like to be transferred 
to Quantico to resume a professorship."

Skinner asked, "Is this because of Agent Wicks?"

She shook her head, "No, Agent Wicks is a wonderful 
partner but he's..." As she let the sentence drop off 
she realized they both knew what she meant. That no 
matter how good a partner Agent Wicks was he wasn't 
Mulder.

"Agent Scully, I understand that you want to provide 
what is best for your child. Settling down to a 
professorship sounds like a good choice. I am 
approving your transfer request and hope you know 
that because of this you will be able to forgo the 
paternity test requested by the board."

"Thank you sir." And Scully began get up but 
Skinner's words stopped her.

"Dana wait. I want to talk to off the record."

"Yes sir."

"Just call me Walter, Dana. I want to know how you've 
been holding up."

Scully held up the facade. "Oh I'm fine. Last weekend 
I just took care of Mulder's personal affects and 
have started getting ready for the big move to 
Virginia." 

She took in a deep breath and the facade crumbled 
"The X-Files have been a whole lot harder than I had 
expected they would be. Now, because of what I know 
its like I have two people inside me. A skeptic *and* 
a believer, you know?" She smiled weakly at Walter.

"I understand, Dana. I was there when they took him 
and..." He sighed, "it's been hard to go back to 
business as usual...I hope you enjoy teaching at 
Quantico and let me know if you ever need any help."

She knew Skinner was being truly sincere, "Thank you. 
For everything." She gave him a hug before she left. 

Over the years they had grown from thinking Skinner 
the enemy to a friend. He had helped them out many 
times in the past and she was sure that today was not 
the last time.
*****************************************************
She sighed as she sat down for thanksgiving diner. 
Her mom had really out done herself considering that 
it would be just the two of them. "Well, three of 
them." she thought as she patted her stomach. Bill 
was away on duty and his wife was staying with her 
parents. Charles was also celebrating with his wife's 
family.

While her mom did the last minute preparations Scully 
reflected all that had passed since the last 
thanksgiving. It had been almost five months since 
she said goodbye to the bureau. She enjoyed teaching 
and had some very bright students but...there was 
something missing. Of course that had gone from her 
the day she realized Mulder would have to leave but 
somehow the time had only amplified it instead of 
diminish it. 

The baby was due in late December or early January. 
The nursery was all ready. She had paid one of her 
more artistic students to paint the sky on the 
ceiling and the forest on the walls. She hadn't 
needed to use the account Mulder had setup for her 
yet. 

George the fish and all his friends were alive and 
well. (As well as fish get.) 

Bill had finally calmed down after learning of his 
sister's pregnancy. It had taken a few weeks for the 
fact that he couldn't find Mulder to beat him up to 
sink in. 

Mom had accepted the news with relative ease. 
Margaret Scully knew that Dana believed what she told 
her and so there was no other possible explanation. 
Mom was going to move in with her to help take care 
of the baby after it was born. 

It was almost funny. She had spent the last seven 
years dreaming about how nice it would be to work 
eight-hour days and actually stay home on the 
weekends. Now that she had all that it felt as though 
she should always be somewhere else, chasing after 
something. Scully knew it was futile to work on the 
X-Files. Mulder was gone and he had taken the search 
with him. There was nothing left to find here. A 
little kick from her stomach made her smile and 
think, "Well maybe one thing."

Her mom appeared in the dinning room carrying a large 
turkey.

"Oh mom, you shouldn't have! It's just the two of 
us." Scully exclaimed with a smile.

Margaret Scully smiled back, raised her glass and 
said "To the both of you." as their glasses clinked.

At that moment Scully realized that it was going to 
be just her daughter and herself for a long time. For 
eight years. 


"The trees on the hill had nothing to say,
They would keep their dreams till another day,
So they stood and thought, and wondered why,
For this was the time of no reply.

Time goes by from year to year,
And no one asks why I am standing here,
But I have my answer as I look to the sky
This is the time of no reply.

The time of no reply is calling me to stay,
There's no hello and no goodbye.
To leave there is no way."
- Nick Drake "Time Of No Reply"
-----------------------------
Send feedback to The_Lady_Disdain@mailcity.com
Thanks :-)




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