TITLE: You Can't Change History
AUTHOR: Erin M. Blair
E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net
CLASSIFICATION: SRA -- Story, Romance, Angst.
CONTENT: Mulder/Scully Romance.
RATING: PG
DISTRIBUTION: OK to Gossamer, Ephemeral, After the
Fact, MSR Cheerleaders Archive.
SPOILERS: One Breath, Ascension, Duane Barry, Little
Green Men, Conduit, and Pilot. 
SETTING: Season Six.
DISCLAIMER: Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter.
FEEDBACK: Yes. please.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Special thanks to Jen for beta 
reading my story.
NOTES:  This story was written for MSRPreservationSociety's
Gift Exchange. Liva wanted a Bill Scully fic. Additional notes
at the end of the story.
SUMMARY: Mulder finds out from Scully that Bill wants
to visit during the time of Mulder's birthday.

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You Can't Change History
Written by: Erin M. Blair
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"Bill, it's nice to hear from you. It's been months..."

Bill. 

Scully's talking to her brother. 

The man hates me. I know Bill always thought that I 
caused her too much pain over the years. 

The trouble is: he is right. 

I understand his position; I understand what he must be 
going through. He is Scully's older brother, after all. I 
have a younger sister, who I still miss every single day of 
my life. If Samantha were still here and in love with some 
man, I would have been acting the same way. I always 
wanted what was best for her. 

I still want what's best for her, wherever she is. 

I would have been doing exactly what Bill's trying to do to 
me. He's sizing me up before getting the chance to know me. 
I know it's not fair, but I can understand him. There are 
so many things he doesn't understand - yet.

Bill doesn't know the devotion that I have for her. He 
doesn't know about the sleepless nights when I screamed 
for her. He doesn't know about how my heart was crumbling 
over his sister. I love Scully with all my heart and soul. 

I remember the night Scully was taken from me. It keeps 
playing in my mind repeatedly. I know that I have 
nightmares where I call out her name. I wish Scully had 
never been abducted that night; I wish she had never  
suffered from the consequences of what happened to her. Her 
cancer tore me up in ways that no lay person would ever 
understand, especially not her brother.

Over the years, I have racked my brain thinking of ways to 
go back in time to the very night she was taken. If only I 
had arrived two or three minutes earlier, I know I could 
have prevented her abduction from happening. Duane Barry 
would never send her to them. I know that I shouldn't beat 
myself up over it thinking of 'what ifs,' but that's what 
I've been doing ever since she was taken.

I wish I could have stopped her abduction from taking 
place. I wish that I had never gone to the bar that 
night. If I had heard her call, I would have gone over 
there to save her. I would have gladly gone in her place. I 
would have given my life to be with her. 

I think she knows that. 

That was when I realized the sad truth: you can't change 
history, no matter how much you want to. 

I know that I couldn't have prevented her abduction from 
happening. I wish I could have. I wish I could go back in 
time to save her. Ever since that day, I vowed that I would 
save her from all the evil in the world. 

I was walking towards Scully when I saw her put the 
phone down, sighing. "I bet I know who that was -- Bill."

Scully nodded. "Yes, it was Bill." She paused, frowning. 
"He wanted to visit me on the same weekend as your 
birthday."

"My birthday is months from now, Scully." 

"I know, Mulder. It's just that... I don't think it's a good 
idea. I want your birthday to be special, not a complete 
disaster. It would be if Bill's there, causing trouble for 
you. I love my brother, but sometimes... he doesn't 
approve of my choices."

"Thanks...for thinking of me, Scully. I didn't realize that I 
was important to you."

"You deserve a wonderful birthday. I don't want my 
brother to think of ways to hurt you. I told him that 
you're the one I love. I would never fall in love with 
someone else. Deep down, he knows that."

"I wish I could have prevented your abduction, Scully."

"Mulder, please stop blaming yourself. I never blamed 
you for what happened. We always took risks whenever 
we had a case." She paused. "Blame the men who did 
this instead."

I nodded. "I've been blaming them, Scully. However, I just 
wish we could have changed history."

Scully looked squarely into my eyes. "You can't change 
history, Mulder. We just have to deal with what we have in 
life." She paused. "I trust you with my life. You have been 
there for me at every step of the way. We will deal with 
Bill when the time comes. Maybe he'll have a change of 
heart?"

"Yeah, maybe." I smiled at her words. It gave me hope. I 
once told her that she has the strength of her beliefs, 
but I now summoned mine. I needed all the strength, the 
wisdom, that could get me through the troubled times 
ahead. "You gave me the courage to face him, Scully."

She nodded. "Don't worry about Bill, Mulder. All he wants 
is what's best for me."

"I understand, Scully. If Samantha was here, I would 
probably size up any guy who wanted her."

She smiled. "I just bet you would."

When Bill gets here, I'm going to try to be civil with him. 
I'm hoping to work out some kind of truce between the two 
of us. 

And I'm hoping for a miracle to happen. After all, you 
can't change what happened in the past. You just have 
to hope the future will bring joy for everyone.

** The End **

Author's Notes:

This story was the hardest story that I had ever written. It
was for MSRPreservationSociety's Gift Exchange for Liva. 
And it was truly a challenge to write when you're suffering 
from health problems. 

She wanted this: 

"An asshole Bill Scully story, with the story centered around 
Mulder's Birthday. No poor simpering "maybe he's right" crap 
from Mulder. Would like to see Mulder (maybe Scully too) stand 
up for himself and talk about the reasons he's good for her. Bill 
doesn't have to be convinced in the end (he is an asshole after all) 
but he needs to have no doubt where they stand on the matter."

I don't know if I succeeded, but I find Bill very hard to write for. 
I don't think his character is totally black and white -- I find a 
lot of middle ground. I don't think he's an a$$hole at all. All he 
wants is the best for his sister. I have an older brother, but I 
have been blessed with the nicest brother ever. I guess that's 
where I'm coming from. :) 

I hope you'll enjoy the story, Liva. And I hope everyone who's 
reading this will enjoy it. 

~Erin M. Blair
January 1, 2005