| And so here they were, all together again... Well, not quite all
of them. Mulder had gone off to spend some private time with his sister,
still hardly able to believe that she was back with him, and still the
child that he remembered her as. Betty's genetic sister and her husband
had returned home already, as the Doctor (with typical precision) had managed
to overshoot his intended landing time by a couple of weeks. ("But we should
definitely go and pay them a visit while you're here!" said one of the
Bettys.) But the rest of them -- the Doctor, Scully, Ragan and the two
Bettys -- were now gathered in the living room of Betty's trailer drinking
coffee (or, in the Doctor's case, tea). The three inter-dimensional "sisters"
had been sharing the trailer for several weeks, and it definitely showed,
with three times the usual number of dishes piled up in the sink, and three
times the usual number of half-read books scattered about.
"So," said the Doctor, sipping his tea, "have you decided what it is
that you want to do?"
"Well," replied Scully, "Mulder and I have discussed it, and I think
we're both going to take your Military up on the job offer." She smiled
fondly. "You have no idea how excited Mulder is about this whole thing..."
"We can imagine," grinned Ragan.
"And what about you ladies?" the Doctor said, turning to her.
It was the "second" Betty who spoke up -- being the one who was non-native
to this universe, and having being beaten to the punch for the name "Ragan,"
she'd ended up getting tagged with her hated middle name, "Ann," and clearly
resented it. "Well, speaking for myself... To tell you the truth, I'm getting
a little tired of living here with these two." She jerked her thumbs at
her two counterparts. "I mean, I always used to joke about wanting to clone
myself to get more done, and in some ways it's been fun, but..." She pulled
a wry face. "Well, the truth is, I don't really belong here, you
know? This is my house, almost the way I remember it, but it's not mine..."
She pointed at Betty, "It's hers. It's like I'm a stranger in my
own life. So..." She looked hopefully at the Doctor. "Well, I guess what
I'm saying is that I'd appreciate it if you could take me... I dunno. Somewhere."
She shrugged.
-
 "I think
that could be arranged..." said the Doctor.
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