From: ThePimpernel@waitrose.com   
      
   Title: Splinters of Rainbow IV   
   Date: June 2004   
   Author: The Pimpernel   
   Rating: PG-13 but I don't want to offend anyone so let's   
   say R for sexual situations, and bad words.   
   Summary: An irreverent look at biological imperative and   
   genetic predisposition -- possibly. Just read and enjoy   
      
   Classification: SRA   
   Keywords: AU -- a 'what if' parallel time line that   
   mangles the two, angst, MSR sort of.   
   Spoilers:  YES, but I haven't yet evolved past season 7.   
   Play spot the reference.   
   Feedback: Pretty please with knobs on -   
   thepimpernel@waitrose.com   
   Archive: I'd be stunned but go ahead. It's written to be   
   read.   
   Disclaimer: Just five more minutes Dad, then I promise   
   I'll put them away.   
   Fanfic is a self-indulgence of the non-fattening type for   
   neither body nor bank account. In other words any   
   reference to characters created by Chris Carter real or   
   imaginary is purely deliberate but they're not mine. And   
   in this part, I have borrowed shamelessly from the script -   
   - no point tampering with the text when it works so well.   
      
   I'm English, forgive me my spelling.   
      
   A bagful of rainbow crumbs to Elsie, a wonderful beta,   
   who colours and sparkles my grammar and punctuation   
   into something comprehensible. That just leaves the plot   
   holes as a distraction.   
      
   Fourth part of the story. You probably need to read the   
   other three for this one to make sense. More to come, so   
   check your WIP tolerance before continuing.   
      
      
   **********************************************   
      
   Part 3 of 3   
      
   Several days later, Dana and Mulder met for dinner.   
      
   "How do I know that you are the real Mulder now?" Dana   
   asked, only somewhat in jest. She'd spent several days   
   trying not to feel guilty about being caught in very close   
   proximity to, what turned out to be, another man. It   
   wasn't as if she and Mulder had never been that close   
   before -- well, maybe it was a fraction closer -- or that   
   they were involved with each other with an agreement for   
   exclusivity. Perhaps guilty was too strong a word, but   
   uncomfortably embarrassed she most certainly was; it   
   was just really awkward to give full rein to her curiosity   
   when she'd been at the receiving end. Fortunately,   
   fascinated inquisitiveness was the overriding emotion, so   
   the conversation hadn't been too stilted as they discussed   
   the 'case'. Van Blundht's physiology was intriguing, to   
   say the least, and had carried them through most of the   
   evening, but eventually they could circle the burning   
   issue no longer.   
      
   "That rather depends on how much of yourself you   
   revealed to the imitation Mulder," said Mulder, trying to   
   put an airiness into his voice and a friendly, teasing look   
   on his face that he was far from feeling. He'd been trying   
   to deal with the astounded jealousy, with the full   
   gratuitous smack-you-in-the-mouth violent emotions he'd   
   felt at seeing Dana, on her couch, in a skin-touchingly   
   close embrace, with another man. Except, she'd thought   
   the man was him. So what did that mean?   
      
   Revealed? Was that a dig? "Are you going to get   
   personal?" asked Dana, a touch defensively.   
      
   "Well... How about if I asked you who Marty was?   
   Would that information be unique to me? Or would you   
   prefer to take a pound of flesh to check my muscle   
   structure?"   
      
   "Don't tempt me!"   
      
   "I can pull faces." He demonstrated. "But ultimately, I'm   
   still me."   
      
   "Is that a good thing?"   
      
   "What I don't understand is how he found you. I keep   
   everything I know about you up here," he said, tapping   
   the side of his head. In fact, he'd been expecting some   
   righteous indignation on this point, and him to be doing   
   some fancy footwork disclaiming all knowledge. "Didn't   
   you think something was wrong?" He spun his knife   
   around on the table, to keep his hands and eyes occupied,   
   while trying not to get caught giving Dana surreptitious   
   glances.   
      
   Dana was getting very nervous about this. Perhaps she   
   could move the conversation on. "Well... There were   
   several things that weren't consistent but then it's not as if   
   we have a regular pattern. He... asked about Sylvia. It   
   seemed natural enough. We just sort of progressed from   
   there..." She twisted the paper napkin in her fingers and   
   watched his hands playing with his knife, while trying not   
   to get caught giving Mulder surreptitious glances.   
      
      
   Unfortunately, Mulder, though often easily diverted,   
   although with a disturbing habit of coming back to a   
   point sometimes up to several weeks later, was still   
   musing about how Van Blundht had found her. "Sylvia...   
   Yes, I see. I dare say he saw you there, but why did he   
   pick you? It's not as if you are trying to get pregnant."   
   He'd moved on to playing with the spoon now, jabbing   
   one end in an attempt to get it to somersault.   
      
   Dana went very still and quiet, letting her eyes drop to   
   watch her fingers shred the napkin.   
      
   "Dana?" he tried gently, a little puzzled at having   
   received no response.   
      
   What should she do? Was she ready to have this   
   conversation with Mulder? If she put it off it would only   
   get harder. What was she afraid of anyway? It was her   
   life, her decisions. He'd been encouraging her to move   
   forward, after all. "It's partly your fault," she said,   
   defiantly looking him in the eye.   
      
   That stopped him playing with his cutlery. "Ehh?"  Whoa,   
   where'd the conversation go? "My fault... that he picked   
   you?"   
      
   She smiled faintly at his worried frown. "Yes. If it wasn't   
   for you I wouldn't have been at the clinic."   
      
   "Because I was encouraging you to get out more?" He   
   guessed she was just funning -- not actually blaming him.   
   But he wasn't entirely certain.   
      
   "Because you were encouraging me to move on with my   
   life."   
      
   Right. Okaaay. Of course. No, he still wasn't with it. "So,   
   you looked up an old friend and went to lunch..."   
      
   She was faintly amused that he'd completely stopped   
   fidgeting. That had to be first in all the time she'd known   
   him. It was obvious his mind had all hands to the pumps   
   trying to work this one out. She, on the other hand, was   
   now completely calm. "So, I was pursuing my options to   
   have a child."   
      
   Broadsided. There were other words, gob-smacked,   
   thunderstruck, flabbergasted, dumbfounded, astounded,   
   amazed, shocked, stunned, astonished... speechless, drop-   
   jawed, eye-poppingly, tongue-swallowingly surprised,   
   that fit the bill. "Urghhg!"  was all he managed to get out.   
   "I didn't... uhmm, that is... err... who." He closed his   
   mouth, swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I know   
   you included children in your girlish dreams, but I   
   hadn't.... I guess I hadn't thought you meant imminently. I   
   didn't realise you were seeing anybody..."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)